When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda’s almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it’s fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate—which means they’re not going back to the city…or Seda’s friends and school.

As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They’re about to be cut off from the outside world, and she’s not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.

Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion—and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality…Goodreads.com

The setting of this story is really a character in itself, and is reminiscent of The Shining – in fact, several characters mention it.  The MC has two sets of twin siblings – twins!  There’s even a huge freezer and pantry just like in The Overlook.  Secluded old hotel that previously hosted murder mystery parties, creepy secret passages, several feet of snow, no cell reception – you get the picture.  A perfect setting.

I was ready for a chilling, twisty, good time – but it didn’t occur until around the 70-75% mark.  The first part of the novel casts shadows and hints, so there’s plenty of opportunity to form theories and entertain suspicions.  Once the action starts, it doesn’t let up, so the ending was rather brisk, but when all was said and done, it just didn’t sit right with me.  Yes, it was a surprise, but my reaction was more of a disbelieving ‘Really?’ than shock.

This is a fun read that contains some gore (just a warning to those who are squeamish), and the snippets of marketing materials from the murder mystery inn at the beginning of each chapter are quite humorous, but just be ready to settle in with this book for a little while before it takes off.  Alone is scheduled for publication November 7th, 2017.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.