The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor

[cornerofmadness]

The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was super cute. Haley is a book nerd, specifically gothic romance, to the point her English teacher is in the process of forbidding her from doing another paper on gothic romance when we drop into the story. A disappointed Haley is cycling home wondering what to do about this when she spots a man in the river and jumps in to save him.

Only to find herself through the portal into a pocket universe which is entirely the titular Willowweep Manor and its surroundings. Everyone here is locked into their gothic romance tropes including Laurence the surly eldest son, Montague (the one she tried to rescue) as the hotheaded middle son and Cuthbert as the feckless fool.

Haley is over the moon to live inside her favorite genre until she realizes how annoying life before plumbing is or how danger is more fun to read than to live through (relatable) The brothers' job is to keep this pocket universe intact as it's the wall between Haley's reality (i.e. our world) and a universe of evil. So naturally we have an evil entity inside of Willowweep trying to end it and the brothers and Haley have to save it.

Armed with the brothers, the ghost of willow weep (only she can see/hear) and Wilhemina the maid, Haley is over her head, especially since she's locked into the role of Maiden. Not content with needing rescues as The Maiden, Haley asks, what if we break the rules?

The art is very cute and Haley is especially fun. There is a lot of deadpan humor in this and while I'm fairly over portal fantasies this one worked so very well. I know there is more to the series and I will definitely be tracking it down.



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