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The Decadence
At the height of lockdown, a group of flailing twenty-something friends makes an illicit break for freedom.
A grand country house stands empty. Once the home of Theo's great uncle, it seems like the perfect place to get high and hang out in the spring sunshine, as they eschew adult responsibilities.
Since meeting as teenagers, rifts have grown amongst the group. Even as they are determined to enjoy themselves, tensions cast shadows between them - politics, sex and lies. The house, too, has its own dark history and exudes a palpable sense of menace.
Where do the drugs end and the supernatural begin? Will anger and jealousy tear the friends apart, or will it be more ominous forces? Their stay at Holt House will change them all...
A grand country house stands empty. Once the home of Theo's great uncle, it seems like the perfect place to get high and hang out in the spring sunshine, as they eschew adult responsibilities.
Since meeting as teenagers, rifts have grown amongst the group. Even as they are determined to enjoy themselves, tensions cast shadows between them - politics, sex and lies. The house, too, has its own dark history and exudes a palpable sense of menace.
Where do the drugs end and the supernatural begin? Will anger and jealousy tear the friends apart, or will it be more ominous forces? Their stay at Holt House will change them all...
283 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2025
8 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 23, 2025
Wow… this was a bit slow to start, hard to follow and then just a bit anticlimactic to end. Also I standby what I said previously, these characters deserve bad things happening to them.
March 21, 2025
2.5⭐️
I have a lot of feelings about this book and I’m very disappointed with how the book eventually turned out. it had so much potential and I could see elements where it could have been good but it just wasn’t the author didn’t focus on the aspects they where writing well and just kept changing the vibe of the book
The relationships between the characters where not very clear and seemed to blend together in some places, I wasn’t sure who had what relationship with who
the characters are all very flawed and kinda shitty people in a lot of ways which gave them potential to be very interesting but they where kind of just annoying tho I do feel like they felt like real people just made 100% more insufferable. Theo was a very interesting character but the author didn’t explore his character very well I feel like his character could have linked well with the plot but the author didn’t explore that and just made him a really shallow character.
I’m not sure how I felt about the consistent mention of politics in the book I’m not sure it was needed I don’t think it added anything to the book and just seemed to be there to express the authors views/ add conflict between the characters, it could have been used more subtly to get the point across which I think would have worked better with the book if the author truly felt it was needed instead of the very heavy handed blunt way it was actually portrayed
The book sets the vibe well, I felt Jan’s confusion and fear over what was happening and not knowing whether it was just the drugs, The others messing with her or something else. I think the choice to write this book from one single unreliable narrator was a really good decision it built the vibe well and had the reader questioning what was real or not just as much as the character.
This book seems to have 2 very different writing styles within it one that is very blunt and kinda of spoon feeds information to the reader and another that is quiet flowery and a bit unclear, the former being mainly when talking about politics and the characters feelings towards different things and the latter being the actual horror element these 2 styles don’t go together very well and feel like they should be 2 completely different books. Some of the transitions from one scene to the next are also quite abrupt and sometimes feel like there is something missing in between and sometimes they focused and overly described things that weren’t really necessary
I hated the ending it felt abrupt and kinda pointless and made no sense with the rest of the book. The ending was just so rushed and spent no time explaining why anything happened or making it clear what happened really it was just a really bad ending
The overall premise of the book is good and the horror aspects of the book where interesting and engaging, but everything else within the book was just lacking or just felt out of place, anytime it wasn’t focusing on the horror elements the writing felt all over the place and even tho the concept of all the characters where interesting most of the time they where all annoying and their conversations seemed odd. It felt like the author had an idea but got bored halfway through so just decided to create a really quick ending.
Rep- sapphic mc, sapphic side characters, Jewish fmc, poc side character
TW- self harm (past), attempted rape/SA, drug use
Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the digital arc
I have a lot of feelings about this book and I’m very disappointed with how the book eventually turned out. it had so much potential and I could see elements where it could have been good but it just wasn’t the author didn’t focus on the aspects they where writing well and just kept changing the vibe of the book
The relationships between the characters where not very clear and seemed to blend together in some places, I wasn’t sure who had what relationship with who
the characters are all very flawed and kinda shitty people in a lot of ways which gave them potential to be very interesting but they where kind of just annoying tho I do feel like they felt like real people just made 100% more insufferable. Theo was a very interesting character but the author didn’t explore his character very well I feel like his character could have linked well with the plot but the author didn’t explore that and just made him a really shallow character.
I’m not sure how I felt about the consistent mention of politics in the book I’m not sure it was needed I don’t think it added anything to the book and just seemed to be there to express the authors views/ add conflict between the characters, it could have been used more subtly to get the point across which I think would have worked better with the book if the author truly felt it was needed instead of the very heavy handed blunt way it was actually portrayed
The book sets the vibe well, I felt Jan’s confusion and fear over what was happening and not knowing whether it was just the drugs, The others messing with her or something else. I think the choice to write this book from one single unreliable narrator was a really good decision it built the vibe well and had the reader questioning what was real or not just as much as the character.
