What a nightmare, you come home to find your house has been sold and you know nothing about it! This is a great summer read. Page turner until the end!

Fiona comes home one day to find people moving into her house. The one she currently lives in...or so she thought. Her husband, Bram, is nowhere to be found, although he holds the clues to unraveling this mystery. Told in alternating views between Fiona’s podcast, and Bram’s word document, they explain how they found themselves in this situation. I really enjoyed the premise and way this book was told, it was just a bit dry and hard to focus my attention on.

Our House immediately grabs you from the start - but unfortunately, started to lose me around halfway and never really reclaimed my attention. At around 50%, I felt like majority of the twists had been revealed and couldn't imagine what else was going to happen for another 50% but, alas, I persevered. This was not a short book and I felt it might have been more effective with 100 pages cut out, as I was slogging through to finish.

Things I did like? The social media/podcast snippets included and the alternating perspectives. I loved the strong start and wished it kept up a bit more. Coincidentally, parts of this book reminded me of Derailed which I read years ago because it took place in my hometown - it was later made into a movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen (of course they moved the location though)!

I received a copy of Our House by Louise Candlish from Netgalley and this is my review


I would definitely recommend a story to anyone who is interested in the dynamics in marriage. It wasn’t your typical relationship problems which made it very intriguing. I kept thinking “Imagine that?? imagine if that happened to me, what would I do? “ I don’t know that it is actually possible for these events to actually happen in real life but in the story it seemed absolutely possible. It was a fast read and very well written. I don’t know that it is actually possible for these events to actually happen in real life but in the story it seemed absolutely possible. It was a fast read and very well written.

I just have to say that Bram is a total creep. I honestly spent most of the book wishing a truck would run him over. I felt bad for Fi. She was the victim throughout. She was caring and loving and let so much slide that she shouldn't have.
I found the story itself to be so unrealistic that it took away from my ability to enjoy the story. I kept thinking "How could that even happen". The book was well written but the storyline was too out there for my taste.
I also hated the ending. Once again Fi is the victim. All that being said I know many will love this Title, so please don't let my review keep anyone from checking it out.

I really enjoyed Our House. It is a suspense novel with twists and scams that I have not experienced before. I thought that the story being told from two points of view really added to the suspense. The last few chapters of the book really left me reeling - it cane from nowhere. The characters are well written and well developed. The only reason this is not five stars is because I feel that it moved a bit slowly.

Thanks to the publisher for the advanced reader copy of Our House. All opinions are my own.

This weekend I had the pleasure of reading Our House by Louise Candlish, and I loved it! 1- It's set in London, one of my favorite places, 2- Creepy husband, Gone Girl-esque thriller, and 3- This combo did NOT disappoint!

Fiona ("Fi" for short, which was annoying because I wanted to call her "Fee" in my brain, but the author clearly meant "Fi" as in, rhymes with pie...but I digress) is a mom of two boys who shows up at her house one day to find that some other random family is moving in. Can you image that? Just showing up at your front door after work one day to find all your belongings missing and some random people moving their stuff in? Wow!

Fiona, clearly dumbfounded, soon finds that her husband (well, soon to be ex-husband b/c they're separated) has disappeared and her children are not in school like they're supposed to be. Yikes! This book was so creepy on so many levels because there were just LAYERS of screwy secrets and lies and deception. The book alternates from both Fiona and her husband Bram's points of view, which I liked, and also reminded me of Gone Girl.  I finished this right before bedtime last night, and woke up with the craziest book hangover. Does that happen to you? You read a super-intense book and then wake up the next morning, almost as if you personally lived though all of the events in the book too? 

If you're looking for an incredibly fast-paced thriller with a whole lot of rotten shenanigans- crime, danger, EXTREME disloyalty- this one is definitely for you!

4 out of 5 stars for Our House by Louise Candlish, which comes out on August 7th, 2018.

Our House by Louise Candlish (3=½ Stars)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Fiona Lawson and her bad-boy husband, Bram, have decided to divorce. They are going to try “bird's nest” custody, where the children remain in the family home and the parents come and go. After all, they live in a fabulous house with wonderful neighbors, and this should provide some stability during a troubling time.

But then one day Fi returns to the family home, and a strange family is moving in. Her possessions are nowhere in sight, and Bram and the children can’t be located. Once the children are found safe and sound, it soon becomes clear that Bram is behind the sale, absconding with the money and leaving his family homeless and penniless.

The story alternates from both Fi and Bram’s point of view. Fi’s story is partly told as she relives the story on a podcast, The Victim, in past tense and in present tense. Bram’s is told as his suicide note and provides the reader with details that Fi is unaware of. While it sounds confusing, it was effective and easy to follow, giving you glimpses of one deception after another that one. Candlish weaves an intricate plot with plenty of surprises along the way, yet it is very easy to follow.

The characters are well-developed. As I said, Bram starts out as a bad boy, and more of his antics are revealed as you read. He really isn’t a likable character, but yet you feel for him as he writes his suicide note and tries to make amends. As for Fi, I’m still undecided about her. She was way too calm and in control of her emotions. I kept expecting a little more reaction from her, maybe screaming like a banshee when she catches her husband with another woman. At their house. Instead, she sits calmly on the sofa, watching TV, until Bram’s guest departs.

