It Will Just Be Us

Written by Jo Kaplan

Narrated by Amanda Dolan

This terrifying gothic horror novel about two sisters and a haunted house that never sleeps is perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Sep 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781666541717

Jo Kaplan

Jo Kaplan is an author based in the Los Angeles area who writes with much encouragement from her husband and two cats. Her fiction (as Joanna Parypinski) has appeared in publications such as Black Static, Nightmare Magazine, Vastarien, Haunted Nights (edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton), and New Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (edited by Jonathan Maberry). She teaches English and creative writing at Glendale Community College, where she also plays cello in the GCC orchestra.

Reviews for It Will Just Be Us

[candi0parshall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this creepy book. The narrator was great to listen to.

[zeenia shah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Let's talk about the perils of good intentions. Sam Wakefield believes her nephew is destined to become a sociopath, his parents are both clueless and volatile. Sam may be the only one capable of redeeming him. Trouble is, Sam is a most unreliable narrator.

[Darcia Helle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a difficult book to review because I really enjoyed some aspects, but the overall story was just okay.

The positive: Loved the eerie premise of a house that retains echoes of the past. The claustrophobic atmosphere offers some creepy, unsettling moments.

The negatives (for me): The writing is way too flowery. The term “waxing poetic” kept coming to mind as I read. I found it distracting, pointing readers’ focus at the purple prose rather than immersing us in the story.

Content is repetitive.

Character development is minimal. For instance, Sam’s mother loves the house so much that she puts it ahead of everything else in her life, yet she allows it to literally fall apart around her. She doesn’t do a bit of cleaning, ever, and neither does Sam. Mold and rot are consuming this place, but the why is never explained. What kind of people willingly live in such a decrepit, filthy house, showing zero interest in even the basic sanitary cleaning? The state of ruin is a major aspect of the story, but I never understood why. Consequently, it feels like nothing more than a convenient plot device for a spooky novel.

Narration is immersive and kept me engaged.

[Nina Quartuccio · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is reminiscent of Winchester house with an extra element added. The characters were well developed, and the suspense was there. There were a few well depicted scenes, but the whole story seemed long. Too much back story (for the extra element) from the past to create the future. It was good but a long way to go to get to where it ended up.