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Rottenheart
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25 copies available
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Revenge me. For I am murdered . . .
Odette and Cecilia are young women, living between their grand homes in Hampstead and the imposing, ancient Herne House in Suffolk. Though Odette's artist mother Lydia keeps a tight grasp on her, she and her beloved Cecilia are mostly left free to roam, to learn and to love.
But when Lydia inexplicably sickens and dies, a dark veil falls. As the funeral rites are performed, Odette's aunt, the cold and implacable Claudine, increasingly takes charge of the household, while her father retreats to his study. Odette, lost in grief, disappears into the shadows.
But as Claudine is announced as Odette's new stepmother, a sinister presence in the house makes itself known. To her horror, Odette realises that despite her death, Lydia never really left. And now she wants revenge . . .
Inspired by Hamlet, the ultimate revenge tragedy, Rottenheart is the stunning new sapphic gothic horror novel from Kat Dunn, the lauded author of Hungerstone and Bitterthorn. Set in the 1890s, this a story of love and grief, mothers and daughters, death and madness.
Odette and Cecilia are young women, living between their grand homes in Hampstead and the imposing, ancient Herne House in Suffolk. Though Odette's artist mother Lydia keeps a tight grasp on her, she and her beloved Cecilia are mostly left free to roam, to learn and to love.
But when Lydia inexplicably sickens and dies, a dark veil falls. As the funeral rites are performed, Odette's aunt, the cold and implacable Claudine, increasingly takes charge of the household, while her father retreats to his study. Odette, lost in grief, disappears into the shadows.
But as Claudine is announced as Odette's new stepmother, a sinister presence in the house makes itself known. To her horror, Odette realises that despite her death, Lydia never really left. And now she wants revenge . . .
Inspired by Hamlet, the ultimate revenge tragedy, Rottenheart is the stunning new sapphic gothic horror novel from Kat Dunn, the lauded author of Hungerstone and Bitterthorn. Set in the 1890s, this a story of love and grief, mothers and daughters, death and madness.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2026
About the author
Kat Dunn
8 books1,312 followersKat Dunn is the author of HUNGERSTONE (2025), BITTERTHORN, and the Battalion of the Dead trilogy:
DANGEROUS REMEDY, MONSTROUS DESIGN and GLORIOUS POISON.
She grew up in London and has lived in Japan, Australia and France.
She has a BA in Japanese from SOAS and an MA in English from Warwick. She’s written about mental health for Mind and The Guardian, and worked as a translator for Japanese television.
DANGEROUS REMEDY, MONSTROUS DESIGN and GLORIOUS POISON.
She grew up in London and has lived in Japan, Australia and France.
She has a BA in Japanese from SOAS and an MA in English from Warwick. She’s written about mental health for Mind and The Guardian, and worked as a translator for Japanese television.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
May 22, 2026
thank you so much to netgalley for this arc!!
this is my first book by kat dunn, and it definitely won’t be my last! this was such a fun concept, and was almost a ‘meandering’ plot? which i don’t say in a negative way, it really worked for me. this is also sapphic which immediately made me fall in love with it. the writing style was gorgeous and very very atmospheric - i would say this is more of a gothic/despair/grief-driven story, as opposed to a spooky/scary horror, and i think that suited these characters well. i very much fell in love with both odette and cecilia (although odette specifically was definitely frustrating at a lot of points).
my only teeny tiny issue i had with this book was the time jumps - in and of themselves, they are fine, and added to the plot, but we jump back and forth between different months of the same year and it can get a tiny bit confusing in places. i just flicked back and made sure i understood exactly where we stood, so not exactly a hardship.
i would definitely recommend this book if you like more atmospheric, gothic stories, as opposed to high stakes spooky stories. the ‘romance’ was very sweet, the story was engaging, and the characters were really interesting to follow. very much enjoyed!
this is my first book by kat dunn, and it definitely won’t be my last! this was such a fun concept, and was almost a ‘meandering’ plot? which i don’t say in a negative way, it really worked for me. this is also sapphic which immediately made me fall in love with it. the writing style was gorgeous and very very atmospheric - i would say this is more of a gothic/despair/grief-driven story, as opposed to a spooky/scary horror, and i think that suited these characters well. i very much fell in love with both odette and cecilia (although odette specifically was definitely frustrating at a lot of points).
my only teeny tiny issue i had with this book was the time jumps - in and of themselves, they are fine, and added to the plot, but we jump back and forth between different months of the same year and it can get a tiny bit confusing in places. i just flicked back and made sure i understood exactly where we stood, so not exactly a hardship.
i would definitely recommend this book if you like more atmospheric, gothic stories, as opposed to high stakes spooky stories. the ‘romance’ was very sweet, the story was engaging, and the characters were really interesting to follow. very much enjoyed!
Want to Read
November 28, 2025sapphic and Shakespeare inspired. say less.
Read
June 18, 2026Sapphics with mommy issues, gather round!
Kat Dunn transports Hamlet into the tail end of the 19th century in this queer, gothic retelling. Aesthetically, Dunn pulls from 19th century illustrations such as the infamous painting of Ophelia, Victorian ghost stories, and fairytale imagery—an eclectic concoction that somehow all find themselves tethered together by the source text: Hamlet. Narratively, Kat Dunn explores the family dynamics and insular interpersonal conflicts of the source material. Cycles of revenge are zoomed in on and dialed up to focus on cycles of familial revenge. Hamlet’s role as an extension of his father (through name, through task) bleeds into this world through themes of mother/daughter entanglement and codependency, bordering on incestuous as Hamlet (Odette)’s relationship with her mother parallels Ophelia (Cecelia)’s relationship with Odette. As secrets unfold and tensions shift and grow, roles and selves become twisted into one unending knotted loop of revenge.
This book is About a lot of things: inherited trauma, the definition of the self through and by another to the point of losing oneself, the idea that madness is nothing more than a declaration someone uses to assert themselves as reason, image—to violate, to preserve, to perform. Its themes are interconnected and cyclical, an ever-spinning web of parallels and codependency and projection between mother and daughter, sister and sister, aunt and niece, husband and wife, lover and lover, over and over. ROTTENHEART is ripe with rot: memento mori and gothic imagery, fucked up dynamics and toxic behavior, and bleeding with heart: full of love for stories and women and love between women, determined to break the cycles at hand.
