You can go home again, but you can also leave again.

Cassie is an overworked literary assistant who leaves New York after her boss has a heart attack and she's wallowing in her recent breakup. Once returning to her hometown in New Jersey, Cassie reconnects with her high school best friend Eli. Eli is recently widowed and a single father. Cassie and Eli quickly reconnect and marry. Cassie fills in the trad-wife role that Beth, the former wife and mother, used to fill. With help from Joan, the single mother next door, Cassie learns how to cook and how to homeschool the children.

But that's not who Cassie is. She is still connected to her former life, still missing her ex-girlfriend, and now, there's a new inner voice narrating all the secrets of the house. Eventually, this leads to the truth about Beth's death and Cassie's reality.

This is a fast read, and it's weird. It's a weird story and book. Cassie is kind of an asshole the whole time, and the 'twist' was fairly obvious - to me--so the end didn't surprise me in the least. Basically this was a blip in Cassie's life.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A slow burn, eery, psychological mess of intrusive thoughts and life experiences. Each character played a pivotal part in the whole story. I like when that happens. This expanded exploration of character interactions did not detract from learning the nuances of Cassie. If given the opportunity to ignite the past once more, would you thrive or seep into madness?

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and author Kerry Cullen for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

From independent woman to tradwife, this is already a creepy story… but now add a dead ex-wife and we have ourselves a haunting. And truly, this story is more of a haunting than an all-out horror. You won't be scared to turn off the lights, but you will experience a dark, misty sense of unease. And of course, Cassie's intrusive thoughts present an additional, more realistic horror faced in real-life by individuals with OCD. To her credit, Cullen's representation of this disorder was very well done, and presented respectfully.

This book is a slow burn, but the prose is strong enough to carry it. I would almost describe this as a dark, speculative fiction more than horror. The narrative jumps from Cassie's internal monologue to Beth's internal (because it has to be) monologue, until they weave together in a very creative way. I had no trouble staying engaged with the storytelling, and I was excited to find out what would eventually be revealed by Cassie and Beth.

Alas, I was unfortunately disappointed with the reveal and hasty ending. After such a creative build up, I felt somewhat like I was left hanging. There was also a scene toward the end (you will know it when you see it) that was a bit embarrassing to read -- I did not feel that it lived up to the quality of the rest of the story.

Still, I am glad that I read this book; it has given me a lot to think about with regard to women's roles in relationships and their potential to empower each other. I think this book could find its niche among readers who enjoy a dark speculative fiction/horror centered around female comradery, ala Blood on Her Tongue, by Johanna Van Veen.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kerry Cullen, and Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

4/5 ✧

I really enjoyed House of Beth. I went into it expecting more Rebecca vibes but I was pleasantly surprised by what I got instead. There are some eerie moments and gorey descriptions, but I wasn't scared or disturbed at any point. About 70% of the way through, the plot kicks up a notch and it's a little unexpected— it felt like we skipped a chapter or 2, but ultimately I was glad for the new elements that it brought. The writing is intensely readable & the stories of these two women unfold in an interesting way. Even though there isn't a ton of action, I almost wish House of Beth was 100 pages longer, but maybe it's more impactful this way.

Read cw. Thanks so much to Netgalley & Simon & Schuster for this e-arc of House of Beth!

A struggling woman moves back to her hometown, reunites with a close friend from childhood and finds herself filling the void left by his recently deceased wife. But her death is shrouded in mystery and her memory haunts their lives until it’s no longer possible to deny her presence. This has the most accurate, to the point of being upsetting at times, depiction of intrusive thoughts that I’ve ever read. To not trust your mind or the motivations behind it - she nailed that feeling entirely. I sense this story lingering in my mind already. Total knockout.

Cassie returns to her hometown and reconnects with her high school best friend, Eli, a grieving widower with two children. She quickly trades in her old busy, city life, so the traditional homemaker and mother life but there’s someone from the past who will interrupt.

This one was so different than I was expecting, but not in a bad way. About halfway through it became completely unexpected and I was there for it. It’s hard to really say more without giving anything away! It has real gothic vibes to it and is reminiscent of a modern day Rebecca.

“Like, some people are dog people, or cat people, I’m more like a rat person. I find a dirty little crevice to live in and hoard my treasures there.”

House of Beth comes out 7/15.

This book was haunting, mysterious and at times thriller-like in its twists and turns. It’s overall a very dark story, but it’s relatively short at 240 pages and never felt like it was dragging on into the depths of despair. The writing was eloquent and beautiful… I keep wanting to use the word “hauntingly” again but hold back from being so repetitive. Overall, I highly recommend ‘House of Beth’ and look forward to its release so I can make it a book club pick for my friends and I to dive into and discuss deeper.

This was a wild ride. I don’t want to say much about the plot as I think this is a book best experienced blind.

I loved our very flawed protagonist Cassie. She brought a realness to the story that was so needed during the more ethereal parts of the book. The novel felt a bit like an enjoyable fever dream. The writing was well done and I particularly loved the OCD representation. Highly recommend to readers who like a bit of weirdness to their books.

Intoxicating, gripping, and a story that truly becomes alive and transforms into so much more than I expected.

