🎧 Berls Reviews Darkhouse #COYER

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Darkhouse by Karina Halle
Narrator: Jo Raylan
Series: Experiment in Terror #1
Published by Tantor Audio on April 18, 2017
Genres: Ghost, Horror, Paranormal
Length: 7 hours 56 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads

There’s always been something a bit off about Perry Palomino. Though she’s been dealing with a quarter-life crisis and post-college syndrome like any other twenty-something, she’s still not what you would call “ordinary.” For one thing, there’s her past which she likes to pretend never happened, and then there’s the fact that she sees ghosts.
Luckily for her, that all comes in handy when she stumbles across Dex Foray, an eccentric producer for an upcoming webcast on ghost hunters. Even though the show’s budget is non-existent and Dex himself is a maddening enigma, Perry is instantly drawn into a world that both threatens her life and seduces her with a sense of importance.
Her uncle’s haunted lighthouse provides the perfect catalyst and backdrop for a horrific mystery that unravels the threads of Perry’s fragile sanity and causes her to fall for a man, who, like the most dangerous of ghosts, may not be all that he seems.

My top thoughts:

I have owned most the books in this series for YEARS but because I’m chicken as all hell, kept not reading them. I don’t tend to do Horror. But I also was told this was more of a paranormal horror, so I had hope that I wouldn’t be scared shitless. Plus, it’s Karina Halle, so I knew the writing would be good. Then I got the opportunity to read the audio for review and I thought, “let’s do this.”

Well I wasn’t scared 100% shitless. Maybe 90% lol. But it was a good, enjoyable scary for the most part.

What I liked/didn’t like:

I would say the description of this series as a paranormal horror is accurate, since we’re basically dealing with ghosts (maybe demons?). I think I would rate it as a Supernatural scarier episode level of horror, so in my wheel house. I think the reason it worked is that it didn’t have the blood and gore that a lot of horror has and is really hard for me to stomach.

I really enjoyed the main character, Perry. She is a little rough around the edges, lost some weight since high school but still carries that “fat girl” feeling and judgement about her appearance from family and strangers alike. I really get that, being in a very similar situation. She’s made some bad choices – like drug use – but as the story progresses we see it has a lot to do with her supernatural “senses.”

Their is a love interest – Dex – her older, unavailable, handsome accidental ghost/paranormal hunter/videographer partner. I think I like him, though I think we still have a lot to learn about him through the series. Which we should easily do, as I’m expecting each book in the series will involve Dex and Perry filming their adventures. I look forward to reading more.

Narrator thoughts:

I have mixed feelings about the narration on this. I think it probably helped reduce the tension/horror of the book for me, since I wasn’t in my head with images for too long. Jo Raylan has a kind of “disinterested” quality to her voice, that’s the best way I can describe it — which on one hand creates some personality for Perry. But I think it also makes it easier for me to drift – something I haven’t struggled with in a long time with audiobooks. It may have also been timing and my frame of mind. So we’ll see how the next book goes. I didn’t not enjoy it on audio, but I’m thinking it might not be the best audiobook for an easily distracted listener.

This book qualifies for COYER Fall Scavenger Hunt item #1 – First book in the Experiment in Terror Series.

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