Simon, Melissa and Leo were best friends every summer on Marrowstone Island. From the 1980s on, we get chapters that explain their group dynamic and how these three became such good friends that they carried it into adulthood. Simon lived on the island with his grandmother, and after his two best friends moved on, he stayed at the house with her, as she was getting on in years and becoming forgetful.

On a regular Wednesday morning, Melissa saw that she had a voicemail from Simon. It sounded like a butt dial, with just the sounds of rain and breathing. Then she notices an email from him too - one that shocks her to the core. Simon’s grandmother is dead, having left the house in the middle of the night, in a heavy storm, and died on the beach. Despite her being almost 100 years old, Simon believes she saw something on the beach that literally scared her to death.

Melissa immediately tries to call Simon, but a police officer answers the phone. He explains that they got a 911 call from Simon about his grandmother dying, but when they got there, Simon was nowhere to be found. Melissa knows he wouldn’t walk away from his dead grandmother, so she calls Leo and together they head to the island to see if they can find out what’s going on.

When they get there, they notice something odd. It’s a house, on the beach, like a shipwrecked domicile. That’s when this turns from more of a thriller book into a horror story. How does an entire HOUSE wash up onto the beach, looking like it’s been in the water for quite a while?

While investigating and still trying to find Simon, they open up a giant can of worms. There is something strange happening on this island, but they don’t want to leave their missing friend behind, leading to some pretty creepy findings. Overall, I’m not big on haunted house books, but this one was unique and had great characters. 3.5, rounded up!

(Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Cherie Priest and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on July 23, 2024.)

I wanted to read this book because of the title.
How the hell is a house drowning? I needed to know!

This was definitely different and had no clue where this author was going to go with this story. I enjoyed every minute of reading this tale. Sorry not giving anything away in this review.

This book was FUN. Was it the most well-written? Debatable (a little too much repetitiveness of certain, unnecessary topics for my liking). Did I fully understand the underlying antagonist? No way. Was that epilogue necessary? Absolutely not. Did this book grip me by the shoulders through the last third and not let me go until I finished? YOU BET.

What this book lacked in details about the central plot, it made up for in the sheer chaos that Priest puts Melissa and Leo through is fantastic. She creates an atmosphere that you can feel and that really elevates the story for me. While the fantastical elements leave a little to be desired (a LITTLE more information about thing happenings and the whys of things would have been nice) Priest relies more heavily on the surrounding nature, on the isolation of the island, on the absolute creepiness of a house washing up on shore. All of those elements tied together really make the story sing.

I’m a sucker for haunted house stories and this one did not disappoint! 👻🏚️ But it’s also more than just a haunted house story - there’s some mystery, twists, and dark magic involved too! 🙌

Highly recommend to my fellow spooky vibe fans!! 👏👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Cherie Priest for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

The Drowning House by Sherry Priest, when the book starts there’s a thunderstorm in despite it being the middle of the night Mrs. Culpepper just woken up by a sound she has only heard one other time in her life and it also wakes up her grandson Simon. When she runs outside to the beach with Simon close on her heels Simon is amazed to see the house on the beach where there was no house before Mrs. Cole Pepper not so much unfortunately it’s more than her heart can take an on the beach is where she dies. Soon Simon contacts the only two people he knows that are left and will care that she is even gone. It’s his best friend from childhood Melissa and Leo but when they arrive on the island Simon is missing although the house is still there throughout the book the narrative goes back-and-forth between Melissa and Leo adfirst trying to find Simon and then The summers they spent on the island with Simon and his grandma. This is a great supernatural take all the missing person because it forces Melissa and Leo to go back through the history of Simmons family to figure out one where did this house come from and to where is Simon? The answers about these questions or tied up in the solution and I thought this was a great book I love magical realism in a book and I thought slowly alluding to his grandma‘s magical ability was a great way to get into what turned out to be a really good story. This book has everything a mystery a haunted house a missing person a twisted past and it’s a book I really enjoyed.#PoisonPenPress,#NetGalley, #SherryPriest, #TheDrowningHouse,

If you like truly terrifying books, you may be disappointed in this one.  If you do not like scary stories at all, this book will be too much for you.   If you want to be terrified just a little bit, here you go, this one is for you!

