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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Gripping and filled with twists and turns. I took some perverse pleasure in that very last chapter.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me this book to read and review!
I must admit, when I first heard about Our House, I had the strangest notion that it was a paranormal story. Then I read the synopsis and I realized it definitely is NOT paranormal in any way, but that didn’t deter me in the least. There were a lot of interesting questions raised in this book, and I almost felt like one of Fiona’s and Bram’s children as I read through the narrative.
One thing I really LOVED about Our House was its unique writing style. Both Fiona and Bram tell their stories separately, so we get a better understanding of what each of them was going through at the same time. If there was a specific event in both their lives, we saw each side of the story. Fiona’s story was written as an interview for a famous crime podcast, and I read it as if I was listening to her tell her story. Each of her sections ended with public tweets from listeners who were also hearing Fiona’s story, and this authenticated the storytelling vibe.
Bram’s story was almost the same, but instead of speaking for a podcast, he was writing a (very long) letter telling his side of events. From the start, I wasn’t sure what his plan was with the letter, but as the novel progresses that becomes more and more clear. There was also a third stream of narrative, in which we see Fiona and Bram after the house is being occupied by strangers. Fiona is clearly distraught and confused, and Bram is nowhere to be found.
The ending was very unexpected for me – I never saw it coming! I really loved how the whole book allowed me to see only in black and white, placing blame and innocence on certain characters, only to pull out that knowledge from me so unexpectedly. The author was able to twist everything around and complicate things for each character, but I did have a bit of an issue at the very end. There was one final twist that I didn’t see coming, and it’s because I basically missed it! I had to go back and reread a few chapters from the end to make sure I understood what happened correctly. I wish it was made a little bit more clear, as the book ends rather abruptly, but I’m not sure there was an easier way to convey it.
Overall, this is a very solid thriller, and the concept had me hooked from the start. Everything about Our House made for a great summer read, but that ending really killed the whole mood for me. The characters were believable and relatable, and I loved getting to know their parallel stories. I’ve seen so many positive reviews that, if you’re intrigued by the premise of Our House, then it’s definitely worth a read.
I must admit, when I first heard about Our House, I had the strangest notion that it was a paranormal story. Then I read the synopsis and I realized it definitely is NOT paranormal in any way, but that didn’t deter me in the least. There were a lot of interesting questions raised in this book, and I almost felt like one of Fiona’s and Bram’s children as I read through the narrative.
One thing I really LOVED about Our House was its unique writing style. Both Fiona and Bram tell their stories separately, so we get a better understanding of what each of them was going through at the same time. If there was a specific event in both their lives, we saw each side of the story. Fiona’s story was written as an interview for a famous crime podcast, and I read it as if I was listening to her tell her story. Each of her sections ended with public tweets from listeners who were also hearing Fiona’s story, and this authenticated the storytelling vibe.
Bram’s story was almost the same, but instead of speaking for a podcast, he was writing a (very long) letter telling his side of events. From the start, I wasn’t sure what his plan was with the letter, but as the novel progresses that becomes more and more clear. There was also a third stream of narrative, in which we see Fiona and Bram after the house is being occupied by strangers. Fiona is clearly distraught and confused, and Bram is nowhere to be found.
The ending was very unexpected for me – I never saw it coming! I really loved how the whole book allowed me to see only in black and white, placing blame and innocence on certain characters, only to pull out that knowledge from me so unexpectedly. The author was able to twist everything around and complicate things for each character, but I did have a bit of an issue at the very end. There was one final twist that I didn’t see coming, and it’s because I basically missed it! I had to go back and reread a few chapters from the end to make sure I understood what happened correctly. I wish it was made a little bit more clear, as the book ends rather abruptly, but I’m not sure there was an easier way to convey it.
Overall, this is a very solid thriller, and the concept had me hooked from the start. Everything about Our House made for a great summer read, but that ending really killed the whole mood for me. The characters were believable and relatable, and I loved getting to know their parallel stories. I’ve seen so many positive reviews that, if you’re intrigued by the premise of Our House, then it’s definitely worth a read.
This was probably one of the better thriller/mysteries I have read in a while. Lots of twists and turns.
mysterious
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Basically this book was about a unfaithful, destructive man who clearly was never taught right from wrong, who causes a fatal car accident and then gets blackmailed for it . That's it. That's all the story is about. Him never making the right decision. Cheats on his wife? Says he'll never do it again and then does it again. Gets many speeding tickets, gets license taken again, continues to speed. Speeds without a license, causes a car accident. Leaves the scene of the accident and a victim dies. Sleeps with yet another woman who turns out to be a blackmailer, whose brother kinda forced the accident to happen. Now he's being blackmailed double time.
Doesn't tell his wife, ends up having to sell the family home to pay the blackmailers. Does end up doing it making the wife think even worse things about him and gets the wife into trouble unnecessarily. Abandons his family after causing the stupidest mess. That's it....
Doesn't tell his wife, ends up having to sell the family home to pay the blackmailers. Does end up doing it making the wife think even worse things about him and gets the wife into trouble unnecessarily. Abandons his family after causing the stupidest mess. That's it....
I started reading it afters seeing snips of the show that was created based on the book. The show looked interesting to so I decided to try the book and I had an Audible credit to use. I honestly don't know if listening to this book was painful and took forever because of the story or the narrators. The story was pretty predictable and dragged out a lot of the story. It seriously could have been a short story. The couple has terrible communication skills and all their problems could have seriously been solved if they just asked like two questions. The narrators... oh god! The woman constantly sounded like she was whispering. The male narrator was clearly reading. Usually they try to make it sound as if they are telling the story... Not READING a story. I really tried to like the book, but it was way too painful.
