Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me about 35% into the novel. At first I was really liking it, but it felt like pages and pages passed, and yet we weren’t really progressing the story. It felt like we were making the same points over and over again. I think if you enjoy an atmospheric slow burn story you might enjoy it—it was just too slow burn for me.

I am a devoted reader of rural domestic suspense, especially when the house feels like a character. and THE FARMHOUSE delivers on that front in the creepiest, most satisfying way. Set in the quiet stretches of Nebraska, this novel follows a couple relocating from the chaos of San Francisco after the main character Emily’s mother dies. She’s clearly grieving, but it’s not just her emotions that are unsettled—the house itself seems to be hiding something. And the people who lived there before? Let’s just say they’ve left more than a few traces behind.

Chelsea Conradt does an excellent job weaving themes of grief and gaslighting into a genuinely eerie atmosphere. The writing is haunting, and though I found the ending somewhat predictable, the journey was more than worth it. I flew through it.

I recommend for readers who love a haunted house with layered social commentary—and for those of us who know that sometimes the scariest things are the ones that follow us home.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the advance copy. All opinions are entirely my own.

They say the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. And I feel like that encompasses this book. A couple hundred pages of repetition and no character depth or growth. *** Potential SPOILERS incoming:*** The husband whose only personality was telling his wife she’s wrong when she sees something amiss. The farmer who is terrified of the house and boys — why? A vengeful ghost with trust issues — what happened before her death to make her feel that way?

I wanted to really like this, and I certainly didn’t “dislike” it, but I felt like less time could have been spent running in corn fields and walking back and forth from the creepy barn, and more time developing characters to make the payoff that much more satisfying.

This book can be summed up in a few lines: woman drinks coffee, runs in corn. Here and there, feeds chickens.

I was really looking forward to this one. It had everything I usually love: a creepy farm, a dark history, and a woman trying to uncover the truth. But it just didn’t land the way I hoped.

The setup is great. Every woman who’s lived on the farm has died, and now Emily is starting over there after her mom’s death. Strange things start happening and the tension slowly builds, but it never fully grabbed me. The pacing felt off, and I didn’t feel connected to the characters. It’s an eerie story with a solid concept, but it didn’t quite deliver for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

First off, I absolutely LOVED Emily. She was the perfect narrator and added a bit of humor into a book that was oozing suspense, mystery, and grief. This was such a quick read! Moments my breath actually caught because the suspense was too much. It was a movie in my head the whole entire time (PS this would make an excellent movie IRL).
The ever-present theme of women being silenced and ignored was STRONG. And added sadness and heaviness. I love books that make me feel things!

The only negative I have is the very end. Why did Emily and Josh have to divorce? I mean, I get it. But it made me sad they couldn’t work through things.

🌾Book Review🌾

The Farmhouse
By Chelsea Conradt
Published: 6/17/25
Genre: Thriller

Set in the rural farm country of Nebraska, our Californian protagonist is navigating a new home in a young marriage while grieving her mother’s recent death. Seeking peace and a fresh beginning doesn’t turn out to be the adventure Emily was hoping for. Strange things are happening on the farm, and it’s tough to determine what’s real. I liked this book, but it felt like there was too much filler and too many lulls…not enough action. It needed to pick up the pace for me to enjoy it more. I loved the haunted farm premise and the rural setting, but I have to rate it at about 3.5 stars.

Thank you @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for the opportunity to read this digital arc!

#thefarmhouse #thrillerbook #bookreview #bookthoughts #hauntedbook #arcreview #netgalley #bookstagram

Loved the desolate atmosphere in this one with it's sinister barn. The writing was also well done although I will argue as a Californian that no a bowl of fruit does not cost half a month's rent.

Did I like this book? Mostly. The ending felt a bit anticlimactic and I'm not clear on what else this book is trying to say outside of not letting people talk you out of what you know to be true, especially men looking down on women. The gaslighting in this one really was annoying and I felt like the past plotline could have been fleshed out more. As far as the main characters of Emily and Josh I did think the struggling marriage trope was interesting but in the end I just wanted more. But the barn...those parts really did creep me out.

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Pres for access to the egalley for review.

Emily and Josh leave San Francisco for a supposedly peaceful Nebraska farmhouse, but Emily quickly discovers that every woman who's lived there has died under mysterious circumstances. Conradt crafts a solid haunted house story with genuinely creepy elements - a barn that seems to move around the property, ghostly music drifting through the corn, and the usual disbelieving husband who dismisses his wife's increasingly frantic concerns. The atmosphere is effectively eerie and the slow-burn tension works well enough to keep you reading, but the pacing drags in places and the climax feels oddly underwhelming after all that buildup. It hits all the expected rural horror beats without doing anything particularly memorable with them, which probably explains why it didn't stick with me either.

I was able to read a library book since the archive date got away from me, totally my fault. This book's cover is so creepy and set's the mood for the psychological thriller. This is probably more of the popcorn thriller than thrills and chills but at the time it just hit right and I really enjoyed reading it! I would definitely recommend this for some summerween or even later Spooktober reading!

I was really hoping to like this but I was pretty let down and had to dnf it at 45%. I just didn’t like the misunderstanding husband and not believing anything she said drove me bonkers!!! Awesome cover and title though! Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the chance to read an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2 stars

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and netgalley for an #eARC in return for an honest review. Beautiful cover! Unfortunately I do not recommend this one.

What was this….? I’m not so sure. I should have DNF.
🚪unreliable narrators, isolated setting, small town, and slow burn. The perfect mix for a creepy book!

