I was really into this book in the beginning! I thing it was so strange and bizarre in all the right ways, but it got very consistently fatphobic. And by the time I got to part 3, it felt like I had w whiplash from all the plot twists. I understand it was supposed to be confusing and blend the kind between fiction and reality, but it just didn’t land for me the way I wanted overall.

Unfortunately, The Night House proved to be a disappointment in my eyes. While I appreciate the creativity in its format and certain elements, the reliance on specific plot points that, I, personally do not like took away from the overall experience.
The initial part of the book captivated me with its traditional campy young adult-ish horror, despite some issues. However, as I progressed to part 2, the narrative took an unexpected and, frankly, peculiar turn. By the time I reached part 3, the story seemed to go downhill.
Although it didn't resonate with me, I think that other readers may find value in it. While I may not have loved it, others might.

Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Knopf for the gifted e-book/audiobook! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

This was very interesting. It's creepy, weird, and suspenseful. Part 1 was so strong. It fell off after that for me. I tried to like it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Such a great horror book. Gave me the vibes of the kind of horror novels I loved when I was in high school.
Fast paced and quick read.

I'll admit, I've never actually read a book by Jo Nesbo, but the cover of this one was impossible to pass up. It has those perfect 80's horror vibes that I absolutely adore. I will say, the story wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I did end up enjoying it quite a bit. It almost reminded me a bit of Goosebumps, but written for an older audience. I do think that nostalgic feeling carried a lot of the book for me, but based on how much I enjoyed this one, I'll probably go look at Nesbo's back catalog to see what else they're published.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a creepy, trippy story. I do feel like the pacing was good and kept me engaged and sitting on the edge of my seat at certain parts. The ending is what really shocked me. Although that part 3 was something i did guess i wouldn’t say this was predictable. I notice a lot of horror books have the same twist but this one was done pretty good.

The body horror made me actually visualized it and it made the horror quite dreadful.

This was a creepy book but one I thoroughly enjoyed! It was a great book and written very well! I have read a few Jo Nesbo books and this was probably one of my favorites!

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.