First, let me thank netgalley and the publishers for approving my request for an early release of this book. All reviews of my netgalley books can be found on goodreads and youtube. Please be sure to check out the links attached.

I am happy that I was able to listen to the audio book version. I used a free credit to get it. That being said, for the price of this book I would have been a bit upset.

I enjoyed listening, but I am happy it was "free". I hate reviews that state such things, but here I am doing just that. The book didn't get GREAT until the last hand full of chapters. I have to admit if I had been reading it I probably would have DNF'd it. I am happy I stuck through though.

There seemed to be many fillers, unnecessary chapters. It all came together well at the end. I had predicted the ties almost from the start. It was good, just not as great as I had hoped.

I was very excited for this book, but unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it. The writing, though while well thought out, was too dry for me. I wasn't able to really get a feel for the characters in a way that made me care what was happening.

Couple decides to build a house on land that is rumored to be haunted. The results kept me glued to the pages!!!!
Really loved the story line and the writing was done really well. The characters were interesting and believable.
4 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of book. All opinions are of my own

If you like a spooky twist on the haunted house genre, this one is for you. I had a hard time reading this book at night because it would get me so freaked. I like to be scared of scary books and this book scared me without being too gross. Thank you NetGalley for my copy of this book.

I really enjoyed the mystery and it kept me reading along. I wasn't a huge fan of Nate and Helen. I enjoyed the author's first book and was expecting more from this one. This was definitely creepy though.

Ah, after reading The Winter People I was so excited to read this one. I love a good Ghost Story and was thrilled to be approved for this. While I did enjoy it for the most part, there were aspects of it that I didn't love.
Atmospherically, it was excellent. You have a couple that is building their dream home on some property in the middle of nowhere, there's bound to be some creepy aspects. And in that way, it did feel a lot like The Winter People, which was a positive. However, this book was much slower to get off the ground and I had trouble connecting with the main character. We were pretty far into the story before things really began happening and while the atmosphere was good, that can only hold your interest for so long.
I didn't love this book, but I gave it a solid 3 stars. I really enjoy McMahon's writing style and look forward to reading more by her.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

This book was fast paced and kept me guessing until the very end. A spooky read that would be great during the Halloween season!

This was an easy read with a little bit of mystery and ghost story thrown in. I enjoyed the book but can't say there is anything that stands out about it, it was just a story. Also, the mystery was pretty obvious to figure out.

I am FINALLY finished... and it only took me a month.

This book had its moments, but there was way too much information about the construction that was so dry and uninteresting. I also found Helen and whatever her husband's name is to be really irritating at times. However, I DID like when the story focused on Olive and the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance.

My thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

When Helen and Nate have the opportunity of leaving their busy lives in education behind they decide to really make a life change. They put all of their money and some inheritance funds into finding the perfect location for their home. They want to connect with nature and feel inspired by life again.

When they come across a plot of land surrounded by woods in Vermont they decided that’s where they’ll make their new home. While they work on building their house, they live in a small camper and no sooner than they arrive when strange things start happening. It’s obvious that in the small community they are outsiders but it’s more than that, they start to feel unwelcome.

Helen’s love for history drives her to find more information about their new land and the previous owner and as digs deeper she realizes that the home once belonged to Hattie Breckenridge. Rumors and embellished stories abound about Hattie and her daughter but the more Helen finds out the more she wants to know and feel connected to Hattie. So much, that she even starts to see her.

Helen’s isn’t the only point of view in this novel, we also have Olive a young girl who’s mom has run away and she’s left taking care of her father. He seems to be falling into a deep despair and Olive at first isn’t trusting of Helen and Nate but soon she becomes friends with Helen.

I thought the downward spiral of Helen and Nate’s relationship was well-done and it wasn’t just due to the chaos of building a new home of course but also to the eerie events. My favorite part of the story though was when there are flashbacks and the narrative changes to Hattie’s point of view. While this novel wasn’t as good as The Winter People for me, I would still consider it a good ghost story.

Well written, but when it says ghost story, it really means ghost story. If you like that kind of thing, then you'll probably enjoy this. It just isn't my cup of tea.

As always, thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

#TheInvited #NetGalley

Genuinely creepy, The Invited is a new twist on the haunted house trope that is a standby in some of the best scary books and movies ever made. Suddenly financially well off and able to live their dream vs their imposed reality, Helen and Nate decide to use their windfall to purchase what should be a suspiciously underpriced old home and acreage. Almost from the get-go, their dreamily yet firmly rooted renovation plans begin to go awry when items mysteriously go missing, but this is chalked up to local kids messing with them.
While researching the origins of their new home, Helen is introduced to many locals, as well as the alarming past of the area. She soon meets Olive, a teen girl whose own past is just as disastrous as that of the home Helen has purchased. Helen's dogged pursuit of untangling the local history brings her closer and closer to Olive and current unsolved mysteries and disappearances.
Flush with unexplained sightings, witchcraft and the supernatural, and generations of violence, The Invited belongs on the same shelf as works by Stephen King and Joe Hill.