Kat Dunn is a favorite author of mine, queer Hamlet retellings are my favorite subgenre (yes, really, ask me any day), and this book was certainly no disappointment. I highly recommend this gothic story: rich with ruination, tangled with toxicity, and blooming with brilliant character work. I especially recommend this book for fans of THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE, the Millais Ophelia painting, and GHOST QUARTET (for those who know GQ: I can’t emphasize enough how many plot and theme similarities this book and GQ have! If I didn’t know for sure that it wasn’t intentional, I’d almost pitch this as a Ghost Quartet retelling nearly as much as a Hamlet retelling).
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
CW: grief, death of mother, toxic relationship, suicidal ideation and attempt, dead body, hallucinations, gun violence, sexual assault, drowning, murder, misogyny, child death (off-page), animal death, blood & gore, body horror, abusive parent (emotional and physical), fire, emesis, adultery
Kat Dunn transports Hamlet into the tail end of the 19th century in this queer, gothic retelling. Aesthetically, Dunn pulls from 19th century illustrations such as the infamous painting of Ophelia, Victorian ghost stories, and fairytale imagery—an eclectic concoction that somehow all find themselves tethered together by the source text: Hamlet. Narratively, Kat Dunn explores the family dynamics and insular interpersonal conflicts of the source material. Cycles of revenge are zoomed in on and dialed up to focus on cycles of familial revenge. Hamlet’s role as an extension of his father (through name, through task) bleeds into this world through themes of mother/daughter entanglement and codependency, bordering on incestuous as Hamlet (Odette)’s relationship with her mother parallels Ophelia (Cecelia)’s relationship with Odette. As secrets unfold and tensions shift and grow, roles and selves become twisted into one unending knotted loop of revenge.
This book is About a lot of things: inherited trauma, the definition of the self through and by another to the point of losing oneself, the idea that madness is nothing more than a declaration someone uses to assert themselves as reason, image—to violate, to preserve, to perform. Its themes are interconnected and cyclical, an ever-spinning web of parallels and codependency and projection between mother and daughter, sister and sister, aunt and niece, husband and wife, lover and lover, over and over. ROTTENHEART is ripe with rot: memento mori and gothic imagery, fucked up dynamics and toxic behavior, and bleeding with heart: full of love for stories and women and love between women, determined to break the cycles at hand.
Kat Dunn is a favorite author of mine, queer Hamlet retellings are my favorite subgenre (yes, really, ask me any day), and this book was certainly no disappointment. I highly recommend this gothic story: rich with ruination, tangled with toxicity, and blooming with brilliant character work. I especially recommend this book for fans of THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE, the Millais Ophelia painting, and GHOST QUARTET (for those who know GQ: I can’t emphasize enough how many plot and theme similarities this book and GQ have! If I didn’t know for sure that it wasn’t intentional, I’d almost pitch this as a Ghost Quartet retelling nearly as much as a Hamlet retelling).
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
CW: grief, death of mother, toxic relationship, suicidal ideation and attempt, dead body, hallucinations, gun violence, sexual assault, drowning, murder, misogyny, child death (off-page), animal death, blood & gore, body horror, abusive parent (emotional and physical), fire, emesis, adultery
Currently Reading
November 13, 2025Oh hello, what are you ?? More sapphic gothic books from Kat Dunn !? 👀
June 17, 2026
This book had huge shoes to fill after Hungerstone ended up being one of my favorites books of 2025 and of all time. While I still really enjoyed this, it didn't give me quite the same feeling as Hungerstone. Kat Dunn will likely forever be an auto-buy/auto-read author for me since Hungerstone seared her into my brain (and heart). I thoroughly enjoy her writing. I think she can weave together beautiful stories and her prose is everything I could hope for.
I think what dragged my rating down a bit for this book was that I was expecting much more in terms of horror. This book ended up being more about despair, grief, and interpersonal relationships. The horror didn't come through in the way that I was expecting. Which is fine. I don't need every book to turn out the way that I was hoping, but I also wish that this book had done a bit more with Odette and Cecilia's relationship. Again, I just expected more than I ended up getting. This overall led me to a feeling of being a bit underwhelmed. It didn't take off much from my experience though as I still thought this was a solid 4/5 stars for me. It simply wasn't Hungerstone level though.
As I mentioned earlier, Dunn's writing is superb. I love how she depicts her characters and the emotions that she evokes. Dunn really knows how to write a gothic tone into her novels which gives a fantastic atmosphere. I also want to mention how Dunn is turning out another stunning cover. Her books are gorgeous works of art.
Although this didn't quite live up to Hungerstone, I would still recommend diving into this book. I've already preordered my copy and can't wait to see what books she releases in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
I think what dragged my rating down a bit for this book was that I was expecting much more in terms of horror. This book ended up being more about despair, grief, and interpersonal relationships. The horror didn't come through in the way that I was expecting. Which is fine. I don't need every book to turn out the way that I was hoping, but I also wish that this book had done a bit more with Odette and Cecilia's relationship. Again, I just expected more than I ended up getting. This overall led me to a feeling of being a bit underwhelmed. It didn't take off much from my experience though as I still thought this was a solid 4/5 stars for me. It simply wasn't Hungerstone level though.
As I mentioned earlier, Dunn's writing is superb. I love how she depicts her characters and the emotions that she evokes. Dunn really knows how to write a gothic tone into her novels which gives a fantastic atmosphere. I also want to mention how Dunn is turning out another stunning cover. Her books are gorgeous works of art.
Although this didn't quite live up to Hungerstone, I would still recommend diving into this book. I've already preordered my copy and can't wait to see what books she releases in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Want to Read
October 14, 2025New Kat Dunn book? More sapphic Gothic horror? I can't wait!
February 28, 2026
“she loves and is loved in return” oh my sweet haunted lesbians
June 17, 2026
Rottenheart is sapphic and gothic, I enjoyed it so so much. The plot is a slow pace and draws you in slowly, the underlying horror and emotion comes through beautifully creating atmospheric scenes. I loved the unique take on a Shakespeare classic and the prose lived up to him in my eyes. It’s haunting and covers every human emotion. What more can you ask for in a read? Saying that the time transitions at times brought me out of the flow but I shouldn’t complain as this created more tension and kept me interested. This is definitely a book for the gothic lovers and those looking for complex characters. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader audio. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.
