rigger Warning: Somebody's Home contains events related to anti-Semitism, domestic abuse, and gun violence, so I would not read this book if those topics are sensitive to you as a reader.


Julie Jones has finally done it: She's left her husband. For almost a year, Julie has been planning her escape from Roger which included secretly buying a house on the other side of town. It's not that Julie hates Roger, but she knows that she and her teenage daughter, Jess, deserve someone who is both emotionally available and physically present. The morning Julie leaves Roger, she takes Jess to their new home with the unwavering belief that this is the best move for everyone, but Jess is anything but hopeful. Jess wants to go back home close to her friends - that is until Jess notices the cute guy living in her new home's carriage house. Tom Dean is the previous owner's son, and Tom doesn't have a single desire to leave the carriage house so his parents had coordinated with Julie to let Tom stay for an extra weekend before officially moving out. At first, Julie didn't think anything of it, but once she meets Tom in person, she's immediately on edge. Trying to silence her gut, Julie ignores Tom until weird things start happening the night she and Jess move in. But Jess doesn't share her mother's impression of Tom. In fact, Jess loves the idea of a cute bad boy within walking distance. Tom knows he's not actually moving out anytime soon - he's just biding his time until he can execute his big plan.


I was pretty excited to read Somebody's Home. I read another one of Kaira Rouda's books, The Favorite Daughter, a couple years ago and I remember liking it, so I thought her newest book would make a bigger impression on me. However, I was completely disappointed by Somebody's Home. To begin, all of the characters (Julie, Tom, Jess, Roger, Sandi) were all incredibly superficial, and I mean that in both the narcissistic-sense but also in the general character development sense because absolutely everything was on the surface. None of the characters showed any development; they just repeated the same exact things from beginning to end, which means Julie never stopped referring to all her plastic surgery, Sandi never stopped referring to her dedication to being a servant wife, Jess never stopped referring to her popularity, Tom never stopped referring to his hatred, and Roger never stopped referring to her wealth. Now, I don't know if this book was supposed to be marketed as a Young Adult book, but it's definitely not a thriller that I would want to read past the age of 16. Somebody's Home, while its premise is interesting, has very little substance. I don't think this will deter me from reading another Kaira Rouda book, but I can't say I would seek her books out again.


1/5


Thank you, Thomas & Mercer, for an advanced copy of Somebody's Home in exchange for an honest review.

Gripping story of two families who intersect in an unexpected way. The theme of hate speech is very apropos in the current times. The story had a bit of a slow buildup but I found myself drawn in and as the story progressed I found myself unable to put the book down until I finished. Good read overall.

In Kaira Rouda's latest novel, Julie Jones has left her domineering husband and, along with her teenage daughter Jess, has moved to a new home across town -- literally on the other side of the tracks. Although Julie is used to a certain level of comfort afforded by her husband's wealth, she is ready for a fresh start on her own. There's only one problem: The son of the former owners of her new home is still living in the carriage house, and he has no intentions of leaving when he's supposed to.

Kaira Rouda has certainly found her niche in a domestic suspense subgenre that I think can best be described as "Rich White People Behaving Badly." I really enjoyed her first two books of this type, Best Day Ever and The Favorite Daughter, in which she introduced over-the-top, evil characters that I loved to hate. Unfortunately, Somebody's Home continues a big step backward that was started with last year's novel, The Next Wife. This book just doesn't have the sense of fun that Rouda's earlier books did, and I didn't love to hate these characters; I just straight-up disliked all of them.

All of the characters in Somebody's Home are stereotypical, shallow and underdeveloped. Rouda writes in trite generalizations without really delving into her characters' deeper emotions and motivations. She takes on a lot of topics in this novel, including but not limited to: neo-Nazism, prostitution, social media and religious scandals, conservative Christianity, domestic violence, and child abuse. But she never really gets to the meat of any of these issues, so they all seem very surface-level, and in combination with too many narrators, all they do is make the narrative feel convoluted and unfocused. And all of the male characters are portrayed as evil, demeaning men who want to exert complete control the women in their lives. I'm all for women freeing themselves from bad domestic situations, but I really can't stand the "all men are bad" trope either. It feels too cheap and easy as a plot device, and coupled with the characters' ridiculous actions and dialogue, none of it ever felt believable.

