I tried so so hard to persevere with this book because I can imagine the plot of it is actually super interesting however I just really struggled to followed the actual writing of it. It is all over the place and really difficult to follow and understand what’s happening, who’s talking, etc. Did not finish.

The way this book is written is so beautifully done, it is amazingly curated and well kept even for an ARC. The way the author writes is so descriptive, that I felt present in every scene. I could feel the dirt and dust of the scenes, the blaring headache of the main character in the first chapter, the primal fear. I will warn against themes of suicide! If that is a trigger for you it is prominent in the book’s introduction.

The main character is relatable even with his flaws, and his curiosity matched mine. The other characters are well thought out, and all have small quirks that are recognizably human.

This book is definitely a slow burn, with tension rising every chapter. I’m also a sucker for Southern gothic horrors so you already know how much I loved this book. I would a 100% recommend this.

I want to sincerely thank Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC they provided, I enjoyed this book immensely! I will purchase it when published!

I received a free review copy of The House of Dust from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review - my sincerest thanks to both the author and the publisher. :)

This is Southern Gothic at its absolute finest. This book just creeps and oozes around you eventually swallowing you whole...much like some folks in the story.

Mr. Broyles weaves the vivid tapestry for you to tread upon, unravels part of it out from under you, pulling a loose thread slowly until abruptly hog tying you with the loose strand and stuffing the rest into your mouth as a gag. By this point you are a hapless victim as the story consumes you while it unfolds towards its inexorable climax. The old is new, the new is old and we are just caught in the middle; the snake consumes its tail, history repeats. To quote a song from a much loved band out of Tennessee '10 Years' "Days pass, time flies, you don't realize, today you waste."

He does such an excellent job of bringing these characters to life, building the impending sense of doom and destruction then shattering it with a flash of light, hope you think as you read and try to convince yourself, lying to yourself as you know the storm clouds are just boiling out of view. The darkness builds again and rushes through you sweeping you away longer each time until the next patch of light. About halfway through I realized I was caught up in the town's cycles.

I grew up in the Deep South, and this quote from the book sums it up perfectly:
<i>"The South is a ghost, and so am I. Wandering the ways of the night, we return and return to find the place where we died. Walking circles, running cycles, never reaching beyond, never breaking free. Traveling through time orbiting a black star." </i>

I never grew up elsewhere but I can attest to the fact that it seems there is a near constant theme with folks growing up in the South. There is an endemic affecting people who cannot escape the towns, cities, backwaters they were born in, their parents were born in or buried in, their great grandparents, and so on. Doesn't matter if you were born in a place sporting one traffic light, with barely patched, faded roads roiling with heat waves and maybe a Dollar General or born in a bustling metropolis into a family of means.

It's impossible to deny the cycle of the South something about it grips and holds trying to drag you down into a malaise where you talk about leaving but always put it off until tomorrow, until tomorrow finally comes and you join your ancestors in the same exact soil, once again the earth feasting on a blood it already knows, welcoming you to your actual home.

Mr. Boyles takes these cycles, centuries old, and puts them into horrifying life, something almost tangible. This is a triumphal freshman debut.

I thought the description sounded interesting. It fell flat in a lot of places and there was so much going on it was hard to keep up with. There were some great and creepy moments that gave it life but I couldn’t connect to any of the characters. I wouldn’t mind trying another written by Broyles in the future, I think the ideas are there but some of the execution is missing.

This book is advertised as a Southern Gothic and BOY! does it ever deliver on that promise!!!

Not many books start off telling you that the main character is dead. I've got to admit, it took me a little while to get into the story, and it took me even longer to realize that i wasn't reading just one timeline but three!

I also kept getting thrown out of the storyline by the presence of Live Oaks and Spanish Moss in a story set about 70 miles outside of Nashville, TN. But, that concern WAS addressed toward the end of the book. But, it was just a niggling detail that kept throwing me.

