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reading_with_megan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
karenaerts's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
2.0
Oh wow, I took a chance on this Scottish Book of the Month but did not like it at all: 1.5
Greg and Joanne are ridiculous. The “relationship” is contrived and inauthentic from go. There’s far too much gratuitous sex at the beginning and neither characters are developed enough for me to care about them at all. So, as a result, what we get is chapters and chapters of the pair of them rutting like deer and putting me off my lunch.
Greg carried major incel vibes with this inner commentary on “females” and his sex-obsessed outlook. His only personality trait seemed to be “randy” and, quite frankly, he was gross. I also got the impression that he was like, sixty, and was surprised that he was actually thirty?!
Joanne was non-descript and boring. Caroline was a caricature (and I had her figured out far too early on).
The storyline was flimsy as hell too:
- Joanne randomly deciding to go to rural Scotland with some dude she just met, because “sex”
- All the villagers lying and covering for each other
- The villainization of Ailsa put a damper on the mystery of her death and made me ambivalent to its resolution
- How the police fucked up the original investigation of Ailsa’s disappearance
- Greg tormenting himself over spreading the virus (Greg was selfish and this didn’t seem plausible)
- How everyone, bar Caroline, was pro-Joanne
- Why were all these women obsessed with Greg? He was so boring and creepy
The pace was glacial and the whole story felt claustrophobic (but not in an intentional way). There was far too much padding in this book and because we had such a limited cast of characters, the ending was too easy to figure out to sit through all the faff. Not a lot of time seemed to pass between the Greg/Joanne thing which made the baby, insta-love, and ending totally naff. The domestic violence element felt shoehorned in like an afterthought. I think it was supposed to make us feel badly for Joanne but it didn’t feel plausible either and, let’s be honest, she could’ve handled it a bit better (like, I don’t know, LEAVING THE AREA WHEN YOU REALIZED YOUR PARTNER’S MATE WAS NEXT DOOR? But no, she waited to get caught. Ugh.)
So yeah, I kinda hated this?
Greg and Joanne are ridiculous. The “relationship” is contrived and inauthentic from go. There’s far too much gratuitous sex at the beginning and neither characters are developed enough for me to care about them at all. So, as a result, what we get is chapters and chapters of the pair of them rutting like deer and putting me off my lunch.
Greg carried major incel vibes with this inner commentary on “females” and his sex-obsessed outlook. His only personality trait seemed to be “randy” and, quite frankly, he was gross. I also got the impression that he was like, sixty, and was surprised that he was actually thirty?!
Joanne was non-descript and boring. Caroline was a caricature (and I had her figured out far too early on).
The storyline was flimsy as hell too:
- Joanne randomly deciding to go to rural Scotland with some dude she just met, because “sex”
- All the villagers lying and covering for each other
- The villainization of Ailsa put a damper on the mystery of her death and made me ambivalent to its resolution
- How the police fucked up the original investigation of Ailsa’s disappearance
- Greg tormenting himself over spreading the virus (Greg was selfish and this didn’t seem plausible)
- How everyone, bar Caroline, was pro-Joanne
- Why were all these women obsessed with Greg? He was so boring and creepy
The pace was glacial and the whole story felt claustrophobic (but not in an intentional way). There was far too much padding in this book and because we had such a limited cast of characters, the ending was too easy to figure out to sit through all the faff. Not a lot of time seemed to pass between the Greg/Joanne thing which made the baby, insta-love, and ending totally naff. The domestic violence element felt shoehorned in like an afterthought. I think it was supposed to make us feel badly for Joanne but it didn’t feel plausible either and, let’s be honest, she could’ve handled it a bit better (like, I don’t know, LEAVING THE AREA WHEN YOU REALIZED YOUR PARTNER’S MATE WAS NEXT DOOR? But no, she waited to get caught. Ugh.)
