A gothic vibe in a modern novel.

I found the characters somewhat insufferable, and the writing repetitive. The narration felt choppy with some diary entries here and there.

The ending had me a bit confused, although it was interesting.

This was... just not for me. I found the writing stilted and awkward (it actually reads almost like it's from the 1800s, but unfortunately not in a good way), and the plot unfortunately quite repetitive. I ended up skimming most of it once I reached the halfway point.

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list or even know to check if they downloaded properly, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

Jack has moved to a small English village to recover from a mysterious incident. He spends his days alone with the exception of visits from his maid/caretaker. After he stops taking his medication, he begins to venture out to the local pub. There he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman with a French accent whom no one else seems to remember seeing. He initiates a relationship with Eloise and discovers that her truth is more terrifying than he could imagine.

This was a very slow build horror novel. There is very little going on for the first half of the book aside from Jack walking to and from the pub. When Jack and Eloise finally start their relationship, it is mostly about them having sex and Eloise disappearing on repeat for another significant portion of the book. There is a plot twist in there, but there's a lot of monotony to wade through to get to it. The main reason I finished this one is to see if I was right about Eloise, which I was. I found the big revelation at the end confusing and it left me with more questions than answers.

I wanted to like this one as the description made it sound creepy and disturbing, but I found it on the downside of okay. It was slow and repetitive for much of the story. And while I like a strong female character, Jack's description of Eloise's lovemaking style as rape-like on multiple occasions (which he found to be a turn-on) was repulsive to me. That wasn't the kind of horror I had in mind when I decided to read this one.

Whenever I dislike a book this much, I actually feel pretty bad. It’s not that I want to tear the book apart with my review. But at the same time, I feel obliged to be honest and not sugarcoat the problematic things I found in it.

Sometimes you start reading a book and you can simply tell it’s not going to be good. That’s what happened when I began reading Dinner with Eloise. One of the things that annoyed me the most was the writing style. Actually, I don’t think it’s just a matter of style. The English seemed off, like the author wasn’t actually an English native speaker. And what I mean by that it’s this book needed a lot of editing and corrections.

As for the story, I’m sorry to say this, but it read like a man’s sexual fantasy. The descriptions of women in this book were neither good, flattering or beautifully written. They were pretty basic. We’re also constantly told about an “event” that happened prior to the beginning of the story and as readers we know it ought to be something important. Unfortunately, this wasn’t well handled and the author only addressed it by the end of the book.

The chapters were too long and not well distributed, making it a bit difficult to get through the story. For about 60 or 70% of the book, the plot appears to be a combination of romance and mystery. But then something so unnecessary happens, making that a complete twist and even changing the tone and feel of the book. If I was not having a good time, that twist only made it worse.

In regards to the protagonist, he’s the most unlikeable man possible. All he does is go to a pub, drink a lot, and make remarks about his housekeeper’s presence (duh, she’s supposed to be there doing her job) and her pronunciation. Since she’s an immigrant, of course her English can’t be good… God forbid people from other countries to speak English properly.

Add to that his strange reasoning and his obsession about a woman he met at a pub while drinking. His fixation over her, only caring about sex and ignoring all the things a normal person should be interested in learning about a potential partner, also made me strongly dislike him. Also, it didn’t help that their interactions were absurd and not even deep as to justify their intense romance.

It’s not said in the synopsis but this is a vampire story. As such, I would have loved to see more about these creatures. But no. The author decided to not show his vampire in action; he didn’t explain how she fed or anything except for her dubious “origin”.

As for the ending, it was the most anticlimactic way of finishing off the story. I didn’t appreciate the way the author used mental health to explain certain things. I didn’t find it very genuine and as I saw it, it was a cheap way to justify his protagonist’s actions and behavior.

There are so many good vampire books out there, I know it. Yet for some reason I can’t seem to find them. Needless to say, I can’t in good conscience recommend this book. Of course, you are free to do as you please. But if I were you, I wouldn’t give this book the benefit of the doubt.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having read the blurb of Dinner with Eloise, I had very high hopes for this novel. I am very grateful to have been provided an ARC by the publisher.

Van Reenan sets the scene very well, creating a palpable and oppressive atmosphere around the central characters. My only criticism would be that the author should perhaps utilise a greater variety of descriptive terms. I found the central section of the novel fairly repetitive and the story lost a lot of momentum. However, that said, once the story picked up pace, I was not disappointed. This story will stay with you, even after you turn the last page.

I look forward to reading more by Collin Van Reenan in the future.

