I have read a few of Jeremy's books and I thought this book was not one of his best, although saying that it kept me interested enough to keep on reading. It was also little weird in places. I thought the end of the book had a good twist. Would I read it again? Probably not.

Firstly I would like to thank Jeremy Bates , Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the novel ' The No-End House' to read in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Due for publication in June 2025 , the book follows the main character Joe who has recently lost his wife in a horrific and traumatic accident.
In order to overcome his grief he decides to embark on a mission to walk around the world , whilst on this epic adventure he meets the mysterious Helen who is working in the area . One night he overhears about a haunted house challenge with a large cash playout for anybody who can complete all 9 rooms . With Helen as company the ' No-End House' is found and that's where everything changes in Joe's life.

I was very excited to receive a copy of this novel as I had read a few of Jeremy Bate's previous novels such as ' the suicide forest ' and ' catacombs' and loved every single one of them . Jeremy has a skill of fictionalising the macabre in such a compelling way with easy to follow storylines that pull you in from the very first page. After reading the synopsis , I entered into this book thinking each room would be very reminiscent of the saw and hostel film storylines full of escape contraptions and gore - I couldn't have been more wrong.
The novel is complex and thought provoking and delves into aspects of psychological horror. Although this book has received mixed reviews , I personally feel this is because the reader was looking for gruesome jump scares . The novel is layered and doesn't need the thrills to weave inside of your mind.

This book is completely unpredictable and had me wanting to pick it up at every given moment . It is certainly one that I have kept thinking about long after the last page had turned. I didn't want it to end and would love a sequel with another group of people being drawn into this perplexing house that feels like a fever dream with no sense of space and time. I cannot rave about this novel enough and have already told friends and family to be at the ready for publication date as I desperately need to discuss this book with other readers. It is certainly my best read of the year so far and is completely niche in terms of concept. Just when you think you have a thorough grasp on the direction the story is going , it changes with another twist and turn . Highly recommended and I cant wait to read more books from this author in the future .

#TheNoEndHouse #NetGalley

Dinosaurs and balloons and fornicating skeletons, oh my!

I don't know what I just read.

My experience with the author's work has been uneven. I loved his earlier stuff and completely devoured it. Some were okay. His Sleep Experiment book was ridiculous and racist.

I just never know what to expect.

This one is weird. I thought I was getting something like the movies Hostel or Saw. What I did get was kind of indefinable.

I would suggest suspending your sense of disbelief entirely and possibly ingesting something psychedelic and maybe you'll come out okay.

I did finish the book. I just didn't like it.

The concept is one of the best I've ever read. I would've liked some deeper characters, they are a bit flat. The pacing is sometimes a bit off too. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was really excited about this book, I’m a fan of the creepypasta that inspired this. Unfortunately this book ended up being just okay for me. I was expecting something creepy but this quickly got pretty outlandish. Also had a hard time connecting with the characters. I will say the ending surprised me quite a bit. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

This started out strong. Sure, some of the backstory was implausible, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the read. At one point I actually wondered how dark it was going to get...and then the plot took a turn for the absolutely ridiculous and lost me completely. The premise behind the house was interesting and I wish the execution would have been better. What's here is fast paced and sometimes creepy, sometimes silly.

Unfortunately this one didn't hit with me - I found the characters to be unrealistic and unrelatable. The ending left me ultimately unsatisfied. Others may enjoy this if they are fans of a more supernatural approach

For me, Jeremy Bates is a hit and miss author and unfortunately this book was a miss. I had no connection to anything, I didn't feel any tension or anxiety for the story, the plot kept getting convoluted, and the dialogue was laughable. It felt like I was reading something a middle schooler wrote at times.

I love this author and this book was fantastic! Super awesome world building, great detail, great character development, and a really cool story that hooked me form the very beginning. I was riveted throughout the whole book and the ending did not disappoint. Such fast pacing and lots of twists and turns that keep the reader on the edge of their seat!

Would 10/10 recommend to others!

I couldn’t finish this; I really tried. I got about 30% into it, about 100 pages, but I had to call it quits. The premise was good. I was super excited and intrigued by the synopsis but at 30% absolutely nothing had happened. The rooms I did get to in the house weren’t scary. Nothing horrific happened. The banter between the main characters was irritating. I just couldn’t finish it.

The No-End House by Jeremy Bates
This ARC is my top read for the month of January!
I absolutely loved the plot and the way he made you feel like you were right there in the story.
Ok so what is it about?!
Joe recently lost his wife, in a very tragic way, and not being able to cope with it he makes the decision to walk around the world. Hoping to do some healing in the process.
Three years into his journey, outside of the hostel he is staying at in Spain, he meets Helen.
Helen is beautiful and adventurous, although a bit reckless.
While having coffee, Joe tells Helen about a conversation he overheard talking about a haunted house that will pay you if you can complete it.
Of course Helen jumps at the idea and they set off to locate this house but once arriving Joe takes a lot of convincing to enter and take on this challenge.
What they assumed would be the typical run of the mill haunted house turns out to be a battle for survival. Nine doors, nine tests and you relinquish your souls if you fail.
When reviews compare The No-End House to Saw and Hostel they aren’t kidding, add in some evil supernatural elements and you get a better idea what you’ll be experiencing.
Definitely a must read if morbid and macabre fascinates you.