After reading The Winter People about a year ago, I absolutely fell in love with her writing style. When I think of what I want out of a scary story or a thriller, McMahon seems to hit it every time!

The Invited is the story of Helen and Nate moving from their bustling suburban life to Vermont to build their own home. What they do not know is they have moved onto a property with history. I particularly loved how the story built as the pieces of their home came together.

The Invited masterfully juggled jumping between past and present and telling the stories of the Breckinridge women. McMahon has a way of weaving together characters and history and setting that is completely engrossing and totally creepy. I could not put this book down and kept turning pages wondering what was going to happen next. There were some great twists and turns and surprises and I loved how everything was wrapped up at the end. I can’t wait for her next release. To tide me over I am going to have to check out her backlist!

I’ve really enjoyed the Jennifer McMahon novels I’ve read in the past, so I was excited to see this one pop up on Netgalley.

Unfortunately, I didn’t like it quite as much as I’d hoped. Helen and Nate decide they’re going to give up their hectic lives in the city to go build a house by hand and live in the woods. Helen’s father recently died and left her a lot more money than she was expecting, so they can afford to. So they quit their jobs, pack up their lives in New England, and head out to the woods.

Once they get there, it becomes clear very quickly that things are not right with the land they’ve purchased, or their plan to build a house. However, Nate and Helen realize this separately, as their relationship is one of the first things to suffer in their new surroundings. Living in a small trailer, while they physically build their own house is a lot more difficult than either of them had expected, and neither of them is ready for it. Add in the strain of neither of them being able to sleep through the night, townspeople who are clearly not happy to see them, and their belongings disappearing night after night, and it’s easy to see the reason for the strain.

Olive and her father have been living an uncomfortable existence ever since Olive’s mother ran off and left them both. Her dad is obsessed with constantly tearing down the walls of their house and remodeling, and Olive is obsessed with finding the old treasure her mother assured her was hidden somewhere in the bog. It’s not immediately clear how these stories are going to connect, and they don’t fully. The intersection felt a little forced, and watching Olive skip school and snipe at her best friend wasn’t very interesting.

While this book was as well-written as anything from Jennifer McMahon, it was missing that undefinable creep factor that I usually find. It had all the elements I was expecting, but for some reason they just never quite gelled into that usual McMahon atmospheric read that I was looking forward to. And it was a little difficult to suspend my disbelief enough to believe that 2 middle school teachers are going to literally build their own house, a two-story house that they’re planning to live in. Helen’s dad was a contractor, and he let her hang around building sites when she was kid, and they’ve both done some work with Habitat for Humanity, so they decide that, armed with YouTube videos, that’s enough to build an actual house. They do hire someone to lay the foundation, but they, along with Olive, the fourteen-year-old, are going to build the rest of the house themselves. It’s a lot to buy into.

This isn't my first Jennifer McMahon book, but it's one of the few of her horror titles I've read - and I loved it! This story of a couple's would-be dream home gone wrong was completely entertaining, and had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to the end. LOVED it!

It’s time for another round-up of Pickett’s Picks, Spring 2019 Edition! This time I’ve compiled a dozen intriguing debut novels, brand new books from favorite authors, must-read crossover releases, and at least one delectable cover (can you guess which one?). Here are just a few of the books that I’m looking forward to reading and sharing with students at Ridley High School during the upcoming semester. What are YOUR picks?? Leave a comment and let me know!

Internment by Samira Ahmed
A sophomore effort by an author who is stepping up her already-strong game! Internment depicts a dystopian near-future United Sates where Muslim-Americans are forced into internment camps, and seventeen-year-old Layla Amin must lead a revolution against complicit silence.

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
Eighteen-year-old, mystery-loving Birdie’s new job at a historic Seattle hotel leads her and her co-worker, Daniel, to a real mystery about a reclusive writer who resides there. I love a fresh, contemporary romance with a unique setting, and this one sounds perfect!

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo
Sparks fly between a K pop starlet and a tabloid reporter in this heartwarming rom-com! Maurene Goo is just as talented at writing the comedy as the romance in each of her “rom-com” novels, and I can’t wait to read her latest!

