This is a novel where I can definitely recognize its merits…but also its pitfalls. To me, it lacks the suspense aspect of gothic literature. 

Thank god I can finally say I have finished this book. Poor Nathaniel Hawthorne because the way in which I had to read this did not afford him much grace. I rushed through the entire book in complete boredom in order to be able to write a final essay with as much competence as possible. My paper is on generational trauma ruining the concept of "home" for the characters and I arduously underlined every quote that could help my cause. That work definitely sucked much of the enjoyment out of the reading process. Even though I rushed through this whole novel there were moments I liked.

Holgrave and Phoebe falling in love was a surprising but adorable addition to the narrative and the moments after Judge Pyncheon's death were so well done.

Hawthorne doesn't get enough credit for being able to paint a scene like he does for the fictional palace he imagines for men like the Judge. Though I don't remember it well I have read The Scarlet Letter and I liked this more than that. Take that opinion with a grain of salt though because I read that book as an underclassmen in high school and back then I had very little tolerance for the classics.