Genre: Historical/Horror/Fantasy
Release Date: January 9th, 2024
Pages: 320
My Rating: ⭐⭐
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Now, nearly a century since it was built, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for misfits, seeking to forget their pasts and disappear into the mansions dark corridors.
Until Sana. She and her father are the latest of Akbar Manzil’s long list of tenants, seeking a new home after suffering painful loss. Unlike the others, who choose not to look too closely at the mansion’s unsettling qualities—the strange assortment of bones in the overgrown garden, the mysterious figure seen to move sometimes at night—she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion. To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the locked door at its end, unopened for decades.
Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time, with faded photographs of a couple in love and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, the original owner’s second wife, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who once loved Meena and has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Obsessed with Meena’s story, and unaware of the creature that follows her, Sana digs into the past like fingers into a wound, awakening the memories of the house itself—and dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil.”
My Review:
This was a mess.
It was like the book itself didn’t know what it wanted to be or say – a buffet of genres with no central motivation.
It was more a family drama than anything else… I think? I still don’t really understand what the intention was.
I think labeling it as fantasy did it a massive disservice, and was quite misleading in terms of the story we actually got. Spoiler alert, the djinn is completely pointless. It was like it was thrown into the story to make it seem more interesting, but really served no purpose at all.
There was nothing mysterious, horrific, or thrilling. I don’t know what it is, honestly, and I don’t think it does either, which is the main issue.
I never felt connected or invested with anything or anyone. It just left me confused, wanting, wondering what I just read and why.
There are some interesting themes about love that are explored, and some well-written, quotable prose, all of which fizzles out in the latter half of the book.
A generous two stars for me.
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Have you read this book? Planning to add it to your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
I love a good book discussion. 🙂
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