These Fleeting Shadows
Author: Kate Alice Marshall
Genre: Young Adult Horror
Publishing Date: August 9, 2022
About the Book
The Haunting of Hill House meets Knives Out in a bid for an inheritance that will leave Helen Vaughan either rich…or dead.
Helen Vaughan doesn’t know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven’t spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she’s shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she’ll be left with nothing.
There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen’s dreams—and now those dreams have become a waking nightmare. Helen knows that if she is going to survive the year, she needs to uncover the secrets of Harrow. Why is the house built like a labyrinth? What is digging the holes that appear in the woods each night?And why does the house itself seem to be making her sick?
With each twisted revelation, Helen questions what she knows about Harrow, her family, and even herself. She no longer wonders if she wants to leave…but if she can.
Content Warning: Harm to children/death of children – non-graphic and not on the page, but prevalent in backstory & plot, Death & dying, Body horror (surreal, not gory), Violence (against MC & others), Alcoholism (not a main character), Discussion of a lobotomy performed in the 1800s.
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About the Author
Kate Alice Marshall is the author of young adult and middle grade novels, including I AM STILL ALIVE, RULES FOR VANISHING, and THIRTEENS.
She lives outside of Seattle with her husband, two dogs named Vonnegut and Octavia, and two kids. They all conspire to keep her on her toes.
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My Thoughts
When you’ve fled a house in your youth, the last thing you want to hear is you have to go back. There’s a fear of Harrow house, and rightfully so. The house is labyrinthine, and you are locked in your room at night. But when weird things start happening to Helen, at least, weirder than usual for Harrow house, she needs to investigate what is going on and why her grandfather wanted her back at Harrow.
If atmospheric were an awards category, Marshall would win the highest. This is an atmospheric, creeptacular novel. The story leaves you in the dark a good deal of the time. However, it is through that confusion that sits down on your chest and keeps you reading. Because the more Helen learns, the more bizarre things get. Amidst Helen’s desire to find out what is going on, there is some romance at play which adds a bit of lightness to the story. With some characters to love and some characters you love to hate, this is a truly twisted read. Thank you, TBR Tours and Penguin Group, for sending along this super fun read!
Favorite Quotes
“No system can remain stable forever. All things fall to ruin.”
“A year suddenly felt like a very long time…”
“The house felt dead with half the family gone, but you could learn a lot from a corpse.”
“The trouble with knowing that there was something beyond the natural realm was not knowing the limits of it.”
“There were wicked things within Harrow’s walls. And I was one of them.”
“I could watch her laugh forever. I could stare at her until I memorized the constellations of her freckles…”
I can’t tell you how fun this book was! Check out the other stops on the blog tour at TBR and Beyond to see what other bloggers are saying.
Rae's Reading Lounge 
This sounds very good, I like how you pointed out how atmospheric it is. Nice review, Rae!
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