This review will also be made available on my blog + Goodreads on 30th August at 12:30pm GMT! Thank you to Netgalley + the publishers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had heard of Stephanie Perkins before, but I didn’t know she had written the Anna and the French Kiss trilogy, but as soon as I found out it was like a lightbulb going on because it was incredibly obvious that Perkins’ comfort lay with romance. The beginning was gripping and exciting and the murder plot was pretty good, but the rest of the storyline was fairly average - apart from the romance.

The romance between Ollie and Makani was the most well-developed aspect of the story and it was pleasant to read about, it just wasn’t anything particularly exciting. The representation in this book is something I’m glad to see, particularly within this genre: Makani is half-African American and half Native Hawaiian and has a friend who is in the middle of transitioning. Makani’s yearning for her home back in Hawaii really came across and I empathised with her a lot, however she constantly references The Incident that caused her to move to Nebraska and it got incredibly annoying, especially because you don’t discover what happened until quite a way through the book.

Makani has a complicated relationship with her parents, which we don’t really hear much about. We know that they are going through a messy divorce and have essentially shipped her off to her grandmother’s to stop her being such a nuisance but other than that we don’t get much exposure to them. I really felt like this aspect could have been explored a lot more, especially considering how much time was spent on the romantic plot.

The suspense and horror aspect made this a very addictive read, however it fizzled out for me when, only 60% into the book, we discover the killer and it’s all just very anticlimactic. It wasn’t shocking because it wasn’t someone we’d heard much about, and it was revealed it such a way which made me think ‘really? Is that it?’, and I was expecting a big twist where another culprit was found, but there wasn’t. This was probably the bit that disappointed me most, because the murders had been so gory and horrific that it felt a bit of a let-down for the reveal to be sub-par.

Finally, the ending. This was a very dramatic ending which had me turning the pages incredibly quickly and staying up way past my bedtime - I needed to know what would happen. I found it odd though that it just ended. There was all of this drama and then suddenly I was reading the acknowledgements and there was no aftermath, there was no dealing with the events that were so explosive, and I found that a little odd.

In the end, I thought There’s Someone Inside Your House was a definite page-turner with really creepy murders. I think it would make an excellent film adaptation. On the other hand, it was obvious that this was the first book of its kind that Perkins had written and it had some under-developed aspects which dampened the reading experience for me. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed, because I didn’t know what to expect, but I did feel a bit ‘meh’ about it by the end.

It took me a long time to actually enjoy this story. At the beginning I was not really into it, it was slow and kind of boring, and it was not until halfway through the story that I actually started to enjoy it. While the drama was good, and the romance sort of okay( I actually did not care at all, it could have been better if there was none at all), my favorite part of this had to be the murders. Fun fact, I don’t like slasher movies because I don’t enjoy the killings. I don’t like the sound of flesh cutting and sometimes they are overly killed and that annoys me, but the killings in this book were AMAZING. There were parts when I had to stop because it was too much. The way Stephanie wrote it… breath taking. I think the only reason I read it through the end was because of the murders. I enjoyed it more than the actual drama and “romance”.

I did not however, liked the drama. I felt it was not developed well, or it just gave you an idea of something and it ended up being something completely not worth the hype. For example, the MC has a secret that haunts her everyday, and she always says how she did “something bad” and “how she is the worst person ever”. When we found out what actually happened, I was mad and disappointed because to me, it was not something AS HUGE as the MC made it up to be. Then we have the romance that just did not cut it for me. I did enjoy it sometimes, but I felt it could have added more to the drama and tension if the romance did not existed, but I know people will enjoy it.

Another minor detailed was that the book got to predictable. The suspense of “how the killer will kill now” was always present, but you already knew someone was going to die because of how the chapter began. It was always the same way and I felt that took out the aspect or suspense of ” omg who will the killer kill now?”.

I am hoping the final version changes these minor details and have a more mature/ thriller vibe. Overall, yes I recommend this book if you are into this genre and want to be entertained for a bit. I certainly haven’t read much of so I can’t say if it is ‘the best’, but it is good. I ended up crying a little towards the end( okay like a lot).

