This was a fantastic read. The storyline thrilled me and kept me on the edge of my toes never knowing what would happen next. The pace is excellent, slowing down in bits so that you drop your guard and then boom it hits you with it's newest surprise twist. This was very cleverly written. I never saw the ending coming and I cannot wait for this to come out so I can get my hands on a paperback. I will definitely be one-clicking this author from now on.

A gripping and intense read. I was very excited to start this one since the blurb had fascinated me.

It was an easy book to read, the characters were interesting and I wanted to know more about them, the more the story went on.
I would recommend this book to my friends!

I liked the ‘The Housemate’ and was intrigued by the idea of two friends who loved the house they viewed together and desperately wanted to move in but couldn’t really afford the rent. The owner of the house put forward a suggestion that he would turn the office into a small single bedroom and sublet it to another prospective housemate of their own choice, which would make up the asking rent, and by paying it directly to the owner, the girls stood to lose nothing. I could see how this could be an attractive proposition, because obviously the girls liked the house so much and could see it as their new home together. It looked to be a ‘win-win’ situation for best friends Megan and Chloe and they duly chose the applicant after interviewing only two prospective housemates.
Sammi moves in with them and she also loves the new property. She cooks a ‘new hope’ celebratory meal for the three of them and is pleasant to them whilst often working in her room to give them space. She is friendly and helps with the chores and also makes an effort to ‘fit in’ – to begin with. But soon her thoughtfulness gives way to complacency and a string of accidents, mislaid items, lost belongings and playing the girls off against each other sour Sammi’s residency. Of course Megan and Chloe cannot evict Sammi because she has exactly the same rights as they do. As long as she pays her rent to their landlord they cannot even suggest to him that everything is not as rosy and bright as they had hoped it would be.
Sammi has changed though, definitely for the worse. The plotting and trying to ruin their longstanding friendship turns nasty and Megan and Chloe begin to see a sinister side to her. After all they scarcely know anything about her. It appears that she has no family or friends. They don’t even know where she came from, having just told them she wanted to move from her last tenancy. Now quite frightened that the trust they had with her completely gone the girls begin to think of ways that they could possibly make her life so uncomfortable that she makes the choice to leave of her own free will. Megan has always thought Sammi was a bit strange and something was ‘off’ about her and now she wishes they had not been so rash.
The story is well written and the tension is built up very assuredly. The creation of each character in the story is very good – from the dodgy doctor to the three girls themselves and even the minor characters. The storytelling is well paced and I definitely found it readable and enjoyable (until the twist at the end, which spoilt the novel for me). This is a debut novel and C. L. Pattison definitely knows about how to drive her story forward. She uses her skills as a former journalist very well and has promise in the genre of Psychological Thrillers I’m sure. Once a frontline police officer she has insider knowledge of criminality which she could also use to enhance the breadth of her writing.
I received this novel through my membership of NetGalley and from publisher Headline, all in return for an honest review. It’s a 3.5* review from me. All the opinions are my own with no influence from other parties. It’s an enjoyable read for lovers of this genre and I wish C. L. Pattison good luck with her debut novel.

Sadly I only managed 30% of The Housemate, I'm interested in the plot but the writing style is strange. It's hard to keep track of character changes since they both sound the same.