You follow Cassie who has these intrusive thoughts she is constantly trying to drown out and live a life of her own. She feels she must isolate to keep herself and others safe, from harm and rejection.

I dont want to say to much else about the plot because it truly transforma after this. You have a blend of stories that combine and intervene in such a beautiful way. I wanted to hug this book when I was done eith it, it possibly is my favorite read of the year.

A haunting and seductive tale of a young career woman who slides quickly into the role of stepmother, in a life that may still belong to someone else. Evocative prose, quirky characters and thought provoking questions of agency versus destiny when it comes to making our lives the way we do.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧 & 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧

cassie has quickly come into the role of "stepmother" with her new husband Eli and his two kids - left by late wife Beth, who doesn't seem so eager to leave her house, and life, behind.

the gore and horror were TOP NOTCH. I enjoyed Cassie as an FMC and thought her development was really well done (so was her OCD and intrusive thoughts!). I think that some parts were a bit scattered, and some things were thrown in plot-wise that were simply unneeded.

Overall, this was a great read and I crushed it in less than 24 hours. thanks S&S and netgalley for the advanced e-arc! this is going to hit weird girl booksta / booktok like crack in the 80s (and for good reason).

A novel of hauntings made possible through subverted expectations, House of Beth is an illustrious novel that never once falls into previously explored territory. A woman, Cassie, leaves the big city following a breakup and an unfortunate incident at work. Waiting for her is her small hometown in New Jersey and, coincidentally, her high school best friend, Eli, a recent widow. Cassie finds herself slipping into a life she hadn't imagined for herself to rather unusual consequences as the presence of Eli's former wife, Beth, makes herself known.
Now, I know I mentioned that House of Beth is a very original novel in my opening paragraph, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out the connective tissue between this novel and Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. However, Kerry Cullen invents a nuanced examination with her novel that converses with our societies fixation on "trad wife" culture and the fulfillment of self.
You see, Cullen sets many scenes in which we think we know what will happen next, especially if you've read many an unreliable-female-narrator-type thriller as me.
But, this story unfolds in a completely original way that interrogates ideas of wants, desires, and identity. The stage is set as a cozy, Hallmark style romance only to be met with harsh realities and violence as depicted through Cassie's intrusive thoughts. But again, this story takes its own very original shape.
House of Beth is a very unique novel and a notable debut for these reasons. It's somehow the antithesis of Hallmark holiday movies and Lifetime thrillers alike. And it's so damn unique.

A lyrically mesmerizing, utterly complex novel about the lives we construct, or the ones we choose to inhabit, House of Beth by Kerry Cullen is a notable debut. On the heels of a rather abrupt breakup and a startling occurrence at work, Cassie finds herself headed back home to New Jersey, her father’s now empty home awaiting her with open arms. Her fast-paced city life is immediately severed and replaced with a slower cadence while Cassie wrestles with her own identity and the significant role that her harm OCD impacts her life. In waltzes her former best friend, Eli, a man who has lost himself following the death of his wife and mother of his two children. It’s a tailor-made lifestyle that Cassie falls into, loving Eli, caring for his children, and becoming the homemaker she is expected to be. But soon, the reverberating waves of Eli’s late wife, Beth, are felt by Cassie to unpredictable results.

In many ways, it feels as though House of Beth is the perfectly subverted Hallmark movie plot in novel form. The big-city girl moves back to her hometown and finds love. How cozy? Yet, Kerry Cullen takes this beloved trope and holds it under a microscope, interrogating the conflicts of self that exist for women through the character of Cassie. Who is she really? What does she actually want and is the ease of comfort lasting enough to be sustainable in the long run? And what are the harmful effects of sacrificing yourself for complacency? What really haunts you?

This subversion of cozy expectations takes many forms, yielding a story truly unlike any other. Sure, there is some shared DNA here with Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, but within Cullen’s modern, realized setting, it feels as though House of Beth takes part in the conversation around current “trad wife” lifestyles. Cassie feels like a timely character who must confront her true needs and desires compared to the comfortability presented to her, the traditional role she “should” follow.

So far, this may sound like a deeply emotional, introspective, but relatively light-hearted affair. And this is where I offer the bleak contrast of mental violence experienced by Cassie through her intrusive thoughts and Beth’s heartbreaking story that slowly unfolds. The juxtaposition of Beth’s sorrow and Cassie’s mental state to the idyllic small town life that so many women aspire to inhabit provides a jarring sense of reality. From Cullen’s poetic prose that describes the most gruesome imagery comes a poignant message of realization and revelation. Despite the things that haunt us (ourselves, the person we wish to be, or the person we used to be) authenticity comes from acknowledgement and acceptance, from shaking hands with the weirdly shaped things that dwell in the corners of our mind who ultimately make us, us.

A dreamlike venture into dark self-interrogation, Kerry Cullen’s House of Beth is an impressive debut that fosters conversations around feminine desires and realities. Cullen expertly paces the plot to leave readers expecting traditional beats of twisted thrillers made popular through untrustworthy female narrators only to completely subvert expectations. It is through this unpredictable journey that an honest conversation begins, a stark look into what it means to be you and only you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a complimentary early release copy of House of Beth by Kerry Cullen.

