This was a rough one. I could not get into the story at all. I did not care for the plot and I did not care for the characters. I love sapphic books, especially compared with horror. This was not it.

The first half was so incredibly slow. It felt like not much happened and the author just had to drag the story a lot. At the end I was so bored, I skimmed the pages (sorry not sorry). This book is marketed at as horror, but I really missed the suspense and the actual scary parts of it.

The romance felt flat. I didn't feel the chemisty between Norah and Agnes, at all. It took quite a bit for them to actually get together and even then I did not see why they would actually be interested in each other.

Giving it 2 stars, only because I'm in a good mood.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eArc in return for an honest review.

Set in the 1800's, main character Norah flees Glasgow for a marriage of convenience in rural Scotland. She quickly realises that her husband's personality does not match the loving correspondence she had received. In her isolation, Norah befriends the housekeeper Agnes and slowly, she discovers the secrets of the house and those within it.

It took me until approximately 50% to grasp what was going on. Though I appreciate the writing style, I struggled to keep on track. Agnes ended up being my favourite character - because she had the most depth, but it took a while to even find that. I did however love the gothic setting. Bleak vistas, old house, dinners in a dining room and days of sketching. Unfortunately, that didn't make up for some of the hard to follow writing and the ending that came from nowhere.

In summary, the premise of the story was interesting, but th execution was a bit confusing and fell flat.

Many thanks to Rebellion and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

I haven't read a gothic sapphic horror novel in some time, despite it being one of my favourite genres. I really enjoyed the first half of the book and its characters. I especially liked that Norah's backstory was revealed in glimpses, so I, as the reader, was also a bit guessing as to what the true nature of her relationship with Isa had been. What the book lacked in the latter half was unfortunately the right pacing. At around the 65%-mark I gave up on reading it for about a week before resuming because I felt like the plot didn't move along. Then, the last 10% felt quite rushed compared to the rest of the book. The story in itself is good but could benefit from tightening it in the middle and making it slightly longer toward the end - maybe with a "1 year later"- chapter even. I was rooting for the two main characters and would have liked for their ending to be a little more fleshed out.

DNF at 43%

I really struggled to connect with the story and characters, despite the good writing. I'm no stranger to slow burn plots, but at 43% it just felt like nothing of consequence happened. I might pick this book back up in the autumn - its spooky and atmospheric writing would make it a good fall/winter read.

This is one of those books where any time I picked it up I didn't want to put it back down. It's a sapphic gothic horror and anyone who knows me knows that is a combination I'm bound to love. Seeing it compared to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca on NetGalley and in a few reviews instantly made me curious because that is such an iconic novel and a very bold statement to make. And I honestly wasn't disappointed.

This is a beautifully written gothic horror/romance following Norah a woman who wants to escape her past in the city by marrying a man she's been exchanging letters with who lives in a remote area on the Scottish coast. When she gets there she quickly starts to realise that living at Corrain House might not quite be the married life she envisioned herself having.

The setting of Corrain House works so well for this novel. It's an old building on the cliffs which feels as though it is fighting against the natural world surrounding it. Every description we are given makes it sound like a dark unsettling place to be and the land around it doesn't sound much more welcoming. The weather is dark and moody and it all works well to make Norah feel isolated from the outside world. The residents of Corrain don't help much on that front either as they seem distant and unwelcoming and clearly have secrets they'd like to keep hidden.

Plot wise I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was tense and mysterious throughout. There were some things I saw coming but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing it let me feel a little smart for putting things together a while before Norah did (though I don't think we can hold it against her since I had the unfair advantage of knowing what genre of novel she was in). Still even with predicting some things others came as a complete surprise and looking back I can see the clues/foreshadowing that was present which does make twists/reveals feel more satisfying to me.

It does have a fairly slow pace at times but I feel like that's the norm for the genre and in my opinion it really helps the tension and suspense grow. To be honest if anything I think that it could have been slightly slower paced in parts as although I felt like I understood Norah and her backstory really well I would have loved for Agnes' backstory to be a bit more fleshed out.

Overall if you are a fan of gothic literature but wish it had more lesbian romance in it this is a pretty perfect book for you. My only regret is reading this in the middle of a summer heatwave instead of during autumn/winter when it's all dark and cold out. I definitely feel like it would have added something to the experience for me.

A drafty mansion house full of secrets, set in the Scottish Highlands and laced with folklore, say no more!

