Thank you to Atria Books for my advanced copy of Beneath the Stairs in exchange for my honest review. This book was CREEPY in the best way. I love multiple povs and dual timelines and this book hit the mark.

Eerie and unsettling, this is a great story. Jennifer Fawcett captures teenage friendships—and the insecurities, bravado, and intimacy that go along with them—so well. And the Octagon house is truly terrifying. The large metal door that leads down to the basement is the stuff of nightmares, and the truth uncovered about the house’s history is even more disturbing. I loved it!

So far it looks like my opinion is in the minority, but this debut novel wasn’t for me. I tried to like it, even just parts of it, but overall I found it to be a very generic haunted house story.

There’s a house. It’s octagonal in shape. A group of girls went into it in the ‘90s, and one of them came out “changed”. This goes from present day, to the ‘90s, then the ’60s, then when you think there couldn’t possibly be more of the exact same story, to the ‘30s. In present day, the girl who came out of the house different than she went in has seemingly attempted suicide and is in a coma, so her old friend comes back to town to … hmm. I don’t really know what, I guess be there for someone she hasn’t seen in 20 years? I suppose if she hadn’t returned, there wouldn’t be a book. 🤷🏼‍♀️

There aren’t really spoilers, because nothing big happens. There isn’t a big twist. There was no deeper meaning (that I could see). The characters were boring and slightly interchangeable. It’s just about a haunted house with a creepy basement that has a creepy doll in it … unfortunately about as dull and cliché as it sounds. I feel awful to do it to a debut novel, but I’m going with two stars on this one. Towards the end, I was so ready for it to be over. Hopefully others will enjoy it more than I did.

(Thank you to Atria Books, Jennifer Fawcett, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

I enjoyed this one! I love books with more than one timeline, and this had a few! The coming of age theme was well done and detailed enough that I found myself reflecting on my own processing of feelings and experiences at Clare and Abby's she in the 90s timeline. Chapter 17 was one of the best written chaotic scenes I have read where I was so stressed it felt like experiencing a thriller movie in the theatre. I did want a little more from the ending but overall really enjoyed it!

Beneath the Stairs is Jennifer Fawcett's debut novel. I really enjoy the writing style - it was easy to follow, concise and gripping. The story idea was interesting, and had so much potential. That being said, this novel was not my favorite. I did not enjoy the mental health representation and did not think it was done in a very respectful way. The characters treated suicide in such a blase or contemptuous manner, and they were so quick to label people as addicts. I felt that there were many parts of the story that were not clarified or tied up at the end, while others did come full circle. The atmosphere and descriptions were effectively creepy, and I really enjoyed the setting of the book. I do feel like perhaps too many issues (mental health, addiction, suicide, murder, miscarriage, etc.) going on on once that weighed the story down a bit. Overall, I enjoy the writing style, atmosphere and setting descriptions, but this particular story wasn't for me. I will not be sharing this review publicly, as I do not believe in sharing negative reviews.

If the Octagon House keeps calling to you, will you answer?

Best friends Clare and Abby find themselves haunted by the spooky geometric house where a man once murdered his family. After bravely visiting it together as teens, Abby has never been able to escape its persistent beckoning and, finally, as an adult, she returns, only to be found days later in the house’s basement after an overdose.

Clare returns to her hometown to support Abby’s family and discover the truth of the Octagon House once and for all.

This story started off well and I expected I’d come out on the other end with a higher rating. I really enjoyed the melancholic reflectiveness of Clare’s narrative and, although I did initially find the sudden switch to a third person narrative a bit jarring, I was able to ease into it. Those early scenes pertaining to the Octagon House were quite unsettling.

Jennifer Fawcett undoubtedly managed this complex story well. The aspects that frustrated or disappointed me were largely a reflection of my reading preferences. I didn’t care for the romantic aspect for reasons I won’t spoil here, I didn’t feel the reveal was especially exciting, and I disliked the tidiness of the ending. Although all of that was a matter of taste, I cannot deny that I was especially frustrated with the late entry of a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis. I felt the understanding of this disorder was superficial, both in how it manifests and how it is diagnosed. Plus, it wasn’t truly a necessary addition to the story.