House of Beth is a slow paced book plot wise but the story is mainly character driven, I found both Cassie and Beth’s characters to be intriguing, they felt throughly fleshed out. I could really feel for Cassie’s struggles about being more open and vulnerable when it came to her ocd. I could also feel for Beth whose time was cut short just as she was potentially discovering her queer identity.

I had gone into this book thinking it would be more of a lgbt horror novel given the “Cassie hears a voice narrating the houses secrets” but the story does tend to focus more on Cassie’s ocd and the romantic relationships that the characters had. While there are some haunting aspects it doesn't come into focus until 60 percent mark. I liked how the story went about the haunting aspects but I think if it would have kicked in a bit sooner I would have felt a bit better about the characters relationship. There were parts of the story that felt important to be continued but for some reason things would just be skipped over, I had enjoyed my time with these characters but the ending felt rushed and flat. I thought the book could have used an extra chapter or two to wrap things up a bit more nicely.

House of Beth was utterly unique and intriguing. I think it held a lot of potential. The plotlines were amazing but the cast of characters lacked something for me. I wasn’t convinced of any of the relationships outside of Cassie and Lavender. I wish we had an opportunity to get invested in the other characters enough for their choices to make sense. Cassie’s OCD seemed to come and go throughout the novel with little to no explanation. The affair was clunky and awkward. The kids seemed like an afterthought. However, I can’t stop myself from recommending this book because the situation and dynamic between Cassie and Beth was THAT good. That last 1/3 of the story where they interacted stole the show for me.

I went into this one thinking it was a horror book but it was more of an odd romance with paranormal aspects. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t what I expected but besides that it wasn’t a bad story. I liked that the author included the topics of OCD, queerness, and step parenting. Cassie struggled with these on top of trying to fill in Beth’s shoes she left behind.

I ended up giving this three stars because I’m still unsure of how to feel about this one. The ending left me unsatisfied and confused still.

**My thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advanced reader copy via NetGalley**

3 stars

I liked this title overall, but I have to admit that the middle 50% dragged. The book has an unfinished quality to it, as if it’s still in the draft stage and the story not quite finalized; however, the ideas are interesting and I really enjoyed learning more and more about Beth, the eponymous dead wife whose shoes our protagonist attempts to fill.

The book is about Cassie, a somewhat-stereotypical bisexual disaster whose harm-focused OCD makes it difficult for her to connect with anyone or anything, which leaves her feeling highly detached from the world. She stumbles into a sure-I-guess marriage with a childhood sweetheart who has been recently widowed, trying to raise his kids and keep his house as well as she imagines his late wife, Bethany, must have done. Over the course of her time in Bethany’s house, Beth herself becomes more real to Cassie, and the two eventually begin to communicate across the veil.

The book’s blurb and marketing sold me on the idea of it as a modern <i> Rebecca, </i> but after reading it I think there’s very little actual similarity; a better comparison would be to <i> The Turn of the Screw. </i> Cassie and Beth are in many ways mirroring one another, which gives a refreshingly reciprocal feel to the usual gothic ghostliness. Cassie I found much harder to be interested in than Beth, perhaps because her character is very wishy-washy, a quality that makes the ending feel unsatisfying—because while the ending should feel significant, nothing indicates that Cassie has undergone a significant enough mental change to stick with this decision any more than she has all the other decisions she’s changed her mind about in her life. I also found myself disappointed that Beth’s children, Cassie’s stepchildren, never really developed into full characters and instead felt more like props in Cassie’s story.

Lunch break equals short-read time!

I started House of Beth on the bus in the morning and finished it off while eating. It was intriguing enough, but sort of lost me on certain parts. In the end, I thought it was just a middle-of-the-pack kind of novel.

It's not my thing, the premise is interesting, but unfortunately fell flat for me... It reminded me of Rebecca.

Kerry Cullen’s House of Beth offers a fresh and compelling twist on the ghost story genre, blending elements of gothic mystery with psychological depth. The novel follows Cassie Jackson, a bisexual woman grappling with obsessive-compulsive disorder, who returns to her New Jersey hometown after a traumatic event in New York. There, she reconnects with her high school best friend, Eli, now a widowed father of two. As their relationship deepens, Cassie becomes entangled in the lingering presence of Eli’s late wife, Beth, whose ghost seems to haunt their home and Cassie’s psyche.

Cullen’s portrayal of Cassie’s internal struggles is poignant and evocative, capturing the complexities of identity, grief, and the search for belonging. The narrative’s dual perspectives—Cassie’s and Beth’s—add layers of intrigue and ambiguity, blurring the lines between reality and the supernatural. The atmospheric setting and the gradual revelation of Beth’s story create a hauntingly immersive experience.

However, as the novel progresses, some readers may find the plot’s developments increasingly implausible and disjointed. The introduction of late-stage twists can feel abrupt, detracting from the story’s earlier emotional resonance. Despite these narrative shifts, House of Beth remains a thought-provoking exploration of the boundaries between the living and the dead, and the stories we inherit and create.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley & Simon & Schuster for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!