I’m gutted that I didn’t like this one more. I normally love a gothic haunting story, but I made it to 53% before I had to DNF. I just felt like nothing was happening. I was expecting spooky, and it just wasn’t. I also didn’t particularly care for any of the characters involved in either storyline. I liked the idea of it jumping back in time to compare what’s happening today against what happened in 1976, but both storylines felt uneventful and dragged out, and at 53% nothing had happened in either of them. I’ve seen a lot of great reviews for this and a lot of people have said the second half picks up, but I just don’t want to stick with it. I’m sure lots of people will love this book, but it’s just not for me.

I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down and was completely absorbed by Orla and Lydia and The Reeve. A lonely setting, away from the Dorset village, up a remote path stands The Reeve, a huge house that does at first seem to be a good house for children. Plenty of room, fresh sea air, large gardens. However, The Reeve has a mind of it's own as is slowly revealed both to Lydia in the 1970's and later to Orla in 2017. I found it thoroughly chilling, very compulsive and beautifully written. If you like haunted house type settings then I highly recommend, this is packed full of tension and really stayed with me. With thanks to the author and publisher for the chance to read an advance proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an unsettling read. Haunted house stories really creep me out and this one, with its strong gothic vibe, was no different. I could only read it in the daylight hours!

I am never buying a big house that needs work because that seems to be where the problems start!

Two stories run parallel in the book both centered around The Reeve in Dorset - a large but somewhat unloved house with a dark past. In 2017 Orla, her husband Nick and their two children move from the city to give their family a different way of life. Back in the 1970s The Reeve becomes home to Sara, her three children and their nanny, Lydia, when she is looking for a place to recover from the death of her husband.

Soon the house starts to play games with its residents. Doors that would not open suddenly unlock of their own accord, running feet can be heard when there's no one else in and the children suddenly acquire new ghostly playmates.

As I would run at the first hint of supernatural activity of such weird goings on I always need the author to make the characters and their reasons for staying authentic and believable and Kate certainly does this. The house itself is a great character too with its faded glory and layers of secrets that are slowly revealed.

The isolation of the large house near the cliff top and the superstitions of the local villagers add to the tension and work to drop hints to the house's past throughout the book.

The writing is very good and the pacing is perfect, slowly building the tension in the two stories as they play off each other to reach the conclusion which, for me, was pretty perfect.

This is such a strong debut and I am definitely keen to read more from Kate.

Huge thanks to Serpents Tail & Netgalley for the chance to read an early copy

Oh I do love a creepy, slow-build haunted house story! This book ticked all my boxes…bar the one that actually scared me… but genuinely that’s probably more of a “me” problem than anything to do with the talents of the author here. I’m a real fan of anything that gives me that slow creeping dread and feeling of unease which this most certainly delivered!

Well thought out, well executed and well rounded characters…well well well then, why no 5 stars I hear you ask? This book was just a little lacking in anything new. The creepy haunted house genre, the ghostly playmates, the ghostly footsteps all follow very well-worn paranormal pathways and I guess I’m just looking for something a little more.

That being said. This is a great book and absolutely will not disappoint fans of horror genre.

A compelling strange and creepy novel. I absolutely loved it. It had such a sense of place and the characters were well written and believable. Would certainly like to read more by this talented author.

Firstly many thanks to Serpent's Tail for allowing me to read an early proof of this novel.

A Good House for Children is a literary ghost story with a dual narrative so we see the house's past and present reveal itself with the tension building both within the narrative but also ourselves. The reeve (as the house is known as) seems to draw families which are all ready slightly unbalance and feeds on this looking for its chance to grab those innocent souls which inhabit it, even the title plays with its reader. Kate Collins has produced a gothic horror which makes you think of Shirley Jackson's writing. This deserves plenty of recognition within the literary genre and should not be seen as "just a horror novel" (even though there is nothing wrong with the horror genre).

I'm glad I got a chance to read an advanced copy of this book, since I do so enjoy haunted house stories. There are so many different ways to tell a haunted house story, and Kate Collins uses slow-burn tension, and intense character description and introspection, to give us a chilling gothic tale.

Before I dive in further, there is the familiar trope in this book of run-down large house that seems like a brilliant bargain. Note to self: never choose a house like this.

