This wasn’t what I was expecting from Jo Nesbo. It was so different than his Harry Hole series, but I knew that it would be from the description. Still, this book was a surprise.
Set in three parts, we meet Richard in part one. He is an unhappy teenager who has lost his parents and is now living in a small boring town. But when people think he had something to do with the disappearance of not one, but two classmates, well, things get very weird, very fast. Is Richard a killer or does this town hold a dark past and present.
In part two, Richard is an adult and we learn what really happens when he was younger. Or do we?
Part three was like what, everything I thought was true was turned upside down. I’m still not 100% sure if I believe my interpretation of the ending.
Only 256 pages, so it was a quick read. I’d love to know where the author’s inspiration for this book came from.

I had only read Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole crime novels, so I picked this up since it was another genre by this author. Horror - very different type of book from Harry Hole. I found it imaginative, but not really scary since it was all unbelievable and could never really happen. Still a good story with lots of surprises.

Description:
In the wake of his parents' tragic deaths in a house fire, fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote, insular town of Ballantyne. Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. No one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie. No one, that is, except Karen, a beguiling fellow outsider who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. He traces the number that Tom prank called from the phone booth to an abandoned house in the Black Mirror Wood. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin to whisper in his ear . . .

You know who I am. She's going to burn. The one you love is going to burn. There's not a thing you can do about it.

When another classmate disappears, Richard must find a way to prove his innocence--and preserve his sanity--as he grapples with the dark magic that is possessing Ballantyne and pursuing his destruction.

Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story . . .

My thoughts:

I liked the creativity and the story fit the weird imaginings of a young boy until the story changed. The protagonist is definitely an unreliable narrator. The twists and turns of the story were both imaginative and surprising. The book was fairly quick to read and I do have to say it kept my interest, even though much of it are things that would not and could not happen. I found Richard to be an engaging character and I like him and felt bad for him. I was not scared, though, and in a horror book I expected to be. This book had an inventive, creative plot and was well paced. It was divided into sections, with a different view in each section - although all are from Richard's point of view. There were some key horror elements like the creepy house hidden away, a correctional facility, etc.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on October 3, 2023.

I wanted to like this, but I really couldn’t stand the main character making fun of another characters speech impediment. The opening scene in the phone booth though was very well written

Big thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for a copy of this ARC! This cover, first of all, was BEAUTIFUL and I would love to point that out.

This starts out feeling a little bit like some classic coming of age novels we all know and love- (“It,” “Summer of Night,” etc.) but it quickly unravels and turns into something else entirely. Richard is our protagonist- he doesn’t think he’s a really nice kid. And to tell you the truth, he sort of isn’t. He says some pretty vile things to his friend of whom is dubbed “Fatso,” and he forces his friend Tom to call a mysterious number in a phone booth. It seems that everyone who comes into contact with Richard meets some deep and mysterious fate- and now, he’s being investigated for these disappearances.

Reading is about taking the good with the bad sometimes. This book is full of both elements. That’s why it was so difficult to find a rating for it. I didn’t even fully understand who the villain was supposed to be. The author attempts to provide some clarity toward the end, but I truly don’t know if I’m understanding what exactly happened here. There are multiple sections in the story set in different timelines. All of these are important and they will eventually serve much symbolic purpose and work with each other to provide a complete story. While it was fun getting to the climax, it was sort of… difficult to come to terms with what it was that actually happened here.

This IS original, incredibly so, and introduces some Tim Burton-esque concepts and characters. In Richard’s world, there are folks like Victor and Vanessa, the insane and mentally conjoined twins. We also have Karen, a popular and bright student who gets Richard into reading books. And then there’s Fatso- what to say about Fatso? An underestimated force is what I may describe him as.

There is a mystery present surrounding an allegedly disturbed man who lived in a dark and brooding house known as “the night house.” That’s where this title comes from. THIS was the piece of the story I had most complaints with. The situation concerning this man still doesn’t make much sense to me, and in the end, I still wasn’t sure what was going on.