May 2, 2026
I’m gonna be honest - I have no prior knowledge of Hamlet, nor do I know what it’s about, so I went into this blindly and purely for my love of Kat Dunn.
Rottenheart was an immensely enjoyable read, tearing my heart out from grief at one moment, and then from pure and utter yearning from Odette and Cecelia the next. I felt myself connecting so deeply with the story during many moments as someone with a mother just like both Lydia and Penelope. Being so full of anger and wrath towards someone, but also love and understanding - it just consumes you at times, and confuses you all the same, and you wonder why your life is shaped around their happiness. It’s almost like I could hear her muttering the words they were saying.
I’m not sure why I chose late at night to read this each time, as the horror elements were genuinely terrifying at times. Kat Dunn was able to describe the ghastly Lydia so well that I was able to picture everything so vividly and so clearly, which I find a lot of authors have a hard time doing.
This is a book I will be RUNNING to buy when it is released, such a haunting, sorrowful, insanely messed up sapphic tragedy that made me feel like my heart is bleeding.
Thank you NetGalley and Zando for the ARC!
Rottenheart was an immensely enjoyable read, tearing my heart out from grief at one moment, and then from pure and utter yearning from Odette and Cecelia the next. I felt myself connecting so deeply with the story during many moments as someone with a mother just like both Lydia and Penelope. Being so full of anger and wrath towards someone, but also love and understanding - it just consumes you at times, and confuses you all the same, and you wonder why your life is shaped around their happiness. It’s almost like I could hear her muttering the words they were saying.
I’m not sure why I chose late at night to read this each time, as the horror elements were genuinely terrifying at times. Kat Dunn was able to describe the ghastly Lydia so well that I was able to picture everything so vividly and so clearly, which I find a lot of authors have a hard time doing.
This is a book I will be RUNNING to buy when it is released, such a haunting, sorrowful, insanely messed up sapphic tragedy that made me feel like my heart is bleeding.
Thank you NetGalley and Zando for the ARC!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2026
Kat Dunn is one of my favorite authors, which is why this was such a disappointment.
I picked this up expecting the same feminine rage, wickedness, tension, and deliciously dark atmosphere that I loved in Hungerstone and Bitter Thorn. Instead, I got 430 pages of grief, misery, and characters repeating the same emotional beats over and over again.
The revenge plot which was the main reason I wanted to read this book doesn't truly happen until the last twenty pages, and the payoff wasn't nearly satisfying enough to justify the long build-up. If you're looking for a story centered on grief with occasional glimpses of horror, this may work for you. If you're looking for revenge, rage, and catharsis, you might leave feeling disappointed.
The novel felt far too long for the story it was telling. At least a hundred pages could have been cut without losing anything important. The constant timeline jumps also disrupted the flow and made it harder for me to stay invested.
I also struggled with the characters. The romance lacked chemistry, the cast felt stuck in the same emotional state for most of the book, and there was very little character development. The overwhelming focus on grief made the story feel emotionally repetitive, dense, and relentlessly bleak.
As always, Dunn's writing is gorgeous. Her prose is lush, atmospheric, and beautifully crafted. Unfortunately, beautiful writing wasn't enough to make me care about a story that felt repetitive and emotionally one-note.
I wanted to read about grief a little then dive into “The Ultimate Revenge “ , feminine rage. I wanted wicked women. I wanted tension. Instead, I got a LONG, heavy meditation on grief, and it simply wasn't what I was hoping for.
I picked this up expecting the same feminine rage, wickedness, tension, and deliciously dark atmosphere that I loved in Hungerstone and Bitter Thorn. Instead, I got 430 pages of grief, misery, and characters repeating the same emotional beats over and over again.
The revenge plot which was the main reason I wanted to read this book doesn't truly happen until the last twenty pages, and the payoff wasn't nearly satisfying enough to justify the long build-up. If you're looking for a story centered on grief with occasional glimpses of horror, this may work for you. If you're looking for revenge, rage, and catharsis, you might leave feeling disappointed.
The novel felt far too long for the story it was telling. At least a hundred pages could have been cut without losing anything important. The constant timeline jumps also disrupted the flow and made it harder for me to stay invested.
I also struggled with the characters. The romance lacked chemistry, the cast felt stuck in the same emotional state for most of the book, and there was very little character development. The overwhelming focus on grief made the story feel emotionally repetitive, dense, and relentlessly bleak.
As always, Dunn's writing is gorgeous. Her prose is lush, atmospheric, and beautifully crafted. Unfortunately, beautiful writing wasn't enough to make me care about a story that felt repetitive and emotionally one-note.
I wanted to read about grief a little then dive into “The Ultimate Revenge “ , feminine rage. I wanted wicked women. I wanted tension. Instead, I got a LONG, heavy meditation on grief, and it simply wasn't what I was hoping for.
June 1, 2026
Sadly a little disappointed with this one. I didn’t love it.
To start off with what I did love
• The depiction of grief. Raw, angry, uncomfortable. Grief isn’t something pretty and perfect, tidied up with a bow and out in a box. It’s life altering and messy, and too often people are found criticised for how they grieve. It’s either too much, a performance, or perhaps it’s not enough. Dunn portrays grief in many of its multitudes, and in that I found comfort.
• The complex dynamics between all the women as they try and navigate their society and each other. The societal standard and pressures played a very strong role in what happens to these characters.
• This links back to grief, but just the female rage of it all.
I think I was just let down by this book because it quite often felt so slow, with no real getting anywhere. I also wasn’t a massive fan of the structure, with the timeline skipping to the time where Lydia was alive and then to the aftermath of her death.
I also felt like Odette and Cecilia's POVs could sometimes blend together. Despite being quite different characters, often when reading their perspective I would forget whose point of view I was reading from, as often they didn’t felt quite distinct enough. I can’t work out if the books attention being divided between the two worked to flesh out the story, or hindered it in its sameness. Neither character felt particularly strong.
While this isn’t a romance and we weren’t promised the typical conventions of one, I would've liked to have been a little more sold on the chemistry between Cecilia and Odette, because largely I just didn’t care, unfortunately.
Dunn is an excellent writer, this one really just fell flat for me. Not quite sure how else to sum that up or why I didn’t quite like it.
