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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a very different ghost story - certainly not what I expected, but that’s also not necessarily a bad thing! 👻
I loved the harm OCD and queer representation in this! I enjoyed the Beth character I think the most out of all. The pacing did feel sluggish especially at the midpoint. Some of the more minor characters I was left wondering if there was even a point to them. 👀
This book definitely did not go where I was expecting it to go - if you are thinking of reading this for horror, you will be sadly disappointed! However, I did enjoy Cullen’s beautiful prose and the relationship between Cassie and Beth as the book progressed! I’d recommend this for literary fiction lovers! 👏
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the gifted early finished copy in exchange for my honest review! ❤️
I loved the harm OCD and queer representation in this! I enjoyed the Beth character I think the most out of all. The pacing did feel sluggish especially at the midpoint. Some of the more minor characters I was left wondering if there was even a point to them. 👀
This book definitely did not go where I was expecting it to go - if you are thinking of reading this for horror, you will be sadly disappointed! However, I did enjoy Cullen’s beautiful prose and the relationship between Cassie and Beth as the book progressed! I’d recommend this for literary fiction lovers! 👏
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the gifted early finished copy in exchange for my honest review! ❤️
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Did I think this book was called House of Bath the entire time because I thought the bowl of fruit on the cover (a very underwhelming cover for this book) was a bathtub filled with fruit with a blood splatter on the ground and spend the entire book waiting for some kind of gruesome bath scene? Well…yes!
Did this turn out to be one of my favorite reads of the year? Also yes!
When bisexual literary agent assistant Cassie flees New York City after a series of events that led to her breaking up with her girlfriend and leaving her boss for dead in his office, she flees to her small hometown in North Jersey, where she hasn't returned since high school. There, she reunites with her high school best friend Eli McKean. Over the following months, Eli and Cassie fall in love and marry, she becomes stepmother to his two children—and I forgot to mention: Eli is actively grieving his wife, who passed suddenly and tragically months before Cassie arrived. As Cassie settles into her new role as wife and mother and the subsequent responsibilities, she begins to feel drawn to Eli's wife, Beth, who begins to share her story with Cassie. At the same time, their neighbor, Joan, takes Cassie under her wing to teach Cassie how to be the wife and mother Eli expects.
This is the second book I've read in a row where my favorite parts of the book are spoilers so I can't write them in my review. What I will say is this book is very twisty-turny, but it has a steady, confident pace that is engaging and captivating but not necessarily fast. Kerry Cullen's prose is poetic and raw. Cassie lives with a form of OCD that makes her hyper fixate on violent thoughts for others that she'll never act on. This includes children, unsuspecting people, her father and stepchildren—anybody can get it! These scenes were very intriguing and I found how this disorder was written to be very uniquely executed compared to how I've seen OCD be displayed in other thrillers.
Cullen also did a great job of creating characters who are not at all likable, but they're sympathetic. So like, you root for them, but you're like, "wow, what an awful and odd human being." Such is the case for House of Beth, which never does have that gruesome bath scene. This is a gothic horror, with queer expression, supernatural sisterwives, literary fiction-y, thriller-with-an-extended-release and I couldn't recommend it more.
What a debut!
5 ⭐️s
0.5 🌶️
🚨 Pub Date: 07/15/25
Did this turn out to be one of my favorite reads of the year? Also yes!
When bisexual literary agent assistant Cassie flees New York City after a series of events that led to her breaking up with her girlfriend and leaving her boss for dead in his office, she flees to her small hometown in North Jersey, where she hasn't returned since high school. There, she reunites with her high school best friend Eli McKean. Over the following months, Eli and Cassie fall in love and marry, she becomes stepmother to his two children—and I forgot to mention: Eli is actively grieving his wife, who passed suddenly and tragically months before Cassie arrived. As Cassie settles into her new role as wife and mother and the subsequent responsibilities, she begins to feel drawn to Eli's wife, Beth, who begins to share her story with Cassie. At the same time, their neighbor, Joan, takes Cassie under her wing to teach Cassie how to be the wife and mother Eli expects.
This is the second book I've read in a row where my favorite parts of the book are spoilers so I can't write them in my review. What I will say is this book is very twisty-turny, but it has a steady, confident pace that is engaging and captivating but not necessarily fast. Kerry Cullen's prose is poetic and raw. Cassie lives with a form of OCD that makes her hyper fixate on violent thoughts for others that she'll never act on. This includes children, unsuspecting people, her father and stepchildren—anybody can get it! These scenes were very intriguing and I found how this disorder was written to be very uniquely executed compared to how I've seen OCD be displayed in other thrillers.
Cullen also did a great job of creating characters who are not at all likable, but they're sympathetic. So like, you root for them, but you're like, "wow, what an awful and odd human being." Such is the case for House of Beth, which never does have that gruesome bath scene. This is a gothic horror, with queer expression, supernatural sisterwives, literary fiction-y, thriller-with-an-extended-release and I couldn't recommend it more.
What a debut!
5 ⭐️s
0.5 🌶️
🚨 Pub Date: 07/15/25
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Genuinely the worst book I’ve read in a long time. If I had known the main character would be a 28 year old with harm OCD I would have just retreated into my own head pre-medication. The main character sucks, the kids are ok, Eli sucks, Joan sucks, Beth sucks, and most of all marketing this as any sort of thriller or horror SUCKS. Do not read this!
It’s also poorly written. That is a secondary concern since the content is so insufferable, but you should know that also before you attempt to read this.
It’s also poorly written. That is a secondary concern since the content is so insufferable, but you should know that also before you attempt to read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow I have not devoured a book like I did this one in so long! I sat down and read it in 24 hours and wished I could continue reading their story. When I originally read the synopsis, I was expecting a little bit of a paranormal murder mystery but this book was SO much more than that! Cassie and Beth were such well developed characters that were flawed but still so engaging. I loved the dual narration. I really thought I knew where this book was going and I was so wrong. I loved it.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
This book was delightfully weird – in the absolute best possible way!
Cassie took some warming up to, but her journey and internal battle with OCD and intrusive thoughts offered powerful insights and resonated deeply. Ultimately, a compelling and well-paced read that I truly enjoyed. Huge thanks to @simonbooks and @kermichele for the gifted review copy!
Cassie took some warming up to, but her journey and internal battle with OCD and intrusive thoughts offered powerful insights and resonated deeply. Ultimately, a compelling and well-paced read that I truly enjoyed. Huge thanks to @simonbooks and @kermichele for the gifted review copy!