A town with secrets, a house filled with mirrors, and a girl, who just moved there.
Gemma and her family just moved to Learmouth, into the house on the hill. The old style building has a strange atmosphere and to make it creepier, it is full with mirrors. The girl hates it at first sight. But not she is the only one. Her mother's partner, Jules, also feels the same, and Gemma's younger brother, Danny too. However Heather, Danny's twin sister is happy, she even has a new friend, Elsa, and she always tries to talk over Danny to play with the two of them. Meantime Hearher loves their new home, Danny not just finds it creepy, but strange and scary things happen to him sometimes and he doesn't trust nor his twin's mysterious friend. Even after she makes new friends, the strange atmosphere of the house still chills Gemma. What she doesn't know, soon she will learn the secrets of her new home.
Hawthorn really surprised me, and in a good way. When I read the main plot, I became curious, but I had my doubts, since so many books have good plot, and when you start reading them, they just disappoint you. Well, this novel is definitely not one of those. The characters are good and the story is interesting, you can not put down the book. And the atmosphere! Last time I was afraid on a book, when I read The Shining in high school, but I did not dare to read Hawthorn during night and looked much less into mirrors. The novel is a great mix of mystery and horror for me, adding always the perfect amount of tension and creepiness to the story. It just makes it better, that it uses different POVs, it is interesting to see with things from not just one character's viewpoint and it boosts the reading experience.
Shortly, I really loved the book and I recommend it to everyone, mostly to young adult and horror fans. The story and characters are interesting and the novel has a creepy and mysterious atmosphere, which makes sure, that even at the scary parts, you just have to keep reading it. I hope that Hawthorn will have a continuation.
ISBN-13: 9781511411257
ISBN-10: 1511411252