One of the great things about this book is the use of the house as a character. I'm not sure the reason, but lately I've been reading many books that use something not living as a character, be it place, an object, or a collective. In this book, the house plays a central role, not just because it's the setting for each of the threads in this story, but because it interacts with the characters. It plays with their thoughts, their emotions, their fears. It literally haunts their lives. The house is, at times, passive, and also an aggressor. The house is as complex a character as the people who dwell within it's walls during the different timelines.

Another thing I enjoyed is the way the two timelines bleed into each other. It's almost discombobulating at times, but the effect is amazing. Those small glimpses, the snippets of an other, stand out and make you think. What other am I seeing? And from when? It felt to me that the other could be from the past or the future. And that made this feel even more chilling.

Collins also has a knack for writing characters that feel real, even children. I think a lot of authors get it wrong when writing children, but in this book they feel real. They feel consistent.

Thank you to Serpent’s Tail and NetGalley for the eARC, for an honest review.

This is a an incredibly engrossing and deeply unsettling story. 'The Reeve' is a beautiful if somewhat run down old house, a little isolated and set high up on a cliff on the south coast of England. Folk in the village nearby say that nobody stays at The Reeve for very long. They also say it is haunted. The book tells the story of two families, one in the 1970s and the other pretty much present day who move to the old house hoping to make a new life in the area. The house has so much potential and was a bargain to buy. But the families soon start to realise that they have bought much more than a spacious property with a fantastic view. Many families have lived at The Reeve before them and perhaps some haven't completely left.

A stonking, extremely atmospheric ghost story that will stay with me for a long time.

I received an eARC of A Good House for Children by Kate Collins through Netgalley, thanks Serpent’s Tail! This gothic horror comes out on March 2 and I absolutely loved it.

The story is told in two timelines: one in 2017 and the other in 1976. In both timelines the POV character is a woman who recently moved into this big old country house called The Reeve on the coast in Dorset, England. In 2017 Orla moves into this house with her husband and two children, and back in the seventies we follow Lydia who is a nanny for a family with four children in that same house. Both families are hoping for a fresh start in this grand old house, but both women start experiencing strange events, and things slowly unravel. One thing is for sure: despite the book’s title, The Reeve is NOT a good house for children…

I loved everything about this. I think this was the first time I read gothic fiction set in a contemporary time period and I did not expect it to work this well. The writing is gorgeous, full of emotion, and speaks to all the senses, and the atmosphere and setting are impeccably gothic. I couldn’t help comparing it to another favorite gothic novel, Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier, and a big part of that is the house. Similar to Manderley in Rebecca, The Reeve has such a presence that it definitely is one of the main characters of the book.

Orla and Lydia are great characters with very distinct voices and personalities. I felt the way they reacted to events and the decisions they made, made perfect sense for each character, and that’s always important to me. I also loved some of the side characters, especially the children. Philip and Sam both have a special place in my heart now.

All in all I highly recommend this one if you love gothic vibes, creepy mansions, and slow atmospheric storytelling. 5 stars from me!

Hi and welcome to my review of A Good House for Children!

I stumbled across A Good House for Children and found myself unable to walk away. It was the discrepancy between the title and the tagline that piqued my interest first and foremost: it’s a good house for children AND the perfect place to destroy a family?! How does that work, what type of story might I find behind that rather innocuous cover?

Answer: a fabulously atmospheric haunted house ghost story that works like a charm! Francine Toon (author of Pine) makes the comparison to Shirley Jackson, and I really do think that is rather apt. On Goodreads, A Good House for Children is catalogued as horror and gothic. It is most definitely gothic, so if gothic tales are your cup of tea, especially those involving spooky Victorian houses, hurry up and put this one on your TBR! Horror, yes, but maybe more in a horroresque domestic thriller drama way. If you’re looking for an explicit, fast-paced, possibly gory sort of book, this is not that. This is an atmospheric, slow-burning, subtle, quiet type of speculative story that you must allow the time and space to creep under your skin. But creep it will, you mark my words!

A Good House for Children is told from the perspectives of artist, mum and wife Orla in 2017-2018 and nanny Lydia in 1976. However, I daresay the most important character in this book is an inanimate one (or is it…): the Reeve, their mansionesque home in Dorset. The Reeve has a history and it’s fair to say it keeps repeating itself.

