A romantic story in the Gothic style [Kilgaren] comes, unexpectedly, from a writer who has excelled in contemporary realism. Isabelle Holland is too skilled a writer to portray characters who are not believable, and the style and dialogue are competently handled—but the plot is too intricate to be convincing, too dependent on Guilty Secrets Revealed. (p. 43)

Zena Sutherland, "New Titles for Children and Young People: 'Kilgaren'," in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (reprinted by permission of The University of Chicago Press; © 1974 by the University of Chicago), Vol. 28, No. 3, November, 1974, pp. 43-4.