This book seems to have 2 very different writing styles within it one that is very blunt and kinda of spoon feeds information to the reader and another that is quiet flowery and a bit unclear, the former being mainly when talking about politics and the characters feelings towards different things and the latter being the actual horror element these 2 styles don’t go together very well and feel like they should be 2 completely different books. Some of the transitions from one scene to the next are also quite abrupt and sometimes feel like there is something missing in between and sometimes they focused and overly described things that weren’t really necessary
I hated the ending it felt abrupt and kinda pointless and made no sense with the rest of the book. The ending was just so rushed and spent no time explaining why anything happened or making it clear what happened really it was just a really bad ending
The overall premise of the book is good and the horror aspects of the book where interesting and engaging, but everything else within the book was just lacking or just felt out of place, anytime it wasn’t focusing on the horror elements the writing felt all over the place and even tho the concept of all the characters where interesting most of the time they where all annoying and their conversations seemed odd. It felt like the author had an idea but got bored halfway through so just decided to create a really quick ending.
Rep- sapphic mc, sapphic side characters, Jewish fmc, poc side character
TW- self harm (past), attempted rape/SA, drug use
Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the digital arc
November 19, 2025
Everyone in this book is MESSY!! If you like drama and ghosts this is the story for you.
May 13, 2025
I have mixed feelings about this book. Although it had a slow start, I really enjoyed the opening and was intrigued by where it seemed to be heading.
That said, the horror element felt underdeveloped and ultimately underwhelming. It was as if the story couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. I think the author should have either fully leaned into the horror or dropped it altogether in favor of exploring the group’s tangled, often toxic relationships. The dynamic between these insufferable yet compelling friends, trapped together in a big, eerie house, had the potential for some great drama, and it started out in that direction.
Instead, much of the book ended up focusing on the group constantly getting high, debating politics, and bickering, all leading to a supernatural climax that didn’t quite land for me.
Still, I enjoyed it for what it was, which is why I’ve given it 3 stars. The book had real potential and I wish the ending hadn’t felt so abrupt.
Plot summary:
A group of friends, disillusioned and restless during lockdown, escape to an abandoned country estate once owned by one of their relatives. Hoping for a carefree getaway filled with drugs and sunshine, they instead find old tensions resurfacing, strained friendships, hidden betrayals, and unresolved conflicts.
As they try to recapture their youth, the eerie presence of Holt House begins to assert itself. The boundary between reality and hallucination blurs, leaving them unsure whether their unraveling is due to substances, personal turmoil, or something far more sinister. Haunted by both the past and the present, their time at Holt House proves transformative
and possibly deadly.
That said, the horror element felt underdeveloped and ultimately underwhelming. It was as if the story couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. I think the author should have either fully leaned into the horror or dropped it altogether in favor of exploring the group’s tangled, often toxic relationships. The dynamic between these insufferable yet compelling friends, trapped together in a big, eerie house, had the potential for some great drama, and it started out in that direction.
Instead, much of the book ended up focusing on the group constantly getting high, debating politics, and bickering, all leading to a supernatural climax that didn’t quite land for me.
Still, I enjoyed it for what it was, which is why I’ve given it 3 stars. The book had real potential and I wish the ending hadn’t felt so abrupt.
Plot summary:
A group of friends, disillusioned and restless during lockdown, escape to an abandoned country estate once owned by one of their relatives. Hoping for a carefree getaway filled with drugs and sunshine, they instead find old tensions resurfacing, strained friendships, hidden betrayals, and unresolved conflicts.
As they try to recapture their youth, the eerie presence of Holt House begins to assert itself. The boundary between reality and hallucination blurs, leaving them unsure whether their unraveling is due to substances, personal turmoil, or something far more sinister. Haunted by both the past and the present, their time at Holt House proves transformative
and possibly deadly.
February 20, 2026
like so many other readers of this novel, i have rather mixed feelings about it. i got through it rather fast, and although it was quite slow paced, i never found it boring at least...however, the characters were all insufferable in some way or the other (obviously intentionally so), and it got frustrating especially as i got deeper into the book. maybe it's just me, but it was hard for me to believe that this group would even WANT to spend that much time together alone when their relations with one another were all so fractured and neglected in the first place.
that said, i love a story about a wealthy/well off, pretentious, privileged friend group (who aren't REALLY friends) as much as the next person because i absolutely LOVE reading about drama...and that intertwined with the haunted house aspect of the novel had me incredibly intrigued at first too. the big problem for me with this one was the pacing. it just meanders too much and takes TOO long to get to the climax, so when it finally hits the climax, it just ends up feeling anticlimactic? like all that build up just for...this? you would think the horror would have been the most interesting part of the book, but if anything, i found it the most annoying because i just wanted all the characters to actually TALK to one another. instead, any proper communication they should be having ends up taking a backseat to the ghost story that's going on...and then it flash forwards years at the end in a way that was so rushed it threw me off completely. it really just felt like there was no resolution to anything. nothing was truly cleared up because the characters avoided talking to one another right up to the very end. it was so unsatisfying and i was so disappointed.
