by Natalie Kikic
Release Date: October 20. 2026
2026 Park Row
Ebook ARC; 320 Pages
ISBN: 978-0778307198
ASIN: B0GS23H4G2
Audiobook: B0GS751QVD
Genre: Fiction / Horror
Source: Review copy from publisher
3.5 / 5 Stars
Summary
A crumbling home surrounded by lavender fields. A decades-long curse. A nightmare from Croatian folklore with a thirst for blood.
2026. All Petra has inherited are tales of loss. Which is why, after her mother’s passing, she is shocked to learn that her grandmother is not dead like she’s always believed, but alive and living on Tolba, a small island in Croatia. Desperate to find her last surviving family member, Petra ventures to her ancestral home, famed for its sprawling lavender fields. While she's happy to be reunited with her grandmother, rarely does a night go by that Petra doesn’t lose herself to vivid nightmares and the dizzying sense that something—or someone—is always watching in Lavender House.
1895. Whore. Sinner. Witch. No matter how many people Magdalena heals, the rumors persist. So, when she’s asked to help the matriarch of Lavender House, she seizes the opportunity to rehabilitate her reputation. As Magdalena races against time to heal the ailing woman, she finds herself unexpectedly falling for the son of her greatest enemy, the man responsible for her ostracization. But are true love and acceptance possible for a woman who has always lived on the margins?
My Thoughts
The Haunting of Lavender House is one of those books I wanted to read because of the Croatian folklore as I have a Croatian background from my father's side and I was interested in learning more of the lore my dad's home country. I thought the descriptions of the mora to be one of the best things about this book and really enjoyed some of the discussions about the difficulties of island life and the impacts everything is having on its people. I wasn't overly crazy about the romance as I didn't feel the chemistry between Petra and Luka, and I did think the actual story was a bit formulaic and predictable.
I do think the strength of this story lies in the vivid descriptions of the islands, its people, and its folklore. The author managed to capture the loneliness of the islands, but its natural beauty as well, the lives of the people who lived there, their struggles, but also how they were linked together through time and deep-seeded roots. It's something you experience when you visit an area where the same families have lived for generations and their energies and their lives have basically seeped into the ground.
I did find the story to be somewhat predictable when you really look at the story, and I was disappointed in the fact the reason for a house to be sentient was not really explained as I really liked that aspect of the story. I also found the dialogue to be a bit repetitive which slowed down the pacing of the story and affected the overall tension of the story. And speaking of tension, there really wasn't a lot of it considering this was a horror novel.
I didn't know what to think about Petra as a main character because there were times when I empathized with her and there were times when I thought her character was kind of irritating. I could definitely understand her frustration at not being told certain facts about her family history and not knowing things about her background, but she had a whole house in which to do research (library, attic, and so on). And has anyone never heard of a library these days? You know, where you can find archives, historical accounts, newspaper articles, etc... right at your fingertips? I would have been right in there looking up the history of the house, the occupants, the blueprints, whatever I could get my hands on. But no, let's just wait for a ghost to drop information in your lap through dreams, etc... Not really crazy about that type of writing, to be honest. I didn't mind Luka as a character, I just thought the romance didn't really work. I liked him more in the beginning as I thought he was far more interesting when he was protecting his interests, his family, and the island. I was hoping he would have a lot more to show through his character as he seemed to be a bridge between the past and the modern. But no, that's not how it went.
Verdict
The Haunting of Lavender House had a lot going for it and I did really enjoy the folklore about the more as well the discussions around Croatian tourism, its history, and what this means for its future. I really enjoyed the descriptions about the island and some of the difficulties the islander face during modern times. However, I did think the character development was one-dimensional and I did think the story had some issues with pacing which affected the overall feeling of tension in this book. That being said, there was enough in this book that I would definitely read another book by this author in the future.
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