Thank you to Bonnier Books UK | Manilla Press for the e-arc
To start off with what I did love
• The depiction of grief. Raw, angry, uncomfortable. Grief isn’t something pretty and perfect, tidied up with a bow and out in a box. It’s life altering and messy, and too often people are found criticised for how they grieve. It’s either too much, a performance, or perhaps it’s not enough. Dunn portrays grief in many of its multitudes, and in that I found comfort.
• The complex dynamics between all the women as they try and navigate their society and each other. The societal standard and pressures played a very strong role in what happens to these characters.
• This links back to grief, but just the female rage of it all.
I think I was just let down by this book because it quite often felt so slow, with no real getting anywhere. I also wasn’t a massive fan of the structure, with the timeline skipping to the time where Lydia was alive and then to the aftermath of her death.
I also felt like Odette and Cecilia's POVs could sometimes blend together. Despite being quite different characters, often when reading their perspective I would forget whose point of view I was reading from, as often they didn’t felt quite distinct enough. I can’t work out if the books attention being divided between the two worked to flesh out the story, or hindered it in its sameness. Neither character felt particularly strong.
While this isn’t a romance and we weren’t promised the typical conventions of one, I would've liked to have been a little more sold on the chemistry between Cecilia and Odette, because largely I just didn’t care, unfortunately.
Dunn is an excellent writer, this one really just fell flat for me. Not quite sure how else to sum that up or why I didn’t quite like it.
Thank you to Bonnier Books UK | Manilla Press for the e-arc
June 13, 2026
Just a bunch of women complaining and being passive aggressive. DNFed around 50% point because absolutely nothing was happening.
Enjoy Dunn’s prose. Just find some whingy sapphic tales a bit boring and this is one of those tales.
Enjoy Dunn’s prose. Just find some whingy sapphic tales a bit boring and this is one of those tales.
June 10, 2026
Bit disappointed after how much I enjoyed Hungerstone!
April 6, 2026
ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
Holy god. I am a Shakespeare lover, and Hamlet is a particular favorite (I’ve watched as many adaptations of the tale as I can find). There is a dark magic woven into the tale of a prince driven mad by his father’s ghost to get righteous vengeance against his uncle…so what happens when Hamlet is not royal? What happens when Hamlet is a sapphic woman of mediocre standing in a world where women are dismissed, when the consequences play out on a much smaller board, but with repercussions every bit as painful? Enter: Rottenheart.
It took me some time to comprehend the flow of time in the novel, but once I got hold of it, I was engrossed. Odette and Cecilia are a beautiful, demented mess. Lydia’s ghost spends much more time with Odette than King Hamlet’s ever does with his son, and this allows for a chilling, deeper exploration of the idea that even the vengeful spirit of a lost parent can bring some twisted comfort to a grieving child. The villains are victims and the victims are villains; there is so much nuance injected into the story that I came out of it with some amount of sympathy for everyone involved (except George. I do not like George). The ending is at once sweet closure and a door thrown open. I’m so glad I have Hungerstone waiting at my library already…I need Dunn’s prose tattooed on my heart.
Holy god. I am a Shakespeare lover, and Hamlet is a particular favorite (I’ve watched as many adaptations of the tale as I can find). There is a dark magic woven into the tale of a prince driven mad by his father’s ghost to get righteous vengeance against his uncle…so what happens when Hamlet is not royal? What happens when Hamlet is a sapphic woman of mediocre standing in a world where women are dismissed, when the consequences play out on a much smaller board, but with repercussions every bit as painful? Enter: Rottenheart.
It took me some time to comprehend the flow of time in the novel, but once I got hold of it, I was engrossed. Odette and Cecilia are a beautiful, demented mess. Lydia’s ghost spends much more time with Odette than King Hamlet’s ever does with his son, and this allows for a chilling, deeper exploration of the idea that even the vengeful spirit of a lost parent can bring some twisted comfort to a grieving child. The villains are victims and the victims are villains; there is so much nuance injected into the story that I came out of it with some amount of sympathy for everyone involved (except George. I do not like George). The ending is at once sweet closure and a door thrown open. I’m so glad I have Hungerstone waiting at my library already…I need Dunn’s prose tattooed on my heart.
June 22, 2026
“There is an anger in her that feels like a sickness. Her skin fits wrongly; each breath is a task around this great boulder of sorrow and rage and injustice that has swelled and swelled, a great boil that is close to setting her howling.”
Vivid and velvety, grotesque and visceral, emotional and nuanced; the madness of this book threatens to swallow the reader whole. This book is about mothers and daughters. About grief and obsession and revenge. About love and the many complicated emotions that come with it. While this book is a sapphic reimagining of the Hamlet story (where the characters are run-of-the-mill women rather than powerful men) it’s so much more than a mere retelling.
Dunn does such an amazing job of portraying so many different sides of grief. How someone in the depths of grief might hold multiple perspectives on the one they have lost, how others might view one’s grief as uncomfortable or inconvenient or even as a performance, and how debilitating and all-encompassing grieving can be… especially when one feels so alone in their anguish that the vengeful spirit of the person who died could bring a sense of comfort to the one left behind.
There is so much nuance to the characters that (for most of them at least), the line becomes quite blurred between victim and villain. The slow pace and damp heaviness settling atop the family make for such an atmospheric and almost claustrophobic tone, and the house itself almost seems to fester along with the main character’s mental health and the ghost’s physical appearance. The relationships are messy and flawed between all of the characters, and I loved the exploration of all of these.
I loved Hungerstone and may have loved this one even more! Thanks so much to NetGalley and Zando for the advanced copy!
Vivid and velvety, grotesque and visceral, emotional and nuanced; the madness of this book threatens to swallow the reader whole. This book is about mothers and daughters. About grief and obsession and revenge. About love and the many complicated emotions that come with it. While this book is a sapphic reimagining of the Hamlet story (where the characters are run-of-the-mill women rather than powerful men) it’s so much more than a mere retelling.
Dunn does such an amazing job of portraying so many different sides of grief. How someone in the depths of grief might hold multiple perspectives on the one they have lost, how others might view one’s grief as uncomfortable or inconvenient or even as a performance, and how debilitating and all-encompassing grieving can be… especially when one feels so alone in their anguish that the vengeful spirit of the person who died could bring a sense of comfort to the one left behind.
