I received a review copy from the publishers as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
Genre: Horror
Age Range: YA
Star Rating: 4.5 stars
Series: book 2
*SPOILER ALERT: contains SPOILERS for WHAT WALKS THESE HALLS*
Blurb:
‘Would you kill someone to survive?’ he asked. ‘It’s not survival when you’re already dead,’ she replied.
Paranormal Surveyance Ireland – PSI – are on the hunt for ghosts. When The Merrion Hub, a fancy new start-up, is gripped by strange and disturbing happenings, the owners ask Archer and his team to investigate.
The gang are determined to prove to the world that ghosts are real, but tensions are running Éabha clashes with Raven over her new clairvoyancy gift, Fionn feels isolated by the team and Davis is frustrated by the journalist who’s determined to expose them as frauds.
None of that matters when there’s a startling disappearance. Can PSI remember how to work together in time to save their friend from a horrific fate?
Blurb taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
WHO WATCHES THIS PLACE returns to the world of paranormal investigations, this time with a creepy painting.
Ever since reading THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, I have found paintings in books super creepy and this book leans into them. Paintings that move out of the corner of your eye. Things coming out of paintings. And more. It is a really enjoyable, spooky romp that feels like a deliberate attempt to show off more of the genre after the more typical haunted house of WHAT WALKS THESE HALLS.
The book has a brief one page summary of the previous book (something I wish more books did!) Because this series is effectively a series of standalones – new mysteries facing the same characters – the summary focuses more on who the characters are and where they ended up emotionally at the end of WHAT WALKS THESE HALLS. This book does, though cover the events of WHAT WALKS THESE FALLS as they grapple with the trauma of what happened.
The characters have been through a lot and are not all dealing with it well. There are five narrators this time, with Raven and Éabha returning to explore how their gifts have changed. The other three narrators did not speak last book. I loved getting a chance to see into Davis and Fionn’s heads.
This book contains aroace rep! Fionn is one of the new narrators and through him the book explores how isolating and lonely it can be to be the only aroace person in a friendship group as the others start to pair up and prioritise the romantic over the platonic. I loved the argument he and Arthur got into about it, Arthur unable to see how he was hurting his friend by always choosing hit romance first and his “well, you’ll get it when you get a partner” stance. Those blindnesses and assumptions are so common and I liked seeing them tackled head on.
The last of the new narrators is a new character, Audrey. She’s a sceptic, convinced the team are creating hoaxes to exploit others and is determined to expose them with an article. I really enjoyed her addition to the team – she gave the series a chance to show its methods and explore the sceptical side of the business. I am very sceptical about these things, but I still wanted her to change her mind and join the team.
In all, a very satisfying read and I hope we get another instalment!
Read my reviews of other books by Amy Clarkin:
What Walks These Halls (this series):
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 