The story would make a really, REALLY excellent Netflix series. It reminded me very much of the Sam Neil movie "In the Mouth of Madness' very, very similar vibes. The storyline is like an ouroboros, doubling back on itself more than once until you're not sure whether you're coming or going. BUT, the conclusion when reached is a shock to the system.

None of the characters are particularly likeable. They all have their own personal damage. But the mystery of what is actually taking place in the town of Three Summers and Angel's Landing is gripping and the author's ability to invoke place and emotions is very very well played.

I thank NetGalley for providing me with this advance copy for my unbiased review.

“I was trying to clean that mirror,” his fiancée murmured. “But you can’t clean quiet like that out of a house.”

I was provided an ARC from Net Galley, all opinions are my own. House of Dust was one of those novels you could start late in the evening and you wouldn’t realize how horrified you were to turn out the lights because the slow burn horror crept on you that quietly before it pounced. The back and forth narration between Brad (a struggling suicidal crime writer) and Missy (a prostitute with a dark past she’s desperately trying to escape) create a perfect blend of POVs for newcomers to the sleepy town of Three Summers, Tennessee. Both individuals find themselves in the same Southern home at Angel’s Landing and have to unravel the mysteries of the home and the town it resides in. Noah’s world building is brilliant and thought out-I did dock a point because during the beginning it felt more world building that plot building but once you get over that hump he has a great balance of creepy town description and investigation. The excerpts from Brad’s magazine “Southern Gothic” provide an additional take on the happenings of each chapter prior to start and help insert the reader all the more into the shoes of the narrator. I would recommend this novel to someone who loves imaginative world building, creepy small towns, and dirt. Lots and lots of dirt.

I love a good gothic horror. This charming southern town has a dark history. I think the author did an excellent job creating the characters and I loved the story! Thankyou for the copy!

I love a good horror novel, and a southern gothic one even more. So when the chance to review this book came up, how could I resist. And I was no disappointed in the least. The has a way of gripping you almost straight away, and while it tells you what happened, you find yourself forgetting that and hoping that there may be a happy ending at the... well, end. It gave me everything I could want from a horror, leaving me with an unsettling feeling that liked to plague my mind in the dead of night. Brilliant. I can not wait to read the authors next work!

3 stars--I liked the book.

What I enjoyed: If you like the Southern Gothic or Folk Horror genres, this book blends both. The small Southern town in this book is dripping with sinister imagery, with creepy villagers doing creepy things (my favorite!). There's a dreamy, almost paranoid quality to the writing, which mirrors the narrator's (and reader's!) confused state.

What was meh: The book does a narrative "trick" (being vague to avoid spoilers), which I thought didn't add anything to the story and was unfair to readers (I was confused, flipping back pages until I figured out what was going on). I also thought one of the characters, Jennifer, was a blank slate. I would have liked to get to know her better.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

"The House of Dust" by Noah Broyles follows a true-crime reporter and a former sex worker as they seek refuge from their old lives on a plantation they thought was abandoned. The main character, Brad, first stumbles upon the forgotten town of Three Summers on a journey to kill himself. While he doesn't succeed, he finds himself emerged in the strange deserted town. There, on a quest for his next story, he settles into the home of a dead woman, stumbling upon a series of rural southern rituals that he never expected.
The book promises to be a new Southern Gothic novel and it delivers that — almost excessively.
Broyles does a phenomenal job creating a strange and atmospheric world where it feels as though anything could happen. Unfortunately, this almost works against the novel as this excess causes the plot to get lost at points. There are almost too many "horror" moments that they seem to blur together and lose impact. It quickly became a struggle to keep track of what was going on, which detracted from the overall impact of the book.
"The House of Dust" has a fantastic premise, though. I was able to appreciate it in retrospect once I finished the book and wasn't bogged down in the details.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This was hugely interesting. Im still a bit confused on how much was real life and what was fiction. But I really enjoyed this and its a slightly spooky and dark topic.

This book was creepy from beginning to end. Loved the rural Tennessee setting. Characters were strong. Thanks so much for letting me read this book!

