I have to be honest, this book never worked for me. The plot took a long time to get started - I was a third of the way in before it even reached what was described in the blurb - and once it did, it was disappointingly predictable. The characters had great promise but all read ten years younger than they actually were, making them completely unbelievable. The writing focused too much on description and not enough on action, bogging me down in descriptions of 'chocolate eyes' or reminding me how beautiful a character was when they were undergoing something horrific. The idea was brilliant - the house truly creative with some genuinely horrifying elements - but the execution fell horrifically flat for me.

The story focuses on Scarlett Vantassel, a twenty-nine-year-old horror vlogger suffering major burnout and not sure what she wants to do with her life. She's back in her small town after a breakup and feeling disconnected from everyone and everything around her. Her old friends - her brother Tommy, his girlfriend Hannah, and Jackson, the son of the local police chief - have changed, and they're not as close as they used to be. The cracks in their friendship are magnified when, with no rational explanation, a house suddenly appears in their neighbourhood - a house with a sinister aura and a growing association with death.

In principle, Scarlett was a great character. She was chatty, vivacious, and determined to be her own person. However, she never really grew past the stereotypical flighty Millenial. She went to college but didn't graduate, left town after a boyfriend but then the relationship broke down and she was forced back, and - in the eyes of her friends - cared more about herself than she did about them. Her character should have been relatable - and in a way it was, but more as an insecure twenty-year-old than twenty-nine-going-on-thirty. This was exacerbated by her relationship with her dad, Dale. At one point, another character makes a throwaway comment that Scarlett leaving home with her boyfriend broke her dads heart. A woman in her late twenties shouldn't break her parents' heart. Yes, it probably hurts, but parents want their children to have their own independent lives and success - Scarlett was definitely old enough to make that decision for herself.

The other characters also had promise, but were never fully developed. Hannah's character was distilled down to the fact that she was smart AND beautiful, but her mum had died and she'd lost her spark. I could excuse her flatness as apathy after the death of a loved one, but the other characters - with the exception of Jackson - were just as flat. Tommy was the 2D brother and boyfriend, Vincent was wasted potential and contradictions, the other characters just served plot purpose.

Jackson was probably my favourite character - his motives felt believable, and he was a genuinely nice guy. I spent the entire novel rooting for him. This might have been a stronger book written from his perspective instead of Scarlett's - or possibly just written with all the characters ten years younger and rotating points of view.

The writing was my biggest issue. There were some very suspect similes, and piles of unnecessary description, without which the book could probably be a good third shorter. The dramatic moments were regularly thrown away because lengthy description stole all the suspense. Of course, there were well written sections - the descriptions of the horrors of the house were a highlight - but it was unnecessary to keep describing everyone's appearance, or eyes, or detailing some minutiae of their past which never turned out to be relevant. The entire thing needed tightening up, sharpening into something that packed a punch.

I don't want to give too much away about the plot, but it starts slowly, and even once it gets going there are semi-regular flashback scenes which are entirely unnecessary and quite distracting. For the most part, the plot was predictable - and where it wasn't, it almost felt like wasted potential to do something more exciting. There wasn't a single twist that shocked me. In fact, for a horror novel, the plot left me singularly un-horrified. I rarely even felt uncomfortable. For some people, the slow build and simple plot will probably work - but I wanted a bit more shock and suspense.

Overall, this was not the book for me. I hope that this finds its audience, but I am not it.

This book has an expected release date for September 2020, and while looking at the cover and reading the synopsis, it definitely is the perfect book to be released in time for October and spooky season. But unfortunately, all of the appeal and intrigue that this book held and promised ended at the eerie looking cover and sinister sounding synopsis.

This could have been a pretty great horror novel, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. Between the characters, the less than enthusiastic and certainly not gripping, beginning, and the writing itself, this book never fully took off for me or had me completely engaged or invested. It took so long for things to pick up and start to actually get interesting.

I wanted to love this book, and there are definitely some creepy and fascinating parts in it, but the beginning of the story was quite slow, and admittedly, just plain boring, and took what felt like forever to get to the meat of the story. The beginning lacked so much, that I almost nearly DNFed this book, because I just wasn’t feeling it.

There are strange flashbacks in the story, that I just didn’t quite get, as I don’t see how they related to the story at all. They were definitely unnecessary, in my opinion, and could certainly be taken out of the story and it wouldn't be changing or messing anything up.

