Title: A Haunting in the Arctic
Author: C. J. Cooke
Series: n/a
didn’t end well
Much thanks to C. J. Cooke, Berkley, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also thanks to Kaila Mundell-Hill for inviting me on the blog tour.
Yes, you read correctly—Berkley actually let me have an ARC. No, no, don’t run to your bunker. Stay close, though.
Ghost story, psychological thriller, historical fiction—this novel has it all…..if you can stomach kidnapping, rape (a lot of rape), torture, abuse, miscarriage, murder, child death, and the patriarchy. I did, barely. Stories this dark are not for me. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started it. I just saw “haunting” “Arctic” and “shipwreck” and I was in. That’s only half of it, though—it’s the other half you need be wary of.
Most of my comments are about the end, so first I’ll say STOP WITH THE STUPID CHAPTERS!! I don’t know why Cooke structures her narratives like this (I would love to know, though!), but I can’t stand it. It makes no sense to me. It may well be a deal breaker, I hate it that much.
I found the end to be pretty anticlimactic. Not really because of how it ended, although that was kinda lame, but because we didn’t get all the why we were due. Once the slow story finally got to the end, the pace flip-flopped and went too fast. I didn’t get enough closure.
First of all, I wanted to see the rest of the 1901 crew get their fucking what-fors. Fucking scumbags. What happened to them? Did she just kill them all, or were the rest of their lives cursed? Nothing was found in the “research.” I was so happy when she killed [spoiler], but I wish it hadn’t been so quick. Psycho deserved every bit of misery and pain he doled out.
Second, did I miss the explanation for the disappearance of the ’73 crew? Diego was explained, and what he did to them, but I don’t remember an explanation for why the bodies were never found.
Third, I made a note about the fact that photos of the 1901 voyage were found, but there was no mention of a camera in Nicky’s POV. But I’m not sure how much of the “research” was even real, so whatevs.
Fourth, while the ghost horses were awesome and creepy AF, they and Morag could honestly have been cut. They and the random POVs relevant to them weren’t necessary. Everything could have happened the exact same without them. I did not need the additional heartbreak, thank you very much! And neither did Nicky.
Other than that, I just also wonder what happened to Nicky’s mother and Cat after everything, but that’s lowest priority.
Overall—well, I can’t say I enjoyed this book, but I can say I thought it was pretty well written and DEFINITELY well-researched (except I’m pretty sure penguins live in ANTarctica, not the Arctic). The pace was rather slow and with the dark themes, I’m not sure I’d have finished it were I not obligated to review it for the blog tour. But if you like depravity and hopelessness—misery porn, I think some call it—you’ll love this.
