"You know what? I was going to give this book 2 stars, but I’m going down to 1 star because of how terribly it was written/executed� Can I get a refund? I’m done; I don’t trust Ruth Ware anymore.

UGH this book will probably be one of my biggest disappointments this year. Ruth Ware has been one of my favorite (and auto-buy) authors but after this book, I don’t even know if I will read anything she writes in the future.

The characters were INSUFFERABLE. I didn’t connect with or care about any of them for even one second of this book. And their names� who names a character these ridiculous names, like BAYER or BAZ?

Second, this book has literally NO structure OR plot OR purpose. Half the time I didn’t even know what was happening and, quite frankly, I didn’t care.

I can’t even count how many times I fell asleep reading this book because it was SO BORING. There was ZERO suspense/thrill in this book. There was no “wow!� moment, which surprises me because that’s one of the things this author is known for. We have seen this concept before in books, WE GET IT, please move on. But if you’re not going to execute it well, don’t even try�

Truthfully, Ruth Ware’s writing has been decreasing in quality FAST. Her last book, Zero Days, was not good either but not quite this awful as this one. She’s turning into just another author with a good concept that isn’t able to execute it well, which truly makes me sad."

"I don’t feel like I read the same book as everyone else. Reminded me so much of how I felt reading House of Leaves.

This book had such an intriguing premise and I was really intrigued to see what might be happening. And for the first half, I was captivated and reading quickly. Eve and her partner Charlie flip houses and they have purchased an older property. They have recently moved in and when Charlie is out running an errand, Eve answers a knock at the door. Thomas, his wife, and their three children stand there. Thomas says he used to live in the house as a child and wants to know if he can show his family around as they are on their way to move across the country. Reluctantly, Eve allows them in, and what happens next gets more and more bizarre and frightening.

I don't mind horror fiction, but I want it to at least make a semblance of sense. There are some intriguing documents scattered throughout and I kept waiting for it all to come together. For me, it really didn't. It just kept getting stranger and stranger after the first half, and it never coalesced to make a coherent narrative for me.

This is definitely a creepy book with a very unsettling vibe throughout. I see that it's being made into a movie and I definitely got an American Horror story feel, so hopefully it will translate well to the screen.

This is billed as being like Parasite, and while I loved that move, this book is nothing like it. That movie made sense to me and this book just did not. I wanted my questions answered in a satisfactory way and they weren't. I was left with too many threads and not enough explanations.

Overall, this wasn't a very successful book for me, but it has a high average rating and lots of people loved it, so it may appeal to you, especially if you were a fan of House of Leaves.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. "

"If this ends up being another 1,000 pages of unresolved sexual tension I will punch someone."