There were definitely some cool and creepy passages when the characters are finally in the house, but it just took way too long to get there, and I wasn’t invested enough even when there were things that piqued my interest.

I’m very disappointed, and overall, this was a story that never managed to hook me.

I’ve seen a lot of other reviews where people loved this book, so I guess it was one that just didn’t work for me personally. If you are a fan of horror novels and Stephen King, you may end up loving it. I just can’t say the same unfortunately.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I thought for the story it was too long. The characters were well written, and the story began with a terrifying and unexplainable event. Scarlett Vantassel has come home after dropping out of school. Wanting to make a last horror film review as a vlogger, instead she sees and feels strange vibes as it turns out a large, Gothic looking house has fallen out of the sky and landed in town. The story is about Scarlett and her friends as they try to figure out why the house is there and what is so very wrong with it. About 60% through the book I started skipping ahead to get to the end. I kept wondering if this was a YA book, as it seemed to read that way. I did enjoy the friendship camaraderie between the foursome (five if you count The Magician). They were mostly all so darn cheerful during their experience. A positive attitude is a great attribute, but some of the kids’ emotions seemed incongruent to what was happening in the book. I just couldn’t quite suspend belief enough to thoroughly enjoy this book. The book has potential, and I think there’s an audience that will really like this story, it just wasn’t attention-grabbing enough for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really wanted to enjoy this one! The description sounded like it would be right up my alley, but it really didn’t do it for me. The dialogue between the characters was a bit immature for me, and the characters (most) are supposed to be in their twenties. It made for some cringe worthy content.

The idea of the book was well thought out and the descriptions were great. I could very easily picture the town and the house.

I would read another book by this author, however I can not recommend this book as it wasn’t for me personally.

This was an interesting premise for a story?! It was interesting and intriguing....but a bit strange at the same time!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. Even though horror isn’t a big genre, I’m a massive Stephen King and Joe Hill fan, and is something I want to read more of, so I when I saw this absolutely gorgeous cover I was immediately hooked. My interest was piqued seeing comparisons to Shirley Jackson. However upon reading this I wasn’t completely blown away unfortunately, although I appreciate the efforts of the author trying to do something different.
This follows Scarlett, a horror reviewer on YouTube. In the middle of the night she hears a loud screeching noise that has her bones on edge and a loud noise like a crater has fallen. A house has dropped from the sky. The house gets bought by a corporation and hosts a lottery daring people to go inside. Scarlett’s friend, Hannah, is grieving the loss of her parent and in an attempt to learn more about the afterlife (which she’s convinced the house is connected to) she enters the house. Scarlett and her friends go into the house, too, to save Hannah, and thus begins the nightmare...
Overall this was a fun and a spooky book, but at times the writing style bordered on science fiction with the house falling like a meteorite. Also part of the problem for me was that the author can’t write women well. In the opening chapters I was put off with a page long physical description about Scarlett and how she “wasn’t like the girls on Sports Illustrated and how flat her chest was”. I struggled to connect with the writing. Furthermore this book is over 500 pages long, and it took me ages to make any progress. With better editing, and cuts this could’ve been a better and more tighter book. 2/5.

Please note this is a 3.5.

This book has a lot of positives, but it does take a long time to get started. I absolutely loved the Lovecraftian horror that feeds through this book, with some marvellous eldritch descriptions and twisted concepts that give an incredibly punchy sense of darkness. The story was fantastic, and there are a lot of threads that are picked up and put together to form a sense of mystery and suspense that culminate in some absolutely delicious twists.

However, it did have some drawbacks. The characterisation leaves a bit to be desired, and I was a little disappointed that I didn't connect with especially the main character as well as I could have. A little bit more humanisation would go a long way to making them just that little bit easier to understand and appreciate. With that being said, the ending was incredible, and it carried with it a sense of unease that is sure to leave even the most horror-keen reader uneasy.

The characters in the book are all very likable and interesting. I found the house to be extremely scary and while the book was enjoyable, I wanted more. I felt like a lot of the time spent on the main characters leading up to their time in the house could have been used for more story about the house. I'm dying to know about the house and why/how it was made and how it became what it became.

That being said, The House that Fell from the Sky was interesting and I will recommend it to readers looking for a horror novel.

This book takes the reader on a Horror and suspense adventure that leans more heavily into what we don’t see than what we do.