There is so much content here, so much worth reading and original turning points I have never imagined would’ve been coming up. I just wish that things had been wrapped up a little neater- not that I need all my stories situated into pretty little ribbons, but I have some questions I THINK the answers were provided to, but I’m still left feeling a little whiplashed.

The journey uphill is amazing, but I feel like this book gets stuck up on a cliff.

This comes out on October 3rd, and I do think it makes for a pretty good Halloween read. If you are okay with forming your own conclusions, you should check this one out. Even if you aren’t, if only for the journey alone, this may be worth reading. Richard’s world feels like a portal to another planet, and it might as well be. It just hit a little hard when I had to leave it so suddenly!

A big shoutout to the publishers and NetGalley for granting me an early peek into The Night House by Jo Nesbo in exchange for an honest review!

The Night House took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. I must admit, I powered through just to share this review. The gruesome beginning gripped me, but the middle portion lost its hold on my attention. However, Part two managed to rekindle my intrigue. The mind-bending uncertainty of reality kept me engaged, despite the slower stretches. Jo Nesbo crafted some intriguing horror elements, including a chilling scene involving a character getting devoured through a phone – talk about eerie! The blurred lines between reality and dreams added a layer of intrigue, though occasionally it left me a tad bewildered. Part 3 did provide some clarity, which was a relief, as it helped tie the other sections together.

While I appreciated the twist, I felt a bit disheartened by the trope of associating mental illness with being monstrous or villainous. It seemed like a quick resolution.

Ultimately, while parts thrilled me, the book could have benefitted from a more captivating middle section. Moreover, the character development fell a bit short, making it tough to truly connect with or cheer for them. For those new to horror or seeking a quick read, The Night House might be worth considering, but personally, it didn't entirely captivate me.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor as well as NetGalley and author Jo Nesbo for the incredibly spooky and unique novel The Night House. It started out as a story of a boy that had been dealt a terrible loss and had been forced to move somewhere he never wanted to go. Once there he was the odd man out and when things begin going wrong he is the only one the authorities want to blame. Ahh, but that is only the tip of the iceberg for our young man. Just when you think you are finally figuring things out, things get shook up and it’s 15 years later and things are much different. This book keeps you guessing all the way to the end and even after I finished reading it I still was puzzling over a few things. It’s a good book to add to your TBR for the spooky season and you might want to keep a night light on lol. Enjoy!

WOW! I wasn’t expecting a book like this from Jo Nesbo. I assumed it was his newest suspense thriller and quickly realized that it was straight up horror. It took me a while to become engaged. All in all, a riveting read.

This is a nightmare of a book, literally. I don't even know how to write a review, as anything I would like to say would give too much away. But here goes...

This is a horror novel written in first person by teenager Richard. Part I starts off with a bang, as Richard watches a classmate being eaten by a pay phone. From there things get really weird. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the book.

Part II brings us Richard, still narrating the story, fifteen years later, as he attends a class reunion. It gets messy quickly. The horrors of the past come back to Richard and his friends as adults. But this time, it gets a bit boring. I found myself thinking 'Oh, this again, here we go again.' and you start to figure out a few things.

Finally, Part III; I wish I could tell you more, but I don't want to spoil anything for any other readers. Suffice it to say, dangling strings are tied up, finishing touches are quickly added and it all comes around full circle. Which is a nice way to say, the ending was a bit ho hum because, again, it merely rehashed what has already been pretty much spelled out.

This was my first Jo Nesbo novel, and obviously he knows how to write. But this story left a lot to be desired. I do plan to try some of his other works though.

I was really into this at first, and then there was a point where my mind was blown. BUT and this what really breaks my heart, theres like one or two more twisty turns and I just completely lost interest in the last 5 pages. Literally the last 5 pages or so and it felt like there was going to be another twist and at this point my head was throbbing. This book started off strong but just took too many spins to keep up with. I literally felt dizzy trying to keep up w this story. I am really disappointed .

