I wanted to read this because I was intrigued by the premise but have mixed feelings about it.

I think I would recommend this to someone who is looking for an introduction into the horror genre as I wouldn’t myself feel this a strong horror piece.

The chapters are split between husband and wife Emily/Miles but I don’t feel like either of their chapters actually added any depth to their characters. Actually each Miles chapter made me care for him less and less. It was also very repetitive that Emily was his wife, constantly reiterating Miles and Monica are brother and sister, they are twins, Emily and Monica are besties, etc.

A couple of the side characters their dialogue just felt over the top a bit, maybe if one character had the quirky ways of speaking it wouldn’t have bothered me so much but it felt like two “eccentric” characters had a forced grandiose way of speaking.

The story was just interesting enough to keep my attention and I have to admit I was totally surprised by the ending, I really did not see it coming.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc

Emily is a cover artist and she was designing a house for the author but her constantly sketching that house and working on the cover made him think that it’s her dream house so he buys it. Earlier he came her for the inspiration. What started with inspiration turned into a tragedy turning Emily and her family’s life upside down. As soon as they move in that house, strange things starts happening and then her baby goes missing. Miles try to take care over of her and their newborn son but it all turns into a tragedy. I wasn’t expecting that ending.

Thanks to the Publisher

When Emily is commissioned by a famous horror author to create some art that will inspire his newest novel, she's over the moon. And when she finds the house, she just knows that this is it. Mile's thinks that the house Emily is painting over and over is her dream, and when he finds out that it's for sale, he buys it thinking it'll be the perfect place to raise a family and the perfect place for Emily to ride out the remainder of her high risk pregnancy. But soon Emily starts hearing voices in the walls, and sensing a child's presence. Is the house haunted? Or is the pregnancy getting to her? After a traumatic birth, Emily is sure that there's something wrong with the house, and Mile's is left trying to navigate her fragile state, a newborn son, and his return to work...then their son disappears....

This one intrigued me. One because of the title, and two because of that cover and blurb. It sounded like a story that would have an unreliable narrator and a serious mystery in its pages, and I was right. For the bulk of the story, I felt like I was on Emily's side, and not just because Miles is a purple-eggplant-emoji equivalent. As this story was written in third person, we got to see things from a lot of different POVs which helped to shape the story in such a way that I really felt for Emily, there were times when I felt that her decisions were questionable, but I was behind her the whole way. I feel like she could have handled things differently in a lot of different ways, but she was a stressed-out new mum who'd had her baby spirited away, so I can forgive her poor choices. The story kept me drawn in with the bleak and oppressive atmosphere that Knight did a fantastic job at building, both with the location and with the relationship between Emily and Miles. I feel like Knight also did a fantastic job at really illustrating the struggles of post-natal depression and trauma. This was done in a very tactful way while also not sugar coating the realities of it and I applaud this.

The characters were interesting. I liked Emily, though as said above, she made some terrible decisions along the way. Miles, I didn't like him at all. He came across as a stubborn, know it all, "I know better", chauvinist at times, even though I don't think that was his intention. It was clear he had some stuff going on himself and I did feel for him at different times, especially when we were seeing the story through his POV, we got an insight into how he was feeling and what his thought process was with different things that happened. But I still didn't like him at all. He treated his wife like an idiot and like she had psychosis. Instead of listening to her and trying to open his boarded-up mind just a touch, he berated her and talked down to her. Sorry, he bugged me so much and I hated him from word go. Whether this was the author's intention or not, I have no idea, but here we are. I did enjoy the character of his sister and the character of the house, the house was written as a character all of it's own that was very reminiscent of The Haunting of Hill House. Knight captured this feeling in spades.

The story itself was a twisting and turning mystery and I found myself wondering what would become of everyone involved, and while I knew what was going on, I don't think I was prepared for the ending. The ending was very bleak and dark and sad and I feel that it fit the story perfectly. I was hoping for something a bit nicer to happen in the end, but hey, we don't read horror for happily ever afters. It's this hope that I feel Knight imbues through the telling of the story that I think is fantastic. Being able to engage a reader so much in so many different ways is fantastic. There were several points in this story that I felt severely creeped out and had the feelings of watching a horror movie where you're screaming at the screen but the characters keep doing the stupid thing anyway.

All in all, this was a page turner for me, and while I did feel the pacing dropped occasionally it was still a riveting read and a good supernatural mystery to boot. If you're in the market for a horror story with a mystery and a touch of grief, give this one a go.

Couldn’t get into this book. I struggled staying interested and connecting with the characters. I loved the cover art for this book.

I really like the cover of this book. It instantly drew me in and I had to read it. I didn’t think this book was very scary, but it made up for that with the writing in the book. I found the book compelling and it was nice quick read. If you’re looking for a book thats not too scary and want something quick, this is your book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had me hooked from the very beginning. Putting it down was a struggle. The ending did feel kind of rushed though. Also, I HATED the character Miles. He was so childish and judgmental. He’s the reason the book gets 4 stars instead of 5 honestly.

I really wanted to like this. I felt it was easy enough to follow at first. It started off strong and then kind of just did not go anywhere and anything that happened didn't make sense.

I loved this book! The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel is an absolute nail-biter—creepy, tense, and packed with twists that kept me flipping pages late into the night. Just when you think you know what’s going on, the story takes a sharp, chilling turn.

E.V. Knight does an incredible job building suspense and messing with your sense of reality. Things are definitely not what they seem, and the eerie atmosphere of the house seeps into every chapter. Emily’s descent into uncertainty feels so real, and the mystery around the house, the voices, and her missing baby had me completely hooked.

