Shannon Kirk | IN THE VINES

Plot (via Goodreads):

Mary Olivia Pentecost, known as Mop, was born into one of the wealthiest families in the country—and one of the most guarded. Now, two years after her mother’s mysterious death, Mop is seeking closure on the disquieting tragedy by returning to the New England seaside estate of her cloistered Aunty Liv—once her closest relative and confidante.

But behind the walls of the isolated estate, the shadows of the past are darker than Mop imagined. The puzzles of the family history are not to be shared, but unearthed. With each revelation comes a new, foreboding threat—and for Mop, the grave suspicion that to discover Aunty Liv’s secrets is to become a prisoner of them.

How well do we know the people we love? How well do we wantto know them? The answers are as twisted as a tangle of vines in this throat-clutching novel of psychological suspense.

Review:

This is the novel that was made for bloggers.Why do I say that? It's simple. When you read something like this, it is the kind of novel that you don't want to shut up about. It's brilliant, scandalous, and one of the best gothic novels I've ever had the pleasure of reading. When you read a book like this, it's like you don't want to go back to reality. I was actually scolding myself for reading this one during the week because I didn't want to go to work, I didn't want to sleep, and I didn't want to even put it down for the simplest tasks, like eating. Who needs food when you have a novel like this to devour?

The plot to this one is amazing. It's dark, violent, and brilliantly cinematic. Not only does it feature alternate perspectives, but the perspectives are in different timelines so you know something awful is brewing in the earlier timeframe and I had no idea what to expect or a clue as to how we got from the lives of the characters years ago to present time. The difference in present time versus the years ago were so beautifully done. The present time chapters are terrifying and violent and so creepy...the detail in them just worms its way into your brain and sends shivers down your spine. The contrast to the chapters of the past is fantastically effective as those chapters are also dark, but a little bit lighter on the suspense. What I loved about this was that there was something ominous and creepy brewing in the background and you can just feel it and you know something terrible is going to happen as you're falling down the rabbit hole with no escape whatsoever. Her ability to take this plot and combine it with such a ravishing atmosphere gave me butterflies in my stomach with excitement.

The characters in this novel are just purely illuminating. You don't even have to think as to who you're reading about because they are so well-written. Not only is this novel greatly character driven, but the prose that Kirk includes in her writing, especially for a suspense novel is just a step above the rest. Her writing is poetic and dazzling. My mind was on complete literary overload as I am reading this beautiful writing that features such a gothic plot with characters that just make every word explode off the pages. Even the smallest details in this novel shimmer and the plot twists in the second half are not only brilliant, but reading dynamite in my eyes. 

Now, I could talk forever about the ending to this novel. I mean, everything leading up to it was purely amazing, but this ending just took it one step further. Yes, it's great to read a book that wraps up everything and gives you all of the explanation that you need, but I had high expectations with this one and was a little nervous to get to the ending as everything up to the ending was creepy, effective, and just the type of novel you can tell took a ton of time and effort to plot and keep creative. Kirk really thought outside of the box with this one and its imminent in every word, action, and character. The ending to this one just completely blew me away. Every expectation was exceeded and I couldn't believe the words I was reading as this one came to a bittersweet ending that left me dropping a few "f bombs" as I was reading...and yes, I said them out loud. There are some details in this ending that just completely made me uncomfortable in the best way possible with their vivid descriptions. I need to keep this review spoiler-free, but lets just say there is a character that is so crazy, she is shooting nails out of a nail gun into the air in anger and it was just the best thing I have read in a long time and my jaw dropped at that moment. 

I can't say enough about this one. Every single aspect of it was brilliant. Kirk took an extraordinary plot, phenomenal characters, and a sparkling prose and completely blew my mind with this novel. I even had the pleasure of speaking with her as I added this novel to my Instagram story and I am so thankful that she let me unleash my feelings about what I was going through as I was reading it because the pacing with this novel was intense and I couldn't wrap my head around what was going on. So, if you're looking for a gothic suspense novel that will take you in so many different directions and you're sick of these other thrillers that are a lot alike, get this book and lose yourself in it because that's what I did and I will never regret it. Shannon Kirk, I am ready for more of your work and I am so thankful for not only this novel, but the messages we exchanges as I was freaking out on Instagram.

Special thanks to Thomas & Mercer for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5