This would be the perfect read for a spooky season or if you’re looking for something with a little queer representation and a spooky and thrilling atmosphere. The author does such a good job painting the characters and the setting of the story. I was truly terrified at a few moments and the ending in this book is worth every minute of it.

Fascinating and gently edgy, The House is about Sadie, Fin and their two children and the night Sadie is assaulted. Escaping to start over they realize that not everything is at it seems. The attacker, Sadie's former client has found out where they are hiding and is on the way to finish the job.

A riveting, edge of your seat read!

Creepy thriller material, starring an adorable lesbian couple. It was a little too spooky for me, so I ended up having to read it in smaller chunks, but I'm well known to be a wuss.

Bold Strokes Books' usually blows it out of the water, so I suppose it was inevitable that something like this would happen eventually.

Like The Upstairs Room and The Little Stranger, this is a novel about a (potentially) haunted house. One of the most classic horror tropes there is, there's a hundred thousand minefields you need to be sure not to step in so your book is actually engaging, and The House manages to stand in all of them.

I'm not a horror buff. I've only seen a handful of horror films, and 6.3% of the books I've read have been horror. (Shoutout to past me's diligent Goodreads tagging that allowed me to do the math.) But even I knew exactly where this was going, and what the twists would be, and what every single trope was.

Here are some tropes I noticed, none of which were executed particularly well.

- Moving to a country house with vaguely bad juju but hell, it's ridiculously cheap!

- A child has an imaginary friend, called Koosh.

- The other child has psychic dreams.

- A journal of a Victorian inhabitant of the house is discovered, called Nathanial Cushion. Yes, Cushion, like Koosh, which of course does not get noticed by Fin. Because I, and most readers, am not as stupid as these characters, I noticed immediately. It should also be noted that the first diary entry Fin reads dates from 1888, which seems a lot like a very heavy-handed connection to Jack the Ripper. We get it, he's evil.

- The bad guy is the Baddest Bad Guy To Ever Bad, a misogynistic sociopathic murderer who is terrible in every way. Men like this do, obviously, exist; the issue isn't that it isn't realistic, but that it is boring.

- Fin starts to be angry and verbally vicious after moving into the house. Instead of a slow build-up, however, it comes completely out of leftfield.

- Fin finds a trapdoor. This is cliche enough as it is, but of course the trapdoor slams shut behind her. And of course this passageway is a keystone of the denouement.

- Fin's related to the Evil Victorian Ghost, because it wasn't cliche enough already.

The writing itself was... average. Nothing exciting, just something to hang the plot off like scaffolding, but nothing bad either.

You may potentially enjoy this book if you have lived under a rock your entire life and have literally no knowledge of horror tropes. Otherwise, you'll see everything a mile off and roll your eyes the whole way through.

Needless to say, I do not recommend.

I really loved this book in a new to me author. The characters and location really and to the story. I can't wait to read the next one. This book keeps you guessing until the end.

This is an impressive full length debut novel from Ms. Darry. The story revolves around Fin and Sadie, an established couple, and their two children after the move from London to an old country house – make that an old haunted country house. Sign me up – I love a good haunted house story.

I really enjoyed the way that Darry establishes a healthy and loving relationship between Fin and Sadie and, as the story progresses, how it slowly devolves. The normal stress and uncertainties of dealing with the after-effects of an attack, the looming threat of a stalker and moving from the city to the country would be enough to put a strain on any relationship but when Darry adds the malevolent influence of the house’s ghostly presence, the once strong relationship turns toxic. There’s a subtle build of tension as Fin falls deeper under the house’s influence, her thoughts and rationale getting twisted and darker by the day. This one doesn’t go for the jump scare or lots of thumps in the middle of the night to keep the horror level up – there are odd events and the children are drawn in as six year old Liam senses the innate danger in the house and three year old Lucy’s imaginary playmate starts causing physical damage. Overall a good creepy read.

I enjoyed the book but it had a touch of Amityville Horror about it so i could only read it during the day ! I was hoping the characters would make it to the end of the book in one piece and my imagination was in overdrive until the very end.

This book is outside of my preferred genre. I don't know that I anticipated so much horror since it was billed as a thriller. That said, I enjoyed the book for the most part. Usually, I read a book from start to finish non stop. While reading this book I found myself needing breaks because of the fear factor. Not over the top for most, but I'm not a fan of any scary stuff. But, the writing was good and I appreciated the normalized representation of lesbian parents with children. As one half of two moms with a 20 year old, it is wonderful to see quality representation finally happening.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley & author.

The House is a paranormal / Thriller / Horror novel. This was a great, easy to read book. I"ll definitely read more by the author.

This is an impressive debut novel that is firmly in the psychological thriller realm. Highly readable and page-turning. This is a thriller/horror, but with some twists in plot/characters that make it fresh that are nice to see. The pacing of this was great and it read as a thriller should read, leaving you ready to turn the pages quickly.