On the plus side, though, this book was easy to devour and Rouda has a way of making me want to keep reading, even if I'm not necessarily enjoying myself the entire time. Still, I think this may be where I part ways with this author.

The book is a psychological thriller about a former trophy wife, Julie Jones, who moves into her dream home and the former tenant who will not leave. She leaves her suffocating marriage and dominating husband to lead a more simple life with her daughter, Jess. This would have been possible but there is just one problem. The former owner’s son, Tom is still staying there. He is staying in the carriage house on the property but he will not leave, putting both Julie and Jess’s lives in great danger.
Things spiral even further when Julie's soon to be ex husband gets embroiled in a scandal which makes headlines and her daughter who was to start college gets caught up in a mess because of a mistake.

There are a lot of characters and a lot of action in the story which makes this is a quick read. The premise of the book was really intriguing, however, the book’s premise and the actual novel did not work out as much as I expected and hoped.

Having said that I must add that I have enjoyed the author's previous books and will definitely read her next as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It took a while for me to get interested in this book and the characters. It wasn’t my favorite story from Kaira Rouda.

Somebody’s Home

⭐️⭐️⭐️.9

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC copy of Somebody’s Home. By: Kaira Rohda. Genre: Thriller. This book is out now.

This book is told from multiple view points and there is not one “main” character. I found this to be a really slow burn and did not really heat up until the end. Although there were other scandals that occurred throughout the book. The family that owns the house at Cherry Hill moved out to the country, a Pastor’s family, selling the home to Julie, who was leaving her husband, and bought the Cherry Hill house for herself and her daughter. Julie and her daughter come from her estranged husbands fortune, a sense of entitlement runs through the daughter at times. The Pastor’s oldest son, Tom, was full of rage and was living in the cottage house until Sunday, per the contract.

The overall story is good and has relevant material to today’s environment. I enjoyed it. There are two families involved and you will see viewpoints from both. I do not want to spoil it for anyone but this was a good book. If not for the slow burn, it would have been 4 stars.

This book wasn't what I was expecting but in the end, I liked it.

Julie Jones has been saving for years to leave her life and mansion behind and start her new life without her overbearing husband. She moves herself and her daughter Jess to a new home on the other side of the tracks but little do they know their guest in the carriage house is NOT what they are expecting.

The story follows along with Julie as she tries to start her own modest life away from her husband, her daughter Jess and her reluctance to live a life that isn't full of mansions and money, and their guest in the carriage house Tom who is planning revenge on his own family.

Ok, this starts out creepy enough, a stranger wandering around in the house. And then it escalades from there. We know it's going to get intense, we just have to learn how it gets to that point. Who is that stranger and what do they want?

All kinds of drama unfolds and the characters are in it deep. Good guys, bad guys, and everyone in between. I couldn't predict the outcome nor figure out who would be left standing. I love these kind of stories that keep me enthralled and guessing to the end.

Somebody's Home is a page-turning thriller that will suck you in and leave you breathless. I highly recommend it for an exciting read!

Sometimes you read a book in which you dislike all the characters and don't care what happens to them. This is one of them for me. Every character is stereotypical, from the bratty rich kid to the religious goody two shoes.

The book started out with so much promise in the first chapter. Then the author starts throwing in everything but the kitchen sink, all trigger content. The suspense at the end isn't enough to make up for the hours of my life I lost reading. I can't say I will actively look for more books by this author if they're all like this.

I was happy with the ending if only because it was over.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are obviously mine and given freely.

Somebody’s Home is my first novel by Kaira Rouda. When another bookstagrammer told me to “buckle up,” boy, I should have listened! What a wild ride!!

The suspense starts in the first chapter and doesn’t stop! Rouda’s easy writing style allows you to fly through the pages. The story is told through 5 POVs so pay close attention to the characters and their storylines. Never fear, the characters have a thin line connecting each of them, and the storylines do weave together. The action builds to a dramatic ending which might be a *little* too much for the squeamish. Not me! I love an action-packed, bloody ending.

The charming house in the quiet suburbs is really a hot mess of secrecy, desperation, and chaos.