You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn
This good, ol’-fashioned love story asks: can the right song and the perfect summer on the road make two broken hearts whole? (My prediction.)

The Current by Tim Johnston
The author of Descent (one of my all-time faves) is back with another suspenseful crossover novel! When two young women leave their college campus in the dead of winter for a 700-mile drive home to Minnesota, they find themselves fighting for their lives in the icy waters of the Black Root River. One girl’s survival and the other’s death stun the citizens of their small town, thawing memories of another young woman who lost her life in the same river ten years earlier, and whose killer may yet live among them. I have no doubt that readers will be swept up in this Current!

The Invited by Jennifer McMahon
A chilling ghost story with a twist: the story of a husband and wife who don’t simply move into a haunted house, they start building one from scratch, without knowing it, until it’s too late … Yes, please, to all of the above.

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
In this daring and romantic fantasy debut perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale, society wife-in-training Dani has a great awakening after being recruited by rebel spies and falling for her biggest rival. You had me at “perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale“!

Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling for her. But then Kate dies. And their story should end there. But Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again: healthy, happy, and charming. If he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. When one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do to save the people he loves.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
The incomparable Angie Thomas is back with her second novel! On the Come Up is the story of Bri, a 16-year-old whose rap goes viral for the wrong reasons, leading to trouble for her family and an eviction notice. The Hate U Give was the novel of 2017, and early word is that On the Come Up is as good if not better!

Small Town Hearts by Lillie Vale
Fresh out of high school, Babe Vogel should be thrilled to have the whole summer at her fingertips. She loves living in her lighthouse home in the sleepy Maine beach town of Oar’s Rest and being a barista at the Busy Bean, but she’s worried about how her life will change when her two best friends go to college in the fall. And when a reckless kiss causes all three of them to break up, she may lose them a lot sooner. I love a novel that portrays a transformational season in a character’s life … plus coffee and pastries!!

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
This new novel by the author of The Age of Miracles will appeal to both the horror geek and the literary nerd. It’s about a college town transformed by a strange illness that locks victims in a perpetual sleep and triggers life-altering dreams. The town descends into panic and chaos, trying to stay awake but also trying to understand: What are they dreaming about?

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner
Best friends Delia and Josie host a campy creature feature show called Midnite Matinee on the local cable station. But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their own futures and the future of their show. As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, the girls start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous…and momentous. Jeff Zentner excels at depicting true-to-life friendships, complete with humor and heartache, and I’ve already booked a ticket for this Midnite Matinee!

I gave this one an honest try but it was just too slow for me. There’s an overall sense that something’s not right, off, or eerie, but there wasn’t enough tension to keep me interested. I had difficulty rooting for any characters, both the couple building the house and the girl trying to uncover her family history, all of which I should have liked but it just fell flat. I was expecting more intensity, so while the story itself was fine, this one just wasn’t for me.

The Invited is a different kind of haunted house story.

Helen and Nate leave the big city and move to a rural area to build a house of their very own. Helen, a history teacher, is fascinated by the history of the land they buy. She learns about Hattie and what happened to her then digs deeper to find out what happened to her daughter and other descendants. She begins placing pieces in her house that were pertinent to these women. Instead of moving into a haunted house, this couple is building one. One has to wonder, are they making a mistake? The history of the land they bought is dark and violent.

Mysterious presents are left for Helen and Nate outside their home. Inside, many of their belongings disappear.

Nate keeps seeing an albino deer, one that he feels is beckoning him to follow. Legend has it that people have drowned because of this deer. But Nate loves nature, and he won’t quit following it.

Hattie is supposed to have left behind a treasure that is buried somewhere close to where she used to live, and people are searching for it.

Olive is a young girl watching Helen and Nate build their home. She isn’t please that they are invading her area, destroying the peace and tranquility of it. Olive’s mom has disappeared and is thought to have run away with another man, but Olive doesn’t believe the rumors. She can’t see her mom up and leaving her like that. She and her mom were going to find Hattie’s treasure. She won’t be happy until she learns the truth about what happened. But the truth hurts almost as much as the rumors.
Riley is Olive’s aunt. She has always been there for Olive since Olive’s mom disappeared. She also has an interest in history and the past happenings of the region.

Once Olive gets to know Helen and Nate, she introduces them to Riley, and they become friends. Still, there is something mysterious going on.

As the truth about what is going on unravels, this book becomes unputdownable. Secrets are revealed and lives are in danger.

I was happy when I finished the book, yet I was sad. I had become emotionally attached to the characters and their situation, and I longed for their story to continue. So maybe there will be a sequel? One can only hope.