✨Im Literary Anxious✨

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲🕒: 2 minutes

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Bea Northwick✍🏻 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 248📖

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁: Standalone
𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲: HAE
𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: Single POV

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪

“𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱? 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲”

This might be the best gothic romance I’ve read to date.

It spooked.
It romanced.
It gaslit me.
It made me devolve into the feral version of Sherlock Holmes.

The Cruel Dark follows Millicent Foxboro, a secretary hired to work for a reclusive professor in an isolated mansion that may or may not be haunted.

(Heavy on the may.)

Millie was an absolute delight. The woman possesses exactly zero self-preservation instincts, but we love her anyway. She repeatedly encounters situations that would send any reasonable person sprinting in the opposite direction and responds by investigating further.

I hate to say it, but Millie would absolutely be the girl in the horror movie who runs upstairs instead of out the front door.

Creepy noises?
Let’s follow them.

Sketchy maid begging you to follow her into the creepy part of the house?
Absolutely.

Ghostly apparitions?
Let’s touch them.

Ma’am… Straight to jail.

And then there’s Callum Hughes.

The broody professor.
The mysterious recluse.
The man who somehow managed to be equal parts romantic hero and prime murder suspect for most of the book.

The tension between Millie and Callum was immaculate. Equal parts flirtation, banter, longing, and “perhaps we shouldn’t be alone together.” Which naturally meant I wanted them alone together constantly.

The mystery? Absolute chef’s kiss.
Bea did such a phenomenal job layering clue after clue without ever making me feel like I was ahead of the story.

Every time I thought I had figured things out, she casually slid another revelation across the table and watched me lose my mind.

At various points I was convinced:

• Callum did it.

• The house did it.

• The ghosts did it.

• Everyone did it.

𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝙏𝙊 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝘿𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙄𝙏, 𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏?!

Reader, there’s a reason I’m not in the criminal justice field.

Special mention goes to Dr. Hannigan and Ms. Dillard, who I’d absolutely allow to adopt me. One gave me eccentric uncle energy, and the other looked permanently five seconds away from smiting someone.

By the time the truth finally came out…
Let’s just say those last 30 pages were a WILD ride.

My Kindle notes went something like this:

“Eh… nope. Don’t go with the sketchy maid.”

“She went with the sketchy maid.” 🙄

“What is self-preservation for 20, Alex?”

“Oh fuck no. Is he molding her into his DEAD wife?!”

“Well DAMN.”

“WTF [REDACTED].”

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!”

My husband, who was lying next to me in bed, became increasingly concerned for my wellbeing (he should know better by now).

If you love Gothic romances, haunted houses, tragic backstories, suspiciously attractive professors, ghost stories, and mysteries that keep you guessing until the very end, The Cruel Dark is absolutely worth your time.

Also, if you’re anything like me, you’ll immediately pick up Lover afterward because you’ll need to know what was going on inside Callum’s head the entire time.

Trust me.

It’s so, so worth it.