“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.

THE NIGHT HOUSE is an out-of-the-box story from Jo Nesbo, one of the masters of Nordic Noir. His thriller/detective books are nearly flawless. THE NIGHT HOUSE is not quite so pristine and I see how some readers may not enjoy this one - but I liked it a lot.

The story is told in three parts and there's not much I can say that wouldn't amount to spoilers, so I will describe it as full of twists, turns, grotesque moments, lore, bullies, trauma and a resounding hope for things to get better.

I enjoyed all the characters, but wish a couple of them had been more fleshed out in the end.

This book was the perfect start to fall and Halloween anticipation.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an e-copy of THE NIGHT HOUSE to review.

I rate THE NIGHT HOUSE four out of five stars.

I’ve never read anything by this author so I had no expectations, I only knew I loved the cover. This is a short book which is good because you won’t be able to stop reading. Three terrible parts to a story that are all connected. This is horror and creativity at its best. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

Ok so I can’t start off this review without mentioning cover for The Night House. It’s simply a stunning horror cover that’s chef kiss of horror covers. That being said I had really high hopes for this one. This was actually my very first Jo Nesbo novel and I got to say I was let down a bit.

Let’s start with what I did like, I really enjoyed a good chunk of the story. It gave me Stephen King and R. L. Stine vibes kind of. I’m going to say though this doesn’t really read like adult horror it reads more like YA horror. I’m a fan of YA horror too so I did enjoy those aspects. That being said I thought this was going to be more of a scarier and creepier book but it just wasn’t. It did have some good parts and there were plenty of wtf moments.

Now for what I didn’t like in this one. There was quite the fat shaming, misogyny, derogatory remarks that were all throughout this book most of which were made by the main character. I really was disgusted to the point one time with all the comments that I almost abandoned the book. However I did push on and finish this one and while for the most part I enjoyed the actually story but I couldn’t overlook all those comments. Not my favorite but it was ok. This being my first Jo Nesbo novel I’m not sure I’ll read more by this author.

This was the first book I've read by this author and I wasn't sure what to expect. I loved the first part. Part two threw me for a loop but I still enjoyed it. Part three felt a bit forced to me. Overall I still enjoyed this book and a few parts creeped me out!

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC

I really enjoyed The Night House by Jo Nesbo. I can’t really write a review for it without giving away some of the surprises.
The book is broken up into three parts. The first part was pretty good, the second part was not my favorite, but the third part I loved and it absolutely redeemed the whole book for me. Go in expecting nothing and enjoy!

This is not your typical horror story. There is a story within a story with some odd goings on. A 14 yr old outcast orphan is having a very unusual life. No one believes him with the exception of one person. Many twists and odd happenings, but the plot moves quickly and the resolution is satisfying.

Thank you,NetGalley!

This book did not work for me, it would of worked better as a short story or novella not a whole novel. It was boring and I hated the main character.

The Night House by Jo Nesbo is a mind bending horror. Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me.

The opening scene of this book sucked me in immediately. I loved the graphic nature of the scene. The writing was easy and fast paced. It really set the book up for success.

At about the halfway point I had a hard time getting through this book. It started of so strong for me and then it felt rushed. I’m not sure if that was do to the translation or not. Also the ending and the twist was not my favorite thing.

I can see this book working for a ton of people. I think it just wants for me. I have no doubt this book will be very successful. I still recommend anyone that loves horror to give it a shot.
2/5

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the cover of this book and the concept in the description. I wanted to love it but sadly I did not. It read like it was a short story in a book of stories or a middle grade book. I hate books filled with hate and revenge which I saw alot of in this. I did not hate the characters. I just did not care for them at all. I did not enjoy going through the story. by the time the plot was getting into motion I just had no connection to the characters or the town. I do not think this one was for me.

This book has 3 sections. The first section is amazing, and the author probably should have quit while he was ahead. Luckily, it's the longer of the 3 sections. Great horror with some pretty inventive ideas and monsters. It is neatly wrapped up, bow tied, and delivered.

Then the next section continues the story but invalidates what came before, which is as disappointing as a story ending with, "and then he woke up". That's not the actual situation, but it feels like that.

And then it happens again, with the final section.

I wish I could like it more, but it is a very disappointing denouement. It would have easily been a 5-star book if the author had known when to stop.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the digital ARC of The Night House by Jo Nesbo. The story is about Richard who moves to a small town with extended family after suffering a tragedy. As the new kid, he has a hard time fitting in and when two boys go missing that he was last seen with, the town is immediately suspicious of him. None believes his wild stories about what happened to them. It's up to Richard to clear his name and discover the truth of the unbelievable disappearances. But can we really trust him?
I enjoyed the majority of the book. It is fairly short so it is a pretty quick read. The pacing was constant throughout the story and was right to the point. There are plenty of twists I was not expecting! I am not sure how I feel about the ending and how it was all wrapped up. The final twist was unexpected for sure, but I am still on the fence if it was one I can say I really enjoyed. But overall I thought it was fun and imaginative! Solid 3.5/5 stars

Wasn’t really a fan of this book. Started out really good then I kinda just dragged on. The middle wasn’t really great feel like nothing happened.

I’ve read Nesbo’s Harry Hole series before and enjoyed them. I am really glad that I tried this standalone “The Night House” which is more of a thriller and more to my personal taste lately. Found it very enjoyable and well paced, hard to put down. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary DRC, my pleasure to read and review it

This book had a lot of potential that sadly did not fulfill. Felt more like a Goosebump novel, very juvenile, but without the scares & wit. Also, the story built up to have no real connection to the ending.

I got 30% of the way through this book and sadly I think it's a case of it's me and not the book. I really loved the gothic horror aspect of the house and mysterious disappearances, but I couldn't connect with the story as much as I wished to. I still highly recommend to anyone looking for an old-school horror genre vibe.