I thoroughly enjoyed this book but I will preface this positive review by saying two things.
1. This book is being marketed as a Gothic novel and like many of my fellow reviewers I think this is inaccurate and will lead to poor reviews from readers who were expecting something very different.
2. You will need to suspend your disbelief for this one. There is no place for cynicism in the reading of this novel but I promise you, if I can do it then you can do it and you’ll be glad you did.
This story grew from the author’s childhood fears of noises in his house and finding out that even as an adult ‘things that go bump in the night’ are still anxiety inducing. This could have been a very good ghost story but there are plenty of very good ghost stories out there. Aj Gnuse went one step further and put an entire person inside the walls of an old Louisiana house. This person is an adolescent girl called Elise who has returned to the house where she grew up following the death of her parents and being placed into foster care.
Despite the entire story being Elise’s love song to her parents this novel keeps adult characters firmly in the background. I felt they were like the adults in the Peanuts tv cartoons there but muffled. I’m assuming as Elise hears the goings on of the house from within its walls that this was deliberate by Gnuse and I salute them for achieving it so well. The other characters are The House and the children; Elise, the brothers for who the house is currently home: Marshall and Eddie and Brodie a kid from the neighbourhood. Ok, so there is also a fantastic cameo role for the bird call sounding granddaughter clock! The characters are richly drawn and you instantly have sympathy and points of connection with each of them. Marshall and Eddie each have their crosses to bear. Marshall the older brother struggling to live somewhere fairly remote and with his younger brothers ‘weirdness’ and mostly just struggling with being a teenage boy! Eddie is a neuro-divergent square peg desperately trying to care for his own needs and also try to fit into the round hole of his family and middle school. As an autistic adult I identified with so much that Eddie felt, how all the other kids were ‘older’ and all seemed to be following this rule book that no one had ever given me but at the same time perfectly happy and content to be allowed to indulge in endless hours or Lego in the privacy of my own room. We don’t really know what kind of child Elise was before the loss of her parents and this changed identity to ‘girl in the walls’ gives her a unique ability to be impartial as she learns the ways of the family.
I feel that I know the house intimately from the inside and outside and I would love to see a house similar to one the author based the story on though I’m not sure googling “houses with really wide walls Louisiana” is going to take me very far!
There were two strands left unravelled at the end of the book. Two people who simply disappeared. One I care about and I’d like to have known was safe and the other... I’m glad the author doesn’t spare them a second thought!

Elise lives in the walls of her old family home, her parents have died and she fled her foster parents to go home. Now she watches and listens.

This book made me think about the creaks I hear at night- is there someone in the attic, or in the walls?

Throughout this story, from Elise watching the inhabitants of her old home, we learn about her life and the tragedy that she suffered. It is a very original idea, not meant to be creepy but it is creepy nonetheless!

Thank you to Netgalley for this review copy

I wasn’t completely pulled in with this. Unfortunately I was unable to finish it as I just couldn’t get into it, I couldn’t get to grips with the characters and found it quite confusing.

I was intrigued by Girl in the Walls. I’d seen it promoted on social media and was drawn to it. The book is quite simply about a girl who lives in the walls of a house. Only coming out when the occupants are out, stealing their food and little mementos. Eddie lives in the house. He knows she’s there.

The chapters in the book are incredibly short so it’s quite a quick read. A lot happens in the book you really get a sense of who Elise is. Like other reviewers I was also pondering the intricacies of her needing the bathroom during the night or becoming ill but that didn’t detract from the novel. Overall I would rate this book 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, 4th Estate and the author for the chance to review.

I presumed this was going to be a ghost story but it's actually something even more unlikely, a story about a living girl who literally lives in the walls of a house. Passages between rooms makes it possible for her to shelter there and move around, listening to the family who lives there and getting to know them without their knowledge. Her own family lived there before her parents were killed in an accident and she knows all the secret ways.

It's an interesting idea, but a little too difficult to believe. I found it a little on the slow side as well. I kept wondering about practicalities like bathing, crawling in and out from under the house without getting filthy, needing the toilet when people were home and could she really scavenge enough food from scraps to stay alive.

