Gemma Amor's Six Room Collection

Bridget Hollister: I gabbed it a 4 out of 5 knowing there are some plot and ending difficulties because, for some reason, I liked it anyway. The author did a great job describing the rooms and architecture. The past is revealed through the back and forth between timelines when someone on the tour touches an object. There was an instance or two where I found myself rereading a passage because I got confused. The plot is slightly redundant and predictable. The ending is unresolved as the few who survived the tour simply walk away from the house - assuming tours will continue and people will continue to disappear, without anyone noticing or doing anything.

United States on Dec 03, 2023

Paul PrestonPaul Preston: "Still alive, definitely dying, but somehow, despite everything, not yet dead."

This book was an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents crossed with The Wizard of Oz and I loved it. Like Oz, it felt like it started in black and white until you walk through the doors of Sunshire Chateau when color bursts into existence. It takes a little while before you realize that it doesn't feel quite right. The color is a bit off, leaving you uncomfortable, yet intrigued. The story and the colour gets darker as it progresses. Where you once felt happy in Munchkin Land when you first arrived, you quickly find yourself.... well, I'll let you discover where you find yourself...or if you find yourself.
Gemma Amor has a way of making you uneasy, like a Hitchcock episode or movie. It may not be outright frightening but I'd be surprised if it doesn't get under your skin. Gemma refers to ghosts in her forward as energy, redistributed...and I think this is beautiful. It really reflects this throughout the book and like most of Gemma's writing it makes you think.

United States on Nov 24, 2023

Mark Kerr: An incredible story - well plotted, great characters, creepy but fun. First time I've come across Gemma's writing but I'll be searching out her work from now.

United Kingdom on Oct 23, 2023

jade: I loved this, it has all the elements of a classic ghost story, and I just couldn't put it down.

United Kingdom on Jun 18, 2023

Kindle Customer: The beginning of this book was catching. I couldn't put it down. It had a very intriguing concept which was supported by a very fluid writing style.
However, towards the end I began to realize that the novel was not living up to this early potential and but the end I was bored and had little Interest

United States on Feb 04, 2023

Lynnette: Not an author I’ve read before and came upon her quite by chance.
Read this book in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Well worth a read

United Kingdom on Sep 16, 2022

Ruth Parker: Following a tour group through a creepy house, we discover more about what secrets (and other things) and hidden in the walks.

A fun and creepy read, the author has a talent for making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Enjoyed this a lot.

United Kingdom on Aug 05, 2022

Justin Lewis: The media could not be loaded.  Welcome, foolish mortals, to Sunshire Chateau. Please keep your hands to yourself lest you become part of the tour. And please remove your shoes.

Two things I want to cover before I get to the normal review stuff:

1. Holy freakin’ haunted houses…the cover on this thing! Chad Wehrle killed it. One of my favorite covers for anything, ever. I’m very excited about the upcoming hardcover edition that Cemetery Gates just announced.

2. The Foreword for this book is beautiful. I wasn’t emotionally prepared.

Now then..

We join a tour group as they visit the Sunshire Chateau, an old mansion in New York. The kind of house where no expense was spared in its construction and it craves an audience to show off for. The novel is split up into rooms, just like the tour, as we get to experience the house from different...

United States on Feb 04, 2022

ScotttheReader: It’s strange how a boom can spend so much time on description without painting a clear picture. And, while there are some areas that are clearly meant to be unclear for the sake of being disconcerting, there are others where details feel missing. The house is made up of several styles, as is mentioned in the early chapters. Which styles, however, go unmentioned. Characters are identified by titles or identifying features. Then they receive names at random points in the book. Why? No apparent reason. Some “horror” elements feel forced (smiling for precisely 30 seconds, for example). There are some good connections and answers in the latter stages of the book. There are also a lot of areas where description overtakes action and detracts from the reader’s interest. In many ways, this book feels like a hodgepodge of ideas rather than a connected story. Some background characters come and go, suddenly overtaking the plot, then disappearing again. Why? Unclear. Horror doesn’t need answers at all times, but when elements of plot just don’t feel necessary or connected, their purpose needs to be answered, or they need to be cut from the book. There are just...

Canada on Jan 18, 2022

Angela Dey: I'm always surprised when someone can take a common horror theme, like ghosts, and get really creative with it. Amor did just that in Six Rooms.

It starts off rather hilariously with a group of people waiting to get a tour of a grand old house. The Tour Guide does not like to be trifled with and it shows immediately. I found his attitude perversely entertaining.

It's also obvious from the very beginning that something isn't right in this house. The author very artfully drops clues to let us in on the mystery. It's little things like the Tour Guide being late to open the doors even when he thinks he's early; the gardener just sort of showing up and disappearing without anyone really noticing how he arrived or where he went; the similarities between the Tour Guide and the man in the painting.

This last one was really tricky because it gets you thinking one way, but you're wrong. That's what I love about a good mystery is when I find out I'm wrong when I was so certain. A good writer knows to throw you a curve ball every once in a while just so they can twist everything around in the end. It keeps you guessing and it's fun.

This is a...

United States on Sep 21, 2021