that's not to say that i think any of these characters deserved much better because they really were horrible, but i wish there could have been some character growth and dimension in them that we could SEE develop. the time skip just negated all of that for me. the relationship between jan and ursie in particular actually felt like it was going somewhere towards the end only for nothing to happen...and for them to fall back into the same old pattern of no communication once again. i also felt like jan's relationship with nadya could have been explored in a lot more depth because their sadomasochistic dynamic had inklings of something much more interesting, however it petered out at the end too like there was no point of it even happening at all. i think a lot was lost for me because of how one dimensional the characters were. it was really only jan that felt fleshed out, and that's because the whole novel was from her perspective.
by no means do i think this was badly written in any way, but i was just really hoping for more considering how enticing the premise seemed. it's fine, but the ending felt really lacklustre to me, particularly as it took so much time for the slow build to finally reach it.
2.5/5
that said, i love a story about a wealthy/well off, pretentious, privileged friend group (who aren't REALLY friends) as much as the next person because i absolutely LOVE reading about drama...and that intertwined with the haunted house aspect of the novel had me incredibly intrigued at first too. the big problem for me with this one was the pacing. it just meanders too much and takes TOO long to get to the climax, so when it finally hits the climax, it just ends up feeling anticlimactic? like all that build up just for...this? you would think the horror would have been the most interesting part of the book, but if anything, i found it the most annoying because i just wanted all the characters to actually TALK to one another. instead, any proper communication they should be having ends up taking a backseat to the ghost story that's going on...and then it flash forwards years at the end in a way that was so rushed it threw me off completely. it really just felt like there was no resolution to anything. nothing was truly cleared up because the characters avoided talking to one another right up to the very end. it was so unsatisfying and i was so disappointed.
that's not to say that i think any of these characters deserved much better because they really were horrible, but i wish there could have been some character growth and dimension in them that we could SEE develop. the time skip just negated all of that for me. the relationship between jan and ursie in particular actually felt like it was going somewhere towards the end only for nothing to happen...and for them to fall back into the same old pattern of no communication once again. i also felt like jan's relationship with nadya could have been explored in a lot more depth because their sadomasochistic dynamic had inklings of something much more interesting, however it petered out at the end too like there was no point of it even happening at all. i think a lot was lost for me because of how one dimensional the characters were. it was really only jan that felt fleshed out, and that's because the whole novel was from her perspective.
by no means do i think this was badly written in any way, but i was just really hoping for more considering how enticing the premise seemed. it's fine, but the ending felt really lacklustre to me, particularly as it took so much time for the slow build to finally reach it.
2.5/5
April 13, 2025
The Decadence is a gothic horror story that offers a new take on the country house novel, as a group of friends flee to an old country house during lockdown. Jan and her friends are floundering, and now lockdown has made things even worse as they can't even party to escape their lives. But there is one option: a couple of weeks at the old country house Theo inherited from his great uncle. Fuelled by as many drugs as they could bring, things start falling apart almost immediately, as their interpersonal dramas surface, but quickly it seems to Jan that there's something else going on, and maybe the house isn't the safe retreat they imagined.
This is a book that takes a lot of other works and reinvents them into something new, as Leon Craig discusses in her note at the end of the book. The narrative perspective (entirely from Jan's point of view, a woman trying to fit in despite being a queer Jewish woman in a upper class English environment) and characters are from the country house novel, even pushing as far as (again, as Craig states) The Secret History as a kind of country house novel without the house, but with the in-group rarified from others. The haunted house side of things easily calls to mind Shirley Jackson, House of Leaves, and Tell Me I'm Worthless, and the latter in particular feels like a good comparison for this book, with The Decadence having less of the horror but a similar connection between the evils of Britain and the haunting of its seats of power.
The story itself is pretty simple, with messy characters and drama between them building to a climax alongside the weird things happening in the house, and being forced together in a claustrophobic setting adding to all that. It starts in a slow burn gothic style, mostly focused on the characters, before things ramp up as they all take an experimental drug. Sometimes this kind of book can lack a dramatic ending, but The Decadence builds to something that feels in-keeping with the atmosphere it has created (though I think having read Tell Me I'm Worthless primed me to expect something like what happens). Due to being from Jan's perspective, you never quite know what was going on with the other characters, which again, suits the genre, and also the overarching theme of belonging and what is knowable.
