Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to preview Cuckoo by Sophie Draper.

A young woman, Caro, lived with her stepmother and sister but always felt very disconnected from the family so she left her home in Derbyshire when she was able to get out. She distanced herself from her stepmother and the family because she never felt wanted. When her stepmother passes, Caro and her sister are left with her belongings. Caro's sister doesn't want anything, so Caro goes back to her old home to sort things out and decide what to do with her stepmothers home and everything inside it.
Caro feels remote when she returns to her old home and doesn't remember alot of her childhood.and she starts to have memories of the past.and she is starting to get scared about what she does remember.
This is a eerie book and a decent read.
I liked it, but didn't love it.
3 stars.

To begin with, I really liked this book and I was sure it was going to be epic. The creepy and supernatural elements freaked me out at times but ultimately the plot didn't keep me as hooked as I thought it would and it was quite slow around the middle to around three quarters in. After that, the tension starts to build and some twists and turns develop. I also didn't enjoy Caro's character as much as I thought i would and she frustrated me a lot at times. This is by no means a bad book, just not quite what I was hoping for.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great dark thriller/mystery novel. It incorporates a mysterious past, plot twists that keep you guessing, strained family relationships, multiple suspicious deaths, some supernatural elements, and my favourite, fairytales. I loved this little addition to the book. These are not your typical fairytales either. I can't get into it without really exposing the secrets of the story.
But it's definitely worth picking up, interesting ending though it left me wondering what happened next. I'm keeping this author on my radar for sure. Great debut novel

I tried very hard to love this story, however, for me it just seemed slow. I feel it was written well and pulled me in with the beginning but it started feeling predictable. Sadly, I started finding myself skimming.
If you like a slow burn, this may be the book for you. If you're expecting a fast paced thriller, it may not be something you'll want to read. A 2.75 stars, for me.

I couldn’t get into this one! Maybe it’s just a result of reading too many in this genre, but this one just didn’t do it for me. Made it about 30% and just couldn’t get myself to continue. Probably just my personal preference because the author is a lovely writer!

I was never able to review this book as it never downloaded properly. I tried several times communicating back and forth with netgalley but discovered something wrong with my device. I was never able to resend it in order to read it.

Wow. What a debut. So many twists - all plausible. I couldn’t put it down. The characters were all believable.

In my opinion, this was a near-perfect thriller. I'm confused about why there are some low ratings on Goodreads. Perhaps it is because it's a bit of a slow burn, the pace a bit slower because of all the description, but that really aids to make it so atmospheric. It was hypnotizing and all-encompassing and will be added to my list of favorites. I definitely wasn't expecting this when I started it. For some reason, the title on Amazon is The Stranger in Our Home.

A bit thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of the ARC.

The evil stepparent has been a trope of fiction throughout the history of literature, and from a biological basis, there’s good reason. With an evolutionary compulsion to promulgate one’s genes far and wide, it only makes sense to funnel resources to a biological child over a new partner’s. If that means leaving them in the woods to be eaten by a witch, so be it.

In Sophie Draper’s debut The Stranger in Our Home (published in the UK as Cuckoo), she brings this trope back to the beginning in what can best be called an adult fairy tale in the Brothers Grimm tradition.

Click on the link below for the complete review.

This book started off with a gothic horror theme. Caro returns to her childhood home following the death of her step-mother. Caro hasn’t been back to the house since she left for uni. Caro and her sister haven’t spoken since either.

There is a snow storm and Caro is stuck in the house that haunts her.

You learn why Caro stayed away and the secrets that haunt her.

I enjoyed the book. A solid 3.5 stars.

Caro returns for her estranged stepmother's funeral. She has no goot memories of her as she had been belittled and cowed by her until she managed to escape to university. The only good thing to come from the day is a reconnection with her sister Steph, who she hasn't seen for many years.

Much to Caro's surprise the family house has been to the two sisters. It hd only been her stepmother's to live in until she died. Steph has a fast paced well paying job in New York. She insists she doesn't need the money. The same can't be said for Caro. The lease on the flat she was in was nearly up. She had no relationship in London to consider and as an illustrator of children's books she could work from anywhere- why not go back to the old house whilst waiting for probate & draw there?

