This is the second Hendrix book that I read that came highly recommended, the second time I thought I’d enjoy reading it, and the second time I’ve been disappointed. It’s just not for me, sorry guys. I think that completely aside from the body horror / jump scare aspects which are already not my thing, the root of my issues with Hendrix’s books is that he seems actively contemptuous of his characters. The main characters are all flat and unlikeable, and their motivations and emotions seem sketched over them as opposed to growing naturally out of their personalities. In contrast I’d offer Stephen King, who has all the dark and creepy but seems actually to generate characters from a place of strength and humanity, thereby giving readers a reason to actually care what happens to them. It really feels like Hendrix is creating characters he doesn’t like, just so he can point at them and laugh, and the whole thing just feels a bit mean-spirited. (This is also exactly why I don’t enjoy watching Big Bang Theory.) Plot synopsis, so I can reference it later: unlikeable, shallow main character’s parents die, which means she has to cooperate with her equally unlikeable, shallow sibling to rid the house of elements from her parents’ haunted past, so they can finally sell it and reap the benefits of the inheritance, to which each feels more entitled than the other.