An interesting read. Creppy & atmosdpheric. The supernatural aspects bring the right level of horror & suspense, and the story is both well crafted & beautifuly written, but some how I couldn't gel with the main characters, leaving me slightly cold to the sub plots & twists. An entertaining read & good ending. Will look oput for more from this author with interest

Overall not a bad read but with a few tweaks could have been better. Doesn't score highly on the action front- more thoughts and feelings. Quite spooky but nothing really sinister. I did get exasperated with the characters at times. Odd ending. In my "if you found it in the library at a hotel you'd happily read by the pool" sort of book. A tad unbelievable at the end too.
Overall 3.5/5 stars

"The Toll House" by Carly Reagon has some good bits and some not so good bits it it. Lets focus on the positives: I enjoyed Kelda, Dylan and Nick's characters - some nice dynamics and fleshed out characters; the description of the house with echoes of the past was believable to a point with hints of "scary" moments when white pebbles appear from nowhere and there is a strong scent of lavender; most of the present story was enjoyable too. What I wasn't so keen on was the section set in the past. I understand it was there to show how evil Joseph was and how obsessed with Bella he was, so much so that their actions affect the "present" storyline. However I wasn't convinced about the characterisations or whether their ghosts or spirits would travel beyond the Toll House to haunt and affect the present as much as they did.

A new author and a gothic tale which had me reading late into the night. Set in two time periods then present and 1793.this is a ghostly tale and so much more. Bella the wife of the toll house keeper Jo has gone into labour and dies in Child birth along with her new born. Jo is distraught, looking for his wife and signs of her. As his grief takes over he becomes more manic and is eventually hanged after killing.
Forward to the present and Kelda and her son Dylan are the new owners of the Toll House. Strange things start happening and a large crack in the kitchen wall begins to appear. Revealing a death mask of a young woman. Is this just a restless spirit or is it something else??? I just had to keep on reading I HAD TO KNOW THE TRUTH and when the truth was finally revealed it left me speechless. As I said before a new author and one to watch. Heart breaking, gripping, wonderful characters and fantastic storytelling.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

This was an easy to read and well written debut novel which I thoroughly enjoyed. The tension was well built and the book was spooky as intended. I will look out for further novels by this writer.

This was a gothic, haunting and atmospheric story that I couldn’t put down. It was gripping and engaging the whole way through with a level of suspense and unpredictability that added an extra layer to the storytelling. It was a chilling read that has stayed with me since I read it. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Kelda and her young son, Dylan, have just moved into the isolated, toll house on the outskirts of town. The toll house is a very old house and in fact dates back to 1783 as a plaque on one of its walls says. It’s been empty for years and has largely been tenanted by mice and perhaps something else during that time. But it’s all Kelda can afford. She’s 31, dropped out of university to bring up Dylan and works as a PA to the demanding Cassandra. But it’s not all bad as Kelda has met the dashing doctor, Simon, on a dating app and they are going to meet up. She feels that life could be looking up for her as she begins to start making the toll house into a family home. But the apple trees that she plants don’t take, and Dylan starts not wanting to sleep in his room. He says that he sees a lady in a long dress carrying flowers. Dylan also draws pictures of a man with black holes for eyes. This is Joe who was obsessed with Bella not wanting to share her with anyone, even their own child, and so his obsession inadvertently leads to the death of his most cherished possession.
One night Kelda and Dylan have a row and he throws a saucepan against the kitchen wall. It makes a huge dent in it and reveals something hidden behind it. It’s a face, a death mask, and a hidden force has now been unleashed. Kelda begins to feel watched all the time as the strange happenings now begin in earnest. As the gap in the cavity wall where the death mask is seems to grow larger she wonders what they have uncovered.
She tries to find out more about the house’s history and discovers a horrible murder that took place there in the 1860’s. The happenings all seem to centre of the woman of the house, Bella, who died in childbirth there in 1863. Kelda thinks that Bella is leaving her messages in the form of pebbles and the powerful scent of lavender. But instead of it being comforting, it’s a warning symbol.
Dylan’s drawings of a woman in a long dress wearing flowers and the dark atmosphere in the cottage with its secrets culminate on the night of the party organised by Kelda’s sister, Emma. It results in one person ending up in hospital after claiming that they were pushed down the stairs and Simon’s strange and troubling behaviour.
This is a story of obsessional love and jealousy with a real twist at the end together with a poignant revelation. The narrative takes place over a year and intersperses the present day told in the third person with the events of 1863/64 narrated in the first person by Joe who lived there with his wife, Bella, during that time. This worked well as the reader learns about the horrific and tragic story at the heart of the book.
With the death mask I did wonder why Kelda didn’t just throw it out when she began to suspect that there might be a link to its discovery and the intensifying of the supernatural events. One previous owner had wanted to dispose of it but then had kept it as it was part of the history of the house. But then if people in creepy stories and films did sensible thing there wouldn’t be much of a story. Although I understood the significance of the stones and their part in Bella’s belief in folk magic I did feel that they were over used.
I enjoyed it and it would be a really good read on a Halloween evening with the curtains drawn and a hot drink in your hand as the wind gets up outside.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