This is an interesting take on the vampire novel. A host of unreliable narrators keep the reader guessing about the monster (and a surprisingly elegant one) at the center of the tale. Jack, the novel’s main character, must decide whether to embrace mundane realities, like a drink at the pub and managing his mental health, or to walk into the darkness.

I love the title and the cover of this book. I was excited to read this intriguing story...Jack moves to an isolated cottage to manage his depressive illness where he soon meets a mysterious woman who lives in a crumbing gothic mansion.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first few chapters but then the book fell apart for me. I wanted to love it, I really did. I grew to dislike Jack and the whole story.

What I did like:
The first few chapters were great, writing was great
The ending

Thank you to RedDoor Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Great gothic/horror novel - well written and plotted. Although disturbing at times, I found it to be an enjoyable read.

I love a gothic read and was hoping for great things from dinner with eloise.

However, for me, there were several problems with the book that left me feeling very lukewarm about it.

The MC was unlikeable. Now this usually isn't a dealbreaker as long as the unlikability brings the story to a specific end requiring the reader to be 'against' the MC. This wasn't the case here so I was a bit challenged to enjoy the story when I couldn't, or didn't want to, connect with it's lead.

The story was also very repetitive and had long periods of zero forward movement of the storyline. Also not something I enjoy.

The gothic feel was pretty cool at the start but after a bit of time, with the story not meshing well with me, it all felt a bit much.

I'm not sure who the intended audience is for this book. I've thought about it for a few days and I can only come up with readers who like unusual storylines? I'm still not sure.

DNF - I could not engage with the writing style nor begin to care about the main character who left much to be desired.

Yikes. This book started out strong for me. I could tell it was written with the intention of feeling old-time gothic and was really vibing the atmosphere. It was dark/creepy and was making me feel uncomfortable, in a good way and then... It all fell apart. First of all what's with the repetitive phrase and words, especially when talking about Eloïse? I get it she smells "musky", gross to me but apparently arousing for the MC Jack. Also jack only ever seems to objectify women. He always talks about how attractive they are and, basically, what they can "do for him". Which kind of leads into my next point about the awkward "love making" and the consistent talk of r*pe. This plays no real part in the story, it doesn't help move it along, and all it truly did was make me mad and uncomfortable (not in a good way this time). The author almost seemed to fetishize it and it was always brought up during intimate moments as if it were something to glorify or be enjoyable and it just felt very wrong. Maybe it was for shock value, but either way just gross. There were other parts that seemed a bit "off" but make some more sense by the end. I wasn't a fan of the random "diary entries" from one of the characters and wish the author would have found a better way to incorporate this information. The plot/idea behind the story was actually really interesting but it was executed so poorly. The pace was decent but the writing just got worse and worse. The end, like the beginning, was well done and wrapped everything up nicely, filling in a lot of that unknown information. I had a slight inkling as to how it would end but wasn't fully correct which made it even more surprising. Honestly though, don't even bother reading this. It was not at all what I hoped for and expected and I'm quite disappointed with spending my time on this book. If have unfortunately read this book let me know your thoughts because I have a lot of them... Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

There's a lot going on in this novel, which I recommend. It's a bit like if you combined Dracula with Giant Vampire Wife with I'm thinking of ending things. It's a dark read, but I enjoyed it.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So the book follows Jack as he, due to severe depression, moves out of the city and into an isolated cabin. Here he tries to find himself as he busies himself with gardening work. But after a while, with only the cleaning lady as company, Jack starts ditching his medication and spending time at the local pub.
One night he meets a mysterious, beautiful woman who seems to be the woman of his dreams.

The book is written in an attempt of old fashioned gothic style. Unfortunately, it feels a bit forced and ended up being a lot more wordy than necessary. Too many descriptions of irrelevant things made the storyline seem flat. By the end, I was so tired of specific phrases and words like ''musky scent''. The plot itself was pretty good. I really liked the idea of this mystery woman with a dark secret and the main character who dealt with... whatever he dealt with (I don't want to spoil the whole thing). Still, the book was a bit hard to get through, if I'm being honest.
A few chapters were written as diary entries from a third character throughout the book. This seemed so very strange to me, and it didn't make sense until the very end of the book. Though I must admit I really liked the book's ending, it still felt weird looking at the book as a whole.
I wish the author had somehow managed to combine the storyline a bit better. Maybe found a different way to make this ending?
I don't know, again - the plot was good but just a bit poorly executed.

