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The Last Heir to Blackwood Library
World War I England, a young woman inherits a mysterious library and must untangle its powerful secrets
With the stroke of a pen, twenty-three-year-old Ivy Radcliffe becomes Lady Hayworth, owner of a sprawling estate on the Yorkshire moors. Ivy has never heard of Blackwood Abbey, or of the ancient bloodline from which she’s descended. With nothing to keep her in London since losing her brother in the Great War, she warily makes her way to her new home.
The abbey is foreboding, the servants reserved and suspicious. But there is a treasure waiting behind locked doors: a magnificent library. Despite cryptic warnings from the staff, Ivy feels irresistibly drawn to its dusty shelves, where familiar works mingle with strange, esoteric texts. And she senses something else in the library too, a presence that seems to have a will of its own.
Rumors swirl in the village about the abbey’s previous owners, about ghosts and curses, and an enigmatic manuscript at the center of it all. And as events grow more sinister, it will be up to Ivy to uncover the library’s mysteries in order to reclaim her own story—before it vanishes forever.
Lush, atmospheric and transporting, The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is a skillful reflection on memory and female agency, and a love letter to books from a writer at the height of her power.
With the stroke of a pen, twenty-three-year-old Ivy Radcliffe becomes Lady Hayworth, owner of a sprawling estate on the Yorkshire moors. Ivy has never heard of Blackwood Abbey, or of the ancient bloodline from which she’s descended. With nothing to keep her in London since losing her brother in the Great War, she warily makes her way to her new home.
The abbey is foreboding, the servants reserved and suspicious. But there is a treasure waiting behind locked doors: a magnificent library. Despite cryptic warnings from the staff, Ivy feels irresistibly drawn to its dusty shelves, where familiar works mingle with strange, esoteric texts. And she senses something else in the library too, a presence that seems to have a will of its own.
Rumors swirl in the village about the abbey’s previous owners, about ghosts and curses, and an enigmatic manuscript at the center of it all. And as events grow more sinister, it will be up to Ivy to uncover the library’s mysteries in order to reclaim her own story—before it vanishes forever.
Lush, atmospheric and transporting, The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is a skillful reflection on memory and female agency, and a love letter to books from a writer at the height of her power.
First published April 4, 2023
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36749 people want to read
About the author
Hester Fox
10 books2,098 followersHester Fox is a full-time writer and mother, with a background in museum work and historical archaeology. She is the author of such novels as The Witch of Willow Hall, A Lullaby for Witches, and The Last Heir to Blackwood Library. She lives in a small mill town in Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 2,176 reviews
August 8, 2023
Stars: 2 out of 5.
DNF at 75%.
This was going to be a solid 4 or 5 stars book until about 50% into the story. The setup was wonderful. Old manor that used to be an abbey, the moors and the fog, the cold and unwelcoming servants, and a mysterious library... What is there not to like about this?
Unfortunately, things go downhill from there. And not in small part because of the protagonist's actions. For someone who constantly says that she doesn't need anyone to take care of her, because she was doing that just fine on her own, thank you very much, she sure makes a lot of stupid decisions.
Like not heeding the warnings of her staff about the library, or about associating with certain people. Like trusting a man who she doesn't really know from Adam, just because he was nice to her and likes talking about books. Like accepting his marriage proposal after barely knowing him a few weeks and going on a couple dates. Especially when even she notices his unhealthy fixation on her library... just because she is lonely and feels unappreciated. Strong independent woman, yeah right.
That's the major problem with this book. No matter how much the author tries to show Ivy taking some action, and making some decisions, like organizing a book lending club, she isn't an active player in this story. She doesn't push the story forward. None of her actions progress anything. Things happen to her. In essence, she has no agency in this story at all. I understand that it was supposed to convey her dismay and confusion at progressively loosing her memories, but it misses the mark here, in my opinion. She comes across and pathetic and helpless, yet also stubborn and pigheaded when she shouldn't be. She gives up all resistance the moment she encounters any difficulty.
For example, when she finds her journals shredded, she immediately abandons the idea of keeping a diary of her days. I would immediately create another diary and keep it on my person at all times, and yes, continue to write down everything that happens. She just sweeps all the evidence into the fire and doesn't even confront her staff about this... or go to town and call her friend Susan, or do anything but continue to flounder in bewilderment.
This might work for some readers, but this passivity made the book more and more boring to me. To the point that I started skimming ahead to see if Ivy would even try to fight for he freedom and sanity, but by 75% of the book she was just as pathetic - a prisoner in her own home... And I didn't care to find out what would happen in the end. So I gave up.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If you liked this review, check out my blog.
DNF at 75%.
This was going to be a solid 4 or 5 stars book until about 50% into the story. The setup was wonderful. Old manor that used to be an abbey, the moors and the fog, the cold and unwelcoming servants, and a mysterious library... What is there not to like about this?
Unfortunately, things go downhill from there. And not in small part because of the protagonist's actions. For someone who constantly says that she doesn't need anyone to take care of her, because she was doing that just fine on her own, thank you very much, she sure makes a lot of stupid decisions.
Like not heeding the warnings of her staff about the library, or about associating with certain people. Like trusting a man who she doesn't really know from Adam, just because he was nice to her and likes talking about books. Like accepting his marriage proposal after barely knowing him a few weeks and going on a couple dates. Especially when even she notices his unhealthy fixation on her library... just because she is lonely and feels unappreciated. Strong independent woman, yeah right.
That's the major problem with this book. No matter how much the author tries to show Ivy taking some action, and making some decisions, like organizing a book lending club, she isn't an active player in this story. She doesn't push the story forward. None of her actions progress anything. Things happen to her. In essence, she has no agency in this story at all. I understand that it was supposed to convey her dismay and confusion at progressively loosing her memories, but it misses the mark here, in my opinion. She comes across and pathetic and helpless, yet also stubborn and pigheaded when she shouldn't be. She gives up all resistance the moment she encounters any difficulty.
For example, when she finds her journals shredded, she immediately abandons the idea of keeping a diary of her days. I would immediately create another diary and keep it on my person at all times, and yes, continue to write down everything that happens. She just sweeps all the evidence into the fire and doesn't even confront her staff about this... or go to town and call her friend Susan, or do anything but continue to flounder in bewilderment.
This might work for some readers, but this passivity made the book more and more boring to me. To the point that I started skimming ahead to see if Ivy would even try to fight for he freedom and sanity, but by 75% of the book she was just as pathetic - a prisoner in her own home... And I didn't care to find out what would happen in the end. So I gave up.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If you liked this review, check out my blog.
December 24, 2023
Let me start by saying that a 3-star rating for me can be a pretty good book but something about it just didn’t sit right with me.
I really wanted to love this book and for the first 40-50% of the book I was intrigued, creeped out, and totally invested. I enjoyed the time period, the library, the supposed curse… but while the second half had some great scenes, it was still a bit of a train wreck,
And the ending? It was like a movie that you think is over, and then it isn’t, and then it’s over… and yet again it isn’t. That was this book!!
PS- I wish the author hadn’t relied on loss of memory so much— after awhile, it just didn’t work for me.
PPS— great use of malevolent atmosphere— props for that!!
(Reviewed 12/11/23)
I really wanted to love this book and for the first 40-50% of the book I was intrigued, creeped out, and totally invested. I enjoyed the time period, the library, the supposed curse… but while the second half had some great scenes, it was still a bit of a train wreck,
And the ending? It was like a movie that you think is over, and then it isn’t, and then it’s over… and yet again it isn’t. That was this book!!
PS- I wish the author hadn’t relied on loss of memory so much— after awhile, it just didn’t work for me.
