Really enjoyed this novel by Jo Nesbo. Read some of his mysteries before, all great, and this more horror novel worked too. Enjoyed the characters, pacing, and the plot. #TheNightHouse #NetGalley

I unfortunately didn’t like this book. I didn’t like Richard or some of the terms used in the book, such as fatso and only ever calling that kid fatso. The writing was ok but definitely on the boring side. This just wasn’t for me.

This was a DNF for me at 20%. It’s a campy little horror, book, and the writing actually felt pretty juvenile. I’m not sure if that was intentional or if Nebo should just stick to crime fiction. It was a little too out there and unrealistic for me and just didn’t care to finish it.

The best way to describe The Night House, by Jo Nesbo, is to say it is a "book, within a book, within a book" It's an enjoyable twisty novel, that keeps you guessing until the very end (or is it the beginning?) Nesbo weaves this tale expertly, taking the reader on the best kind of roller coaster ride, one filled with laughs and chills, ups and downs, dropping you off right where you got in. I enjoyed the ride very much! Can I go on again? Please??

I am a fan of this author, so I was excited to read this book. This was different. I felt like this book could have been three different books. I thought he pulled it all together seamlessly. The character drew me in, and I found the story interesting. But, I was trying to figure out is this considered Young Adult, because I felt it was written for a younger audience.

Richard is a angry teen who just lost his parents. The new town he moves to thinks he is responsible for a teen disappearing. Richard saw something take him. What is the house in the forest hiding. Can Richard save himself and others or will he get lost in the Night House? Tension filled read. Great characters.

Wow, this was good!! Creepy, gross, scary, and somehow also heartbreaking! It's all there!
Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC! In The Night House by Jo Nesbo, Richard is sent to live with his aunt and uncle after a fire takes the lives of his parents. Richard is an outcast in school and often abusive to his classmates. As he hangs out with Tom, one of his classmates who he's able to easily manipulate, he decides to pull a phone prank. After handing Tom the phone, something unbelievable to say the least happens as the phone devours the boy. Further strange and dark deeds occur each time Richard tries to investigate, and the police are cornering him for the crime. As events escalate, we soon discover that all may not be as it seems. The Night House is a twisty work of speculative fiction with points of descriptive horror that makes for a great spooky season read!

This author is sort of all over the place. This one is sort of horror or a psychological thriller, possibly. Maybe it doesn't have a category. I liked his series, but these stand alone novels are somehow darker, with more depth.

This one starts out seeming like a YA horror novel, but then you move onto the second and third parts and it gets more complex as it moves along.

I don't want to spoil the story for you. I would definitely recommend this to horror fans, but also to anyone that likes this author's other stand alone novels. But be aware that this is definitely not a detective novel.

The Night House by Jo Nesbø is a genre-defying, chilling tale that introduces us to fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved, an outcast in the eerie town of Ballantyne after his parents' tragic deaths. When his classmate Tom goes missing, Richard's claim that Tom was sucked into a telephone booth is met with skepticism.

As the story unfolds through Richard's eyes, Nesbø expertly blends horror with suspense, creating a vivid, nightmarish atmosphere filled with unsettling imagery. The novel's three-part structure keeps readers guessing, with mind-bending twists and an enigmatic final revelation. While the book's dark themes and occasional problematic elements might deter some readers, Jo Nesbø's storytelling prowess shines through, making The Night House a gripping, atmospheric thriller that proves his versatility as a writer.

The Night House is a horrifying book full of cycles, abuse, and relationships.

The Night House follows Richard Elauved, a young man who in the face of suddenly tragedy must move in with family. As a part of this tragedy and move, he remains mostly an outcast. One with dark emotions. However, once one of the other young people disappear, this book takes a rapid descent into darkness.

This book is a rollercoaster of emotions. I had highs, lows, and racing thoughts that carried me from moment to moment. It's rather quickly paced and once you hit the halfway mark, I know a majority of readers are going to be unable to put this down. This book was full of twist after twist, unreliability from plenty of characters. Part 2 in particular was deviously creepy and honestly made me rather paranoid.

This story is going to be stuck in my mind for days to come but in the meantime - when you get the chance - READ THIS BOOK!

Twisty and turny. Three different versions of the same story. I’m still not sure which is the actual version!

Delightfully creepy and the perfect short fun horror story to get you in the mood for spooky season! I love how the story is broken up and just when you think you have it all figured it, it throws you a curve ball! Great read

Not my favorite....It was just all over the place. It was hard to follow along and the time jumps didn't do it any favors..
I found myself skimming the last 100 pages.

This is targeted to adults but it's definitely YA

It's my first time reading from this author and probably my last.

Big fat "Meh."

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Richard, a 14 year old boy has lived through the tragic death of his parents and has come to Ballantyne with his aunt and uncle. After the equally horrific events of the phone call that eats Tom, only Karen, Richard’s classmate, believes him, and Part I of the book continues Richard’s quest to perhaps solve the mystery of this event and more.

Parts II and III take a turn, skipping time to adulthood where Richard reflects on his published/fictionalized account in Part I. It’s a nice touch where we begin to understand that he has been an unreliable narrator, having remembered that he was a bully while others disagree. Then, jarringly, in Part III, we realize Richard has been under psychiatric care the entire time after the death of his parents. That he has been undergoing shock treatments to burn away the horrible memories of his parents’ deaths and childhood.

