DNF @ 37%. This reads like YA or even kids lit a la 90s Goosebumps and Fear Street. If I were expecting that then I would have enjoyed it, but I wasn’t and didn’t. A couple of interesting scenes surrounded by boring ones that didn’t pique my interest.

I’ll admit I’m a sucker for a cool cover and this one is so cool. Sadly the book behind the cover wasn’t. The name Jo Nesbo is highly recognizable if you’re a Nordic noir fan like me though this is his first foray into horror (and maybe should be his last).

I got about halfway thru chapter 5 and had to stop as I have a rule as a fat person to stop reading any book that blatantly has fat phobia or fat shaming in it that doesn’t serve the plot in some way. When the main character says he was using an invitation to come to his house for dinner to his “friend” he called Fatso to get him to do his bidding and because “fat people like that kind of thing” I immediately stopped reading.

I then went to the last 2 chapters so I could see how the book ends. Glad I didn’t read it, the ending is a bit of a cliche.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGaleey for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review, sorry I didn’t like the book!

I LOVED the opening scene, I just wished the rest of the book could have gone like that, it got real boring at the 25 mark.

I was really disappointed with this book. I felt like the author had three separate Ideas on how they wanted to write the story and instead of committing to one, they just tried to stuff them all into one book. I came really close to DNFing this one early on when the main character repeatedly called another "fatso" to the point where it felt like every other word in that scene was fatso. I usually enjoy stories with unreliable narrators, but this one was done so clumsily I was just bored waiting for the "real" stuff to start happening. The big reveal went more or less than I expected. All in all I was underwhelmed and annoyed.

Thank you to the author Jo Nesbo, publishers Knopf, and also to NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of THE NIGHT HOUSE. All views are mine.

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. The opening scene of this book is one of the scariest freaking things I've ever read.

2. I love the nod to Kafka's Metamorphosis in this, it was awesome💜

3. This is as much about abuse and maintaining a sense of self through abuse as it is about an It-like creature haunting a small town.

4. I loved the last few paragraphs, especially the last few sentences. Such beautifully executed metafiction, wowza!

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. Just a massive steaming pile of sanism and stigma once you hit chapter 29. Locs. 2714, 2712, 2731, more.

2. The climactic turn kinda ruins things for me, but the the bitter end brings things back around a bit.

Rating: 🏥🏥🏥 sanist sanitariums
Recommend? Yes, but beware of triggers
Finished: Oct 7 '23
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley
Trigger warning: sanism, ableism, gaslighting
Read this book if you like:
👻 ghost stories
🏚 haunted towns
🧏‍♂️ coming of age
🩸 great gruesome horror scenes
😵 curses

I'm not quite sure about "The Night House." I didn't particularly enjoy it, and just not quite sure what was going on, either. Nesbø should stick with crime novels.

This book is a story with in a story. At certain points it made me think of the movie, Mother. Definitely a creepy and quick read

This is a bit of a genre shift for Jo Nesbø. And I am here for it. The character development and gore are still there, however this story is more haunted house, supernatural than nordic noir detective. From the very first gory telephone scene I was hooked and could not look away. The three parts send you in three completely different directions, all utterly possible. The perfect haunting, gruesome novel for Halloween, or anytime you want a good bone-chilling scare.

A bi different from his other books, but still quite an enjoyable read. A short read, but jam-packed full of action and strange horror. Really well written and quite a satisfying ending. I really hope Mr. Nesbo writes some similar stories!

Very creepy just the way I like it. A bit far-fetched. One of my favorite authors. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for providing this book.

This was one weird, trippy horror story! From the first chapter it didn’t hold back on the creepy factor. The story was interesting, the descriptive writing was grotesque, and it’s definitely one thatll stuck in my memory a while!

This is actually my second Jo Nesbo book. Thanks to Netgalley I have a new author to read with a great catalog of books!

My first book was "Killing Moon" which was Harry Hole Novel #13. This book went in completely different direction, which I liked. It was moody, creepy and more of the horror genre. It made you wonder what was going on and want to read to the end to find out.

I feel like it is very different from his detective books which were grittier. Some people may like it and others won’t. I definitely liked it!

