Recently Read: The Uninvited

Author: Cat Winters
Genre: Adult- Historical Fiction- Paranormal
Publication Date: 2015
Page Count: 343
Rating: 4/5

Add on Goodreads

Also by Cat Winters:
The Cure for Dreaming
In the Shadow of Blackbirds 

Ivy is twenty five years old and feels she must serve as the protectors of her brothers, but the world is making that difficult for her. In 1918, WWI and the Spanish Flu are taking lives at staggering rates, and the whole country is in turmoil. One day, Ivy sees the ghost of her grandmother and knows that death is near; soon the word comes that her brother has been killed in the war. Ivy sets out from her home to explore what is left of the world she shut herself off from in order to protect her brothers, but the Uninvited, spirits of the dead, haunt her no matter where she goes.  

Cat Winters is an auto-buy author for me. She is the Queen of eerie historical fiction. Her novels mix historical fact and paranormal elements flawlessly. She is great at building an atmosphere in her novels and making the paranormal so believable and natural in her novels. This is her first adult novel, so it has a slightly different feel than her young adult novels that I have read, but the historical atmosphere and unnerving paranormal elements are still there and done so well.

This is Cat Winters' second novel that takes place in 1918, so it a time period she is comfortable with. The time period is accurate and well researched. I liked that this novel was targeted as an adult novel, as I enjoyed the slightly older protagonist and the more mature romance, but I think this is a novel that would cross-over very easily and appeal to YA readers. 

One thing I did miss in this novel was the visuals that accompanied Winters' two previous novels that I have read. Both The Cure for Dreaming and In the Shadow of Blackbirds have real and eerie black and white photos and other visual medias from the time period of the book. This novel didn't have any sort of visual, which was fine, but it was a signature elements that I missed from Winters. I didn't notice this absence until after I had finished the book, and was wondering why I felt slightly less enthusiastic about this novel compared to her others, and I think this could be part of the reason. 

I really enjoyed the paranormal element of this novel, and the mysterious element weaved into the plot. I enjoyed the characters, and the plot was engaging and entertaining, but it just fell a little flat for a five star rating from me. I preferred Winters' other 1918 novel In the Shadow of Blackbirds over this one but still enjoyed the heck out of this novel. 

I have a couple Winters' novels to get caught up on, and she has a new release coming up in October of this year, and I can't wait to get into them. If you enjoy historical fiction, paranormal fiction, or both; Winters is a must read!