There is so much nuance to the characters that (for most of them at least), the line becomes quite blurred between victim and villain. The slow pace and damp heaviness settling atop the family make for such an atmospheric and almost claustrophobic tone, and the house itself almost seems to fester along with the main character’s mental health and the ghost’s physical appearance. The relationships are messy and flawed between all of the characters, and I loved the exploration of all of these.
I loved Hungerstone and may have loved this one even more! Thanks so much to NetGalley and Zando for the advanced copy!
May 17, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnie Books UK for this arc in return for my honest review!
I wanted to give Kat Dunn another chance after I DNFd Hungerstone and when I heard that Rottenheart would be a 19th century sapphic Hamlet I was set! I love Hamlet! I love sapphic characters! Sadly, I was met with another disappointment. There is no doubt that Kat Dunn is an incredible writer but I struggle with all the fluff imbued in her stories. This book could have been half as long and I would have loved it. The writing is not the issue here, it’s the content.
I understand that when you have a source material that is so ubiquitous and beloved by so many that you want to stay somewhat true to the original tale while still giving it your own stamp. However, I found myself being so overwhelmed with descriptions of literary and artistic references that I simply am not familiar with.
I just know that this WILL be someone’s favorite book ever! That person enjoys sapphic stories, Shakespeare, art and literature, and a sloowwwwwwwwwwww burn.
This is absolutely NOT a bad book, nor is Kat Dunn a bad writer, I just don’t think we are compatible and that’s ok!
I wanted to give Kat Dunn another chance after I DNFd Hungerstone and when I heard that Rottenheart would be a 19th century sapphic Hamlet I was set! I love Hamlet! I love sapphic characters! Sadly, I was met with another disappointment. There is no doubt that Kat Dunn is an incredible writer but I struggle with all the fluff imbued in her stories. This book could have been half as long and I would have loved it. The writing is not the issue here, it’s the content.
I understand that when you have a source material that is so ubiquitous and beloved by so many that you want to stay somewhat true to the original tale while still giving it your own stamp. However, I found myself being so overwhelmed with descriptions of literary and artistic references that I simply am not familiar with.
I just know that this WILL be someone’s favorite book ever! That person enjoys sapphic stories, Shakespeare, art and literature, and a sloowwwwwwwwwwww burn.
This is absolutely NOT a bad book, nor is Kat Dunn a bad writer, I just don’t think we are compatible and that’s ok!
Did Not Finish
June 6, 2026Really slow and didn’t care much for past chapters - wanted more time in the present with the ghost
Romance felt flat to me
Romance felt flat to me
June 7, 2026
3.75
June 8, 2026
3.25 ⭐
June 9, 2026
An excellent hamlet inspired retelling, and sapphic which I adored. I love Kat Dunns books and this one didn’t fail to impress me, it’s always a delight when I get to read new Kat Dunn and this was amazing
June 9, 2026
Slow beginning to a book that oozes tragic beauty.
In this sapphic Hamlet retelling, Odette Fairfax-Waugh loses her mother to illness, only for her ghost to appear and demand revenge for her death. I loved Kat Dunn's other standalones, so I was expecting to love this one. This is a historical novel – not historical fantasy like HUNGERSTONE, despite the presence of ghosts – and though it takes a while to get going, ROTTENHEART engrosses you in its thoughtful, haunted characters and gorgeous prose.
Like with all her other standalones, Dunn perfectly captures the moody atmosphere of the Victorion era with her delicious poetic writing. I could eat it if it were a cake. It doesn't ever deign to talk down to you and manages to create such beautiful imagery without becoming superfluous. I do think, however, the lethargic beginning is what killed a five star rating for me. ROTTENHEART takes time to set up all the pieces and convey the nuances of all the particular relationships, and just when you start to get invested, the book jumps in the timeline, so I found it difficult to find my footing in the story.
Because of this I wasn't gripped by any of the characters, especially at the start. I didn't particularly like Odette; her treatment of Cecilia, who had been nothing but kind, generous and acquiescent, was unfathomable to me. But her hysteria becomes such a significant part of her character, and better, she faces consequences for it, that by the end I was invested in her albeit futile plight. If you have even a passing understanding of Hamlet, you know how Odette's story will unfold – and it was so sad and pitiful that you can't help but want to root for her success and hope that she will prevail in some small, twisted way.
Cecelia meanwhile demonstrates undying love for Odette and a delightful naivety that becomes her ultimate downfall. Her continuous attempts to right her wrongs were equally as pitiful because you know she's fighting a losing battle. For Odette, for her family, for herself in society. Her and Odette had great chemistry, even if it felt one-sided most of the time, only adding to the tragedy of their doomed relationship.
The rest of the characters round out the cast nicely. Claudine is a character you love to hate, starting as a cartoonishly stern stepmother but fleshing out as the story goes on. Lydia, Odette's dead mother, a source of enormous strife for everyone in the book, flits around in flashbacks, carried solely by her whims – a facet of her disappeared by the time she returns to haunt Odette. And George and Leo, Odette's father and Cecelia's older brother, are typical men of the Victorian era, self-serving and haughty and ultimately useless. All of them really captured the essence of the story so well, but the dynamics between the mother-daughters, of its joys and struggles, deserves particular praise.
It took me time to get into this book, but by the end I was completely invested. ROTTENHEART isn't my favourite novel of Dunn's, but it's certainly an amazing work, and I know it will appeal to a wide audience.
WILL I READ MORE BY THIS AUTHOR? Obviously.
Early copy received from Bonnier Books in exchange for an honest review. This title released 4th June 2026.
LAST REVIEW
BITTERTHORN ★★★★★
HUNGERSTONE ★★★★★
In this sapphic Hamlet retelling, Odette Fairfax-Waugh loses her mother to illness, only for her ghost to appear and demand revenge for her death. I loved Kat Dunn's other standalones, so I was expecting to love this one. This is a historical novel – not historical fantasy like HUNGERSTONE, despite the presence of ghosts – and though it takes a while to get going, ROTTENHEART engrosses you in its thoughtful, haunted characters and gorgeous prose.
Like with all her other standalones, Dunn perfectly captures the moody atmosphere of the Victorion era with her delicious poetic writing. I could eat it if it were a cake. It doesn't ever deign to talk down to you and manages to create such beautiful imagery without becoming superfluous. I do think, however, the lethargic beginning is what killed a five star rating for me. ROTTENHEART takes time to set up all the pieces and convey the nuances of all the particular relationships, and just when you start to get invested, the book jumps in the timeline, so I found it difficult to find my footing in the story.
