“Suppressing a smile isn’t easy. The happiness always creeps out somehow. But sadness can be stashed under the skin like a dark secret.”

I have gone back and forth on what I wanted to rate this book. The idea of this book, which takes aspects of Irish/Celtic mythology (perfect time for St. Patrick’s Day) and used that mythos to create subtle mental horror story. While the idea is strong, there are certain aspects of the execution that leave me wanting more from it.

Even though the middle section is the longest, it really feels like nothing major happens. I could see this being cut down to more of a novella sized story, and it benefiting from the shrink in prose. Where the story shines is the beginning, which helps establish Mina, the main POV and what her character dynamics are and the ending which plays into the mental/paranoia aspects. The twist at the end, while kinda telegraphed is still solid enough to be worth it (and also has me looking forward to how the movie adaptation is gonna handle it.) 

Overall, while the story is not everything I wanted, it is a quick enough read/listen that I think is worth giving a shot and more than likely you will get something enjoyable out of it.