So it's just horror Redshirts but not as interesting, yeah? The first part is fine and then it devolves into what feels like a half-assed writing exercise by someone who thinks they're being really smart.

I'm not usually negative on here, but I found parts two and three tedious. First part was fine though.

I had seen this book being read by many social media people that I follow so I had high hopes but was ultimately let down. It wasn’t bad per se but it wasn’t a favorite either.

Such a great spooky read! I wasn’t sure what to expect from a horror novel written by Jo Nesbo but I was pleasantly surprised! It grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let me go once. I read this in two sittings! At first I was getting major Stephen King vibes, which I loved, but about halfway through those sort of disappeared and the novel really came into its own. Very twisty and shocking, with well-utilized splashes of gore and the exact right amount of WTF moments. I hope Nesbo writes more in this genre!

I am loathe to read books whose sell copy starts with some teen age person, finds powers, attends arcane academy — But, books from the point of view of a child or children (think "Stand by Me," by Stephen King) are right up my alley vis a vis scare factor and creepiness value. Part one of THE NIGHT HOUSE definitely has the necessary horrify factor.

I often start writing my review while I'm still reading the book. It isn't often that I've been wrong about the general trend of a book. However, I can say that when it comes to THE NIGHT HOUSE, I was totally wrong in comparing it to what I did. Yes, part one involves tween boys — tween middle school and high school. But "Stand by Me" it's not.

Jo Nesbø has penned the same story three times between the covers of THE NIGHT HOUSE and leaves it to the reader to decide which one to believe. Are we to believe the fantastic tale related by Richard Elauved? And what kind of name is Elauved anyway? Are we dealing with true psychopathy or just one boy's vivid imagination?

There are parts of this book that struck the right note of horror for me and others that did not. I'm all for the laughable bit that follows the truly horrific to break the tension felt by the reader. When the dread is missing and the premise borders on the ludicrous it is hard to suspend disbelief. I wonder if something was lost in translation.

The cover is fantastic! Drew me in right from the start, and made me believe, as with the title, that I was going to be reading a horror novel. But this wasn't the case, at least not horror in my eyes. This was more of a horror thriller since there were some horror elements and scenes that blur the lines. So I will review this based on the story itself and not based on the cover. Because when I decided to keep reading past the first part and give this one a chance I was glad I did.

This book delivers in three parts, with the reader being introduced to Richard in part one, a teenage bully who is sent to live with his aunt and uncle after losing his parents. Naturally he is taking his anger out on his fellow classmates. He and a boy from school, Tom, take a walk and come across a phone booth in the middle of the woods. The boys decide to prank call someone and some serious craziness proceeds to happen. So begins this bizarre chain of events that culminates with moving onto parts two and three where we are still with Richard 15 years later. This book needs to be read to be believed because the craziness continues throughout. This definitely has a RL Stine feel to it.

I absolutely love Nesbo's characterization in The Night House. He delivers such eccentric personalities, and I could easily picture each one. All of the characters appear in all three parts with the reader piecing together who is who. The story throws curveballs all over the place and I loved trying to figure things out. Unbelievable and surprising are definitely constant themes throughout.

It's an extraordinarily surreal and quirky book that alters reality for a few hours and left me mulling over all of the pieces. Not because I needed to, but because I wanted to - because I wanted to open up the book at the beginning and start over to see how it all fits. This book's third part ends with the idea that it actually could start all over. And I am totally for it.

🏚Ending left me down🙁

3.5-4🌟stars
I have to give this story a mixed review as in large part I enjoyed it but that did not last through to the end.

The first two-thirds of The Night House were original, fast-paced, scary and terrific (in both senses of the word) entertainment and I would have rated close to 4.5🌟 stars. Richard, the teenage outsider in a small town main character, heads a doomed cast of adolescent characters battling a mysterious, evil enemy and there are even secrets found in the small, dusty local library and a fantastic, dilapidated house with a creepy, destructive tree smack dab in its center. I loved their adventures and the hint of romance included; I could have done with more story in this vein.

Maybe that's why the two sections in the last third, and especially the last part, did not click so well for me and brought my rating down. The second section was a bit like a frenetic zombie plot (zombie enthusiasts might love it but I'm not actually a zombie fan) and the finale was too heavy on psychiatric discussion and quite static, plus it left me confused. I think the first two sections will probably appeal to a younger readership gearing up for a fright-filled Halloween.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

This novel is a bit different, perhaps because it's a Norwegian author. It's divided into three parts and, though all have the same characters and a connected plot, each part has a unique feel and makes you question what's really going on. Though it's spread out and can take a few chapters to get to, the horror is imaginative. Part one could have been a standalone horror novella, as could part two (with some details added to establish the situation). But by the time you get to part three, everything turns around. A lot of questions are answered, but some are left hanging. Overall, it's a decent read.

This horror book was divided into three sections. The first section was amazing and if the book had stopped at the end of this section it would have been a solid five star read for me. The second part was strange and the third part was predictable to the point of me wishing I hadn't read it.

I'm honestly not even sure how to respond to this book. Part one reads like an R.L. Stine Goosebumps book and I loved every second of it. The unrealistic but still kind of spooky vibe to it was amazing.

Then part two hits and you start questioning what to believe. You suddenly realize that what was totally fiction may actually be real and all of the lines of reality start to bleed together.

THEN PART THREE HITS. And you're let questioning literally everything. All of it.

I honestly think this was an amazing book, because you don't know what was real and what wasn't. It's creepy in the best sort of way.

