Always, Forever

by Nancy Ohlin

Nothing is as it seems in this darkly romantic tale of infatuation and possession, inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca .

Becca was the perfect smart, gorgeous, and loved by everyone at New England’s premier boarding school, Thorn Abbey. But Becca’s dead. And her boyfriend, Max, can’t get over his loss.

Then Tess transfers to Thorn Abbey. She’s shy, insecure, and ordinary—everything that Becca wasn’t. And despite her roommate’s warnings, she falls for brooding Max.

Now Max finally has a reason to move on. Except it won’t be easy. Because Becca may be gone, but she’s not quite ready to let him go…

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Retellings, Romance, Fantasy, Ghosts, Mystery

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2013

About the author

I am the author of Consent (Simon Pulse 2015) as well as Always, Forever, a YA retelling of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and Beauty, a YA retelling of the Snow White tale.

I've also contributed to several celebrity novels, including a New York Times-bestselling YA trilogy.

My favorite cures for writers' block are long walks, long showers, popcorn, chocolate, and really expensive coffee. I talk to myself a lot while I write (you know, to make sure the dialogue zings).

Thank you for stopping by, and happy reading!

Reviews

[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Inspired by Rebecca, you say?



Daphne Du Maurier is rolling in her grave right now. I love reading alternative retellings of my favorite books. Most of the time, they're pretty bad; in some instances, they're incomprehensibly terrible. This book would be an example of one of the latter.

Rebecca holds a special place in my heart. I have a lot of favorite books, but back as far as I can remember, Rebecca has been my first favorite book. Hence, it has, and always will, hold a special place in my heart as my most beloved book.

With that said, if you're going to attempt a retelling of my favorite book of all time, you'd better do it right, or else face my wrath.

Grab some popcorn. Find a comfortable seat. Settle in.

This book fails as a modern-day YA adaptation of Rebecca. I can't help feeling that it's works better as a satire, because it is a mockery of a book. There are some tales that stand up well to a more modern interpretation, and I don't think Rebecca is one of them. In that case, it sets this book up for failure before the book already begin.

The setting is a modern-day boarding school, drama-laced version of Rebecca, with a forced and senseless supernatural twist. Our heroine is a poor, innocent, extremely naive, close-to-white-trash small-town girl uprooted to a very prestigious, very wealthy boarding school named Thorn Abbey. How a poor girl from a small town got there is unclear, it's implied that Tess chose this school for the challenging courseload, because she's very intelligent---I see no evidence of her supposed brilliance throughout the book.

She meets some exaggerated classmates, falls in insta-love with the brooding, ice-cold Max De Villiers, and in the course of events, must overcome the Mighty Max's memories of the dearly departed Becca. Max has a Tragic Past, about which everyone at school warns her. Naturally, Tess doesn't listen. She learns about his Sad Love Story with the beautiful, charming, charismatic Becca, and sets out to be the next reboundgirlfriend. Along the way, strange, mysterious, inexplicable things happen, and...yeah, it pretty much mirrors Rebecca in plot development, with some modern-day adjustments. The Manderley Ball? That's the Valentine's Day dance to you!

Challenging courseload? Boarding school? Oh, right, Tess is supposed to be attending school at some sort of point in the book. Nah. Tess pretty much plans her whole life around winning over the mysterious Max. My god, I have never met a character in an YA novel who is more pathetic than Tess. The feelings she has over Max, her constant mooning over him---the romance in this book is by far the worst I've read in a long time. Tess reeks of lovesickness, of desperation, as she pursues Max. As her roommate so appropriately puts it:

“Can’t you see that he’s using you to get over his grief? That you’re just a distraction? All the other girls know to keep their distance after what happened. He’s an emotional train wreck, and he needs time. Friends. Not some love-starved loner throwing herself at him.”

And throw herself at him, she does. She knows that Max was in love with Becca, so sure, let's use his grief to get to know him better!!!!! They're soooooooooo similar, too!!!!!

I’m sure it hasn’t been easy for him to find the right person to help him move on after Becca’s death. After all, we deep, smart, solitary types have a tough time relating to people who aren’t like us.

Her internal dialogue is completely laughable. She sees connections where there are none.

He and I definitely have a connection. I felt it when we first met, at the fountain, and even on the cliff.

She feels their hearts touch and their souls match. She sees an intimate moment in every single minute interaction. I suffered from constant secondhand embarrassment at how completely, utterly obsessed Tess becomes with the godly Max. She wants to be his friend, his lover, his everything. Anything he wants, she will become.

But now Max has me. As a friend. Even as more than a friend. Whatever he wants.

And what better way to get close to him than to use his dead girlfriend?

Still, maybe if I can learn more about Becca, I can get closer to Max. Find out what kind of girl he likes. And then maybe, just maybe, he’ll like me, too?

I have to stop talking about Tess and how much I deplore her character's obsession with Max or I'll get a burst blood vessel from the sheer frustration of it all.

As for her personality, Tess is absolutely dull. Max says he likes her because she's soooooooo different from all the other skinny, smart, socially acceptable girls at Thorn Abbey...but I can't see anything in her to like, and I'm reading the book from her point of view. Rebecca's main character, the unnamed "I" worked for her time, but in this day...any character of her nature comes off as insipid, stupid, weak. That is my thought of this book's main character; she is absolutely silly, she is completely spineless, she is clingy to the nth degree. Rebecca's unnamed heroine is a strong, modern, independent woman compared to the silly, fluffy-headed doormat that is Tess Szekeres.

The other characters in this book are lackluster parallels of their Rebecca equivalents. We have the house counselor, Mrs. Frith (Frith, the butler), Franklin, the loyal dog-like nice-guy friend (Frank Crawley), Devon, the super-creepy and strange and slutty best friend (Mrs. Danvers), the Abercrombie-lookalike cousin Killian Montgomery (Jack Favell).

I absolutely hated the rampant slut-shaming in this book. There is so much girl-on-girl hatred within this story; everyone is a slut, a whore, a dumb bitch compared to our sweet, innocent, naive main character. I cannot think of a single female character in this book who is portrayed in a positive manner. We don't even have the equivalent of Max's sister in this story to be a good companion to Tess. Sure, we have Devon and her circle of friends, but they're all shallow dumb bitches who are completely incomparable to the rational, no-nonsense, good-humored Beatrice. Tess feels the need to label anyone she doesn't like, any girl who has captured male attention a slut and a whore, like the girl who got her ex-boyfriend's attention in middle school.

The teenagers in this book are fucking caricatures, the female characters in particular. They are an overwrought, hypersensitive, paranoid 80-year old church-lady's version of what teenagers act like, and is no no way a realistic portrayal of any reasonable teen that I know. They eat nothing but lettuce and "tiny, doll-size salads" and "plain broth." They take drugs, specifically Klonopin and Hydroxycut. They name-drop brand-name labels, they sleep around, they hit each other, they call each other tramps, they say their mother is "such an annoying whore.” They make the cast of Gossip Girl look like well-behaved conservative young women. Their portrayal and depiction is an insult to young teenaged women everywhere. For a school of this supposed caliber, academics are but an afterthought. It's dumb. Give teenagers more credit than that.

I maintain my premise that this book is a poorly-written mockery of the original. It should be illegal to use the word Rebecca alongside the name of this book. Please do yourself a favor and pass.

[Wendy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the only case I can think of where a YA retelling actually benefits (in some ways) in comparison to the source. There are plenty of reasons to be critical of this, most especially in the missed opportunities to explore these characters better, but I do think the author pulled off a neat trick with her update, especially in the way she later expands upon and makes the story her own. If only she'd run with that a little further, this could have been a pretty spectacular modern version.

