#midnight rooms

[freckles-and-books]

Hoping to finish this one today. I need to know what the heck is going on!

[libraryleopard]

i just finished reading midnight rooms by donyae coles and i would like to say, from the bottom of my heart,

what

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 1/5

Book Blurb:

Set in a foreboding Gothic mansion and infused with the heightened paranoia and creeping horror of novels like Catherine House and Crimson Peak, a spine-chilling debut historical thriller from a fresh voice in the genre that will leave you questioning who, or what, you can trust . . . including your own sanity.

England, 1840. Orabella Mumthrope spies an unexpected visitor in her uncle’s parlor. Scruffy in appearance yet claiming to be the scion of a fabulously wealthy family, Elias Blakersby declares a deep desire to make Orabella his wife. The orphaned daughter of a white man and a Black woman—an outsider with no fortune or connections—Orabella never expected to marry. But her uncle has many debts, and Orabella, curious about the seeming devotion Elias bestows upon her, agrees.

The new bride is quickly whisked away to Korringhill Manor, the Blakersby family estate, and far from everything she knows. Expecting splendor, Orabella is shocked to find decay, skittish servants, and curt elders. But her kind new husband’s loving touch, promises of a happy life together, and his assurances she’ll never want for anything soothe her concerns.

Yet there is a darkness deep within this house. Rooms are locked or hidden away, and the walls seem to thrum with secrets. Orabella can never venture outside unattended; she spends her days having tea with a catatonic sister-in-law and evenings at Elias’s side, dutifully hosting lavish dinners. The darkness soon begins to engulf her, too. Becoming dizzy and drowsy after dinner, she falls into a fitful sleep filled with macabre dreams, and is awakened by blood-curdling screams in the night. In the morning she rises from her bed covered in mysterious bruises. Confused and terrified, she begins to question where her dreams end and reality begins. The longer Orabella stays in this place, the more she loses parts of herself . . . how long until she no longer exists?

Midnight Rooms is a sweeping saga with supernatural undertones set in Victorian England. Vibrating with tension, richly atmospheric—haunted by ghosts, guilt, and familial bonds—it is an electrifying story that will linger in your dreams.

Review:

A new bride, a strange house, and a husband that is hiding something much darker about himself and his family...Orabella us a poor girl living with her aunt and uncle is suddenly proposed to by Elias, a man from an extremely wealthy family. Orabella is the daughter of a white man and a black woman, someone with no fortune or connections. She never expected to marry... but with her uncle's debts she is thrust into the marriage mart. Orabella finds herself drawn to Elias's strange devotion to her, his want of her. Yet when she is brought to Korringhill Manor, everything begins to crumble around her. The manor might have splendor... but there is decay all about it. it also does not help that Elias's strange family resides there as well. Orabella begins to notice just how strange everything is around her, from her door being locked at night, her never being allowed to be alone, the off hand comments, the wine that drugs her... and her seeing foxes and death at every turn. Then there is the strange relationship between Elias and his beautiful sister Claresta.... and Orabella begins to realize that this marriage might just kill her if she doesn't find a way to escape Korringhill Manor. This book honestly just gelt like a lesser Crimson Peak. I really wanted to like it because I adore Crimson Peak, but while Crimson Peak actually had a likable protagonist and the twist was fun... in this one it just felt a bit meh. Orabella just is not likable at all, the entire time you are reading the book you just want to shake her and tell her to stop just accepting being drugged, being manhandled and just accepting all the things around her. Also the story feels kind of like a fever dream, it's never really clear and it just doesn't blend itself well enough so that you as the reader can see the distinction and feel like: oh yeah she's going through it and this is what is happening. The book feels like it drags on for a bit and honestly that ending upset me so much. Are you for real? It feels like it's still missing an entire ending chapter. Honestly you would be better off just watching Crimson Peak than reading this, at least that ends better and you dont feel like you've wasted your time. If you like gothic horror with incest, cults, and an unreliable narrator, maybe you'll have a better time with this than I did.

