Hi friends!
I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the FINCH HOUSE by Ciera Burch Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Author: Ciera Burch
Pub. Date: September 5, 2023
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook
Pages: 208
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/FINCH-HOUSE
Encanto meets Coraline in this spooky middle grade story that
deals with family ties, fear of change, and generational trauma as it follows a
girl who must convince an old, haunted house to release its hold on her and her
family.
Eleven-year-old Micah has no interest in moving out of her grandfather’s house.
She loves living with Poppop and their shared hobby of driving around rich
neighborhoods to find treasures in others’ trash. To avoid packing, Micah goes
for a bike ride and ends up at Finch House, the decrepit Victorian that Poppop
says is Off Limits. Except when she gets there, it’s all fixed up and there’s a
boy named Theo in the front yard. Surely that means Finch House isn’t Off
Limits anymore? But when Poppop finds her there, Micah is only met with his
disappointment.
By the next day, Poppop is nowhere to be found. After searching everywhere,
Micah’s instincts lead her back to Finch House. But once Theo invites her
inside, Micah realizes she can’t leave. And that, with its strange whispers and
deep-dark shadows, Finch House isn’t just a house…it’s alive.
Can Micah find a way to convince the house to let her go? Or will she be forced
to stay in Finch House forever?
EXCERPT
Michaela Robinson no longer had a plan. But she did have a friend, and that was, she figured, almost as good.
Micah and Theo rode up and down his street. And the next three streets. And half a neighborhood away. They rode for as far and as long as they could, and still. Poppop was nowhere to be found.
Micah slowed to a stop when they passed Silver Boot Playground yet again.
They were just going in circles now. They were no closer to finding Poppop than they’d been before they left Theo’s house. They hadn’t even found any new clues. What if there weren’t any?
She frowned. She hadn’t thought she could get any more worried, but there it was. Fluttering in her stomach. Tingling in her palms. Empty space in her chest where there should have been air.
“You okay?”
Micah startled, then sucked in a deep breath. “Fine,” she said. She flashed her brightest smile. It faded quickly. “Just cold.”
For once, Theo looked cold too. The tip of his nose and both ears were bright red, and he’d zipped his jacket all the way up to his chin. “We should go back to my house for hot chocolate. And, you know, to make a plan. We can’t just keep riding around out here.”
“Maybe you can’t.”
“We both can’t,” he said firmly. Still, a smile broke across his face, stretching across each wind-chilled cheek. “Besides, we have the best hot chocolate, I promise. Triple chocolate and peppermint.”
A shiver rocked through Micah. Hot chocolate did sound nice. And there was the appeal of finally going inside Finch House too. Climbing the stairs to the top of the tower and peering down on the whole neighborhood. Basking in the sunlight pouring in from the huge windows.
But she’d made Poppop a promise. A promise that she’d already broken. Going inside might make things with him worse.
Still . . .
Micah ducked her head, blinking hard against tears and wind. What if something had happened to him? What if she never saw him again? She’d been so frustrated with him the last time they talked, and he had looked so disappointed.
A familiar sadness crawled its way up her spine and curled up like a kitten at the base of her skull. It made her head heavy. It was the same way she’d felt when Nana died. Then, she’d sat useless on the couch while Mom and Poppop called people and made arrangements and wiped their tears too quickly for her to be sure they’d cried at all. She couldn’t sit still and do nothing now.
Not again.
Not when this was her fault.
Yes, she’d promised not to go in. But Finch House could be full of clues, if not about where Poppop was, then at least about what had happened to his sister. She could solve a mystery! And she could share it with Poppop when he came back home from wherever he was.
It’d be silly to give up that chance when Theo was inviting her in.
She’d just look around, see if anything looked old or like something she might have seen in the photo album. If she didn’t find anything, she’d go back home.
In and out, that was it.
