Rating: 7/10
I was very excited to receive the ARC of this book from Oblivion Publishing! The second I came across it online, I knew that I needed to read it. We all know that I love a good haunted house story, and this is meant to be the ultimate haunted house book. There were some problems that I had with the writing style (though that is probably a personal thing) but overall, I found the story itself to be solid and the writing as a whole to be sound. Actually, this was one of my favorite ARCs of the year. It's in the top three, minimum. Lets start with the summary:
Summary from Amazon:
"When twenty-nine-year-old Scarlett Vantassel comes to the conclusion that her life doesn’t resemble any of the things she actually wanted for herself, she drops out of school and moves back home, attempting to reconnect with the people she left behind. But a shadow falls over her return one early October morning when a sinister house miraculously appears in the center of the city, sparking a media frenzy that attracts attention nationwide.
Soon after the newspapers label it, "The House that Fell from the Sky," Scarlett’s childhood friend Hannah becomes obsessed with the idea that the house holds the key to discovering whether there really is life after death. Undeterred by her friends' numerous warnings, Hannah becomes increasingly consumed with the desire to enter the house, convinced it would allow her to reconnect with her recently deceased mother.
Despite a series of escalating events suggesting that the house may be more dangerous than anyone ever thought possible, a privately owned company seizes control of the property and hosts a lottery to lure the city’s residents, promising the winners a large cash reward if they dare to enter the house.
To Scarlett’s horror, Hannah uses her vast wealth to secure a spot among the winners to gain access to the house. Now, it’s up to Scarlett, her older brother Tommy, and her friend Jackson to face their fears and journey into a place where nothing is ever quite as it seems, and decide if they can help a friend in need, or if Hannah truly is lost."
We'll start with the positive things I have to say. First of all, I thought the story itself was really clever and unique. He was really able to take the concept of the classic "haunted house" subgenre and make it into something that felt totally new. It wasn't just a haunted house. Sure there were ghosts, but the story was more than that. It was chock full of fun descriptions and all kinds of different rooms. It was more like the house was its' own universe with its own place in time. It was really a super interesting concept. It made the story into something that kept your attention. Don't be mistaken though, Delaney still made sure to include background for the story. It wasn't just a "weird house" that was weird for no reason. Delaney made sure to include sufficient, satisfying backstory that explained the origins of the house. Actually he gave exposition for the story in several different ways, which added to the reading experience overall. It was just a really awesome concept that was handled in a really clever way.
Delaney's writing was also very solid, especially in his descriptions of horrific occurrences both within and without the house. The descriptions were incredibly vivid and raw, they allowed for the reader to become fully engrossed in the action. There were several points in the book that I felt so drawn into the incidents, that I could legitimately feel my heart racing. The usage of horrifying visuals was used sparingly enough that it was effective, but not so sparingly that the story dragged. In fact, they were in the house about halfway through the book, but Delaney was able to sprinkle in tense bits involving the house, even with nobody inside. Once they were in? It felt almost impossible to put down. You were always wondering what wound happen next, because ultimately the possibilities were endless. Never have I read such an original take on a haunted house.
Now that I've spoken about the good, let me tell you the aspects of the story that I didn't care for. I thought some parts of the story almost had a YA vibe to them. While this may not be inherently bad, it just didn't hit me right. This was largely in some of the characters actions and especially in the way they were described. Scarlett really felt like an "I'm not like other girls, I'm alt" which is fine, but that trope really gets on my nerves. For adults, I just thought they would behave in a juvenile fashions some times. Like, you could've changed the character ages from ~30 to ~17 and they would still feel accurate.
Scarlett had the worst aspects of this trope. I really didn't like her until probably 3/4 of the way through the book. I thought she was obnoxious and her character was trying too hard. Even though the book does switch perspective, she is the main protagonist so we hear from her the most. I'm gonna be honest, I would've rather had Hannah be the protagonist than Scarlett. I would've liked to have seen more of her descent into madness. What little we did get from her, felt really one note. She was just a depressed girl who couldn't let go of her mother. I think more from her perspective would've been better for the story over all. I feel like we got too much from Scarlett and not enough from Tommy and Hannah specifically. Also, this is a smaller complaint, but I though that the pacing was a little weird at times, especially at the beginning. For example, it goes a few days at a time, and then all of a sudden there is a nine month jump in time. I actually think that would have been a good place to show Hannah slipping further and further into her delusions.
Anyway, we can see that there is good and bad to this story, but keep in mind that I am a natural hater. This means that my complaints are usually more wordy than my praise. But by far, I thought that this was an excellent story. I am very glad that I was able to read this book. If you want to read an awesome spin on a classic horror subgenre, then please pick up this book. It's kind of lengthy at a chonky 530 pages, but it's really interesting. It never dragged much for me (most do at the very beginning so I won't fault for that). In short, this book was rad, and you should read it if you get the chance! It releases tomorrow, September 1, 2020! Thank you so much to Oblivion Publishing for gifting me my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review! You can follow the author @patrickrdelaney on Instagram!
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