4+ stars!

Mysterious. Gothic. Foreboding.

A family needs a fresh start and moves into a crumbling mansion, Cross House, that has been vacant for years. Soon after moving in, they feel another presence.

I loved this book! It was tension-filled and paranoia inducing. I was gripped by the storyline from the very start and completely engrossed throughout. The author does an amazing job creating an eerie, dark, palpable atmosphere that had me feeling like I was right beside the characters.

The characters themselves were unique and entertaining. The mother of the family is the narrator and I loved her personality and inner thoughts. I could relate to her from a mothering perspective in so many ways. Her grit and inner snark were highly entertaining.

The atmosphere was thick and foreboding. I felt enveloped within the claustrophobic walls of Cross House with the family. The mother’s panic was bleeding off the pages, causing my heart to race as I read.

This was a backlist NetGalley title that I’m sorry to not have picked up earlier. It was highly enjoyable and entertaining and I will be looking to read more from this author.

Audio rating: 4 stars! Though it did take me a few chapters to get used to the narrators strong accent, she greatly added to my connection and enjoyment. Highly recommend the audio!

*thank you to Netgalley, Bloodhound Books and J.A Baker for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


2 stars.

This was only just ok. At best. I really really did not like the main character Faye. I just had no sympathy for her and I probably should have but I just didn't. Her and I just didn't click and I didn't like her personality at all. She was annoying and over dramatic and didn't seem to do a good job of raising her kids.

I wasn't too sure where this book was going to go and more than once got bored. It's classed as a mystery and thriller but it was also a touch of horror in there too.

None of the characters really interested me. The story at times seemed like it was leading up to something big but it wasn't. By the end up just didn't care too much and the twist wasn't that surprising.

I don't really have anything to say about this book because I'm left feeling like nothing REALLY happened.

Maybe if this was more a horror story and a lot more was added to it and Faye was toned down a lot, this could have...only maybe, could have turned out ok. But it didn't so unfortunately this isn't a book I would recommend.

Part ghost story part mystery, The Uninvited was hard to put down. I was thoroughly engrossed from start yo finish as I followed Faye and her family through their move into a new house filled with secrets. Overall, the twists kept me guessing right up until the end.

Such a great book. Makes for a wonderful read. I can not wait to read more from this author. I love books like this.

Stopped reading at 25%. A boring couple and their annoying kids buy an old house. That’s about it. The story is very boring.

When you're rooting for the evil thing that may be in the house to slaughter the main character so her family can be at peace, there may be a problem.

Yeah. I hated Faye. This isn't one of those things where you say, oh women don't have to be likable. No, they don't. But Faye - be she woman, man, or even vaguely human character - would simply be loathsome regardless. I hated this woman from page one and hated her in the last page.

Her husband is...there.

Her kids? They need to be removed to another family immediately.

Her friends/neighbors? They're...there.

The only thing that kept me reading was the mystery of the house. I actually liked the reason behind everything - until the author went for the absolutely unnecessary twist.

It's an okay book. I kept reading, if only because I was hoping the main character would be slaughtered mercilessly.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

This was an addictive scary story that I almost finished in one sitting... it was seriously tents and definitely sped up the old heart rate! The entire book I was just thinking why don’t they just get the heck out of there, but I guess then we would’ve have had this wickedly warped story... a deliciously creepy Gothic ghost story with quite the twist..
Absolutely recommend to anyone who enjoys a extremely well told story that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout!

Wow what an oddly scary book!! Imagine moving into a new house and then someone is already living there.
Except you can't see them.... This was a gripping book, from beginning to end, and I really just had to see what secrets the old house held.
Recommended.

Enjoyed this book! I'm thankful to Netgalley for the copy. I felt the story was well thought out and kept me interested to keep reading. Finished in one setting.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Bloodhound Books and the author, J. A. Baker, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Uninvited in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
Well, I have ordered my paperback copy of this book. I loved it. I thought it was well thought out and written. The storyline promised a deliciously creepy read and it certainly delivered. I read this book into the early hours covered in goosebumps. 4.5 stars.
Well worth a read.

Such a spooky suspenseful book, lots of twists and turns. Love a book with secrets and old houses. Love the creepy feel.

I found the plot to be well thought out and executed- I enjoyed unraveling the mysteries of Cross house along with Faye- really great thriller!