I would not normally want to read a book about a haunted house that washes up on an island, but Cherie Priest is one of those authors that I will follow into hell.  Her books tend to very quietly drag you into the weirdness, and before you know it you're surrounded. It won't be flashy.

I have a vivid imagination and it's not too difficult to scare me silly.  

This book got off to a slow start.  At first, it was mysterious and eerie and (mostly) interesting, although I became very impatient with all the flashback chapters.  I wish Priest had not tried to make this a multiple timeline. We didn't need all those flashbacks, they just slowed down the story.   Melissa and Leo are spending a lot of time together looking for Simon, they could just as easily have conversations that describe what happened in the past, or think about what happened.  (I also didn't need all the realtor nonsense from Leo - I thought it might somehow play into the plot eventually, but it never did.  It seemed like a failed attempt to give Leo a character.)
Once the story gets rolling, it DOES get scary, for a little while, and I started to question my sanity since I was choosing to read it late at night while home alone.  I had to take several pauses to get away from it and touch GRASS (or dirt - whatever worked to distract me).

Priest REALLY bends over backwards to make Melissa unlikeable, and I wasn't really sure why.  I thought it might play a role in the plot, but it did not, not really.  ALL of the women in this story (Melissa, Otelia, and Alcesta) are assholes.  Why?  I don't know.  Maybe Priest wanted to write a "women behaving badly" story, and this is what we got.  

The ending felt like a bit too much, <spoiler>and since Simon was - apparently - dead and sacrificed to whatever god Gunnar was trying to summon, a happy ending was not possible</spoiler> and the epilogue added nothing to my reading experience.  I usually love Cherie Priest, but this book felt like a swing and a miss.

My thanks to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, Sourcebooks, and the author for the free digital copy of an ARC to read.

Is this a new genre or am I just discovering it? Fantasy books that feel like they are aimed at grown ups who loved The Chronicles of Narnia as kids. This is the second recent book I've read that felt very much like that. I loved it! It felt somewhat cozy, nostalgic, but the story and characters still connected with me as a grown up. I will say, however, that I struggled accepting Melissa, Leo, and Simon as grown ups. I'm not sure why since I am perfectly comfortable with dual timelines. I will also say that this book got way darker and twisted than I expected it to! But, I also felt a little sense of glee when clues were revealed. Yes, I think reading this book made me feel younger and more adventurous for a little bit!

The Drowning House by Cherie Priest is due to be published on July 23 2024 by poisoned Pen Press.

“A violent storm washes a mysterious house onto a rural Pacific Northwest beach, stopping the heart of the only woman who knows what it means. Her grandson, Simon Culpepper, vanishes in the aftermath, leaving two of his childhood friends to comb the small, isolated island for answers-but decades have passed since Melissa and Leo were close, if they were ever close at all. Now they'll have to put aside old rivalries and grudges if they want to find or save the man who brought them together in the first place—and on the way they'll learn a great deal about the sinister house on the beach, the man who built it, and the evil he's bringing back to Marrowstone Island. “

I love how this was written and the overall creepiness of the story was my cup of tea. Anything poisoned pen press published is absolutely amazing!!!!!

I did dnf this book. I forget how far I was into it, but the authors writing style isn't for me. I didn't care for the way she described things or her characters.

This has the potential to be great though for people who aren't bothered by that.

The Drowning House by Cherie Priest is an eerie atmospheric paranormal tale of three friends. It spans over the course of many years, from their childhood to present day when they’re in their 40’s. Told from all three perspectives, until, after informing the others of his grandmothers passing, one of them, Leo, disappears.

The other two, Melissa and Leo, set out to look for answers about their missing friend on this haunting island and the creepy house on the beach.