“Somebody's Home” unfolds in a first-person narrative that produces tension, confusion and desperation. “Somebody is in my home. I don’t know what to do.” Everything centers on the house; what happened there, who lives there, who no longer lives there, who never lived there, always “the house.” The narrative alternates among multiple characters and goes back in time so readers learn how people got the “the house” and how they feel about living in it and leaving it.

The residents of the house, both past and present, are diverse. Readers come to know a lot about them, their hopes, their plans, and their struggles to balance the darkness and the light. They are all just living their lives day by day, whining and complaining about everything, but they become incrementally deceptive, manipulative, and evil. The house, however, knows their real stories, the things they want hidden. Then, things become even worse, and this time it makes the news.

Rouda created a complex narrative rich in complexity and moral challenges, one that exposes the superficial and unmasks the hidden. Anyone can tell a lie that has a degree of truth, but reality is different. I received a review copy of “Somebody's Home” from Kaira Rouda and Thomas & Mercer. It i s filled with excesses, anxieties, egos, and conundrums.

Fast paced domestic drama about 2 families.
Julie has left with her daughter Jess from their husbands/dad Roger.

They move into the home that once belonged to Sandi, her husband Doug, and get two boys. Her stepson, Tom, lives in a carriage house and he's being evicted..... But he doesn't want to leave.

The whole book takes place over 3 days but you get a whole lot of background on all these characters. A lot of them make bad choices but a few of them are trying to better their lives.

Two of these people will have a media frenzy come down upon them for very bad choices. But this affects them all.

I didn't feel I got a whole lot of satisfaction out of this as I would have liked to. I wish m wanted more suspense and more mystery as to certain characters motives. I would have liked them come out more slowly, not just sudden.

This is an excellent book! I couldn't put it down. Not my favorite characters, but it turns out, there was a reason for that. Great job!
Thanks to netgalley, the author and publisher for the chance to read an advanced copy.

I love Kaira Rouda, I just was not in love with this book. I could not connect to the characters like I have in her past novels. I can’t wait to read the next one.

Julie is a trophy wife who has just left her husband, Roger, and moved into a new home with their daughter, Jess. A son of the previous owners (Sandi and Doug) is still living in the carriage house but has 2 days to move out.

The book tells the story via alternating viewpoints – Julie, Jess, Roger, Tom (the son living in the carriage house), and Sandi (Tom’s stepmother and Doug’s wife). It starts out “current time” with someone outside the home narrating that someone is in the house with a female who is in danger and then flashes back to 2 days prior. A lot happens over these 2 days.

Julie decides to leave Roger over his philandering ways but Jess does not want to move out of her gated community to a home on the “other side of the tracks” so she decides she will move in with her best friend. However, after a video from Bonnie’s party goes viral, that decision is no longer in play. At the same time, Roger finds himself in legal trouble.

Julie becomes friendly with Sandi but mainly only to ask her assistance in getting Tom to move out. Jess and Tom become friendly until Jess finds out about the angry group that Tom hangs out with and she gets nervous.
It all comes to a head at the end of the weekend with a nice wrap-up.

This was a quick read for me with a "didn't see it coming ending" for me. There was suspense but I never felt connected to the characters. At times I felt pulled in too many directions without knowing exactly why.

This book was a quick read. I really enjoyed the multiple points of view. Very twisty, unreliable narrators, some unlikeable characters - makes for a good psychological thriller.

Holy wowness! It's my first time reading anything by Kaira Rouda and it sure as honey won't be my last! What an excellent read! I was hooked from the first chapter and couldn't put it down! So good!

It was initially bad that I just continue reading it because I think it cannot be that bad without something good comes out it. All of the characters are unlikable, cringey and over the top that you will end up hating them. But you keep going and expect things to go better. Fortunately, it did at some point. The short chapter helps, it was a quick read. The premise of starting over, fresh start is an interesting concept but as the story unfolds it is not how I envision it will go. Overall, a decent read if you are looking for mystery / thriller read.

This one unforunately didn't work out well for me and I ended up DNF....

I LOVED "The Favorite Daughter", but her last one also fell flat for me.

I will try more books by this author!