PPS— great use of malevolent atmosphere— props for that!!
(Reviewed 12/11/23)
Want to read
August 2, 2023Me to me: Why haven't you read this yet?
Earlier:
We now have a cover, synopsis and release date!!! We live!
Original:
No release date? No synopsis? Do I care?
I added this to my TBR so fast, I should get a speeding ticket. 🚔👮♀️ Hester Fox is a Gothic-vibe champion!!
Earlier:
We now have a cover, synopsis and release date!!! We live!
Original:
No release date? No synopsis? Do I care?
I added this to my TBR so fast, I should get a speeding ticket. 🚔👮♀️ Hester Fox is a Gothic-vibe champion!!
June 19, 2023
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox is a historical mystery set in a fantasy world with a gothic feel to it. A ghost story for the books lovers set in a mysterious library bringing books to the forefront.
Ivy Radcliffe is living in London after the war trying to come to terms with being left alone after losing her family. Out of the blue Ivy receives notice that another distant relative has passed and left an inheritance to her. Ivy soon finds her inheritance comes with a few catches, she must stay in her new property but things are not normal at Blackwood Abbey.
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox is not the first book I’ve read from this author and won’t be the last. Again I found the author has a way with a creepy gothic setting and I found myself pulled into the somewhat darkness. I did find that there were a few things happening I kind of wanted more with but overall this one landed at three and a half stars for me.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
Ivy Radcliffe is living in London after the war trying to come to terms with being left alone after losing her family. Out of the blue Ivy receives notice that another distant relative has passed and left an inheritance to her. Ivy soon finds her inheritance comes with a few catches, she must stay in her new property but things are not normal at Blackwood Abbey.
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox is not the first book I’ve read from this author and won’t be the last. Again I found the author has a way with a creepy gothic setting and I found myself pulled into the somewhat darkness. I did find that there were a few things happening I kind of wanted more with but overall this one landed at three and a half stars for me.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
April 14, 2023
This is a sad review since not only could I not bring myself to finish this book, but I was excited about the premise and the beginning. I DNF at page 206 out of 330 because I'd just had enough of nothing happening.
I like the premise of a working-class woman suddenly inheriting land, a manor, and servants from a distant relation she's never met. I dislike Ivy's realization that things between her and Arthur are moving quite quickly-too quickly-but she continues on.
I LOVE the emphasis on historical events and their repercussions in the backstory. It is set after the Great War and many lost friends, family, loved ones, and their lives but there are also those that bear scars from returning-or those that never went.
The staff at Blackwood Abbey is interesting, uninviting, and stiff which comes as no surprise because many of them have served several masters of the house and Ivy is just another placeholder.
This definitely has the gothic academia feel to it but I'm a little sad that as excited as Ivy is about her professor father and his knowledge of esoteric manuscripts that she only seems to be interested in novels-especially given the Prologue of the book. There is just so much telling us that Ivy likes books.
*****SPOILER****** below
Dear God, Ivy is not only naive-that’s not a bad trait in itself- but trusting when she has reason to not be. She is a young woman who has lost her family to war and sickness and had to make her way herself so she shouldn't be THIS naive.
I think if anyone found their diary torn to shreds while they had been away the response would be I’ll keep a smaller portable notebook on my person instead. Ivy just gets a bit upset and never tries again. This is conflicting because we are TOLD she is stubborn, yet not shown how she is stubborn.
I do also realize there is a difference in the time period and how things progress, but I am quite annoyed that she has known Arthur for a few weeks, gone out with him a few times and suddenly they are engaged. This is definitely a product of her being a naive romantic but it's still annoying since she’s supposed to be a learned woman as well.
I’m about halfway through the book and those two points, not to mention this mystery we’ve been teased with and haven’t really had any new information about, would normally be enough for me to DNF. Since this is an ARC, I will give it a bit more of a chance. Also, I usually love unreliable narrators, but this just isn’t done as well, I suppose.
Ugh. I just can’t keep on. Ivy is too clueless, too helpless, too stubborn and she is just a passive subject while the plot happens to her. She is a boring character that only seems to exist for plot reasons. Page 206 out of 330 and not much has happened in those 200 pages, not to mention the huge plot reveal only just happened and has to be wrapped up in the remainder. Too little information is given to the reader as they keep the main character ignorant.
Review is provided to Netgalley for ARC access.
I like the premise of a working-class woman suddenly inheriting land, a manor, and servants from a distant relation she's never met. I dislike Ivy's realization that things between her and Arthur are moving quite quickly-too quickly-but she continues on.
I LOVE the emphasis on historical events and their repercussions in the backstory. It is set after the Great War and many lost friends, family, loved ones, and their lives but there are also those that bear scars from returning-or those that never went.
The staff at Blackwood Abbey is interesting, uninviting, and stiff which comes as no surprise because many of them have served several masters of the house and Ivy is just another placeholder.
This definitely has the gothic academia feel to it but I'm a little sad that as excited as Ivy is about her professor father and his knowledge of esoteric manuscripts that she only seems to be interested in novels-especially given the Prologue of the book. There is just so much telling us that Ivy likes books.
*****SPOILER****** below
Dear God, Ivy is not only naive-that’s not a bad trait in itself- but trusting when she has reason to not be. She is a young woman who has lost her family to war and sickness and had to make her way herself so she shouldn't be THIS naive.
I think if anyone found their diary torn to shreds while they had been away the response would be I’ll keep a smaller portable notebook on my person instead. Ivy just gets a bit upset and never tries again. This is conflicting because we are TOLD she is stubborn, yet not shown how she is stubborn.
I do also realize there is a difference in the time period and how things progress, but I am quite annoyed that she has known Arthur for a few weeks, gone out with him a few times and suddenly they are engaged. This is definitely a product of her being a naive romantic but it's still annoying since she’s supposed to be a learned woman as well.
I’m about halfway through the book and those two points, not to mention this mystery we’ve been teased with and haven’t really had any new information about, would normally be enough for me to DNF. Since this is an ARC, I will give it a bit more of a chance. Also, I usually love unreliable narrators, but this just isn’t done as well, I suppose.
Ugh. I just can’t keep on. Ivy is too clueless, too helpless, too stubborn and she is just a passive subject while the plot happens to her. She is a boring character that only seems to exist for plot reasons. Page 206 out of 330 and not much has happened in those 200 pages, not to mention the huge plot reveal only just happened and has to be wrapped up in the remainder. Too little information is given to the reader as they keep the main character ignorant.
Review is provided to Netgalley for ARC access.
July 6, 2025
I’m on BookTube now! =)
”It all felt so anticlimactic, so simple. All Ivy wanted to do was curl up somewhere safe, feel a hot cup of tea in her hands, know that all of this was behind her.”
I think I never found a quote that encompassed my feelings for a book as well as this one. No, seriously, it really says it all. I mean, “The Last Heir to Blackwood Library” was some sort of a wildcard because I picked it up in my library, read the blurb and decided to borrow the book. I was in the mood for a creepy monastery on the Yorkshire moors with an evil library and wicked entities that haunt it, and well, for the first 40 – 50% of the book I actually got what I signed up for. Unfortunately, the rest of the story wasn’t able to hold my attention and lost me along the way.
”There was an almost painful awareness between her and this entity. Her hand went slack, the letter falling to the desk as it grew closer. Hot breath touched her neck, like a hungry dog was stalking her, ready to pounce."