But like all retellings, what this book mostly accomplishes is to make you yearn to revisit the original story again. Manderley > Thorn Abbey x 1000...but I have to give the author credit for some really interesting ideas.

Review to come.

[Katie_la_geek · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book the cover is gorgeous, the plot sounded awesome and it is based on Rebecca. Unfortunately I was disappointed; I didn’t like this book at all. The prologue was awesome and I thought I was on to a winner but from there it just went downhill.

The writing is alright there was not enough description for me and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. The storyline was ok as well on paper it is interesting. What really let this book down were the characters.

To be honest I found it hard to find one person I liked in the whole thing. Everyone appeared to be rich and spoilt. They were mean, selfish and annoying.

Tess, the main character, was none of these things but she was still dislikeable. She is always beating herself up about how fat, ugly, pathetic, awful she is and it is infuriating, Tess is throwing the biggest pity party in the world. I wouldn’t mind if it was every so often but this is all the time. Then she meets Max (Maximillion De Villiers to be exact) she sees him across a class room then says hit to him. She is in his general vicinity for all of two seconds and she becomes obsessed with him. She thinks about him all the time and wonders if he is thinking about her as well. She then chases him out of a movie screening and they gave a short chat which she blows astronomically out of proportion. She is borderline creepy. She also has this annoying inner voice which is in italics. This is not something I am fond of in my books because it is so hard to get right. In this book it just gives Tess more page space to be self-pitying and obsessive.

This book just missed the mark for me. I can see some people liking the romance and I can completely understand why they would be drawn in by it but the lack of description, bad characters and blandness is hard to see through and made this book impossible for me to like.

[Annette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thorn Abbey was a difficult book to take seriously. I found it predictable and mostly just silly.

Tess is just starting out at a new boarding school, Thorn Abbey. Her roommate is Devon. She soon discovers that Devon's former roommate, Becca, died while at Thorn Abbey. And she also discovers Max, a great, cute, nice guy -- who was also Becca's boyfriend when she died.

This is supposed to be a mystery. We're supposed to wonder what happened to Becca, and why everyone thinks Max is devastated and inconsolable -- when Tess doesn't see him that way.

All the students at the school are mysterious. They are nice to Tess one day and pretty evil the next. But (stupid) Tess falls for every trick. They make her look bad over and over, and every time she just walks right into it.

And, her relationship with Max takes over the story -- and it is REALLY annoying. She is in love with him on one page, and then the next encounter, she's wondering what is wrong, and why he hates her. Is he going to break up with her? Why did he kiss her? Does he still love Becca? This back and forth goes ON and ON way too long.

There's also a subtle paranormal aspect, that sneaks in very seldom, then, BAM the ending when it is all revealed. Much of Thorn Abbey was predictable, and the parts that were a surprise were...well...surprising. And not always in a good way. Kind of off the wall and disconcerting. I felt these surprises were used for the shock value. I know that sounds weird, because surprises are supposed to be shocking. But I can't explain it without spoiling.

I had difficulty not laughing during the ending, which was supposed to be sad. I just felt like, "Really? Of course, I should have guessed it, after reading all of this story...." I didn't buy into the emotional at all.

I always try to give a recommendation for some reading population. Thorn Abbey is easy to read. I guess I would recommend Thorn Abbey to an inexperienced reader who won't be able to pick up on the cliches and predictability. A love of boarding school stories will help too.

[Sue Moro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for free on the publisher's website, Pulseit.com.

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

This is the haunting first line of Daphne du Marier’s book Rebecca, written in 1938. The story is narrated by an unnamed protagonist, a young woman in her 20’s who’s accompanying a rich American woman as her traveling companion. She encounters a wealthy Englishman, Maximillian (Maxim) de Winter, a 40 year old widower who’s wife died in a boating accident about a year earlier.

Thorn Abbey is a contemporary re-telling of this classic novel, and it also opens with a dream.

“The dream is always the same. I am walking down the path, the one that winds through the woods by Thorn Abbey and leads down to the beach.”

In Thorn Abbey, our narrator and main protagonist has a name, Tess. She is newly arrived at the prestigious boarding school, Thorn Abbey, and she’s immediately struck by it’s Gothic features, it’s turrets and high arched windows, like something out of Harry Potter or Jane Eyre. The young woman is timid and shy and instantly feels out of place. She is introduced to her roommate, Devon, who at first seems nice, but as the story progresses is continually rude and demeaning to her.

On her first night, Tess hears crying in the room and thinks it’s Devon, only to discover she is fast asleep. Later she hears the girl in deep conversation only there is no one else in the room and her cell phone is on the night stand. There are several supernatural type events like this that happen in book.

Devon introduces Tess to her friends, Priscilla, Elinor, and Yoonie. She meets Franklin, who is very nice to her compared to most of the other students, and she meets Franklin’s roommate, Max. She is immediately drawn to the handsome yet brooding Max. She comes to learn that he is in morning over the death of his girlfriend Becca who died in a drowning accident the year before. Everyone raves about how much in love the two were. Devon, who was Becca’s roommate, seems particularly devoted to her late friend and constantly tells Tess how beautiful the girl was, and how smart and popular. She pretty much implies that Tess can never compete with Becca’s memory.

Despite people warning her to stay away from him, Tess is very drawn to Max, Eventually, the two begin to see each other, but will Becca’s friends get in their way, or something else entirely?

The book has a nice contemporary feel to it with some subtle paranormal hints just beneath the surface. Ohlin does an amazing job with this re-imagining of the original Rebecca. Thorn Abbey is an excellent stand in for Manderley, similarly situated on the cliffs overlooking the sea. Tess is similarly shy and timid, like the unnamed protagonist in the original novel.. She doubts she is worthy enough to be with Max, having come from a totally different class of society. Max is literally cut from the same cloth as Maximillan, being similarly brooding and jealous and frustratingly uncommunicative.
The role of the overly devoted and slightly demented housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, is filled by Devon, Tess’s roommate.

Most of the beginning of the book deals with Tess’s feelings of inadequacy and the constant undermining by Devon and her friends. I was frustrated that she didn’t tell them to piss off a little earlier. Later she begins to obsess over Becca and her time with Max. She gets a little OCD, digging into internet records about the girls’ accident, and looking through Becca’s old laptop.

The later half of the book builds intrigue when some strange things start happening around Tess, and the book finishes strong with quite a twist I didn’t expect.

-Recommended

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[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Thorn Abbey by Nancy Ohlin
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Rating: 3 stars
Source: ARC from ARCyling

Summary (from Goodreads):

Nothing is as it seems in this darkly romantic tale of infatuation and possession, inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.

Becca was the perfect girlfriend: smart, gorgeous, and loved by everyone at New England’s premier boarding school, Thorn Abbey. But Becca's dead. And her boyfriend, Max, can’t get over his loss.

Then Tess transfers to Thorn Abbey. She’s shy, insecure, and ordinary—everything that Becca wasn't And despite her roommate’s warnings, she falls for brooding Max.

Now Max finally has a reason to move on. Except it won’t be easy. Because Becca may be gone, but she’s not quite ready to let him go…

What I Liked:

I'm kind of meh about this one. I was totally sucked in by the cover and the dark synopsis, and the fact that this book was inspired by something else! I haven't read Rebecca, but I love books based on older stories or legends or myths or fairy tales. The premise of this book seemed amazing!

And there were things that impressed me! For example, throughout the entire book, I was mystified by the whole "Becca" thing. Who is Becca, really? What is going on? What does Devon have to do with the mess? How does everything fit together? Ohlin kept me interested the entire book - in terms of the plot and the mystery.