If you love horror with psychological depth, supernatural hints, and shocking reveals, this is a must-read. An unforgettable thrill ride from start to finish!

I finished this book last night, and it stuck with me. I',m not the best at writing reviews but wanted to give this a spot.
This.. was a wild ride. I enjoyed the book overall; good writing and the concept was interesting. Bare bones synapse: An artist discovers a house for a project to create book cover art work for a famous author. She ends up moving into the house with her husband after the husband purchased the house as a surprise once they find out she's pregnant. After moving in, everything just goes downhill.
The book started fairly typical for a horror book but does a 180 at the end that I was not expecting, TW if you read the book, child death, PPD, some domestic violence at the end.
I think the story could have been fleshed out a bit more, I would have liked to learn more about the house and how it came to be, I would love to see and origins story!
The characters were not sympathetic at all (except the baby and maybe the aunt), even the poor wife who went through hell, I couldn't connect with her. The husband and wife were just toxic, constantly lying and gaslighting each other. The supporting characters were gross and self serving. I am guessing the haunted house exemplified their toxic behaviors, but I like having at least one character I can root for.
All in all a good haunted house read.

I really liked this take on a Haunted House. It was very much a case of Wrong Place, Wrong Time and it was written very well.

I love a good haunted house story, and this one had so much potential! The beginning immediately pulled me in, and I was rooting for this house. The alternating chapters between Emily and Miles soon had me infuriated though, because Miles is literally the worst and their relationship just felt so juvenile. I did, however, appreciate the realistic gynecological and pregnancy representation. The backstory of the house was interesting, and I like how it intertwined with the present. The ending was beyond unexpected! Even though I found some characters unbearable, I would still recommend reading this one!!

The real standout for me was the way the husband and wife are written. The husband especially with is justifications and gaslighting. The story was engaging and I will be recommending.

Real estate or real tense stakes?

I enjoyed many parts of this book. There were times at which the story was harder to follow or visually confusing due to somewhat abstract phrasing, but besides that and times where subtext might bring disagreement for some readers--which does not comprise the majority of the book--, this title achieves at least a few of its goals very well. I did like reading this book.

There exists a great possibility that I simply prefer the visual nature of horror movies in comparison with text-based horror, particularly given the fact that novels tend to express visuals, auditory elements, emotions, and even entire styles/tropes much differently than cinematic works. I think this book works very well for what it hopes to achieve. Good stuff.

Thank you to RDS Publishing/Raw Dog Screaming Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Great book! It had all the fears of growing up. Make a choice. Turn the page or close the book. Enter the darkness if you wish!

While it was atmospheric enough, there's not enough of a fresh feel to make it stand out from a recent glut of stronger similar books.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I was able to find the audio version through my local library. I love horror stories, but it is SO hard to find a good one nowadays. This story had potential, but sadly it was just a hard pass. How are these main character in their later 30's and they act like teenagers. This one was mostly the MFC that got on my nerves. I felt really sorry for the husband. His wife was so annoying and hateful she just got on my nerves and was very unlikable.. Why keep it a secret that she got a business deal from a famous author to draw a book cover...why keep that a secret from her husband for months and months? Why can't they just sit down and talk to each other instead of just wondering to each other. I could see this with a newly married couple in their early twenties but not a couple pushing 40. I also didn't feel like the scary parts were well..scary..or suspenseful. Man I wish someone could write a good horror/paranormal story without the dumb woke politically correct crap that was thrown in here. Also the writing felt very sloppy and this felt like more of a young adult theme book.

It's been a few days since I finished this book, and I just don't know how to feel about it. The majority of the characters are horrible- I liked Monica in the beginning and then she had some sort of personality 180 and I ended up hating her, too. Cooper and that whole relationship was really weird and confusing.

I am so exhausted and bored and frustrated by the whole gaslighting- you're off your meds-my wife is crazy trope. Especially after having a newborn- Though so many points to the author for portraying a less than perfect pregnancy. Showing that for some- being pregnant isn't this beautiful magical perfect experience. That was really refreshing. Miles' homophobia and general awfulness led me to almost DNF- and yet...the story drew me in. (Not all characters need to be likable)

Without going away too many details- this one is more or less your average haunted house story but this book ended in a way that I found completely unexpected and that really stuck with me. I can't say that I liked it, but I also can't stop thinking about it.

This particular book wasn't for me, but the writing kept me engaged and coming back so I'll definitely check out something else by this author.

Trigger warnings: pregnancy, pregnancy loss, infertility, traumatic birth, postpartum depression.

I will be short with this book, because I feel like I wasted enough time on it.
Idea of it was great, but the execution was very poorly.
We have a couple who are just miserable together, but the author tries to convince us, that they somehow are in love.
We made to believe that both of them wanted a family, but actions and inner dialogue tells a completely different story.
The miscommunication was above and beyond, to the point where it made this story ridiculous.
The constant bickering, gaslighting, judgment was tiring to say the least.
The decisions made by MCs were questionable to say the least.
I guest the ending almost immediately, so there was no surprise at the end.
The only thing that surprised me is that it’s not the debut novel, because it definitely feels like one.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC of The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel. Overall I would give the book a 2/5 stars. It was okay but it was different than what I expected. I definitely expected thriller, but this was more paranormal than I am a fan of.

This was a bit of a miss for me! I was struggling with the book and decided to seek out the audio, which helped a lot! The husband and wife were caricatures of a suburban, white, couple. Well, at least the husband was! He was so grating it became distracting. I wish we could have learned more about their ‘why’s’. Story lacked character development. I liked the second half of the book when we started to understand the house more, but i was a bit exhausted by then. 2.5 stars because i did like the idea of the story.