I mean, I honestly have no idea how we got from the quote above to how the book eventually ended. It all sounded very promising and I was totally here for it. For about half of the book I had a good time, but then the author made some decisions that didn’t just cause me to sigh but also forced me to bump down the rating to three stars. So what went wrong? The short answer would be: A lot. The long answer is more difficult to put into words, though. I think we have to start at the beginning and take it from there, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. ;-)
"Perhaps it was her American heritage or her father's liberal views, but her parents had always been adamant about instilling in her the notion that the accident of one's birth should not determine their place in the world. They had been careful that while they had made sure she was literate and well-spoken, she never looked down on those who were not."
Okay, let’s do this! So when the book starts we get to know Ivy Radcliffe who is an independent woman that lives in a flat with her bestie Susan. She is modern and progressive, self-confident and a feminist. Moreover she doesn’t look down on people and treats everyone the way she wants to be treated herself. Which is to say with respect and kindness. I really liked that Ivy and I wanted to get to know her better, but then she inherited Blackwood Abbey from a very distant relative, became Lady Hayworth and things changed.
”Listen to me. You get out of here, my lady. Get as far as you can and don’t come back.”
His fingers dug into her shoulders, but she just blinked at him. “What?”
“It’s only going to get harder to leave,” Ralph told her. “You’ll start forgetting, and then before you know it there will be nothing left of you. You should leave, today. Christ, I should have put you back on the train as soon as you arrived.”
From her first day at Blackwood Abbey Ivy gets warnings from the staff and despite being creeped out she throws all caution to the wind and spends more and more time at the library. She starts to catalogue it and even borrows the books to the people of the village; which leads to some serious consequences Ivy decides to ignore. Moreover, she falls for Sir Arthur a highborn lord she knows next to nothing about aside of that he likes books and is extremely interested in Blackwood Library. If you ask me the fact he seemed to be more intrigued by the library than by her should have been a red flag right there, but of course Ivy doesn’t see it like that. Which totally didn’t fit the Ivy from the beginning of the book. Throughout the story she becomes more and more of an unreliable narrator and forgets things that happened. There are big gaps in her memory and the reader is as clueless as she is. I could understand her frustration with the situation because the servants at the house only make cryptic remarks, but it’s not like she does anything to dig deeper.
"She didn't trust that doctor and how quick he had been to diagnose her. In fact, she didn't trust anyone. Not Ralph, not Mrs. Hewitt, and as much as it pained her to admit it, not even her fiancé."
I mean, our FMC decides to start a diary in order to remember things, but then later on finds it ripped apart in her own room. My first reaction would have been to start writing a new one immediately, but Ivy gives up and doesn’t even think about starting a new diary because according to her it would be futile. And this is exactly the problem I had with the book. Ivy starts out as this headstrong and courageous character but turns into an incapable simp as soon as a problem arises. She’s inactive and just allows things to happen to her. She never truly takes control of a situation and instead of heading the warnings of her staff that obviously know much more than she does, she decides to be stubborn and insufferable at the most inconvenient times. Even worse, her memory loss seems to turn her into a damsel in distress. By the ending of the book I wondered where that strong and independent woman went, because all that was left was a weak girl that couldn’t wait to get married and let someone else take over control of her life. Ugh.
”Her dreams of having a family of her own were within reach. Arthur was a good, honourable man, and he valued the same things as her. Arthur knew this strange new world to which she had been elevated, could help her navigate it, find a home in it. But most of all, he would help her, with the library, with Blackwood, all of it. She didn’t have to bear the headaches, the dreams, and the ghosts alone anymore.”
Another thing that caused me to lower my rating was the fact that I didn’t know in which kind of direction the author wanted to go with this. The book started out interesting, and then got slightly creepy only to turn into a series of weird events and strange happenings. Well, and then near the ending there finally happened something and after that the book turned into some sort of romance?! The plot was all over the place and the ending was so anticlimactic that I’m still frustrated with the way things were handled. Not to mention all the open plot threads that never got a proper follow up. What happened with the people of the village that borrowed the books? What happened with Susan after her visit? What the hell happened with Sir Arthur?! And what exactly happened between Ivy and her servant Ralph?!
His gaze returned to her, her breath hitching at the swirling storm in his gray eyes. “If you’re ever in danger, you come to the stables. You don’t need to stay in the abbey if you feel unsafe. There’s an extra cot, and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
And just because I need to talk about it to get it off my chest, here are some spoilers about the extremely anticlimactic ending:
Conclusion:
“The Last Heir to Blackwood Library” started out so interesting and I enjoyed the story up until the halfway mark. There was a lot of atmosphere and build up at the beginning of the book, but unfortunately, the author never followed through on that promise. Instead, the protagonist of the story that started out as a headstrong and independent woman turned into a helpless, obedient housewife as soon as trouble arose and the plot seemed to be all over the place. My final verdict is 3 stars because I DID enjoy the story at first, but then the author lost me at the middle and never managed to get me back on board. What a pity, this book had so much potential and I really wanted to like it. Well, it clearly wasn’t for me, but it might be the perfect read for other readers. I suppose it always depends on your reading tastes and thankfully they differ. ;-)
”What you don’t realize about the Blackwood library, is that it’s not an ordinary library. It’s special, more special than you can possibly understand. It contains some of the most valuable and rare manuscripts on esoteric and occult subjects. Before the Dissolution, Blackwood was a center of monastic learning. Its collection was the destination for countless pilgrims and wise men, all seeking the answer to some of life’s most unknowable truths.”
______________________________
Mhmm, this one was a weird one.
At first I enjoyed it, then it got slightly creepy only to turn strange and then it kinda went off the rails. *lol* Not sure how I’ll rate “The Last Heir to Blackwood Library” but to write a review is going to be interesting!
Stay tuned! Full RTC soon! ;-)
______________________________
Today is the perfect day to start a gothic horror book!
Nothing screams deadly library vibe better than a rainy day. *lol*
Joking aside this sounds great!
I mean we have a young MC that inherits a mysterious estate in the Yorkshire moors, which includes an abbey. And mentioned abbey has a library that seems to hold a spooky presence?!
Ghost stories, a moor, an old abbey, weird servants, strange esoteric texts, rumours of curses and a library at it’s centre?! Sign me up! This is my jam!
(Being the scaredycat fox that I am I probably should read this during the day, though. Right?! *lol*)
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”It all felt so anticlimactic, so simple. All Ivy wanted to do was curl up somewhere safe, feel a hot cup of tea in her hands, know that all of this was behind her.”
I think I never found a quote that encompassed my feelings for a book as well as this one. No, seriously, it really says it all. I mean, “The Last Heir to Blackwood Library” was some sort of a wildcard because I picked it up in my library, read the blurb and decided to borrow the book. I was in the mood for a creepy monastery on the Yorkshire moors with an evil library and wicked entities that haunt it, and well, for the first 40 – 50% of the book I actually got what I signed up for. Unfortunately, the rest of the story wasn’t able to hold my attention and lost me along the way.
”There was an almost painful awareness between her and this entity. Her hand went slack, the letter falling to the desk as it grew closer. Hot breath touched her neck, like a hungry dog was stalking her, ready to pounce."
I mean, I honestly have no idea how we got from the quote above to how the book eventually ended. It all sounded very promising and I was totally here for it. For about half of the book I had a good time, but then the author made some decisions that didn’t just cause me to sigh but also forced me to bump down the rating to three stars. So what went wrong? The short answer would be: A lot. The long answer is more difficult to put into words, though. I think we have to start at the beginning and take it from there, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. ;-)
"Perhaps it was her American heritage or her father's liberal views, but her parents had always been adamant about instilling in her the notion that the accident of one's birth should not determine their place in the world. They had been careful that while they had made sure she was literate and well-spoken, she never looked down on those who were not."
