Published by Creativia on November 30 2018
Pages: 257
Amazon UK
Goodreads
Also by this author: A Matter of Latitude
Clarissa’s Warning is a haunted-house gothic mystery set on Fuerteventura, Canary Islands.
A lottery jackpot changes Claire Bennett’s life.
She buys an ancient stone ruin on the island of her dreams. Her mystic aunt Clarissa warns her of danger, but Claire pays no heed.
Soon after moving to the idyllic island, Claire is confronted by a mystery. As the sinister story of her home slowly uncovers, Claire enters a world of inexplicable events and ordeals. Someone or something doesn't want her there.
But is it really a curse, or is there something else behind the events?
Today I have the pleasure of welcoming back Isobel Blackthorn to my blog and this time it is with my review of Clarissa’s Warning. I have the pleasure of closing the tour alongside Lisa @ Wrong side of Forty and Elaine @ Splashes into books.
✮ My Review ✮
This slow burner is not what I was expecting! I thought it would be some quaint tale of Claire buying up ancient stone ruin and getting it done up to live in. Instead, this gothic mystery packed a different kind of punch!
I did like Claire, winning the lottery she had the freedom to purchase the ruin she had spotted and fallen in love with. However, her Aunt Clarissa gives her a warning before she goes..see what the author did there!
The bravery she shows is immense, from giving up sticks to move somewhere where she knows nobody, to buying this ruin and then to deal with spirits who just do not want her presence there! I loved learning the backstory of the ruin in comparison to the present day story. She has so much strength and fight against these spirits, I would like to think I would do the same as Claire but I think I may have ran….and a long time ago too!
The backdrop of Fuerteventura for this story was just exquisite, with the local cafes, the volcano and the heat. All descriptions adding to this story building a wider picture of where Claire is and the history. To mix it in with the supernatural too was just delicious and cleverly done and adds a lot of tension in the book because it was so contrasting.
You feel you could be in the sunshine enjoying the sights with the vivid descriptions. I wanted the little garden that Claire started to create before it all kicked off! You can, however, keep the ruin and the darkness thank you!
I also wanted to say I loved that the chapters were given names instead of numbers. Because, for me, it built up the anticipation of what we might learn and/or what spooky going ons were about to hit the proverbial fan.
This is my first read of Ms Blackthorn, but after reading this, getting a taste of her writing, I can safely say it will not be my last outing!
Until next time xxx
Thank you so much to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invite and the author for a copy of this book in return for my honest and unbiased review
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
nickimags @ The Secret Library Book Blog says
Fantastic review!
Zoé says
Thanks so much lovely! I don’t think I did it as much justice as it deserved
Holly B / Dressedtoread says
Wonderful review!
Zoé says
Thanks Holly! Really nice of you to say ❤️
macsbooks311 says
Terrific post. I’ve never read a book set on the Canary Islands! I may have to read solely for that point! 🙂
Zoé says
Thank you so much for saying so! No I hadn’t either and the author has made me want to fly over there!