Tamsyn Tresize is a young, immature 16 year old who is still grieving and struggling with the loss of her dad. Living in the idyllic setting of Cornwall she spends all her time sitting on a rock overlooking the house of her dreams. She imagines the perfect life of the Davenports that own The Cliff House, a place where she used to sneak in after dark with her father to swim in their pool. One day, she meets Edie - the daughter of the Davenports and they quickly become friends. She finally manages to spend time at house where she feels safe, comfortable and closer to her fathers memory. Very quickly, she sees that their life is not so perfect and her life, and that of her brother Jago's life is thrown into turmoil. A great easy read.

DNF @ 25%. No reflection on the author but this book just isn't for me.

I really tried to get into this book but to quarter of the way through and had not helped with it so gave up

This was just OK for me, I have read a lot of books along the same lines and so it was a comfortable and familiar read but I can't say it stood out from many other thriller type novels I have read.

This book was so well written I can’t wait to read other books by the same author. Set in the Cornish countryside and coast, it is the tale of appearances- the seemingly perfect family living in the cliff house and a girls desperate desire to be one of them.

I began reading this with mixed feelings in case it turned out to be a family blockbuster/saga type book, but was pleasantly surprised and by the second half I didn't want to put it down. The evocation of a long summer holiday with nothing to do and the classic teenage blind envy of anyone with apparent riches was all too familiar. Added to the mix was an unorthodox friendship which engages the reader by giving no clues to how it will turn out and a fragile marriage that catches everyone it touches in its crossfire. This was a compulsive read with an ending that didn't disappoint. Highly recommended.

This is the first book of Amanda Jennings I have read. The Cliff house is a beautifully written novel that describes area of the Cornish coastline and the nature that lives there.
The story is set in the 1980’s Tamsyn lives in a small Cornish cottage with her mother, her brother Jago and her grandfather. Her father died 6 years previously drowned off the Cornish coast when Tamsyn was 10 and she hasn’t quite got over it. She is a loner at school and quite timid for her age. She spends her days up on the cliff path with her binoculars watching the residence of the The Cliff House and sometimes her mother who works part time there as a cleaner. The Davenports only come to the cliff house at weekends. So, during the week Tamsyn without her mother knowing takes the key and secretly swims in the pool at the cliff house. When one day while swimming Tamsyn hears a noise only to be confronted by the Davenports daughter Edie and they soon start up a friendship, to the distaste of her mother. Angela believes that things are not going to turn out well.
This is quite different to the usual thrillers that I have read. But, I thought this was a beautifully written tale of love, loss, relationships and social class. I liked how the author described the areas of Cornwall, the wildlife, it made me believe I was there or would like to visit there one day. I will look out for more of the authors books.
Thank you Netgalley and HQ for a copy of this book.

The Cliff House by @mandajjennings was my 6th book of 2018. The start is quite slow and everything seemed to be over described which made reading hard work. I put it down for a couple weeks and picked it back up last weekend where I have then read the rest of the book in a week. The over descriptive nature seemed to wain and the story got better as you got to know the characters.
The story is based around a beautiful house in Cornwall owned by Max Davenport a famous author and his troubled wife Eleanor, and is set back in the summer of 1986. The theme of the book is “bad things happen in beautiful places”. The main character is a 16 year old girl, Tamsyn, she is obsessed with the Cliff House ever since her dad died as this is the place she feels closest to him. Tamsyn becomes embroiled with the Davenport family becoming friends with Edie the goth rebelling daughter.
The summer unfolds and it the draw of the house for Tamsyn entwines her and her whole family.
This is a troubled story and one quite relevant right now with the increasing awareness around mental health. It’s quite an intense read, but after a slow start I found that I was quite absorbed in this dark tale. The slow start just prevents me from giving this a 4 so I give it 3.5/5
Thank you to @netgalley and @hqstories who gave me a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

A haunting story of a girls obsession with a house and the family within it...her closeness to the family shows her things aren’t always what they seem but she is still obsessed. A good read but slightly slow

A completely different pace to this book from the thrillers I've been reading lately, but no less compulsive reading. This is a story to keep you hooked!

Tamsyn lives in the small family home with her mother, brother and sick grandfather and still mourns the loss of her father some years previously. A close-knit family, she has particularly fond memories of being with her father out on the cliff path where they would watch The Cliff House, a contemporary building with it's own pool. These memories are so vivid that Tamsyn is fixated on this house and the lives of the family who now treat it as their holiday home. Dreams are made of this - or are they?