Okay, let’s do this! So when the book starts we get to know Ivy Radcliffe who is an independent woman that lives in a flat with her bestie Susan. She is modern and progressive, self-confident and a feminist. Moreover she doesn’t look down on people and treats everyone the way she wants to be treated herself. Which is to say with respect and kindness. I really liked that Ivy and I wanted to get to know her better, but then she inherited Blackwood Abbey from a very distant relative, became Lady Hayworth and things changed.
”Listen to me. You get out of here, my lady. Get as far as you can and don’t come back.”
His fingers dug into her shoulders, but she just blinked at him. “What?”
“It’s only going to get harder to leave,” Ralph told her. “You’ll start forgetting, and then before you know it there will be nothing left of you. You should leave, today. Christ, I should have put you back on the train as soon as you arrived.”
From her first day at Blackwood Abbey Ivy gets warnings from the staff and despite being creeped out she throws all caution to the wind and spends more and more time at the library. She starts to catalogue it and even borrows the books to the people of the village; which leads to some serious consequences Ivy decides to ignore. Moreover, she falls for Sir Arthur a highborn lord she knows next to nothing about aside of that he likes books and is extremely interested in Blackwood Library. If you ask me the fact he seemed to be more intrigued by the library than by her should have been a red flag right there, but of course Ivy doesn’t see it like that. Which totally didn’t fit the Ivy from the beginning of the book. Throughout the story she becomes more and more of an unreliable narrator and forgets things that happened. There are big gaps in her memory and the reader is as clueless as she is. I could understand her frustration with the situation because the servants at the house only make cryptic remarks, but it’s not like she does anything to dig deeper.
"She didn't trust that doctor and how quick he had been to diagnose her. In fact, she didn't trust anyone. Not Ralph, not Mrs. Hewitt, and as much as it pained her to admit it, not even her fiancé."
I mean, our FMC decides to start a diary in order to remember things, but then later on finds it ripped apart in her own room. My first reaction would have been to start writing a new one immediately, but Ivy gives up and doesn’t even think about starting a new diary because according to her it would be futile. And this is exactly the problem I had with the book. Ivy starts out as this headstrong and courageous character but turns into an incapable simp as soon as a problem arises. She’s inactive and just allows things to happen to her. She never truly takes control of a situation and instead of heading the warnings of her staff that obviously know much more than she does, she decides to be stubborn and insufferable at the most inconvenient times. Even worse, her memory loss seems to turn her into a damsel in distress. By the ending of the book I wondered where that strong and independent woman went, because all that was left was a weak girl that couldn’t wait to get married and let someone else take over control of her life. Ugh.
”Her dreams of having a family of her own were within reach. Arthur was a good, honourable man, and he valued the same things as her. Arthur knew this strange new world to which she had been elevated, could help her navigate it, find a home in it. But most of all, he would help her, with the library, with Blackwood, all of it. She didn’t have to bear the headaches, the dreams, and the ghosts alone anymore.”
Another thing that caused me to lower my rating was the fact that I didn’t know in which kind of direction the author wanted to go with this. The book started out interesting, and then got slightly creepy only to turn into a series of weird events and strange happenings. Well, and then near the ending there finally happened something and after that the book turned into some sort of romance?! The plot was all over the place and the ending was so anticlimactic that I’m still frustrated with the way things were handled. Not to mention all the open plot threads that never got a proper follow up. What happened with the people of the village that borrowed the books? What happened with Susan after her visit? What the hell happened with Sir Arthur?! And what exactly happened between Ivy and her servant Ralph?!
His gaze returned to her, her breath hitching at the swirling storm in his gray eyes. “If you’re ever in danger, you come to the stables. You don’t need to stay in the abbey if you feel unsafe. There’s an extra cot, and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
And just because I need to talk about it to get it off my chest, here are some spoilers about the extremely anticlimactic ending:
Conclusion:
“The Last Heir to Blackwood Library” started out so interesting and I enjoyed the story up until the halfway mark. There was a lot of atmosphere and build up at the beginning of the book, but unfortunately, the author never followed through on that promise. Instead, the protagonist of the story that started out as a headstrong and independent woman turned into a helpless, obedient housewife as soon as trouble arose and the plot seemed to be all over the place. My final verdict is 3 stars because I DID enjoy the story at first, but then the author lost me at the middle and never managed to get me back on board. What a pity, this book had so much potential and I really wanted to like it. Well, it clearly wasn’t for me, but it might be the perfect read for other readers. I suppose it always depends on your reading tastes and thankfully they differ. ;-)
”What you don’t realize about the Blackwood library, is that it’s not an ordinary library. It’s special, more special than you can possibly understand. It contains some of the most valuable and rare manuscripts on esoteric and occult subjects. Before the Dissolution, Blackwood was a center of monastic learning. Its collection was the destination for countless pilgrims and wise men, all seeking the answer to some of life’s most unknowable truths.”
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Mhmm, this one was a weird one.
At first I enjoyed it, then it got slightly creepy only to turn strange and then it kinda went off the rails. *lol* Not sure how I’ll rate “The Last Heir to Blackwood Library” but to write a review is going to be interesting!
Stay tuned! Full RTC soon! ;-)
______________________________
Today is the perfect day to start a gothic horror book!
Nothing screams deadly library vibe better than a rainy day. *lol*
Joking aside this sounds great!
I mean we have a young MC that inherits a mysterious estate in the Yorkshire moors, which includes an abbey. And mentioned abbey has a library that seems to hold a spooky presence?!
Ghost stories, a moor, an old abbey, weird servants, strange esoteric texts, rumours of curses and a library at it’s centre?! Sign me up! This is my jam!
(Being the scaredy
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May 3, 2023
I don't usually write reviews, but I needed to get down in words what irked me about this book.
First the good: I liked the background and the premise of the story. Suitably gothic, a touch magical but nothing too over-the-top.
But the thing is....
First the good: I liked the background and the premise of the story. Suitably gothic, a touch magical but nothing too over-the-top.
But the thing is....
March 3, 2023
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an egalley. All opinions expressed are my own.
3.5 stars
I raced to request an ARC after spying on a review by a fellow Goodreads friend and I wasn't disappointed. Hester Fox takes her readers to an English manor in the post-WWI era where a young heiress soon becomes haunted by a malevolent spirit.
Honestly, no one cranks up the gothic atmosphere with more intensity than Hester Fox. I felt as frightened and confused as the main protagonist, Ivy Radcliff!! The only thing that I criticize is that the romance in the book didn't work for me but I could see it was coming. Also, as we accelerated to the end, some plot points felt hurried.
Overall, I did read it in one sitting and was turning the pages BUT it wasn't my favorite book by the author.
Expected Publication Date 04/04/23
Goodreads Review Published 03/03/23
#TheLastHeirtoBlackwoodLibrary #NetGalley.
3.5 stars
I raced to request an ARC after spying on a review by a fellow Goodreads friend and I wasn't disappointed. Hester Fox takes her readers to an English manor in the post-WWI era where a young heiress soon becomes haunted by a malevolent spirit.
Honestly, no one cranks up the gothic atmosphere with more intensity than Hester Fox. I felt as frightened and confused as the main protagonist, Ivy Radcliff!! The only thing that I criticize is that the romance in the book didn't work for me but I could see it was coming. Also, as we accelerated to the end, some plot points felt hurried.
Overall, I did read it in one sitting and was turning the pages BUT it wasn't my favorite book by the author.
Expected Publication Date 04/04/23
Goodreads Review Published 03/03/23
#TheLastHeirtoBlackwoodLibrary #NetGalley.
June 14, 2023
Eerie, moody, and at times difficult to follow!