I thought from hearing about it that The Decadence would be my sort of book, with its combination of haunted house horror, the Brideshead-style novel, and a queer protagonist, and I'm happy that I wasn't disappointed. Craig uses the range of books that influenced her to create a new version of a gothic country house that fits into the claustrophobia of lockdown (which I've not mentioned otherwise in the review, but I liked how it came into the novel, and how it didn't) and explores the messiness of belonging (or not) in terms of identity, money, and power in modern Britain.
This is a book that takes a lot of other works and reinvents them into something new, as Leon Craig discusses in her note at the end of the book. The narrative perspective (entirely from Jan's point of view, a woman trying to fit in despite being a queer Jewish woman in a upper class English environment) and characters are from the country house novel, even pushing as far as (again, as Craig states) The Secret History as a kind of country house novel without the house, but with the in-group rarified from others. The haunted house side of things easily calls to mind Shirley Jackson, House of Leaves, and Tell Me I'm Worthless, and the latter in particular feels like a good comparison for this book, with The Decadence having less of the horror but a similar connection between the evils of Britain and the haunting of its seats of power.
The story itself is pretty simple, with messy characters and drama between them building to a climax alongside the weird things happening in the house, and being forced together in a claustrophobic setting adding to all that. It starts in a slow burn gothic style, mostly focused on the characters, before things ramp up as they all take an experimental drug. Sometimes this kind of book can lack a dramatic ending, but The Decadence builds to something that feels in-keeping with the atmosphere it has created (though I think having read Tell Me I'm Worthless primed me to expect something like what happens). Due to being from Jan's perspective, you never quite know what was going on with the other characters, which again, suits the genre, and also the overarching theme of belonging and what is knowable.
I thought from hearing about it that The Decadence would be my sort of book, with its combination of haunted house horror, the Brideshead-style novel, and a queer protagonist, and I'm happy that I wasn't disappointed. Craig uses the range of books that influenced her to create a new version of a gothic country house that fits into the claustrophobia of lockdown (which I've not mentioned otherwise in the review, but I liked how it came into the novel, and how it didn't) and explores the messiness of belonging (or not) in terms of identity, money, and power in modern Britain.
April 21, 2025
2.5, rounded up.
I requested the ARC of The Decadence after reading the synopsis - and thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for the E-ARC before I get going!
A gothic horror, blurred lines between drugs and the supernatural, ominous forces, and a house with its own sinister history and creeping menace? It all sounded right up my alley.
Set during the COVID lockdowns, the book captures the languid, claustrophobic atmosphere of that first pandemic summer. The unsettling times spent in an unsettling house, anxious about the situation as well as being caught, had me on my seat. Despite the story unfolding over just a few days, it definitely evoked that drawn-out, hazy sense of time standing still. Leon Craig's writing is certainly gorgeous, highly decorative and intentional. The touch on themes such as addiction, privilege, betrayal, self-destruction, manipulation, current issues in the world, identity in terms of queerness and race (and more), were all intriguing - but there were perhaps too many different things going on in the one book, as well as the horror, leaving the focus feeling a little missing?
Unfortunately, I found the horror and supernatural elements underwhelming. It’s a slow burn - promisingly so at first until it simmers on for a while too long - the final inferno into chaos was sudden and underdeveloped, I feel like I blinked and lost track of what was happening to be honest. The shift into horror lacked the build-up needed to make the climax as meaningful as it could have been.
Character relationships seemed more central than the horror, which could have worked, but I struggled to keep track of who was who, and lacked reason to care about any of them. Perhaps I'm just not in the right financial bracket to find them, their issues (or their various states of intoxication) relatable or compelling.
There’s definitely potential here: a haunting premise, a heavy atmosphere, and moments of critical observation. But sadly, it got lost for me in murky pacing, lack of focus and an emotional distance from the characters.
I requested the ARC of The Decadence after reading the synopsis - and thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for the E-ARC before I get going!
A gothic horror, blurred lines between drugs and the supernatural, ominous forces, and a house with its own sinister history and creeping menace? It all sounded right up my alley.
Set during the COVID lockdowns, the book captures the languid, claustrophobic atmosphere of that first pandemic summer. The unsettling times spent in an unsettling house, anxious about the situation as well as being caught, had me on my seat. Despite the story unfolding over just a few days, it definitely evoked that drawn-out, hazy sense of time standing still. Leon Craig's writing is certainly gorgeous, highly decorative and intentional. The touch on themes such as addiction, privilege, betrayal, self-destruction, manipulation, current issues in the world, identity in terms of queerness and race (and more), were all intriguing - but there were perhaps too many different things going on in the one book, as well as the horror, leaving the focus feeling a little missing?
Unfortunately, I found the horror and supernatural elements underwhelming. It’s a slow burn - promisingly so at first until it simmers on for a while too long - the final inferno into chaos was sudden and underdeveloped, I feel like I blinked and lost track of what was happening to be honest. The shift into horror lacked the build-up needed to make the climax as meaningful as it could have been.