The romance between Max and Tess was, well, I'm split on how I feel about the romance, but I liked the romance. Max and Tess were good together. Tess was infatuated with Max, and Max seemed to like Tess, especially after everything with Becca.

I definitely think there was a dark and creepy feel to the book. Sometimes, the synopsis leads you to believe that the book will be gothic and dark and horror-like, and then the book isn't. Ohlin did an excellent job of setting the scene at Thorn Abbey. It adds to the weirdness that is Becca and her death and her ghost/haunting.

I really liked how interesting the story is, behind Becca's death, and overall, the romance in the book, and the setting. For those elements, this book was worth the read. I am happy to have had the chance to read and review this book!

What I Did Not Like:

However... I'm giving this book three stars. there were some things that I didn't like. For one, I kind of didn't like Tess overall. Like, she practically went INSANE at the sight of Max. Full-on infatuation. The first few scenes with her and Max are... painful. She's so awkward and weird around him, like she can't stop staring and drooling and jaw-dropping. He's JUST a GUY. Yes, he might be hot. But he's a guy. Tess completely loses her head over him... and it's not pretty. I was dying to throttle her sometimes.

Dying to throttle her. LOL!

Anyway. I also hated how Tess rolled with what Devon told her about anything. She let Devon talk her into the costume, which sent Max over the edge. She let Devon talk her into wearing some ridiculous getup when Tess was going to meet Max's parents... that didn't go well. You're not a ho. Don't dress like one. Poof!

So, I had problems with Tess. I also had problems with the supernatural aspect in general. It's totally not explained. I'm not sure if it's explained in Rebecca or not, but I feel like I wasn't clued in. And the ending - WOAH! How did that happen?!

The ending, in general, was okay. I'm not too weirded out, but I wanted more.

Would I Recommend It:

Meh. Not really. I was dying to read this one in the months leading up to May. Now that I've read it, I realize I could have waited a long time before reading this one. Or not at all. I'm glad I read it, but now that I have read it, I really didn't have to go crazy for it.

Rating:

3 stars. Meh. I was interested, and then it ended, and I was like, meh.

[Jen Ryland (jenrylandreviews & yaallday)]

I'm a big fan of Rebecca, a 1938 novel by Daphne duMaurier, so I'm always up for checking out a new interpretation of the story.

I think that of the challenges that comes with retelling Rebecca is that many elements of the original story are also things that drive modern YA readers crazy: a female narrator who is mousy and unconfident, a male love interest who runs extremely hot and cold, either declaring his love to the heroine or pushing her away, a strong dose of insta-love, and a plot that builds suspense very slowly. On the positive side of things, Rebecca offers a spooky supernatural vibe and a couple of truly sinister female villains.

Thorn Abbey uses a very similar premise to that of another YA Rebecca retelling, New Girl by Paige Harbison: a new girl arrives at a fancy boarding school to find that she's assigned to the room of a dead student, Rebecca. I was glad that Thorn Abbey didn't make the main character meek and mousy, just out of her element. Tess is a scholarship student in a school full of rich kids. She doesn't understand their language -- peppered with talk about Killington and Klonies -- and they treat her with cheerful disdain.

Max, the love interest, was a bit of another story. In the original book, the heroine spends the majority of the book feeling that she can never live up to the beauty and talent of her husband Max's dead wife, Rebecca. In Thorn Abbey, Tess is trying to develop a relationship with fellow student Max while worrying that he still carries a torch for his dead girlfriend. Max came off to me as mopey rather than brooding and I never really felt any connection between the two of them.

Another challenge in updating Rebecca is that the original book relies on two shocking plot revelations that don't occur until well into the story: first, that Max actually loathed Rebecca, and second, that he was responsible for her death. As a result, some readers I've pushed Rebecca on have found the pace slow compared to a contemporary PNR. The book holds the reader's interest through the heroine's feelings of inadequacy and the way they are intensified by the evil machinations of her husband's creepy housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. In Thorn Abbey, Mrs. Danvers is re-cast as Tess's roommate, Devon, who came off as more ditzy than demented.

But then, Thorn Abbey takes a bold and intriguing supernatural turn: namely, killing Devon and having her possessed by the spirit of the dead Rebecca. I really wish that this had happened earlier in the story, as I think it would have ramped up the tension in the first half of the book. After this revelation, the book really picks up in suspense. The ending is also a bit of a shocker, a spooky departure from the original. On the downside, the ending is very abrupt. Very.

As a die-hard fan of Rebecca, I did enjoy Thorn Abbey. I also appreciated the little in-jokes, like the characters' obsession with the movie To Catch a Thief and the new role played by Frank Crawley. Readers who are completely unfamiliar with the original book should keep in mind that a little patience is in order, as like the original Rebecca, Thorn Abbey backloads all the exciting stuff into the last quarter of the story.

This review will also be posted on my blog: YA Romantics

*I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher for possible review*

[Marella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to stop having high expectations of books based on their summaries. I may have squee'd like a fangirl when I saw that this was based on Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I had such hopes for this. Those are now crushed like so much dust. I admit Rebecca is a tough act to rework successfully. It's a novel about dark obsession and it is so atmospheric. Nancy Ohlin adapted the bones and guts of the original fairly well, but the spirit is disappointingly not there. The characters are decent, but they're not deep enough to sustain the creepiness and the am-I-going-crazy aspects. Tess is sweet and naive, as she should be, but her infatuation with Max is a little...childish. As in, Tess sees Max for the first time in class, and thinks:

"OMG, He's hot. He's looking out the window and brooding. He must be deep."

And then at the end of class,
"OMG, he looked at me for two seconds, he might like me! I'm in love!"

At which point she runs up to him and starts saying random things. So random that he outright tells her she is strange. This is rude but makes more sense than she does.

To say this is idiotic behavior for a freshman in high school is an understatement. Tess is almost backward in her boy-craziness. I might get this, barely, if she were in, say, middle school. It's a lazy characterization and plotting and it is not in keeping with the rest of her personality. Tess is at Thorn Abbey because she's academically gifted. I like how intelligent and articulate she can be and I love that that is why the nice guys are attracted to her. In fact, her awkward social interactions are more a result of the collective drone thinking than her ineptitude. Fortunately, her backbone solidifies and her brain switches on, at least when it comes to interacting with other people.

I wish I could say the same for Ohlin's take on the main thread of the story: dead Rebecca's grasp on the living. Where Ohlin was taking the action was apparent from a football field away. I get that teen readers aren't into subtlety, but the twists and turns are so obvious that letting the characters catch up is painfully tedious. If even the atmosphere of the original was there, it would have made up for the slooooooow characters here, but there is zero creepiness. Instead, Ohlin takes this all paranormal, which is an easy out in explaining what has been going on. The end really wraps things up too tidily and forces a HEA that won't really work in the long run. The resolution makes a mockery of trauma and grief just as the plot did with obsession and malevolence. Take those away and the book is a shell of story with no heart. Even if you don't relate it to Rebecca, everything is just kind of flat and lifeless, perhaps with the exception of the romance. That part was actually quite charming. It makes me think that if Ohlin hadn't bound herself to the plot of Rebecca, she could have created an appealing story that could breathe with a life of it own instead of being a shadow of a far better work.

[Charlotte Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is one of my favourite books of all time. Last year I read Paige Harbison's New Girl which retold the story so I was intrigued by Thorn Abbey.

