I love books with nannies looking after children in gothic and mysterious settings and this book hit the spot.

In the beginning, it had the same vibe as “The Turn of the Key“ by Ruth Ware, however it became quite different as the story progressed.

Lexi, a woman who has just come out of a serious relationship, is depressed and suicidal. After the breakup she is homeless, and has nowhere to go.

By chance she gets an opportunity to take on a fake identity and travel to Norway. She has to look after two little girls, for a widower named Tom, who has recently lost his wife Aurelia. She is quite nervous but relieved as things weren’t going right for her, and this gives her an opportunity to turn her life around.

We go through the story both in the past with Aurelia when she was alive and then in the present, we get Lexi’s perspective.

Tom still hasn’t gotten over the death of his wife, and is busy building a high-concept eco-home in a remote area in Norway. Lexi has to stay on the building site with his daughters.

Strange events start to occur, and it seems like the place is haunted as everyone keeps seeing an eerie apparition of a woman. Other events point towards beings from Scandinavian folklore.

This is a compelling and atmospheric story with elements of horror and mystery. The characters are well drawn out and we actually feel for the ones going through depression and loss, as that seems to be a major theme.

The ending seemed a bit rushed after such a detailed beginning and middle. I felt like I needed more closure and perhaps a bit more of an explanation for all the mysteries.

I would recommend this book for people who like haunted house stories or mysteries, and are perhaps interested in folklore and legends.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader’s copy for an honest review.

I do like a good scary read every now and then. And “The Nesting” (thanks, NetGalley) sounded like a good candidate.

Our main character is Lexi, who has had a troubled life and is currently drifting … until she happens to sit behind a lady on the train one day and eavesdrops on her conversation. Long story short, Lexi assumes the other lady’s identity, and has soon become the nanny to two young girls who live with their widowed dad in the woods and fjords of Norway, where he is building a house.

Actually he has built a house nearby previously, but it was destroyed one night. By a storm? Mysterious forces of nature? We’re not exactly sure. We also aren’t exactly sure how his wife died a few months ago. “It seemed that here, in this house, anything was possible.” And usually not in a good way.

The new house Tom is building is intended to be built into a cliff, a “nest” of sorts. Nests are a frequent theme here, from “‘the Eagle’s Nest,’ Hitler’s gaffe in the Bavarian Alps, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” etc.

The book weaves in some interesting Norse folklore, and I loved the atmospheric aspects of it. I could truly feel I was in the Norwegian woods, walking along a fjord or running into an elk — or a creepy “sad woman” whose identity is never explained.

There are a few issues in the book — some things brought up without resolution (spoiler: what was the purpose of the character Maren? Did nothing ever come of the body covered in concrete during the building?). Not sure if that’s intentional or sloppy editing.

Overall, a good book to read when you’re craving a little spooking.

A beautifully compelling tale of Gothic suspense and Nordic folklore from (new-to-me) author, C.J. Cooke, who has just earned her way onto my 'must-read' list.

Admittedly, after reading the first few chapters, I was struck by how much The Nesting reminded me of Ruth Ware's The Turn of the Key. It quickly evolved into something very different, however, making use of beautifully vivid prose and positively gorgeous descriptions of Norway...it's fjords, natural beauty, wildlife, culture, and even the aurora borealis. I felt as though I were there, seeing this stunning country with my own eyes.

The characters were beautifully executed, all sympathetic to some degree. I particularly loved Dora. 🦅 Told from from two perspectives, those of Lexi (aka Sophie), in the present, and Aurelia, about a year in the past, the story evolves into a quite engrossing read.

This isn't typically my genre of choice, but I'm so glad I gave this novel a chance.

Is your interest piqued? If so, you can pick up your own copy of this lovely noir September 29, 2020.

**My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for my review copy.

Thank. you for the advanced e-ARC win exchange for my honest review. I will post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

To be honest, I didn't have high expectations going into this read. I figured it would be just another run of the mill who-dunnit thriller. I ended up being half right in that The Nesting definitely did fall victim to generic tropes of the mystery/thriller genre, but there was also a supernatural folklore element at play. But, unfortunately, those two elements didn't mix well and just made for a plot that felt overloaded. I wish the author had solely embraced the Nordic folklore element which could have created a really unique thriller.

Another thing that bothered me was the narration which was a bit all over the place-Lexi's chapters were in first person, Aurelia's in third person limited, and then there were chapters in third person omniscient featuring secondary characters, where the perspective shifted too quickly between characters.

The ending was a big letdown--lots of unanswered questions and an overall unsatisfying conclusion.

The atmospheric setting and the fact that I was invested enough to keep reading to find out what happened to Aurelia is what makes this a 2 star read.