Apart from that, having to be silent all the time would drive any child batty. Sure she could go out whenever she wanted to, but imagine a small child in the dark evenings when it's cold or raining. She would have to sit in her shelter and be bored out of her mind!

I was very excited to read this book. Described as a haunting, gothic story, that and the cover are exactly what attracted me to it. But unfortunately it left me disappointed. I don’t know whether it is due to me recently reading so many fantastic books beforehand that it left me feeling that it couldn’t compare.

The author certainly is very talented and I admire anyone who can write so well. I do think I was let down purely by myself reading the various reviews with it being hailed as ‘the most anticipated gothic novel of the year’. It never came across to me as having a gothic feel to it at all. It is quite modern and it lacked something in its atmosphere which I find hard to explain. It never really gripped me or made me feel much emotion or tension. I definitely went into this book expecting something entirely different.

Mostly I wanted more depth surrounding the characters, especially Elise. After reading a story about her I still didn’t know much about her and reasons for her behaviour to want to hide. I also found the character of her friend Brody leaving me completely baffled. The ending left me totally deflated with many unanswered questions. I need answers!

It held so much promise and potential but it just never delivered for me personally. The majority of people who have read it loved it so please do not go only by my opinion.

Thanks 4th Estate & @netgalley for letting me read the arc in exchange for an honest review.

You know when a book turns out to be completely different to how you imagined? This is one of those stories but in the BEST possible way! I thought I was picking up a ghost story but the girl in the walls is no spirit, yet her story is no less haunting..

Elise is a young girl, who after becoming orphaned has hidden herself away in her family home despite another family now living there. Coming out only at night or when the family are out, she survives on little, moves behind the walls and is the houses biggest secret.

However, her presence isn't left unnoticed for long and two of the houses new residents - young brothers Eddie and Marshall start to notice they may not be alone. Together they hatch a plan to rid their home of whoever it is, hiding in plain sight.
But how do you get rid of someone you aren't sure even exists? I won't give anything else away as I feel this book is best approached knowing very little but what I will say is what ensues puts both Elise and the boys in danger.. eek it's just SO good!

With themes of grief, family, friendship and belonging being explored in such a unique way, this gothic tale is certainly an interesting read. It was fast paced, full of suspense and nothing like I expected but I enjoyed every last page of Gnuse's debut and finding it difficult to put down. I was enthralled by it's characters lives and I'm not going to lie, a little creeped out at the thought of a person being able to hide themselves away in someone else's home, no matter how harmless - just imagine! Gnuse has crafted a fascinating and engaging novel, that is quietly dark and so skillfully told, that it has you on the edge of your seat - I can't wait to see what he writes next!

I must admit this book wasn’t what I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be a ghost story (Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a ghost story) but it was much more than that. It’s about love and loss and many other things. SPOILER ALERT : you never actually do find out if she’s a ghost or not ...,
I loved this debut novel and give it 10/10

In an old house in Louisiana, there is a girl in the walls. Noises are heard, things are seen out of the corner of an eye but it can never be pinpointed by the 2 teenage boys of the family who live there.
The story did not go in the direction that I thought it would, I was expecting more along the lines of a ghost/haunting story.
The girl in the walls is a young girl called Elise who ran away from a children's foster home after her parents died.
The house is where she used to live with her parents and she knows more about the nooks and crannies than the current owners, allowing her to go relatively unnoticed.
I could not tell where the story was going to go but I did feel like you get to know the characters well. The chapters were very short, roughly 2/3 minutes according to my Kindle. Every so often, I found that there were chapters that didn't make sense and didn't follow with the story and I hate to say it but I found the ending really disappointing. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I was left with a 'is that it?' feeling. Unfortunately, Girl in the Walls is just not for me.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

A coming-of-age novel about longing and belonging, Girl in the Walls follows a young orphan, Elise. After her parents die, she escapes from her foster home and hides within the walls of her former family home. She knows every inch of the house, which floorboards creak, and where to hide in the spaces within the walls. The family living in the home now - including brothers Marshall and Eddie - must not know she is here. However, everything hidden is eventually found.

