This is my second attempt at a novel by Sarah Langan. She is a good writer but tends to take a long time to say anything. Building background and atmosphere can be a good thing unless it takes over the plot. Audrey's Door is part haunted house story and part psychological thriller. It's the psychological thriller that falls flat. Essentially, without giving too much away, the plot hinges around a young architect that moves into a strange apartment building with strange residents. She begins to get messages to build a door. Much of the time we are wondering if Audrey is dreaming, experiencing a strange reality or just insane. Our protagonist is not hinged well herself and this is part of the problem. In The Shining, Jack Torrance is a nice guy who struggles with his demons. In The Haunting of Hill House, Eleanor is barely together but has a delicate innocence that makes her vulnerable yet likable. In Rosemary's Baby, Rosemary has all the hopes of a new mother and we read at edge as we watch her hopes destroyed. I mentioned these three novels because Audrey's Door has a little of each in its tale but Audrey never really comes alive for me. Her back story doesn't blend with the horrors to come and way too much time is spent on it. The last ten percent of this book really soars . Langan can scare the pants off the reader when she wants. But she takes forever to do it. While I found this better than her previous [b:The Keeper|65927|The Keeper (Keeper, #1)|Sarah Langan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347804692s/65927.jpg|2252549], it just wasn't interesting enough. AS far as haunted house novels go, I just can't recommend it.
Marvin's Bookish Blog
Another darn place to list my reviews and to obsess about books.
This is my second attempt at a novel by Sarah Langan. She is a good writer but tends to take a long time to say anything. Building background and atmosphere can be a good thing unless it takes over the plot. Audrey's Door is part haunted house story and part psychological thriller. It's the psychological thriller that falls flat. Essentially, without giving too much away, the plot hinges around a young architect that moves into a strange apartment building with strange residents. She begins to get messages to build a door. Much of the time we are wondering if Audrey is dreaming, experiencing a strange reality or just insane. Our protagonist is not hinged well herself and this is part of the problem. In The Shining, Jack Torrance is a nice guy who struggles with his demons. In The Haunting of Hill House, Eleanor is barely together but has a delicate innocence that makes her vulnerable yet likable. In Rosemary's Baby, Rosemary has all the hopes of a new mother and we read at edge as we watch her hopes destroyed. I mentioned these three novels because Audrey's Door has a little of each in its tale but Audrey never really comes alive for me. Her back story doesn't blend with the horrors to come and way too much time is spent on it. The last ten percent of this book really soars . Langan can scare the pants off the reader when she wants. But she takes forever to do it. While I found this better than her previous [b:The Keeper|65927|The Keeper (Keeper, #1)|Sarah Langan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347804692s/65927.jpg|2252549], it just wasn't interesting enough. AS far as haunted house novels go, I just can't recommend it.