Character relationships seemed more central than the horror, which could have worked, but I struggled to keep track of who was who, and lacked reason to care about any of them. Perhaps I'm just not in the right financial bracket to find them, their issues (or their various states of intoxication) relatable or compelling.
There’s definitely potential here: a haunting premise, a heavy atmosphere, and moments of critical observation. But sadly, it got lost for me in murky pacing, lack of focus and an emotional distance from the characters.
August 4, 2025
I really love diving into spooky reads for my October ARCs, but this year I found a few coming out in September that I could not resist – The Decadence was one of them.
Jan and her friends are bored during the Covid lockdowns and decide to travel to the abandoned Holt House, inherited by one of the group Theo. However, partying soon turns to something sinister as things start to happen in the house that cannot be explained.
I picked up The Decadence thinking it would be a haunted house story, however it seems to very much be a book about this group of very unlikeable people and their relationships with each other. All of the characters seem self-absorbed, shallow and manipulative. There’s lots of odd discussions about politics which didn’t seem at all relevant to the plot, but then some of the lesser characters – Ursie and Kara, in particular seem barely fleshed out.
The plot is a very slow burn and even as far as 75% of the way through nothing has really happened. The group have arguments, take drugs, eat food and sleep with each other, over and over again. A few odd things happen here and there – a vase moves, a notebook gets pulled apart. I honestly felt at any point that I could just put it down and not pick it back up again and I wouldn’t care, even right towards the end - I just really wasn’t invested. Events come to a bit of a climax involving the history of the house, but as we know so little about the previous inhabitants or even the central character to their story Theo, it didn’t really make much sense. The final chapter was confusing and didn’t really add much to the story either.
Overall, The Decadence is not really a horror story, it’s a story about a group of people taking a lot of drugs who don’t really like each other. I personally found it bland, boring and irrelevant. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder and Stoughton – Sceptre for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out Kindig Blog
Jan and her friends are bored during the Covid lockdowns and decide to travel to the abandoned Holt House, inherited by one of the group Theo. However, partying soon turns to something sinister as things start to happen in the house that cannot be explained.
I picked up The Decadence thinking it would be a haunted house story, however it seems to very much be a book about this group of very unlikeable people and their relationships with each other. All of the characters seem self-absorbed, shallow and manipulative. There’s lots of odd discussions about politics which didn’t seem at all relevant to the plot, but then some of the lesser characters – Ursie and Kara, in particular seem barely fleshed out.
The plot is a very slow burn and even as far as 75% of the way through nothing has really happened. The group have arguments, take drugs, eat food and sleep with each other, over and over again. A few odd things happen here and there – a vase moves, a notebook gets pulled apart. I honestly felt at any point that I could just put it down and not pick it back up again and I wouldn’t care, even right towards the end - I just really wasn’t invested. Events come to a bit of a climax involving the history of the house, but as we know so little about the previous inhabitants or even the central character to their story Theo, it didn’t really make much sense. The final chapter was confusing and didn’t really add much to the story either.
Overall, The Decadence is not really a horror story, it’s a story about a group of people taking a lot of drugs who don’t really like each other. I personally found it bland, boring and irrelevant. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder and Stoughton – Sceptre for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out Kindig Blog
January 1, 2026
The decadence is like a series of a soap opera on steroids - in absolutely the best way!
This is a difficult book to sum up, and whilst it was a little slow at the start, I found the character background made me more invested in the characters as the book progressed. We follow a group of friends who are heavily self-involved and I don’t think we’re supposed to even like them that much. And yet, by the end of this the drama just had me and I was so tense - and I really loved the epilogue seeing what happens to them all!
This is classed as a horror, but it’s certainly not typical, it’s more an interesting study of what happens to selfish people when they’re put in a secluded area during lockdown, which plenty of drugs and alcohol - so much, that they neglect to realise they’re actually being haunted for far too long. As a reader, you see these things that appear as heavily ‘off’ and think to yourself that there’s no way you’d stay, but manage to forget it all for the absolute drama that kicks off between the friend group.
I read this in a single sitting and honestly, I had a blast! After hearing the author speak about this at an event last halloween, I was certain I would enjoy this drama/horror story. Don’t expect huge jump scares or heavy paranormal activity, but something unlike other books I’ve read - for me, in a great way! Also, the author’s instagram page has a little sketch of the house’s floor plan which I loved looking at!
This is a difficult book to sum up, and whilst it was a little slow at the start, I found the character background made me more invested in the characters as the book progressed. We follow a group of friends who are heavily self-involved and I don’t think we’re supposed to even like them that much. And yet, by the end of this the drama just had me and I was so tense - and I really loved the epilogue seeing what happens to them all!
This is classed as a horror, but it’s certainly not typical, it’s more an interesting study of what happens to selfish people when they’re put in a secluded area during lockdown, which plenty of drugs and alcohol - so much, that they neglect to realise they’re actually being haunted for far too long. As a reader, you see these things that appear as heavily ‘off’ and think to yourself that there’s no way you’d stay, but manage to forget it all for the absolute drama that kicks off between the friend group.