#TheHouse #NetGalley

A bit predictable with a formula that has been done many times before but still interesting enough to keep me reading. The characters were well defined and the story kept up a good pace, while at times it felt a little formulaic, there were enough original concepts which spiced up the tale. All in all I liked it and I will definitely keep an eye on this author.

Eden Darry is an exciting new author with her debut novel having just thoroughly captivated me.
Sadie is a barrister in London and her wife Fin is an up and coming upholsterer and they have two young children Liam and Lucy. One night when Sadie was coming out of chambers on her way home she was attacked by a disgruntled villain whose intention had been to rape and murder her. Fortunately he was disturbed and ran off
Shaken the family decide to move away from London into the country and Fin believes she has found the perfect Claire for them.
With the villain, Lenny, finally behind bars are there troubles over ?
Super debut loved it.

The House by Eden Darry is a paranormal/horror novel…..a haunted house for the modern family.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bold Strokes Books, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Sadie, a lawyer, is viciously attacked by a potential client. A client who she refused to defend, because she knew he was guilty. Lance Sherry skips the country, but knows he will return, if only for a brief time. He has a bone to pick, and this time that lawyer will not survive.

Although the idea of moving out of bustling London and into the country did not really appeal to Sadie, she agreed with her wife Fin, that getting away from the “scene of the crime” did sound good. So when Fin found the house of her dreams, they bundled their two kids up and moved to the country. Unfortunately, the house didn’t really hold the same charm to Sadie as it did to Fin. Six-year old Liam didn’t like the house either, although three-year old Lucy seemed to be fine with it. She even found herself an invisible friend.

Fin seemed to change when they moved in to the new house. A much grumpier Fin emerged, one that neither Sadie nor Fin herself liked. Neither one of them really had control though. There seems to be more than meets the eye with this house. Fin feels an affinity to the previous owner, and the mysteries of the house itself, but is unwilling to share this information with Sadie. Sadie, on the other hand, does not understand why Fin is suddenly so mean.

Things are getting out of control, and they are going to get a whole lot worse.



My Opinions:
For a debut novel, Eden Darry did really well. This book had everything a modern-day horror novel needed. A modern couple, a haunted house, and a talented author to combine the two. The atmosphere was eerie and the plot held a lot of suspense. The couple went between love and hate, and if only they had talked to one another! And the reader just kept turning those pages. The book had a good pace, so it was a fast read.

I liked how there were two “villains” in the book. Both the stalker and the house contributed to the overall suspense.

Parts were dark and creepy, parts a little brutal, but parts could have used just a little more scare power, a little more paranormal activity.

Overall, it was a good debut, and I’m looking forward to more from this author!

This one was a bit of a slow start, and I initially didn’t think I would like it much. But it picks up just before the halfway point and I ended up racing through to the end to see what happened.

I also really appreciated the LGBTQ angle to the story; I don’t see enough of that in the suspense/psychological thriller/paranormal genres. And a normal, loving couple to boot! It was refreshing.

Fairly well-written, and a nice refreshing take on the haunted house story. I’d like to read more by this author!

The House is the debut novel by Eden Darry, and I liked it a lot. The book is a horror/thriller/ghost story at heart, but with a side of romantic drama. I like the main characters, Sadie and Fin, who have a very real loving relationship until Fin starts to change...
Overall this is a well- constructed, well thought out, and well-written book. I don't particularly like scary movies or scary books, and never have, so I can't say I love this novel. But I did enjoy reading it more than I thought I would and there is plenty to love for fans of paranormal ghost stories. And it's set in London which is a bonus. Well worth a read.

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Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. I thought this book was definitely a good psychological thriller and it had me entertained throughout!

The book started off with a bang, slowed down a little, but for the most part kept up a good pace. It was very readable and I liked that it was not a long book so the story never really dragged. There is a paranormal element to this, but it’s almost more evil than what you think about a “normal” haunting with ghosts. And there is also a real life evil person the characters have to deal with so it’s a lot on their plates.

Creepy, paranormal with a touch of light horror, this book was a good read. With it being a thriller in two different ways, one being with the psychopaths after the main character sadie and the other being a more paranormal, more about the haunted house the family moved to, the book kept a good pace and kept me engaged. Although this is not a romance, you do have an established married couple that is a main part of the story. The characters were well developed and I loved the story as a whole. Honestly I can't say much without giving something away but this book was overall very enjoyable and definitely had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and of course the author for this digital ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
This book is a twisted psychological thriller and was a very enjoyable read!

Sadie and Fin and their two children live an ordinary life until one night Sadie gets attacked. This sudden event forces them to move out of their house and out of the city. The House is everything Fin had ever wanted and she feels at home right from the start. Sadie does not share does feelings but for Fin's sake she tries to make it work. However the house has other plans for the family and it might just be too late by the time they realize the House's real intentions.

This book was really incredible. Completely unexpected. Thrilling, scary and a complete page turner.

Every character was well develop and I felt like you were there with them experiencing their changes and fears. This book was a complete surprise. Finished it in one seating even though I was scare to turn the page many times. I had already recommended this to everyone I know.

Amazing book and I cannot wait for future titles from this author.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review