This was a dark, forbidding mystery/thriller. From page one straight through the end you will feel anger and outrage about the abuse suffered by the characters. Dark and horrifying - I hoped for a better ending.

This is going to be one of those novels when I'm in the minority, but The House of Ashes is one of the few books I ended up DNF'ing in 2021. Trust me; I went into this book wanting to like it – especially as it has been favorably compared to Gillian Flynn and Tana French.

However, right from the start, I found myself put off. On that note, this reader does start with a trigger warning, especially for cat lovers in the crowd. So consider yourselves warned on that count.

The House of Ashes is a deeply dark and disturbing book. With dual time lines, we discover the history of The Ashes from the viewpoint of Mary who was abused and a witness to a horrible crime 60 years prior. Past meets present when new home owners Damien and Sara move in and sinister things happen once more.

Parts of this book were graphic and violent. Honestly, I felt white hot rage reading through most of this book. It definitely isn't feel good but I was happy with the ending. TW: abuse, murder, gaslighting, death of children.

This is one of those dark fiction books that, as you’re reading, you know for a fact could have really happened, and maybe similar to what happened to any of those people who have disappeared and never been found again.
A young bride with an overprotective and abusive husband moves into a beautiful old home with a storied past. Sara begins to dig deeper, thanks to the outside help of their electrician, and the facts are horrible. There has been murder, suicide, and possibly arson at this home. But none of those events explain the glimpses and dreams she’s having of various young children who seem to share the home with her.
Constantly being badgered by her husband, Damien, as unstable, Sara begins secretly visiting Mary, the elderly woman who once owned the home before a terrible fire forced her into convalescent living.
Mary is an extremely interesting and complex character, one that is difficult to fathom, but we know from past crimes in history, one that is sadly very much possible.
From Mary, we learn about the family that once owned and worked the farm. I could go on and on about these people, but I would be traipsing on the fine line of a spoiler alert. There’s so much sad and horrible history within the walls of that old home. The life these people lived, either willingly or unwillingly, is the most descriptive, believable, and jaw-dropping part of the book. It’s like reading a true crime, knowing it ends horribly but being unable to Put That Book Down. Yes, sadly, we as humans devour this kind of story, whether we’re willing to admit it or not. I will definitely be reading more from Stuart Neville.
Sincere thanks to Soho Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was September 7, 2021.

This book was more depressing and darker than I anticipated. Sadly, that remained consistent throughout, making this a challenging book to get through. Difficult topics are touched on: family trauma, rape, and domestic abuse. I did enjoy the multiple POVs, though the switch from 1st to 3rd POV did take a bit of getting used to. There's a lot of violence, so readers should keep that in mind.

After Sara suffers a mental breakdown, her new husband,Damien, decides they need a fresh start and let’s his father purchase a house in Northern Ireland for them. With remodeling underway, Sara tries to learn more about the history of this house, but nobody wants to share the dark secrets. She feels more and more isolated from her family and friends, when suddenly an old woman (Mary) shows up at her door, screaming that it’s her house. Sara gets to know Mary better after she is returned to the facility where she now lives, and finds she isn’t quite the “crazy” person Damien and his father would have her believe. As Sara uncovers more about the past, Damien becomes more abusive, until the tale comes to an explosive ending.

A story that is sad and low from start to finish. It has small glimpses of hope that are quickly crushed by the storyline. This is a sad read touching on modern slavery, family trauma, rape and domestic violence.

The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville. Thanks to @sohopress for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When Sara moves to the countryside with her husband, she has no idea about the home’s history. When an old woman comes pounding at her door, she can’t ignore the past.

This was one of those stories that has a bit of real life spookiness and paranormal spookiness. I love when the two overlap. There were multiple timelines and POV’s but it was not confusing at all. I loved how everything revealed itself a little bit at a time from the past, and it affected the current time as well.

“Was the wickedness in the soil? Maybe it had always been there, even before the house. Maybe the wicked has seeped up through the soil, like the water did through the floorboards, and maybe it spread its wickedness to them men. Maybe it’s always been there. Maybe it’s still there now.”

The House of Ashes comes out 9/7.

A chilling novel full of tension, suspense and intrigue. The premise was interesting although the character development was limited and the plot was basic. It could have used a bit more fleshing out of the characters and background but, in all, entertaining and engaging.

This is one of the darkest, saddest, most impactful novels I’ve recently read!

Six decades long violent abuse remains unresolved at a haunted place! In the present time when a couple with dysfunctional relationship patterns moves to same house, the ashes and ghosts of past start surrounding them!

This book truly depressed me! When you read the parts about abuse the characters suffered from, I truly felt their pain and I got suffocated. I barely finished some chapters. Honestly I love thrillers and big fan of horror movies and books but when I saw, get witnessed or watched something about how a person intentionally hurts another human being, I get choked. When things are defined closer to true life stories and fictional world an author created, it’s inevitable to feel more agitated! This is meaner, more painful and extremely disturbing!

Two women’s stories are intercepted at the same house: the present time: Sara who recently committed suicide, psychologically shaken, barely gathering herself together, moves to the house along with her abusive, mean husband Damien. They eventually move this place located in Northern Ireland for clean start. And the house belongs to Damien’s ancestors.

And Mary who is the stranger knocks her door, telling the dark truth the house carries. Mary was just a child three decades ago when she witnessed the tragic events took place at the haunted place.

Sara and Mary are both dominated, gaslighted and tormented by men for years. I have a little hard time to understand Sara’s inner motivations about choosing her husband to marry and her reluctance to get out of the relationship. But when I read Mary’s perspective, I easily empathize with her because she didn’t have a way to get out at most of the time.