Oo y’all this was such a good one!! A definite must read. Couldn’t put this one down, the suspense will get ya!

I enjoy a good thriller. I sift through countless ones to find something that stands out. It’s such a popular genre these days, specifically these women thriller, authored by and driven by females, and this one actually actively went for doing something different, so kudos. That different something being a steady infusion of supernatural elements into the plot. In fact, so much so that it became a new beast altogether. At first easily classified as a supernatural thriller, this story of a young woman who out of sheer financial (and psychological, really, the two tend to be inextricable when dire) desperation cons her way into a nanny position for two young children whose mother recently tragically died under mysterious circumstances. The position is in Norway, quite remote, so the story plays out against a visually stunning backdrop of fjords and desolation. The kids are adorable, their father somewhat less so since he’s completely obsessed with building the perfect abode his late wife and he had dreamed of, one that’ll seamlessly blend with the nature around it. Mind you, this is his second go at it, the first one had him subvert the local river and it backfired quite spectacularly. So the pressure is on now, the funds are low and the local workers are somewhat reluctant to mess with nature, respecting the law of the land. There are other people around too, the friend/business associate and his obsessively fitness minded wife. The woman who takes care of the place, not much of a cleaner and has her secrets. The woman who isn’t altogether there, potentially a ghost, seen only by the older kid and the nanny. And spooky noises and unexplained events and all that. It’s positively gothic in some ways, a Scandinavian noir version of Taming of the Shrew or something, but…it also does its best to comply with the thriller settings, providing such things as dual split (albeit very unevenly, so that it is mostly the nanny’s story and flows nicer for it) narrative, suspense, clues, mysterious diary, etc. The thing is, though, in retrospect especially, this isn’t really a thriller after all, not the traditional one, not that sort that floods the bookshelves out there so steadily, this is more along the lines of supernatural tinged suspense drama with a strong environmental message and a nice moody Scandinavian thing going for it right down to the local mythology. Which is to say those looking for a stereotypical thriller might be disappointed. Otherwise, it’s quite good though. I really enjoyed reading it, the setting and the myths being the best thing about it for me. Likeable and/or interesting characters too, even the kids, amazingly enough. The only thing was that the ending was tied up all too conveniently with all too cute of a bow, which seemed kind of incongruous with the story itself. But then again, there’s something to be said for some brightness, especially after the long and bleak Norwegian winters. So yes, I liked this one. It was different in just the right way for me. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Originally I wasn’t going to write a review for The Nesting because I was so frustrated by the end of the book, but I realized that wasn’t fair to future possible readers. I will, however, keep it short. On the positive side, I read The Nesting in two long sessions so I clearly found it engaging. The story was atmospheric, and even as I saw the pages winding down, I held out hope that the writer would bring it all together by the ending. She did not. As I read the last sentence, I was genuinely angry for wasting two days. The story is filled with contradictions, i.e. the mode of death of a character in the prologue is recounted in a completely different way by a bystander near the end. Was this supposed to be a case of the “unreliable narrator”? If so, that wasn’t clear. There were also many loose ends and unanswered questions (e.g. the scary basement, the source of funding for the build, etc.), and a main character who served no purpose whatsoever (Maren). I think this was a potentially good novel in need of a much stronger editor. I just can’t recommend it.

This story takes place in an atmospheric setting in Norway where there is cursed land, folklore, mysterious death, and obsession.

This is an excellent gothic thriller where strange footprints enter the room and mysterious books suddenly appear.

There is a new nanny who is not who she says she is, and the two children she looks after have been left behind by a suicidal mother. Their father is obsessed with building a new house and the housekeeper, with obsessions and secrets of her own, is suspicious of the new nanny. There is something in the water, drawing people towards it.

Lexi, a depressed and suicidal woman, takes on Sophie’s identity and becomes the Nanny for two young girls and their recently widowed father in Norway. The plot goes into their background, their current lives, Norse folktales, the death of their Mother along with the father (Tom), his partner and his wife and the housekeeper. The family is in Norway to build a vacation house. Both men are involved professionally in architecture and construction. The first house Tom built there was destroyed in a flood when the river he’d relocated returned to its original banks. It was days later that his wife died in the fjord and weeks later before her body was found. The house they are now building is different and located on the cliffs rather than the river. As any reader can see, the story is very dark and atmospheric. I won’t go further into the plot because of spoilers but will say it was very well done. Thanks to Net Galley and Berkley for an ARC for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up. I loved the characters, loved the setting, loved the plot. The ending could have been a bit more solid but overall this was a great book to read. The author describes the surroundings vividly. You feel that you are in Norway looking at the sparkling fjords, you feel the SAD that some of the characters may or may not be feeling. Lexi/Sophie is a great protagonist that is very sympathetic and likable, Gaia and Coco are adorable as the little girls that need a nanny very badly, and the other characters like Maren and Tom and Clive and Derry are quite unreadable. The little girls sweet mother Aurelia committed suicide and there are strange circumstances surrounding her death. Great Gothic ghost story. I highly recommend to anyone who likes suspenseful stories with descriptive writing.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read and give an honest review.