I loved the spooky atmosphere of this book. I could really feel for Caro in the old house full of bad memories & with new strange things happening. I loved the descriptions of aro's pictures & the 'Fairy Stories Unfit for Children' I did find it difficult to accept that Caro would slide so easily into a relationship when she was such a solitary soul but hey ho- this is fiction after all!

All in all an enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publishers for letting me read & review this book.

Cuckoo by Sophie Draper started off as a thriller by the name of Can you Keep a Secret? for early reviewers, as a marketing strategy.  It also seems to now be listed under The Stranger in Our Home so I’m not entirely sure what the final title for this one will be.

Either way, I was more impressed with the marketing than I was with the actual book.  Cuckoo just didn't capture me, and it took me entirely too long to read something under 300pgs.

Basically, the story centers around Caroline or "Caro" who was raised by her stepmother, Elizabeth, in Derbyshire but never felt she belonged, and left home as soon as she could.  Caro hadn’t really kept in touch with her stepmother or sister.  But when Caro's stepmother passes, the girls are left the inheritance and to make decisions of what to do.  When Caro’s sister claims to not want anything to do with their stepmother’s things or any part of the inheritance Caro chooses to move back home to sort things out while fleeing a bad relationship.  After arriving back in town however Caro begins to find things aren’t as she remembered and the secrets of the past begin to surface.

The story is incredibly slow paced read, with an unreliable narrative, and ends with a twist I saw coming from early on.  Draper does however, present a book that has a creepy-atmospheric vibe but in other categories this just fell short.

It starts at a funeral, a sister gazing at her sister across the void, black filth in her hand. Well no, actually it starts in a hospital room, with a sister on life support, in fear of a Pear Drum.

The Pear Drum features throughout the book, it is a fearful thing and it drives the horror into the story. An isolated house in Derbyshire, in mid-winter, closed in by snow and a woman all alone. Things are happening in the house, appearances and disappearances of things and people. Caro isn't sure what is real and what is imagined. Did she move these things, or is there something more sinister. Is she seeing real people or imagining them.

Caro doesn't know who to trust, her last relationship went bad, and the villagers are not welcoming. She needs to clear the house of her stepmother's personal effects, but going through all the memories is challenging to say the least.

There are twists and turns in Caro's life as she works her way through the house, while working on a commission. But is someone out to get her, or is it her imagination.

I read this in 2 days, 50% in one sitting at the start. It was a book to get right into, and while I wasn't actually reading it, I was pondering it and trying to work out the intricacies of the story. I enjoyed the way that Sophie Draper built up the tension, filling the story with fulsome descriptions and visions from Caro's mind. The entire story was written from a sisters viewpoint, making assumptions of what her sister was thinking and doing.

It was an enjoyable story, tension building and though engaging. I thought I had it all worked out, but you know how it is, there is always a little bit of a twist in the wooden tail.

This little Ginger Book Geek loves discovering new authors and especially loves books that have a different take on the crime/ psychological thriller genres. Imagine my excitement then when I read the synopsis for this book- well it wasn’t pretty and was thankfully only witnessed by my loopy Labradors. Anyway I digress so back to my review. I had high expectations and I was not to be disappointed. ‘Cuckoo’ exceeded my expectations and I absolutely loved it but more about that in a bit.
I can’t say that I took to any of the characters in this book but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There was something about each of them that made me very suspicious and I certainly wouldn’t have trusted them. That said I did feel for Caro when she returns to her former home and she is blanked, slated and snubbed by the other residents. I was interested to find out why and what had she done that warranted such a reaction. I did find aspects of Caro’s characters a bit annoying and on occasion I did want to shake her by her shoulders or slap her with a wet fish to give her a reality check. I also felt for Caro because she is forced to confront her past and we learn just how abusive her stepmother was towards her.
The author’s writing style is such that you can’t fail to be drawn into the story from the moment you begin to read. Sophie Draper is much like a spider stalking prey in that once you are into the story (or web), then she doesn’t let you go. I don’t mean to make that sound negative because it isn’t meant that way. I soon became addicted to reading ‘Cuckoo’ and I found it nigh on impossible to put the book down. I simply couldn’t bear to be parted from the book. It wasn’t glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it came everywhere with me. I had a couple of nights of very little sleep because I was so ‘into’ the story that I couldn’t stop reading. I then decided that sleep is for wimps. I must admit that whilst reading this book and for a short time afterwards, I found myself rather freaked out by every little noise and I jumped out of my skin on more than one occasion.
I have to say that I don’t normally read horror books because to be honest they scare the poop out of me. After reading ‘Cuckoo’ I have done a complete about turn and I am actually looking forward to reading more horror books. ‘Cuckoo’ is being billed as a psychological thriller but it is so much more than that. It has a perfect mix of horror, crime, with psychological aspects and a little splash of the gothic style of writing.
Reading ‘Cuckoo’ was much like being on a very scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with twists and turns aplenty. There were certain moments that were unexpected and when they happened, they had the same effect on me as would a punch to the gut. I felt as though I had had the stuffing knocked out of me.
To conclude, I absolutely loved reading ‘Cuckoo’ and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s certainly a ‘different’ sort of book that will stay with me and will stay fresh in my mind for a very long time to come. I can’t wait to read what Sophie Draper comes up with next. Here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