I mentioned slow-burning and this really is a slow-burner but this is the type of book that begs for that kind of build-up, place setting and character development. It’s intriguing from the start and in its own manner it is very exciting because you get to bear witness to the gentle decline of these characters. The author’s note mentions that “reeve” is a Dorset word meaning “unravel” and that is exactly what you see happening to the families in this house, and you can even feel it’s what is imminent before anything out of the ordinary actually happens.

A Good House for Children is a highly accomplished debut and I already know I will pick up whatever Kate Collins comes up with next. I love her writing style and there are several paragraphs I read more than once because I so admired them.

I had a great time with A Good House for Children and if insidious ghost stories are your bag, I’m sure you will too. Recommended to fans of the genre.

A Good House for Children is out on 2 March in digital formats, audio and hardcover, with the paperback to follow early next year.

Massive thanks to Serpent’s Tail and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

A brilliantly chilling and unsettling ghost story, crossing seamlessly across time. The backdrop is a stunning old house by the coast, which should symbolise freedom and space and serenity but sadly, bit by bit, it starts to reveal its own melancholic character.
The darkness of the story reveals itself slowly and stealthily and the subtleties of the intense dark against the beauty of the surroundings works very well. The changing relationships within family dynamics after having children or bereavements is also sensitively and expertly explored.
I loved that the two eras the story spans effortlessly crossed over and leaked into one another, the ending also left me desperately wanting to know (yet really not wanting to know) what happens next. Slight concern about how anyone would be able to climb a Monkey Puzzle tree, though, ouch!

"A Good House for Children" by Kate Collins is deeply unsettling. Two families move into the Reeve in different time periods (40 years apart) and are troubled by their family situations which seem to be exacerbated by the house. Is the house at fault or is the isolation and disruption from their old lives just playing on their minds? When they start seeing and hearing things that are not there, things for the reader start falling into place. I'd not move in.

I went into this book blind and I must admit I pleasantly surprised. A gothic tale about a house and this is only the beginning. A ghost story that had me captivated and kept me reading late into the night.
Set in two time periods and two different families. It did get confusing at times but I just had to keep on reading I HAD TO KNOW THE TRUTH!!!!! A haunted house that doesn't want someone to leave but who???? Loved it!!!!!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

I've seen this described as horror but I think it is more of a creepy ghost story where the house, The Reeve, is another character. We have two time lines - Lydia in the 1970s and Orla in present day. Lydia has arrived at The Reeve, a rambling house in Dorset which is set apart from the village, as a live-in help for Sara and her four children following a tragic event. Orla has moved to The Reeve with her husband Nick and two children. In both cases, the children do not mix with the other children in the village and stay within the house and garden and the male figure is absent. The first half of the book focuses on the two 'families'. Lydia is left very much on her own with the children, Phillip and the twins Clover and Tabitha as Sara has withdrawn to her room with the baby Owen. Phillip is a quiet little boy and very much Lydia's favourite while the twins are more independent. In present day, Orla is struggling as husband Nick works away and comes home some weekends. She feels isolated and her son Sam is silent, they cannot get him to talk while Bridie is still a babe in arms. As you progress further into the book, the creepier it gets. Both Lydia and Orla glimpse figures, they hear footsteps. The children have 'playmates' that they don't talk of. And then there are the stories in the village about the house itself and the events associated with it. As a reader you can see the patterns that Lydia and Orla cannot and you are powerless to help. The house itself locks and unlocks doors, it allows mistletoe to invade it. This is a house that should have 'Do Not Enter' signs pasted all over it.
A slow start but it develops into a creepy read.

I enjoyed this but it was confusing at times. Dual timelines. Present day - Orla, her 2 young children and husband move to the house on the cliff. Her husband isn't there all that often and I generally didn't like him. Back in the 70s Lydia is a nanny hired to help with Sara's 4 young children after the loss of her husband. 2 families, 1 house. Strange goings on.

This book was so unsettling, creepy, tense, devastating… and I loved it.

The story telling was flawless and I really enjoyed the character studies. The back and forth of timelines from the 70’s to current day was clever and they intertwined so well with one another. I love a good haunted house story and really enjoyed this take on it. I am still wondering about a few things but that’s the joy with these ambiguous stories, I get to ponder the “what ifs” and create my own ending.

