A Mystery Set In An Enigma Hidden Within a Nightmare
The Night House was unusual, eerie, and horrifying. The twisty turny plot kept me reading, but at the end, I can't say I was satisfied. I couldn't help but root for Richard, despite his darkness.
But, I don't think I've ever experienced a more unreliable narrator. I questioned my attachment to him plenty as the story unwound. I don't want to write more because this plot should not be spoiled.
Thank you to author Jo Nesbø; Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor; and NetGalley for the free advance reader's copy. I'm under no obligation to them for their gift, however, and my review is my own opinion. The Night House is a good read.

2.5 stars. I feel like this was well written, but the ending was a complete cop out. I also hate books that use mental illness as the reason for horror. I’m so tired of mental illnesses being vilified and while it may not seem as though this book is doing that at first, it ultimately comes down to people with mental illness being othered. Jo should stick to the Harry Hole series, though it’s been so many years since I read that that maybe I’m missing what could have been wrong with those as well.

I’m honestly having a hard time even figuring out what I just read, let alone how I want to rate it. However, I think I really liked this book but I can definitely see why others do not.

We follow Richard as a kid and then later as an adult. A lot of crazy things happen to him and there’s a creepy night house at the center of it all. This synopsis is really lacking in what this story actually is but saying much else will be a spoiler. Just know that there’s some stories within stories and a lot is revealed along the way that changes the whole story. I would recommend going in blind for this one!

This book was a total roller coaster but I really liked it. It reminded me of a Catriona Ward book, it’s like idk what’s going on but in the end it all makes sense and I enjoyed the ride. The spooky vibes were in full effect throughout the story and I loved the atmosphere. I feel like others won’t like this book but you just have to roll with the punches and go along with it until the end. There were some crazy twists throughout this book and I did not see them coming at all. I’m talking about like major story changing twists. I think you have to be a specific type of reader for this book. If you like weird horror but also being a bit lost throughout the book, I think you would like this book. Also, I absolutely love this cover!

Overall, this book was not at all what I was expecting but I had a good time. I think you just have to roll with the punches with this one and go in blind! Thanks so much to netgalley and Knopf for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was interesting. The 14year old's perspective is written well. It was definitely creepy and held my attention. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Sometimes there is a fine line in the genre that separates horror from psychological thriller. The Night House is truly a horror story. Translated from the Norwegian, Jo Nesbo’s twisty, spine-tingling tale has 1980s horror film vibes. This novel focuses on 14-year-old outcast Richard Elauved. After his parents die in a fire, Richard is sent to live in a small country town named Ballantyne. Soon after, his classmates start curiously disappearing. In the nearby woods he discovers an evil presence housed in an old, abandoned phone booth. Now his mission is to stop the harmful force that appears to prey on everyone’s fears. Read at your own risk -- it gave me the willies.

Richard’s parents were killed in a house fire, leaving the fourteen-year-old to live with his aunt and uncle in a small town. Richard has a difficult time making friends and even makes some enemies, so when his classmate Tom goes missing, Richard becomes the primary suspect. Worst of all, he really was the one to see Tom last, but no one believes the outrageous tale he tells about what happened. No one but another student who is also a bit of an outsider. Together, they decide to find the truth of what happened, which leads them to a town secret. When another classmate goes missing, Richard knows he must prove his innocence before it’s too late to save himself.

Well, this was a weird one. The story is told in three sections, and each time a new section starts I had to completely rethink the previous part of the book. This was an interesting approach and I quite liked it, especially as it was so unexpected. The sections were not created equally, though. The first was strong and kept me completely immersed, but the second section felt weak in comparison. It had much less horror than the first section and lacked the tension that had been present. I enjoyed the third section even less, though it did tie things together neatly.

There were certainly some gory parts, especially in the first section. The book also becomes quite bizarre rather quickly. There were also many mentions of white word and black word magic, although there was no meaningful discussion of what this meant until well after the halfway mark. I know the concept is relatively clear from its name, but having magic thrown in with no real explanation or reason isn’t something I prefer.

This work was a translation of the original, and the translator did an excellent job. However, the author’s writing style is rather young adult and simplistic, which worked in the first section but felt at odds with the other two sections. I did notice that only one person’s race was mentioned, and it was a blind older Black man who was exceedingly wise and helpful (outdated trope).

If you’re looking for a weird read that’s somewhat gory horror, then you might enjoy this one. My thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for allowing me to read this work, which will be published October 3, 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I've been a huge fan of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole novels (the name may not translate well, but the books are fantastic) for many years, so I was very excited to get my hands on The Night House. I'll start by saying that obviously, this is an excursion from Nesbo's usual genre, so don't expect there to be any similarities to his other work. Even the writing style was unrecognizable to me... If the author's name wasn't on this book, I would have never guessed that he'd written it.

With that being said, this was a fun retro-horror-esque story that delivered on the creeps right from the get-go. Although it did contain a few cliche plot twists that might have been better left out, they in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the book.

Be aware that if you're into hardcore horror, that's not what you'll get here. If I were to choose the target audience, even taking the plot twists into consideration, I would feel comfortable labeling this as a book for teens.

Thank you, NetGalley, Knopf Publishing, and Jo Nesbo for the opportunity to read and review the advanced reader copy of this book.

This was nooooot what I expected. If The Night House landed on your TBR because you love Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole series, you're in for a shock. But if you picked it because of this killer throwback cover art, you'll find this is more your speed.