To start with Tess comes from an ordinary everyday background. Single mum, not much money, normal high street clothes. When she arrives to Thorn Abbey the students are of a different calibre altogether. They all have money, come from distinguished homes, have relatives in high places. Tess feels out of her league.

Her life gets creepier when she realises she's taken the place of Becca. A student who died in a tragic accident and not only is she sleeping in the same room as her but also the same bed.

During her first few days she sees Max. From here on in for about a third of the book Tess develops a creepy OCD/obsessive disorder of Max and his ex-girlfriend Becca. Yep, he dated her, and as everyone tells Tess, they were so in love. Devon, her room-mate, gives Tess Becca's old laptop to use as Tess hasn't got one. The wallpaper is one of Max and Becca kissing. But something goes in Tess' favour because Max does take an interest in her. Franklin, his best friend, tells Tess to be careful. Max is unstable, jealous even especially of Becca's cousin Killian.

The second third of the book gets taken up with Tess's self-obsession. She thinks she isn't good enough, she's not pretty, shaped like a supermodel, she doesn't wear the right clothes etc. This part of the book made me dislike Tess immensely. Not only were her room-mate and so called friends taking her food away while insisting her hips are too wide, but they're also incredibly bitchy towards her. This doesn't help her self-esteem but all kudos go to Max because he tells her he wants her for exactly the person she is.

I must admit the first two thirds of the book had me liking Tess to disliking her. She has a lot of insecurities issues but this seems to be a trait as a reminiscing memory of her mother creeps in-we learn that Tess has always been this way. I did like Max but the story was telling me Max had severe mood-swings but I didn't see anything that a good chat and opening up session couldn't cure. Actually Tess and Max don't come across as a couple who talk that much which for the amount of time they're together doesn't come across as true.

The drama unfolds and things get worse when its clear to Tess that Becca's spirit is messing with her. The story ends tragically.

Yes, that sentence was written like that for a reason because that's exactly how the story finishes. Abrupt, lacking in emotion, apart from everyone hugging. It just ends. Although there is a slight twist but it didn't make up for a slightly drab storyline. When Kayleigh starting coming up with supernatural clues and ideas I actually thought it could lift the story but it just kind of flat-lined.

If you're a fan of Rebecca or New Girl, or public school stories then you may want to read this.

[Elevetha · Rating 1 out of 5]

*DNFd at 100 pages*

Now I've never read Rebecca, or seen an adaptation, but I do know a tiny itty bit from SRB's parody of it, which is 9856% better than this. However...

This was just plain bad. Our main character, Tess, is vapid and about as deep as your average kiddie pool. Her main, and apparently only, concern is Max and how much she wants to be with him, because he's...hot? She'd be fabulous with him and help him to "move on" past Becca, never really minding the fact that he appears to actually be torn up about her death and is seriously mourning her. Tess doesn't seem to actually care about Max as a person but only as someone that could be with her. Also, she's sorta creepy and stalkerish. And obsessive. *shudder*

Devon is...well, frankly, not someone I would ever want as a roommate or, to be honest, an acquaintance, really.

Max is boring. I know he's mourning Becca and stuff but...eh. I couldn't really care about him as a character. Not that I really cared about any of these people as characters.

Franklin wins any positive awards to be presented to this book, and even he wasn't that great.

Rebecca's so-called "hauntings" thus far were completely underwhelming.

And the writing is nothing to write home about either.

Big fat pass.

*Keep in mind that I did only read the first 100 pages, so if Franklin plays a bigger role or Tess progresses to the deep end or Becca starts actually being a scary ghost or you know, anything like that, I wouldn't know.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, this re-imagining of Rebecca (one of my favorite books) is a young adult novel. So I am going to review it as a YA book. This book is a nice paranormal romance. It is pretty angsty, but then so is Rebecca and the character is not 15 years old. Our main character, Tess, is attending a very exclusive private school. She is immediately attracted to Max, a brooding hunk. When she discovers that Max's ex-girlfriend died the previous spring, she is haunted by the image of the perfect and popular Becca.

I think this is a great book for tween and teen girls. Some boys might enjoy it too. It is not one of those young adult books that I think a lot of adults would like. It is too tied up in the angst and the whole, what do I wear thing for that. But the paranormal twist was nice. I actually found myself wondering what would happen next and hoping for a sequel.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

No. Not a good book at all.

If you think you have anything in common with my interests regarding books do not read it at all. It is not the best of anything by any means, sure read it if you want but I would not be one to recommend it in any way, however it is a somewhat easy read, so if you are into the teenage drama type of stuff, then go for it. Pretty typical.

But that's not my thing...

[Nic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it 80 pages into this 295-page book, and I'm done.

I was excited to try Thorn Abbey, because it's billed as "Rebecca at a modern-day posh boarding school." I liked Rebecca a lot, and I have the boarding school fascination of the American girl who has never been to one.

Buuut . . . well, in the original, the writing is brilliant, and I also really root for the unnamed protagonist and Maxim. This book's writing is less brilliant, and protagonist Tess is . . . really weird about Max.

Check it: Tess first sees Max in their English class, where he is brooding and staring out the window. After class, she lingers, hoping to talk to him, but he totally ignores her. His roommate, Franklin, strikes up a conversation with Tess, but even when Max comes to speak to Franklin, he acts like Tess isn't there. When Franklin introduces them, forcing Max to acknowledge Tess, he says, "Yeah. Hi," and then goes right back to his conversation with Franklin. His expression when he does briefly look at Tess is "cold and indifferent." Hawt.

But! When Max and Franklin turn to go, Max looks back, and: "Our eyes lock. For a second. Two seconds. An eternity. Then he is gone. Why is my heart beating so fast all of a sudden?"

(I dunno, Tess. Cardiac condition?)

(Also, how hilarious would it be if Max was actually crushing on Franklin and his whole eye contact thing was a "back off" glare?)

Meanwhile, of course, Rebecca features a protagonist who doesn't go crazy about the broody hero until he chillaxes a little and starts being nice to her. They bond over car drives and meaningful conversations. But, you know, two seconds of eye contact is good, too.

Because Tess is already starting to see this as a bond. She knows what Max is all about. In the next chapter - without seeing or interacting with the guy again - we get this musing: "Sure, he's handsome. It's more than that, though. I get the feeling that we're similar inside. Different from other people."

Tess, you are different from other people, but not in good ways.

So then she goes to a movie showing on campus, and Max stalks out all moodily, and she tells Franklin that she'll go make sure he's all right. Because obviously he wants to be followed out by a girl he just met today and in whom he has expressed no interest. Anyway, they have an awkward conversation and he says she's strange (et tu, Max?), but briefly smiles at her. This, naturally, sends Tess all aflutter.

And the bit that almost made me put down the book the first time: "Tonight felt like a breakthrough. Max and I made a connection. A tiny, fledgling connection, but still. I'm sure it hasn't been easy for him to find the right person to help him move on after Becca's death. After all, we deep, smart, solitary types have a tough time relating to people who aren't like us."

Let's deconstruct that a little, shall we?

- Tess and Max met this morning. It seems like longer because it was like four chapters ago and she spent the entire intervening time freaking out and Internet stalking him and Googling Becca, his previous girlfriend, who tragically drowned.

- Four months ago. His girlfriend who drowned FOUR MONTHS AGO. How long does Tess think he's been trying to "find the right person to help him move on"?

- And that last sentence. Without a trace of sarcasm. Just - that.

I do kind of like Tess' awkward interactions with her mean girl roommate Devon and Devon's friends, who are deliciously horrible. But given that the focus is basically all Max all the time and I really can't get behind the Tess-Max relationship even after Max starts being kind of nicer to Tess, that's all the time I'm giving this book.