I first picked this up one evening when I was alone in the house and it sounded so scary - and I’m such a wuss - that I pushed it back until I had company.

This echoed the classic horror stories of years gone by. The ones that aren’t in your face or over the top, they’re not jump scares. It’s that cold fear that gets into your bones and you start to question whether you can see a face in that shadow.

I liked the dual time periods of present day and the 1800s. It’s not chopped and changed every chapter so it doesn’t feel stilted or stop/start. But it’s enough for you to feel comfortable in both time periods and they both gives nods to the other.

Even though I was thoroughly enjoying it, at about 40% of the way through I had to put it down for the day as it was scaring me too much. I’ve never read a book that’s physically given me chills; I even had to pick up a lighter book so that I could get to sleep.

Carly’s writing is so chilling, so atmospheric. It’s not full on twists and turns, they’re used sparingly but to great effect.

All the characters were fantastically written, especially our main protagonist Kelda and her son Dylan.

Even though it is very supernatural with ghosts and poltergeists and whatnot, it felt very tangible and so real you could feel it happening to you. I think it helps that she has interspersed it with the mundane - going to work, picking kids up from school, seeing family, doing gardening, moving house - so it lulls you into this false sense of security.

I did at first think it would make a good TV series or film but now I’ve finished it, I’m not sure it would. That’s not because it isn’t any good, on the contrary, it’s fantastic, but I think most of the terror comes from your imagination and not being able to see everything all at once, that’s where the fear lies - in the not knowing - and I think a big screen might take some of that away.

Devoured this book, gripping from beginning to end, utterly creepy and fascinating. The story of a girl and her son moving into the toll House, at last a chance to be independent and determined to make it work but there are other forces in play. Read this deep into the night if you dare perfectly scarey.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book. It was creepy and I enjoyed it but I think the writing could have been tighter. Some of the characters seemed contrived ie Simon and Emma and I’m not at all sure why there needed to be the back story about Simon to be honest …. Pretty unbelievable. Lucy, too, amazingly had experienced a similar situation so has no hesitation in believing Kelda.. how convenient about Nick and the fiancé ….the reader assumes there will be a happy ever after even though the revelation from Emma at the party was never brought up. Some of the plot was very convenient. However, I reiterate that I enjoyed the book.

Sometimes a house chooses you and this seems to have been the case for Kelda. I imagine it was a beautiful property but its history continued to remain in the present. My advice for property seekers is to choose where you live wisely!