Norah marries out of convenience to escape her troubles at home. Any hope of forming a real relationship with her husband is dashed though as he appears distant, distracted and absent. Then the visions begin...

This was dark and tense from the start. The brutal and moody landscape of the Scottish highlands in winter was portrayed like a character in itself and only added weight to the heavy atmosphere. The mystery of the house became more layered as time went on and I felt myself reaching for this one...up to a point. My stone cold heart is not really one for romance and when this starts to become the focus of a story, I tend to lose interest. The mystery still had me intrigued but I felt the pace halted with a lot of speculation over a romance. Overall though, this was a gothic fiction fan’s staple and I can see this being a popular one.

With thanks to the author, publishers Rebellion, and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook copy of this work in exchange for my honest review.

This was an interesting gothic mystery, with an element of horror and the supernatural thrown into the mix.

The author's writing style and prose were a delight to read, and kept me engaged through some parts of the story where the pace seemed to drop a little and not very much was happening. Norah's relationship with Gunn was unexpected and for me didn't add a lot to the plot though while, possibly due to the blurb and its comparison with Rebecca, I was expecting a bit more of a horror element which was a little lacking in my opinion.

Overall the plot was well crafted though, and the storyline compelling enough to keep me reading through to what was ultimately a satisfying ending.

Thank you to Rebellion/Solaris Publishing and Net Galley for a free e-ARC of 'The Needfire' by MK Hardy.

The Needfire, set in the 1800s, follows Norah Mackenzie, a queer woman who enters a marriage with a Lord in the north of Scotland. The marriage proposition began from convenience but they begin to develop a closer relationship when corresponding with each other before they meet. However, when she arrives at the dreary and haunting Corrain House and meets her 'distant, melancholic husband', she realises her new life is not what she had expected.

'"We've left scars all over this land. Our rigs and furrows. Our bothies and kilns. Our dry dykes and cairns. Everything fails. You have to wonder when we'll learn." Norah blinked in confusion. "Learned what?" "We're not wanted. We don't belong here."'

I absolutely loved The Needfire! As with most of the ARCs I request, I began the book with no expectations other than being intrigued by the story's premise. I was blown away by the prose and the story's concept - The Needfire is written beautifully and builds the atmosphere of Corrain House and the surrounding land very well. At times, the vocabulary felt a little unnecessarily complex and I found myself having to google a lot of words to understand what was being said - although that may be the fault of my vocabulary and can be somewhat understood through the time period of the book. My only other criticism is that there were some parts of the story that I would have liked to have seen a bit more fleshed out

'You are afraid of the border places. You are afraid of that strand of silver that divides the land from the sea. It promises only uncertainty, change. You cross it quickly, never linger. You put out to open water and you never ever look back lest you see something there you could not stand to lose... You are afraid of thresholds - you carry your brides across them, and your dead out through the wall lest they know the way back. You bury the sinful and unbaptised beneath the perimeters of your kirks. You are afraid of the courtyard. Enclosed on all sides and yet open to the sky, that cursed tree grasping for the light. Growing things where nothing should grow. You are afraid of the moments between not knowing and knowing. That limbo between the path not taken and the consequences of actions. You are afraid of the fork in the road.'

We see Norah slowly lose her mind the longer she stays at Corrain House - MK Hardy write this aspect of the story really well, it was extremely immersive and unsettling. I also loved seeing Norah's relationship with the housekeeper 'Gunn' develop as she settles into the house and they begin to understand and trust each other more.

'Agnes Gunn did not need to use her will on Norah, did not need to ply her with herbs. She had captured her, heart and soul, and Norah could no sooner gainsay her than she could stop the tide.'

Without giving away any spoilers, I enjoyed the ending, it felt like a satisfying and full-circle way for the story to come to a close. I will definitely revisit this book again!

I LOVED THIS. LOOOOVED. The writing style had me on the edge of my seat, and sapphic gothic historical horror had me hooked immediately. Seriously. I loved reading as the character’s relationships developed throughout the book. I’m so obsessed with this.

Thank you for this ARC.

I enjoyed the book but I didn't feel the relationship between Norah and Agnes would develop as it did the signs for it and tensions just weren't there and then it was happening but it felt very cold and lifeless.

I wanted more thrilling horror elements considering it was likended to the hacienda and Rebecca. It was a gothic story set in a vivid isolating setting but I feel the similarities stop there.