[Kristin Taggart]

I don't use star ratings, so please read my review!

(Description nicked from B&N.com.)

“Becca was the perfect girlfriend: smart, gorgeous, and loved by everyone at New England’s premier boarding school, Thorn Abbey. But Becca’s dead. And her boyfriend, Max, can’t get over his loss.

Then Tess transfers to Thorn Abbey. She’s shy, insecure, and ordinary—everything that Becca wasn’t. And despite her roommate’s warnings, she falls for brooding Max.

Now Max finally has a reason to move on. Except it won’t be easy. Because Becca may be gone, but she’s not quite ready to let him go…”

Author Nancy Ohlin credits Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca as the inspiration for Thorn Abbey. There are certainly some common elements between the two books: a brooding old building; an ill-fated romance; suspicion and deceit. There are, however, some significant differences that make this teen novel stand apart from its ancestor. For instance, setting the story at a boarding school adds in a lot more people and negates the isolation of the original novel. The most prominent divergence, though, is the heightened supernatural aspect of Ohlin’s retelling.

Having read the original book myself, it’s impossible not to make comparisons, especially when the author openly acknowledges the connection. I suspect that the vast majority of teen readers will be unfamiliar with du Maurier’s story and therefore won’t be holding the two up to each other mentally as they read, so perhaps the variances don’t matter all that much. I did find it interesting, if not too terribly surprising, that Thorn Abbey is as much a ghost story as a romance—and much more so than Rebecca. The original avoids literal ghosts in favor of the ghosts of memory, and I do have to wonder how that would have played out in a teen novel.

Taking Thorn Abbey as a discrete story, I found it to be mostly enjoyable. There’s plenty of weird and spooky things to keep readers intrigued, and the setting is fairly well fleshed out and easy to envision. The author does a good job of keeping readers unfamiliar with Rebecca from catching on to how the story will play out—the more shocking bits will probably come as a real shock to most people. As a plot-driven tale, the book works pretty well.

I did feel that the major characters were two-dimensional, though. Tess, Max, and Devon tend to waver between two modes of behaving with very few in-between actions: Tess is either jealous or mooning over Max, occasionally deviating into “doormat” mode; Max is compassionate and brooding by turns; and Devon goes from friendly to vindictive in the blink of an eye. The secondary characters caught my interest as being more fleshed out. For instance, Max’s best friend Frank makes several appearances, and I really wanted to know more about him and how he relates to our moody male lead.

My overall impression of this book is of one that is pretty good, but that could have been a lot better with some more development in the characters. Thorn Abbey isn’t quite the classic that Rebecca is, but for a first novel, it’s got a lot to recommend it.

This review originally appeared on Owlcat Mountain on May 7, 2013.

[Marianne (Boricuan Bookworms) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thorn Abbey tells the story of recently transferred student Tess. She feels completely out of place with her shabby clothes and shy personality. Especially with her extrovert roomate, Devon, which is the epitome of a party girl. Things seem to fall into place when she meets Max, the mysterious and brooding guy that everyone warned her to stay away from. Despite the warnings, she still falls for him, but there's more to him than meets the eye. Especially when Tess finds out that Max's ex girlfriend died last year... and she might not be ready to let him go.

I have a soft spot in my heart for books about boarding schools. I love stories about boarding schools. And, at first, I had fallen in love with Thorn Abbey (the school, not the book).

"How can I describe Thorn Abbey? It is like something out of Jane Austen or Harry Potter or a fairy tale."

I felt drawn to the story instantly; the prologue was captivating. Sadly, this was yet another story with a promising storyline that fell flat due to the less than likable characters.

Most of the characters were rich, spoiled, reckless and impulsive. They were overly stereotyped characters that acted just as any spoiled character would have. From the sleeping around, to the drug usage, it was pretty obvious that the author wanted to create the typical "college dorm room" experience.

Tess, the protagonist, was nothing of these, yet she still was as annoying as the rest of the characters. She constantly complains about how plain and fat and ugly she is, she can't stand up for herself, and she falls in love with a guy that glares at her from the very first moment he sees her.

I would've gotten past this, if she had matured later on in the story, but no, that did not happen.

We constantly found Tess with an inner "does he like me? does he hate me?" stuggle. The main theme, which was supposed to be somewhat paranormal, was pushed to the side in order for Tess's love story to " flourish".

The story was dull and predictable; I couldn't feel a connection to any of the characters and I was just crazy for the story to finish already.

When the ending came around, I laughed aloud. It was just as predictable as everything else was. There was no real resolution, so I can't really say anything "ended".

I'm hoping, for the book's sake, that there's at least a *shudders* sequel for this book, just because the ending here was less than perfect.

1 star.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review Quickie!

Though I was forced to read 'Rebecca' for Highschool English, I really enjoyed it. Read it more than once actually. It was really no surprise that I jumped on this novel inspired by 'Rebecca'. I have been on a YA and NA binge lately, and this sounded perfect!

All the characters are complimentary and pleasantly comparable to the original characters in the classic that I so thoroughly enjoyed. It had a fun YA atmosphere, yet it oozed with the gothic feel and creepiness that I was hoping for. Though predictable, the suspense build up was executed so well that it had my heart racing.

The ending upset and irked me. This review is spoiler free, so I will not go into any details. Suffice it to say it left the hopeless romantic in me completely unsatisfied, though for some readers, it may just be an extension of the dark tone of this story.

*I received a eBook copy of this book for free to review from the author/publisher; this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own.*

[Ken Siman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tess, the heroine of Nancy Ohlin's unputdownable novel, does not seem -- at first glance -- to be destined for a dream-hunk romance and the otherworldly adventures that await her when she enters Thorn Abbey, a swank boarding school. She's Old Navy (circa 2010) and a virgin in a rich-girl world of Prada and pandemonium. But one kiss from Max -- the sensitive soccer stud with a secret (no, he's not gay) -- triggers a series of events that embolden and sexually awaken Tess and send her on an outrageously entertaining and dangerous romantic adventure. Nancy Ohlin says in her acknowledgments that her book was inspired by Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca. I haven't read that yet, but did see the Hitchcock movie it inspired. Makes me want to watch Hitchcock movies and read the books that Hitchcock inspired and was inspired by. I'll start today with The Birds (the Hitchcock movie plus the book by Camille Paglia). Congratulations and thanks to Nancy Ohlin for the story and the inspiration.

[Katie (Kitkatscanread) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was one weird ass story.
Mystery was definitely floating throughout.
I didn't know what to expect, as my suspicions would be slaughtered all the time.
It wasn't until near the end when I finally understood.
It certainly did keep me interested.

Tess is new at the school "Thorn Abbey" and she meets a fair few characters there.
She falls instantly for the mysterious Max and learns that he has some inner demons.
Strange things are happening around her that she can't quite explain.

At times I found Tess really annoying. She seems really pathetic at times and fell for Max WAY too quickly.

The romance I felt was rushed between Tess & Max.

Overall, was a seriously fucked up story, haha.

Was a good read though.

Full review: http://kitkat1242.blogspot.co.uk/2013...

[booknuts_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was super excited to read this book.

I loved Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and I had a lot of hope for this YA version.

Sadly, I felt there was A LOT lacking. There wasn't a lot of character building, Tess was creepy from the start and did not get better plus really annoying. I DID like how Tess grew a but during the book I liked the twist on "Rebecca" and the possession of the other characters. I liked the YA theme of it all but I just felt that there could be so much more to the story. The language I felt was unnecessary at times especially for the character of Tess because that just wasn't her! I did like the ending the final page and how it ended and then just ended creepily.