I read this in a single sitting and honestly, I had a blast! After hearing the author speak about this at an event last halloween, I was certain I would enjoy this drama/horror story. Don’t expect huge jump scares or heavy paranormal activity, but something unlike other books I’ve read - for me, in a great way! Also, the author’s instagram page has a little sketch of the house’s floor plan which I loved looking at!
September 10, 2025
The Decadence has such a moody cover, I loved the style of it and I was hoping for an isolated and eerie haunted house. Instead I felt like a bunch of people that vaguely know each other go stay in a big house. The characters are in their 20s but seem to have regrets and lives that they are deeply unhappy with. Yes there is a pandemic and lockdown but they all are unlikable and are not very deep yet to seem to have this drained energy. I thought this was an illicit break? Everyone is on furlough and doesn’t seem to have been that negatively impacted by grief for the pandemic. I wouldn’t even call them friends, there is no real banter, stilted conversation and generally just seem to use substances as a way to connect m. I was confused at points as well. We do have an unreliable narrator, which was a great choice for the POV. But they packed to go away to an empty property and then are checking cupboards for food, surely you pack this yourself? The horror element did not make up for the rest for me unfortunately. I think if you like unreliable narrators and books that cover the pandemic then this may be for you. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.
September 1, 2025
This book was outrageously dull. The characters weren’t likeable, which isn’t a problem in and of itself, but they also lacked charisma and/or literally any sympathetic qualities. They were surface-level whiny, and that was about it.
With a book like this I was hoping for something really atmospheric, that would draw me in to this creepy setting. Unfortunately there wasn’t any of that, with the spooky elements being brought in so late on in the story that they were never fully realised.
The book also has a strange relationship with politics. It feels like the author is painfully aware that some of the characters have controversial views and doesn’t want that to reflect badly on her, so every politic moment or conversation fizzles out with a half-hearted ‘there are flaws on every side’. It comes back to the uncharismatic characters; if any of them had any sort of conviction, no matter how flawed or controversial, it would have made for much more interesting tensions between the characters.
I really thought I would love this book, but I basically had to drag myself through it.
I received a free copy for an honest review.
With a book like this I was hoping for something really atmospheric, that would draw me in to this creepy setting. Unfortunately there wasn’t any of that, with the spooky elements being brought in so late on in the story that they were never fully realised.
The book also has a strange relationship with politics. It feels like the author is painfully aware that some of the characters have controversial views and doesn’t want that to reflect badly on her, so every politic moment or conversation fizzles out with a half-hearted ‘there are flaws on every side’. It comes back to the uncharismatic characters; if any of them had any sort of conviction, no matter how flawed or controversial, it would have made for much more interesting tensions between the characters.
I really thought I would love this book, but I basically had to drag myself through it.
I received a free copy for an honest review.
September 27, 2025
Earlier this month I idly wondered what a version of Boccaccio's DECAMERON set during the pandemic would look like, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that Leon Craig had beaten me to the punch with this story about a gang of friends who head for a country house to entertain themselves. "What harm could a week in the country possibly do?" says one of the characters in the opening scenes, a line that's the narrative equivalent of covering yourself in fish guts and diving into a shark tank.
In its best moments THE DECADENCE lives up to its title with lush prose that channels the sensual indulgence and moral disintegration of its protagonists, playing a Donna Tartt-esque note with its cast of charmingly dissolute and drugged-up rich young people being awful to each other. However, the supernatural elements advertised in the blurb are integrated briefly and awkwardly, and Craig's narration sometimes exposits clumsily about the characters' pasts and politics, with these efforts to make THE DECADENCE something of a state-of-the-nation story feeling far less compelling than the well-executed atmosphere of the book.
In its best moments THE DECADENCE lives up to its title with lush prose that channels the sensual indulgence and moral disintegration of its protagonists, playing a Donna Tartt-esque note with its cast of charmingly dissolute and drugged-up rich young people being awful to each other. However, the supernatural elements advertised in the blurb are integrated briefly and awkwardly, and Craig's narration sometimes exposits clumsily about the characters' pasts and politics, with these efforts to make THE DECADENCE something of a state-of-the-nation story feeling far less compelling than the well-executed atmosphere of the book.
February 3, 2026
The spirit that lines the walls is far from the only ghost present in that house.
I gravitate towards media that utilises a house as a symbol of feudal power (especially when it comes to gothic horror), and I enjoyed the aspects of surveillance, paranoia, sexuality, longing, lust & heartbreak… nonetheless, a tad too flowery for me.
Love and care evidently went into this, but I felt there was too much of a focus on the menial details. Note that this was only during scene setting. The detailing prescribed to the characters lore was phenomenal, I felt I knew them all greatly, for the most part. It was the abundance of what I felt were unnecessary descriptors about certain settings caused hesitance to continue to pick this up.