🚪the classic “crazy wife with oblivious husband who makes her feel crazier.” Trope has been so over done. I, personally, am very much over it.

🚪eerie atmosphere with psychological aspects

🚪I feel like this book was one long scene repeated over and over and over, AND OVER. Why are we constantly mentioning the character drinking coffee?? Needing sleep?? The chickens?? I was so disappointed.

And the ending? Don’t even get me started.

A married couple moves from California to Nebraska after the wife’s mother dies. They are looking for a fresh start, but they end up in a nightmare. The premise is great, but not much happened in the story.

I think the book was too long and drawn out. It got boring after a while and I started to lose interest. I liked the supernatural elements and the atmosphere was creepy at times. I loved the isolated farm setting and the parts where the main character started to research the history of the farm house was interesting.

The main character got on my nerves a little bit, but the MC’s husband really aggravated me. He never believed his wife and he acted like a tool.

I didn’t like the pacing of the story. Most of the book was slower-paced and then everything wrapped up super fast. The ending was a letdown and very anti-climatic, in my opinion.

If you’re looking for a slower-paced mystery with some supernatural elements, you might enjoy this one.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Unfortunately this was just wasn't what I was expecting :( It wasn't nearly as horror and spooky filled as I wanted it to be, but I think this would be a great read for someone just getting into thrillers.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was just so boring. It felt like nothing was really happening and we just kept going in circles.

I hope others love this one but it wasn’t for me.

I thought this book was a very enchanting and profoundly moving novel that is sure to capture any reader's heart from the very first page. Conradt's prose paints a vivid picture of the setting and expertly crafts characters who feel incredibly real and relatable. The story unfolds with a gentle yet compelling rhythm and is a poignant exploration of family, belonging, and the secrets that shape us, making it a delightful and memorable read.

"The Farmhouse" by Chelsea Conradt promised a chilling blend of horror, thriller, and mystery, set against the eerie backdrop of a rural Nebraska farmhouse with a dark history. While the book certainly delivers on atmosphere and has some genuinely unsettling moments, it ultimately left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.

The premise is fantastic: a farmhouse where every woman who has lived there has died, and a protagonist, Emily, experiencing strange occurrences after moving in. Conradt does a commendable job of building a creepy ambiance, with moving barns, eerie music, and the constant feeling of being watched. These elements certainly created a sense of dread and kept me intrigued about the secrets of the farm and the women connected to it.

However, the pacing was a significant hurdle for me. There were stretches where the narrative felt slow, bogged down by details that didn't always propel the plot forward. While the slow burn can be effective in horror, here it sometimes felt like the tension was building without a strong enough payoff. Emily's husband, Josh, also proved to be a frustrating character, often dismissive of her experiences, which, while perhaps intentional, made it difficult to fully connect with their dynamic.

Overall, "The Farmhouse" has a strong concept and a truly unsettling setting, but it didn't quite deliver the consistent thrills and satisfying climax I was hoping for. It's a decent read if you enjoy atmospheric horror and don't mind a slower pace, but it didn't fully grab me and leave me wanting more.

I live in Nebraska, and we are a state that no one ever writes about. So, when I see a book that takes place in Nebraska, and it's a horror story, you bet I have to read it! On that note, knowing the state like I do, I did have an issue with Emily always traveling to Hastings. They are an hour apart; Nebraskans wouldn't just drive there and the library in Hastings is not going to have all the lore about Deshler. But other than that, I loved this book! It was quite spooky, and I could picture it so clearly in my mind. It was very well done!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for the advance copy of The Farmhouse by Chelsea Conradt.

Emily and Josh want a fresh start away from the big city, San Francisco. They decided to move to a farmhouse in Nebraska. Unfortunately, for them this house has a terrible history of tragedy. Many illogical situations continue to occur and causes Emily to question her reality.

One of my favorite tropes is a ‘haunted house’, which was a reason I wanted to read this. I felt the vibes were good and kept me curious. Some of the things Emily uncovers is unsettling. I can agree there is some horror here but on the light side.

However, this overall could have been condensed to 300 pages or less and the impact would have been better. There is a lot of redundancy and unnecessary rabbit trails. The final climax was underwhelming and the story ends… in other words, the journey didn’t justify the conclusion.

If you’re new to thriller/mystery genre, I recommend this to you.

This is a 2.5 ⭐️ for me

I enjoyed this book and I love that it's the author's debut novel!

This was a slow-burn paranormal thriller, but it was so good and creepy! I liked that there were a few different mysteries surrounding the farm and that Emily was determined to solve them. I don't feel like I can say much more without giving any spoilers but make sure to pick this one up if you are a horror/thriller reader!

Thank you, @Netgalley and @poisonedpenpress, for the #gifted e-arc!

Can we talk about this cover?! It is absolutely stunning and drew me in right away! This was an enjoyable read for me! It had that quiet, small town suspense live with that creepy old farmhouse setting, which I liked. The characters kept me super interested and compelled to keep reading. The mystery had some moments that kept me guessing, but the ending felt a little too predictable- I wanted something with a little bit more of a punch after all that build up. I did love how the book captured all the feelings, a small town with secrets hiding underneath the surface. It was absolutely WILD. I did not want to put this book down once I picked it up.

The atmosphere was definitely a highlight, cozy with a dark edge. I'd love to dive into this atmosphere and explore it! I hope I can read more by this author, this was absolutely a fun one and one I'll probably read again!