Way too many characters and voices for me to keep up with everything unfortunately. I did finish it but I just couldn’t enjoy it as I had high expectations for this book.

Very grateful for my review copy

A roller coaster ride that takes us through plenty of twists and turns and keeps us turning the pages. I've read other books by this author, and she hasn't disappointed with Somebody's Home. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Somebody’s Home is a story of two families who all seemingly have perfect lives. But when these families’ lives become intertwined their secrets eventually come to light and they are exposed for who they really are.
This story is told from multiple POV, though I feel there were too many POV as it was hard to keep track of who was telling their story. The characters were not likable and were all very shallow. It was a fast-paced psychological thriller with some very dark moments that were a bit unsettling. You got domestic violence, corrupt church leaders, prostitution, neo-Nazis and social media scandals. I feel there were too many issues thrown into the story and not enough focus on any one issue. It did keep my attention and I wanted to know what was going to happen and I felt it came together well at the end. Overall, not a story that worked for me, but I recommend you try it for yourself as it could be just what you are looking for.

This is a story of two families with seemingly perfect lives. But not everything is as it appears.

As their less than perfect lives intersect terrible things will happen. They will need to learn the importance of family and just how strong they are as individuals.

This is definitely a thriller. It was a race to the end while holding my breath! It was thrilling and definitely made me dread seeing what the villains of the story would do next. But there were definitely some cringe-worthy moments as we discover what some of the teenagers in this book get up to and the fallout for their terrible, ignorant, hate-filled actions.

It kept me guessing until the very end.

This was a wild ride! One I really enjoyed. Some of the characters were over the top dislikeable, some just weren’t much fun, but the story worked for me. I figured out what the big plot was, but was t sure how they would resolve it.

DNF at 50%. The first few pages drew me in very quickly, but it all went downhill for me from there. There are no likable characters, in fact I strongly disliked everyone and just didn't want to be in their world anymore. Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Somebody's Home is now available.

Home sweet home…or is it?

This is my second book by Kaira Rouda and I was so excited to receive this e-ARC because I loved The Next Wife.

Somebody’s Home was a slow burn that I enjoyed and the intensity of the second half of the book kept me on the edge of my seat! I enjoyed the twists, unlikeable characters, and alternating POVs. This is a great fast-paced, engaging thriller. Can’t wait to read what Rouda writes next!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book starts out fairly innocently, but it soon becomes clear that there is something not quite right with Tom, the son of the previous owners. He is supposed to vacate the carriage house in three days, but he does not want to leave. The tension quickly ramps up when Tom becomes obsessed with Julie’s daughter Jess.

Rouda captured the sense of entitlement that the Jones family and their “friends” exhibited. But the phrase that comes to mind after they are caught up in a couple of scandals is “the mighty have fallen.”

Rouda dished up her usual set of characters that we love to hate. I can’t say I liked any of the characters. It was more like they got what they deserved. But I did enjoy the various points of view throughout the book. I got a better grasp of the various issues through those views.

Rouda did a masterful weaving of several storylines that eventually come together with an explosive conclusion. I was kept in suspense and could not put the book down until I reached the end.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book was a twisty, turny family drama more than it was a suspense, in my opinion, but I really enjoyed it.
Tom's family has sold his house from under him, forcing him to move out of the carriage house and stand on his own two feet. Tom really isn't having any of that. He blames his dad for all of his failings and plans to make him pay for all he's done to him.
Julie has left her million dollar mansion by the sea and moved her and her daughter to the house on Cherry Hill, the only problem is the son of the owner's family out back. Julie needs a fresh start after leaving her husband and wants out of the plastic society she was in before.
Roger isn't happy that Julie has left and taken their daughter, he needs her, if not for her love, for the status. He vows to do anything to get them back, and with all the money in the world, he knows he can make anything he wants happen.
There were so many POVs and that is something I really enjoyed about this book. I loved being inside each of their heads and knowing what is going on instead of just the perception from one character's POV. The book ended very quickly and seemed to miraculously resolve everyone's issues, and I would have liked it to be a little more messy.
Thank you to Kaira Rouda, Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for an early copy.