Nope not my book, It was just a no, not to many people getting sucked through a phone just hit something I could get into

3.75 stars.

A fast paced twisty super natural horror that will have you thinking “wait, what???”.
I was into this from the very beginning, it lost me a bit at the beginning of part 2 but quickly dragged me back in to its bendy mind f*ck. The horror here is unique and provides great visuals that would be amazing in film. I’m still not sure I know what actually happened, but one thing I do know is it is all connected. I would love to read more like this from Nesbø!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC (▰˘◡˘▰)

Thank you to PRHAudio for the complimentary audiobook and Knopf Publishing for the ARC!

Richard is a mean, angry fourteen year old kid with only two friends - Tom and Karen. One day, he and Tom are making prank phone calls when the phone literally eats Tom alive. Since Richard was the last one to see Tom, nobody believes his a ridiculous story and when another kid from the town goes missing, Richard is the prime suspect. Fueled by anger, fear and the desire to clear his name, Richard sets out to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on.

And I’m still not sure if I know exactly what was going on 😂 Told in three very different parts, just as the tension was building in each section, Nesbo switched direction and I was slightly jarred going into the next part. But once I got my footing, the second part was just as exciting as the first, then we came into the third where my jaw dropped. On audio, Michael Crouch did an amazing job narrating this unbelievable story and brought Richard perfectly to life. This was one book I had to think on in the quiet for a bit after I finished. Dripping with terror and interspersed with horror, this book needs to be on your fall TBR list!

“The Night House” releases October 3, 2023! This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly.

I'm not completely sure how to describe my feelings toward this book. I did like it as a whole, but I was left confused a lot of the time about what was real or imagined. Part one was my favorite as we follow the weird things happening around Richard a young boy who ends up being a suspect in the disappearance of two other boys. There is a sinister figure lurking in the background of this story that seems to be behind all the horrible things happening, and Richard is trying to stop him before something else happens.
Part 2 made me rethink everything we read in the first part, at least until the end (of part 2) which made me rethink all of what I had just read all over again. The ending I felt while it did explain all of what had been happening kind of made the rest of the story less scary and weird, and I think we could have done without that whole part entirely. The Night House is full of twists and turns. Creepy and Bizarre and I never knew where the story was heading or what was going to happen next.
This is the first book, I have read by this author and I would be interested in reading his other books.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

This book is separated into 3 parts. Part 1 starts off strong the whole time I’m trying to figure out what is reality and how could that be actually happening or is it ?

Part 2 fast forward 15 years and reunion and hits you with a plot twist

Part 3 we get answers! I’m glad I actually finished this book because everything was tied in nicely. I’m not sure how I felt about Karen and my heart just breaks for Richard.

First book from this author and I have another one on my shelf that I’ll be giving a try.

I was a little confused by this book. It wasn’t what I was expecting and the writing was also not what I was expecting. It read like an R.L. Stine book- more Young Adult with some hokey aspects that felt very unrealistic. Which is usually not a big deal for me, but since I wasn’t expecting the writing style to be like that, it threw me off a bit.

The translation seemed to not be fully edited, which is to be expected in an ARC along with spelling and grammatical errors. but there were so many that it just really took me out of the book. A lot of sentences didn’t make sense due to the translation not being fully 100%.

Overall, not my favorite book. But I have a feeling once it is fully edited, I will feel differently.

"She’s going to burn. The girl you love is going to burn. There’s nothing you can do about it."

Delicious read that reminded mi a lot of young Stephen King and "his kids" adventures.
When you just think that you are reading a very enjoyable young adult read, the theme twist and turns and you find yourself wondering " What's next?"
A very different book from the author, it will give you chills!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I don't know what I just read, but it was very bizarre. I've read Nesbo before, and this did not feel like a Nesbo book. It was real, but it wasn't real?! I was more confused than not while reading.

Alright so…. I enjoyed this book. It’s divided into three events over the course of the narrator's life, and admittedly the first section is the strongest. It starts with the MC as a kid. He's a bit of a bully, no less, which may make him a little unsympathetic at the beginning. But a couple of kids last seen with him go missing, and his account of what actually happened to them is too bizarre to sound true. Hence, he’s shipped off to an institution for troubled young teens. The bizarre nature of everything that happens because of a connection to a man we never really meet in a house in the middle of a forest (his name is Imu Jonasson) is what really pulls the reader into the story.

Part Two revisits the kid as an adult upon his return home for a school reunion. He proves that, as the kid, maybe he was an unreliable narrator, but he's come to terms with that, and he wants to make amends for his bullying ways. Except things go awry—because of that house again, and maybe he wasn’t as unreliable a narrator as we thought.

Part three flips the narrative again in an interesting turn, though maybe not in the same horrific way that the first two thirds of the book play out. I think some readers might find the ending to be a letdown because maybe it doesn’t hold the same horrific tone. For me though, it was satisfying enough. As far as a character arc goes, it works..

Thank you NetGalley, and the publisher, for the ARC.

I love Jo Nesbo, and was very excited to hear he was writing a horror book. I want to start by saying if you’re imagining Harry Hole style, this is not it. Luckily, I was hoping for a different style, and this coming of age horror shows his range as a writer. I love the coming of age teen horror, and that’s what you’ll get…in the beginning. Then it had several twists that kept me guessing. Just when I thought I had it figured out - I didn’t. For those afraid of gore, I thought this was more horror lite - focused on the characters more than the gore. I really enjoyed it and hope Nesbo continues to branch out!

I loved The Night House's throwback cover so very much. This was my first Jo Nesbo novel and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'll absolutely be circling back for his other novels.