That said, I liked the premise, and the final chapter grabbed me in a way I had hoped for from, say, the middle of the book (even if I did feel that the ending was a tad unsatisfactory). A slow burner, for sure.
If The Haunting of Hill House is up your street, and you’ve a penchant for extremely vivid detail, this may be one for you.
I gravitate towards media that utilises a house as a symbol of feudal power (especially when it comes to gothic horror), and I enjoyed the aspects of surveillance, paranoia, sexuality, longing, lust & heartbreak… nonetheless, a tad too flowery for me.
Love and care evidently went into this, but I felt there was too much of a focus on the menial details. Note that this was only during scene setting. The detailing prescribed to the characters lore was phenomenal, I felt I knew them all greatly, for the most part. It was the abundance of what I felt were unnecessary descriptors about certain settings caused hesitance to continue to pick this up.
That said, I liked the premise, and the final chapter grabbed me in a way I had hoped for from, say, the middle of the book (even if I did feel that the ending was a tad unsatisfactory). A slow burner, for sure.
If The Haunting of Hill House is up your street, and you’ve a penchant for extremely vivid detail, this may be one for you.
April 25, 2025
2.5 stars
Ah, this started out so strong and fell apart as it went along. I really did not like any of the characters, they were all insufferable but not developed enough to be interesting. Luke and Kara especially were two dimensional and frustrating to read about. Theo could have been interesting if he was explored further, but served no real additional purpose to the story.
While I enjoyed the writing at the start, it eventually felt overly complex. The addition of covid, lockdown, politics and relationships didn’t add anything of interest or value to the plot. I really wish there was more attention on the house and its mystery, I thought I’d be reading a ghost story or something spooky, but really the only scary thing was these characters and their lack of awareness.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #TheDecadence #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Ah, this started out so strong and fell apart as it went along. I really did not like any of the characters, they were all insufferable but not developed enough to be interesting. Luke and Kara especially were two dimensional and frustrating to read about. Theo could have been interesting if he was explored further, but served no real additional purpose to the story.
While I enjoyed the writing at the start, it eventually felt overly complex. The addition of covid, lockdown, politics and relationships didn’t add anything of interest or value to the plot. I really wish there was more attention on the house and its mystery, I thought I’d be reading a ghost story or something spooky, but really the only scary thing was these characters and their lack of awareness.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #TheDecadence #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
July 8, 2025
I don't quite know how to feel about this book. It was strangely compelling but not particularly likeable.
The book was slow to start, and I found it difficult to get into. The characters were unrelatable and mostly unlikeable, but the story became more intriguing and I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.
There were some pretty, poetic descriptions, but the conversations between the group were littered with annoying discussions about politics and I felt my attention waning at these points.
Towards the end, Jan's visions of historical events didn't feel in keeping with the rest of the book, and I also found myself skimming over these.
There was quite an abrupt but exciting end to the story at Holt House. I did enjoy the final two sections and the way the story wrapped up.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy.
The book was slow to start, and I found it difficult to get into. The characters were unrelatable and mostly unlikeable, but the story became more intriguing and I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.
There were some pretty, poetic descriptions, but the conversations between the group were littered with annoying discussions about politics and I felt my attention waning at these points.
Towards the end, Jan's visions of historical events didn't feel in keeping with the rest of the book, and I also found myself skimming over these.
There was quite an abrupt but exciting end to the story at Holt House. I did enjoy the final two sections and the way the story wrapped up.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy.
February 11, 2026
I went into this book expecting that it would at least have some elements of horror to it. This book is not a horror, it's not even a tiny bit spooky. It's like if Donna Tartt wrote a book and rewrote it so it was bad. The characters are all awful and unredeemable and whilst i like books that have terrible characters, these ones are just annoying more than anything. Leon Craig tries to tackle a variety of issues- class, race, Jewishness, queerness- but none of it is done well. It all feels heavy handed and i don't think she knows what she's trying to say. The idea that a group of friends go away during lockdown and have all these wild exploits sounds like it should work but Leon Craig has failed to fulfil this brief. If you want a good horror book that looks at being Jewish, being queer and is actually scary, read Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review
May 11, 2025
Thank you for the opportunity to read the book as an arc.
I’m going to rate this a 3/5 read. Overall it was not bad just very slow and the end was rushed I had to read it twice.
I felt the characters were all morally grey which is good however they were shallow, we barely have any of their backstory or even a glimpse of their personality.
It had so much potential but the supernatural part was just so strange.
Some political stuff was stated but just forgotten deeper into the book
Most of them were annoying like why is everyone treating the MC as if she’s a servant but they offer her substances and then ask her to be part of them.
I honestly did not see the point to add all the somewhat relationships between characters since they weren’t that deep and felt rushed.
I’m going to rate this a 3/5 read. Overall it was not bad just very slow and the end was rushed I had to read it twice.
