Reviews

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

shealennon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

emilybohannan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Gun violence, and Violence

melodys_library's review against another edition

2.0

A good idea with a lackluster delivery.

agonzal4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

adenacohen's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lucifer_morningstar13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was not what I was expecting. Maybe because of the name I assumed it would be a thriller. It was actually about two families tied together by one member's

murder of a member of the other's.

It was about race relations in Los Angeles between Koreans and black people, something I hadn't thought about at all before reading this book. I keep wondering though, about the fact that no co-author is mentioned. The fact that a Korean author wrote this book from the perspective of a Korean woman and a black man in alternating chapters. Wrote about the experiences of this black family struggling with

the murder of one of their own, the main character's sister, a daughter, a niece, a granddaughter.

Very interesting. I wonder if she had help on the perspective.

ardengyle's review against another edition

4.5

story//*****
Covering racial tensions, family secrets, and complicated histories, this is an intricate plot of 2 families that are inextricably linked from the events of one night in the distant past.

style//*****
Cha's historical fiction of the tensions after the LA Riots is palpable.
You can feel the cultural differences and the distinct intergenerational angst and unspoken struggles of each character.

spark//****
This story definitely resonates more with people in LA and surrounding Counties.

shelfexplanatory's review against another edition

2.0

2.5/5

kotabee's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

zmull's review against another edition

4.0

Your House Will Pay starts with a fictionalized version of the murder of Latasha Harlins in 1991, but quickly moves to 2019 to look at the lives of two families left behind, the family of Harlin stand-in Ava Matthews, and the family of her killer, the Parks. Steph Cha has previously published three mystery novels, so it would be obvious to look at this novel as crime fiction but certainly straddles the line with contemporary literary fiction. Cha has a lot of sympathy for her characters and really lets them live. My only complaint is that the novel is fairly short and doesn't take in much of the world around the characters. Still, quite good. This would be an ideal introduction for a literary fiction reader curious to dip a toe into modern crime fiction.