Amazing. Incredible. Perfect even. Once I started I could not put this book down. Haunted house horrors normally don't do anything for me but this one was excellent. Christina Henry has a new fan today.

Thank you Christina Henry, Berkley, and NetGalley for the ARC!

I have a love-hate relationship with Christina Henry's novels. Well, maybe not “hate” exactly, but sometimes they wow me and sometimes I'm more ambivalent about what I've read. The Place Where They Buried Your Heart is definitely one of the “wow” books. I mean, it's a coming-of-age story involving a haunted house so there was very little chance that I was going to dislike it to begin with, but it was honestly so much better than I expected it to be. It's horror, for sure, but it's also about so much more than just the scary bits. I know I compare half the horror novels I review to Stephen King and it's kind of lazy, but this novel reminds me of It or The Body where horrifying things happen, but there's also a whole bildungsroman/found family/dysfunctional childhood thing going on at the same time. It's scary and heartwarming and sad in equal measures, and I enjoyed just about every minute of it.

I did find teenage Jessie to be much more interesting than adult Jessie — adult Jessie is a woman who doesn't have much identity other than “mom” and “watcher of the scary house down the street.” And, I mean, I guess that's kind of the point — the McIntyre house ruined her childhood and keeps her tied to the Chicago street where she grew up, and most of her attention is understandably focused on keeping her son safe from the child-eating house. Not that the house only eats children, mind you. It's an equal-opportunity people eater and adults are equally unsafe inside its walls, but it likes children best. (Which, eww. My kid's hands always feel like he's been squishing caterpillars and everything he touches winds up sticky and I guess you do you, evil house, but no thank you.)

There are lots of great horror-y bits in this book that go beyond the missing/eaten children, though. There's self-immolation and a house with a sordid history and ghosts-that-aren't-quite-ghosts and parental neglect and people nailing their spouses to walls and it's all kind of great in a horrific sort of way. I did find the climax to be a bit underwhelming — everything is over and done with in minutes and it all seems a little too simple — but overall I wasn't at all disappointed with the creepiness factor of this novel.

I did LOL (and cry a bit) when at one point it's mentioned that Ted's overnight job is wearing him down due to his age and he's 46. I'm 46 (and a total night owl) and I'm not quite ready for the nursing home yet, thank you very much.

But, anyway, The Place Where They Buried Your Heart might just be my new favorite Christina Henry novel. 4.25 stars, rounded down.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. The story is familiar yet new, and the character development is excellent.

Jessie is your typical teen. She's testing limits and being annoyed by her little brother. When she dares him to stay inside the haunted house down the street, she is consumed with guilt when he disappears. His disappearance tears apart her family and destroys the already strained relationship with her mother. Unable to escape that guilt, Jessie watches over the house with several neighbors for years to keep others out and, hopefully, see her brother come back out the front door. Through this journey, she learns more about the house and what happened the day of her brother's disappearance. Did the house really eat her brother and others or is a more human-like monster at work?

This book earned 5 stars because it is everything I have wanted in a haunted house story. The emotional aspect of this story was not expected but helps make it memorable. It is reminiscent of the movie Monster House but without a loveable, cranky old man keeping the house under control.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

3.75 stars

Henry always comes through with great horror stories. This one really drew me in and kept my attention. It definitely had a creep factor about it.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Christina Henry for the opportunity to read The Place Where They Buried Your Heart in advance of publication.

I’m a full-fledged Christina Henry stan—she’s easily in my top five favorite authors—so when I saw I’d been approved for her latest novel, I might have screamed (okay, I definitely screamed). That said, I’ll admit up front: Henry isn’t for everyone. She’s a master of horror, unafraid to explore the darkest corners of her imagination, and The Place Where They Buried Your Heart is no exception. There were moments—especially that basement scene—where I just stared at my Kindle, trying to process the sheer horror of what I’d read.

When describing this book to a friend, I called it “a grown-up, book-version of Monster House mixed with the 11th Doctor’s first season of Doctor Who”—and weirdly, that tracks. The story follows Jessie, a girl—and eventually a woman—whose life is haunted by the McIntyre house: the home that devoured her brother and loomed over her childhood, street, and psyche ever since.

While it didn’t dethrone Alice as my favorite Christina Henry novel, I thoroughly enjoyed it. My only critique is that the ending felt a bit too quick and tidy. I would’ve loved more time spent unraveling the lore behind the house and a deeper dive into the unsettling mythology Henry hints at.

Overall, it’s another solid entry in Henry’s haunting catalog. ★★★★☆ (4/5)

I truly could not put this book down. I devoured it... much like the McIntyre house seems to devour people.

It seems too otherworldly to be true, but one by one, people, mostly children, go missing in the McIntyre house. Jessie lives close to the house and feels the pull of its destruction. What, if anything, can she do to save the children?

This book was fast-paced and kept me guessing all the way to the end. I will definitely recommend to others!

Atmospheric and gothic with a fairytale edge. It leans more mood than plot, but fans of Henry’s style will feel right at home. Very excited to create a book club read for this book!

Jessie dares her little brother Paul to go into the McIntyre house which was abandoned after a man killed his family there. Little does she know that the house itself is evil and her brother is just the first of her family members it will take. Can Jessie stop the house before it swallows everyone she loves? Great build up of tension but the ending felt way too easy.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This was very close to being a 5 star read for me!! A cursed haunted house that eats children? I’m in. The concept sounds a little silly, but it was written in such a way where you are able to empathize with the main character and actually feel emotionally attached to the characters. I was ALL IN almost the whole way through, but the end felt incredibly anti-climactic to me and that’s where it lost a star. Otherwise, a very chilling haunted house tale!

I love Christina Henry and this book is no exception. The Place Where They Buried Your Heart is rich with 90s nostalgia, specifically what it meant to live in a place where your neighbors knew each other. It's a fascinating take on the Haunted House trope, mixed with coming of age and dealing with grief. I finished it in 24 hours.

I devoured this eerie, atmospheric read. It’s a haunted house story soaked in childhood trauma, creeping dread, and raw emotion—and it absolutely delivers.

Think Stephen King vibes: the kind of fear that starts young and never really lets go. The house isn’t just haunted—it’s alive, and it’s been waiting.

The Place Where They Buried Your Heart is literary horror with real emotional weight. Haunting, in the best possible way.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an eARC of The Place Where They Buried Your Heart prior to publication.

Christina Henry's latest is a departure from her previous haunted house release. The Place Where They Buried Your Heart is as contemplative and tragic as the title implies, but fully in the Shirley Jackson tradition. While other books in this mode focus more on the source of the evil and its manifestations in the home, Henry's novel spends as much time on its characters as it does the house. Explicit references to Pet Sematary may draw a (Constant) reader's attention to certain elements of the story, but there's more Derry than Micmac burial ground in this Place.

A domestic horror story, this haunted house tale lulls the reader into a hopeless malaise while meditating on the effects and varied sources of guilt, before delivering another unexpected twist that propels the story forward. Josh Malerman's recent triumph, Incidents Around the House, covers similar ground, allowing the protagonists' fear to take center stage. Fans of Kathe Koja's Cipher will be thrilled with this original take on the haunted house genre and long time Henry fans will applaud her return to form.

Ignore those whispers in the night, find your way to The Place Where They Buried Your Heart.

A heartfelt thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.