An interesting read, Girl in the Walls was totally different to how I expected it after reading the blurb. I expected a chilling ghost story, but I'm not entirely sure what I got, more of an emotion-led story, where I felt pity and sadness, rather than spookiness.

The novel is very well written. However, while an interesting concept, at times I felt the story dragged a little, and the plot was a little slow to build up.

A nice novel, but I felt it was not entirely for me.

Written by AJ Gnuse, Girl in the Walls is a story about a young girl named Elise. When her parents are killed in a tragic car accident Elise is put into a foster home but soon runs away, returning to her old family home. There she hides within the walls of the house, unbeknown to the Mason family who now call this place home. But Eddie and Marshall Mason begin to suspect they're not the only ones living in the house, and when they try and cast Elise out they bring a new danger to their doorstep.

An incredibly original concept, Girl in the Walls is a gothic-inspired story which offers a realistic portrayal of loss and grieving. The moments where Elise wanders the empty house, hunting for hints of memories of her parents are just heartbreaking and incredibly realistic. Elise's feelings are believable and despite the rather incredible concept it feels understandable as to why she's decided to return home. I also found the bond between Elise and Eddie, two young children who are both struggling in very different ways, incredibly endearing.

The short chapters ensure this is a fadt-paced read which builds tension well. There are moments, especially when the Mason boys call in outside help, when the story is genuinely creepy and frightening.

Though the story wraps up too quickly, and one particular plot point feels top far-fetched, this is an imaginative and gripping book, which could quite easily be transformed into a film.

A ghost story without a ghost, this Gothic-inspired tale takes the unusual premise of a little girl, tragically orphaned, who returns to the Louisiana plantation style-house she lived in a few months ago and takes up residence in its capacious walls, unseen and unoticed by the family now living there. But the two sons eventually become suspicious, and the lengths the older one goes to to oust her from her hiding place sparks a chain of events that uncovers the darkness that can lie at the heart of humanity.
I loved this story! Elise is such a fey creature, more spirit than mortal, though she has to eat and sleep just like anyone else. She moves through the house "like a river" - and it's easy to believe that she can get away with her deception.
Apart from the haunting element of this tale, there is a strong family theme as the author explores the bond between Elise and her dead parents, the love-hate relationship between gungho teenager Marshall and his younger, probably-autistic brother Eddie, and their relationship with their own parents, who are far too sensible to believe there might be a person living in the walls of their own house!
The writing is atmospheric, the characters strong and believable, and the plot is in turns, haunting, suspenseful and chilling, with a mythical aspect to it all that has the surprising effect of making it all the more believable.
A story not to be missed.

I didn't find this as good as expected...I didn't feel the characters were particularly well explored. A random character was added towards the end, but no clue to his ultimate motivations at all? All in all, I was underwhelmed. Many thanks to the publisher
and Netgalley for this chance to read an ARC of this book.

Many Thanks to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book before being published in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn´t for me.
I usually like finishing the books I start but this one was very difficult. However, the short chapters helped me a bit. And it took me a bit longer than I wished.
As the title´s name Elise lives in the walls of her former house. She wanders around the house, in the shadows, eats or have her bath when the family is out or asleep.
When I asked to read this book because it said it was a really good gothic novel I must´ve misread because to me it is not. The house wasn´t antique, the characters are normal people, no hidden stories, the guy who came to help them to search for “IT”, is it that easy that you allow somebody that you don´t know at all to come into your house and destroy it? I couldn´t connect with any of the characters, maybe a little with the younger brother, Edie.
So the book is really about grief and lonely people and how hard is to find the place where you belong.
There was some nice friendship between Elise and another boy that I didn´t understand where he came from and don´t know what happened with him later on.
And the end, for me is also missing some basic information. Too much left to my imagination.