The pacing of the book was also lacking as I felt so much happened in the last 10% of the book and the rest did nothing to but up tension to the ending.

I liked the authors writing style so I would pick up their books again but would hope for a story with more substance.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this one. I unfortunately ended up DNFing at 53% after feeling like the plot was going nowhere for too long.

I think the author’s writing is very beautiful but I just wasn’t drawn in enough by the plot or the characters and the gothic vibes weren’t enough to carry me through.

Thanks to Solaris publisher and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

It’s an intriguing story which kept me guessing from the beginning. One of the strands of the mystery does become obvious rather quickly but the reasons behind it are not clear, so it leads one to read on anyway. There’s quite a spooky atmosphere to it all as Norah searches for the truth behind her disastrous marriage, for me I wouldn’t call it ‘horror’ though, dark and gothic toned yes.

I see some reviewers liken this book to Rebecca, although well written I do not agree that it’s on an equal level with that. However there are some really good characters, some very well described scenes and a strong storyline with a satisfying ending. I recommend this book.

Inspired by all the classics of gothic literature but with a twist.

I really liked the premise of this book. Norah has left behind her life in Glasgow to marry a man she’s only exchanged letters with, and her new life at Corrain house isn’t quite what she expected, with only her housekeeper for company, and the local villagers very suspicious of the house and its occupants.

While there is a supernatural twist to the genre in this book, I felt things could have gone a little further. My interest was piqued throughout but it sometimes felt there wasn’t much payoff. The romance didn’t really pull me in and I didn’t feel this book was as dark ad it could have been. But overall I really enjoyed this and the writing was beautiful.

The premise of this novel was intriguing to me and indeed the first half of the book I found to be very good. Unfortunately as the relationship between Norah and Agnes developed I lost interest.

I think the blurb on this book should make it clear there is a fantasy/paranormal element. I thought for a while I was reading a gothic historical thrillery type romance but this is not quite what I got.
The writing is beautiful, feels like you’re reading heartfelt sonnets. However, it relied heavily on outlining the land and the earth and the environment which meant the actual storyline lacked drama and substance until near the end.
I’m also not entirely sure the characters settled well within their roles, they lacked flesh for me (obviously not in the literal sense).
I’m afraid this just wasn’t for me although the author certainly does have a creative way with words which is the reason I’ll give 2 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

This was quite unlike other gothic stories I've read recently - Norah is struggling to fit into her life in Corrain, all the villagers are suspicious of her and avoid the house. Her only company is the stern housekeeper Agnes who runs the while house almost singlehandedly. Norah realises the entire house is a risk of collapse and oversees structural work to save it, at the same time as it seems her own mind is crumbling.

This is a book to make you question everything, set in a house I would never wish to visit!

I really enjoyed the writing style of the first half of the book but it felt a little like the author had given up half way through and a lot of the characters didn't really develop. Some of the relationships just didn't make sense to me.

The Needfire is a richly atmospheric sapphic gothic horror. Set against the wild, untameable landscape of the Scottish Highlands, MK Hardy crafts a haunting tale steeped in mystery, emotional intensity, sensuality and supernatural dread. At times it brought to mind classic works like Rebecca, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
The novel follows Norah Mackenzie, a woman who escapes the confines of Glasgow for a marriage of convenience with a stranger she knows only through his letters. Her arrival at Corrain House quickly unravels any illusion of safety or predictability as Norah finds her husband cold and awkward, and the housekeeper, Agnes Gunn, intriguing.
Hardy excels at building a slow-burn tension, infusing every corner of Corrain House and the wild landscape beyond its walls with foreboding. The novel’s gothic elements are delivered with a delightful darkness: shadowy corridors, unsettling smells and sounds, an unrelenting fog and a creeping sense that the past is not done with the present.
The Needfire is perfect for fans of gothic fiction and writers like Stacey Halls and Jessie Burton. MK Hardy's prose is evocative, poetic at times, and always deeply rooted in a sense of place. In short, The Needfire is a captivating and eerie novel that I raced through.
Rating: ★★★★★

The Needfire by MK Hardy is such a good story. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic and the story is immaculate.

Where do I start? The gothic atmosphere of course because that’s one of my absolute favorite settings!
It’s so beautifully written and so haunting I was obsessed. Norah’s character arc was fantastic.
A beautiful book that I will be recommending forever😍