Spooky times, eerie setting (a big mansion with dark corners and secret), a locked library, and a setting to add some creepiness, (the Moors), so what's not to like? in the beginning of the story, I was entranced, thinking this would tend to fill up the eeriness I often enjoy in a story and it did, for awhile. I was thrilled with the emphasis on books, mid-evil times, a monk, and a story line that seemed to be pulled from a Mary Shelley book. A young woman, Ivey Radcliff, down on her luck, inherits a sprawling mansion, Blackwood Abbey. She has cause for being sad and depressed as her brother, who she adored perished in the Great War, so finding herself the heir to the sprawling mysterious Abbey has a shot of happiness inserted into her life, until it wasn't.
The servants that "welcome" Ivey to the home are not the most friendly and her chauffeur is quite surly but so hunky! What is wrong with these people? and better yet what is wrong with this manor? It has its spooky corners, its bump in the night creepiness., and that locked library? When Ivey secrets the key and enters the library, she is enthralled with the massive collection of books dating back centuries, but also feels a very sinister vibe coming off the interior. Then all hell breaks loose as Ivey comes to understand her purpose for being there.
This was a true bended knee to the books of the past and had many Jane Eyre vibes, but the second half was both confusing and had me going down many dark and dank corridors to elicit what was going on.
A very clever story line that went amuck in the middle and left me frustrated and so ready for the books to end.
Spooky times, eerie setting (a big mansion with dark corners and secret), a locked library, and a setting to add some creepiness, (the Moors), so what's not to like? in the beginning of the story, I was entranced, thinking this would tend to fill up the eeriness I often enjoy in a story and it did, for awhile. I was thrilled with the emphasis on books, mid-evil times, a monk, and a story line that seemed to be pulled from a Mary Shelley book. A young woman, Ivey Radcliff, down on her luck, inherits a sprawling mansion, Blackwood Abbey. She has cause for being sad and depressed as her brother, who she adored perished in the Great War, so finding herself the heir to the sprawling mysterious Abbey has a shot of happiness inserted into her life, until it wasn't.
The servants that "welcome" Ivey to the home are not the most friendly and her chauffeur is quite surly but so hunky! What is wrong with these people? and better yet what is wrong with this manor? It has its spooky corners, its bump in the night creepiness., and that locked library? When Ivey secrets the key and enters the library, she is enthralled with the massive collection of books dating back centuries, but also feels a very sinister vibe coming off the interior. Then all hell breaks loose as Ivey comes to understand her purpose for being there.
This was a true bended knee to the books of the past and had many Jane Eyre vibes, but the second half was both confusing and had me going down many dark and dank corridors to elicit what was going on.
A very clever story line that went amuck in the middle and left me frustrated and so ready for the books to end.
May 22, 2023
This fascinating book gets a 5 shiny stars rating from me! 😁
I simply loved it! I won't write the plot of the book because it'll give the story away! It's not something that I would usually read, but I was drawn in by the title and the beautiful and interesting cover. I'm very happy that I did read it.
You are transported back in time first to 1349 England and then 1925 in England, just after WW1. Here you'll meet Ivy Radcliffe,the next heir to the Blackwood Library. There are also many characters, some you like and others..well..? Go back to the world of Abbeys, Monasteries ,Lords and Ladies. Enjoy the rolling hills, valleys and mores that are beautifully described and you feel like you're there. Then,of course there's the Blackwood Library. I love libraries and books..this library I wouldn't want to go in. There's something very different about this one. There's something eerie about it and things that go bump in the night and sometimes day!
It's a beautiful, heartwarming and bittersweet story of love, friendships and the need to protect each other. My advice is to go into this book blind. Reviews can sway a reader one way or another and I don't want to do that. Experience this one and decide for yourself. Have fun with it, don't take it too seriously, that's what I did and it was an amazing adventure that I won't forget! I highly recommend this book to everyone. Happy Reading and Enjoy.
I simply loved it! I won't write the plot of the book because it'll give the story away! It's not something that I would usually read, but I was drawn in by the title and the beautiful and interesting cover. I'm very happy that I did read it.
You are transported back in time first to 1349 England and then 1925 in England, just after WW1. Here you'll meet Ivy Radcliffe,the next heir to the Blackwood Library. There are also many characters, some you like and others..well..? Go back to the world of Abbeys, Monasteries ,Lords and Ladies. Enjoy the rolling hills, valleys and mores that are beautifully described and you feel like you're there. Then,of course there's the Blackwood Library. I love libraries and books..this library I wouldn't want to go in. There's something very different about this one. There's something eerie about it and things that go bump in the night and sometimes day!
It's a beautiful, heartwarming and bittersweet story of love, friendships and the need to protect each other. My advice is to go into this book blind. Reviews can sway a reader one way or another and I don't want to do that. Experience this one and decide for yourself. Have fun with it, don't take it too seriously, that's what I did and it was an amazing adventure that I won't forget! I highly recommend this book to everyone. Happy Reading and Enjoy.
May 9, 2023
This is the second time this year that I enjoyed a book while I was reading it, but the further I get from finishing it, the worse I realize it was.
Spoilers ahead
First of all. Holy anticlimax. You defeat the big bad by finding his body and... Throwing his skeleton into different corners of the room. Like who the hell thought that was an interesting climax to the story?
The depiction of Ivy's memory loss is MADDENING. I get she's not supposed to be remembering everything but I was so frustrated by the time the engagement party rolled around. Also Ivy constantly declaring herself an independent woman, but please come save me was so annoying.
Finally, and I am not a psychologist, but we're supposed to believe that Ralph remembers working at the Abbey and so returned to it, but has no memory of his own parents or even his own last name?? Or did he know his last name and didn't even make the connection that two of the only three other servants were also named Hewitt and therefore probably related to him in some way?
So egregious. Ivy has no agency, Ralph is a mopey baby half the time, and everyone is so maddeningly vague and cryptic I could scream. Also the title sucks.
Very disappointed. This book looked right up my alley but alas, it was not to be.
Spoilers ahead
First of all. Holy anticlimax. You defeat the big bad by finding his body and... Throwing his skeleton into different corners of the room. Like who the hell thought that was an interesting climax to the story?
The depiction of Ivy's memory loss is MADDENING. I get she's not supposed to be remembering everything but I was so frustrated by the time the engagement party rolled around. Also Ivy constantly declaring herself an independent woman, but please come save me was so annoying.
Finally, and I am not a psychologist, but we're supposed to believe that Ralph remembers working at the Abbey and so returned to it, but has no memory of his own parents or even his own last name?? Or did he know his last name and didn't even make the connection that two of the only three other servants were also named Hewitt and therefore probably related to him in some way?
So egregious. Ivy has no agency, Ralph is a mopey baby half the time, and everyone is so maddeningly vague and cryptic I could scream. Also the title sucks.