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This book is a nightmare. Confusing - is the main character writing a book, living the facts or is he a mental patient imagining it all.

I really enjoyed this! Imagine if Stephen King wrote a Goosebumps book. This is the perfect read for spooky season. This is my first book by Jo Nesbo and I plan to check out more this fall!

Much to be appreciated about The Night House - a clever approach to many aspects of horror, highlighting dark corners of dreams vs reality, pretty hefty gore scenes, and an inception-like plot that kept me spiraling. This read like a YA, which I don't mind but I was expecting something different. I was a little confused by the many characters and they seemed to play a different role in each section, which by the end makes sense and can add to the uniqueness of this book. Overall enjoyed!

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a novel to appreciate gradually. Which is to say, for the first 60% or so, it reads like a rather plain and nearly YA story of a not-particularly likeable fourteen-year-old around whom kids tend to disappear in particularly gruesome fashions.
That’s part one. Part two sees the boy as a man returning back to his small town and offers a very fun turn. And then the final and shortest part three really twists things up. So the overall effect is that of cleverness. You just have to get there.
I like these sorts of narratives. I like originality and plot twists and something different from the traditional formula, so this really worked for me.
The writing itself was very plain. Scandinavian plain and then some. No idea how much of it is translator’s fault, besides, I was reading an ARC, so no final judgments there, I suppose. But the book was fun. And it’s always nice to see an author write outside of their comfort zone and stretch out their genre muscles. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Thank you netgalley for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, as it was my first Jo Nesbø. A payphone eating a child in the first few pages? Wild. This story is so eery, unique and somewhat twisty. It's kinda short in my opinion for a horror novel. I like the longer ones, but if you're looking for a quick read then this is perfect! I just felt like I needed more out of it, though it was a fun time! I'd definitely give Jo's work another look for spooky season. 3.5 stars!

Okay I have no idea what I just read.. I've never read Nesbo but heard great things, particularly about the Harry Hole books, and the cover and blurb were so intriguing that it seemed like a perfect way to dive into the author's work.

It opened incredibly vividly and I was immediately hooked - until things started to go not only sideways but crosswise and diagonally and then in 57 other directions that only quantum physicists could explain... It got weird. And not good weird, but bizarre, doesn't make sense, feels like things are being thrown in just to get a reaction weird.

That's when it started losing me, and I never felt like I got the threads back under control. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but this time it just didn't work for me. I found myself confused but not really interested enough to figure out what was going on. Despite it's very short length, I started skimming - which is never a good sign - in the hopes of finding my way back into the story, but ultimately never did. This one wasn't for me.

This book was wild.

I'm still not sure what exactly happened. Our narrator, Richard, seemed to be a complicated person. There were many things not as they seem. I did find it compelling enough to keep reading, and I kept trying to figure out what exactly was happening. The pressure was increasing as the book went along. Overall, I'm glad to have read it.

Thanks to Net Galley for the book to review.

I personally stopped after chapter 1. It’s easy to read and easy to follow. I don’t have enough experience in the genre to have a feel for how it compares, but it seems like an easy three/four stars for those who enjoy the genre.

I thought Jo Nesbo wrote mysteries and didn’t notice this was a horror. Horror doesn’t usually move well in our libraries so it’s not generally a good fit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

The characters have a small town feel to them which works successfully within the story. The plot is well done and divided into three parts. It does take a bit to catch your attention, but once it’s done, you won’t let go. The author’s style of writing was dark and creepy. Overall, a clever story that camouflaged the surprises quite well.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions are my own.

As I've said before I enjoy a dual timeline story and this did not disappoint. Each section was written at a different part of his life, and each felt so different. The writing was told differently if that makes sense. Which is amazing because you will obviously tell and see things differently based on the age you are. I've never read this author before, had only heard things but I'm a new fan