I read this one quickly. It takes place over two days, and I find it hard to read books with shorted timelines slowly. The writing was easy to get used to quickly

The first half of it was hard to push through because there are alot of topics covered that are not alluded to in the synopsis: domestic violence, Neo-Nazis, prostitution, gangs, and incels. I wasn't prepared for these topics, and may have enjoyed it more had I known they were coming..

In the beginning of this book, I found myself really enjoying it. It has the short chapters and multiple POV's that I love in a book, along with a fast pace that kept me reading.

However, as I continued reading, some aspects really bothered me. In my opinion, the antisemitism was unnecessary, cringe-worthy, and did nothing to add to the plot as a whole.

I did enjoy the ending, and it had some twists that I liked. Overall, this was not my favorite of this author's books, but I look forward to what she writes next.

Wowzers! Somebody's Home is another roller coaster ride of a book! It is timely and prophetic of our time even though these are difficult subjects. Kaira Rouda can write and she wrote another bestseller with this one! I could barely catch my breath!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC!

Unfortunately there is not really anything I can say I enjoyed about this one. I never DNF so I stuck this one through and slightly regret that.

Often an unlikeable cast can work really well but all these characters just didn’t work for me.

The first chapter gave me so much hope but a slow burn with no real twists is just not for me.

Julie Jones finally musters the courage to leave her wealthy but inattentive husband, Roger. She and her daughter Jess move across town to a new house in a different part of Oceanside. The old owners, Doug and Sandi, have moved out. However, they have left someone behind, their eldest son, Tom. Tom lives in the guesthouse and he hates his father and stepmother with a passion. For Doug, the feeling is mutual. Tom is supposed to vacate the guesthouse by the end of the weekend, but he has other plans. Ones that will change the lives of all involved by the time the weekend is over.

"Somebody's home, and he isn't supposed to be there."

This book starts off creepy, letting us know that someone has invaded a home and shouldn't be there. But then it flashes back several days later, leading up to the days before the event and truly goes sort of off course. The premise is interesting--a man refuses to leave his childhood home--but the story heads off in so many directions: Julie's marriage; a scandal with Jess and her friends; a scandal with Roger; a scandal with Doug, a pastor (sense a thread here)...

Each character tells their story from their point of view and it's a bit boring and repetitive at times. There is certainly an impending sense of doom at times and some good twists, but more needed to happen. Every person repeats their feelings over and over, instead of progressing the story forward. Worse, many are hateful, and it's hard to care about them or their motivations.

Overall, this one has its creepy at moments and some story threads are interesting, but it didn't work very well for me as a thriller.

I am a big Kaira Rouda fan. This book is a lot less instantly devious and psychopathic than, say, Best Day Ever. For me (because I love twisted thrillers) that was a bit of a disappointment from the start. Rouda’s engaging writing style kept me interested, as always, but this book has a few too many narrators (including children, which for me is always a little harder because it gives a YA feeling unless the kid is super compelling) so that I wasn’t able to get completely invested in any one character. And the characters are well-drawn, but for me the book was missing the compulsive and compelling draw of some of Rouda’s other crazy creations.

So, overall, a decent and well-written thriller with an interesting plot, but for me, missing the unique voice and deviousness of Rouda’s last two books. Still a big fan of Rouda and definitely will be picking up her next book, but this one just wasn’t a standout from the thriller pack for me.

Thanks to Thomas and Mercer, NetGalley and the author for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟 3.5/5 stars

Kaira Rouda always writes the most insane and fun characters in an equally insane and fun plot. Somebody’s Home is about a newly single mother and her daughter, who try to make a new start in a new home. However, their new start turns into a nightmare when someone refuses to leave their house.

While this isn’t my favorite from this author, it is still a quick, entertaining thriller with plenty of twists and turns. It has many characters with interweaving storylines that keep the pace up. Rouda writes more oddly endearing, yet terrible people and nails the ending. I cannot wait for Rouda’s next thriller.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to be posted on publication date.

This book was Soo good I didn’t want it to end!! I’m a huge fan of all her books but this one might be my new favorite! Clear your schedule and be ready to read all night!