I love a good romance or a good mystery. This book was none of it and I really didn´t enjoy it.

Thankyou to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this book. I absolutely loved this book, the characters, the setting, the atmosphere i loved it all. Girl in the Walls follows Elise, a girl who is alone and runs away from the childrens home and decides to live in the walls of her old house. Following her everyday and the decisions that she has to make so its not obvious to the current family within the house that she is there. I have this book on preorder and cannot wait to reread it

To start off with, I just want to highlight that this book does suffer a little bit from it’s promotion. I’ve seen it pitched and blurbed as a Gothic tale, but that’s not what it is at all. It’s worth shouting that out, because it can definitely impact your enjoyment of a book if you go in with very different expectations.

This is a story of grief and loneliness. When Elise’s parents passed away in an accident, she ran away from foster care to the last place she truly felt at home. Although another family now live there, she moves in to all the hidden places she explored when she lived there. She hides away in the walls and the attic, living of food she takes from the kitchen when the family are out. Meanwhile, Eddie is aware that there’s someone else there. Someone he hears in the walls and who borrows his books. And he wants the gone.

The explorations of this story was wonderfully done. We were in Elise’s head, seeing her thought process and emotions as she goes about her day. She’s a kid trying to live her life, and having to learn and adapt to the house around her. It was heart breaking seeing her watching Eddie and his brother while not being able to join them.

There’s a fantastic secondary plot around the brothers, that I won’t go into because of spoilers. But we got to see their relationship through that which was wonderful to see.

What was a slight shame was the the ending felt very jarring to the rest of the story. It’s a slow building novel, really interested in the character development more than being particularly plot heavy. But the ending had a completely different feel, and felt both sudden and a little unsatisfying.

Overall though, this was a good read. It was really moving and the characters were well written. I’ll definitely be on the look out for future novels by this author.

I highly recommend this book. Different than what I normally read and completely unputdownable.
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me the thrill of reading early.

I loved the concept of the book and the description really entices you to read it.
The cover is beautiful and the story itself is brilliant
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers and the author for the privilege to read this book for my honest opinion

I absolutely loved the premise for this one, and I felt the author perfectly managed to transform that feeling of being watched or not alone when you know you're the only one in the house into an atmosphere that permeated the entire book. The atmosphere truly carried this book, along with the emotions and the writing, but where it failed for me, was that the plot felt like it was too drawn out, and I found myself putting this one down and having to come back to it.

*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest and unbiased review of this book*

I'm not going to lie, I was first attracted to this book solely by how both beautiful and intriguingly creepy this cover looked and I knew instantly that I wanted to read this book! I did then read the synopsis, like a good girl, as I have been burned before by cover reads and I have been trying to get better when it comes to book splurging, especially those on NetGalley. I really liked the sound of this book and I honestly don't know what I went into thinking it was going to be like. I was hoping that it was going to be creepy, but the cover also screams YA or Middle Grade with the bright blue and shadowy figure, so I wasn't expecting too much creep, even if I was hoping it was going to be more Horror than Middle Grade. 

What I wasn't expecting to get from this book, was for me to feel sadness and pity for certain characters, but that is exactly how I felt while reading this book. This book was mainly told from the point of view from Elise, the little girl who is living inside the walls of the house, after witnessing the death of her parents and running away from the foster home she was put into for the night, back to the home she shared with the parents she has now lost. Back to the only sense of familiarity she now has left in her life. Like i said, this is more sad than horror. 

There are some frightening moments and characters in this book, one character in particular, that stick out and will stick with you for a while after reading this book and like I said, those creaks in my house make me questions myself now. The overall theme of this book does provide a general sense of uneasiness, especially when you start looking at things from other characters perspective. I would have loved to have read a more creepier version of this book, but that is just my take, but I completely appreciate this book for what it is and I particularly liked the end chapter, which is something I don't usually like to see in books. 

I wouldn't say to go into this book with the biggest expectation of spookiness, being more of an emotional read for me, with some creepiness thrown in. This is definitely a more YA or Middle Grade read.