My Five Word TL:DR Review : This Is One Scary Book

Wow this book.  My mind is blown.  This is one scary read. I believe this is being made into a movie and at this point, I’m not sure I actually have the courage to watch it and, this is made even more impressive by the fact this is a debut.

I’m not, going to over elaborate about the plot. The gist. A young couple, Eve and Charlie have bought a house with the intention of quickly restoring it to make a profit. However, things take a nasty turn when a family shows up one evening, the father claims this was his childhood home and wonders if he could quickly show his wife and children around.  My immediate reaction would be a resounding ‘no’ but Eve is a people pleaser and even though the little voice inside her head is shouting ‘no’ she lets the family in. Well, from there things go all wrong., but you’ll have to read this to find out why.

What did I love about this?

Well, as I mentioned above, this book has the scare factor in spades. And this is horror without a question of a doubt. A creepy house. A dark basement. An attic with secret nooks and crannies. Plenty of unexplained shock elements. And just what the heck is wrong with this family?  Also, your basic fear elements such as torches and lights cutting out at the most inopportune moments, things being misplaced or simply changing in design, bad weather and an ever increasing feeling of intense dread.

Eve and Charlie are a great couple. I love their dynamic and their feelings for each other are plain to see.  Charlie is very forthright and not shy about making things plain, whilst Eve has a constant niggling voice running through her head that questions everything and makes the fear even more real. She relies on Charlie to be the firm hand.

The writing is really good. I was completely sucked into this story. There are little snippets of strange occurrences that have taken place that feed into the dread about the house and I felt myself really caring about Eve and Charlie. Plus feeling total dread concerning the ‘family’ and the desire to get them out of the house at any cost.

I don’t really want to say too much more. I loved this. I’m not absolutely sure I understand everything but I’m not sure that’s the point. For me the house seems to be some sort of focal point for strange, hauntings, possessions, alternate realities and mind bending creepiness.

In conclusion. This book has set up home inside my head and at the moment, much like Eve and her unwelcome visitors, I’m unable to shift it. Twisted and unexpected with a shocker ending that has pickled my tiny brain. I could read this again.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 5 freaked out stars