"Somebody’s Home" is told from five different alternating points of view, a decision which propels the plot forward, as there is no dwelling on one scene from different perspectives. The book tells the story of Julie, who’s decided to leave her impossibly rich husband and start a new life with her teenage daughter. She buys a house on the other side of town, but can’t settle in fully, since the son of the previous owners refuses to leave the carriage house in the backyard he was allowed to live in when his parents owned the house. On top of it all, Julie’s daughter isn’t happy with the move and the new life her mom had planned for them. The other pivotal female character is Sandi, the previous owner of the house, who feels that she failed her stepson and that her love was no match for his anger.

Everyone seems to be pulling in their own direction, fueled by their own desires and convictions: Julie wants to turn a completely new leaf away from the sheltered privilege, Botox parties, and emotionally absent husband, find herself and build a genuine relationship with her daughter before it’s too late. Her husband Roger wants his business to keep thriving, and his trophy wife and spoiled daughter on his arm when they need to be seen. Their daughter Jess wants to enjoy her last year of high school in her luxury cocoon and hang out with her equally privileged friends before she’s shipped of off to the fancy college her parents approve of. Sandi wants to protect her two young sons from the cruelty of the world, even if that cruelty comes in the form of her cheating, abusive husband Doug and her troubled, angry stepson Tom. Tom thinks he’s been dealt an unfair hand in life and wants to punish those responsible for his suffering. The lives of the two families collide in this thrilling exploration of the sinister things that can happen when people have wildly different expectations and values.

The author manages to create fleshed out characters with distinct voices, which is a real challenge when there are as many as five different first-person narrators. Even the ones who don’t get to tell their part of the story are portrayed rather convincingly through what the others say about them. All of the characters are flawed and hardly any of them are particularly likeable, but the reader is still able to sympathize with their struggles, especially since some of them are really actively trying to do better.

The fast pace and swift switches between characters make for an exciting, dynamic read. There are some interesting insights into the world of insanely rich people, who are used to the idea that money can buy them everything. These are contrasted with ideas of piety and spirituality on the one hand, and incel and far-right ideology on the other hand. While reading about characters whose views we don’t agree with in real life can be distressing, it speaks for the quality of their portrayal if we’re frustrated with them. Seeing characters with such different views on life interact and talk about each other is very entertaining. This helps the author explore themes of dealing with change and reassessing one’s life goals, especially through the characters of Julie, Jess, and Sandi.

The title can be read in two ways: “somebody is home”, which immediately establishes itself from the book blurb and prologue, but also “somebody’s home” with a possessive meaning: this house, these values, this way of life is somebody’s home, all they’ve known, and when they’re attacking you, they may think they’re simply defending that. Understanding the title and the main premise that way opens up more themes and layers, such as what it means to call a place your home, to be settled in a community and surrounded by people who make it your home, and how quickly those things can change. This ties in with the question of the public face we present to others and how it can clash with who we really are behind closed doors, as shown through the characters of Roger and pastor Doug.

Wow, this book is creepy and keeps the reader captivated and on the edge of their seat until the epic conclusion! The author really knows how to create a sadistic villain! I love all of Rouda's books but this one is my favorite!

This is a compellingly interesting read, with suspense building from the beginning and plenty of unexpected twists. The pastor and his family have changed locations but have left behind the pastor’s resentful and bitter son Tom, a young man disgusted that his dad has left the family home and insists that he move out, too. The problems begin with a mom and her teen daughter move into the main house while Tom is in the guest cottage. Jess, the daughter, is not happy either since her mom has left her dad and their wealthy enclave behind. Jess is a child of privilege and wants to continue to pursue her previous lifestyle. The characters are all a little strange and none of them is what I expected. The mom has had multiple cosmetic surgeries but is still not happy with herself. Her husband is consumed with making money and grabbing more success. Meanwhile, the pastor’s wife misses her old home and returns to visit the former church. The events unroll methodically, with a lot of details given to the atmosphere and the past. When the past conflicts with the present reality, the suspense was non-stop and the book was hard to put down. The beginning was a little slow-paced, but it picked up quickly and then kept up the fast pace after about the first third of the book. The characters were well-developed, with a lot of necessary background information given for each of them. The ending left me gaping because I really didn’t suspect what would happen in spite of all of the clues that were given throughout the book. This is an enjoyable suspense book with shades of the dark and macabre at times. I almost (note that word) felt bad for Tom, but he is not terribly likable, so in the end, I was content with his outcome. Fans of dark suspense will enjoy this book and be amazed by the intricate details of the lives of the characters.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”