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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
The plot is extraordinarily convoluted--to the point that it strains credibility; the characterization is superficial with villains who seem to be evil simply for the sake of being evil while lacking any motivation for their villainy and protagonists who are not fully developed; and the prose, especially the dialogue, too often rings artificial. Still, the mystery and the action are good enough to overcome these defects and make this, overall, an interesting read.
Good plot, but somehow the book seemed too long and too slow. I think it's because of the few dialogues and too many inner monologues.
A truly unique reading experience with some fantastic twists that had me up late finishing!!! See my full review on my blog!
When I first started to read The New Neighbors by Simon Lelic, I honestly didn’t know what to make of it! Lelic uses a really interesting style with this book, where for about the first 2/3 the two main characters are writing back and forth journal entries trying to explain what happened and what led them to the first big twist (no spoilers, sorry!). What was interesting, though, was that their journal entries almost sounded like they were reading each other’s as they wrote, even though their intended audience was a third party. Sometimes they’d respond to what the other said in a very humorous way. I really ended up enjoying it! Though I’m not sure I completely trusted either narrative, since they repeatedly mentioned that they were leaving some things out. Discovering those things was half the surprise, though!
Jack and Syd have found their forever house…
After looking at houses all over London, Jack and Syd finally find the house. THE house. The forever house that they can grow old in. Sure, the house is dark and a little creepy, but it is large and in a good neighborhood and they get an offer accepted almost immediately. Strange, though, that they offered jut under asking, with several other buyers on the market… Don’t worry, the agent tells them. The owner took a liking to Jack and Syd. He chose them out of all the offers.
And then Jack makes a shocking discovery…
After a horrible smell starts to emanate from the attic, Jack goes up to investigate. And then he finds it… the discovery. He can’t tell Syd what he found, though. It will only upset her. And he can’t tell her about the sounds he hears at night when he can’t sleep. Meanwhile, Syd has formed a friendship with a young girl across the way. She can’t be bothered by the problems with the house. And yet, why does the former owners’ picture look so familiar?
And then a dead body is discovered outside the house, and Jack and Syd realize they should have told the police what was going on from the beginning, before it was too late…
Reflection
If that summary seemed confusing or disjointed, don’t worry! That is sort of the thing with this book. I actually found myself repeatedly going back to the plot summary because I couldn’t figure out if I had missed something. It takes a bit for the pieces of the puzzle to reveal themselves with this one. But it is intentional! At first it will feel like a ghost story. In fact, I wondered if perhaps it was a ghost story! And in a way it is. The author says at the end that he has always wanted to write a ghost story, so he wrote this. Because after all, ghosts are just things from our past that haunt us. And that is truly what this book is about!
I wish I could talk more about the plot, but I absolutely refuse to give away any spoilers! This book is really fun in the reveals. I had to read it closely, because the twists and knowledge bombs get dropped so quickly. They are easy to miss if you don’t pay attention! And the characters are all keeping things from each other, and sometimes from the reader. But the way the final twist comes together is just fantastic! I really enjoyed the ending of this one.
Thank you to the publishers at Berkley and to Simon Lelic for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When I first started to read The New Neighbors by Simon Lelic, I honestly didn’t know what to make of it! Lelic uses a really interesting style with this book, where for about the first 2/3 the two main characters are writing back and forth journal entries trying to explain what happened and what led them to the first big twist (no spoilers, sorry!). What was interesting, though, was that their journal entries almost sounded like they were reading each other’s as they wrote, even though their intended audience was a third party. Sometimes they’d respond to what the other said in a very humorous way. I really ended up enjoying it! Though I’m not sure I completely trusted either narrative, since they repeatedly mentioned that they were leaving some things out. Discovering those things was half the surprise, though!
Jack and Syd have found their forever house…
After looking at houses all over London, Jack and Syd finally find the house. THE house. The forever house that they can grow old in. Sure, the house is dark and a little creepy, but it is large and in a good neighborhood and they get an offer accepted almost immediately. Strange, though, that they offered jut under asking, with several other buyers on the market… Don’t worry, the agent tells them. The owner took a liking to Jack and Syd. He chose them out of all the offers.
And then Jack makes a shocking discovery…
After a horrible smell starts to emanate from the attic, Jack goes up to investigate. And then he finds it… the discovery. He can’t tell Syd what he found, though. It will only upset her. And he can’t tell her about the sounds he hears at night when he can’t sleep. Meanwhile, Syd has formed a friendship with a young girl across the way. She can’t be bothered by the problems with the house. And yet, why does the former owners’ picture look so familiar?
And then a dead body is discovered outside the house, and Jack and Syd realize they should have told the police what was going on from the beginning, before it was too late…
Reflection
If that summary seemed confusing or disjointed, don’t worry! That is sort of the thing with this book. I actually found myself repeatedly going back to the plot summary because I couldn’t figure out if I had missed something. It takes a bit for the pieces of the puzzle to reveal themselves with this one. But it is intentional! At first it will feel like a ghost story. In fact, I wondered if perhaps it was a ghost story! And in a way it is. The author says at the end that he has always wanted to write a ghost story, so he wrote this. Because after all, ghosts are just things from our past that haunt us. And that is truly what this book is about!