I felt the characters were all morally grey which is good however they were shallow, we barely have any of their backstory or even a glimpse of their personality.
It had so much potential but the supernatural part was just so strange.
Some political stuff was stated but just forgotten deeper into the book
Most of them were annoying like why is everyone treating the MC as if she’s a servant but they offer her substances and then ask her to be part of them.
I honestly did not see the point to add all the somewhat relationships between characters since they weren’t that deep and felt rushed.
September 29, 2025
2
setting: UK
rep: lesbian Jewish protagonist; multiple sapphic side characters
I spotted this in an indie bookstore and was enthralled by the cover, and I was sold by the blurb on the back calling it a triumph of the queer gothic. that is exactly what I like to read, but that isn't what this is. I don't even know what this is really, except a mess. none of the characters make any sense or have any development and even the atmosphere was all over the place, and they're all just a vile bunch of drugged-up twats for the whole book. I really don't understand what the story was supposed to be or what the author was trying to say, and the end made no sense. a shame, but I'm afraid this book deserves its low rating
setting: UK
rep: lesbian Jewish protagonist; multiple sapphic side characters
I spotted this in an indie bookstore and was enthralled by the cover, and I was sold by the blurb on the back calling it a triumph of the queer gothic. that is exactly what I like to read, but that isn't what this is. I don't even know what this is really, except a mess. none of the characters make any sense or have any development and even the atmosphere was all over the place, and they're all just a vile bunch of drugged-up twats for the whole book. I really don't understand what the story was supposed to be or what the author was trying to say, and the end made no sense. a shame, but I'm afraid this book deserves its low rating
March 18, 2025
A grand country house stands abandoned writhe with its own dark history and exudes a palpable sense of menace. A perfect playground for a group of friends who during the height of lockdown make a bid for freedom.
A unique take on the haunted house horror and the age old idea that sinners deserve to bleed. A claustrophobic exploration of the dark places we have within ourselves and an unreliable narrator that makes you question where the drugs end and the supernatural begin.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫 & 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐨𝐧 | 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠
A unique take on the haunted house horror and the age old idea that sinners deserve to bleed. A claustrophobic exploration of the dark places we have within ourselves and an unreliable narrator that makes you question where the drugs end and the supernatural begin.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫 & 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐨𝐧 | 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠
April 20, 2025
This book took me a while to get into, but once I was in I was hooked. Set during the first lockdown of 2020, a group of friends in their late 20s decide to stay at Holt House, the ancestral home of one of the group. Whilst there, many bizarre things happen and the friendships are tested. It’s a creepy read in parts, and I found the reveal about 80% in quite chilling. It was a great read worth persevering through the slow start.
March 1, 2026
I stepped into this read with some hopes. I liked the atmosphere and the gothic feel, yet I felt that the book was so anticlimactic and boring in the end. Let down as I felt there was some potential but in the end, it seemed as if the author had no idea where the book was going and was writing purely for the “vibes”.
The characters are…interesting, so if you feel like delving into the lives of some really messed up people, go for it.
The characters are…interesting, so if you feel like delving into the lives of some really messed up people, go for it.
January 7, 2026
Started off terribly (that whole first chapter should have been skipped), some confrontations that I wanted to happen never did, I question the author’s understanding of female sexuality, the main character was very passive, but overall I can’t deny that I was hooked and devoured the book at a rapid pace
March 31, 2025
I'm afraid this one didn't work for me.
I was confused by who was who, how they all knew each other and what their relationships were.
What I did know, was that I didn't like any of them.
That was just the first half.
I was confused by who was who, how they all knew each other and what their relationships were.
What I did know, was that I didn't like any of them.
That was just the first half.
March 24, 2025
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I enjoyed this at the start, but it all became far too drug-heavy and the ending was all a bit silly for me. That said, it was well written, for the most part.
did-not-finish
September 30, 2025DNF - the writing style is already not for me, quite a lot of overexplaining
January 5, 2026
i fear this book never really found its footing and just fell very flat by the end of it
February 24, 2026
I enjoyed this as it reminded me of Donna Tartt's A Secret History. That said, the ending didn't quite land for me, even though I saw it coming.
January 4, 2026
The style of writing in this book isn’t for me. Lots of long sentences explaining scenes in detail, especially in the beginning. My main notes from this book was how horrible all of the characters were and how there isn’t a huge amount of discussion about the physical consequences drug fuelled escapades. It was a reasonable read, and explored interesting concepts like queerness and class divides. It feels like it ends VERY suddenly, and there could have been more build. I’d give it a 2.5 rounded to a 3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2025
I usually don’t write reviews, but this book was so terrible it deserves one. Not one character had enough of a personality except being so utterly detestable I hoped it would all end soon. The plot was pretty much non existent, the story sort of happened and ended very suddenly. None of the promised secrets were really fun or sinister. This book was more about a pain fetish and drugs than anything else. No atmosphere, no story, no character development, nothing. Very disappointed.
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