This probably would have received 4 stars if it weren’t for the ending. The story ended abruptly. The abruptness where you think there are missing pages because you can’t believe this is how it ends, without a clue as to how things ended up. If you can look past that, this is a story that will draw you in as you keep wondering where the storyline will go next.

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/our-house-by-louise-candlish-3-%c2%bd-stars/

Fi and Bram have been separated for moths. While she hasn't forgiven his adultery, she does trust him with many financial papers and access to her house. She learns the hard way what a naive fool she has been. She returns from a trip and finds someone else moving into her house - Bram has sold it completely without her knowledge or consent. Told in alternating voices - hers in a podcast, his in a written suicide note to the police - the story unfolds in such a way one is never sure just what is going on. It certainly keeps the reader going until the end. Nice, suspenseful story that makes the reader rethink everything they thought they knew about an ex-spouse.

A fantastic thriller. I was tense from the first page through the last! My only disappointment is that one has to suspend a lot of disbelief to really get into this book. A five-star read for me must be a bit more plausible.

4/5 heartily recommended

I have seen book all over the web claimed to be one of the best thrillers of the summer. Not only did I get a copy from Netgalley, but I also won a contest and got a paperback advanced reading copy as well. I always get really excited for paperback ARC's, so I was pumped for this one. I didn't even read the blurb before picking it up.

The plot was pretty cool. I've read many murder mystery stories, but never a book about fraud like this. I wouldn't say that this was really a page-turner though. It was slow paced and kind of a predictable until the very end. But it was still so good. All of the planning that it took to pull off fraud at that level was crazy to read about. I enjoy reading books about heists and con artists, but I don't feel that this much detail is always given.

The characters were done so well. I found myself relating to both Fi and Bram. It felt like these circumstances could have easily happened to anyone. For the first half of the book I found Fi to be too uptight and snobby, but as the story went on I began to find her a bit more relatable. More than her character, I found it very easy to relate to Bram. His actions, although horrible, made sense to me. He was a much more laid back man, who wasn't so flawless like Fi. He was much more of your "regular guy", making his character easy to relate to.

This book was unlike anything I have read before. I've never read or even knew about estate fraud, especially at this level. This was a very intricate scan and made for an interesting novel watching it all play out. It is scary that something like this could actually happen. I do wish that certain elements were done better. There were two plot twists that could have been revealed in a more shocking way. There wasn't enough tension and momentum built up for the big moments. Overall it was very interesting, with well-developed characters and original plot, but was a bit too slow-paced and predictable.

I received an advanced review copy from Netgalley and Berkley publishing.

High stakes, heart-stopping,. breathtaking! I read dozens of psychological thrillers and this one is in a league of its own. Fiona faces the greatest challenge of her life when she finds strangers moving into her house. When she confront the couple, it seems like a mistake, a misunderstanding, something that can be cleared up neatly. And then the shocking truth sets in--secrets about her husband, her marriage and their tangled relationship are gradually revealed. Nothing is at it seems. This is a first-rate thriller and I immediately ordered some of the Louise Candish's other best selling titles. I plan to read all her books--that is how outstanding Our House is. Highly recommend. It kept me guessing till the very end.

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she’s sure there’s been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern co-parenting arrangement: bird’s nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona’s children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram’s not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.



My Thoughts: In the opening lines of Our House, we are stunned by what Fiona Lawson sees, as she comes home after a few days away: moving vans and a strange family unloading them. They are moving into her house!

Flashback to the previous summer when Fiona caught Bram cheating on her. It wasn’t the first time. So the split would change their lives, but they thought their solution for the children was the perfect one. The so-called Birds’ Nest custody arrangement had the children permanently in the house, with the parents taking turns moving in and out. A flat nearby was where the off-duty parent would stay.

Next, our narrators take us back and forth in time: Bram’s Word doc reveals his story, while Fi’s podcast confessions on The Victim offer her perspective. Slowly we come to discover the intricacies of how Fi ended up losing her house, and what happened to Bram to take them there.

It is not a simple story, and there are so many twists and turns, with a final unexpected one at the end. But this story is not divided into villains and victims…unless we label some of the other parties. But someone has gone to a lot of trouble to unravel their lives. And both Bram and Fi have made choices that led them to this place.

Did the Birds’ Nest arrangement set this family up for what happened? Could secrets and lies from the past have added to their vulnerability? And would the final denouement leave questions unanswered, with more heartache ahead? Rapidly turning pages kept me guessing and wondering, and made me feel empathy for both Bram and Fi. They felt like people who might have been our friends and neighbors. 5 stars.***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley

This is the kind of thriller that I enjoy. As you're reading, you feel like you're getting the full story but you know there has to be more to it. I like the way the story was told from different viewpoints and different times (past and present). There were little twists and turns the entire book. I definitely recommend it.

