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Jennifer Kennedy

@jennifersghost

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OUR GIFTED HEARTS 🖤🐦‍⬛🥀 Out Now! @angryrobotbooks
Rep’d by @hannah_litagent 📚

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while i love a good series, sometimes a solid standalone really does it! i genuinely forget some of these are standalones sometimes bc they’re so well
developed??? 📖✨

these are some i’ve read in the last few years that have truly left a lasting impression on me!

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Underrated Book Recs

All of these are books I love so much, and I think they’re all so underrated. Last I checked, all of these have less than 1000 ratings on goodreads (some might have surpassed it). I think they’re all deserve so much more. They’re all well-written with great plots and themes. They are some of my top recommendations from their genres as well.

The books:
✨Unlock the Dark by @sasahawk
✨Beyond the Border Forest by @into_the_bookish_wild
✨Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar by @ana_scribe
✨To Bargain With Mortals by @rabasuwrites
✨Split the Sky by @mariearnoldbook
✨Dust Settles North by @deenaelg
✨The Trouble With Anna by @rachel.griffiths.writes
✨Our Gifted Hearts by @jennifersghost

❔What’s a book you think is underrated?

#booksrecs #underratedbooks #fantasybook #gothichorror #yaromance

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𝒢𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑒……𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖎𝖙 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐 🖤

Battling the current uk heat (and the chronic illness flare that it’s caused) with all the dark, cursed forest and gloomy, crumbling country house vibes!

All these books gave me all the dreamlike feel of a fairy tale, with an added pinch of nightmares.

QOTD: Do you prefer a light and fluffy fairy tale feel, or something a bit more dark and gothic?

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What colors are you drawn to right now? Me: 🌸💙🌱
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I’m currently knee deep into spring colors - soft pinks, fresh greens, dreamy blues - but I’m always looking for new color combos to obsess over.
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Since my book garden is a slow grower at the moment, I went digging through some past floral-inspired covers to see what little gems were hiding.
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#colorpalettes #colorcombos #bookcovers

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Sharing a list of Bluebeard retellings!! 🗝️🥀

When I first got the idea for The Bloody Key (something like 12 years ago!), there were very few retellings of this rather macabre fairy tale on the market. Now there are dozens! It makes me so happy that more people are discovering this tale of a rich lord, his young wife, her sister and brothers, and a test involving a key to a secret room! 🏰🗝️🕯️

Have you read any of these? Are any on your TBR?

Oh, and if you're interested in my version, THE BLOODY KEY, it's on sale for $0.99 on all platforms worldwide this week in honor of #IndieApril! 🖤

#bluebeard #fairytaleretellings #fantasybooks #bookrecommendations

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Happy Earth Day! 🌎

Go pick up a book, and enjoy a day in nature. ✨🌱

Do you like to read outside?

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Absolutely love spending time with my gothic girls 🖤 (and the master of folk horror Andrew Michael Hurley)

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Brilliant few days with some of my writing tribe who came from all over the country for the @yorklitfest weekend of Folk Horror.

Was wonderful to see the legend that is @lucyrosecreates who I adore as much as her incredible book, #thelamb She is so articulate and smart and I could have listened to her for hours. It was an amazing interview by @c.l.hanks 👏

Great interview with @lucie_mckhardy I’m really excited to read her new book, Night Babies, and I came home with a copy of Water Shall Refuse Them.

Rounded off the day with drinks and dinner with Andrew Michael Hurley (and the wonderful Jo 🥰) after his talk about #saltwash

The best bit was I didn’t have to travel further than a short walk into town, and even Margot got involved in the fun!

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I was looking back through all the eARC’s I’ve been lucky enough to read since I joined NetGalley last year, and found several of those that I had really enjoyed that I feel just haven’t had the attention and love they deserve.

So I picked out some of the ones that I had rated quite highly but that had less than 1000 reviews on Goodreads, some of them even under 100.

I would love to see these books get some more love!

If you would like to see my original reviews for them then check out my Goodreads (link in my bio)

Steph
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I’ve just had the pleasure of reading Jennifer Kennedy’s wonderful ghostly gothic tale, Our Gifted Hearts. The story of Fortune who lost a baby at a tender young age and vowed never to have another tugs at the heart strings. When the witch hunters came to town and pointed their fingers at her, I rooted desperately for her safety and survival. Such beautiful descriptions, well developed characters, along with a ghostly theme and a love story, I was hooked throughout. And the birds! What an original theme!

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Gothic-Esque Book Club presents: An Instagram Live Discussion with Jennifer Kennedy

Our Gifted Hearts by author @jennifersghost was the pick for January 2026, and Jennifer graciously accepted our invitation to discuss her book with us.

We chatted all things gothic, book themes, characters, writing, styles, publishing, and more.

Thank you so much, Jennifer, for joining us, and for those of you who want to chat spoilers of Our Gifted Hearts, dm @hownoveljo or @foldingthepage to be added to the group chat.

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Book Review: Our Gifted Hearts by Jennifer Kennedy 🕯️🐦‍⬛

This was the Gothic-Esque Book Club Pick for January 2026 and was a great way to start the year—this book was truly made for fans of the gothic. Swipe for the synopsis & read below to get inspired to pick this one up!

Jo’s Thoughts: With unforgettable characters and twists to satisfy, Our Gifted Hearts is such an engrossing novel, halfway through a ticking time clock counts down to an explosive ending and I could not put this book down! I’m impressed with @jennifersghost ‘s debut and I’m excited to follow her writing journey!

Kayleigh’s thoughts: Our Gifted Hearts hits every trope I adore in this genre, yet still manages to feel original, surprising, and genuinely empowering. By the midpoint I was completely hooked, racing through the rest because I had to know where it was all heading. And that ending—absolutely unforgettable. I loved it!

A reminder that the Gothic-Esque Book Club will be going Live with Our Gifted Hearts author Jennifer Kennedy, on Saturday, January 31, 2026, at 1 p.m. MST / 3 p.m. EST.

Join for a spoiler-free chat about all things gothic and bookish. And we’ll be opening up the Q&A function so you can ask your questions in real time.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

QotD: have you met an author before? Or have you ever attended a bookish event?
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Gothic Fiction | Decaying Manor Aesthetic | Bird Familiars | Family Secrets | Candlelit Halls

#GothicFiction #GothicHorror #AuthorInterview #InstagramLive #GothicEsqueBookClub

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