Micah stood on the porch of Finch House and hesitated in front of the open door. She’d never gotten this far. She’d never even made it up the formerly overgrown path. But there was the door, pretty enough for a door. It was pale blue, and sitting atop the knocker was a golden bird ready to take flight. She glanced over her shoulder at Poppop’s truck. The engine was off. Poppop wasn’t sitting in the driver’s seat watching her break her promise yet again. She turned back around with a sigh and, after touching the knocker lightly for luck, stepped across the threshold.
She held her breath and waited for something to happen.
Nothing did.
There were no creepy shadows or whispering voices or—
She paused.
There was something. Just a moment of cold, different from the chill outside. This cold felt focused. Like fingertips on her cheek.
Micah whipped her head toward Theo. “Did you feel that?”
“Feel what?”
She frowned, eyeing him suspiciously. “Did you do that?”
“Do what?” he asked. He’d turned away from her, already in the process of taking his jacket off and hanging it on a hook by the door.
Reluctantly, she took her jacket off too. “I just . . . I thought I felt something.”
Theo shrugged. He headed for the kitchen. “Maybe you did.”
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: eARC + Audiobook
Ciera Burch’s debut novel Finch House is an eerie middle-grade tale centering on a young girl named Micah and her family. Living up to the comparisons to Encanto and Coraline, I found it more of an entertaining mystery than anything spooky.
Micah doesn’t want to move away from her beloved grandfather. In her rebellion, she goes to the one place her grandfather forbade her from: Finch House. After her grandfather disappears, she returns to the house to visit her new friend Theo; they quickly realize that there’s more to the house than meets the eye.
The idea of a sentient house acting as a part of the story was a big draw for me, as I imagine it was for many others. There’s a certain magic that it adds to the worldbuilding in any book where that’s part of the story. I really enjoyed the family centered tale that the author wrote, with the ideas of dealing with the change, what makes a house a home, and belonging. The idea of generational trauma within a family was also central to the tale.
Overall, this was a unique and engaging read. Joniece Abott-Pratt was an excellent narrator, and did a great job bringing Micah’s perspective to life. This is a great book for any young reader in your life, and I’m excited to see what this author produces in the future.
Thank you to the author, the publisher Margaret K. McElderry Books, Jaime at Rockstar Book Tours, and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary review copy of the book as part of my participation in the tour. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review the book immensely. Please note - I voluntarily read and reviewed Finch House. All opinions expressed in the review are my own and not influenced in any way.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Grief, Death, Forced Confinement
About Ciera Burch:
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Ciera Burch is a lifelong writer and ice cream aficionado.
She has a B.A from American University and an MFA from Emerson College. Her
fiction has appeared in American Literary Magazine, Underground, the art and
literary journal of Georgia State University, Stork, and Blackbird. Her work
was also chosen as the 2019 One City, One Story read for the Boston Book
Festival.
When she’s not reading or baking, she can be found listening
to true crime podcasts, eating ice cream, and advocating for diverse kids lit.
While she is originally from New Jersey, she currently resides in Washington,
D.C with her stuffed animals, plants, and far too many books.
Find her on Twitter @CieraBurch017 and on Instagram
@cierasburch. She’d rather you not find her on Tumblr.
Website | Instagram | Goodreads
Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a finished copy of FINCH HOUSE, US Only.
Ends September 5th, midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:
Week One:
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8/21/2023 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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8/21/2023 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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8/22/2023 |
TikTok Post |
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8/22/2023 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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8/23/2023 |
IG Review |
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8/23/2023 |
IG Review |
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8/24/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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8/24/2023 |
Review |
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8/25/2023 |
IG Review |
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8/25/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
Week Two:
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8/28/2023 |
IG Review |
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8/28/2023 |
IG Review |
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8/29/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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8/29/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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8/30/2023 |
IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
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8/30/2023 |
IG Review |
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8/31/2023 |
Review |
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8/31/2023 |
IG Review |
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9/1/2023 |
IG Review |
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9/1/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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