The start of this three-part novel was so delightful, unexpected, and gory. I enjoyed being in Richard’s head for a while, experiencing the terror of that first call to Imu Jonasson. However, the next parts were such a change and made the original premise a little less believable, as well as succumbing to the “it’s all a dream” trope. Disappointing in that regard, as I think it leads to the reader feeling tricked and generally has much less payoff than it might have. Part III also felt rushed and unfinished, more like notes on mental health than an actual story.

This was a promising read but didn’t end well for me! I’d have loved this in short story form, ending somehow at Part I though.

“In the wake of his parents' tragic deaths in a house fire, fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote, insular town of Ballantyne. Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. No one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie. No one, that is, except Karen, a beguiling fellow outsider who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. He traces the number that Tom prank called from the phone booth to an abandoned house in the Black Mirror Wood. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin to whisper in his ear . . .

You know who I am. She's going to burn. The one you love is going to burn. There's not a thing you can do about it.

When another classmate disappears, Richard must find a way to prove his innocence--and preserve his sanity--as he grapples with the dark magic that is possessing Ballantyne and pursuing his destruction.

Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story . . .”

This book is done in three parts. The first is Richard as a young boy, the second as returning to Ballantyne for a reunion and the third is just bonkers. I loved this quickie, horror read and it is perfect for spooky season. I will say there is fat shaming, bullying and misogyny in this book, but I think it is a useful tool once you get the full picture. One of my favorite things in books is an unreliable narrator and you can’t get more unreliable than Richard. This book takes you on a truly wild ride and I think I’m still going back and forth on what actually happened. It gives off all the old school horror vibes and I couldn’t get enough

Thank you to the publisher Alfred A. Knopf for gifting me an ARC via NetGalley
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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 is the perfect horror book to start the Halloween season if you want some absolutely crazy, creepy stuff happening but without the splatterpunk kind of gore.

Richard Elauved is a fat-shaming, homophobic, small-town shaming, bully kid who has no friends except for Tom and Karen, albeit Karen remains a bit of an outsider. So when Richard is the only witness to his only friend Tom being eaten alive by a telephone, he remains the only suspect of Tom’s disappearance. When another kid also disappears on Richard’s watch, the police are on a hot trail of either placing Richard in a youth prison or in an institution. Richard has now nobody left but Karen to help him out of this conundrum.

The Night House is narrated in three strikingly different parts. The first part is the build-up to Richard as a problematic and suspicious child who has to absolve himself. The second part is an absolutely WTF-DID-I-JUST-READ time lapse that had me wondering more than once if I was reading the wrong edition of the book. But oh, just you wait for PART THREE!!! I promise you, SO, SO WORTH IT. Jo Nesbo, you are one clever trickster!!! I kid you not, friends, I am still in shock!!!

On a side note, a lot of the writing and quirkiness reminds me of Fredrik Backman but with the added dark twist, possibly because the same translator, Neil Smith, translated both authors’ books. So if you’re a Backman fan but also love horror, add this book to your spooky season!
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4⭐️

Following the death of his parents, Ricard is sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle in the small town of Ballantyne. Being the new boy, Richard is immediately an outcast. This standing isn’t helped at all when he is the only witness of a classmate, Tom, going missing and no one will believe that the boy was eaten by the pay phone. No one but other outcast, Karen.

Richard tracks down the number Tom had called that and traces it to an abandoned house in the Mirror Forest. And Richard thinks he sees a face in the window. After that, he starts to hear voices, whispering ‘she will burn’ over and over in his head. He grows even more concerned when Karen starts acting weird. Richard starts to think that there may be more to Ballantyne than meets the eye. But Richard isn’t the most reliable narrator.

This had everything I love: an unreliable narrator, a story within a story within a story, the possibility its all a dream, creepy disappearances, and a cast of not necessarily likable characters.

My biggest complaint was the homophobia and fat phobia throughout the book from the main character. All of that could have been removed and the story would have still work just as well.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House for providing this ARC to me!

A story within a story to the truth. The book starts out with a phone booth, two boys and Imu Jonasson. The concept was interesting and the pace fantastic. The first half takes place when Richard is a boy and what happened to Tom and Jack. That leads Richard to the Night House. The second half is Richard as an adult and a famous author due to the sorry he wrote about what happened in his youth. To discover that his reality isn’t really a reality but dreams. The thirds half we are met with the truth and who Richard Jonasson really is and what lead to him being committed to an asylum and why. This story is very different form that Nesbo has written and if you’ve read his Harry Hole series than you’re in for a treat

Told in three parts, The Night House is a sort of coming of age tale set among odd circumstances. The reader will pick up on some of the twists early on, but Nesbo manages to keep us on our toes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t hold up by Part Three. Part one is an exciting and scary story that focuses on boy vs. monster. Part two focuses on misdirection using a time jump. Finally, Part three uses one of the oldest tropes as its final twist. It is disappointing because Part one has a really cool set up. Ultimately, The Night House is a tale about processing tragedy, but the ending seems a little too convenient to be convincing.