Release Date: July 2, 2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Amistad for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[soniruza]

Appreciation post with every single Taylor Room I've done so far! 💛💜❤️🩵🩷🩶🤎💙🤍

The Taylor Swift Room and the Reputation Room won't be done until we have their Taylor's Version re-release (it would only be fair!).

[kosalus]

bicep meme 2 electric boogaloo with dame aylin and isobel

[annabelle--cane]

dracula adaptations I am practically begging you for guilty vampire mina. there's so much potential here. stop making her be so into the sexy thrill of it all. we've done that enough already. I need that victorian woman sopping wet on the ground in throes of agony about her newfound monstrous hunger. she'd be so good as an edward cullen type. this is the skin of a killer, jonathan.

[zhongrin]

modern au crack-ish yandere idea. dragons being the king of all lizards, imagine zhongli being able to control all the 'lesser' lizards to some extent, maybe even share senses with them.

and what better way for him to watch you, his dearest darling, than connecting with the common house geckos that's roaming around your house?

they're harmless, agile, and inconspicuous enough to do some basic monitoring. don't pay attention to the strange amber-eyed tiny animal perched on your bedroom walls, dear. don't delude yourself into thinking that its eyes seemed to shine in the darkness of your room while you teeter between dream and reality deep into the night. don't worry about how it seemed to chirp angrily whenever your friends come over, as if it's warning them from entering its territory.

it's just a common house pet anyway. right?

if you're a superstitious person, that's even better. geckos are said to be a symbol of luck, protection of your home and its residents. and in this case, it's especially true for you.

worry not, for this 'lizard' will gladly rid all the 'insects' who dared to step into your abode.

a/n: lil background story time. i needed to change my bedsheets and got utterly spooked by a tiny lil house lizard flopping onto my arm when i was moving my plushies to my desk. zhongli... honey... lizards are cute, yes, but you're the only lizard i don't mind having in my bedー /smacked

[stillgotscars]

we all remember where we were when we heard “and i wouldn’t marry me either” for the first time

[crowlixcx]

If you're alone and you need a friend Someone to make you forget your problems Just come along, baby, take my hand I'll be your lover tonight

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom by Vengaboys - The Brainrot Series

(requested by @thesherrinfordfacility)

[freckles-and-books]

Currently reading

[lilithofpenandbook]

Order of the Pheonix AU where almost everything is the same except the people in Grimmauld Place stay there the whole time because they're there for protection for various different reasons to be hidden from the wizarding world until everything's safe. And have to pretend to be one big happy family to fit in.

Oh, and no magic. Absolutely no magic otherwise they could be tracked down (no I don't know if magic works that way for the sake of the plot it does)

And the house is an absolute wreck, so now they're all having to clean it and renovate it with no magic and live there with each other 24/7.

The Weaselys are there because Arthur keeps offending the Ministry and they're worried the kids will be used against them. Hermione's there because she's also offended the Ministry by being too smart, somehow. Harry's there because his existence offends Voldemort. Remus is there because his existence offends the Ministry. Sirius is there because he's offended everyone. Tonks is there because she's also offended everyone. And Severus is there because he's offended Voldemort.

And so somehow they all need to work together and try cooperate while multiple people (Severus and Sirius) hate each others guts.

Also, while they're renovating, they're finding it ridiculously hard without magic or house elf help. All except Severus, who somehow does his assigned rooms twice as quickly. Naturally Harry and Ron think he's using magic while being forbidden to do so. They spy on him...

And it turns out, Snape's just really good at painting walls. Because "Not all of us had house-elves waiting on us hand and foot, Black. Some of us actually had to get things done on our own". Aka growing up poor in Cokeworth means learning to repair everything yourself

[jujoobedoodling]

Fi'nal'alah

i've always wanted to draw something like this for this tragic tragic elf

inspired by this jaina version

[cephalopadre]

Mechtober Day 12: Bravern/Isami

[notbecauseofvictories]

also it's October, so who's got fun and off-the-beaten-path recommendations for horror books, horror movies, or point-and-click horror games?

[soniruza]

The Eras Tour (Soniruza's Version)!

💚💛💜❤️🩵🖤🩷🩶🤎💙🤍

[dioismybbg]

Rewatching midnight mass