So yeah, I kinda hated this?
minadelrey01's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
emimclarty's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
rachyc's review
3.0
It was a relatively good book. Felt like it slightly dragged on at the end, but I loved the start of it. The whodunnit at the end was interesting. Liked the setting of a village in the woods in Scotland. Where did Stratton go in the end?
booksbybindu's review
4.0
‘The Party House’ is the first standalone from the author of the acclaimed Dr MacLeod series, of which I am a huge fan! This is a psychological thriller set in the Highlands of Scotland just after a wide sweeping pandemic. It was captivating from the start and I devoured it in one sitting! It was extremely well written with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing right up until the end.
The village of Blackrig has been devastated by the recent pandemic and the locals are outraged when the large estate house announces it is once again open for business. This stirs up a lot of tension in the locals as they blame the owners of the house for the six deaths that the village suffered from. As the anger builds some of the locals ended up willfully damaging party of the property but whilst doing so they uncover the body of 17-year-old Ailsa Cummings who went missing five years ago. Old tensions boil to the surface and questions are asked of all the males in the village, including Greg the head game keeper who has just embarked on a new relationship with Joanna. Greg refuses to talk to Joanne about Ailsa and as his anger increases Joanna starts to think there is more to his denials than he is saying... But then Joanna has secrets of her own!
This was an engrossing and entertaining read which has me gripped from start to finish. Although I guessed some parts of the story it was a well-crafted and solid narrative that built upon the intrigue from the get-go. Lin’s description of the Highlands was sublime and made me want to return up to Aviemore even though I was only there last year. Also if this house was based on a real-life example please let me know as it sounds like a slice of heaven! Lin managed to capture the essence of the landscape, the close-knit communities and the battle between locals owning the land instead of large corporations. Was it just me or was Colin based on Duncan from Monarch of the Glen?! I quite liked Greg as a character even though we all knew there were grey areas in his history. The narrative managed to layer on lies and omissions, ulterior motives and red herrings till you started to question everything you were reading. This was a page-turner for sure!
Let me know if you read this one!
The village of Blackrig has been devastated by the recent pandemic and the locals are outraged when the large estate house announces it is once again open for business. This stirs up a lot of tension in the locals as they blame the owners of the house for the six deaths that the village suffered from. As the anger builds some of the locals ended up willfully damaging party of the property but whilst doing so they uncover the body of 17-year-old Ailsa Cummings who went missing five years ago. Old tensions boil to the surface and questions are asked of all the males in the village, including Greg the head game keeper who has just embarked on a new relationship with Joanna. Greg refuses to talk to Joanne about Ailsa and as his anger increases Joanna starts to think there is more to his denials than he is saying... But then Joanna has secrets of her own!
This was an engrossing and entertaining read which has me gripped from start to finish. Although I guessed some parts of the story it was a well-crafted and solid narrative that built upon the intrigue from the get-go. Lin’s description of the Highlands was sublime and made me want to return up to Aviemore even though I was only there last year. Also if this house was based on a real-life example please let me know as it sounds like a slice of heaven! Lin managed to capture the essence of the landscape, the close-knit communities and the battle between locals owning the land instead of large corporations. Was it just me or was Colin based on Duncan from Monarch of the Glen?! I quite liked Greg as a character even though we all knew there were grey areas in his history. The narrative managed to layer on lies and omissions, ulterior motives and red herrings till you started to question everything you were reading. This was a page-turner for sure!
Let me know if you read this one!
bookbabebecca's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
n_atatouille's review
5.0
This was excellent.
The plot was engaging, well paced and exciting. Things were kept ‘under wraps’ for a lot of the story, which meant I didn’t foresee which character would become the perpetrator until near to the end of the story.
I love that this is set in Scotland, it felt very ‘believable,’ and I did not get bored once reading this.
If you want a good thriller/crime read, go for this one!
The plot was engaging, well paced and exciting. Things were kept ‘under wraps’ for a lot of the story, which meant I didn’t foresee which character would become the perpetrator until near to the end of the story.
I love that this is set in Scotland, it felt very ‘believable,’ and I did not get bored once reading this.
If you want a good thriller/crime read, go for this one!