supernatural psychological thriller with a pretty unsatisfying end. This book was a huge slow burn book. Just wasn't my cup of tea

Nordic folktales dances with gothic, claustrophobic vibes and waltzes with ghost stories. It’s a gripping, riveting, fast-pacing, astonishing page-turner even though it had some small plot holes and the beginning of the story has resemblances with Ruth Ware’s “Turn of the key”

The story starts Aurelia’s dying: we are in the dark and we are still not sure if she took her own life or somebody killed her.

And then at the next chapter: we witness a suicide attempt of Lexi: who is our other broken, fragile, traumatized protagonist .Thankfully she’s saved by her friend. But after living the hospital and going back to the house she’s shared with her 8 years long asshole boyfriend who kicks her out penniless, she finds herself in a train, using the asshole’s train card and witnessing a talk with two women about a job opportunity. She always wants to write a novel takes place in Norway because of her own ancestors. (She still doesn’t know the identity of her father but she still thinks she’s connected with Nordic culture) and surprisingly, too much coincidentally these two women talk about a job opportunity in a mansion located in Norway. The woman called Sophie shows her friend her resume and she is too close to click the send button to apply for “nanny” job. But her friend begs her not to apply and help her throughout her pregnancy process with doubled fee. Sophie says “yes and in the meantime Lexi murmurs: “Yes”, then as soon as two women walk away and ask her to watch out their computers, she cannot believe in her luck, copy the resume and apply the job with a different email address by stealing Sophie’s identity.

I know the beginning of the story is too coincidental and reminding you Rowan’s character who steals identity of her friend to be accepted for the job. But don’t worry. After the beginning there are not any resemblances. First of all: Lexi is easy to empathize and her characterization has more emotional depth. And thankfully she is not working for pretentious, smug society couple but she takes a job from grieving widow Tom to take care of her angelic little daughter: Gaia and Coco.

The story’s progression differs from “Turning of the key” as soon as Lexi flies to Norway and starts her job to share the house with Tom, kids and the caregiver Maden who was loyal employee of deceased wife. Tom’s partner Clive and his hyperactive, exaggeratedly spiritual wife Derry welcomes her at the airport.

At the beginning everything seems normal. Lexi tries so hard to adapt her role and decipher the enigmatic chores she’s dictated to help the children’s education. But she secretly awards elder daughter Gaia with Netflix time and little Coco with non-vegan treats. Her genuineness and friendly manners earn the hearts of the poor kids as Tom is mostly out of the picture, obsessed to finish the house dedicated to the memory of his beloved wife, working too much and getting more aggressive, obnoxious.

But as we start to read Aurelia and Tom’s narrations with flashbacks: we start to understand, their passion to build a dream house against the will of the nature ends with poisoning the animals and destruction which conflicts with the environmentalist opinions of Tom. It seems like nature wants its payback! And in the present time so many supernatural events start to be seen at the construction site.

In the meantime little Gaia suffers from nigh terrors and talks about a “Sad Lady” who reminds us Nordic version of Grudge’s Samara with her wet, hairy and scary presence! Interestingly also Aurelia sees the woman and she thinks she thinks her hormonal changes created her. Lexi also sees her but she thinks the sad lady is side effect of her depression. And finally Tom sees her but he thinks he’s suffering from sleep-deprivation..

And finally Lexi finds Aurelia’s diary in her room. Somebody left there. Who? And if the things are written were true, Tom might be the killer of her own wife. Could Tom be a cold blooded killer?

Our other questions are: So who is the sad lady? Did Aurelia really see those creatures belonged to the Nordic culture? Was Aurelia demented or was she telling the truth? Did she kill herself or somebody end her life?

Overall: I liked sarcastic, twisty, smart writing style and humorously witty depictions of the author. I enjoyed the characters and ending. Only things bugged me were the way of Lexi’s applying job (yes. Too good to be true, extra coincidental) and too many POVS distracted the main focus of the story. We started with Lexi’s story but till the last pages we didn’t know why she was suicidal and only in few pages her past was told haphazardly.

Maybe the flashbacks parts could be shorter which affected the pacing and tension of the story. And I have second thoughts about reading the POV of Tom because it doesn’t contribute much depth to the story.