[Lisa Nocita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre romance a la ghost story. MC is ridiculous and unlikeable. Features a lot of tiresome internal dialogue from an insecure, whiny, jealous and unconfident protagonist.the plot actually hinges on none of the characters having any honest dialogue with each other. If inspired by Rebecca, I fail to draw the comparison favorably. However, may appeal to teens who aren't too picky about their romances. References to drug use, underage drinking, and sex. Oh, and murder.

[Aroosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character can be a bit....cringy but bare with it 😂 The mystery is well written and I didn't expect the twist and OMG THE END LIKE WTF!! This book was one extreme page turner, I wasn't able to put it down, shed a few tears because I finished the book😭

[Kelesea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review and many others can be found on my blog: literatureobsessed.blogspot.com.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not going to lie, most of this book was a mess. Dense characters, stereotypes, Mary Sues and plot holes. But that last page, didn't see that coming.

[Desiree · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I've just about learned my lesson concerning buying books on Book Outlet without checking reviews first. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE Book Outlet, but I am coming to the realization that I need to be a little more selective, even when the books are so heavily discounted.
Thorn Abbey caught my eye because of the cover. So pretty. The synopsis also sounded interesting: MC Tess goes to private school where she starts dating a boy whose girlfriend drowned the year before and then creepy things begin to happen to make Tess think that the girlfriend may be haunting the place. I love a good ghost story, so I was hoping this wouldn't disappoint.
Unfortunately, all this book DID was disappoint.

What I liked:
1. The length:
The book was short. It is less than 300 pages, the type is large, and some of the chapters are very short, which makes this book speed by. I read it in just a couple of hours.
2. The cover:
Such a pretty cover. It definitely gave me that eerie ghost-story vibe I was looking for.

What I didn't like:
1. Tess:
What an insufferable character. This girl is dumber than a box of hair. First of all, her immediate obsession with Max was creepy, bordering on stalkery. She sees him in a class where he doesn't even speak to her and she leaves the class head over heels because he looked up at her and caught her staring at him. I wish I was joking. That was all it took for her to fall for him. After that, she follows him around, inserting herself into his life. All she thinks about is the two of them being together and their 'connection', which is almost entirely made up in her head. The entire basis of their relationship comes from one conversation where he corrects her as she's talking about constellations (something she is supposedly very knowledgeable about). He corrects her, and she is struck by their amazing similarities. SMDH.
This creepy stalker tendency continues as Tess decides that she just has to know everything about Max's dead girlfriend, Becca. She cyber-stalks her and goes through her new roommates belongings (because of course she just happens to be rooming with Becca's ex-roommate...naturally). She even goes through an old diary that belonged to Becca, which is a good thing because otherwise this idiot never would've figured out the mystery.
Also, she has zero self esteem. Her new roommate Devon, along with Devon's stereotypical and one-dimensional posse of mean girls, treat each other like crap. They treat Tess even worse than that. But instead of telling them to go screw themselves, she meekly lets them bully and criticize her so she feels accepted into their little gang.
2. The slut shaming:
Oh my goodness. There is so much of this nonsense in this book, from every character. All of the mean girls call each other 'tramp', 'whore', 'bitch', etc. as some sort of term of endearment. It's not cute. The things they say to and about other people are even worse. Tess herself is very judgmental about the way her roommate dresses, referring to her clothes as hooker-wear at least once. Max talks about how Devon has slept with half the school as a way of explaining why she broke up with her boyfriend. It's rampant in this story.
3. The 'romance': As I said before, Tess is a creepy stalker. But apparently, that's okay with Max, because he finds her endearing, for some reason I just can't quite grasp. We are never shown any real connection between them and I never get the sense that he has super deep feelings about her. Most of their dialogue is very flat, as are their actions. We are *told* things, but never *shown* them. There are many times where Max kisses her 'passionately' and 'deeply', but that is all the description we get. One of these supposedly life-changing kisses happens after she's been sick as a dog for days. He comes to her room and they make out on her bed...while she is still recovering. I'm sorry, but the last thing I want to do when I'm sick is make out. Just...no. It is one of the most cliched and lukewarm romances I've ever read.
4. The 'mystery':
You may ask why I didn't DNF this book if I disliked so much about it. I ask myself that too, looking back. But to be honest, I was mildly intrigued by the ghost story. I wanted to know how it, and the mystery surrounding Becca's death, was going to play out. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this as well. There are a few genuinely creepy moments throughout this book. Tess seeing someone's face in the television when it wasn't on, Devon talking to someone in the middle of the night who Tess couldn't see, etc. But these few truly creepy moments are overwhelmed by many more cliched moments that are so poorly-written that they are almost laughable.
The thing is, Tess is an idiot. I know that's been previously stated in this review, but frankly, it cannot be overstated. She is just so damn dumb. The moment she starts reading Becca's journal, I knew that 'M' wasn't Max. It was painfully obvious. I didn't know exactly who it was yet (I didn't remember Killian's last name began with an 'M') but as soon as they said his full name again a few chapters later I knew. And how long did it take for Tess-the-Wonder-Sleuth to figure it out? 92 Freaking Pages! And literally the ONLY reason she figures it out is because she is reading in Becca's journal again and Becca refers to him by his full nickname, while also referring to Max as 'Mx', when any other time she EVER refers to ANYONE it's only by their first initial. And it STILL takes her another paragraph of the journal before she actually puts the pieces together. So. Dumb.
The other big 'reveal', about Becca influencing and ultimately taking over Devon's body was something that was obvious to the reader since the beginning of the book. And maybe I could buy Tess not realizing what was going on if this story wasn't being told through her perspective in first-person. But it is. Throughout the story, she has several strange things happen to her that were paranormal in nature. But after each incident, she just kind of goes on with her life. She accepts any crazy explanation Devon gives her about her erratic behavior, and just ignores everything else. It's infuriating, because it feels like the author thinks her readers are as stupid as her characters. When you drop 'clues' that are as blatant and obvious as the clues she was dropping, you can't wait over a hundred pages to pay them off.
5. The ending and epilogue:
I actually thought it was kind of ballsy to kill off the love interest in the story. However, I felt absolutely no emotions about it. I didn't feel like I really knew Max as a character at all. The only thing I knew about him was how Tess saw him, and that was a completely idealized version of a perfect boyfriend. Because of that, I never bought their romance. So when he died, I was surprised, but not sad at all. It didn't help that this part was so rushed. It was like:
Oh no, he'd dead. Sad.
I was really sad, but my mom got me on some meds, and now I'm okay.
Oh, it's three months later...Summer vacation! And the mean girls are being nice to me!
Yawwwwwn. Then somehow, because reasons...Max is able to inhabit Franklin's body after Franklin dies? I don't get it. How the hell is that supposed to work? When Becca did it with Devon, I kind of accepted it because it was obvious that Becca had been haunting and influencing Devon for months and actually caused her death...but why was Max able to do the same thing to Franklin. If Franklin was going to die, and taking over people's dead bodies is apparently a thing that can be done in this world, why wouldn't Franklin just take his own body back over? I guess the same could be asked about Devon...I don't get it.

I know that this story was inspired by the novel (and later movie) 'Rebecca'. I haven't ever read the book or seen the movie, so I'm not sure if the body jumping thing is a plot point in the story and if it IS a part of it, if it's explained at all.

This book was bad. Just plain not good. The best thing I can say about it is that it had a lovely cover and it was a quick read. I will not be picking up future books by this author.

[Terisa Vest · Rating 5 out of 5]

retelling of Rebecca with a modern day story and twist ending . excellent read .

