Was auto approved for this and I don’t have interest in reading it. I tried it and DNFd it, so will give it a neutral rating but not write a full review at this time. If I do end up finishing it, I will come back a amend this review at a later date.

Back in 1976, Loo, her sister Bee and the rest of their family live in a run-down cottage on a secluded farm. Isolated and shunned by their neighbours, the family start experiencing unexplained noises and disturbances in the house, resulting in a group of paranormal investigators setting up camp on the farm and observing the house and the family, particularly Loo and Bee. Years later, Loo, now going by Lucy, is called back to the farm to accompany a young team of investigators who are determined to uncover the truth about the house and what really happened there.

The Wayward Girls centers around Lucy and her experiences at the farm both as a child and later as an adult. The story is told in chapters alternating between timelines focusing on Now and Then. I felt that things unravelled quite slowly for the first half of the book, and it would definitely be fitting to describe it as a slow-burner, but it was captivating and atmospheric throughout. It was impossible to guess what the truth behind the haunting was going to be, and the need for answers made it difficult to put down.

Not many paranormal/horror books have much of an effect on me. I find them entertaining, but I am rarely unsettled by them. The Wayward Girls gave me real chills and even had me hearing noises during the night – not one to read alone in the dark! The last part of the book happened rather quickly and, having finished it, I’m still not sure whether the farm was haunted or not. This could be taken as a criticism, and I’m sure some would put it down to poor writing, but I actually found that the uncertainty really added to the spine-tingling creepiness of the whole story.

Highly recommended to anyone looking for something gothic and spooky to read.

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

Confession - I had a nightmare reading this book! (it's that good!) 
It's the 1970s, sisters tween Loo and teen Bee move - along with their three siblings - to a remote cottage in the middle of nowhere. Mum Cathy had planned  what sounds like off grid living and home educating the kids. But when things don't go to plan and her husband has to work away to earn cash for the family - unexplained happenings begin. Strange knockings on the wall, marbles falling from the ceiling, chairs moving across the room.  Loo and Bee are frightened and mum Cathy gets the police involved - and that's when paranormal experts enter the family's life.
Today Mum Cathy is in a nursing home and 'sees' a girl outside her window. Are the hauntings happening again? Daughter Loo, now known as Lucy, visits her mum to try to put her fears at rest. Yet she discovers another paranormal group want to find out what really happened in the 70s and Lucy, really, really doesn't want to go back to the now abandoned cottage;
Scary, tense, genuinely eery - I LOVED this.

This was a brilliantly spooky tale set over two timeframes. The narrative cleverly flipped between the girls as children and decades later, and I enjoyed the ghostly plot line that haunted both narratives. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about paranormal investigators, and this element was fascinating. The horror built to a satisfyingly dark conclusion, and I was sorry this book had to end.

DNF. I couldn't connect with this book at all and found it really hard to get into. I had high hopes for this, which is a shame.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book by Amanda Mason


a whopping 4 star read, it was so gripping, hooking and i read it within 1 day!!  Such a thriller which i really enjoyed well done Amanda Mason!!  Well done for writing this in such a great way!!

I really enjoyed this haunting tale of family secrets and teenage girls, with its gothic undertones. The writing is excellent, really evocative and chilling, and I could visualise the farmhouse in my head as I read. The book switches between the two timelines with ease, drifting between characters in the past and present. While I often figure out what's going on in books, this one remained a mystery until the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and it has the right amount of spookiness mixed with psychological family drama, with a mix of interesting and well developed characters. A favourite of the year!

This was a good read; well-written although slightly predictable at times. It dragged a little at points. Would recommend.

I am not usually a fan of horror/thriller books. But I can safely say I loved this book, and how it made me feel. Not quite scared or on edge, but also not entirely comfortable.

The story has plenty of unexpected events and twists, without it becoming too hard to follow, and it was overall a very easy and enjoyable book to read.

With thanks to Netgalley and Bonner Zaffre

The wayward girls by Amanda Mason

I had heard so much about this book that I wanted to really enjoy this book, but sadly I found myself plodding thought it as if I was in a mudpit. The first 150 pages were good but then it just didn't hold my attention..sorry

A well-written and often sad story. This book is not my normal genre a little too creepy for me. I will read more books from this author though I enjoyed this.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

An enjoyable mystery with a paranormal twist. Takes place in a “then and now” form.  Sisters Loo and Bee live with their mom and dad and siblings in a rambling farm in the 1970s. Their parents are considered “outsiders” in their small communities. The kids are home schooled, the dad’s an artist. The mom wanted an easier life, and while it seems ideal on the front, it’s doesn’t sound as easy as it looked in the idea stage. 