Very disappointed. This book looked right up my alley but alas, it was not to be.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2024
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is my first Hester Fox experience. I'm excited to read more! This book is like a Dark Downton Abbey + Gaslight vibes :)
What I loved about this book
-The "rags-to-riches" beginning
-The gothic vibes
-Inheriting a cursed abbey, a secret library, and a full staff with a hot chauffeur
-So much tea. We drink a lot of tea in this book
-Cozy aesthetic (a library filled with books, an abbey on the Yorkshire Moors, the 1920s)
-Supernatural & Occult + Paranormal + Dark Fantasy elements
-Romance (The Ralph relationship, not the Arthur one)
-Subtle "Gaslight movie (1944) vibes
-I love the dark history of the library, the curse, the manuscript, and the monk
What didn't work for me
-The pacing is a little inconsistent. Parts of the story developed slowly while others felt extremely rushed
-Not only is Ivy unlikable (which is fine, I love a good unlikable MC) but she's frustratingly naive and weak. Not a very feminist or empowering Gothic tale, I'm afraid. The heroine desperately needs an intervention and rescuing multiple times. I wish she would listen to people; she's very stubborn and headstrong but not in a cute/endearing or relatable way
-I loved the first quarter of this book with Ivy exploring her new, inherited abbey. Meeting the staff and developing a relationship with each of them was perfection. Peak Gothic storytelling. It just didn't last long enough before the dark fantasy/occult/Arthur vibes complicated the pacing
-The element of memories and blacking out or forgetting things was extremely confusing. it was difficult to make sense of what had happened and what were just hallucinations/nightmares/visions
-predictability and plot holes were a bit of an issue but not a huge problem
-I wish the dark threat was a strong paranormal curse and not the occult/fantasy plot
Recommended for readers who enjoy:
-Books about books & libraries
-Gothic vibes
-Light romance
-Dark fantasy/magical realism infused with subtle horror/paranormal/supernatural elements
-Short chapters/Quick read
-Dark Downton Abbey (1920s) vibes
What I loved about this book
-The "rags-to-riches" beginning
-The gothic vibes
-Inheriting a cursed abbey, a secret library, and a full staff with a hot chauffeur
-So much tea. We drink a lot of tea in this book
-Cozy aesthetic (a library filled with books, an abbey on the Yorkshire Moors, the 1920s)
-Supernatural & Occult + Paranormal + Dark Fantasy elements
-Romance (The Ralph relationship, not the Arthur one)
-Subtle "Gaslight movie (1944) vibes
-I love the dark history of the library, the curse, the manuscript, and the monk
What didn't work for me
-The pacing is a little inconsistent. Parts of the story developed slowly while others felt extremely rushed
-Not only is Ivy unlikable (which is fine, I love a good unlikable MC) but she's frustratingly naive and weak. Not a very feminist or empowering Gothic tale, I'm afraid. The heroine desperately needs an intervention and rescuing multiple times. I wish she would listen to people; she's very stubborn and headstrong but not in a cute/endearing or relatable way
-I loved the first quarter of this book with Ivy exploring her new, inherited abbey. Meeting the staff and developing a relationship with each of them was perfection. Peak Gothic storytelling. It just didn't last long enough before the dark fantasy/occult/Arthur vibes complicated the pacing
-The element of memories and blacking out or forgetting things was extremely confusing. it was difficult to make sense of what had happened and what were just hallucinations/nightmares/visions
-predictability and plot holes were a bit of an issue but not a huge problem
-I wish the dark threat was a strong paranormal curse and not the occult/fantasy plot
Recommended for readers who enjoy:
-Books about books & libraries
-Gothic vibes
-Light romance
-Dark fantasy/magical realism infused with subtle horror/paranormal/supernatural elements
-Short chapters/Quick read
-Dark Downton Abbey (1920s) vibes
October 6, 2022
I always think of myself as a person who cares about character and the quality of the writing the most, but then I find myself reading this plotty nonsense, and quite enjoying it. It contains a lot of elements I like. It's gothic, has library in the title, is about a Mysterious Book, takes place in the U.K. between the 2 world wars. But really, I think I just needed something absorbing and uncomplicated because my second and last child, who has been delightful to live with almost every day of his 18 years, has gone off to college, and it's a big adjustment. Thanks for being there for me, silly book.
If you had just moved into your spooky Yorkshire mansion and all of the sudden you felt an icy presence and your hairbrush flew across your bedroom, how long would you stay in the house? Would you sleep in this same bedroom so that you wouldn't inconvenience the servants?
Right- me neither.
If you had just moved into your spooky Yorkshire mansion and all of the sudden you felt an icy presence and your hairbrush flew across your bedroom, how long would you stay in the house? Would you sleep in this same bedroom so that you wouldn't inconvenience the servants?
Right- me neither.
April 17, 2023
This didn’t work for me at all. The main character is so incredibly dumb that it is painful, SO painful, to live in her head. Add on top of that a memory problem and gaslighting and it was not a great experience living with her POV. Instead of feeling suspicious you just feel entirely unstable.
The story follows Ivy who just inherited Blackwood Manor and the title Lady Hayworth from a distant relative. She moves into the manor and soon odd things start to happen around her making her question her sanity and whether she might be a part of some large conspiracy.
This is a book with a lot of supernatural elements which I knew going in so wasn’t disappointed by them. What did cause endless disappointment were the characters who were all flat and made terrible decisions. We were constantly told what a great person Ivy is and never actually shown how. After awhile, this starts to get old real fast.
The story follows Ivy who just inherited Blackwood Manor and the title Lady Hayworth from a distant relative. She moves into the manor and soon odd things start to happen around her making her question her sanity and whether she might be a part of some large conspiracy.
This is a book with a lot of supernatural elements which I knew going in so wasn’t disappointed by them. What did cause endless disappointment were the characters who were all flat and made terrible decisions. We were constantly told what a great person Ivy is and never actually shown how. After awhile, this starts to get old real fast.
March 18, 2023
4.5 stars rounded up
This gave me all the creepy gothic atmosphere I could ask for! The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is set in the UK post WWI. Ivy is a young woman living in London who has lost her family to the war and illness. But then she suddenly inherits a title and estate from a distant relative and her life changes. Formerly an abbey, she becomes guardian to a mysterious and probably haunted library. One that seems to give her headaches and make her struggle with her memory...
I thoroughly enjoyed this gothic tale and if you like an unreliable narrator for good plot reasons, this definitely delivers. True to form we get a gothic story of supernatural horror, plus a slow burn romance from Hester Fox. This was fantastic. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
This gave me all the creepy gothic atmosphere I could ask for! The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is set in the UK post WWI. Ivy is a young woman living in London who has lost her family to the war and illness. But then she suddenly inherits a title and estate from a distant relative and her life changes. Formerly an abbey, she becomes guardian to a mysterious and probably haunted library. One that seems to give her headaches and make her struggle with her memory...
I thoroughly enjoyed this gothic tale and if you like an unreliable narrator for good plot reasons, this definitely delivers. True to form we get a gothic story of supernatural horror, plus a slow burn romance from Hester Fox. This was fantastic. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
December 8, 2022
Hester Fox's The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is a solid piece of gothic fiction, offering elements of gothic that fans will appreciate:
• an isolated, impoverished—and feisty—heroine who suddenly finds herself a member of the nobility
• a manor house that began as an abbey nearly a millennium ago
• a menacing library, in which even straightforward books can become distorted and weaponized
• stern servants who are clearly hiding very dangerous truths
• ghosts
• handsome men of uncertain nature
• a mad monk
• present-day seekers of arcane knowledge
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is set in England shortly after the end of WWI, which adds another kind of menace to the tale. People aren't only haunted by the supernatural, they're haunted by the real -life terrors and deprivations they've just lived through, and by the memories of those who didn't make it through the war.
The novel falls within the usual form of the genre, but offers surprises and is written with a sense of detail that brings life to the story. If you like gothic, this is a book you'll want to read.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
• an isolated, impoverished—and feisty—heroine who suddenly finds herself a member of the nobility
• a manor house that began as an abbey nearly a millennium ago
• a menacing library, in which even straightforward books can become distorted and weaponized
• stern servants who are clearly hiding very dangerous truths
• ghosts
• handsome men of uncertain nature
• a mad monk
• present-day seekers of arcane knowledge
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is set in England shortly after the end of WWI, which adds another kind of menace to the tale. People aren't only haunted by the supernatural, they're haunted by the real -life terrors and deprivations they've just lived through, and by the memories of those who didn't make it through the war.