Because of this I wasn't gripped by any of the characters, especially at the start. I didn't particularly like Odette; her treatment of Cecilia, who had been nothing but kind, generous and acquiescent, was unfathomable to me. But her hysteria becomes such a significant part of her character, and better, she faces consequences for it, that by the end I was invested in her albeit futile plight. If you have even a passing understanding of Hamlet, you know how Odette's story will unfold – and it was so sad and pitiful that you can't help but want to root for her success and hope that she will prevail in some small, twisted way.
Cecelia meanwhile demonstrates undying love for Odette and a delightful naivety that becomes her ultimate downfall. Her continuous attempts to right her wrongs were equally as pitiful because you know she's fighting a losing battle. For Odette, for her family, for herself in society. Her and Odette had great chemistry, even if it felt one-sided most of the time, only adding to the tragedy of their doomed relationship.
The rest of the characters round out the cast nicely. Claudine is a character you love to hate, starting as a cartoonishly stern stepmother but fleshing out as the story goes on. Lydia, Odette's dead mother, a source of enormous strife for everyone in the book, flits around in flashbacks, carried solely by her whims – a facet of her disappeared by the time she returns to haunt Odette. And George and Leo, Odette's father and Cecelia's older brother, are typical men of the Victorian era, self-serving and haughty and ultimately useless. All of them really captured the essence of the story so well, but the dynamics between the mother-daughters, of its joys and struggles, deserves particular praise.
It took me time to get into this book, but by the end I was completely invested. ROTTENHEART isn't my favourite novel of Dunn's, but it's certainly an amazing work, and I know it will appeal to a wide audience.
WILL I READ MORE BY THIS AUTHOR? Obviously.
Early copy received from Bonnier Books in exchange for an honest review. This title released 4th June 2026.
LAST REVIEW
BITTERTHORN ★★★★★
HUNGERSTONE ★★★★★
Review of advance copy received from Storygraph
Really enjoyed this! Fantastic, spooky, late Victorian Gothic adaptation of Hamlet with a lot of other intertextual references and inspirations.
Having read Hamlet it made it a little predictable regarding who dies and who kills who but that being said there were a lot of really well done twists and turns that got us to that point as well as a few unpredictable moments that interpreted Hamlet in ways I didn't anticipate. The murder mystery and betrayal element of the whole narrative was really well orchestrated.
Loved the in-depth characterisation and dual POV of Odette and Cecilia, watching their romance blossom, flower and fade was gutting, their ending is so bittersweet and I would love to think they eventually got their happy ever after but I loved how ambiguous it was left, the last line was truly heartbreaking. Rottenheart delivers such a powerful exploration of grief, love and madness and the difficulty of navigating the spaces inbetween all three.
Beautifial and sweeping imagery, making the whole thing feel very tableau-esque, the intertextuality added a lot of depth to the narrative and the symbolism was really well placed, the Pre-Raphaelite and Arthurian legend references were nicely intertwined and all held significance and meaning. However, did feel like a lot were wedged in, in some places at least, the more subtle and niche references were my favourite.
The supernatural elements were also really enchanting and eerie, Lydia both figuratively and literally haunts the narrative making it impossible to tell where reality and Odette's own nightmare visions begin and end.
I always love reading Kat Dunn's historical notes as they contextualise the meaning behind her creative choices making each detail so deliberate and carefully though through as well as revealing that some historical discrepancies or liberties are not merely oversight but careful and deliberate choices. Her illustration of Victorian funeral rites and rituals was so well done and her attention to detail made the opening scenes feel all the more chilling. I also loved her consideration of the all too often overlooked female artists of the Pre-Raphaelite period.
Overall, such a fantastic read, didn't love it as much as Hungerstone but this is an equally powerful work that definitely deserves the praise it has been awarded so far. Would highly recommend! :)
Having read Hamlet it made it a little predictable regarding who dies and who kills who but that being said there were a lot of really well done twists and turns that got us to that point as well as a few unpredictable moments that interpreted Hamlet in ways I didn't anticipate. The murder mystery and betrayal element of the whole narrative was really well orchestrated.
Loved the in-depth characterisation and dual POV of Odette and Cecilia, watching their romance blossom, flower and fade was gutting, their ending is so bittersweet and I would love to think they eventually got their happy ever after but I loved how ambiguous it was left, the last line was truly heartbreaking. Rottenheart delivers such a powerful exploration of grief, love and madness and the difficulty of navigating the spaces inbetween all three.
Beautifial and sweeping imagery, making the whole thing feel very tableau-esque, the intertextuality added a lot of depth to the narrative and the symbolism was really well placed, the Pre-Raphaelite and Arthurian legend references were nicely intertwined and all held significance and meaning. However, did feel like a lot were wedged in, in some places at least, the more subtle and niche references were my favourite.
The supernatural elements were also really enchanting and eerie, Lydia both figuratively and literally haunts the narrative making it impossible to tell where reality and Odette's own nightmare visions begin and end.
I always love reading Kat Dunn's historical notes as they contextualise the meaning behind her creative choices making each detail so deliberate and carefully though through as well as revealing that some historical discrepancies or liberties are not merely oversight but careful and deliberate choices. Her illustration of Victorian funeral rites and rituals was so well done and her attention to detail made the opening scenes feel all the more chilling. I also loved her consideration of the all too often overlooked female artists of the Pre-Raphaelite period.
Overall, such a fantastic read, didn't love it as much as Hungerstone but this is an equally powerful work that definitely deserves the praise it has been awarded so far. Would highly recommend! :)
June 21, 2026
A deliciously gothic sapphic telling of hamlet. Kat Dunn is yet to fail me! Odette and Cecilia are young women in love, on the cusp of starting their lives at university, hoping someday to run off together. Once they have enough money that Odette's mother, Lydia, has promised her. Odetta can wait to be free of her complicated and and draining relationship with her mother. But when Lydia suddenly takes ill and dies as her sister returns. Odette is left grief stricken at just how alone she is without her mother. Withheld from love and truth. Odette is driven to madness causing her to withdraw from the only love she has left, Cecilia. An obsession with revenge consuming her every thought as she continues to be let down. Cecilia struggles to help Odette grieve, while keeping her own mother happy, and discovers hard trues about her own life.