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new girl, a dead girl, instant love, and tons of mystery and fun.

This was another book I just had to re-read. Nancy Ohlin just has a great way of writing that sucks you into the book. It has been 7 years since I last read this one, which is a perfect time because by then I probably will have forgotten at least most of the book. 😛

I will still give it 5 stars because there were a lot of things that I loved, sadly there were also several parts that had me groaning in frustration. I am quite tired so I will make a good/not so good review.

Good:
-The boarding school setting. I just love that and I am always looking for books with that setting. Especially when there is a certain spookiness to the story as well.
Plus, I loved the descriptions of the school. The classes, the dorms and their names, the library, events that took place (I wanted to join so badly).
-I loved seeing Tess get used to life at an exclusive boarding school filled with rich kids and new lingo. I am glad to see that she was having such a good time at the school, sure at times she was overwhelmed by it all, but I think everyone would be if they are normally not used to boarding school. I liked reading about the lessons. OMG, Latin! I would have loved to learn that one. But then again, also Spanish. Soo many choices.
-The spookiness. Right from the get-go we notice that things aren’t all so nice. Tess hears crying, her roommate is acting like a creepy person with her talks in the middle of the night or her petting Tess and talking to her. And with each passing day and with each time Max and Tess get closer… things get more scary and creepy and I was all in for it. Because of my previous read I knew immediately who it was that was haunting the halls of the school, but I think it was pretty obvious either way as well. I mean there is just one dead girl who is connected to everyone.
-The truth about Becca and how she actually was. I had a suspicion of course given everything but it was still great when Tess found out as well.
-There were times I shipped Max and Tess. Sometimes they did make a very cute couple and I wouldn’t mind them getting together.
-However I was mostly shipping Tess with Franklin. He was such a nice guy and I liked him from the start.
-I love that Tess loved reading and studying. She reminds me of myself when I was her age, OK, maybe I was a bit less obsessed with studying (it was mostly just a chore).
-The last part of the book, HOLY WOW. I totally forgot about that. That is creepy as hell and a very awesome way to end the book.
-The last chapters of the book when everything reaches the climax and we see what happens when you piss off a vengeful ghost.
-I loved that we also read about Tess’ mom and friend who are at home. I do feel sad for Tess that her mom never had time to visit, not even at the end. That just was painful. I get she has a new job, and apparently stuff just sucks in the US, but come on, your daughter needs you now the most.

Not so good/I wasn’t a fan:
-The instant love. If there is something I detest in books next to love triangles it is instant love. And Tess falls pretty hard and doesn’t give a damn if someone tells her not to be with the guy. Even later on when things get a bit iffy and he acts weird she still longs for him. Even thinking about marriage?????? And no matter what happens she sticks with the guy which just had me cringing so badly. Girl, please.
-Max was just a terrible character for most of the book. I get he is getting over Becca, but how he acted around people and especially Tess was just weird.
-Devon. She was so hot/cold that it was just annoying. I get that she has problems that reach further than mental health being down but oh boy that was annoying. One moment she was sweet and the next she had all the remarks about Tess needing to diet and stuff.
-That brings me to diet. Why didn’t the school keep a bit more track of what their students ate? Hello? You have whole groups of girls not eating anything but bits of lettuce and maybe a piece of chicken. That is not healthy at all. And I wonder why Tess just went along with it. I get the comments probably, but I would also have liked her to stand up a bit more and tell them to screw themselves and their diet.
-At one point there is a ball and Tess wears something specific that has everyone’s hackles go up. WHAT THE HELL? She just has been here for a few months, how was she supposed to know about the whole thing? Hello? Are you all idiots? Stupid? Give that girl some credit.

But in overall, I loved it. The pacing was perfect, and there was enough that I really liked. I would recommend this book to all. Yes, there are some flaws, and they may annoy you but in overall it was a great read.

[Christianna Marks · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can read this and many other reviews on my YA book blog The White Unicorn!

This book started out "meh" and quickly turned into a whole lot of "no way". It wasn't that the writing was bad, it wasn't. This book actually seemed to fail in the details and the characters, more than the actual flow of the book. I actually liked the flow. Right in the beginning I could have pegged this book as one that I was going to love. It had all the potential with a slightly creepy atmosphere and a prologue that excited me. But when you get down to brass tacks, a good prologue with whatever that ending was, is not a good mixture. Just like chicken broth and whip cream in a blender wouldn't work.

"Thorn Abbey" is a retelling of Daphne du Maurier's classic novel "Rebecca". And while the I haven't read the original I will admit that "Thorn Abbey" made me want to read it. And since it's sitting on my book shelf, hopefully I'll get to it soon. In that sense "Thorn Abbey" did what it set out to do. But as a standalone novel, it just didn't cut it.

The characters started out decent enough and I actually liked the first couple of chapters, but it was when our leading lady Tess falls for the silent and broody Max that things got weird. Tess was inconsistent to say the least and crazier than a cat lady at Christmas. She was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks who was thrust into a world of privileged rich kids. But get this, she didn't even know what the BK Lounge was and someone had to tell her it meant Burger King. Your telling me that a fairly poor kid doesn't know what Burger King is? I don't believe you for one second. And she calls a curling iron a "long, hot metal thing." That doesn't make me think of a curling iron (just saying) and it certainly doesn't make me believe that she's the smartest girl in school or life.

And Tess and Max. Things get so weird there. In a stalker, creepy, "I'm going to watch you while you sleep, but from across the lawn with a pair a binoculars, from a ladder" sort of way. She literally meets the man and starts crying and wondering what she doing wrong all the time. This girl has 0 self confidence and the rich girls in the school use that to their advantage. Taking the time to tell her that she's too fat, too weird and too ugly and that she needs to stay away from Max, but she doesn't.

There isn't actually much to be said for Max, even though his dead ex, Becca has a fairly large role to play in the plot. Oh and the insta-love. He's a big part of the epic romance that we don't even understand. How did he and Tess just randomly start dating again? Or did they? I mean it was never a full bloom relationship if you ask me and most of the time it left me scratching my head saying "Huh? Why are they together again?"
The standout characters had to be Devon and Franklin. They were both spot on in what they needed to be. Devon was Tess's roommate and the ex roomie of Becca. She had these extremely strange and unsettling tendencies as well as the ability to go from sweet to sour in an instant. And Franklin was awesome! Out of all the guys in the book he's actually honest and awesome as well as extremely conflicted. I dug him!

But that ending and the big plot reveal didn't do it for me at all. It seemed too thrown together and like it didn't get enough time to breath or settle in. All the sudden it was just there, staring you in the face and I didn't know what to do with it. It was predictable in some ways and left me speechless in others. And not the good kind.

It literally pains me to say that I didn't like this book. I wanted to like it so badly. It had so much promise and was written in a way that was easy to read. It had great ideas behind it, but in the end, I think that the inconsistent characters and the direction the book took for the last half didn't help it out. It was just one of those misses for me.

*book provided by the publisher for honest review*

[Shaheen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two ways to think of Thorn Abbey - as retelling of Rebecca or as a novel in its own right. A successful retelling will excel in both areas, reimagining a well loved classic and bringing it into the modern era. Thorn Abbey does well enough as a retelling, but fails almost abysmally as a standalone novel.

As a retelling of Rebecca, I think I'd give this book about 3.5 stars. If I was to forget that Thorn Abbey is a retelling, I'd probably give it 2 stars.

