A Mist Falls Over The Castle
Livia T Hatch
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

First of all, I would like to thank Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op and Livia T Hatch for providing me with an ARC for review!
A Mist Falls Over The Castle has probably been my favourite read of the year so far! The first thing I adored was the atmosphere of the book, the world building and history surrounding Castle Ivštejn were very well done and added a lot of depth to the setting. The stories behind some of the hauntings at Ivštejn were very unsettling, and the whole story has an eerie and uneasy feeling. I also liked seeing how Ilona interacted with the staff day to day, it added wonderful contrast with the creepiness of the night and it added more dimension to all the characters.
Speaking of characters, that was another thing I loved about this book. Ilona is a really well written character and I loved reading the story from her point of view. She is very clever, sharp and determined to get what she wants. It was really interesting being in her head, especially towards the end of the book where things are revealed and she must decide how to deal with them on her own, or risk sounding mad. Josef’s character is where things get even more interesting- the nature of his existence is ambiguous at first and he is definitely not what he seems, I definitely started getting an uneasy feeling the more he appeared. I don’t want to spoil anything in this review, but there are so many twists- at one point i had to put the book down to process what I’d just read.
Overall, A Mist Falls Over The Castle was an enthralling, haunting read with lots of twists and turns! I would definitely recommend this for fans of gothic atmospheres, haunted castles and witty female leads!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This book had me at 17th-century gothic mystery and it KEPT me. I’ve heard absolutely no buzz about it which is crazy?? Because it’s so good?? Will definitely be talking this one up when it hits our shelves in November!!

I really enjoyed this. It was exactly the sort of gothic, eerie read I was in the mood for, with this constant feeling of unease running through it. There was something slightly fantastical about it, but in a crooked, Grimm fairy tale sort of way, which I really loved. It actually gave me a little bit of Susanna Clarke at times, which is very much a compliment.

I really liked Ilona as a main character too. She was interesting and compelling, and I particularly loved her character development. Without getting into spoilers, I loved that when she finally made her decision, she didn’t spend the rest of the book apologising for it or feeling sorry for herself. She basically went, yep, I’ve made my decision and I’m doing it, and I absolutely loved that about her.

I also love a book where everyone is stuck in one setting and you slowly start questioning what the hell is actually going on. The castle was such a good setting for this, especially with that whole sense of, are you actually seeing something? Is it real? Are you going mad? What is happening? It created this really unsettling atmosphere that worked so well.

The pacing and plotting were really good too. There was always something else to get to, so it never felt like the story was dragging its feet. Even the side characters were well written. You got enough of them to understand who they were and for them to add something to the story, without taking attention away from Ilona and the main storyline.

Overall, this was just a cracking read. Really gothic, eerie and slightly strange in exactly the right way, with a great setting, a compelling main character and plenty of that creeping sense of unease. It would be a great one to pick up around autumn or Halloween when you want something with that misty, spooky castle atmosphere.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC copy.

A mist falls over the castle griped me from the start. A young girl is send to marry a Duke in a crumbling castle, on arrival to the castle she discoveres the duke is not there, he befalls an accident, and hearing this, her greedy uncle arranges a new marriage to the Duke's cruel widdowed Uncle.
It is a perfect book for the upcoming season, haunted castles, magic, spirits, strangers in the woods and tragic romance.
I would give this atmospheric book more then 5 stars if i could. It gives you all the feeling!