Really not what I expected. It sounded so good but the story was so insubstantial and I hated the characters.

The premise of the book is great and the author really delivers. Great read. Highly recommended. .

The concept of this book is very interesting: a house that tells the story of the people living in it. I liked the humorous style in which the book is written, and I enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters living in the house Edith and Edna. However, in my opinion the story jumped a lot between one story to another one, without giving many details in any of them.

** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion **

3 stars Thank you to NetGalley and Samantha Henthorn for a chance to read and review this digital copy. This book was independently published July 19, 2018.

The presentation of this book is reminiscent of The Green Mile by Stephen King. Totally different in genre, but both put out as a serial novel. This is the first installation in The Terraced House Diaries.

Always intrigued by the book that gives us a protagonist that is not alive - well at least not a person - or something inanimate. This protagonist is a house. Address: #1 Curmudgeon Avenue, Manchester England. In this case, the walls do talk.

I was a bit disappointed that there was not more humor in the book. It is billed as humorous - humorous, not so much, however, I did laugh a couple times. I would change that word to delightful. It is a light joyful read that takes you on a nonsense journey in a four story Victorian house, per the perceptions of that house.

In this first installment we meet the current owners of the house, sisters Edith and Edna, who inherited the house when their parents meet with a freak accident. Soon after they are contemplating taking in a lodger. That is when we meet Maurice, Harold and Georgina.

The house as narrator fills us in on some simple back story about all the characters. I believe that as further installments are published that individual people will be more fully developed. But in this book, we can begin to determine who is important to the house and who may just be passing through.

I am hoping that in future installments that we hear more from the house, itself. Henthorn has put us in the position of overhearing the dialog in the house and of seeing the happenings in the house, but not totally fulfilling the feelings of the house, in my opinion. It feels more like the fly on the wall, than the walls themselves. This may be due to the developing of the characters and their back story, but ultimately lead me to giving a lower star rating.

This is a short book, as an installment usually is, and worth the read, if only for the originality of the protagonist.

The author constructed a delightful storyline. It was well-written and rarely deviated from its single plot. The scenes maintained a steady pace with the storyline and were delightfully entertaining. Chortling from beginning to end, I remained captive of the book. It was a winner.

In Manchester, England, two sisters, Edna and Edith had moved in together to reclaim their parents home that had been crushed to death by an elephant. Yes, you read that right, and no, they weren't on Safari. I'll skip the sordid details. The sisters were into their sixth decade of life.

It was soon discovered that the roof was in need of repair. There was only one small problem; they had no money to pay for it. Edna, the elder and bossier of the two decided to take in a lodger to help defray the cost. In doing so, she had her sister place an advertisement in a local storefront:

"LODGER WANTED two later-life sisters require a house guest to share their lovely home with. Going rate, amenities included (within reason.)"

They got more than what they bargained for. Their lives turned topsy-turvy. In the end, it was just what they needed - change.

My gratitude is offered to NetGalley and Samantha Henthorn (Self-Publisher) for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

What an interesting idea! The house is the narrator. It is a fun story centering about sisters Edna and Edith, neither of which would win an intelligence contest. The story is quite British, which made it very entertaining to me. I thought the book was well written, with the characters being uniquely written. Not your everyday characters, which I think really added to the story. The storyline was fun, especially having a house being the narrator. I don't recall ever reading a story like that. I believe this is the beginning of a series, so I am interested to see how it starts moving along. This was a fun read.

I had a hard time getting into this one. I liked the concept of the house telling the story about the people living in it, but it just seemed to lack something. I didn't connect enough with the characters to care about them. There were some funny parts, like with the ad for the "lodger". I was hoping to enjoy this more.