Thorn Abbey, the boarding school the novel is named for, is a wonderful reimagining of Manderley. It's also adjacent to cliffs and the sea, and dark and mysterious just like the setting of the original novel. The subtle theme of paranormal shenanigans running through the novel, just like the one in Rebecca, is also very cool, with creepy haunted things happening to our protagonist, Tess.

Tess will annoy many readers. She's shy and slow on the uptake, and lacks agency throughout the story. However, I don't remember the unnamed protagonist of Rebecca being particularly different. I think the recasting of the protagonist is faithful, but without the lyrical writing and evocative atmosphere of Rebecca, her failings come into sharp focus.

And this is basically the biggest failing of Thorn Abbey - that it lacks the stylistic brilliance of the original novel. Everything that made Rebecca so amazing, the super creepy setting, the enigmatic characters, and the air of mystery and wrongness fail haven't translated well in this modern retelling. Everything falls flat - Max is broody and secretive but mostly just a douchebag, unlike Maximilian who was darkly attractive despite his many faults. Devon comes across as a complete bitch, the opposite of the mentally disturbed but devoted and sympathetic Mrs. Danvers.

But the aspect of the book that really pissed me off is the portrayal of Tess' insecurities when it comes to Becca. It went beyond 'I'm inadequate and I'll never be perfect' and forayed into creepy-weird-stalker territory. Modern times mean the internet us available to the characters, yes, but the kind of weird Googling that goes in this book perplexed me. I hate it when characters magically find everything they need online, and in this case, not only did Tess conveniently find all the information she looked for every time she logged into the internet, she was really hung up on what she found there instead of questioning it.

She's so preoccupied with Becca that she starts to think EVERYTHING has to do with her. Which leads her to make some incredibly stupid decisions and to jump to the weirdest, unlikeliest conclusions. For example, she's on a date with Max and he goes silent for a few seconds, and instead of thinking 'oh he's chilling out and relaxing', Tess goes into a full-blown panic thinking that he's imagining being with Becca and how much better, prettier and smarter she was when compared to Tess. It defies all logic and became very annoying very quickly.

Thorn Abbey does pick up once Tess gets over herself and learns to stop comparing herself to a dead girl. This is where the paranormal aspect of the book comes into the forefront, and I enjoyed it! The ending of the book is abrupt and lacking in genuine emotion. Everyone seemed to get over what had happened too easily, especially Tess, and it seems unrealistic to me that none of the characters questioned it what had happened.

I think my love for Rebecca carried me through this book, and if I hadn't had that masterpiece in the back of my mind all the time I would have really struggled to like Thorn Abbey. Fans of Rebecca should give it ago, and those who like paranormal/horror thrillers may also enjoy it.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic .

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know those books where it's just difficult to formulate your thoughts to form a cohesive opinion? Thorn Abbey is one of those books for me. There is a lot to be critical of, but also a lot to like and it's left me feeling pretty scattered. Thorn Abbey is a modern retelling of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. The story is now centered on Tess, a brilliant, but insecure and socially awkward girl who has trouble fitting in. She falls for the rich and popular Max, but feels that her relationship will always come in second to his relationship with the now dead Becca, the former Queen Bee on campus. I think it's a super interesting premise and it could be an absolutely brilliant retelling, but the problem is, I've never read the original novel. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot by knowing absolutely nothing about the source material, but there you have it.

I was totally drawn in by the premise of the book, but I have to admit that when I first started reading I almost put it back down. I found Tess to be so incredibly off putting; I wasn't sure that I would make it through the book, but I realized that she was written that way for a reason and I soldiered on. Tess is an incredibly frustrating character; she's insecure, needy and at times a little delusional. It's so difficult for me to read about somebody like that. However, ultimately it was the right choice for the story. I think in the end Tess needed to be the way she was for anything to work. Plus, she was always described as being awkward and insecure and wow, did she show that. So while I found this character to be incredibly frustrating, I have a feeling it's true to the original and she seemed to work as a plot device.

That aside, the story itself was super creepy. The presence of this dead girl throughout the school is overpowering. People, especially her super popular ex-roommate are obsessed with her in a way that cannot be healthy. It's that part of the plot that really drew me in. How much power did this girl really have over everybody and how is her presence still so tangible despite her death months ago?

That's where what I understand to be the modern updates come in. There's a definite supernatural, haunting presence that was more than weird enough for me. I'm a total wimp when it comes to that sort of thing. Writing on walls, flying embers, burning pages all of it added up to one vengeful ghost and I cannot deal. I mean it keeps the pages turning and sets the tone from the start, but it creeps me out just thinking about it now. For those of you who are into ghost stories and supernatural heebie jeebies, you'll probably think of this as super tame, but for me, it struck the right balance.

Now I did have an issue with some of the character development. The characters were fairly two dimensional and we never learn a lot about anybody. They're flat and show no growth. There's no emotional journey. Max is moody, the girls are all stereotypical mean girls, the cousin is sleazy, there's the loyal best friend, I could go on. That having been said, it's not like this was a book driven by characters; it was more about action. I just happen to like some solid character development in my stories.

Overall, I enjoyed Thorn Abbey as it is, without comparison to the original. I like the boarding school setting and think that Ohlin set up the plot and tone well. The supernatural aspect, for me, enhance the story and it's the main reason why I'm still shivering about it now, days after I finished reading; always a good sign. It was by far not the perfect novel and maybe those of you who have read the original will have more to criticize, but I liked it for what it was and would buy it again for my shelf.

[Merin · Rating 3 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: This book is a retelling of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, which I have never read. As such, this review will contain only my thoughts on Thorn Abbey itself, and no comparisons to the original work will be made.

It has now been several days since I finished Thorn Abbey, and I still am not completely sure what I thought about it. There were certainly aspects of this story that I liked, and others that I did not. Having never read Rebecca (and really knowing next to nothing about the book), I had no expectations regarding the plot or characters, and likewise didn't know anything about any aspect of the story. In some ways I feel this was a good thing, as I wasn't making constant comparisons, but on the other hand, it would be nice to know how well she stayed faithful to the original story. I suppose I shall just have to stalk the reviews of folks who have read Rebecca, or - even better - just break down and read it myself.

What struck me immediately about Thorn Abbey was the amazingly gothic and dark atmosphere. It's set at a contemporary boarding school (I initially thought this was a historical tale) somewhere in New England, but the weather, the buildings, the classes, everything just oozed mystery. The descriptions of the setting were one of my favorite parts of the story. Ms. Ohlin has a great talent for setting the mood. I also found the mystery itself to be first rate, and written in a way that was extremely compelling and engrossing, so much so that I pretty much finished this in one sitting. The book is infinitely readable, and definitely has an "it" factor when it comes to keeping the reader engaged.

But then there's Tess, our main character. Unfortunately, much of what I didn't like lies with her and her alone. I found Tess to be surprisingly stalker-like when it comes to Max, our main male character. She falls for him much too quickly and pretty much becomes consumed with thoughts of him. I found her obsession creepy and weird, and honestly didn't like reading her inner monologues. Because of this, I had an extremely hard time connecting with her. I honestly didn't care about her feelings and emotions at all. I likewise didn't connect with Max. I just don't feel like there was enough development to either of their personalities to really pull the reader in and make them care about what the characters are going through. For me, the mystery and atmosphere were what kept me reading because I just wanted to know how things would turn out. I can't say I cared what that final climax meant for the characters themselves.

Ultimately, Thorn Abbey was a bit of a disappointment. Did I like it? Yes. Could it have been better? Definitely. Would I still recommend it? I would, simply for the mystery and atmosphere, which were seriously first-rate. Of course, that could just be because I haven't read Rebecca, so your mileage may vary.

An e-galley was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

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