I have to say I solely requested this for the artwork. I've read three books by Emily Carroll and I'm sad to say her stories aren't for me. Her artwork is incredible though. I probably would have given this 3 stars but unfortately this early copy was blurry so I couldn't fully enjoy this. I couldn't get into the story. I wasn't a fan of Abby's relationship with her husband. I felt it was very obviously no connection between them. I'm sure this is on purpose. There's more to it than that but eventually I found myself skimming and then stopped reading. I really wanted to like this so bad and I'm sad I didn't. If you're a fan of Emily Carroll, you'll definitely enjoy it.

I always have such a visceral reaction to Emily Carroll’s work. She’s incredible and I always recommend her books to anyone who likes graphic novels and spooky tales. Her illustrations and stories are such a good mix of horror, fantasy, and old fables. A Guest in the House is disturbing and gorgeous. I couldn’t put it down. It’s very reminiscent of Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier, if it had more blood and fairy tale elements. What’s not to like?

Emily Carroll has done it once again. With full double page spreads of beautiful artwork and the eye-catching style of select color throughout the story, the reader is drawn deeper into the mystery of Abby's new family. The story haunts you with questions and thoughts well after you've finished the book and makes a delightful summer time read. I'd highly recommend the story for fans of horror and especially horror graphic novels because the method in which Emily delivers the story through the dialogue and the art really is masterful.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in return for an honest review*

Story:
A seemingly normal graphic novel about a younger adult who married an older adult with a child...

Or... is it?

This illustrated work takes a turn for the worst as a ghost makes it's presence known, intertwining with the main character's adoration for a children's novel in twisted gore that will have you squirming in your seat.

Nothing is ever as it seems, especially in this household full of lies.


Art:
The art is impeccable. Maintaining a black and white style until the fantasy (ghost/childhood story) pulls in color.

Overall:
I heavily suggest checking this graphic novel out at least once. It's completely worth the time and truly gives a classic thriller feel.

Gorgeous, creepy, moody. Everything I happened to be looking for. Definitely worth a read and a reread.

Emily Carroll is fantastic. Great atmosphere, beautiful art that’s subtly evocative at times and visceral and unequivocal at others, and a delicate sense for how to reveal just enough of a story to really snare a reader. Enjoyed this very much and I’m looking forward to rereading!

This was so spooky. I think it would have been even better if the plot was left more mysterious in the synobsis. I loved the lead up to the events at the end. It felt eery and I love how the step mom part with the daughter was told and shown. At first I was not a fan of the black and white but then when I saw how color was used I loved it. I love how the people look like regular average people as well. How the women was a knight. The ending confused me a little. I may have to go back and read again. Felt like something may have went over my head. I enjoyed this and it would make for a great spooky read.

A Guest in the House is a retro style psychological thriller in a graphic novel format geared to an adult audience. The art is stellar, much like all of Carroll’s other works, with the knight panels to be reminiscent of 1960s pulp fiction. The story kept me interested until the very end with a twist I did not anticipate.

While I would probably not place this as readily in a curriculum, as part of a high school library, I might use excerpts to show different layout styles or artistic techniques. The interior monologue of our main character would also be useful for teaching the concept of unreliable narrator.

Thank you NetGalley and First Second Books for this ARC.

I've been a fan of Emily Carroll since I read Through the woods, so I was really excited to check out her new graphic novel. It didn't disappoint me. This is a haunting tale about a woman who doesn't know herself very well., and the consequences she and others suffer due to this lack of knowledge. Abby is lonely, insecure, fragile and believes what anyone will tell her. She gets married to a man she doesn't even really like just so she can escape loneliness. She doesn't question anything, she does nothing to try and change her life, she doesn't pursue her own happiness. Her desires are elsewhere, but she doesn't realize it. And then there's the ghost.

The relationship Abby builds with the ghost of her husband's deceased first wife is a reflection of Abby's insecure, unaware nature. And it's all downhill from there. I've seen many reviewers comment on the ending, and yes, it's very open and confusing at first. You need to go back, read some parts again and figure out for yourself what probably happened. There are no easy answers, no certainties, only interpretations. And that's what makes this graphic novel so good, in my opinion. I get why so many people dislike the ending, but after reading it a few times and reflecting, I think I like it.

Overall, I had a great time reading this. The only downside was the quality of the ebook – it's so blurry, which makes it hard to read sometimes. I'll have to grab a physical copy in the future, that's how much I enjoyed it.

I was a big fan of "Through the Woods', so it's unsurprising that I absolutely love Emily Carroll's latest effort, which centers on a woman living in a lake house with her husband (recently widowed) and stepdaughter. She presents to the world as meek and capitulating, but has a colorful and complicated inner life. She frequently daydreams about the fairytales she loved in her youth, casting herself as the brave, dragon-slaying knight-- the hero of her own story, which stands in stark contrast to the quiet, subservient life she actually leads. When the ghost of her husband's ex-wife appears to her, she begins to wonder if he's who he claims to be. The illustration is impeccable, the sparing use of color very effective. The story and characterization really pack an unsettling, stick-to-the-ribs punch. I wanted to turn this over and read it again the moment I finished it. The ending is left a little ambiguous, but I think it's more powerful for it. There's a gripping tension between reality and fantasy, between memory and presence, between interiority and the physical world. Beautifully haunting with folkloric & feminist overtones. I highly recommend.