This strange but atmospheric novel was my first taste of Southern Gothic and I found myself drawn into the story slowly but skilfully by author, Noah Broyles. The novel's brooding sense of darkness and evil is made even more ominous by the vivid and detailed settings that absolutely drip with atmosphere. The author's use of language is sensuous and so perceptive the reader becomes immersed in this decaying small town with its long-buried evil presence just lurking in the background of every scene. Though the switching narrators can prove a little confusing at first, I quickly became accustomed to the sudden changes and found that it helped the novel achieve a kind of fragmented, dreamlike quality, or perhaps I should say, nightmarish! Perfect for horror fans looking for a beautifully written book.

"The House of Dust" is a read-alike for fans of 'In The Garden of Good and Evil;' it's southern gothic with modern sensibilities. The protagonist is a true crime writer for a magazine called Southern Gothic and as suggested by the description, this novel falls squarely into the small town horror category. There is a 'book within a book' trope.
It has enough familiar elements that fans expect from the genre except the setting felt grittier, like a 'True Detective' more than 'Interview with the Vampire.' I found the timeline of events a bit difficult to decipher in terms of sequence. Nonetheless, it's a quick, atmospheric read. The pacing tended to be a bit all over the place, and I didn't have the easiest time connecting with the protagonist, but fans of crime thrillers will enjoy it.

Thank you Net Galley for giving me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off very fast and I enjoyed that. Brad was about to end his life when he came across the town of Three Summers. Him and his fiancé move into a plantation house in the town of Three Summers. Soon they begin to realize things are not normal within the town. Such as the people seem to always be awake at night, as well as they all seem to worship something. Brad being a reporter sets out to gather a much information as he can about the town and its inhabitants.

The detail in this book was very descriptive. I felt like I was watching a movie for the most part. The only thing that as a little confusing to me, while reading this book was the switching of POVs. Overall as someone who loves horror, this book was a very great read to me!

Wow! This is my favorite previously-unknown-to-me author I've read since Nathan Ballingrud. Steeped in atmosphere and beautifully written, this book absolutely sucked me in from beginning to end. The pace at which the story unfolds is definitely a slow burn, but not so slow that you'll lose interest. As more and more eerie aspects about the cult of Adamah are revealed, the tension ramps up and then doesn't let go until the conclusion of it all.

My only nitpicks are fairly minor. It seemed to be intentional, but the split between two different narrations proved to be frustratingly confusing to me once revealed. I believe it was done to parallel the two women's pathways to becoming the Queen of Hearts, but when the different narrations are undeniably revealed, it was so jarring. I actually stopped and flipped back through, thinking I had overlooked something. Once I realized what it was, it was smooth sailing again. My other nitpick is a simple formatting error of the ebook version- the text looked very choppy at points, paragraphs running into each other and some sections seemed scrambled up.

I would absolutely recommend this book for fans of Gothic horror, horror about cults, or who like more literary-leaning horror with a heavy atmosphere of dread. I'll definitely be looking out for more from this author in the future!

I received a copy of this novel through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book grabbed me from page one, I found that I was loosing myself while reading it, until about the last 1/3 of the book and I found myself lost. I’m not sure exactly when the story lost me, or how I became disenchanted with it, but it happened and I limped along for the remainder of the book.

The characters were superb and the premise of the story was spot on for that historical rural southern ritualistic worship that has enthralled me in many books recently... but somewhere along the lines the author lost me.

I know for a fact there will be others out there who tell me I’m wrong in my feelings because like I said it is a fascinating read, it just lost my interest towards the end.

I will be recommending still

Great Book. Loved the characters. Wonderful horror story. Enjoyed it from the first line to the last. Would tell my friends and family to purchase.

thanks netgalley for the e-arc.

maybe horror is just not for me, but i just trudged through this book like no other. i normally enjoy horror but this one was a bit off. i can see why some people would love it tho, it’s not bad but not the best.

This book had me hooked from the description. And I couldn't wait to read this book!
This story is haunting but amazing! It has a gothic feel to it. Which added to the suspense that much more!
The writing was beyond great