This is a story of two very different types of family; one which struggles to get by each week and the other to whom money is no object. But happiness isn't something you buy, and neither is morality and good behaviour. Compulsive, obsessive and uncomfortable at times, this is a book which got under my skin. It may not be the easiest of reads, but it all makes sense in the end and I'm glad I chose to read The Cliff House. A very different kind of novel, but no less enjoyable for that.

My thanks to HQ Digital for approving my request via NetGalley. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

Beautiful descriptions of the setting and a real sense of place and time. I was gradually drawn into the story as it explored the relationship between Edie and Tamsyn and their very different lives - haunting and evocative writing.

A beautifully haunting and evocative tale of loss, love, friendship and obsession here from Amanda Jennings. With the beautiful writing I've come to expect from her.

Full review nearer to publication.

I did enjoy this book, and it is written in a very readable style. I thought the setting was well drawn and the idea was intriguing. However, I did feel that the characters were a little sketchy, and I didn’t come to really care about any of them. The story was interesting, but there were long parts where not much happened and I kept waiting for it to ‘come alive’. That said, I did enjoy it, and would certainly read something else written by the same author.

I must admit I struggled to get into this book but then found I couldn’t put it down! So glad I stuck with it. The story is very different to my usual reads but so enjoyable. I sometimes hardly dared to turn the page for fear of what might be happening next. This is an intriguing, sometimes dark and mysterious book with unexpected twists and turns. Tamsyn, the main character is intriguing and obsessive with obvious issues which makes you want to learn more about her as the story unfolds. I look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to netgalley

"Edie's life was dipped in gold. How could she ever understand?"

Amanda Jennings' The Cliff House is a tense and unsettling read of obsession, love and teenage rebellion. The titular house and wild Cornish coast are so sharply painted that they almost become characters in their own right in the book, their landscapes changing to echo moods and moments.

Amanda Jennings' writing is beautifully poetic, but without ever moving towards overwrought purple prose. It's a perfect example of sparing details being used to paint the most vivid images. Jennings' evocative description made it easy to picture the stark white house, or even taste the salt spray, from the first few pages I was instantly immersed into her world.

The story flows at a nice pace, feeding you intrigue and tension bit by bit always leaving you hungry for more, until the last few chapters. I feel they're more rushed than the rest of book, and they lose some of the edge and punch because of it. To me, the big reveal was dampened a little as it hurtled along too quickly.

However, unlike in the case of some books I've loved with weaker endings, it does nothing to detract away from my overall good feelings about this book. It was a gripping read and I could barely put it down.

I really enjoyed this book. Set in Cornwall in the 1980s, 16 year old Tamsyn has never recovered from the death of her father 6 years ago. She is obsessed by the large house on the cliff, and spends ages looking through her binoculars and spying on the couple who live there at weekends. She imagines their perfect lives .One summer she meets Edie, their daughter, and they form a friendship. It quickly becomes apparent that the family live anything but a perfect life. As things start to unravel, how far will Tamsyn go to ensure that she will always be part of life at the Cliff House? I recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads. .

The Cliff House is a well written book, beautifully descriptive. I was totally immersed in the story and intrigued from start to finish. A wonderful haunting tale, cleverly plotted with some brilliantly crafted characters.
Highly recommended and I really look forward to reading other books by Amanda Jennings.

Thank you.

Set in Cornwall, the story is about a Tamsyn’s obsession with Cliff House, and its connection with her father, who has sadly passed away.
Amanda Jennings obviously knows the area well and her descriptions are drawn in a way that you feel that you are there, and can almost smell the sea as it breaks on the rocks.
The relationship between Tamsyn and Edie (who lives at the house) develops, though not welcomed by either Edie's mother or Angie (Tamsyn’s mother). As far as Eleanor (Edie’s mother is concerned, a cleaner's daughter has no place with the daughter of a wealthy author. The class divide clearly shows.
The relationships between the characters gradually develop, but I found the first part of the story to be long and drawn out before becoming more interesting in the later chapters.

My first read by this author. Thank you netgalley.
I'm not a reader for these kind of books but I needed a little change and it's edge of your seat reading material. It has very dark feeling and visions that makes you feeling spooked. Tamsin is in need of company and there's a big house which is completely empty and then one day it's occupied and she wants to be friends with the kids there because she's lonely. . Big mistake. As time progresses the parents in this fancy big house have their own unusual troubles and it makes you shiver.
I am guessing this is the authors style to make you feel spooked and she certainly did it with this. Spook alert...

Another fine book from Amanda,
As usual a fab story and really fab characters. 8/10
Can't wait for the next one,