I was intrigued to try this as I know many fans of Stephanie Perkins romantic series of books. I haven't yet read them and I think that helped me here. Other reviews have been less than complimentary and I think this is unfair. There's Someone Inside Your House does exactly what it sets out to do. It's sold as a Scream type horror book and as a big fan of the film, I think it delivers. The deaths are gory and shocking in places. Even the fact we find out who the killer is just over half way through the books doesn't take the tension away.
We follow Makani Young, a teenage girl from Hawaii who is new to the school and hides some terrible secret. As pupils start getting murdered and everyone becomes a suspect, we follow Makani's relationship with Ollie and her friends and wonder who is going to be picked off next!
I didn't think it is terribly well written which is why I wouldn't recommend it, and the ending was a bit daft but i did enjoy it and it did make me think of the teen horror movie it was trying to emulate.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Small spoiler warning for overall plot points, no major details given.
Makani Young moved from Hawaii to Osborne, Nebraska just over a year ago while her parents went through a divorce to stay with her grandmother. During her senior year a string of murders on fellow students shocks the small town as all of its inhabitants try to figure out who the killer is.
I actually really enjoyed this book which quite surprised me. I'd heard good things about Anna and the French Kiss but never got around to reading it, but after reading There's someone Inside Your House I'll be giving the series a shot. I really enjoyed Stephanie Perkins writing style and liked the characters. I thought the romance aspect of a slasher book would annoy me more than it actually did, of course there was more focus on the actual murders than the developing relationship between Makani and Ollie, I didn't really see the need for the romance in a book about a serial killer, even if the victims were all teen, but I enjoyed it all the same.
Overall a quick read at under 300 pages which I blasted through in no time at all, I found myself drawn in, I couldn't put it down.
4/5 stars

I was very excited to have been approved for this ARC. I think I went into it with high expectations, having read a lot of thriller, slasher/horror books in the past. I felt like the book was too focused on the romance between the protagonist and her love interest. The murders at first just happened sporadically then towards the ending of the book the killings were happening one after the other. The killings were so gruesome. How did Stephanie come up with this stuff, especially the second killing it was so horrific.
The book kept me guessing 'who done it' I couldn't figure out who the murderer was. Every time I thought I had it figured out I was wrong. I would never have guessed right, not even if I re read the book would I be able to see signs that it was said person. The romance in the book was sweet but unnecessary.
Unlike any of Stephanie's other works. This hour/slasher book reminded me a lot of the 'Scream' movies.

I was so excited to read this book. I had heard so many great things about it so when Netgalley sent me an email saying it was available to read now I jumped on it.


Then I became disappointed. The story itself had promise. The way the author told it had me feeling disconnected from some of the characters and left me with more questions than answers. I wanted to love this book so much but instead I found myself putting the book down and not missing it so much.

What I did love about it was that it did leave me wondering about who the killer was. I loved the relationship between Ollie and Makani. It held my interest enough that I didn't DNF it.


This book is basically about someone killing teenagers. We are introduced to the main character, Makani, which the majority of the story is told from. She has a secret of her own and we don't learn about that until a little over half way the the book. I found myself intrigued with her despite the story not holding my interest at times.


I wish the ending was different and the motive of the killer was changed. Other than the things listed above I did enjoy it. I've never read this author before and from what I read this is her first suspense/mystery/thriller book. You definitely can tell as it's not scary for me but I'm a huge horror buff too so it takes a lot to scare me.

Don't go by my words alone. Judge this book for yourself. It just wasn't for me.

I would love to say that this book at least matched my expectations, but I can't say so. I wanted to like this book, I wanted to love it. It felt... flat. There was no suspense, there was barely any build up or even a big reveal. It felt like a romance novel with murder in the background, but not even the "romance" pulled me in.

I read the first chapter of this on a whim when a blog I follow linked to an excerpt and immediately wanted to check out the full copy. I don't read a lot of contemporary in general - not because I don't like it, just because reading time is limited and other genres take priority for me - but I kept an eye out for this one.

It was a more inclusive book than I was expecting, which I really appreciated. One of the main character's best friends is a trans boy, who is awesome, and who I would totally have a lengthy conversation about braces and shirts with. I also really appreciate sex positive YA books, which this is - sex here isn't treated as inherently bad, nor the characters inherently less valuable for wanting or having had it. It is treated as a personal choice, which I love.