Oh wow! Brilliant! (And I say that in the most British of ways about this very British book.) I was intrigued by the premise of this one after reading the synopsis, but it delivered so much more than I expected. I love the way Louise Candlish chose to structure the story with three different viewpoints, leaving us wondering which viewpoint was ultimately the correct one - not that anyone here is really “correct”, despite their efforts. There are surprises, including at least one jaw-dropping one for me. It kept me up way past my bedtime reading the last few chapters because I couldn’t sleep until I knew how it ended. And then that ending! I’m pretty stingy with 5-star reviews, but this gets 5 stars from me. I’ll definitely be looking for more from Louise Candlish.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

Our House is not realistic but it did make me think - what if this situation happened to me? Louise Candlish did a wonderful job writing this novel of such a bazaar situation. I would say at about 50%, I kind of figured out what was happening but the writing was so great that I was able to stay interested to see if I was right.

A fabulous slow burn thriller that will keep you reading long after you should be sleeping! I loved the characters in this story. One of them is extremely flawed and one is a bit naïve but I still found both of them had redeeming qualities. There were quite a few twists in the book that I didn’t see coming and kept things interesting. I enjoyed the way the story was told as well. Its told from both Bram’s and Fiona’s points of view. Bram’s point is looking back and telling the story to the reader while Fiona’s is told in present time. The only reason I knocked it down a star was because I wanted a more definitive end. We “know” how it ends but it was left a little open ended. Overall though I loved this book and I highly recommend it!

A fun premise of coming home to find someone else moving into your home. I was hoping for a suspense book, but instead was more of a dysfunctional relationship. Fi gives her side of the story in these little chapters from The Victim podcast, and Bram has a collection of Word documents for his. The story held my interest overall, but felt slow in the middle.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy!

This was a solid 3 Star. I had originally thought this was more of a thriller-type book, but it was more domestic drama. Not a bad thing, but sometimes having preconceived notions can either help or hurt a book (in this case, it hurt).

I was bored in the beginning. And the story was kind of jumping all over the place, which didn’t help. But I am so glad I continued on with this one. It was like a bunch of different pieces of string that were twisting together to create one more intricate tale. I definitely enjoyed the last 20% the most.

Fiona, (Fi) is walking home when she sees people moving into her house. Not really believing her own eyes, she looks again. Yup, they sure are moving into her house. When she gets to her home, the Vaughns, the intruders, inform her they just bought the house from Bram and his wife, Fiona. They quickly figure out that one way or another, her estranged husband Bram has conspired with a woman posing as her to sell her house out from under her and their children. How did this happen?

The narrative jumps back and forth from Fi’s conversational discussion on a popular true crime podcast with intermittent comments from listeners and Bram’s Word document, a very long suicide note explaining how he came to steal everything from his family. It begins with Fi catching Bram with another woman, making out in the playhouse in the backyard. Tacky!

Fi, in an excess of good parenting, decides that rather than banishing Bram, they will continue to parent, sharing the house so their children’s lives are not disrupted. Bram gets a flat, he lives in it during the week while Fi lives in the house. On the weekend, they trade places, and the kids stay at home. Bird-nesting is what it is called and it’s oh-so-civilized. But then, it’s all about the kids.

Bram, though, has a problem with impulse control, accountability, responsibility, honesty, and maturity. He has none. He speeds, knowing he is in danger of losing his license. He loses his license and still drives. He challenges a too-slow driver. He causes an accident. He never tells his wife about it. There are many things he never tells and they all pile up when Mike uses his past to extort him to sell the house.



So, house-stealing is really a thing but it usually happens to people who are not in residence and don’t realize the house is sold for a long time. I did not find this part of the story credible. The signatures of the fake wife were forged. All Fi needed to do was challenge the sale, prove she didn’t sell it, and she would get her house back. The police would not go ho-hum, this is no big deal about a £2 million pound fraud. It was not a stolen stereo. There is nothing credible about the theft or the police reaction, or the idea that Fi, not the Vaughns would be the loser.

Then there is Bram, he’s writing a suicide note after doing everything the extortionists wanted him to do. Sorry, Bram, the time to kill yourself was before the sale. It’s too late now.

Fi is also not a credible character, it’s not just how completely she puts her children first. That I can understand, it’s her other actions, far too forgiving of those who trespass against her. It’s unrealistic and I don’t buy it. This story is not complex, it’s convoluted. We keep getting more and more revelations that explain Bram’s behavior, but no, it doesn’t explain his behavior. It’s some pathetic excuses for his behavior. And seriously, Bram, I have to say this one more time. If you want to kill yourself, do it when it can make a difference.

So, obviously Our House excites emotions so it’s not a terrible book. If it were, I wouldn’t care that Bram was so utterly useless and Fi so completely a floor mat. I just did not buy the story, it’s like dumb on dumb on dumb. Bram relentlessly, inexorably does the wrong, dumb, stupid thing. It was frustrating.

I received a copy of Our House from the publisher through NetGalley.

Our House at Berkley | Penguin Random House
Louise Candlish author site
★★