I wish I could talk more about the plot, but I absolutely refuse to give away any spoilers! This book is really fun in the reveals. I had to read it closely, because the twists and knowledge bombs get dropped so quickly. They are easy to miss if you don’t pay attention! And the characters are all keeping things from each other, and sometimes from the reader. But the way the final twist comes together is just fantastic! I really enjoyed the ending of this one.
Thank you to the publishers at Berkley and to Simon Lelic for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Jack and Sydney move into what they think is their perfect home. (Or, at least, Sydney loves it.) However, Jack is bugged by the fact they got the house despite putting in the lowest offer. Then he finds a dead cat in the attic, and a box of girl's things. Sydney, meanwhile, has made friends with 13 year old Elsie, who is clearly being abused by her father. Things get strenuous when a dead body is found by the house and Jack becomes the prime suspect.
I read this in one go, so that's something! This was an enjoyable thriller, if both too far-fetched and too predictable at the same time. It was thankfully free of the "Then" and "Now" format that pervades 90% of thrillers these days. I got a little frustrated with the drips and drabs of plot pieces being fed to us. If Jack and Sydney (the chapters alternate between the two) are writing a statement to the police, why are they going about in such a roundabout way? It was a very artificial set-up. If you're confessing something in writing, you just go right out and say it! You wouldn't get what happens here. "Oh, yes, that bad thing, but let me talk about this other thing first!" I mean, come on, please.
But it was refreshing to get something that moved at a decent pace, had strong characterisations (even though I wanted to shake both Sydney and Jack at times), and most importantly, kept me interested. So many thrillers fail to get that last part down right! There's nothing here that really sets it apart in a very crowded market, but I had a good time with it.
I read this in one go, so that's something! This was an enjoyable thriller, if both too far-fetched and too predictable at the same time. It was thankfully free of the "Then" and "Now" format that pervades 90% of thrillers these days. I got a little frustrated with the drips and drabs of plot pieces being fed to us. If Jack and Sydney (the chapters alternate between the two) are writing a statement to the police, why are they going about in such a roundabout way? It was a very artificial set-up. If you're confessing something in writing, you just go right out and say it! You wouldn't get what happens here. "Oh, yes, that bad thing, but let me talk about this other thing first!" I mean, come on, please.
But it was refreshing to get something that moved at a decent pace, had strong characterisations (even though I wanted to shake both Sydney and Jack at times), and most importantly, kept me interested. So many thrillers fail to get that last part down right! There's nothing here that really sets it apart in a very crowded market, but I had a good time with it.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I give this book 3.5 stars, but will round up to 4.
I can see from other reviews that I'm in a minority to have not LOVED this book. I mean I liked it, but love is a strong word.
The House isn't a 'horror', although the title and cover suggest it is. But the House is central to the plot. Jack and Syd have just bought their first home, when they get wrapped up in a story of murder, and the past comes back to haunt them.
I'm a big fan of psychological thrillers, and this didn't disappoint! The reason I didn't love this book, is because I didn't like anyone in it. I get we're supposed to root for Jack and Sydney, but I just didn't like them enough.
The twist was good - but I did guess it, probably cause I knew there was a twist coming.
Worth a read! Definitely- and I can see it becoming a hit on release!
I give this book 3.5 stars, but will round up to 4.
I can see from other reviews that I'm in a minority to have not LOVED this book. I mean I liked it, but love is a strong word.
The House isn't a 'horror', although the title and cover suggest it is. But the House is central to the plot. Jack and Syd have just bought their first home, when they get wrapped up in a story of murder, and the past comes back to haunt them.
I'm a big fan of psychological thrillers, and this didn't disappoint! The reason I didn't love this book, is because I didn't like anyone in it. I get we're supposed to root for Jack and Sydney, but I just didn't like them enough.
The twist was good - but I did guess it, probably cause I knew there was a twist coming.
Worth a read! Definitely- and I can see it becoming a hit on release!
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not what I expected but turned into a good crime thriller and plot twists
I almost tossed this book at chapter 3. The characters bickering with each other over what the other had written in their previous chapter was just eye rolls galore. Fortunately, they (mostly) stopped doing that after a few chapters.
I enjoyed reading it. I wanted to know what was going to happen next and I quite liked the main characters. But the ending sucked. It was obvious and so far fetched and I couldn’t help but feel that the psychology of the villain was just all wrong. I found myself thinking that he just wouldn’t do that so many times.
A pet peeve of mine is when authors completely change a characters personality to suit their plot twists (rather than write plot twists that are in keeping with the character they’ve developed) and this author has done that with Syd.
There were a couple of times the characters seemed to jump over something important and I had to stop and check that I hadn’t just skipped a chapter by mistake. They always came back to it eventually but a more linear pathway from start to finish would have been better.
I enjoyed reading it. I wanted to know what was going to happen next and I quite liked the main characters. But the ending sucked. It was obvious and so far fetched and I couldn’t help but feel that the psychology of the villain was just all wrong. I found myself thinking that he just wouldn’t do that so many times.
A pet peeve of mine is when authors completely change a characters personality to suit their plot twists (rather than write plot twists that are in keeping with the character they’ve developed) and this author has done that with Syd.
There were a couple of times the characters seemed to jump over something important and I had to stop and check that I hadn’t just skipped a chapter by mistake. They always came back to it eventually but a more linear pathway from start to finish would have been better.