The build up is necessary but long, I found it didn’t really take off until 75% into the story, a lot of the start is just Melissa and Leo arguing.

There’s one line that is describing something, and the author writes, “It was something larger than a bucket and smaller than a bear.” Ummmm what lmao🤨🫠

3.5 stars. Another book that I’ve read lately that I didn’t love but didn’t hate. Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC copy of The Drowning House to read in exchange for an honest review.

This one just wasn’t for me. I found the writing stilted and the character actions and interactions awkward and stiff. It took me out of the story, but also I didn’t feel like the plot fully came together. I think a lot of people looking for a creepy story will enjoy it.

not really my kind of book, too far fetched for me, i have no understanding of witchcraft so was a bit adrift throughout it - however if witchcrafts your thing then you'll love this!

This book is a wild ride for sure, it starts out with a bang. The first 5% is fast paced. Then till about 50% it slows down and alternates between now day and past times laying intricate storylines which at first seems slow but the buildup is worth the wait. The last 50% of the book had me turning on my flashlight so there was light in my room. Had me staring at the closet with goosebumps on my arms and feeling watched. Then when the big reveal comes I was over here like “um, what in tarnish just happened.” This book is really well written and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. I had trouble sleeping and I kept picking up this book. Which was both a good thing and a bad thing. Great because I got further in the book and bad because I still felt like I was being watched and severely creeped out. This is a great book if you’re looking for something fast paced, action packed and has you feeling nostalgic about childhood.

The title & blurb of this really caught my attention when I received it to read. It pulled me in at first but then it gets slower & a bit bogged down. I really wanted the horror aspect to start to get going. I wanted to like this book more. The two characters you’re following for starters, aren’t that likeable. They bicker, a lot. But the time the supernatural aspects begin to unfold, I was already a bit checked out. They were the most interesting parts but it perhaps was a little too late.

This is the first book I’ve read by the author & while it wasn’t a perfect read for me, I can see myself giving her another try. Based on the technical aspects of her writing, which is really well done.

Stephen king lovers, this is the book for you! Eerie tale which gives the reader a dash of grief, a splash of terror, death, and a great atmospheric, small town setting.
Yup, reminiscent of vintage King! Loved it!
Thanks to NetGalley, sourcebooks, and the author for giving me an e- arc in exchange for my honest review.
Will be adding a physical copy of this to my collection.

The Drowning House promises an atmospheric house horror story. Although the atmosphere is absolutely thick and menacing, it didn't quite nail the horror aspect for me. The pace got very slow throughout the middle and there were a few loose ends I found myself pondering at the end of the book. I almost wish the dual timeline was the 50s and present day rather than when the characters were children.

I did love a lot of elements in this book though; the dual timeline, ancient magic, and the whole concept of a house washing ashore. This might be a good book for people just getting into horror or who enjoy a mild creep-out rather than unsettling and pure horror.

Steeped in slow-burn atmosphere, The Drowning House is part ghost story, part mystery, and part fantasy. Truth be told, I was hoping for more horror and action a little sooner, but overall an entertaining and chilling tale.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy!

I was eager to love this book. The premise was intriguing, and I pushed through to the 80% mark, hoping for a payoff. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. While I expected a horror story, the narrative leaned more towards fantasy, which might explain my disappointment.

The majority of the story focused on character research and travel, with very little ghostly activity. The main characters were also somewhat irritating. Overall, the pace was too slow, and the plot lacked substance. I dislike leaving negative reviews, but honesty is important. If this book is on your reading list, please don't let my opinion deter you – it might be a perfect fit for someone else.

The house that mysteically ends up on the shore of a beach. Whats the story? Read this book to go on a heart pumping ride!

Cherie Priest delivers yet another spine tingling tale! The Drowning House, to me, was a fun mix of horror genres with a touch of retro campy ghost movies!

Her writing is as always phenomenal even though sometimes in The Drowning House I had a bit of trouble following along, sometimes she's just very descriptive!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC