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Ghostlove

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"I’m an occultist living in a haunted brownstone in upstate New York.

The building is a ghostly double-image of itself, like a picture painted brightly over an older, weirder picture. It’s an equinox place, my mother once said, where dark and light things are equally in power.

I want to tell you, dear strangers, why I was there and what I found.

The three-winged pigeon. My cynical doppelgänger. The loneliness and marvels and confusions of the house. And most of all the ghost living in my bedroom.

We learned how to talk without using sound. She was secretive and scared and difficult to know. But she was also warm and playful, as willing to share the room in silence as to trace vulgar symbols on my hand to get a rise.

She helped me with the hundred-pound centipede, the hostile little man living in my basement, and the emptiness I’d felt since my mother lost her mind.

I tried to help her out of limbo with experiments and spells until I realized if they worked—if we succeeded—I would lose her."

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2019

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442 people want to read

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Dennis A Mahoney

4 books76 followers

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Evelina | AvalinahsBooks.
925 reviews473 followers
March 21, 2021
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss

Ghostlove is one of those books I’m sure I’ll remember forever, and it’s one of those that feel like they were secretly written for you. The experience was just uncanny, and it left me with so many thoughts and feelings, and now I’m struggling to put them in words. Ghostlove by Dennis Mahoney was both magical, wistful and sad, as it was odd, deep and meaningful. It reminded me a lot of The Library at Mount Char and will certainly appeal to those who liked it, but it didn’t have a dark presence – it just had the same sort of magical, uncanny world that some of us wish we might one day know. It was also so strangely beautiful and full of love, kind presence and just… Oh, when I finished it, it left a book shaped hole in my heart for sure. I can’t quite put my feelings into proper words, but I LOVED Ghostlove so much.

It was just so magical! Sad, but also very magical. The main character loses his mother in strange circumstances, or rather, his mother sort of loses her mind after visiting a dying man in a strange house. After which the young man becomes obsessed with ghosts, and trying to meet his mother to find out what happened to her back then, and maybe talk to her. He eventually finds the house in question and takes up residence in it. And the house is strange indeed.

You’d think this is a ghost book, but it’s not scary. On the contrary, it’s so magical and fascinating. The house is an otherworldly place – there is a tenant in the basement who pays his rent punctually, but nobody has ever seen him even once, and he’s lived there as long as anyone’s known. There’s a presence in the bedroom. It sometimes snows inside the house. There’s a three-winged pigeon that roosts near the house. I could go on – it’s all so very interesting and curious.

Ghostlove is very quotable, although I’m not a person that collects quotes, so I didn’t copy any. But there were many times when I was reading and a particular sentence would stick out and I’d think, maybe I should write that down. The book speaks in words, but at the same time – they’re somehow like pictures or symbols. They’re conceptual in a way where the words and sentences don’t always directly make sense, but when you read them, they make you feel something so deeply, you can’t describe why or how, but it’s so vivid, and it’s as if you’re reading something between the lines. I love books like that, and they’re incredibly rare.

Ghostlove made me ponder what was between the lines and it made me want to stop and think of the different meanings and possibilities. I rarely read books like that anymore, but this book made me pause a lot. Reading it was very enjoyable that way.

The evening I picked the book up, it was as if I was sucked into it and it just carried me away. It was so brilliant, I just got to like 91% and then it was 2 am and I had to sleep. And yet, before I did, I still retold my husband the entire plot (and I never do that), and he liked it too. I stopped on a cliffhanger and had to leave it till morning. In the end, I’m glad I paused there, because both me and my husband got to guess at how the story ends. It made it more meaningful when I picked it up first thing in the morning and finished it before I even got up.

One of the things I told my husband about the book was that it made me feel like… Like I’d been writing this book myself for a couple years, or as if it’s been written for me, somehow. It’s very rare that this happens. But it’s as if the thoughts I’d been having on and off for a few years now were somehow put together in this book, and articulated better than I could have ever done. And when I read them, it was like a bunch of small awakenings, each of them bringing a jolt of awareness, because those thoughts have been slowly solidifying in some corner of your mind for a while now. It was a very strange, and yet meaningful experience reading this.

Ultimately, the book was about loving and then also letting go of your pain and loss. It was beautiful. It may not be the story or the ending you expect, but it’s very symbolic and beautiful. I was stunned at the level of layers to the symbolism in it, and I thought it was brilliant.

Overall...

I think Ghostlove by Dennis Mahoney will stay with me for a long time, because there were so many hidden meanings and deep thoughts in it. It’s certainly one of the best thought-provoking books I’ve read in a long time. I don’t know if you would like it as much as I did, because it seems this book touched me very close and personally, but I hope you’ll still enjoy it and see how unique a story it is. It’s definitely worth a read!

My full review on the blog:
https://avalinahsbooks.space/ghostlov...



I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

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Profile Image for C.J. Daley.
Author 5 books136 followers
August 30, 2022
Let me start with the audiobook so that you won’t have to read more or spoilers if listening to the audible original is what you’re aiming towards...
The audio, in my opinion, was the best part. A 4 out of 5* performance. If you can get the audible original for free... even better.



This book seemed to me to be written in the style of a writer’s first book where they aim to impress, rather than just using their voice and making it their own style. Some of the platitudes and filler sentences truly didn’t fit, or were so far reaching, that it honestly baffled me that they didn’t get edited out.

Otherwise the idea of the story seemed good to me. I liked it and was intrigued, but the longer it went on the more damage was done. It wasn’t long enough to become boring, but it was confusing and strange. I am not a huge horror or occult fan and I find that this story fell into the realm of seeming to be a bit dumb with the occult happenings coming off as silly. It was fully flushed out enough to make me believe it and some of the sillier things are never explained or never appear again anyway.

3 out of 5* so a 60% production. Worth a quick listen or a read though, not a full miss.
Profile Image for Electra.
6 reviews1 follower
June 3, 2022
This book is truly unique. My mother and I have read it multiple times now (and I rarely reread books), and we each catch something different every time. Just don't go into this expecting horror. It's really more like fantasy with elements of horror. I also wouldn't exactly call it a romance, despite what the title implies. Like any other ghost story, it is ultimately about grief, but unlike other stories, this is the first that has actually helped me process my own. This is why I give it five stars.
Profile Image for Marina Tena.
Author 69 books369 followers
September 26, 2022
Tenía imágenes e ideas muy chulas pero no he conectado con los personajes (especialmente el protagonista que es narrador)
Profile Image for ToBoldlyGoat.
18 reviews
September 22, 2023
Compelling start, but then the manic pixie dreamgirl arrived on scene. Lost me at "my boobs were pretty great - they were perky without being obnoxious," and it got a lot worse from there.
Profile Image for J. Stone.
Author 24 books90 followers
May 2, 2024
Ghostlove reinvigorated my faith in modern horror books. The reading experience took me back to the days when I was a more impressionable reader, and how the books I read then left a huge impression on me. Uncanny and unexpected, given the fact that I'm a more seasoned reader, and I've noticed that many modern horror books these days have become formulaic; I have a hard time telling them apart.

But Ghostlove stood out to me amongst the sea of supermarket-style horror books that I see on the shelves. It was the alt book I'd been looking for, even if it took me a few years to find. The story was riveting and the prose was beautiful, even if at times a bit stale, but that took nothing away from the book. The characters were well fleshed out; even the characters who made very few appearances were written well. The book's setting was claustrophobic and gorgeous at the same time. Ghostlove is unforgettable and worthy of a reread (a few times over).

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because the book lacked a few elements that I look for in books, but trust me it was very few. 4.5 stars easily!
Profile Image for Jenn is reading.
116 reviews8 followers
June 16, 2021
My literally reaction after finishing this book: interesting.>

I picked this book up spontaneously because of 1. The cover, 2. The synopsis, and 3. Because there was only 1 copy in B&N. I knew i wouldn’t pick it up right away and it would make its way to me. I’m glad it did.


This weird book fit perfectly into my weird life. I started recommending this book as a ghost story but, in all honestly, it’s WAY more than that. At one point i found myself rooting for a centipede. That is not like me. However, the flow of this book and the raw, depth wording kept me attached.


Needed to know more about June, this ghost. This house. This centipede and it’s 6000 kids.


My point being is this: this book is meant to be read when you want something out of the ordinary. Keep an open mind and you’ll be glad you did.

Profile Image for Nancy Zigler.
302 reviews2 followers
August 11, 2021
Probably one of the most riveting ghost stories I've read in a long time. The writer was both creative and thorough at the sentence level without being too heavy-handed. My favorite parts of the book were his loose meditations and observations of a very interior work--I was surprised he never ventured out of the brownstone the entirety of the book, almost as if we are living in his memories and his present but can't reach a foreseeable future. The ending fell apart a bit, but I hope we were left with a glimpse that William is determined to reenter the world of the living.
Profile Image for Glo Sollecito.
286 reviews3 followers
August 5, 2020
I had really high hopes for this book. It was ok, 3+ not quite 4, but could’ve been so much more. It is imaginative and clever and I found this passage achingly beautiful:

June laid her hand flush across my chest. My solar plexus glowed. I closed my eyes and breathed. She moved her hand deeper into the space between my lungs until my heart was in her palm.

Much of the writing is lovely and appropriately haunting.
2 reviews
April 24, 2021
I only have two words to describe this book: beautiful and sad.
251 reviews3 followers
May 7, 2025
Excellent haunted house story is haunting and non necessarily in the ghost way. William is a young man whose mother died when he was young. She was a librarian who helped an old man, Mr. Stick, with his books. When Mr. Stick is too feeble to go to the library, William's mom would go to Mr. Stick. Something happens in this house because his mother returns changes, almost caught between this world and some other. William watches her die and her spirit leave her body.

An odd and lonely kid, William grows up obsessed with the occult, desperate to reach his mother on the other side. As luck should have it Mr. Stick's house is up for sale and Dennis snaps it up and moves in with the sole purpose of contacting his mother, convinced that's where his spirit is.

This house is no ordinary haunted house. There are rooms where trees grow sideways out of the wall, there is a three winged pigeon that loves coffee beans, there is a mirror that reflects an alternate, more pessimistic William who is living in an alternate dimension. It is a fun house mirror that reflects William's mind. And there June, the ghost of a young girl who doesn't remember her death or why she is stuck there. William decides to help her and they become a salve for each other's loneliness. As William starts falling for June, he is conflicted on whether to help her or keep her.

Mahoney writes from William's voice through entire novel and William doesn't have anything that resembles a sense of humor, but Mahoney does and some of the best moments are deadpan reactions to incredible scenes or the wink and a nod of knowingness when William drops into a self indulgent gloom.

Ultimately though, Mahoney has written an excellent book about loneliness and what it takes to pull one out of the doldrums and how, generally, the people that help you are not the ones you expect.

A lovely, lovely book.
Profile Image for Jane Hartsock.
Author 3 books18 followers
October 26, 2023
So.... is this a book about Patriarchy or am I just reading too much into shit these days? On the (probably very real) chance that this book is not an allegory for the way patriarchy is terrible for women AND men, I'll add that there are a number of other reasons to love this book including:
- If it's just a ghost story, like a good old fashioned haunting, it's a damn fine one. The story's just good. Mr. Gormley is my favorite. And is maybe one of my favorite characters ever. I'll modify: one of my favorite secondary characters ever. I aspire to his snark. "I require nothing; stay out of the basement." I am going to start signing my emails this way.
- The writing is beautiful. I could imagine some people getting hung up on this because the story is full of descriptions. But they're incredible. The description of the river, the descriptions of the house, the pigeon, spells, the everything. Just so well done.
- I cannot get past how inventive the story is. The bits and pieces of it, the small details, the just plain weirdness.

The middle section drags a little, and I found myself asking Is this story actually going anywhere? But it was, and it did, and it was lovely.
Profile Image for Sandi.
336 reviews12 followers
September 16, 2020
How far would you go for Love?

Ghostlove is one wild otherworldly book! From the founder of the Equinox Society Radio www.equinoxsociety.com comes a story that revolves around the life of William a young man whose mother believes in the afterlife and the in-between life that some ghosts get stuck in. William's mother dies after losing her focus on reality. William becomes an occultist like his mother, buys the house that his mother's friend Mr. Stick lived in which supposedly had many ghosts stuck in Limbo. My favorite was Mr. Stick. William moves in and strange things start happening...
William meets June and life isn’t as lonely as it was before.

This book starts out slow, however, that changes, and the book wowed me so much that I need to now go check out the Podcasts that Mr. Mahoney put together.

The characters are fleshed out, the storyline is believable and the ending is, well, I'm not going to tell you except that you need to read this book.