I went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars because of plot-holes but I adored the writing and some parts of the book are truly scary and entertaining so I decided to give 4 well deserved stars and added the previous works of the author to my scary monster TBR.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this gripping ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

I loved this book. The characters are enchanting. The setting is described in detail, you can almost feel yourself actually there.
There's Norwegian folklore in here. Stories that are dark that I hadn't heard before.
The characters are strong and the children are adorable. You get to know each character how they feel and think. You are invested in each one and in their part of the storyline.
It has a lot of emotional tragedy, you definitely feel for the loss of their loved one. Your heart embraces the children and what they are going through.
Awesome book!!

The nesting is a very slow moving book. The characters were very shallow. This was difficult to get through

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lexi is a suicidal young woman who borrows another woman's identity in the order to secure a nanny position. She cares for two little girls whose mother has recently died. Supernatural events coincide with real life evil to form the plot of this thriller.

I needed a book to distract me from the state of the world (actually USA) this week. This book did not disappoint. Although it is set in Norway, it is about Brits in Norway. Not truly a Nordic mystery, but it does include a strong Nordic folklore element.

Lexi Ellis has just survived a suicide attempt, a breakup with her boyfriend, and a betrayal from her friend. While on a train, she overhears a conversation in which a young woman is considering a nanny position for a British family that will be living in Norway while the husband builds a cutting edge eco-home.. She manages to hijack the email exchange, assume the identity of Sofie, and become the nanny to two very young girls whose mother recently died. This thread of the story alternates with that of the deceased mother, Aurelia.

There were just too many parts that didn’t ring true. The husband and wife wanted to create a model home that respected nature and was as green as possible, but in one of the first conversations, they nonchalantly cut down old growth trees that obscured the view. This was for starters. Lexi was an emotional mess, but was able to fake being a Montessori teacher and vegan chef with almost no difficulty.

I enjoyed the book, although I did find the middle to be a bit slow and the ending was rushed and disjointed. It did the job of distracting me from the misery of the world this week, but it was not the powerhouse read I was expecting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was an enjoyable read (if suspenseful mysteries with supernatural elements can be considered “enjoyable”); perhaps “engaging” or “compelling” would be better.

When I first started the book, I had to ask myself if imposter nannies and haunted houses are currently all the rage in the UK, because I had recently read/listened to Ruth Ware’s “The Turn of the Key” and was worried this was going to be too similar to feel unique. However, my concerns were unfounded, as Cooke has a completely different plot with a fresh setting, interesting characters, and well-written storyline that drew me in. Definitely recommended as a read-alike with out the feeling of deja-vu.

Lexi/Sophie was a more sympathetic protagonist than I anticipated. Normally, I grow frustrated with naïve, helpless, overly-emotional characters who get themselves stuck in difficult situations because they can’t seem to cope with daily life. While Lexi starts off in a seriously messed up situation, she soon remedies it and makes the best of her new position as the Faraday’s nanny. She consistently demonstrates an ability to make good decisions for the benefit of the children, and manages to keep her inner turmoil to herself. She also makes great personal strides in improving her own mental/emotional health over the course of the story, which I greatly admire. Also, the reason she’s a hot mess at the beginning is later revealed and brings about greater understanding and compassion for the character.

I felt like Lexi and Gaia were the only fully developed characters in the story, with the rest of them (mostly adults) being somewhat less complex. This is likely due to the first-person narrative from Lexi’s perspective, but even the third-person glimpses into the past don’t feel as insightful as I would have liked in order to fully understand Aurelia, Tom, Maren, or Derry (let’s face it, no one really cares about Clive). More nuance in these characters and greater interaction between them and Lexi would have helped, but likely would have also taken away from the sense of isolation that is pervasive throughout the story.

The best part of the book was the setting. I may be a bit partial to this, as I have a former exchange student daughter from Trondheim. But I found it fascinating to learn about Norwegian folklore and the approach to nature conservancy. I also found Erik and Dag’s characters to be endearing and would have enjoyed more time to get to know them, maybe in the guise of learning more local history and folklore, as well as details about the house and the land it sits on?

Overall, a good book that I enjoyed reading - yes, I said it again!

Good suspense novel. I would have rated this book higher except the ending didn't feel true to the story line without something else happening before the end. ***Spoiler alert*** Between Sophie being sent home and her becoming a guest in the mansion it feels like something had to happen besides proof that Derry witnessed Aurelia's death.

Yikes! I guess I didn't read the book description carefully, otherwise I would never have chosen to read this book. I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. I expected a suspenseful whodunit with a twist, but what I read was a supernatural psychological thriller with an unsatisfying ending. After reading other readers' glowing reviews, I came to the conclusion it's not the book, it's me. Just not my kind of story.