I really enjoyed this imaginative middle grade tale, featuring a family curse, a ramshackle and terrifying mansion, magic, mystery and mythical creatures. (Also spiders!)

Etta is woken one night by a sound she has never heard before - a car chugging up the avenue. Nobody ever visits Stitchwort, the estate is hidden from the world. The strangers turn out to be distant cousins, Felix, Etta's age, and his parents, fleeing from the Nazis in occupied Netherlands. Etta is delighted to talk to someone other than her parents and grandparents, and soon takes Felix to the extremely dangerous attic, a place she is forbidden to enter alone. There Felix has his first experience of how truly terrifying a place Stitchwort is, when both children get trapped in cobwebs with electrical eels...

Until Felix and his family turned up, Etta believed that every member of the Starling family who left Stitchwort met hideous accidents (such as distant relative Harold who died in an accident involving the Orinoco River and electric eels). When a family member dies, their belongings mysteriously turn up in the house, the curse at work removing all traces of the Starling clan from the outside world. Did the curse also bring back Harold's ghost as well as ghost eels, which then were trapped in the webs in the attic? Etta is determined to find answers, and together with Felix embarks on an investigation which uncovers unexpected family history, and encounters with ghosts, selkies, merfolk and spiders. Gigantic spiders.
I really liked Etta. She is curious and brave, warmly welcomes Felix, wants to help all those she meets, and is always optimistic and determined to overcome obstacles in her search for the truth. She is clever too, and knowledgeable, especially about spiders. Felix is more cautious but is a loyal friend and staunch ally in all her escapades. The Starlings all have magic powers - Etta can communicate with spiders, and the unusually large ones of Stitchwort willingly fetch and carry for her, light her way and come to her aid when she calls. Etta is determined to unearth Felix's magical power also.
This a really imaginative story with a great plot, intriguing family background, worthy heroes, and an all round great read. Giant trapdoor spiders will not deter me from highly recommending The Stitchwort Curse especially if you love fantasy (and don't freeze at the sight of one of our arachnid friends).

An absolutely fabulous book (meant for YA I assume but captivating and evocative so I would recommend for all ages!)
It begins with a curse upon a family left living in the ruins of the family mansion....no one comes in and no one goes out. This makes it difficult for the main characters as they have to rely upon what they can scavenge or make.
Fortunately they have magical abilities that can aid them but there's no rhyme or reason to the ability you get.
The main character has an affinity for spiders (I thought this was an odd choice, as I am slightly repulsed by spiders, but the author managed to change my opinion by the end of the book and I could appreciate the interesting information I learned about them and I actually felt sorry for one at one stage!).
There's a mystery to be solved and with the help of some strange new people that arrive, the curse is suddenly questioned and possibly solvable.
I expect a sequel and I am eagerly awaiting it!
I can't wait to find out more and revisit these authentic and wonderful characters.

I loved how eerie and atmospheric this book was. Great characters, I loved Etta and I thought it was really well written! Great read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC

This was a great read. I was really captured by the descriptions of the house where Etta and her family love right from the start, and I just grew more intrigued as I read.
Warning, there are a LOT of spiders in this book. But it had given me a new appreciation for them. Some a nice spiders, who are friends with Etta who has the ability to communicate with spiders (each member of the family has a special talent, her mother can control plants for example). But there a few 'evil' spiders that Etta can't control and those can become a little terrifying at times, especially is your an arachnaphobe!

The story itself is great. There's some magical creatures, family secrets, and a quest to save not only the house and it's family, but the selkies, merfolk and the ocean itself.

There is a lot of excitement and fun in this book and I had a great time reading it. The ending suggest there may be a follow-up book and if that's the case, I would definitely love to read it!

A spooky and mysterious read! I loved Etta and her family and her spiders! The writing was really great and the story was so atmospheric