Book Review: In the Vines, by Shannon Kirk

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Although she’d never admit it, Aunty has a tendency to view the world in dramatic ways, like me; this is part of our shared identity, something I accept, but, I believe, she tries to deny. So under a coming full moon and cloudless sky, so unlike tonight, and needing my mother so bad I wanted to die, I knew down to my bones that under that hidden hatch Aunty had built a shrine to my mother. I flipped up the section of plywood at the hinge, and as it banged on solid wood, Aunty crashed onto the scene.

“No!” she yelled. “Don’t go down there. Don’t disturb things.”

“Who is the woman in the barn?” I yelled back as I ignored her walking closer, gaining on me. I looked into the hole, so dark down there, stained of soaked soot, charred wood, coal streaks everywhere, and scattered debris from the fire that was never cleaned out. Whatever fell from the cottage to the basement and didn’t incinerate was left to rot under Aunty’s patchwork cover. This was no shrine. This was a trash pit of my mother’s last-touched items.

Mop is telling a terrifying story that could end in her death, and that of her companion. There’s a small chance she may survive, but they’ll definitely never be the same again.

Official synopsis:

Mary Olivia Pentecost, known as Mop, was born into one of the wealthiest families in the country—and one of the most guarded. Now, two years after her mother’s mysterious death, Mop is seeking closure on the disquieting tragedy by returning to the New England seaside estate of her cloistered Aunty Liv—once her closest relative and confidante.

But behind the walls of the isolated estate, the shadows of the past are darker than Mop imagined. The puzzles of the family history are not to be shared, but unearthed. With each revelation comes a new, foreboding threat—and for Mop, the grave suspicion that to discover Aunty Liv’s secrets is to become a prisoner of them.

How well do we know the people we love? How well do we want to know them? The answers are as twisted as a tangle of vines in this throat-clutching novel of psychological suspense.

The story is told in two alternating viewpoints—Mop’s current battle for her life against a crazy woman wielding a hatchet and screaming at Mop and her companion, and Aunty’s drama two years earlier which leave the reader questioning her sanity then.

The writing style was compelling—would Mop and her companion survive? Who was hunting them? Would they survive the life-threatening injuries they’d survived so far? The more they found out, the more questions about the truth surfaced.

The book earned 3 out of 5 stars from this reader who enjoys gothic horror. The descriptions of what was happening to Mop and her companion fully conveyed their terror and fear for their very lives. Likewise, the confusion and paranoia of Aunty two years earlier made many of her resulting actions seem understandable, until they weren’t. This book is definitely recommended to those who enjoy an engrossing psychological thriller.

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Becki Bayley is a Gemini who especially enjoys the characters in books. A good unreliable narrator is a great distraction from the craziness of reality. Enjoy more of her insight about books from the reviews she shares on her own blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.