I received an ARC from Netgalley for a review. This was a spooky read for me and I had to put it down and read it during the day. Faye and her husband Hugh move into a run down mansion with the intention of fixing it up. Plagued by noises and weird things going on in the middle of the night, Faye decides to hunt down the history of the house. It’s a creepy mystery with lots of things that go bump in the night!

This book fell flat to me. It kept me on the edge of my seat in the beginning, but eventually I just stopped caring about these characters. When the daughter started telling her parents that she was being visited by some rando in her room alarm should have came, but it took forever...I waited. When the locks should have been changed, but it took forever....I waited. All and all this was just too far out and too full of holes to be a Book I would ever finish. Unfortunately this is my first one star review. 😔

This book had a strong start, but sort of starting lacking early on. While there was a lot of suspense and definitely chills, I do think that had it continued the way it started it would have been a much stronger book. As is, I would give it a 3-4 star rating and definitely recommend to others! Sometimes life brings us worse than we are trying to escape.
Will use in a challenge and tell members about this book in chapter chatter pub!

Faye and Hugh moved to a new house for a fresh start... their new home is a big rambling house in need of some renovation... soon after moving in Faye begins to feel an unworldly presents... she feels someone breathing over her at night and then hears footsteps in the hall... at first her husband thinks she has gone crazy, but after he begins to since things as well he becomes a believer... so do they have a ghost?

Spine tingling, riveting read. I loved the plot for this story, it is gripping and I was completely hooked from the start . The characters are great and work so well with the plot. It is a really creepy story and I loved it, I had the whole thing read in a few hours!

The Uninvited is a great psychological thriller that keeps you on your toes with twists and turns galore. I highly recommend it.

2.5 Stars rounded up to 3

This book was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. 2 stars in the beginning and end, 3 stars in the middle/

Faye and her family have just purchased an old run down monster of a house in a quaint little village. Excited to turn over a new leaf after some recent hardships, they are looking forward to renovating the older house and seeing it sparkle again. While her husband renovates during the day Faye explores her new property and the surrounding village. She begins to learn that their new house has some dark history attached to it. She meets a neighbor who gives her some backstory, and she also finds some old journals of someone who lived in the house. Several times she wakes up with the feeling that someone is in her house. She doesn't mention it to her husband, and eventually he wakes up with the same feeling. Faye is determined to find out of someone is actually breaking into their home, or if ghosts of the past are refusing to leave.

The premise of this story was interesting. I liked the paranormal spooky aspect of it, but overall there were too many holes for me. The police were never called, the locks took forever to get changed, and the fact that Faye wasn't discussing the events with her husband were all unrealistic for me. Faye's daughter Poppy mentions someone being in her room and also draws someone in her room several times, yet no one really seems to care or follow up on it. The neighbor who knows exactly what is happening (and actually helps to make it happen) didn't sit right with me either. I can't see that happening. The story was a little slow to start for me, then I got really into it, and then towards the end it started to fall apart for me.

In The Uninvited, J.A. Baker does a great job of building the suspense in tense moments, when we find our main character, Faye, grappling with that she knows she is experiencing, no matter how irrational it seems. Those moments at night when Faye is hearing strange sounds in her house definitely had me on edge. In addition, the premise of a large haunted house with a previous owner who died mysteriously is enough to draw any reader in.

Unfortunately, there were more things I didn't care for than those I did. I found the entire part of the plot that focused on Faye's past trauma -- from two unrelated tormentors -- to be unnecessary. While I understand this was included to explain why her husband found her unstable and why she was already on edge, given that it didn't have anything to do with the main plot line, I felt it could have been left out entirely. The haunted house alone would have been enough for someone to be experiencing paranoia, and most people aren't going to believe someone who says they think there's an invisible intruder at night.

Lastly, I found the narrator to be incredibly annoying. The style led to too much description in some places about how she was feeling, continuing on well after the point had been made of her reaction to something. It made it difficult to get through at times because I just didn't care about her problems.

Faye and her family move into an old house that needs lots of work. Faye has had some trouble with two different guys before moving and she brings her worries into the their new place. Because of the past problems her husband Hugh finds it hard to believe her story when she thinks someone is getting into their new home. But Faye has found some written materials that disturb her nights.
This is very suspenseful and spooky. I would recommend this book if you like those two in a book. I couldn't wait to get to the end to see what happened.