DNF @ 48% .. I cannot go on. This is disappointing because the premise of this book is enticing. However, its execution is lackluster, confusing and sometimes even enraging. I felt no connection to our main characters which made it hard to even care what was happening to them in the House. Not to mention the House itself … no spoilers but it wasn’t what I expected, in the worst way. The motivations are off, the plot is scattered and the dialogue came off immature at times. I just couldn’t make myself see the rest of it through.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC.

⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2

You can’t win ‘em all. I’ve had a good run recently, and then I read this book. It seemed to be going alright, but then dinosaurs and Jason Voorhies showed up, and then it went less alright. I typically have the ability to suspend disbelief to enjoy a fantastical story, but the absurdity in this book overwhelmed, and there weren’t enough other redeeming qualities to compensate.

Themes…
Despite my best attempt to parse through this book and pinpoint thematically relevant ideas, I really don’t think there were any to be gleaned. It was thin.

Character Work…
Oh boy, I couldn’t with these two. Joe and Helen were two-dimensional, hollow cutouts. Their relationship felt unbelievable, and their chemistry felt forced.

Prose…
It was fine. Nothing to remark upon in either direction.

Pace…
I mean this novel definitely moved. It was a non-stop barrage of action, with a few strategically placed flashbacks for character depth. It was well-paced.

4 stars
Bates always delivers a fantastic reading experience! This did not disappoint. A bit of a fever dream, and kept me guessing throughout!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington publishing for the arc of The no End House by Jeremy Bates.
There is one thing I must say when it comes to Jeremy Bates books. You will always learn something new. You can tell he puts a lot of research and work into his books.
Of course with all books there are likes and dislikes. Let’s start with the dislikes. I really didn’t like how the MMC goes to the No End House with a woman he just met less than 24 hours (He seemed to be still hung up on his wife’s death.) A complete stranger and he just decides to go with her. I wish there had been a little bit more of a connection between the two characters before they decide to “ go on this haunted house adventure”. Another thing that I didn’t like was after they made it through to room 5 the rooms took like a 180 approach to theme. It went from haunted murder house to Jumanji. Room 6 was just a complete bust it was weird.
Now to the likes. The merchant I got a resident evil 8 vibe. I don’t know if that was what Jeremy Bates was going for but if he did 10/10 lol. Also I loved how there were I guess you could call it Easter eggs of other books Jeremy Bates has written mentioned in The No End House. Also the reference to Alice in Wonderland was a nice touch.
The ending omg that ending I didn’t see it coming at all. Great ending if I do say so myself.

3.5 stars rounded up. As a fan of the show Channel Zero, the name of this book piqued my interest. It definitely reminded me of aspects of the No-End House and Hidden Door seasons of that show. This book kind of reads like a fever dream (or more accurately fever nightmare) and was fast-paced. It felt vaguely like reading a video game and getting to the next level for most of the story. While it had an interesting premise, I felt that a lot of the things moving the plot forward were too easy for characters and that combined with the physical injuries seeming to be almost forgotten instead of having a real impact on later rooms made it more difficult to care about the stakes. The ending was much better than I expected though and bumped my rating up. It was an interesting twist and while I’d suspected part of it, I was still surprised by other pieces.

This was an easy 229 page read! It was interesting. The MMC is 44 and the FMC is 40, so it was nice to have older characters. This story is also set in Barcelona.. However, this wasn't as "scary" as I was hoping it would be, especially from the cover of the book. BUT! It is still a thriller and an interesting psychological one at that, where reality and dreams are hard to distinguish between and it really gets you thinking.

Overall, The No-End House is a good read and keeps you guessing. It has a psychological horror feel to it, but goes of the rails in the final chapter of the story. I was disappointed by the ending, which felt like a cop out and left me scratching my head.

If not for the ending, this would be a sold 4 star- B+ read.

This was definitely a case of mistaken identity for me. I was anticipating a Saw-esque escape room style horror, but thats not really what this story is. Instead, it’s a mind-bending fever dream about grief and losing your grip on reality. And while there was plenty of unsettling terror, I couldn’t get immersed in it due to the dialog that often felt too silly and out of place. This was a very creative and intriguing storyline, but unfortunately my dislike for the two main characters kept me from fully enjoying this nightmare carnival ride.

1.5 stars.

Joe Hadfield, 44 is walking around the world, trying to heal from the death of his wife. While at a hostel in Barcelona he hears about a haunted house challenge near the Picasso museum where those who make it through win $5000. He also meets Helen, a woman in her 40s who works for UNICEF. She convinces him to seek out the house and to enter the challenge DESPITE THE FACT THEY DON’T NEED THE MONEY AND THEY HAVE TO AGREE TO FORFEIT THEIR SOULS IF THEY LOSE AND THE FACT THAT THE CONTRACT IS CLEAR THEY MIGHT NOT MAKE IT OUT.

Good Lord. These are meant to be sober adults in the middle of the day? There was some OK challenges in the house, but, also, Joe would be dead, so…..The whole thing was just silly.