The House of Tongues by James Dasher was such a great listen. I was gifted the audiobook version from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a honest opinion. If you love Stephen King’s books you will LOVE and eat up this audiobook. It’s super atmospheric and I highly recommend. The narration definitely added to the story line 5/5 for sure. I say go in blind and enjoy the ride!!

I really enjoyed this book. I was super impressed by how the author built the tone and atmosphere of the novel.
The writing is excellent, and the descriptions of scenes, actions and emotions were so visceral I could whole-body feel what the actor was trying to convey whether, disgust, surprise, fear, relief. James Dashner is a master artist when it comes to this.

My only criticism was that after all of the intense build up along the two time-lines I was dying to know why David was the center of all this horrific death and torment by the serial killer and other bag-heads, however, I found the conclusion rather confusing, the family lore wasn't really flushed out in a way that made sense to me, and I couldn't understand why generations later the two families were still murdering people. I also really didn't understand how the curse was broken by his father's final act. The only real background on the curse prior to the climax was in an online article found by Andrea. It would have been nice to have more information leading up to the final moments.

Overall an amazing book, I would still definitely recommend to fellow horror fans because the writing is so darn good. I would read Dasner's horror novels again in future, I would just hope that the ending would be less vague and insta-explanation next time.

Thank you so much for this advanced copy. It was a pleasure to get lost in this book.

I've read many books by James Dashner and have enjoyed them all. This one was no different. His books are faced pace and easy to read. Great characters that are easy to root for. I highly recommend this book.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

While this dual timeline story was interesting, I spent a lot of the novel waiting to find out why our main character, David, was the focus of such horrific activities both in the past and now in the present.

Sadly the explanation for why David and his family are/were targeted and why there was so much bloodshed, didn't make a whole lot of sense. I went back over the explanations a few times, and must admit the big disturbing reveal truly lost me. Not in a Stephen King "the ending fizzled out" kind of way, but more a "what does that even mean?" mess.

The narration by Malcolm Hillgartner was surprisingly good, though the Southern accent kind of came and went throughout the story. I haven't heard his narration before, but I would confidently pick up another book narrated by him and know it would be professionally done.

I received a copy of this audiobook production from Tantor Audio through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I've read and enjoyed some of James Dashner's popular earlier novels, but now his newest, THE HOUSE OF TONGUES, is truly in a class by itself. The writing is excellent, the characters are metaphorically flayed to their core [by which I reference that not only can't they conceal themselves from author or reader, they cannot hide from themselves].


THE HOUSE OF TONGUES is extreme, make no mistake. The novel is gore-suffused, but not without cause. What also suffuses it is puzzles and a wagon load of "Why?!!" throughout the novel as protagonists, accompanied by readers, struggle to discover both what, why, and later also who, and the rationale is incredibly bizarre, yet in context, somehow logical. Read and see!!

I couldn't wait to listen to this book by James Dasher the author of the Maze Runner series. James Dasher does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. My only critique is that the ending was a bit chaotic for me.

Interesting but not really my cup of tea. I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Usually a huge fan of this author so super disappointed. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a story about staring into the abyss.

The good: if you enjoy serial killer horror, this is a well written & compelling.

The less good: I enjoy a dual timeline horror, but this one lost me towards the end.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 💫

Thank you so much Netgalley for this Alc!

This book was creepy and I loved it. I have given it 4.5 stars because it is so fast paced. There is plenty of action,  twists and turns that might give you whiplash. It really is a great page turner of a novel. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator was marvellous. The bit of huskiness in his voice really added to the brilliant sense of atmosphere and tension.  This was especially prominent on certain characters voices. The setting of this book really added to the creepiness to the atmosphere.  Let's just say the swamps held more than you bargained for. It was the little details within the book that created a real vivid picture in my mind. This freaked me out more than I expected. This book contains plenty of gory bits so beware when eating your tea as I found out to my detriment lol. This book was a dual timeline moving between two time lines for the main character as he trys to remember a past he has suppressed.  This is a book that you will definitely struggle to put down and you might find yourself like me having fits of nervous laughter.
Many thanks to the author and publishing team for creating this thrilling and intricate story for us to enjoy and solve. I look forward to reading more from this very clever author. I have left the above review under ladyreading365 26/11/21 on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo and amazon UK. Also on my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-house-of-tongues-by-james-dasher-tantor-audio-4-5-stars

I enjoy horror and this was right up my alley. It reminded me of stories such as Silent Hill:; Homecoming (which I love), and was rewarding intense with an echoing climax. I'm still not a hundred percent sure what exactly happened. I don't know if I got busy or the book wasn't completely clear, but I'm still scratching my head just a bit.
I enjoyed the narrator and he was able to put emotion into his performance.