I'd like to thank IG Publishing for the opportunity to read Ghostlove in lieu of my honest review.
Profile Image for Alea Kelly.
1 review
November 24, 2025
As a paranormal lover, I loved this book.
It’s not a romance, nor is it horror. To me this felt like its own genre.
This book felt like a fever dream I didn’t want to wake up from. It was sorrowful, in a romantic and unbothered kind of way. I also liked how the author conveyed how William was so used to the paranormal happenings within the brownstone, that he’d just drop something like “I saw a levitating squirrel today” and just leave it that. It made me audibly laugh. I also enjoyed the comedic relief June brought, without that being all she was. William and June were both complex characters I enjoyed learning about. I liked that I had no idea where the book was going to go, it fit the theme of the story. I don’t care what anyone says, this book changed my view of the paranormal and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Profile Image for Wendy.
36 reviews
November 3, 2025
Instead of doing a "Blind date with a book," when I was at Barnes and Noble with my 11 year old nephew, he decided he wanted to pick out a book for me. He asked what genre and I said fiction, romance or mystery/thriller, so of course, I got paranormal/horror :)

I thought this book was a bit silly. It wasn't scary, the main character had an interest in the occult for valid (to him) reasons, but I felt like the story went off the rails when he moved into the haunted house and really had no point other than to have some wacky things occur throughout.

On a positive note, it is short and a quick read and I thought the cover was cool - which could be one of the reasons he picked it.
Profile Image for Mattie B..
529 reviews17 followers
December 28, 2025
I’m honestly not sure how to feel about this. I expected this to be an interesting exploration on grief and it had an interesting premise, but after the first half of the book, this started to drag and I felt like it lost the point. There were so many moments I felt lost or confused on where the story was going, and I honestly couldn’t care for June as a character. Maybe she was written to be unlikable? For such a short book, I expected this to be a quicker read, but it took almost a week to finish. I’ve read from this author before and loved his writing, so I’m not sure what happened here. The weirdness is a fun element, but I think this story just wasn’t for me.
Profile Image for Joe.
365 reviews25 followers
August 13, 2020
Okay enough with the serious stuff. I need some fiction to take my mind off of everything. I love ghost stories but for this one, I hovered between 2 and 3 stars. What put Mahoney over the top was his seemingly peerless imagination and originality of his story. But I tend to lean towards chills rather than mysticism which this book is heavy on. With that being said, it asks some very important questions about loss and death which pushed it over the top for me.
Profile Image for Ann Straight.
783 reviews9 followers
October 17, 2023
Decent October read about death, loneliness and lost. I felt that it was an aggregate of other stories I have heard. It does have a theme with an ending. I ran into the same style of ending just a few books past, one that I don't care for on the surface, but keeps me thinking about what it means to me.

I hear the song in my brain: "Alone Again, Naturally".
Profile Image for Laine.
702 reviews9 followers
August 23, 2020
quite melancholy in a pleasant sort of way. could have used a bit more drama with the mysterious mr gormley, and would also have loved a little more resolution with the ghostly couple. really liked june.
Profile Image for hailey jade.
69 reviews
December 22, 2022
such a good & cute quick read. the supernatural descriptions were some of the best i’ve read!!
the writing itself was so good as well. some parts yanked at my heart. will be attaching memorable quotes later :p
Profile Image for M.J. Biggs.
Author 1 book19 followers
January 26, 2025
Ghostlove is wonderfully weird and original. It really doesn't remind me of anything else I've read, which I'd say is impressive. It gave me the same feeling as hearing a song that sounds happy but has sad lyrics.

If you like stories about the occult and the fantastical, you'll enjoy this.
Profile Image for Lilly Ward.
Author 1 book3 followers
Read
April 16, 2020
DNF.

I'll try to get back to it when I'm in the right mood.
Profile Image for DJ.
181 reviews3 followers
October 27, 2020
I was looking for a ghost story, I got a ghost story. Interesting story. Well plotted and delivered!
Profile Image for Chloe Kat.
35 reviews
March 3, 2023
kinda mad that june didn’t fall for him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jilly.
128 reviews
May 5, 2023
Beautiful sentences and use of simile. Truly talented and descriptive writer! I love the paranormal theme. Lost me on all the entomology stuff, not for me. Stars bumped up to 4 for originality.
10 reviews
November 9, 2023
Really immersive read, characters were great, story was well paced, would have loved it if it was longer
Profile Image for Laura.
85 reviews17 followers
December 30, 2020
My official rating is 3.5 because this is such a damn original book, but I wanted to flip a table at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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