Toll houses are instantly recognisable even if they do vary a little. Using one as the setting for this ghost story was rather clever as they instantly evoke a bygone era. Creaking carriages, the clip-clop of hooves and guttering lanterns spring to mind when we see these esoteric monuments to the past. It's a hard job to write a ghost story, especially the part where interaction with the living and physical objects are concerned. Having lived in a haunted thatch cottage where the ghost made herself known quite frequently, The Toll House just didn't come anywhere near the lived experience. For those who haven't experience of such things, I can imagine the novel to be rather scary but for me, it wasn't. There was a lovely description, 'a dream that ran away from her before she could catch it'. I sometimes get those and it's really frustrating. Anyway, I'll score it a three and a half but with rounding it becomes a four.

What a fabulous read,told in two timelines ,mid 1800,s and the present day,this is a spooky ,atmospheric,fast paced story with supernatural things happening.Kelda and her son Dylan move into The Toll House looking for a fresh start,it is secluded and creepy right from the start.The house has a dreadful history unbeknown to Kelda when she bought the house ,we slowly learn the horror of this when reading about the past .A great story with a satisfactory ending ,I don't think I would have stayed more than 5 minutes in that house !!! I look forward to reading more from this Author .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

"I don't believe people just disappear because they're dead. Energy has to go somewhere."

Many thanks to the Little Brown Book group, the author, and NetGalley for my copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book in less than 24 hours, and I enjoyed it significantly more than I thought I would when I opened up the file. I assumed that I would like it, given that it fits my tastes well with the haunted house and mystery, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I am SO thankful for being approved for The Toll House; let me tell you why.

The story has two different narrators, set in two different times: Kelda in third person in the present day, and Joseph in first person in 1863/4. Kelda turned out to be highly relatable to me, which certainly helped me become absorbed in the book: we're the same age, have the same occupation, both bought old houses, are mothers to young boys, and she even parents Dylan in the same way I do my son. I rarely ever see myself in characters, so this was... odd. In a good way. I almost felt like I was reading about a possible parallel me, haha.
Joseph (again, another weird connection to my life, seeing as my son is called Joseph!) is an incredibly interesting narrator. Absolutely blew my mind, he did, with his apparent descent into madness, and the truth about Bella that comes out at the end.

Bella. Oh, Bella. Beautiful, kind, gentle Bella, who put her belief in flowers and pebbles, who loved her unborn children with the strength only a mother could understand. I loved Bella, her presence always so strong throughout the book. I wish I could talk about the ending here; I wish I could really go off the rails and scream about the twist that cemented my love for Bella. Bella was good; Bella was always nothing but good.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was more going on in the book than simply focusing on the house and its mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed Kelda's interactions with her friends and family, and the layers of "real" that these added to her. Kelda has a very difficult life, but she really does do her best by her son, and she does it brilliantly. A lesser person would have crumbled, but Kelda does not, minus her frequent indulgence in wine.

The story was very easy to read, and sometimes that's exactly what we want and need. The prose is simple and uncomplicated, but for me at least I was happy with this. This is an instance where I didn't want colourful purple prose or complicated metaphors - I wanted a good, solid read. And I got it.

The twists and turns in this book were fabulous, and the final few chapters had me goggling at my Kindle in shock. I will eagerly look out for future books by Carly Reagon, and I really hope she writes another ghost thriller at some point! I'll be thinking about The Toll House for a long time to come yet.

This was a looooong read. The story was good, and very interesting. And it made me tense reading it. I thought there would be more of a story with her sister and Simon and the adoption. I think k there is enough content for a sequel.

This ghost story switches between contemporary and historical narratives as it tells the tale of different residents of the same house. This was a bit prosaic for me but would make a good first ghost story for someone unfamiliar or perhaps uncomfortable with the genre.

Reading 'The Toll House' by Carly Reagon, I found myself wanting to shake the author and cry, 'More action! More action!'

