Small Angels by Lauren Owen Blog Tour

 Hands up if you love a good ghost story?

I certainly do.

My child hood was spent reading Goosebumps and watching Are You Afraid of the Dark. And as I move further into my adult years, I am still quite partial to a scary tale.

So with that in mind, I bring to you my spot on the blog tour for Lauren Owen's novel, Small Angels.

As a teenager, Kate found a safe harbor from her parents' constant fighting in the company of the four Gonne sisters, who lived with their strict grandparents next to Small Angels, a church on the edge of dense green woods. The first outsider to ever get close to the sisters, Kate eventually learned the family's secret: The woods are home to a capricious, menacing ghost whom generations of Gonnes had been charged with stopping from venturing into the village itself. But as the sisters grew older, braver, and more independent, bucking against the family's burden, the bulwark began to crack, culminating in a horrifying act of violence that drove a terrible wedge between the sisters and Kate.

Chloe has been planning her dream wedding for months. She has the dress, the flowers, and the perfect venue: Small Angels, a charming old church in the village where her fiancé, Sam, and his sister, Kate, grew up. But days before the ceremony, Chloe starts to hear unsettling stories about Small Angels--and worse, she begins to see, smell, and hear things that couldn't possibly be real.

Now Kate is returning home for the first time in years, for Sam and Chloe's wedding. But the woods are coming alive again, and Kate must reconnect with Lucia, the most troubled of the sisters and her first love, to protect Chloe, the village, and herself. An unforgettable novel about the memories that hold us back and those that show us the way forward--this is storytelling at its most magical. Enter Small Angels, if you dare.

This is the stuff that nightmares are made.

A slow, atmospheric tale, filled with tension.

Foreboding.

A secluded church at the edge of a perhaps not so inviting wood. An upcoming wedding awakening ghosts long since buried and forgotten. Some might say that this is a disaster waiting to happen. As Sam and Chloe's wedding fast approaches, history begins to repeat itself and a once peaceful village is threatened by old grudges.

Told from a variety of points of view, it reads like it could be someone telling the story around a campfire. I think eerie would be an understatement.

Small Angels isn't just one person's story. It is the thoughts and memories of many including:

Harry Child

The Gonnes

Katherine Joan

But I guess the biggest character of them all was Mockbeggar woods, the centre of all the echoes of the past. Holding on to it all. The good, the bad and the ugly.

As past and present began to combine, the question was just who would survive?

Gothic in its presentation and delivery, I really enjoyed Owen's writing style.

I'd almost describe it as poetic.

Each narrative was well directed. The emotions contained within the prose felt chaotic and heart-wrenching. This is definitely not a happy tale, but despite the sombre mood throughout, there was also a sense of hope and a great desire for all involved a great desire for peace.

Mockbeggar captivated me and held me firmly in its clutches.

Once I had stepped within, I didn't want to leave.

Small Angels is a tale of love, loss and longing and makes us wonder whether lessons can be learnt from the past. Can we change a story already written or must we be confined to the traditions thrust upon us from generations before?

This is a quietly told horror story that is powerfully compelling.

Do you dare to venture into the woods?