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not often you start a book that dives straight into the plot point on the blurb but this one did. It moved slower than I would have preferred but enough happened I stayed interested to keep reading. I feel like Bram’s ending was coming from the beginning but that ending was WILD
Anyway it was a unique plot and I enjoyed the writing.
Anyway it was a unique plot and I enjoyed the writing.
3.75 stars. An entertaining read. Although I anticipated some of the twists, I didn’t guess all of them and found the book satisfying overall.
4.5 stars. This is an amazing psychological thriller. Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into the house she was sharing with her estranged husband. The story is told from Fi's point of view via a podcast called The Victim as she shares what happened to her marriage and how her home was sold without her consent and it is also told from her husband Bram's point of view via a Word document he is writing. There were a lot of surprising little twists and a jaw dropping ending. I received an ARC from FirstToRead.
Whilst this is definitely a page turner, I found it a bit frustrating at times. Bram's behaviour comes across as pretty unbelievable a lot of the time, and he is quite annoying! In fact believability is a problem across the plot, with so many actions feeling unlikely that it can be difficult to stay invested in the plot at times. Overall a decent enough read, but I wouldn't be rushing to recommend it.
I was so into this at first but man did it drag and drag and drag.
Free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 Stars Filled With Madness 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5
🎵Father wears his Sunday best
Mother's tired she needs a rest
The kids are playing up downstairs
Sister's sighing in her sleep
Brother's got a date to keep
He can't hang around
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
Our house it has a crowd
There's always something happening
And it's usually quite loud
Our mum she's so house-proud
Nothing ever slows her down
And a mess is not allowed
....🎵
-Madness-Our House 1982
Fiona was certainly house proud, but whether or not she liked a mess she certainly found herself in the middle of one... imagine returning home to find someone else has moved into your house... The problem? As far as you know your house was never for sale... and why can you not reach your ex-husband on his phone? Where is your stuff, where are your children? Sounds dreadful, doesn’t it?
The unraveling of this story was quite brilliant... told from Fiona‘s perspective through podcast episodes... Fiona was such a likable generous person who absolutely put her children before all else.... and truly this “bird nest “custody arrangement really played nicely into her house being sold right out from under her... BUT I’m absolutely not going to blame the victim here! We also got Brahm’s perspective through a letter/word doc.... now it was really hard for me to elicit any sympathy for him, he really was a reckless selfish individual.... The one good thing I can say about him is I do think he truly loved his wife and children, he just didn’t know how to go about it.... but what a horrible mess he left for Fiona to clean up!
Along with the podcast and word doc we also got the real time story... this was a TS read and some of the sisters found this to be repetitive.... however, I did not... I really liked getting to see events unfold from both Fiona and Brahm’s points of view... and I felt the use of different medias really kept it fresh....
This book was such a crazy ride! Such a rollercoaster... I got all buckled in and then... that huge hill that starts your heart kmbeating faster and fills you with anticipation... and just when you least expect it you’re headed down that huge hill being turned upside down and then you come to a screeching slamming jarring stop!.... that really is this book so many twists, so many turns, and an ending that will leave you reeling!
Strongly recommend this book to all psychological thriller lovers and I hope you enjoy the ride!
*** many thanks to Berkley for my copy of this book ***
🎵Father wears his Sunday best
Mother's tired she needs a rest
The kids are playing up downstairs
Sister's sighing in her sleep
Brother's got a date to keep
He can't hang around
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
Our house it has a crowd
There's always something happening
And it's usually quite loud
Our mum she's so house-proud
Nothing ever slows her down
And a mess is not allowed
....🎵
-Madness-Our House 1982
Fiona was certainly house proud, but whether or not she liked a mess she certainly found herself in the middle of one... imagine returning home to find someone else has moved into your house... The problem? As far as you know your house was never for sale... and why can you not reach your ex-husband on his phone? Where is your stuff, where are your children? Sounds dreadful, doesn’t it?
The unraveling of this story was quite brilliant... told from Fiona‘s perspective through podcast episodes... Fiona was such a likable generous person who absolutely put her children before all else.... and truly this “bird nest “custody arrangement really played nicely into her house being sold right out from under her... BUT I’m absolutely not going to blame the victim here! We also got Brahm’s perspective through a letter/word doc.... now it was really hard for me to elicit any sympathy for him, he really was a reckless selfish individual.... The one good thing I can say about him is I do think he truly loved his wife and children, he just didn’t know how to go about it.... but what a horrible mess he left for Fiona to clean up!
Along with the podcast and word doc we also got the real time story... this was a TS read and some of the sisters found this to be repetitive.... however, I did not... I really liked getting to see events unfold from both Fiona and Brahm’s points of view... and I felt the use of different medias really kept it fresh....
This book was such a crazy ride! Such a rollercoaster... I got all buckled in and then... that huge hill that starts your heart kmbeating faster and fills you with anticipation... and just when you least expect it you’re headed down that huge hill being turned upside down and then you come to a screeching slamming jarring stop!.... that really is this book so many twists, so many turns, and an ending that will leave you reeling!
Strongly recommend this book to all psychological thriller lovers and I hope you enjoy the ride!
*** many thanks to Berkley for my copy of this book ***