As we read both POVs, big secrets reveal about Damien’s family. Most of them prove how far they go to hold their family values together in very disturbing and sick way!

Overall: this is dark and intense story about abuse, friendship, self resilience, family secrets, women empowerment.

It affected me a lot and it was one of the most compelling reads of mine. I have to warn you this is not everyone’s cup of tea!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I tried to get into this book but it wasn’t for me. Lots of violence, which doesn’t bother me but might turn some people off. I ended up skimming the book. The story is told from 2 viewpoints. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

I went in to reading “The House of Ashes” by Stuart Neville thinking it was a psychological mystery/thriller. While it absolutely has those elements, I think it’s important to note that it can certainly be argued that it also borders on horror. I was scared, disgusted and emotionally rocked. While the present-day timeline read as a mystery/thriller, the timeline taking place fifty some years ago read as a true horror. With that being said, as someone who loves both horror and thrillers, this was the best of both worlds.

Sara Keane moves to her husband Damien’s native Northern Ireland for a clean start after she attempts suicide. In her new home, Sara feels as isolated as ever and can’t escape the nagging feeling that her home holds a dark secret. When a stranger shows up at her door soaked in blood claiming the home is hers, Sara starts digging into the past to see what secrets her husband is keeping from her about their new home. Meanwhile, we get another timeline from multiple women half a century earlier who reveal the haunting, gruesome, terrible things that happened in the home long before Sara moved in.

For anyone who struggles with reading stories of physical and psychological abuse, be warned. This one is dark, depressing and painful. If you can handle these types of thrillers then, like me, you won’t be able to put this one down. My only qualm was that it felt a bit short—possibly needing a few more chapters to wrap the ending events. Ultimately, it is a story of resilience, courage, friendship and hope, where women abused at the hands of men fight for their freedom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Press for the digital ARC of this book

Quite a dark, atmospheric novel about violence and hope. It reminded me a bit of ROOM where woman is locked away and abused by a violent, controlling man and a mother is trying to protect her child. This book does contain a second timeline, approximately 60 years later, that demonstrates some things in our world never change.

Thanks to NetGalley and SoHo Books for the ARC to read and review.

In THE HOUSE OF ASHES, by Stuart Neville, a haunting visit by a stranger unnerves Sara Keane to the point that she is compelled to find out about this woman who claims to have once lived in Sara's house. As Sara begins to unravel the truth of the stranger's claims, Sara discovers her husband, Damien, and his family have knowingly hidden the truth behind the house that they now live in. The stranger's story reaches back sixty years and yet Sara's plight and the stranger's plight are eerily similar. But the question is: How did the story end for the stranger and will Sara fare any different?
The book is a dark and depressing mystery. While reading, it became clear that there was going to be little or no redemptive ending. Sara and Mary(the stranger that visits at the beginning of the book) are both women who have been dominated by men for years, probably for their whole lives. There is no explanation or exploration into why Sara ever loved her husband and it leaves the reader wondering why she was ever attracted to him. Maybe she was just attracted to being married, but that makes her seem unrealistically weak. Mary's story is more believable and therefore the reader feels her more. Neville does do a good job creating a dark mood throughout the book and there are some good surprise reveals throughout.
The dark mystery left me wanting a little more, but nevertheless, I did enjoy reading THE HOUSE OF ASHES.

I won’t review the book based on the format of the ARC, but this file was a challenge to read without any page breaks but with frequent random page breaks mid sentence and paragraph. There was also occasional bold type which I thought were subheads but I think were random interruptions with the title and page numbers. And, the book ended in a way that I’m not sure if it was open ended or incomplete.

I mostly enjoyed this story. I thought the dual stories was compelling and I liked Sarah and her struggle. I think maybe I had higher expectations though and felt it was a little flat in the end.

This book made me so sad. It’s definitely not a feel good book, though when certain characters start making correct decisions in life, you’ll feel a bit uplifted. Still…sad, though.

There are two timelines here and both work. Normally, I tend to prefer one timeline but, very quickly, the author had me deeply entrenched in both our main characters’ lives.

I’ll very happily read the author in the future!

*ARC via Net Galley

Well, I definitely was not expecting this. Stuart Neville, needs some recognition on this one , Neville has instantly won me over. The only exciting news is that this is the first time I have read one of his novels and I will be able to go back and read his prior releases.

It was an absolute honor to be given the opportunity to read and review The House of Ashes, prior to its September 14, 2021 release date (stop what you are doing and go pre-order this one!)

I absolutely adored this emotional and explosive novel. It is no secret I absolutely love dual timeline narration and the way this book was written just had such a powerful plot that instantly grabbed my attention. Neville did an incredible job with character development and setting the scene. I shrieked quite a few times throughout reading!

At times I could describe this book as being very intense and "edge of your seat" worthy, there is a lot of drama and has quite a few perspectives . This is a compelling novel that needs to be read by all. I absolutely loved it ! Five Stars!

I wanted to love this one but found the end result of the mystery to be unsatisfying. I think I've just read too many mysteries that I might myself be becoming a good sleuth... who knows, But I think many people will enjoy this.

Thank you for the e-arc.

Deeply atmospheric and more than a little disturbing. It was a bit short, and I could have done with a smidge more resolution, but that was clearly a choice.

In The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville, the author masterfully flows between 2 points of view, modern day Sara and the six decades earlier Mary, as a child. Neville weaves together each segment containing bits of the story from the two characters points of view and jumps around in time until finally, the pieces begin to fit together and illustrate a horrific tale of twisted family values, sheer willpower to live and hope for a better tomorrow. Deliciously creepy and compelling…like a train wreck you just can’t look away from. The characters, full of dimension and depth, pull you into the tale and drag you into their settings. I could not put it down.