The Staircase in the Woods discussion

Me: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh, this was a weird one. The premise sounded much saner than this ended up being. I loved it.

I think the idea of the house and the staircases in the woods is genius. The writing and setting was just fucked up enough to keep me hooked all the way through.

Ezra: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I won't lie to you, I actually went into this with somewhat low expectations. Part of that may have been the description, which makes this sound like a very run of the mill horror novel, and didn't give me all that much motivation to start this book, which is why I'm all the more thankful to my lovely friend Julia and I's book club, because this was so much better than the description would make you think.

I tend to read a lot of horror, but I don't often get creeped out or scared. However this book created such a creepy atmosphere, where something could happen at any time, that it had me jumping in my seat every time there was a random noise around me. The tension created here was absolutely perfect. I guess in a way one could describe this as a haunted house story, but it is so much more than that label calls to mind. The setting was absolutely fantastic.

I also really enjoyed the characters. Seeing this group of completely different kids have this wonderful friendship, and then seeing the way they changed as adults was really well done, and while these characters were certainly very flawed, the author did a wonderful job of showing what made them into the people they are, and their behaviour is therefore explained, but not excused.
I was actually a bit worried about Lore's character, as it seemed like the author wanted to make fun of people like her in the very beginning, but throughout the book it becomes apparent that she is not supposed to be a caricature. While these characters all seem a little "stereotypical" in the beginning, they become more layered as the story progresses, and they start to feel like real people.

If you like flawed characters that grow on you, fucked up houses and stories of unexpected friendship, and also really like being creeped out, this one's for you.