I am a huge fan of Emily Carroll and the artwork did not fail in this latest edition. However, I think the storytelling and ambitious ending could have been clarified a bit.

The art in this was INCREDIBLE and the story was so off putting. I could not stop reading once I started it. Really fun read and I would highly recommend it to any horror lover!

Stunning artwork and an intriguing story kept me reading. However, the ending was so abrupt that I was left confused.

i’ve read “through the woods” a couple of years ago and i loved the artstyle & the storytelling, so i was extremely excited to get an arc of “a guest in the house”, but, unfortunately, this one wasn’t my cup of tea. the art style was gorgeous, but that was about it. i was constantly frustrated with the main character and i didn’t quite understand the story. and from what i’ve seen online, i’m not the only one with this problem. the ending especially, was quite confusing. the ebook was only blurry, so i couldn’t quite look at the artwork and see the tiny details. the writing was also hard to read because of that. overall, i think this needed a bit more editing.

While I appreciate getting this ARC I don’t think this was for me. Unfortunately the ebook version of this is super blurry which takes away a lot from the sorry and frankly makes the text hard to read. This is the second book by this author that I read and I have come to the conclusion that their work just isn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!
*Contains Spoilers*



3/5 stars
The Good:
The colored images were amazingly done! I was very invested in the story, even if I was frustrated with the main character, until the very end. There was so much potential for the twists that the story took.

The Not So Good:
I like an ending the makes you think, retrace bread crumbs, but the ending did not make sense. I've spend all evening turning it over, reading other reviews, and the mass consensus is that it is either unfinished or it just doesn't make sense. I hope to check reviews after publication to see if anyone really does understand what happened.
The ebook text was blurry and very hard to read, but this will probably be fixed when published.

This is my first book from Emily Carroll and I had heard wonderful things, so I was excited to receive an advanced copy of A Guest in the House.

The artwork alternates between black and white, with splashes of vivid color. This was a very effective narrative tool and really enjoyed most of the art throughout the story.

Unfortunately the story didn't quite live up to the great artwork. It follows a young, shy housewife named Abby who is slowly bonding with her new stepdaughter while living a monotonous life in a beautiful lakeside home. The stepdaughter claims she has seen her mother, who died (under increasingly mysterious circumstances) and Abby begins to see a ghostly presence in the house.

There were a lot of confusing aspects to the story, and I'm all for ambiguity, but the story literally didn't have an ending. Overall I thought it was underwhelming and just okay.

A graphic novel reminiscent of Rebecca that fans of ND Stevenson and Tillie Walden who also love horror genre would love.

Abby, a grocery clerk turned wife and stepmom, finds solace in daydreams of being a knight. Her stepdaughters' eerie drawings lead her to uncover the truth behind the passing of the first wife and mother. The fast-paced, eerie story alternates between black-and-white reality and a vibrant, 50s animation-like illustrations of the knight's world.

3.5 Stars (Rounded Down).

Abby marries her recently widowed dentist of a husband, and they and his daughter from his first marriage move to a new house on a lake. Abby and her stepdaughter Crystal "see" the dead wife/mother, and Abby starts to question how the woman, Sheila, actually died. Was it cancer like her new husband told her? Author Emily Carroll created a mostly black and white graphic novel, with a few colors thrown in when an important aspect occurs.

This graphic novel was quick and to the point. I think it left out a lot that I really desired in terms of plot. The ending kind of left the reader unsure what really happened. I am hoping the loose ends are just to make way for a part 2 of A Guest in the House. I hope it is either that, or there will be more editing in the released copy.

I really hated the main character, Abby. She was weak and did not question anything. What woman would marry a stranger and not question or want to see what is in a locked room in her new house? Her new husband was a jerk the whole time, but she was fine with that and not bonding with her new stepdaughter, just as long as she has a home where she doe not have to contribute to the household? If I married a person that whisked me away to a new lake house (and that person does not even like swimming), I would question a lot. I would want to know about the previous wife and how she died. It seemed Abby was too much of a weak pushover for me to have any sympathy for. I would have loved more character and story development, but maybe Carroll's style is just not for me. The premise was great, I just wanted more.

I read Through the Woods about four years ago and remember that I quite enjoyed the artwork, but the stories themselves were hit or miss for me. Unfortunately, that remains true with A Guest in the House.

Emily Carroll's artwork is very distinct, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the grainy quality of the eARC. The plain black and white style matched the apparent normality of Abby's life with her husband and step-daughter. It also served as a fantastic contrast to the fantastical colored pages sprinkled throughout the book. Those colors were absolutely stunning and I would love to see them in a printed edition. The horror is conveyed perfectly when Carroll draws her ghosts, from the hauntingly beautiful to the chillingly grotesque. I loved the contrast between the princess ghost and the drowned ghost. These images will not be leaving my mind anytime soon.

The story was lacking and, for the most part, confusing to me. I understood parts, but then other parts felt underdeveloped and incomplete, especially the end. I just couldn't really get invested in the storyline, and the only thing I was curious about was what really happened to Sheila. The rest, I didn't really care about.

This is a relatively short read and has a lot packed into it. The stunning color artwork is why I can give this three stars, as the story just didn't totally grip me and left me more confused than anything.