I think this book is seriously mislabelled, because it's definitely not for teens or young adult readers.

Also, the plot is messy and not well constructed.

I ended up not finishing the book, because it was just leaving me frustrated unfortunately.

ugh, this was difficult to follow! i didn't feel for the characters at all. also, teens and ya? i'm not so sure about that

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A good paranormal Novel. Perfect for Halloween Month 🎃.

Quick read the poltergeist was a a great villan . Could have had some more depth but over all not a bad simple ghost story.

I hate being negative with reviews but I couldn’t finish this. I think the narrative needs rethinking. The structure just isn’t there.

Character wise, I don’t feel children or YA would engage in this at all.

Not as exciting as I had hoped. I love a good ghost story, but I didn’t feel like I was reading a horror. Hard time connecting with the characters.

DNF at 26%. Did not connect with the characters or the storyline. Found it difficult to follow as well.

I really enjoyed this book. This is a new to me author and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

I was really looking forward to this one -- I haven't read a good spooky book in a while -- but was a little disappointed. I couldn't figure out if the dialogue and characters felt a little one-dimensional because it was written for a younger audience (just writing that feels like I'm discounting younger audiences - I'm not! - but wondering if that was the case here) or if it just wasn't developed enough. But the main reason I couldn't get into this book is because even though the story is supposed to be spooky, the book didn't *feel* spooky. And when I'm reading a horror story I definitely want to feel like I can't turn out my bedroom light at night after reading...which didn't happen for me here.

There aren’t many things I love more than a good ghost story. In fact, ghost stories are my favourite sub-genre of horror. There’s something about a soft, slow chill and a presence that can’t be explained that I find incredibly terrifying. So, that’s what I was hoping for from this one.

Ann and her little sister Lou regularly visit their uncle Art’s house with their mother. The house is haunted by a malevolent poltergeist named Henry and a spirit named Richard Harris. Ann must delve into the horrific truth behind their connection to stop her family being haunted by its tragic past forever.

Henry was always there and I’m afraid that made him not a particularly scary ghost. The scariest ghosts are those who make themselves known in the most subtle, creepiest of ways and Henry’s constant presence meant that he just didn’t have that mysterious ethereal vibe. Yes, he was evil but I wasn’t afraid of him like I wanted to be.

The writing isn’t great either. It was quite clunky in places and the dialogues didn’t feel realistic. It seemed very simplistic too and the cold, spooky atmosphere of a good horror story was missing completely.

The truth of what happened in the house is truly horrific and Ann is shown some violent, terrifying scenes by Henry. It’s the inclusion of these episodes that I think keeps it from being a middle-grade book. Although Ann is only 12, the extreme darkness of these parts means that I don’t think it’s an appropriate read for kids. However, the simple writing, young characters and non-scary ghosts all point to it being a story for young readers. It probably definitely falls on the lower end of YA.

There was also a fixation on a ring that Henry wanted back but that Ann and Lou’s mum had taken. The saga of this missing ring went on for so long and it really could have been much shorter. Also, when the girls’ mum learns that she has to give the ring back to ensure the safety of her daughters, she bursts into tears because it’s ‘a gorgeous ring’ and she ‘wants to keep it’. Even if it means an evil spirit will harm her daughter… Yeah, I’ll leave you with that!

Mr Roberts’ House is a simple family story that could have done with a lot more editing and polishing. I wanted something along the lines of Shirley Jackson but it fell short on many counts. I know this is a debut novel, so I’m sure Blackmore’s writing will improve over time.

I love a good ghost story and have always loved atmospheric haunted houses. That is what I was expecting with this book....I was let down. I found the characters one dimensional, and the story predictable. There were some creepy, spine tingling moments but that is about it. For me this book was a miss.

***I received a free Advanced Review Copy. This review is entirely my own and represents my honest opinions.

‘Mr Robert’s House’

Ann knows her uncle’s house is haunted. Things move by themselves, figures manifest in the dark, and voices whisper in her ear whenever she treads on the attic stairs. A bloody tragedy left its mark upon this place.
Two spirits – a malicious poltergeist and a forlorn soul – are bound by what happened here, locked in the conflict that consumed their lives. Ann holds the key to their freedom – or their damnation.

As past seeps through to the present, she must uncover the truth of what happened here before her family becomes trapped in the house’s tragedy forever.
***
I desperately wanted to like this book.

The blurb description was enticing and teased my curiosity as a reader beautifully. I’m a huge lover of all things Horror and Supernatural so, naturally, I was really excited at the opportunity to read this book ahead of its release date. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me – it fell flat.

In my opinion, the narrative goes too hard too fast. With the poltergeist exhibiting the worst of his powers in the initial pages there is no space for tension to rise, meaning that the villain became ineffective and a bit too predictable for my liking. I like horror that starts slow and steadily builds until it reaches its crescendo, instead ‘Mr Robert’s House’ just plunged me headfirst into the main narrative. After a while, it felt like this novel was just employing every Horror cliché – from the occult to an array of unsolved murders all occurring in this one house – robbing itself of any originality.

My second biggest issue was with the characters. I felt that they were too two-dimensional, with no distinctive voice or characteristic between them. With the ghosts being spectres of the past I expected them to rely on archaic language or outdated phrasing to separate them from the modern-day characters, but this never happened. As a result, each character blurred into one and I couldn’t attach myself to any of them. It may seem minor, but this really removed me from the narrative.

While this book does display a lot of promise I don’t think it has reached its full potential and, as a result, I would be unlikely to recommend it to others.

The premise of Mr Roberts' House was interesting as I love haunted house stories but this one fell short. I found the characters drab, the story predictable with no real twists to make the story different or stand out, and the story is so repetitive it was eye-rolling. The author couldn't decide which character they liked more, so head hopped and left nearly all the characters blank canvases. Unfortunately, this book was a miss.