During one summer strange things start happening in the house and before long a slew of paranormal experts and professors, reporter and a medium are on the property interviewing the family, trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. 

In the present day, the mom, Cathy, is now in a care home and Loo has been called home to come and see to Cathy’s care and needs. At the same time a modern day team of university students are conducting a paranormal research investigation Loo and Cathy’s former house which has been empty for many years now.

The chapters flip back and forth between what happened back then and what’s happening present day. It’s been a while since I read it so I can’t remember too much of the intricacies of the plot. Lots of characters, can’t remember anything that particularly stood out. It was a well written mystery that kept the pages turning. 

Intriguing more in the past stages for me than the present. The present day sounded like a thousand other ghost hunter books/tv shows/movies but it was interesting in comparing the temperament of adult Loo to the child Loo in the past along with how she dealt with things back then and what she’s thinking/feeling now as the recent events unfold. 

There were a few twists at various points which I had already guessed, however, that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the novel.  The twists were believable and the errors involved human and understandable, given the circumstances.  Some good family and relationship dynamics added into the mix. 

All in all a very enjoyable read and definitely an author I would read again.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for approving my request to view the title.

I can’t lie.
I struggled with this.

It’s a book I’ve had since last year. I tried reading it then, but I couldn’t connect.
So I put it down intending to pick it up again. I thought it might be my mood or something as in theory this sounds like a book I would love.

Sadly, I put it down and forgot.

Again this year I promised myself I’d read my backlist of books in and out and remembered this one.

Ding dong, I had an idea. I’ll listen to it on audio.

I didn’t like the narrators voice at all. Too grinding for me. So that didn’t work.

I went back to reading it.

So many characters to retain and work out.

Ok I plodded on.

The twist.....was that it?

The writing was ok, but this story just wasn’t a good match for me.

Really atmospheric account of a ghost hunt in the 1970s, juxtaposed with a revisit in the modern day. It's very immersive, with a very well-wrought setting and robust characters. A little slow in places, but a strong novel.

Mysteries and strange things going on in an isolated house - now and 1976.  Loved the cover and the description, but sadly not much else.  I knew as I started reading it that I wasn’t going to enjoy it and then when it took an absolute age to change from 1% to 2%, I knew for sure.  Would’ve liked it much better had it been half as long.  I’m sure lots of people will enjoy this book, so I’m probably in the minority here.

This book really wasn't what in was expecting. I never usually pick up ghost stories or even horror books in general. I did enjoy this book though. It was atmospheric and haunting. I found the ending unsatisfying though so hence the 3 star rating.

I can well remember the long, hot summer of 1976 when everyone said they would go mad with heat, and for Loo and Bee and their siblings their lives in the isolated cottage at Iron Sike Farm on the Yorkshire Moors are far from idyllic as the villagers treat them with indifference and it is their very isolation which allows imagination to run rife.

With its Gothic setting, the isolation and the sheer weight of supernatural happenings, The Wayward Girls has all the hallmarks of a traditional ghost story. Told in alternating narratives that of Loo in 1976, and then as Lucy as she is known in the here and now, a story emerges which is as complex as it is frightening.

The author writes well and keeps the tension cranked up to high especially when as she describes the struggles the family had in 1976 when mum, Cathy was trying, amidst a certain amount of chaos, to keep the family together. Lucy's struggles in the present as she meets other demands placed upon her forms the basis for the second part of the novel.

The Wayward Girls is an interesting and accomplished debut novel. It's truly creepy in places and made me jump at shadows even though I knew that there was nothing there. I think that setting the earlier part of the book in the stifling heat of the summer of '76 is inspired as it gives an altogether different sort of dynamic to what is, in effect, a spine-chilling ghost story which makes perfect reading for a dark wintery evening

I just couldn't get into this novel. The plot should have been something I love, yet it just didn't grab me. I felt slight attachment to the characters, but this wasn't enough to help pull me through the book. I found it a chore trying to get myself to read this, and so gave up in the end.