ARC REVIEW of GOTHICTOWN by Emily Carpenter


I love a gothic-town-mystery moment.

07/09/2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (3,5 stars rounded up)

So... I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this book. Gothic Town follows Billie and her husband Peter and daughter Mere, as they move to a small town named Juliana, an isolated village in which things are seemingly incandescent, perfect for her to restart her restaurent after it is closed due to the pandemic.

As soon as they move, things become weird. Billie notices police tape as they arrive, Peter struggles with severe insomnia and irritability, and even the cat becomes aggressive and wild.

I loved the setting; eerily perfect, terrifyingly simplistic, with too many mysteries to be uncovered.

Without giving away any spoilers, I need to discuss the reveals of the plot twists. Many of them, though predictable, were revealed in a way that kept interest. The main one, with Peter, was set up eloquently and although I felt like it was obvious, the reveal was done so well, my heart dropping as I realised what was going on, that this wasn't detrimental to the quality of the book.

One thing I really didn't like was the forced romance with Jamie. This is a personal preference, I am not a fan of the cheating trope, and while I understand why it was included, I do feel Jamie and his whole arc was a bit of a lazy trope to choose from. However, the mystery of the town kept my interest, and so I could read through this without rolling my eyes too hard. And in the context of the story, it did work.

I adored the ending. The inclusion of a little bit of plausible deniability, the question asking if it was paranormal, or was the scientific explanation enough, was beautifully done.

All in all, I do recommended this book. The things I didn't like were all due to my personal reading preferences when it comes to plot and narrative, not the writer's style