What I liked

1. The main character is far from perfect while still being someone I can hope is successful.

2. There is a sense of the unknown being more dangerous than our imagined origins for the mystery.

What I disliked

1. The pacing especially near the end feels all kinds of wonky.

2. As a reader I feel like I didn’t get the payoff of answers I’d hoped for. ( this isn’t my normal genre to read so if that’s a genre convention I’m missing it makes sense)

Who I would recommend this book for : This book would be a good read for those who liked books by writers like Stephen king and want to expand their experience of the horror and suspense genres.

Loving the cover of this book and description on the back was not enough to carry me through. I found the main character a tad bit annoying (her rival dies and she blames herself even though its not her fault) and I wanted more information on the house, which I wasn't getting (The main character is looking up articles about the house, but we aren't given any information!). There are some flashbacks that are a bit weird and I don't see how it is related to the story at all, like the one where the characters are all of a sudden trying on dresses. I tried skipping forward and speed reading, but then found that I was upon Part II and still not interested enough. Unfortunately this was not my kind of read, and the description that this was Hill House-esque made me believe that the house would be its own character.

Wow.

My first note for this story was simply 'hooked'. It's been a long time since I've picked up a book with the barest blurb, without knowing the author and loved it so completely. It's even a genre I rarely read, having exhausted my appetite for horror and haunted houses in movies. But this was something else.

Scarlett Vantassel, horror vlogger extraordinaire, is granted the opportunity of a lifetime; a chance to enter the house that fell from the sky, a mysterious castle-like mansion that quite literally appeared out of thin air one night in the sleepy town of Winterview. Others have entered the house and either killed themselves or gone insane. A normal person wouldn't go. A sane person wouldn't bring along their brother, two friends and the world famous town magician. Hooked, right?

It was amazingly graphic in it's description of the house and it's interior. Several times I found my heart racing or a cold chill running down my spine. One of the wonders of the house was its ability to reanimate of sorts. Without giving too much away, I thought I was entering the Overlook Hotel, surrounded by The Thing, whilst experiencing the Event Horizon. Hooked, right?

Throughout the story there are several flashbacks detailing the characters lives and relationships. At first I thought they were meaningless, meant only to ease the nausea caused by the house but after a while I found them endearing. If you are finding the start a bit slow please keep going. I promise it picks up.

There were some flaws. It did take more than half the book to get anywhere near the house, let alone enter it but by the time they did go in I felt like I knew them all. Each character was well fleshed out and those few chapters of development made me care for them and their fate. It only made the ending more sad.

The ending was what I was expecting and more. I loved it.

I mostly liked this book. Scarlett is a sympathetic character. She’s a troubled person, who maybe isn’t making the best choices in life, but she seems redeemable and likable. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Scarlett and the other characters. Especially between her and her father, but all the characters were the sort of people I’d love to hang out with. Maybe just to creepily listen to their banter.

For me, the biggest drawback to the novel, was how it was written with a lot of telling and not enough showing. Stories feel more alive for me when I’m allowed to visualize some things myself. I ended up getting distracted trying to keep track of all the descriptions that were thrown at me in every scene.

Firstly, I would like to thank Netgalley and Oblivion for providing me a copy of this book for an honest review. Secondly, holy hell is this book a trip.

If you enjoy exploring haunted houses, avoid this one because you may never leave. The characters are relatable and motives are clearly defined. The Lovecraftian elements are very clear, and I was proud of myself for thinking it. That is, until the characters started talking about how different haunts seemed to be from a Lovecraft novel. Much less proud after that.

Something Delaney did extremely well were the interactions between the four friends. Scarlett, our heroine, is 29 and after a tough breakup has returned home. Reunited with her family and friends, you’d think everything would be great but this isn’t a story about unicorns and rainbows. Next you’ve got Hannah and Tommy, the couple. Things haven’t been so great since Hannah’s mom died and with the appearance/temptation of the house it’s only getting worse. Lastly we’ve got the lovable Jackson. Jackson is just coasting through life, with no real direction other than moving out of his house with his father. With this cast of friends, what could go wrong?

This book was a trip from start to finish and never slowed. Gruesome at times, heart wrenching at times, and frightening at times, The House that Fell from the Sky is sure to leave the reader wanting more.

Wow wow wow!!! Absolutely devoured this book. I actualy had to stop a few times. Not because I wasnt enjoying it, but because it was so creepy it started to freak me out!! Haha. Amazing story and I highly recommend it. I didnt cry honest! 😂

I absolutely loved this almost perfect book! This was a page-turner!

