Release date: September 26, 2023
Publisher: Bantam
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Synopsis:
A social media influencer with a secret past buys a murder house to renovate, but finds more than she bargained for behind the peeling wallpaper in this gothic psychological debut.
Sarah Slade is starting over. As the new owner of the infamous Black Wood House—the scene of a grisly murder-suicide—she’s determined that the fixer-upper will help reach a new audience on her successful lifestyle blog, and distract her from her failing marriage.
But as Sarah paints over the house’s horrifying past, she knows better than anyone that a new façade can’t conceal every secret. Then the builders start acting erratically and experiencing bizarre accidents—and Sarah knows there’s only so long she can continue to sleep in the bedroom with the bloodstained floor and suffer the mysterious footsteps she hears from the attic.
When menacing notes start appearing everywhere, Sarah becomes convinced that someone or something is out to kill her—her husband, her neighbors, maybe even the house itself. The more she remodels Black Wood House, the angrier it seems to become.
With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it, her sense of reality. Though she desperately clings to the lies she’s crafted to conceal her own secrets, Sarah Slade must wonder . . . was it all worth it? Or will this house be her final unraveling?
Review:
There was a lot here that I enjoyed but there was also a lot that was iffy for me so I’m somewhere in the middle of the road for this one. I know it doesn’t matter but the cover is gorgeous and that’s initially what caught my eye and then the creepy house renovation sealed the deal. It was also fast paced and twisty even if many of the twists were pretty obvious for me but the combination kept me reading. Where things fell flat for me were in the characters, Sarah was just awful and hard to listen to at times and I usually do ok with unlikable characters but this was a little too much for me. It got a little repetitive too and maybe that’s because I feel like the tropes have been done before in a very similar way in other books. Overall just ok for me, but if you don’t read many thrillers it may work better for you.
Overall rating: 3/5
Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.
Novelgossip 