The novel falls within the usual form of the genre, but offers surprises and is written with a sense of detail that brings life to the story. If you like gothic, this is a book you'll want to read.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
August 3, 2023
Well written but I found that my enjoyment reading this was lacking.
April 15, 2023
I feel dumber for having read this, wasting money on this. Why was this allowed to be published? I spent 13 years dodging reading bad creative writing of teenagers who thought they had written the next great thriller— this was that. It was awful.
May 13, 2023
2 stars
*taps book* this bad boy can hold so many cliches in it! None of the good ones though sadly.
Maybe it's my fault for reading gothic spooky novels in 40-degree weather, but I feel like some of the fault lies with the shitty book as well. The Last Heir to Blackwood Library has the premise for a great gothic novel: a character mysteriously inherits an ancient abbey, a spooky library with spooky books, mysterious brooding men, the Yorkshire moors etc. However, the book takes all those staple elements of the genre and uses them in the laziest most cliche manner. There is no originality or input from the author, it's as if they took a glance at the Gothic Mystery Starter Pack TM and copied it exactly.
I've read many spooky horror gothic novels, and even when the plot is predictable and the characters are disappointing, one thing I can always count on is the atmosphere of the story. That feeling of being watched (All Hail Ceaseless Watcher), and that niggling feeling of wrongness blends in with the setting (yup I'm a slave to The Eye fs) to give the feeling of esoteric and paranormal activity. But Blackwood Library has no atmosphere at all. The book seems to rely on rain and wind and "Yorkshire" to carry the atmosphere and that simply isn't enough! It might have worked for Emily Bronte, but does not work for Hester Fox.
The characters were bland and boring as well. The protagonist was such an idiot, I was so annoyed at her dumb decisions. At times she reminded me of the protagonist from Rebecca, but while in Rebecca the whole point of the story was that the protagonist is naive and dumb, here we are supposed to root for her. And I hated the love interest and the angst surrounding him. He's a typical gothic hero, gruff and stormy with lots of jaw-clenching. A walking cliche if I ever saw one. The conflict and the characters' struggles were also very block-and-white when it came to morality. The bad guys were just plain evil, and everything bad happened because of them, while the good guys were pure and could do no wrong. Zero nuance to them, which meant the plot didn't feel interesting either. I was forcing myself to finish the last 100 or so pages.
Blog Review
*taps book* this bad boy can hold so many cliches in it! None of the good ones though sadly.
Maybe it's my fault for reading gothic spooky novels in 40-degree weather, but I feel like some of the fault lies with the shitty book as well. The Last Heir to Blackwood Library has the premise for a great gothic novel: a character mysteriously inherits an ancient abbey, a spooky library with spooky books, mysterious brooding men, the Yorkshire moors etc. However, the book takes all those staple elements of the genre and uses them in the laziest most cliche manner. There is no originality or input from the author, it's as if they took a glance at the Gothic Mystery Starter Pack TM and copied it exactly.
I've read many spooky horror gothic novels, and even when the plot is predictable and the characters are disappointing, one thing I can always count on is the atmosphere of the story. That feeling of being watched (All Hail Ceaseless Watcher), and that niggling feeling of wrongness blends in with the setting (yup I'm a slave to The Eye fs) to give the feeling of esoteric and paranormal activity. But Blackwood Library has no atmosphere at all. The book seems to rely on rain and wind and "Yorkshire" to carry the atmosphere and that simply isn't enough! It might have worked for Emily Bronte, but does not work for Hester Fox.
The characters were bland and boring as well. The protagonist was such an idiot, I was so annoyed at her dumb decisions. At times she reminded me of the protagonist from Rebecca, but while in Rebecca the whole point of the story was that the protagonist is naive and dumb, here we are supposed to root for her. And I hated the love interest and the angst surrounding him. He's a typical gothic hero, gruff and stormy with lots of jaw-clenching. A walking cliche if I ever saw one. The conflict and the characters' struggles were also very block-and-white when it came to morality. The bad guys were just plain evil, and everything bad happened because of them, while the good guys were pure and could do no wrong. Zero nuance to them, which meant the plot didn't feel interesting either. I was forcing myself to finish the last 100 or so pages.
Blog Review
July 14, 2023
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is my first novel by Hester Fox, and boy is it a doozy. This was a reasonably strange book with a very gothic and creepy storyline. I think this would make for a fantastic read for Halloween, and things get super wild at the end, and I mean SUPER wild. I would call this a slow burn overall, but it is full of atmosphere and there was enough happening that I didn't find myself getting distracted. I'm not sure I would call the characters all that loveable, but I definitely didn't hate them either. The way Ivy gets treated as the book progresses is very frustrating and I think Fox did a great job of showing what things were like for women back in the early to mid-1900s.
The audiobook is exceptional, and I enjoyed Ell Potter's narration very much. She was the perfect person to breathe life into Ivy, and I thought she did an excellent job with her inflections and fluency. There was a romance aspect to The Last Heir to Blackwood Library that I wasn’t really expecting, and I could have done without it, but it didn’t detract from the overall plot for me either. Things felt very dark and ominous, and I was about to the point where I wanted to look over my own shoulder things were so tense. I also loved the book aspect and Ivy was a total bibliophile which was icing on the cake for her character. Lots of things I enjoyed about this one and I would read it if you enjoy nods to the classics, fantastical stories, and creepy gothic vibes!
The audiobook is exceptional, and I enjoyed Ell Potter's narration very much. She was the perfect person to breathe life into Ivy, and I thought she did an excellent job with her inflections and fluency. There was a romance aspect to The Last Heir to Blackwood Library that I wasn’t really expecting, and I could have done without it, but it didn’t detract from the overall plot for me either. Things felt very dark and ominous, and I was about to the point where I wanted to look over my own shoulder things were so tense. I also loved the book aspect and Ivy was a total bibliophile which was icing on the cake for her character. Lots of things I enjoyed about this one and I would read it if you enjoy nods to the classics, fantastical stories, and creepy gothic vibes!
April 16, 2023
Prologue - Blackwood Abbey, Yorkshire, England, 1349. London, England. 1925. Hester Fox’s The Last Heir to Blackwood Library has the protagonist, Ivy Radcliffe, being summoned to Cecil Duncan’s office, the solicitor of the Hayworth family of Blackwood Abbey. It appears that Ivy has inherited a title and an upper-crust home in Yorkshire. By signing her name Ivy becomes Lady Hayworth of Blackwood Abbey, Yorkshire. Ivy can leave behind the “cold and hunger and want” of her life “of poverty and struggle in the East End.” She will have a life of “Comfort. Stability.” At 25 Ivy’s life was nothing but “deaths and disappointments.” Now, she is a viscountess! When Ivy arrives at Blackwood Abbey, she senses that all is not right. But what? Ivy discovers a “magnificent library” where she finds “a magical link between words on the page and the vivid images that simultaneously unfolded in her mind”, but what does Ivy experience in order to discover the “magical link”? Engrossing! Why not add a little fantasy to your life! 4.5 stars!
September 19, 2023
The book started okay, interesting story about a young woman who inherits a gothic abbey with a mysterious library and unwelcoming staff but soon it went all south! Our protagonist Ivy is a clueless person to the point that is really frustrating, and then there is the romance aspect of the book which didn't work for me for even a moment.
May 10, 2023
This had such promise, and ended up to be quite disappointing.
I really enjoyed the first third: Ivy Radcliffe, a young woman left alone by the war and struggling to get by in London, inherits an old family manor in Yorkshire. The caveat is that she must move there immediately, and live the rest of her life in Radcliffe Hall. No problem, the penniless and lonely Ivy thinks.
