Girl in the Walls, by A.J. Gnuse {Book Review}

I am somebody who cannot read really spooky books at night. It will cause me to have the worst anxiety, imagining monsters under the bed…..people in the ceiling….all the creepy things! Girl in the Walls was a book that had me that kind of FREAKED OUT! I stayed up until about 12am to finish the book, and then I was regretting all my life decisions….

What is Girl in the Walls about?

Elise knows every inch of the house. She knows which boards will creak. She knows where the gaps are in the walls. And she knows which parts can take her in, hide her away. It’s home, after all. The home her parents made for her, before they were taken from her in a car crash. And home is where you stay, no matter what.

Eddie is a teenager trying to forget about the girl he sometimes sees out of the corner of his eye. But when his hotheaded older brother senses her, too, they are faced with the question of how to get rid of someone they aren’t sure even exists. And as they try to cast her out, they unwittingly bring an unexpected and far more real threat to their doorstep.

Written with grace and enormous heart, Girl in the Walls is a novel about carrying on through grief, forging unconventional friendships, and realizing, little by little, that we don’t need to fear what we do not understand.

My Review

What made Girl in the Walls so nerve wracking for me, was initially trying to figure out if Elise is real or if she is a ghost. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will try not to speak much about this. Though most of the reviews I’ve read off the bat do immediately make it clear if she is or isn’t. So I’m not sure if I was the only one who went into the book wondering if either outcome was going to be a big twist.

Girl in the Walls is a really sad, intense and heartbreaking read. I’ve read a similar book before, but I didn’t feel as unsettled as I felt while reading this book. The writer really captured the atmosphere so well with this book, like I could picture being behind those walls myself. Also, I really felt for Elise, a very young girl…who is all alone….hiding behind walls. She is around the age as my own child, so that really unsettled me.

I loved the short chapters and also the fact that each chapter was titled. The title gave some insight into what the chapter would be about, and I thought it was an interesting touch to the book.

Some cons?

On the downside, there were some unanswered questions for me, loose ends I guess. Also the ending just went crazy… I felt like the pace of the book was relatively slow, and then the ending just blitzed past me and that was it. I did love how the ending kind of had this full circle moment though.

My Rating

Before we get to this, can I just say….the cover for this book is GORGEOUS!! Don’t you agree??

Girl in the Walls has a Goodreads rating of 3.73 stars, and I agree with that rating. For me, a solid 3.5 stars. An intriguing read that will raise the hairs on your arm, but with moments that also tug at your heartstrings.

Does this sound like your kind of read? Girl in the Walls is available at all leading book retailers😉

Disclaimer: Girl in the Walls was sent to me by Johnathan Ball Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.