I was hooked from the very first page. The whole first chapter was extremely foreboding. This is the type of book that you sit down to read and realize you are in for a treat. I stopped after the first page and fought against looking up the author because I couldn't stop thinking "Who is this guy? What else has he done? Where did he come from all of a sudden?" Now, anything Patrick writes is going to be on my to-read list.

The story is that upon returning to her hometown after her relationship ends, a house falls from the sky and lands on one of the random city streets. It is a large, black gothic mansion and is referred to as a haunted house. From the get-go you realize that the house has powers to supercharge people's emotions and fill them with dread, fear, and anger and that it preys on people's weaknesses. A lottery chances that Scarlett and her friends spend one night in the house in order to win a million dollars but truthfully they do it because one of her friends believes that her deceased mother is inside. It's part rescue mission, part Lovecraftian nightmare.

Remember years ago when everyone was into House of Leaves? "Oooo a staircase. Oooo a door." How spooky. This is so much better in really giving you a house to be afraid of. Scarlett encounters numerous monsters and situations that result in her death. Everytime she dies, she awakes back in the foyer of the house and a new nightmare begins. Some of the rooms filled me, someone reading safe in my own bed, with a sense of endless horror.

Now, as I pointed out from the get-go, this is not equivocally perfect for me. Some of the characters, especially when there are four or five together, fade completely out of a scene. They may have one line of dialogue just to remind us that they are there. The mystery of what the house is...who the mysterious godlike being is...is almost fully explained but not quite. There's the mysterious Crow Organization whose name I hate and whose ultimately fizzle out to non-importance. They are the ones who hold the lottery, after securing the rights to the house...and it's said towards the end that they must have been in the house once before but we don't know why or when or what for. It's almost like there's an entire other book that's missing here or yet to be written. I WANT A SEQUEL!

One other major plot point I don't like is the part about the Magician. In the beginning he seems to be a bigger character, possibly evil and having something to do with the house. He invites Scarlett to the house when only Tommy and Hannah were going to be there, and even secured a ticket for Jackson. The Crow Organization leader wasn't surprised to see him there. Why not? At the end it turns out that the children saved him years ago from a car wreck, and he feels indebted to their safety, but if that is the case then why did he think it was safe to bring Scarlett and Jackson to the house where they could possibly lose their lives? The motive doesn't add up. As well, his speech at the end about them being his true friends...it didn't work for me. I loved his character, but something was off.

Then finally, Jackson tells Scarlett he will always be there for her...but that he's also leaving town.

I demand a sequel! Lets have a return to the house as a rescue mission!!

Rose Red meets Haunting at Hill House. One October night a house appears in the town where Scarlett, Tommy, Hanna and Jackson live. It’s just not any house, it’s a horrifying house, a house where nightmares live. As these four friends are dealing with the failures in their own lives they are given a chance to spend the night in the “most haunted of houses”.

This book will have you on the edge of your seat, holding your breath and waiting for the nightmares to end.

Thank you NetGalley, Patrick Delaney and Oblivion Publishing for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

This book is like a fever dream, weaving between different characters, timelines, and personalities. You begin to wonder just what you’ve entered and what will become, but you will not leave disappointed.

DNF at 10%, though I skipped around after that to see if anything else grabbed me.

Ebook ARC from NetGalley.

The basic idea of this book sounded interesting: a house suddenly appears, then spooky things happen. Great!

It moves VERY. SLOWLY. There is A LOT of dialogue, and about 10% of it is funny or interesting or actually adds to the story. The way the characters speak is not natural and seems very stilted and just not... right.

There's some great scene setting in this book, but no mood/tone setting. A lot of similies and metaphors and "___ as if ___," but all seemed to serve no purpose other than to merely describe surroundings. A lot of words are used to convey nothing other than physical objects or people that were present in the room.

This book moves incredibly slowly. At 10%, I've met 4 characters with achingly menial interactions and they've gotten into a car together. I was bored.

I skipped ahead to see if anything else had happened and at about 40%, I came across a many-page stretch of back-and-forth dialogue, nome of which seemed like these 2 characters were even mildly acquainted (so awkward).

No thanks, not for me.

I enjoyed this very much. It was well written. Pacy. Good characterisation.

What do you do when a house falls from the sky? Apparently you want to go inside and this house is not heavenly, believe me!

Spooky, atmospheric, a real page turner!
Definitely one to get!

This book is, in my opinion, more scifi than horror, sometimes difficult to follow, but still hard to put down. The writing style is very good..