The Narrow by Kate Alice Marshall | Blog tour

Genre: Young Adult Horror

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (Penguin Random House)

Publishing Date: August 1, 2023

Synopsis:

A ghost haunting her boarding school uncovers a teen girl’s best kept secrets in the Queen of Scream’s deliciously terrifying new novel.

Everyone has heard the story of the Narrow. The river that runs behind the Atwood School is only a few feet across and seemingly placid, but beneath the surface, the waters are deep and vicious. It’s said that no one who has fallen in has ever survived.

Eden White knows that isn’t true. Six years ago, she saw Delphine Fournier fall into the Narrow—and live.

Delphine now lives in careful isolation, sealed off from the world. Even a single drop of unpurified water could be deadly to her, and no one but Eden has any idea why. Eden has never told anyone what she saw or spoken to Delphine since, but now, unable to cover her tuition, she has to make a her expenses will be paid in return for serving as a live-in companion to Delphine.

Eden finds herself drawn to the strange and mysterious girl, and the two of them begin to unravel each other’s secrets. Then Eden discovers what happened to the last girl who lived with she was found half-drowned on dry land. Suddenly Eden is waking up to wet footprints tracking to the end of her bed, the sound of rain on the windows when the skies are clear, and a ghostly silhouette in her doorway. Something is haunting Delphine—and now it’s coming for Eden, too.

MY REVIEW:

The Narrow is a horror novel about a girl who drowned in a river near her boarding school and got back to life with not one but two souls. I do like the whole concept of the story, but I wouldn’t say I like the protagonist’s thought process, which was so unrealistic many times.

Eden was a student at Atwood School. Eden’s family was a total mess. They never really cared about her, and she has been so used to it that she forgets their true nature and keeps justifying their actions.

Eden’s friends are good, but she never opens up with them about the trauma she faced that summer. I don’t blame her for not trusting her friends because she has been so used to people not validating her feelings. But I am glad, at last, she understood her friends for who they were.

Coming to the ghost part, I like the book’s creepy vibes. But some things don’t make sense. For instance, Eden desperately wanted to help a ghost who had been hurting her multiple times. Also, she wanted it to have a happily ever after ending even though she(the ghost) died decades ago. To be very honest, I don’t like this plot at all.

Moreover, I find it unsettling how Eden consistently tries to provide justifications for the abuser, regardless of whether they are a human or a ghost. She did that in every chapter, and it was so annoying. The writing style was excellent, so I wish the story was executed differently.