Honestly, though, I really enjoyed everything about this book. It was the perfect length, the writing flowed and it was easy to really fall into the story. The characters were well developed, interesting, and lovable, and the plot was so captivating. I’ll definitely be picking up more by Collins in the future! Stunning!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this!

Absolutely captivating. This was a slow burner, heavy on character introduction and development in the first half, but wow, it was worth it for the second half. There were moments where I had to genuinely put my kindle down so I could give my body a moment to get rid of the goosebumps. Reading the next chapter was almost impulsive. With the detail that went into describing the atmosphere within it, it was clear that the house was its own character. This felt like a refreshed entry to the haunted houses horror list, unsettling, eerie and set over two timelines just to keep you on your toes.

Collins’ writing was descriptive and painted images through your mind as you read – but was still easy to read and follow. There were definitely moments where I felt a little lost, but I think that’s on me rather than Collins as I attempted to read this through in one sitting.

I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who’s even vaguely intrigued by the description, it’s well worth it.

I read this initially as an ARC through NetGalley, but my opinions are my own and unbiased. I’ll also be purchasing this for my physical shelves a soon as it’s published because this is a book I never want to forget, and an author to keep an eye on.

Word of advice, do not read this book at night. It gave me the literal chills and I may have had some disturbing dreams.
I was sucked in from the very start and I found it very hard to believe this was a debut novel by Kate Collins as the language was so easy to read and the suspense of the story was so creepy.
A beautiful gothic haunted house book, I could see some influence by Shirley Jackson's 'The Haunting of Hill House'
It is a bit of a slow burn but I feel it is needed to build the feeling of the house and it's characters.
Set in two different timelines 1976 Lydia and 2018 Orla.
I felt more connected to Lydia as the nanny and trying to look after the children, although I understood Orlas isolated feeling of motherhood.
There are a lot of things covered in this story and they are done so well, I can't really say anything without giving anything away.
I suggest going in blind but there are some triggering moments so you may want to look them up before reading.
It is to be released in March so look out for it! I Honestly couldn’t put it down.

This is a spellbindingly compelling story. The Reeve is a large house that stands in solitude on top of a cliff in Dorset. It has beautiful, large cathedral windows that survey the surrounding scenery, and stands in a huge, wild garden, just perfect for children to adventure in. Myths and legends abound about The Reeve and its history, some of them quite dark. Over the years, families move in and out of the property, bringing their own stories with them. The house has seen its share of tragedy, as all houses have, and some of these have been etched indelibly into the soul of the house, leaving an echo that cannot be erased. This book racks up the tension beautifully, and the story weaves in and out insidiously, leaving a growing sense of unease that I loved in its wake. It’s a great story, extremely well plotted and written, with vivid description that at times literally raised the hairs on the back of my neck! Watching the story unfold in front of me was compulsive reading, and watching lives unravel was both creepy and sinister. I wholeheartedly recommend this brilliant book, and would love to read more like it!!

The Reeve is a grand house with oversized sash windows and a grand staircase, overlooking Dorset's cliffs and wild sea. Old and a bit shabby, windswept, secluded with a big garden, but most importantly with a mind of her own. She is the home to two families with small children. The first one is set in the 1970's: Sarah moves in with her four children and Lydia, the nanny. They are fleeing London after the death of the children's father, and at first, they find solace within its walls, some private time to grieve the overwhelming event. The second family moves in in our time: Orla, a painter, with her peculiar silent son Sam, her little toddler Bridie and her mostly absent husband.

The first half is all about character development, nothing happens but it is setting the scene. If you are looking for a twisty horror ride, then stay well away, because it is atmospheric and creepy as hell but in a quiet voice and extremely slow pace. The second half is where things go bump in the night and where both families start to unravel and dislocate from reality. I loved the descriptions of the children and the interactions they have with either mother or nanny, and it was so well done that the death of one of the little kids is truly heartbreaking. But of course, the main character is the house, and it so well depicted, I feel like I have lived there for some time.

I savored the prose, it is very well written and I will look out for any book this author will write in the future. If you are looking for a classic haunted house tale, about its complicated inhabitants trying to cope with all their grief and loneliness, then this impressive debut is highly recommended.

A sincere and heartfelt thanks to NetGalley, Serpent's Tail and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.