This book perfectly captures the longing to be seen and loved, the complexity of having and being a mother, lack of control, grief, obsession, and revenge.
favourite quotes:
"It is the time of night when only the dead are abroad "
"They are too used of vacating their own lives"
" it was mundane. It was monstrous. Odette was powerless to change a thing"
"Lydia had died , and she has taken the whole world with her"
"How is it possible to love and to hate the same person so completely"
"She hides from the ghost because she is frightened by how badly she longs for it to be real"
"the story of a romantic suicide a cruelty forced on women by men"
"why must I swallow my pain to be more palatable for everyone else? You are all allowed your pain and your weaknesses, to nurture and coddle yourselves as victims. Why is my pain intolerable?"
"Death is like a rupture that breaks up new ground"
"everything so neat and polite. Tea. A chaperone home. A rest cure. No one here will wear their claws openly"
"if there was someone who loved her they would stop her."
"she is half revenant, more hate than human"
"how awful it is to love someone who can only fail you"
"Cecilia, who has always come towards her, when others turned away. Cecilia, who has held faith in her to the end"
This book perfectly captures the longing to be seen and loved, the complexity of having and being a mother, lack of control, grief, obsession, and revenge.
favourite quotes:
"It is the time of night when only the dead are abroad "
"They are too used of vacating their own lives"
" it was mundane. It was monstrous. Odette was powerless to change a thing"
"Lydia had died , and she has taken the whole world with her"
"How is it possible to love and to hate the same person so completely"
"She hides from the ghost because she is frightened by how badly she longs for it to be real"
"the story of a romantic suicide a cruelty forced on women by men"
"why must I swallow my pain to be more palatable for everyone else? You are all allowed your pain and your weaknesses, to nurture and coddle yourselves as victims. Why is my pain intolerable?"
"Death is like a rupture that breaks up new ground"
"everything so neat and polite. Tea. A chaperone home. A rest cure. No one here will wear their claws openly"
"if there was someone who loved her they would stop her."
"she is half revenant, more hate than human"
"how awful it is to love someone who can only fail you"
"Cecilia, who has always come towards her, when others turned away. Cecilia, who has held faith in her to the end"
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!
I went into this expecting something darker: a revenge story with more overt horror elements. While revenge is a large part of the story, Rottenheart turned out to be a slower-paced character portrait exploring the complexities of grief.
The prose is lovely and perfectly captures the gothic atmosphere of the story. The format is more experimental than I had expected; the book is split into parts, with each part taking place in different times, jumping around in a non-chronological order. I'll admit I wasn't the biggest fan of this. It created some confusion initially, as I had to go back and check the dates of previous parts, and I felt it took some of the tension out of the story, especially when returning to events that took place before Odette's mother died. However, I absolutely loved the epistolary sections of the book, between Odette and Cecilia. There are only a couple of those, but they give a lot of insight into their relationship and how they communicated to (or what they concealed from) each other.
I found this portrayal of grief fascinating. Odette's relationship with her mother is complicated. She resented her mother's temperamental moods and clinginess, but after her death, Odette grieved her deeply and obsessively. I feel like, besides Odette's relationship with her mother, the other relationships aren't necessarily portrayed with the same amount of nuance, with some of the characters being depicted as unsympathetic antagonists. While some things aren't explained too much, I feel the book does suffer from over-explaining, specifically with Odette's aunt, Claudine. Claudine's motivations are explained outright to the reader, when sufficient (in my opinion) information is provided for the reader to come to those conclusions themselves.
I didn't enjoy this book much while reading it, I think perhaps because it didn't line up with my expectations. But looking back, I can appreciate this book for what it is, and for what it's trying to do.
I went into this expecting something darker: a revenge story with more overt horror elements. While revenge is a large part of the story, Rottenheart turned out to be a slower-paced character portrait exploring the complexities of grief.
The prose is lovely and perfectly captures the gothic atmosphere of the story. The format is more experimental than I had expected; the book is split into parts, with each part taking place in different times, jumping around in a non-chronological order. I'll admit I wasn't the biggest fan of this. It created some confusion initially, as I had to go back and check the dates of previous parts, and I felt it took some of the tension out of the story, especially when returning to events that took place before Odette's mother died. However, I absolutely loved the epistolary sections of the book, between Odette and Cecilia. There are only a couple of those, but they give a lot of insight into their relationship and how they communicated to (or what they concealed from) each other.
I found this portrayal of grief fascinating. Odette's relationship with her mother is complicated. She resented her mother's temperamental moods and clinginess, but after her death, Odette grieved her deeply and obsessively. I feel like, besides Odette's relationship with her mother, the other relationships aren't necessarily portrayed with the same amount of nuance, with some of the characters being depicted as unsympathetic antagonists. While some things aren't explained too much, I feel the book does suffer from over-explaining, specifically with Odette's aunt, Claudine. Claudine's motivations are explained outright to the reader, when sufficient (in my opinion) information is provided for the reader to come to those conclusions themselves.
I didn't enjoy this book much while reading it, I think perhaps because it didn't line up with my expectations. But looking back, I can appreciate this book for what it is, and for what it's trying to do.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Rottenheart is a Hamlet retelling where the genders are reversed. The novel has dual 3rd-person perspectives from Odette, the Hamlet character, and Cecilia, her childhood friend and lover. I came in with high expectations for this novel, as Hungerstone from this author was highly rated for me. While the writing was beautiful and the descriptions of the setting were atmospheric and helped to create a sense of dread, I had some issues with the timeline jumps and character development. The jumps were all within the same year, so it could get a little confusing what was happening when. I did love the development of the relationship between Odette and Cecilia in the flashbacks, but their miscommunication issues didn't make sense for how their relationship was set up. For me, some of their actions weren't believable based on their feelings for each other and their complicated relationships with their respective mothers. I think it was pushed a bit to stick to the Hamlet storyline.
The villain ended up turning into a caricature of herself. I would have enjoyed a more fleshed-out backstory beyond what was uncovered or revealed by other characters. We do know why she did what she did, but nothing about her life over the last 20 years before all of these events took place. The idea that a character was stewing for this long to plot revenge seemed far-fetched, as she likely had made a life for herself and moved on. This also felt a bit forced in order to stay true to Hamlet.