Thank you NetGalley and Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

a very fast paced and entertaining read with all kinds of twists and turns. perfect for october to really get you in those spooky feels.

I will not be giving a public review of this book as it's a DNF for me. Netgalley classified it as "adult", yet I found the narrative rather childish, more New Adult bordering on Young Adult in the "spookier" or more sexual sections.

And I also found the narrative very confusing. Changing from first person from the girl's POV.... to just first person. This also added to the childish and immature tone and feel of the book.

If you're going to use two "first person" views, perhaps indicate in the title WHICH first person it is.

I also felt the story came across as overly repetitive. The actual story is more novella size, but has been stuffed with chapters and chapters of pretty much the same story loop. Girls come to house, ghost scares them, mother doesn't believe them, ghost gets violent with uncle. Over, and over, and over the same scenes. It got so tedious and repetitive I just put the book down and will be marking it as a Did Not Finish.

Personally, the book has great potential, but was presented in a very raw form. More editing by a professional editor required. Go over it, smooth out the kinks, cut the excessive repetition. And, please, fix the eBook formatting. If you're selling it via Kindle, edit the format so it sits correctly and isn't a jumble of paragraphs.

I am so sorry to have been so harsh in my feedback. As an author myself, I'd much rather constructive criticism than a simple "I didn't like it so didn't finish".

I love ghost stories and haunted house stories are probably one of my favorite tropes ever in the horror genre.
So, when I read the premise of this one, I figured it would be right up my alley.
Two young girls realize their uncle’s house is haunted by a poltergeist and a ghost. The poltergeist is very angry and aggressive, while the ghost can’t remember anything from his life.
This should have been a really exciting page turner, but it really missed the mark.
First, the writing is very choppy. The sentences are very oddly written, I’m assuming this is probably the authors first book, so that will definitely improve as they continue on. It just felt like this author doesn’t know their voice yet, so hopefully that will get easier to find as they keep writing more and more.
Second, this is supposed to be scary, but the “scary” scenes are so anticlimactic. There’s no tension at all. It feels as though everything happening is normal and not worth a second glance. This makes it hard to take anything serious. The poltergeist is very angry and aggressive, so the scenes with him should be frightening and bone chilling, but it’s more silly and laughable.
Third, this is labeled a YA/teen book, but I feel like the writing is more on a middle grade level than a YA. It feels very childish and immature. I don’t know if that’s because Ann is 12, so it’s supposed to be more child like, but it didn’t make for a smooth reading experience.
Fourth, I was just bored and uninterested. Nothing made me want to keep reading or caring about any of the characters. I didn’t feel any sort of emotional connection that would allow me to root for their survival. I was honestly just really bored.
Maybe this would have been better as a short novella, so the author could really focus on the details that weren’t really perfected yet.
Overall, I think this book needed some serious editing and more thought put into it. Everything seems like an afterthought and that makes for a very unenjoyable reading experience. I would not recommend this book because I didn’t enjoy anything about it.

I like reading books with ghosts in them! That’s what attracted me to this title. It was full of action on every page and ghosts doing spooky things. At times I felt a little confused by how fast paced it was but still enjoyable.

What would you do if you kept coming up against an evil poltergeist in your uncles home?

Catherine Blackmore writes a ghost story with such an angry poltergeist that it makes you wonder how you would react.

A short, quick read with a fast pace. 250 pages of angry and confused spirits. It also goes over denial that such a thing could be happening. This is Catherine Blackmores second book.

Our main character Ann knows her uncles house is haunted. So does her sister. So do the adults around her, yet some deny it or ignore it. Ann must discover what this haunting is about to save her family.

I liked how the uncles grief for his late wife made him not too worried about the happenings. This is realistic when your grieving, often you dont care about alot. Ann, while we do not get to know her deeply reacts as you would expect a scared child to act. Lots of crying. Yet she is brave in a way as well because she does ask to be left alone. I think I would freeze in terror and have such confusion that I would not be able to do that.

I would have liked to know why she is at her uncles so often. A good ghost story always has to have a reason why the people can't leave to be believable. I mean, why else would you stay in a haunted house?

The interesting part was including the ghost and poltergeists perspective. The anger that consumes the poltergeist helps to stick with his character in life.

I would recommend this for people who want a little bit of mystery while being a light ghost story. There is not many scares in this book.

I give this two stars. It can be difficult to start out writing and while more depth could have been added, it could also be said that the story was meant to be fast paced and the author was trying to keep the storyline moving.

A fast paced, adrenaline filled horror with an unravelling back story. I was intrigued to read further in this book to discover why the poltergeist Henry Roberts and ghost Richard Harris were haunting the house of an elderly man called Art. I was left with no questions unanswered by the end of the book, which made it a satisfying read. However, the descriptive language became repetitive throughout the book, which lessened the horror impact the further I read. Phrases such as the "smell of rotting flesh" and "blood dripping from his eyes," amongst others, were used far too frequently. Some horror scenes, which had an excellent precedent behind them, lacked description, meaning I was sometimes left feeling cheated and wishing they had been explored in more detail. Overall, an intriguing, detailed story but lacking descriptive language which I so desperately wanted to heighten the intensity.

I had hopes that Mr. Roberts' House would be an atmospheric ghost story to read while I was snowed in, but I'm afraid that was not to be. Even considering the fact that this is a ghost story I could not find anything believable within the pages. Uncle Art and Ann having these long, detailed discussions with the two main ghosts....no spirit board or medium needed here. Just sit down, pour a couple of brandy's and chat with the ghost. I found it to way tiresomely repetitive. I got very tired of "Give me my ring"! "I don't have your ring"! "Who am I"?
It just didn't do it for me.
#netgalley #MrRoberts'House