I enjoyed part one the most. I found the conversations around mental health to be quite reductive. Combined with the is it real or is it a dream trope, the book flopped for me. The only way to succeed with this trope would’ve been to have a healthy outlook on mental health, which this novel did not. Writing was great but felt wordy at times, perhaps due to translation.

Unfortunately this novel was not what I was hoping for from a writer I have grown to love.
His first foray into the horror genre was promising but ultimately disappointing. It is a little far-fetched and the execution doesn't build up suspense the way his thrillers have always done.
I would give another horror book by this author a chance--there was promise, but I think what made this not really work was the lack of character development and a plot that felt cohesive and crisp.

The Night House by Jo Nesbo was published October 3, 2023 and is an adult horror novel published by Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor. The novel is about a kid named Richard Elauved who has been sent to live with foster parents in Ballantyne after his biological parents were killed. Richard is an outcast and bully at his new school and becomes a suspect when a classmate named Tom goes missing. He tries to explain that Tom was sucked through a phone booth on the edge of the woods, but no one believes him. When another classmate goes missing, Richard is in serious trouble with the law.

Not having read any books by Jo Nesbo, I was intrigued by the synopsis and cover art of The Night House. I requested to receive an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book from NetGalley. I was absolutely ecstatic that I was approved. I received a digital copy for free in exchange for my honest review. Please note that my review does contain spoilers.

Part one of The Night House seemed a little young as if it was targeting middle readers between the ages of eight and twelve. When Tom is sucked through the telephone and another character was turned into an insect, it seemed like it was something that would appear in a Goosebumps book by R.L. Stine. Then, the main character, Richard Elauved, was searching for a mysterious person that used to live in Ballantyne, which made me think of the book called The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Part one concludes with Richard trying to kill a "soul" by setting it on fire, which is reminiscent of the Netflix show Stranger Things.

Part two opens up fifteen years later with Richard Elauved attending his high school reunion. This section seemed much more mature than part one, and it very much felt like It by Stephen King. There were plenty twists and turns through out this section that kept me guessing, and nothing was as it seemed. When this section concluded, it had elements like Desperation by Stephen King. At this point, I was very leery about the book because it felt like the author was sampling ideas from others.

Part three threw me for a loop. Like the previous section of the book, it was more mature than part one. It took me a moment to figure what was actually happening, and I was very disappointed because it was very much like the movie Shutter Island, which is based off the book of the same name by Dennis Lehane. I never read the book but did see the movie because it starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

Overall, I was disappointed in The Night House by Jo Nesbo because it didn't seem very original, and I hated the way the story ended. It did however keep me interested enough to read the entire novel to see what would happen. Three out of five stars.

"The Night House" by Jo Nesbo is a chilling and fresh take on the classic horror novel. The story follows fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved, who, after his parents' tragic deaths in a house fire, is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote and insular town of Ballantyne.

Lesson learned: don't answer mysterious phone calls. This was my first read from this author, who I know has published much, and it was such a wild story! Part Haunted House, part creepy small town secrets, part unreliable narrator that all lends to a fever dream-type horror story that had me hooked until the last page!

A horrid hell ride that is reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest only far more creepy. The twisting psychological conundrum of Richards story brings the reader to the brink of madness right alongside the character. A well written, mind-blowing read that deserves far more hype! Nesbo is a name the horror world won't soon forget and I'm here for it!

It was a little hard for me to get into at first. It was a new to me author and his style of writing took a little getting used to. I did like the creepiness to the tale and the different storyline.

I couldn't help but request the ARC of this book once I saw this cover! It was so intriguing and I couldn't stop thinking about it! This is my first Jo Nesbo book, and though it did not disappoint with the story, it didn't deliver quite the horror that I was hoping, especially from just looking at the cover.

We follow Richard along on a journey after his parents die. He befriends Tom, who soon disappears. No one believes the story Richard tells about when he last saw Tom, however, he is adamant about what happened.

I did thoroughly enjoy the story, and this is a solid 3.5 star read for me. I think it leans more into a YA genre, not at all Adult Horror, but it was still brilliantly written and a fun, quick read!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in return for an honest review.