All in all, I did enjoy reading it because of the prose, setting, relationship between Odette and Cecilia, and vivid imagery. I had some issues with the motivations and actions of the characters and how those developed within the plot. This was a 3.5-star read, rounded up to a 4. There was some spice, though no explicitly described scenes.
Thank you to Zando for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.
The villain ended up turning into a caricature of herself. I would have enjoyed a more fleshed-out backstory beyond what was uncovered or revealed by other characters. We do know why she did what she did, but nothing about her life over the last 20 years before all of these events took place. The idea that a character was stewing for this long to plot revenge seemed far-fetched, as she likely had made a life for herself and moved on. This also felt a bit forced in order to stay true to Hamlet.
All in all, I did enjoy reading it because of the prose, setting, relationship between Odette and Cecilia, and vivid imagery. I had some issues with the motivations and actions of the characters and how those developed within the plot. This was a 3.5-star read, rounded up to a 4. There was some spice, though no explicitly described scenes.
Thank you to Zando for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2026
4.25⭐️. Having read and really enjoyed Hungerstone last year, I was excited to delve into Kat Dunn’s latest release and Rottenheart didn’t disappoint. Inspired by Hamlet, we follow the POVs of two young women, Odette and Cecilia. Odette’s estranged aunt has recently returned to the country to live with Odette and her parents and, soon after, Odette’s mother (Lydia) falls ill and passes away. Beset with grief, Odette starts to see her mother’s ghost and becomes convinced that her aunt had a part to play in her Lydia’s death. Meanwhile, Cecilia is desperate to comfort Odette, her best friend and the woman she loves, yet finds herself increasingly drawn into the scheming of her own mother and Odette’s aunt.
The book follows two timelines, initially starting with Lydia’s death then rewinding back to the summer, shortly before her passing. For me, the switch back and forth of timelines worked well because it allowed us to see more of Odette and Cecilia’s relationship, and Odette and her mother’s relationship, before Lydia passed away, while also keeping up the mystery of Lydia’s death and ghost in the present day.
The writing in this book is beautiful and atmospheric. There are strong themes of grief, motherhood and love, as well as reflections on the question “What is madness?” I think my only critique is that it was maybe just a smidge longer than it needed to be; however, I had a great time with it overall (if great is the right word for a book with such heavy themes 😂) and was invested in the story (and particularly Odette’s outcome) from start to finish. It would be a perfect read for spooky season (although with some recently grey and rainy days in the UK, it’s worked well as a spring read too 🙈🌧️🤣)
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book.
The book follows two timelines, initially starting with Lydia’s death then rewinding back to the summer, shortly before her passing. For me, the switch back and forth of timelines worked well because it allowed us to see more of Odette and Cecilia’s relationship, and Odette and her mother’s relationship, before Lydia passed away, while also keeping up the mystery of Lydia’s death and ghost in the present day.
The writing in this book is beautiful and atmospheric. There are strong themes of grief, motherhood and love, as well as reflections on the question “What is madness?” I think my only critique is that it was maybe just a smidge longer than it needed to be; however, I had a great time with it overall (if great is the right word for a book with such heavy themes 😂) and was invested in the story (and particularly Odette’s outcome) from start to finish. It would be a perfect read for spooky season (although with some recently grey and rainy days in the UK, it’s worked well as a spring read too 🙈🌧️🤣)
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
5/5✨
“We will love our mothers even when they starve us.”
Rottenheart takes a gothic, sapphic spin on Hamlet in the most devastatingly beautiful way.
All of Odette’s relationships are complicated. Her father George is aloof, her secret lover Cecilia is her live-in best friend, and her codependent mother Lydia is all-consuming of Odette’s affection.
Everything starts to fall apart when her estranged aunt, Claudine, arrives in their home. Her mother quickly becomes gravely ill and Claudine gradually usurps the as the matriarch of the home. Claudine and Lydia clearly have a messy past that no one will acknowledge. It eventually becomes clear that Lydia is dying, and Odette starts to panic. Her mother then dies under suspicious circumstances, and to everyone’s shock, her father marries Claudine shortly thereafter. Odette starts to unravel and see the ghost of her mother, who tells her she has been murdered. Odette sets on a mission to destroy everything around her, including her relationship with Cecilia. Cecilia worships Odette, but as Odette gets more wrapped up in her grief, that love feels forgotten. Tragedy begets tragedy as the search for answers to family secrets unfolds.
Dunn explores love and obsession from so many angles. What it is to have a mother whom you love (and hate?) so much she drives you mad even after she has died? How can you really ever separate when you used to be together in one body?
What if the love of your life had to be a secret? What if you realize your existence only means something if you can dedicate yourself to the person you love?
If you like a Victorian ghost story with a tragic end, I would highly recommend this.
Thank you to Kat Dunn and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
“We will love our mothers even when they starve us.”
Rottenheart takes a gothic, sapphic spin on Hamlet in the most devastatingly beautiful way.
All of Odette’s relationships are complicated. Her father George is aloof, her secret lover Cecilia is her live-in best friend, and her codependent mother Lydia is all-consuming of Odette’s affection.
Everything starts to fall apart when her estranged aunt, Claudine, arrives in their home. Her mother quickly becomes gravely ill and Claudine gradually usurps the as the matriarch of the home. Claudine and Lydia clearly have a messy past that no one will acknowledge. It eventually becomes clear that Lydia is dying, and Odette starts to panic. Her mother then dies under suspicious circumstances, and to everyone’s shock, her father marries Claudine shortly thereafter. Odette starts to unravel and see the ghost of her mother, who tells her she has been murdered. Odette sets on a mission to destroy everything around her, including her relationship with Cecilia. Cecilia worships Odette, but as Odette gets more wrapped up in her grief, that love feels forgotten. Tragedy begets tragedy as the search for answers to family secrets unfolds.
Dunn explores love and obsession from so many angles. What it is to have a mother whom you love (and hate?) so much she drives you mad even after she has died? How can you really ever separate when you used to be together in one body?
What if the love of your life had to be a secret? What if you realize your existence only means something if you can dedicate yourself to the person you love?
If you like a Victorian ghost story with a tragic end, I would highly recommend this.
Thank you to Kat Dunn and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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