I didn't love this one. My feelings about this book are actually pretty mixed. I didn't hate it but I am not really sure that I liked it either. I requested this book on NetGalley when it was listed as Can You Keep a Secret? without any details. I am a curious person by nature and I just had to know about this book that was so exciting it had to be kept secret. I don't think I would have asked for this book if I had known what the actual description was.

The story opens at the funeral for Caro and Stephanie's stepmother. After the funeral, the estate needs to be settled and Caro needs a place to live so she goes to the house to sort through things. It becomes obvious almost immediately that the people in the small town her stepmother lived in do not think much of Caro. The only person that shows any kindness to Caro is the man living in the cottage on the land her stepmother's home is on, Craig.

I found the bulk of the book to be really slow. There is a whole lot of action crammed into the last part of the book but for most of the book, it didn't feel like a whole lot happened. We spend a lot of time in Caro's head thinking about all the things she doesn't know and I hate to that it got old pretty fast. I did wonder if Caro would prove to be an unreliable narrator simply because she seemed so clueless about so many things.

There were things that I did like about the book. Once all of the pieces came together near the end, I did find the book to be much more exciting. There were quite a few surprises that were revealed during the book's finale. I also liked the parts of the fairy tales that were worked into the story. I was really pretty interested in the story of the pear drum specifically.

I think that a lot of readers might like this book more than I did. I didn't hate this book but it failed to completely grab me. While I found this book easy to set aside at times, I was curious enough about how everything would work out to keep me reading until the very end and I was satisfied with its conclusion.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Avon Books UK via NetGalley.

This is a wonderful first time book written in the style of the old gothic novel. Set in the English countryside, Caroline has gone to her childhood home after the death of her stepmother. Going through old things brings up forgotten memories-- and a slew of questions. Part grown up fairy tale, part thriller, this book is un-put-downable. A new author to watch!

An incredibly creepy read which made me feel a bit antsy about being home alone. That pear drum will haunt me forever! I looked one up on YouTube and it’s the most horrific-sounding instrument I’ve ever heard and a perfect choice for this story.

If you like spooky mysteries then this will date your appetite, settle down, pull up the duvet and try and ignore any noises, good story, plenty of background, enjoy

A chilling and disturbing novel that had me gripped from start to finish, leading to a mind boggling finale.

This book was chilling all the way through, not least because of its setting in a very bleak, wintry countryside. Caro returns to her home village for her stepmother's funeral. She's not expecting to meet her sister Steph, who has been gone for many years, since Caro was still a child. They bond once more and remain in touch. Steph encourages Caro to remain in the family home to sort out her stepmother's belongings. At this stage I wondered why, and if she was all she appeared. I felt Caro jumped into the romance with her brooding neighbour too quickly. Why does he have Elizabeth's dog? Who is terrorising Caro in the house? Or is it her imagination. While I thought Steph must be behind this I had no idea what was really going on and it was a true revelation. A complicated family set up and a very sad background and family history for Caro. And a dramatic ending! Worth a read. #netgalley #cuckoo