REVIEW: A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
Simone St. James returns with her scariest, most shocking novel yet in this pulse-pounding story about siblings who return to the house they fled 18 years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request: Come home.
Strange things happen in Fell, New York. A mysterious drowning at the town’s roadside motel. The unexplained death of a young girl whose body is left by the railroad tracks. For the Esmie siblings—Violet, Vail, and Dodie—the final straw was the shocking disappearance of their little brother. It started as a normal game of hide-and-seek. The three closed their eyes and counted to ten while Ben went to hide. But this time, they never found their brother—he was gone and the ongoing search efforts turned up no clues.
As their parents grew increasingly distant, Violet, Vail, and Dodie were each haunted by visions and frightening events that made them leave town and never look back. Violet still sees dead people—spirits who remind her of Sister, the menacing presence that terrorized her for years.
And now after two decades running from their past, it’s time for a homecoming. Because Ben is back, and he’s ready to lead them to the answers they’ve longed for and long feared. If the ghosts of Fell don’t get to them first.
CW/TW – Past suicide/depression (off page), death of a child (natural causes), severe parental neglect, psychological issues.
Dear Ms. St. James,
Hmm to repeat some of what I said about the last book, “Murder Road,” I was approved for this arc months ago and didn’t go back and reread the blurb before starting this book. I trust you that much. But (also on repeat) whoa and damn this one starts strangely, gets stranger and by the end, it is far into Really Strange. But I was glued to it.
We’re back in Fell, NY a few years after the initial stuff that happens in “Sun Down Motel,” but before the final shit hits the fan of that book. Fell is a weird damn place. Why does anyone live there??
Okay, anyway three now adult siblings grew up in a ghastly, dysfunctional household with fighting and neglectful parents. Something Awful happened twenty years ago. Now one sibling, Violet who sees ghosts, has gotten a message from her youngest brother, the one who disappeared, telling her to come home. She drags in her other brother Vail, who works investigating UFOs and alien abductions, who then yanks in the youngest sister Dodie, the model in NYC. Violet, Vail, and Dodie. No, I don’t know why those names either.
None of them are happy to be there but for their beloved baby brother Ben, they go. There must be a reason for him to contact them and get them back there and they’re going to find it. The problem though is it’s apparently Ben’s ghost, who scared the bejesus out of the landscaping crew looking after the house, who sent the message. None of the three siblings have good memories of the place and it turns out that they are all fighting nightmares from childhood that center on their house.
Violet is not one to take no for an answer and uses her glare on the former police detective, who investigated her brother’s disappearance, to get the case file. Reading it infuriates her and then opens her eyes. What do they remember about Ben’s childhood vs what actually happened? Then there are the toys in the attic, the siblings’ nightmares, and what a paranormal investigator who Vail knows tells them. Violet already knows about one hell of a ghost in the house. As another ghost tells Violet, they need to start at the real beginning. But will they survive what they discover? None of the Esmie siblings are delightful people. All of them fled home as soon as they could and they have only grudgingly interacted with each other since. Their social relationships with others are shit and Violet’s forced (due to pregnancy) marriage was a disaster plus she’s lost custody of her daughter who seems to hate Violet.
As soon as they hit Fell, the horrible feeling of being there returns. It’s not long before they’re bickering with each other before what they read in the police report gets them to examine their memories. The answers make them pause and then ask more questions. The scene in the college library with Violet and a man she never envisioned helping her as they depress a snotty library aid, is delightful. I figured the final showdown was going to be a full on and it almost met that expectation.
I think I sort of know why Ben disappeared but then twenty years later, why did all of this start happening? Honestly, I’m still not sure as there wasn’t anything that appeared to kick start it. Another issue I had is that the voices of the siblings read very much the same. I do like the separate epilogues for each sibling. No, they’re not suddenly The Perfect Happy Family but each one has found some measure of peace as well as success. But I would never live in that town, I can tell you. B-
~Jayne
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This is sitting on my Kindle, waiting to be read. I don’t think SSJ has used multiple POVs before; sounds like it is only partly successful. I miss her earlier historical paranormals, but I guess she has to go with the trends.
@SusanS: I didn’t think I remembered any of her other books having multiple POVs either. Ditto about missing her previous historical paranormals. I just realized that I have two of her books I haven’t read before so they’ll have to tide me over while she writes her next book due out in probably two more years if her past publishing schedule holds true.
Finished the book yesterday. I liked Violet’s total lack of F’s, but I agree with you that the 3 sibling voices were not distinct. I have questions about how the Big Bad was defeated and I did not like the person who became important to Violet (beating up nerds is NOT okay). But it was still a page turner. Overall I’d give it 3.5 stars on GR.
@SusanS: That’s a good point about Violet’s beau.
I don’t understand how Ben and Ed are the same child? Did the parents raise a ghost from infancy since the older siblings remember him coming into the home as a newborn a year after Ed’s death? And he just went back to being an invisible ghost for whatever reason after 6 yrs?
I don’t have the strength to try to sort it out.
@Nettie: Yep, that’s what I worked out, too.