I had some issues with the main character... I straight-up hated him.
I realize he was supposed to be an unreliable narrator, but christ. He was selfish, sexist, and such a horrible stereotype of a ''typical man who just cares about sex''. Honestly...
He would say stuff like: ''...So there would never be a chance to get her drunk, I thought, idly'' and: ''I... Expected that she would automatically be my nurse as well as my lover and mate.'' Like, come on, dude.
Once he realized her dark secrets, he was completely fine with it - cause the sex was great... I mean. No. Just no.
It made it hard to get through the book, and with the many repeatings and obsessive details, it just became a lot.

I also want to mention the fact that the book was not the slightest bit scary. It was barely even creepy. That was rather disappointing.

Now, the ending was pretty good. (Spoilers coming).
I liked the twist in the story, and I enjoyed that the book took the turn it did. I just wish it had been done differently or maybe a bit more detailed. I feel like I have a lot of questions I didn't get an answer to.
I mean, this Belle character was somewhat misplaced in the storyline until the very end. I guess it was supposed to make sense then, but it just still felt forced. What was up with these Egyptian god things? Did I miss something completely? Was it just because the Dr. looked a certain way? or was it because Jack was just really messed up?
The ending was by far the best part of the book. I just wish there had been more details in it and that it had been a more significant part of the book.

Dinner with Eloïse is terrifying, strange and bewitching in equal measure and is a novel best read with the light firmly switched on.
Compulsive, gripping and horrifying! Will keep you on the edge of your seat! Oh my goodness, I absolutely and totally loved this book.

A dark, disturbing and richly gothic read that i enjoyed. I found the writing flowed well in a classic style with a compelling storyline and well developed charcaters, I also really liked the world building and appreciate the imagery and vivid descriptions within the book. I also liked the fact that even at the end you aren't sure whether it is a mantal health episode or real events. Really enjoyable.

I was less than impressed with Dinner with Eloise. I think had i not been reading it review purposes I wouldn’t have finished it. The authors writing seemed a bit immature and seemed like he used thesaurus to switch worlds he felt weren’t Intelligent enough. Though I first person I still felt there was an unnecessary amount of exclamation points. I was weirded out by some of the descriptions such as “big white teeth” and some lazy descriptions. I was annoyed that the entire time the “event” was only know as such until 82%. Overall I found Dinner with Eloise to be underwhelming.

A classic gothic/horror story that I found entertaining. It's well plotted and compelling. The characters are interesting and the world building well done.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Dinner with Eloise

[Blurb goes here]

I just can't agree with some of the reviews here. Specially when a reader can't look beyond their own 'This offends me' triggers, and trashes the novel. That in itself tells you more about the reviewer than it does about the story. I hope we, as a community, could get past these things, but as of late, they're getting worst.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when diving into Dinner with Eloise. What I found was a prose rich gothic novel. I'd never came upon a Collin Van Reenan book before. This man can write, not only that, he has a beautiful style. Slowly, but surely, you start to peel the many layers in this book.

Just to be clear: to those who have never been on a toxic relationship, I say: I hope you never encounter one, still, these pages describe it to the letter. When such a thing happens, you'll unknowingly and without reason, will get trapped in the whirlpool of it all. So when the main protagonist gets caught in one, it is portrayed in a very eerie an accurate way. Specially when the guy has stopped taking his meds, and has just come out of a very traumatic experience, leaving him feeling lost and vulnerable. He needs to feel loved and gets tangled up with the first woman he meets. The woman, Eloise, is just looking for security in the form of a man who can be her life long companion. But Eloise is no saint, and far from being a damsel in distress.

Slowly but surely, both Jack (or Jaques, as Eloise calls him) and Eloise clash with each other. A match made in hell. Jack get's to know Eloise better, and finds out some of the things she's done, it's too late. He's madly in love with her and wants to protect her.

I don't know why I have to clear this up, but about the sex scenes, not one of these is described in detail. So no warnings needed there. Not in my opinion, at least.

Now, on to the 'cons' of the book.

It get's repetitive. Jack goes to the pub hoping to meet Eloise, he doesn't find her, goes back in the dark, to his chalet. This happens more often than not. A couple of times? Great. A bunch of times, not so much. And could some one get Jack a lantern? He's always walking half drunk in the dark.

This story has a few short comings, but is still well worth your time. Why? In short: Jack, being a sick man, could have been imagining Eloise the entire time, and as we learn latter on, could also be responsible for her crimes.

I really liked this book. It was an old fashioned ghost story, complete with vampire, crumbling manor house, and a sinister English village. The reader is left to wonder if the main character’s story is true or is a result of the mental illness. The only question I have is why the man in the story didn’t take a lantern with him when walking at night.