Jennifer Fawcett shows great promise in this debut novel. It is rare that I find anything pertaining to a haunted house genuinely haunting so she has my highest praise with the creepiness she successfully illustrated. There are many early readers who’ve found the book, as a whole, worked better for them, and Sarah Langan, who wrote the amazing 2021 release Good Neighbors, has given Beneath the Stairs her seal of approval. Please don’t let my own dissatisfaction dissuade you, as this tale of friendship and terror might be your next five star read!


I am immensely grateful to Atria Books for my digital review copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Beneath the Stairs will be published on February 22, 2022.

An amazing read. My husband and I both loved this read. I have already recommended to all my friends!

My thanks to Atria books, Jennifer Fawcett and Netgalley.
I've been reading this book since December, 22. I'm finally giving up at 55% on January 4.
This story started out strong, but then it kept changing timelines. This isn't usually a problem for me, but this time? It would go back and forth between exciting, then boredom. I'm finished!
The writing was great, I just wish it had been more linear.
I would read another from this author.

Yooooo this was creepy! I would absolutely never go into a haunted house for ANYTHING but this story is all about it. I loved this story more than anything and think this is Fawcett's genre!

An entertaining suspense mystery with paranormal undertones. A deserted house with a haunting history attracts the curious teenagers of Sumner Mills and some who enter are hypnotically drawn to return. Fawcett creates a creepy story blended with childhood friendships, relationships, and small town secrets.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Jennifer Fawcett for the advanced copy of Beneath The Stairs. #NetGalley #BeneathTheStairs

A realy excellent blend of suspense and ghost story. The main characters of Clare (and later Mitchell) were well-drawn, the writing flowed, and the story line kept me intrigued. I could have used a bit less of the retelling several times of the basement story but the author did a great job of pulling it all together in the ending chapters and I would definitely read whatever Jennifer Fawcett writes next. She's got a real talent for creating believable characters who have hidden depths to them and aren't just cardboard cut-outs. By the end, I felt as though Lori, Abby, Taylor, and particularly Clare were recognizable, flawed humans who I was glad I'd spent time with. .

***3.5 stars

Firstly, I will say that though this book is marketed as a thriller/horror, it's very much a slow-burn psychological contemporary/mystery. It deals a whole lot more with emotional trauma and grief than what you would expect in something marketed as a thriller. This wasn't a bad thing, in my case, as I tend to like those types of books, but I can see where you might be disappointed if you're expecting a horror-filled ghost story.

That being said, this was a solid book overall. The overarching mystery aspect was intriguing and the more emotional themes the author explored throughout made it even more compelling. I’m not going to give any spoilers, but my main complaints are that the characters acted in ways that didn’t really make sense a decent amount of the time, and the author introduced a handful of timelines/perspectives, some of which we only heard from once or twice, and I either wanted to hear more from them or didn’t think it was necessary for them to be introduced at all. Would definitely recommend if you like these kinds of books, and I think it could especially hit hard due to the emotional themes explored.

A strong debut mystery-thriller from local author Jennifer Fawcett. The Octagon House has a long, bloody history, hidden deep within the woods of a small upstate NY town and holding many secrets, horrors, and even possibly ghosts. With a sleepy atmospheric feel reminiscent of The Haunting of Hill House, Fawcett raises the question–does childhood trauma create your ghosts, or are those ghosts from your childhood creating the trauma?

Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for the ARc. A great supernatural and suspense novel that kept me turning pages long after I should have gone to bed.