... two paragraphs into this review, let's discuss the thriller elements! Reading TSIYH was uncannily like reading a 90s teen thriller movie, which I for one thoroughly enjoyed. I tore through this and definitely stayed up to finish it because I was THIS CLOSE to the end and THE KILLER HAD NOT BEEN CAUGHT OH GOD IS EVERYONE GOING TO MAKE IT???? Tense times at TSIYH high. The murder scenes somehow manage to create all the tension of a cinema jump scare despite being... in a book, where RATIONALLY you know nothing can jump out at you but like OH GOD THAT WAS A NOISE, LOCK YOUR DOORS IMMEDIATELY, CHARACTER, DO NOT GO INTO THE BASEMENT.

Makani is a lovely MC, chatty and self-aware, and the hints about a Backstory are never overbearing, only intriguing. Makani's relationship with Oli is looovely - they are really there for each other, and listen to each other, in a way that a lot of YA romances don't quite manage. Like, I felt like these people were good for each other and not just... with each other. The relationships in general in this book - romantic, friendly, and familial - were so well-drawn and easy to sink into in a way that made them feel real. Oli and his brother, waugh. EMOTIONS <---- solid reviewing. I'm really glad Stephanie Perkins chose to write a thriller, as otherwise I might never have tried her books, and I would have missed out.

The book knew its tone and its plot and its characters and consistently delivered on all counts. A fun slasher page-turner with heart and wit <3

I have to give this book some credit because I was pleasantly surprised!

For the first 100 pages or so I really thought that this book wasn't living up to its' "thriller" status. At that point, it read to me as a novel similar to Pretty Little Liars and seemed to have more of a teenage romance focus instead of murder mystery.

However, I think the change from something light to dark happened around the time of the second death. The first death seemed almost tame in comparison. Be warned, this book can get graphic with the murder details but that shouldn't be outside the realm of possibility with this type of novel. In all honesty, after the first 100 pages that read all light and fluffy, it was almost a relief to realize that this murder mystery was actually how it was promoted.

Also, I find with these types of novels sometimes it can be predictable who the murderer is. But nope, not with this one. I had about three characters that I was suspecting and it turned out to be none of them.

Finally, the ending. I was not sure how this novel was going to go and how it would conclude. That makes me happy because again, I like to stray from predictability. This ending had me sitting in suspense. Seriously, it seemed like everybody was dropping like flies! Definitely, satisfied with the ending.

Overall, I have to really praise and applaud Stephanie Perkins because she really took the leap from her typical genre of novels and she did it well!

**Thank you to NetGalley as well as the publisher for supplying me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

That was terrifying. I was expecting creepy, but that was really scary. Just the sheer...*meanness* of moving things around, frightening people before killing them. Really not nice.
I loved the characters. Well, apart from Makani's parents, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't meant to like them. What an awful mother! But everyone else was great, especially Grandma.
I will definitely look out for more titles by this author. Thank you for allowing me to read.

TW for hazing, blood, mentions of drugs/suicide

I was looking for a fast-paced thriller that would keep me on my toes, and this didn't fulfill that itch of mine. I was dissatisfied with lots of the things that were going on with the climax and the way that the characters were introduced. The premise is basically your classic teen serial killer in a small town who’s running around in the town on the loose and is terrifying everyone who lives there.

The way that the killer was revealed was extremely anticlimactic, which was a really big disappointment to me because I had high hopes whence the plot was building up bit by bit. At the point where it feel flat, it stopped feeling entertaining to me and instead started to get repetitive. One murder after the other, the next one getting more gruesome as they come, and nothing was really happening on the law enforcement side it seemed (which was one unrealistic aspect of this whole thriller.)

Also, could we please talk about how most of this book is focused on the romance, the making out and sex scenes, instead of being that nail biting thriller that I was expecting. I understand that Perkins has previous experiences that solely focus on contemporary romance, but this isn’t the place to make that this main thing. It just rubbed me the wrong way, because it felt like the plot of the murders was put on the back burner while our MC was having drama and trying to figure out her relationship problems. It got boring really quick, really fast, and not only that but it took away from the actual “slasher scary” part itself.

All of the victims that were in this weren’t introduced early enough for us to give time to care about them. How this was written was we would learn of the existence of this person, and on the next page they would be slashed and dead. I would have loved for the author to rather develop their personalities and interests, etc. before she pulled them away because that just felt like lazy work.

Another thing that I absolutely had zero interest in was Makani’s secret. The whole book there is some foreshadowing and lead up to this big mysterious event, but even once the story spilled out I just thought that it wasn’t worth the on-page time of constantly talking about it. In all, it didn’t even make a centimeter of difference on the page or in my viewing of her as a character. One pro that we could be talking about is that our main character is half-Native Hawaiian and half African-American, which is something that I could always appreciate.

