A Place For Vanishing

What worked: Creepy gothic horror with insects, masks, and seances. The eerie backdrop with a family house of secrets is riveting. Add to this there's an element of not knowing if what Libby is witnessing is part of her bipolar disorder or the paranormal.

I was totally engaged in this ghostly tale. After some time in an institution, Libby's mother has them go back to an abandoned family home for a new start. At the very beginning, there's something sinister about the house. There's insect masks throughout the home and rumors of a medium who conducted seances there. Add to that mysterious blue roses that give off cloying scents but also seem to take over Libby's mother.

Fast-paced with very descriptive images of creepy bugs that have a paranormal essence. I shouted out more than a few times with Libby's encounters with the spirits that are trapped in decorative masks. There's grisly secrets behind the beauty of the roses and house. Also the attic scene is very vivid and creepy. Think life-sized exoskeleton of a cockroach. Yup, creepy.

The love interest Flynn has his own secret. Little by little he finds he's a part of the house as well. At first, he comes across as a stalker but later shows his true colors. Flynn becomes a reluctant ally but one that Libby needs to overcome the evil trapped within the house.

As someone who has close family members with bipolar disorder II, I admit, that I didn't know what cyclothymia was. Yes, not all those who have or know those who have bipolar disorder have the same experiences. I do though like how the author has Libby wonder if she's witnessing paranormal things or something else. That part was believable to me.

Chilling, spine-tinging horror where a girl finds a deadly secret in her house where not all is what it seems.