Our narrator is a teenage troublemaker, so when he sees a pay phone sucks up his friend -- bones and all -- people have a hard time believing him. And so did I, frankly. After that gory phone call, the pacing slams on the brakes and things get weird. Yes, even weirder than a telephone that turns kids into human slurpees. It picks back up after that, and just when you think you know what's going on, you find out that you don't. You really really don't. That's both a promise and a warning.

This story is whiplash-inducing and frankly, I'm not totally sold on that ending. If I had stopped after the first part, I probably would've enjoyed this more, even if I was left with some unanswered questions.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book by this author and possibly first translated to English. I normally don’t like books that follow the tropes used in this book but I feel that they worked here. Richard moves in with his new foster parents and is causing trouble all over town. In school, home and he may not have “friends” but when he’s with a boy Tom and apparently gets eaten by a telephone, Richard becomes the police’s number 1 suspect. Then, another boy he hangs out with disappears…is it Richard? A demon? There are a lot of twists and turns to the truth. Thank you NetGalley and random house for an arc copy.

First off props to this awesome cover, the imagery on it is amazing. It’s giving classic horror story. We follow a 14 year old boy named Richard who is sent to live with other relatives in a new town after his parents died. And here is where his classmate Tom goes missing, and he was apparently eaten by a telephone. It is separated in 3 parts so we get to see Richard at various points of his life. As he tries to unravel this mystery that he is now evidently apart of. Perfect book for spooky season and again, this cover wins it for me. It looks like a movie poster.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for this ARC. I love the concept of the plot— a boy goes missing by being sucked into the receiver of a telephone, our protagonist Richard is blamed for his disappearance and must clear his name. My first book from Nesbo, The Night House is an unpredictable, quick read, however is probably on the younger side. It was difficult to get into and would probably better suit a YA reader.

Wow! Holy cow this book was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!! I'll be completely honest--I almost DNF'd it after the first chapter. I didn't realize it would be narrated by a 14 year old boy, so it was reading middle grade at first. Let me just tell you--It doesn't last, and boy does it get so good!!!

We have man eating phones, boys who turn into squished bugs, human meat burgers....i wasn't sure what i was getting into, but it was so much more than i expected!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC.

DNF @ 60%

I didn't end up loving this book, I was struggling to get into this book from the beginning, but I was hoping that it would pick up at some point, however, for me, it didn't.

Normally, I like unreliable narrators, but I couldn't get behind Richard's narration of the story, and I wasn't invested in what was happening. I feel like Nesbo did a good job of making Richard an unlikable character at the beginning.

The pacing of the book was slow, and I just wasn't vibing with this book.

💥 Pub Date: 10/3/2023

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

• this cover 😍🩸
• retro horror
• creepy, disturbing atmosphere

My first Jo Nesbo! This book is on the short side but boy does it pack a PUNCH! I couldn't put it down. Nonstop action. Bizarre, bloody, really dark, deep stuff... You're going to want to add this one to your Spooky Szn TBR!

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley and @aaknopf for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! When it comes to creepy horror books, I don't love when books are told in different parts. Not sure why, but it's one of my things. It was so hard to tell fiction from reality, and reality from fiction and I had to reread a lot and go back and forth in the book. It was a compelling read and was a great kickoff to spooky szn for me.

I love a good horror story and I was extremely curious how this was going to go. I haven’t read any books by this author so know nothing about him. The story starts off right away with the good stuff. But then it got slow and I couldn’t tell where it’s going. And nothing is happening. Then it heads in a completely different direction. Caught me off guard and, while I liked this new direction, it went very weird. Then the story heads off in another direction and I fear I got frustrated. I finished the book but actually didn’t care for it by the end. I know there are plenty of horror buffs who will enjoy this.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing me with an eARC of The Night House in exchange for my honest review!

I want to love this book, I truly do. But the ending it chooses just ruins everything that had come before it for me. It's a shame, because when this book was starting out, I was vibing with it instantly. The body horror that the first chapter whips out—oof, it's such a grisly and unforgettable experience. The gore and the eerie atmosphere only increases as the plot moves along, and I also got invested in Richard as a teenage protagonist who's wrestling with some deep emotional and psychological baggage. Then Part 2 of the book happens, and it took an interesting direction that briefly threw me off, but then I jumped right back into the story and the new layers it's presenting. Then it entered Part 3, and that's where it lost me with a cliched conclusion that felt like Jo Nesbø trying his best to add on more facets, but instead stripped away much of the narrative's complexity. If this third act had done something different, something that didn't make me feel like the rest of the story had been a waste of time, I would have been much more satisfied.

Overall, I'm officially rating The Night House 2.5 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to 2 stars on Goodreads. It's quite riveting for those first two parts, so it might be worth reading it for them, but you could do yourself a favor and skip the ending.

This was told in 3 parts. I loved Part 1. It was a great creepy horror story. The second part was a time lapse 15 years into the future. Part 3 was a little bit of a letdown but connected all the dots from the other 2 parts. I am obsessed with the cover of this book and think it’s a good choice for spooky season.

Thank you NetGalley, Knopf and Jo Nesbo for an advanced copy. The Night House comes out October 3, 2023.

unfortunately i don’t think this author’s writing style is for me. i found it very hard to connect to the main character which always pulls me out of the story.

This was an interesting read. It was my first from the author and it was almost like the movie Drag Me To Hell, that is to say; it was humorous horror. It was an alright read, but I’m not sure it was for me.