Author: Cat Winters
Series: None
Pages: 368
Genre: Adult, Historical, Paranormal, Romance
Date Published: August 11th, 2015
Publisher: William Morrow
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review
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Summary:
From the award-winning author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds
comes a stunning new novel—a masterfully crafted story of love, loss,
and second chances. Set during the fear and panic of the Great Influenza
of 1918, The Uninvited is part gothic ghost-story, part psychological thriller, perfect for those who loved The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield or The Vanishing by Wendy Webb.
Twenty-five year old Ivy Rowan rises from her bed after being struck by the flu, only to discover the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.
But Ivy’s life-long gift—or curse—remains. For she sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked, unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918 she sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death of Ivy’s older brother Billy in the Great War.
Horrified, she leaves home, to discover the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for the day, because they could be stricken by nightfall. But as her ‘uninvited guests’ begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once more, but Ivy has no inkling of the other-worldly revelations about to unfold.
Twenty-five year old Ivy Rowan rises from her bed after being struck by the flu, only to discover the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.
But Ivy’s life-long gift—or curse—remains. For she sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked, unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918 she sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death of Ivy’s older brother Billy in the Great War.
Horrified, she leaves home, to discover the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for the day, because they could be stricken by nightfall. But as her ‘uninvited guests’ begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once more, but Ivy has no inkling of the other-worldly revelations about to unfold.
-Goodreads
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My Thoughts:
An Open Letter To The Uninvited,
You are a book that is made out of my favorite kinds of nightmares, all mashed together. You're dark, haunting, and beautifully written. The imagery in you is equal to the wonderful characters that also fill your pages. No one is perfect, and nothing is as it seems in your pages, and that is just how I like things to be. I honestly couldn't have asked for more from you, so thanks for delivering on such a delightfully high level.
-The White Unicorn
It's well known that I am a Cat Winters fan girl. If she writes it, I'll read it. No questions asked. So when I heard that she was releasing her first Adult Novel, I got really excited. And let me tell you, The Uninvited did not disappoint. It has all the elements that I have come to love in her YA books, and then had the added fact that her protagonist was actually closer to my age. It made the reading experience really exciting for me.
Winters is a master of mixing the paranormal, spiritualism, a history together. It's a mixture that works wonderfully for her, as her writing is beautiful and gothic. She has a way of making things feel as though everything she writes is real, and it pulls you right into the story, and makes you question everything!
The Uninvited is a tad on the slow side, but it did nothing but make the novel feel more authentic to me. Plus there is a lot of action, and plenty of time to get to know Winters' well formed characters. The plot is a tad more on the adult side, but I felt like a younger audience would enjoy it as well.
I really adored Ivy. I thought that it was an interesting choice to make the main character a recluse, who decides to grab at her freedom after her family commits such an awful crime. It was also interesting to see how German immigrates were treated during the war. It was something that I had never thought about, but Winters makes it one of her main plot points, and the pay off was that it made me think.
I wish I could say more about the book in detail, but it truly is one of those novels that you just have to read for yourself. Too much talk of everything would ruin the experience of reading it, and so I will keep my mouth shut. Trust me, you'll thank me later. All I will say is that you need to read this one. You won't be sorry. And when you're done, we can talk about it.
Rating:
5 Unicorns = Get your hands on this NOW!
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