There are 0 scary moments where I actually felt scared, even though I tried reading this whole thing in the dark. I honestly don’t even know why the publisher would market it as “horror” because that seems like it’s setting the book up for a failure of false expectations.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

I feel like I should start this review by saying I'm a huge fan of slasher films. I don't think they're scary, far from it, but they have something intriguing about them. So the first time I heard about this book I knew that I had to read it. Unfortunately the book didn't turn out to be what I'd hoped.



What I Liked

Oh boy, this will be a short section. So I liked most of the main characters and I liked the diversity. I liked that the killer blended in but had been prone to violence for a long time. All that made it fairly realistic. As well as that some of Ollie and Makani's banter was honestly enjoyable and they seemed to work well together. I just didn't particularly care for them or the murders surrounding them.

Also some of the scenes kinda reminded me of Persona 4 and that made me incredibly happy. Unfortunately, there weren't many scenes like that to keep me going.

What I Didn't Like

I'd like to say that this isn't a horror book. Not really. It's a YA romance with slightly bloody murders thrown in. The description of the murders wasn't up to much compared to other scenes I've read in YA books and there wasn't much tension. The killer's reasoning didn't make much sense either. I can maybe guess at his trigger but you don't get enough of a clue. And that's a frustrating thing that a lot of authors seem to forget and that even the killers who kill for pleasure have some sort of trigger. I'll add a most of the time in case someone has evidence that says otherwise but it still makes sense to see why the killer does it. I'll give Perkins a break as she's a YA romance author and horror is such a different genre. I can even say the sex is fitting because horror films are filled with it but the book was too lovey-dovey.

If you're looking for the bloody slasher novel promised then you won't get it but if you're after a romance novel with a difference, one that makes you think and gasp then this is a great book for you.

I have no doubt this book will do well, I just think that maybe it's not what a lot of us were hoping for.

I stopped reading this at 30% which is a shame as it had an extremely promising start, I felt as though this book had not only a forced romance but it was as if the author had a diversity checklist she was going through. It just wasn't believable for me at all.

I wanted to love this but it didn't grip me 100%
Probably great for an easy Halloween horror read as it's certainly full of squirm-inducing details.

That was scarier than I was expecting, to be honest, but the scariest parts were when nothing at all was happening; when everyone was waiting for the other shoe to fall. The tension was almost unbearable. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I was sneaking reads in work this afternoon, desperate to find out what was going to happen to everyone.
Chris surprised me. I suppose I've read too many novels where small town police are jerks and bullies at best and actively criminal at worst, but Chris was helpful and friendly at all times.
This book deserves to do well. Just make sure your lights are on and your doors locked...

Not for me I'm afraid. Too much blood and gore and violence for violence sake. A teen slasher fest which I just didn't get.

I was very excited to read this. Then when I saw the reviews, I was terrified to read this, thinking it was just going to be awful. I am super picky and I usually end up agreeing with the harsher reviews (not biased, but because I agree).

But when I saw that Netgalley was doing a "read now" instead of requesting, I jumped at the chanced to read this book that I have been dying to read but maybe hate.

And in the end, it wasn't a "bite your nails, I feel my heart racing at every moment" horror novel, but for a first horror ya novel, it was pretty good! It was definitely Scream inspired but with a lot of romance. I think that was what turned me off a lot, because I'm not a huge romance novel reader. Especially in horror. I don't want cheesy 80s/90s horror movie with makeouts and sex where "they all die because they can't control their hormones while someone is murdering their peers" in my horror.

So in the end, it was definitely a good first YA Horror novel for Stephanie Perkins and I hope she continues writing and practicing her horror skills!

Makani lives with her grandmother after her parents passed away, where she should be settled happily at home and school however, they're not at all. Her old best friend Jasmine, has been in touch for a start but that's not all.

A new relationship with Ollie that's fast paced but happy, things get weird when students at school start to die, from murder. Then she starts to question everyone.

She gets attacked and injured in her home and becomes paranoid of shadows around her luckily Ollie looks out for her despite his cop brother acting off...

Suspenseful and chaotic with tension in every second of the pursuit with brutality used in all the murders it makes for a tense read!

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!