Upon her arrival, the whole set-up is delightfully intriguing. Tight-lipped staff, mysterious ghost stories abound, locked doors in dark corridors, and a moody-but-knightly handsome gardener. Throw in a library that remains locked and shrouded in dusty danger/promise, and we’ve got a gothic dream.
Unfortunately, the plot, which hinges on Ivy’s supposed sharp research skills as the new Lady of the House, quickly falls to shreds, simply because Ivy is maddeningly clueless. She makes ridiculous, nonsensical bad choice after bad choice. She doesn’t demand answers, but instead seems content to make the odd impassioned query, only to stop when told to. She begins to lose her memories, but makes no real attempt to figure any of it out. The clear villain arrives early on, and Ivy agrees to marry him without spending more than a few days with him.
In Ivy’s world, it’s red flags galore, but she stubbornly refuses to see any of them.
Meanwhile, the Radcliffe Manor staff threatens gloom and doom but won’t give her the truth. They seem concerned, but don’t give Ivy an inch, which, on top of Ivy’s own mystifying denial, makes for an exceptionally frustrating reading experience.
Somehow, I was hoping for it to all come together in a surprising ending, because despite Ivy not cluing in, the reader can certainly guess. Instead, the “secrets” turn out to be cliches, and not done in a satisfying way. It felt like an obvious, grand rush at the end.
Argh argh argh. I wanted to love this so much.
I really enjoyed the first third: Ivy Radcliffe, a young woman left alone by the war and struggling to get by in London, inherits an old family manor in Yorkshire. The caveat is that she must move there immediately, and live the rest of her life in Radcliffe Hall. No problem, the penniless and lonely Ivy thinks.
Upon her arrival, the whole set-up is delightfully intriguing. Tight-lipped staff, mysterious ghost stories abound, locked doors in dark corridors, and a moody-but-knightly handsome gardener. Throw in a library that remains locked and shrouded in dusty danger/promise, and we’ve got a gothic dream.
Unfortunately, the plot, which hinges on Ivy’s supposed sharp research skills as the new Lady of the House, quickly falls to shreds, simply because Ivy is maddeningly clueless. She makes ridiculous, nonsensical bad choice after bad choice. She doesn’t demand answers, but instead seems content to make the odd impassioned query, only to stop when told to. She begins to lose her memories, but makes no real attempt to figure any of it out. The clear villain arrives early on, and Ivy agrees to marry him without spending more than a few days with him.
In Ivy’s world, it’s red flags galore, but she stubbornly refuses to see any of them.
Meanwhile, the Radcliffe Manor staff threatens gloom and doom but won’t give her the truth. They seem concerned, but don’t give Ivy an inch, which, on top of Ivy’s own mystifying denial, makes for an exceptionally frustrating reading experience.
Somehow, I was hoping for it to all come together in a surprising ending, because despite Ivy not cluing in, the reader can certainly guess. Instead, the “secrets” turn out to be cliches, and not done in a satisfying way. It felt like an obvious, grand rush at the end.
Argh argh argh. I wanted to love this so much.
July 16, 2023
One of the most frustrating protagonists I’ve ever encountered. For a woman who keeps proclaiming her own agency endlessly, she is the most spineless creature to ever be brought to paper. Just no. Avoid and save yourself the aggravation. An extra star for a strong prologue.
June 17, 2024
It was ok. I felt the mystery of what was going on was dragged out a little too long. Then the ending just kinda happened. I didn't hate it but I was glad it was a library book. Depending on the subject matter, I would give this author another try.
April 7, 2023
After hearing about this new release from Hester Fox.. a gothic mystery with a BOOKISH HEROINE .. AND that it involves a Mad Monk, and a HAUNTED LIBRARY inside a centuries old ABBEY (whew that was a mouthful!).. I knew I had to read it immediately.
Ivy Radcliffe at 23-years-old inherits Blackwood Abbey—a remote, crumbling estate—on one condition. She must live there for the rest of her life. Sounds simple enough right?
Well unfortunately for Ivy, nothing is as it seems. Or had expected it to be.
As a bibliophile, Ivy’s drawn to the quite large, impressive library there. This is when she begins to have headaches and lose her memory as unsettling sinister things take shape around her. What Ivy doesn’t know is that the Abbey, it’s library, harbors a strange supernatural past with spirits 🕯, an undecipherable manuscript 📜, and that there is a secret society 👥 that will do anything to feed the malevolence inside its walls. A dark, eerie story, yes.. BUT not to worry.. there is light at the end of the tunnel. It truly shines upon a touching tale of romance💘.. between a brooding, swoonworthy hero.. and Lady Ivy herself.
Historical fiction, romance, gothic, ghosts, books, secret societies, is highly imaginative and atmospheric..✔️this has it all. A great book to read for Simone St. James fans.📚🖤 4 stars — Pub. 4/4/23
Ivy Radcliffe at 23-years-old inherits Blackwood Abbey—a remote, crumbling estate—on one condition. She must live there for the rest of her life. Sounds simple enough right?
Well unfortunately for Ivy, nothing is as it seems. Or had expected it to be.
As a bibliophile, Ivy’s drawn to the quite large, impressive library there. This is when she begins to have headaches and lose her memory as unsettling sinister things take shape around her. What Ivy doesn’t know is that the Abbey, it’s library, harbors a strange supernatural past with spirits 🕯, an undecipherable manuscript 📜, and that there is a secret society 👥 that will do anything to feed the malevolence inside its walls. A dark, eerie story, yes.. BUT not to worry.. there is light at the end of the tunnel. It truly shines upon a touching tale of romance💘.. between a brooding, swoonworthy hero.. and Lady Ivy herself.
Historical fiction, romance, gothic, ghosts, books, secret societies, is highly imaginative and atmospheric..✔️this has it all. A great book to read for Simone St. James fans.📚🖤 4 stars — Pub. 4/4/23
March 20, 2023
"The Last Heir to Blackwood Library" features Ivy who has just lost all her immediate family in WWI, but then finds out she is the last heir to Blackwood Abbey and is now Lady Hayworth. Once she arrives at Blackwood, she finds surly servants, a locked library, and mysterious memory loss.
There are such good bones in this story: the Gothic setting, unreliable narrator, ancient evil, ghosts, and spookiness. However, the pace is absolutely glacial. I wasn't interested in the story most of the time. I liked the setting, atmosphere, and ancient mystery a lot, which is why I kept reading, but I didn't care about the characters at all. They were two-dimensional; everyone's place in the story is obvious right from the beginning. The romance isn't natural because we don't see any of it actually happen due to Ivy's memory loss, and I wish it just weren't there. I was also very annoyed that we never see Ivy reunite with her friend from London. Her friend saw all that craziness and then just forgot about her? Completely unbelievable.
I think there's an audience for this book, but I wouldn't read it again and may not pick up other works by this author.
Thank you you NetGalley and the publisher for a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.
There are such good bones in this story: the Gothic setting, unreliable narrator, ancient evil, ghosts, and spookiness. However, the pace is absolutely glacial. I wasn't interested in the story most of the time. I liked the setting, atmosphere, and ancient mystery a lot, which is why I kept reading, but I didn't care about the characters at all. They were two-dimensional; everyone's place in the story is obvious right from the beginning. The romance isn't natural because we don't see any of it actually happen due to Ivy's memory loss, and I wish it just weren't there. I was also very annoyed that we never see Ivy reunite with her friend from London. Her friend saw all that craziness and then just forgot about her? Completely unbelievable.
I think there's an audience for this book, but I wouldn't read it again and may not pick up other works by this author.
Thank you you NetGalley and the publisher for a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.
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