I ended up really enjoying this one. It had everything I love in a thriller, and it fixed everything that doesn't work for me about haunted house stories. In some ways it even felt like a coming-of-age story, which are like crack to me. All the elements appealed to my interests: creepy house with a detailed history, a failed factory town, an intense childhood crush, a heroine who's experienced loss returning to her hometown, multiple timelines, and so much more. This book just really worked for me and I can't wait to read more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This is a fantastic debut novel! If you are looking for a creepy, atmospheric thriller, then, I highly recommend Beneath the Stairs. Our primary characters in this story are Abby, Clare, and Mitchell. We get both present day and past stories about their circle of friends, all of who seemed to be affected by an octagon shaped old house in their hometown. We also get a back story, dated in the 1940's and the 1960's of the homes original builder, family and the second family that lived there. Ever since the day the octagon house was built, there was "something" off, "something" that existed that none of its inhabitants or visitors, both past and present could put their finger on, until the awkward, huge, metal door that leads to the basement came into play. The door seems to have a will of its own, opening and closing when it chooses. And when it does open, after the horrid stench hits them, what is it that the characters in the story see at the bottom of the stairs? Why does it have the power to lure them back more than once despite how horrifying their experience may be once descending those stairs? This kindle read was hard to put down. I love any story that talks about childhood friends/secrets and their relationships. There is also a nice romance compiled into the book. I absolutely adored Mitchell. The only thing that makes me not give this a complete 5 star rating, is the fact that I felt the ending may have been a little rushed for lack of a better word, and I did get a bit confused, and had to sit back for a bit and tie all of the story elements together as well as consult a friend who had read the book to really walk away with an "a-ha" moment. Nevertheless, I highly enjoyed this, and am SO looking forward to future books by Jennifer Fawcett! This novel could easily be made into a thriller/horror movie or series, and it would do so well. 4.5 stars!!!

I thought I'd love this book based on the summary, but instead, I really struggled with it. It just felt too busy overall, and many parts dragged with backstory, and both pulled me out of the story. Too many parts were predictable, and it didn't have the thriller feel I expected.

This book started out a little slow for my liking but as I read further on it became more interesting. I found this to be a pretty decent debut and Ms. Fawcett has an amazing writing ability that I would read more of. This was spine tingling and very atmospheric and super creepy. The suspense kept me reading and on my toes looking for clues. I was on the edge of my seat for the most part and my jaw was tense. I loved the triple timeline format and wanting to know exactly what happened way back when kept me flipping the pages. This is a well thought out, suspenseful drama that blended the psychological with the paranormal and kept me so inthralled that I read it in a couple of sittings.

With the feel of an urban legend or a ghost story, this is a delightfully eerie tale of friends who had drifted apart but are pulled back together by tragedy rooted in their shared past.

Set in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains (a favorite locale of mine, and which I wish the author had played up a bit more), the story tells the tale of a group of friends (four in the past timeline, though really only three figure in the present timeline), who, when they were 14 years old and about to enter high school, break into a local haunted house - the site of a family's gruesome murder - and experience something .... off, or at least two of them do. Later, those two go back and something very bad happens. Twenty years later, Abby, who was never the same after that night, is found near death in the house and her last words before slipping into a coma is her former best friend's name, Clare, drawing Clare back to her hometown and having to face the demons of all those years ago.

I don't want to give away any secrets, but the plot obviously takes place across various timelines, including into the dark history of the house, and it's pretty dark. But trust me, everything made really good sense. I didn't feel overwhelmed at all; the author did a great job of keeping things in good order and explaining things well. It all weaved together cohesively, though I wish some of the motives had been a little more fleshed out.

The ending was really creepy, as is fitting a true ghost story. It left a little to the imagination and gave you chills as things were revealed. There's supernatural elements and some just plain bad guys to contend with in this one, so that adds an extra creep factor. A little more supernatural than real-life, but like I said this is a ghost story.

If you're looking for a good ghost story to read by the fire during a nice winter chill, this would be an excellent one to curl up with. It will definitely give you the creeps!

Clare is summoned back to her hometown when her childhood best friend attempts suicide at an abandoned old house where twenty years ago, the two friends were inexplicably drawn - a house that was the scene of a grizzly crime many years before. Beneath the Stairs tells the tale of the two girls, their friends and the secrets contained in that house in alternating time frames. The plot’s a familiar one, and the book lags in some spots, as there’s just too many backstories here which slows everything to a crawl, and it saps most of the suspense that’s trying to build up. The ending is predictable and unimaginative, as you’re hoping for more, but it just doesn’t deliver. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.