I love this author so much and I really do think this story was very well done. It kept me on the edge of my seat and grabbed my attention Beth early. I loved it!

I wasn't sure what to expect going in but The House of Tongues is a dark and chilling read. 3.5 stars.

David, our MC, goes through a lot of trauma as a teenager that's he's blocked out of his memory. Upon returning to his hometown with his kids, the son of serial killer Pee Wee Gaskins show up on his steps. The horrors of his past are back. I liked the dual timeline between David now and at 16.

David's regular overly sweet comments to/about his kids were a bit much for me and had me rolling my eyes after the first couple.

The narrator, Malcolm Hillgartner, did a fantastic job. He has a great accent that brings David to life.

Audible book free courtesy of Netgalley

What can I say, typical James Dashner, full of suspense and secrets. I always feel I'm glad I listen to James's books, as I'm sure if I read them I would be throwing the book at a wall in frustration. This is a good thing as James knows how to build suspension and have you on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next.

The story is told from the perspective of the main character David. The tale is split into two era's of David's Life, one when he was a teenager and his life in his 40's, looking after his 4 children.

The story starts with him taking his children back to his parents house for the summer, when he comes face to face with Dickie Gaskins, and all the horrors he faced when he was a teenager cones flooding back.

The story unfolds from their about his association with one or more Serial killers, the link between the two families and his resolution to save his son Wesley.

Another Triumph for James Dashner and I would highly recommend this book.

A good audiobook with many thrills and chills. I loved the horror aspect of this novel, it was dark and chilling at many points and I really enjoyed the dual timeline. The present and the past. A good story and I look forward to more horror type novels from this author.

When I first started listening to this audiobook I was instantly hooked. It sucked me in from the beginning and the mystery continued to build and build all the way through the end. The characters were relatable and actually made me want to know how their stories ended. I think that the back and forth time change really was what continued to hold my attention. The way the author would talk about what was going on today for the character but then have almost a flashback for a few chapters to what happened to the main character as a child really brought the whole story full circle. The narration was superb and I just loved listening to him bring the characters to life. Highly recommend.

Format: audiobook
Author: James Dashner ~ Title: The House of Tongues ~ Narrator: Malcolm Hillgartner
Content: 4 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

First, my favorite kind of horror does not include serial killers like in The House of Tongues. Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel in audiobook form.

David Player tells his story about his teenage years’ trauma. He blocked a lot of these memories throughout the years to help him cope. But now, he must face his fears. Two timelines, now and when he was sixteen.

James Dashner created such a dense and dark atmosphere throughout this novel. It is like a thick fog descended on a swamp, and you have a feeling you can’t breathe. The mood was just like in the cover. Malcolm Hillgartner was a perfect narrator for this story. His voice emphasized the mood that the author initially created.

Thanks to Tantor Audio for the ARC and the opportunity to listen to this! All opinions are my own.

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for giving me access.

**THIS IS NOT PART OF THE MAZE RUNNER SERIES OR SPINOFF**

While there wasn't much information to go by for The House of Tongues at the time I listened, there was a lot a speculation that it was related to The Maze Runner, spoiler alert, it is not.

This was an epically dark and twisted story of a boy and then when he is an adult. We go back and forth between the past and present (which was a tad bit confusing in the audio format). The two story lines seemed to interrtwine with one another and secrets are being revealed. Around the halfway point, I was able to predict some twists but Dashner kept me interested the whole time.

A great, dark thriller that I would highly recommend.

This is a dark, gruesome horror novel told in dual timelines by the narrator David. He's been through more trauma than anyone can imagine, both as a teenager in the eighties and again as an adult in 2017. A serial killer stalked David and he was lucky to make it out alive but when he goes back to his hometown with his children, he and his sixteen year old son are targets once again.

I did think was an interesting story, with pretty good pacing and plenty of scary scenes. Some parts were a bit too gross for me and I wouldn't recommend trying to eat while reading. I also thought the explanation for why people were being killed and why David was a target was really odd and didn't make a lot of sense to me. I also thought the ending would go in another direction and I can't say I totally understand the whole thing.

The narrator has a great southern accent and brings the character of David to life. If you're looking for a dark horror novel and aren't squeamish, this might be a story for you.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the copy.

I really enjoyed this one a lot. The narrator is perfect. I was absolutely terrified at one point that I almost had to turn it off. Fantastic writing and I hope that Dashner will continue in this direction with his writing in the future.