This is an enthralling book. It entices you in, presents you with a selection of well realised characters, all with their own motivations and journeys, and all a little lost. Over the course of the novel, as the days draw in, we lead in further and see with increasing horror the inevitable paths each will take. The power of this novel is found in how well Earl uses all the tropes of traditional gothic, images of Stoker and LeFanu alongside the sharpness, wit and passion of Carter, to draw out a very modern tale of coming of age and existential despair. When I finished this, was left with the impression that this was Frankinstein for the millennial generation. It's a hard novel, deeply uncomfortable at parts, but deeply moving and well worth a read.