This was a disappointing read: rather than telling me what Kelda feels and thinks, I wished Reagon had, at the start of the novel for instance, shown me what was sinister about the house on Kelda and Dylan's approach; what did they actually see? Then I could have made up my own mind that it was sinister, rather than bluntly being told by the author, 'an odd feeling crept over her [...]. A stirring in the pit of her stomach. [...] The house. It seemed to want her, need her'.

I'm not a fan of authors spelling out characters' thoughts and feelings as though taking down dictation. I want to feel what the characters feel, not just be told they're, for example, unsettled; show me the thing that makes the character feel unsettled and then I'll feel unsettled too.

As a result of this pedestrian style of writing, this novel is a DNF for me. 'The Toll House' basically comprised: 'she did this'; 'she thought that'; 'then this happened'; 'he said that' and 'she replied'. Everything was told to me, there was no necessity for any work to be done on my part as the reader. The novel, I felt, was impossible to invest in.

I want an author to startle me with their skill with words. I want to be wowed by an author's flair. I want writing to be so characteristic that I could pick it out of a crowd as as a certain author. I don't have reading time to waste on books that plod along like this one.

On top of that, the shift between present tense for the narrative of 1863 and past tense for 'now'/'six months ago' was unpleasantly jarring.

If I'm going to love a ghost story, I need the linguistic elegance of Wilkie Collins. Give me the muscular characterisation of Susan Hill, or give me the shock of the grotesque like Sue Rainsford, the taut atmosphere of a Laura Purcell novel. I want the blunt force of a Shirley Jackson story.

This novel was, in fact, carried off so much more convincingly and compellingly three years ago by the fantastic Alison Littlewood in 'Mistletoe'.

Despite this, my thanks go to Little, Brown Book Group UK for the chance to review an eARC.

A spooky, gothic-tinged thriller that kept me glued to the pages. Very well-written and the dual timeline story really sucked me in and filled me with dread and unease. Well-done!

Single mother Kelda and her son Dylan are looking for a fresh start when moving into the old toll house on a quiet road out of town. It's not much but all Kelda could afford; it's gets them out of her mother's house and moved them closer to friend Nick, and into a new job. Dylan has to start at a new school and make new friends, though he doesn't get along with his new teacher Mr Yeo. Stresses of the move and the clean slate boil over and during an argument, Dylan throws a saucepan at the wall in the kitchen, cracking the plasterboard and revealing a creepy death mask sealed inside.

The novel also swaps between present day and the 1860's following the former toll collector who lived in the house and whose wife passed away there. The death mask is linked back to this time period and after it is revealed in the present day, Kelda and Dylan begin to experience disturbances. Dylan sees a woman in his room, there's a pervasive feeling of sorrow, and being watched for Kelda. As thing escalate Kelda tries to protect her son as best she can while being unsure of her own mind.

There are a lot of relationship interactions within The Toll House, which adds an extra layer of intrigue to the story. The paranormal aspects are creeping and sinister as we learn more about Kelda, Dylan and the former residents of the house. Little twists along the way keep you guessing as to who is causing the disruption in the toll house and why. Exploring themes of child loss, death, love and obsession, The Toll House offers readers an alternative to the vast gothic mansion horror with the cosy/claustrophobic setting.

Highly recommend this spooky, atmospheric novel. Dual timeline story set in mid 1900's in a Toll House and the present day.
In the mid 1800's Bella is in labour, she has had many miscarriages and her husband Joe wishes only the best for this baby's birth and Bella's health
Present day and Kelda moves into the Toll House with her young son, but straightaway he is scared to sleep in his room, all he sees is the woman.
Nasty smells penetrate the house despite cleaning and Kelda finds white pebbles everywhere.
Great crossovers between the past and present to set the scene for the reader
The Toll House has everything you can expect from a ghost story, chilling and dark tale. Perfect to read at Halloween.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for the opportunity to read this advanced copy I'm under no obligation to leave my review

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.
A horror book that thrills your senses, gives you the creep, gives you feelings of intense despair and slowly burns you as you go page after page. Intense read, highly recommended.