Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early!

This was my first ever Jo Nesbo book. So I went into this blindly knowing nothing about the author's writing style or even what this book was about. I just wanted to try something from an author that I typically heard good things about.

But this wasn't what I expected. There was so much going on here. It just feels that for such a short book that there are so many random things just thrown in here to get a reaction, and I personally just wanted it to stop. I wouldn't say that I found anything to be particularly spooky and at times I even thought it was ridiculous and silly. Which I unfortunately don't think was what the author was going for. I also think this read like it was written for a more of a middle grade audience, and usually, middle grade thrillers or horrors don't really work for me.

I think maybe I wasn't the best reader for this, but I would definitely be interested in picking up other books from this author in the future.

This book had a ton of potential and the first two parts definitely lived up to the hype, I got IT vibes with the kids vs the evil in the world. I don’t think I particularly liked the ending but it was short, quick, and fun. If you’d like to try out horror I think this would be enjoyable and easy to understand!

I cannot begin to express how completely batsh** the Night House is. Like Jo Nesbo has been doing some soul searching and his soul had found some potent acid.

I love this for him.

The book starts innocuous enough. Two boys playing and talking smack. One dares another to a prank call. Then, the unthinkable happens.

You're thinking, oh, someone finds the kids.

No. The ************ phone eats the kid. This is the first chapter. Full on Freddy Krueger. Om nom, chomp chomp. Feed me Seymour.

It keeps just getting weirder from there.

When I say I cannot recommend this book enough to horror fans. I cannot. It's the best kind of weird. I loved every second of it.

The Night House comes out October 3rd and I highly recommend it for Spooky Season yall. I don't do ratings usually, but 1000 out of 10. I loved it. Solely for Magicadas.

This is the first book I've read by Jo Nesbo, but I have a feeling it won't be the last. If you're a fan of Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, you'll probably like this book. Its a quick horror/thriller novella.

Richard is depicted as the ultimate little shit. At first he was so unlikeable I had a hard time reading the book. He routinely picks on his classmates and body shames others. On top of this he keeps witnessing truly horrifying things and no one believes him. He convinces his classmate to prank call a random phone number, only to witness his classmate being brutally sucked through the receiver. Of course this new missing person is blamed on outsider Richard. Plus another kid goes missing in a similarly magic way. Karen, another more enigmatic outsider is the only one who believes him.

I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say that Richard is an unreliable narrator and the book is split into three distinct parts. Almost like a story within a story within a story. I really enjoyed reading through how Richard was processing and overcoming his personal trauma. I thought this was a good book and I was very engaged the whole way through.

This is a translation so there were some parts that grammatically didn't make sense that I'm chalking up to the translation. The only reason this wasn't a 5 star read for me is that the main character was such a little prick that I wanted to put the book down. I thought the author could have introduced or hinted at his trauma earlier to make Richard a more likable character.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf publishing for the eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book gave me sort of It and My Best Friend's Exorcism vibes throughout a lot of it. Very coming of age, town legend/curse, possession kind of stuff going on. I really enjoyed that all for what it was, just a really creepy and engaging storyline... BUT! The twists changed up the game and made this book stand out. They weren't the most unpredictable, but they were really well executed.

I wanted to love this book but ended up barely liking it. It wasn't scary (but I'm a seasoned horror reader), I wasn't fully engaged with the characters. I think its best audience is someone new to horror, who might better appreciate it. No slam to the excellent author, this just wasn't for me. Also, it would be better to read it in the fall spooky season rather than a bright summer day. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher for the arc!


This was my second book by Nesbo and I think I enjoy his thrillers way more but this was still good too! Perfect for spooky season.

I was so confused and horrified at the same time. Right when I thought I knew what was going on, Nesbo threw in something different that changed everything I thought I knew. The book grabs you immediately when Tom is eaten by a phone in a phone booth in front of our main character Richard. If that doesn't intrigue you, just keep reading as the strangeness of Ballantyne unfolds before your eyes.

Thank you NetGalley and Jo Nesbo for the arc of The night house.

My first book by this author and I will say I was not disappointed. It kept me thinking right up till the end of what was real and what was imaginary. The main character takes you on a wild ride and once I realized what was going on it started to click and make sense. I wouldn’t say this is hard core horror but definitely YA horror. I would read more by this author for sure.

I really enjoyed this book! As far as horror goes it’s nothing revelatory or insane but I really enjoyed it. The author struggled a bit with plot development but ultimately I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend this to my audience. Great for the spooky season!

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced copy of this ebook. I wanted to like this way more than I did. I was hoping for scary but this wasn't that. It was ok. A quick, spooky teen horror, but not my favorite.

First off, Great cover. Immediately grabs your attention.
The book itself, I'd say, is a solid horror story. It's not the best nor the worst.
When I was initially reading it, I thought it might be a YA horror book. But it's not. There's some interesting twists and turns towards the end of the book.

I'd like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for this arc.

I enjoyed this book. I only wish I would have waited until spooky season to read it. It was creepy and would have made the perfect Halloween read. The only fault I found in this book was the "parts." Really, it could have ended at part 1 and been great, but it kept going for the creep factor. I was fond of part 3 when it all came together and you found the truth of the story and Richard's life.

Thank you NetGalley for the early access!

This isn’t Harry Hole. This isn’t Dr Proctor. This is something completely new for me. Having read the Harry Hole Novels I was amazed at how deftly Jo Nesbo shifted genres. I was dragged into “The Night House” from the first sentence, “Y-y-y-you’re crazy,” Tom said, and I could tell he was scared, seeing as how he stammered one more time than he usually does. I can’t say much about the plot line without giving away to much of what happens. Needless to say Jo Nesbo has found another niche that he can fill.

The main character is complex seeing has how his entire world isn’t what it seems to be. The supporting characters have a depth of flavor because of Jo Nesbo’s ability to make you want to believe in everyone.

I would highly recommend “The Night House” to Jo Nesbo fans, to horror fans, or for those who love well built sentences, paragraphs, and chapters.

I was given this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

3.75 but rounding up to 4 stars

This book was scary-ish but not quite what I’d expect from a horror novel. Overall, the storyline was interesting, there were several plot twists I didn’t see coming, and the ending was nothing like what I thought it would be.

For my first Nesbo novel, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve read. I’ll definitely be checking out more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy for my honest opinion.

I'm going to be fair, I wasn't sure I wasn't going to like this book at the first 30%, and then it takes some wild turns, and it's amazing. I didn't know who Jo Nesbø was before reading this, even though I had watched The Snowman. I went into this completely blind, and I think any horror fan should go into it blind. It reads like early Stephen King, but with the twists and turns of his son, Joe Hill.

The story is about a teenager named Richard who has come to live in a rural town (I'm going to assume it's in Norway, but it's never specified) after his parents pass away. He's part of the "Piranha" caste at his school (a teenager's flubbing of the word "pariah") and struggles to fit in. That's where The Night House and all of its weirdness comes into play and Richard finds himself at the center of an investigation regarding two friends of his where both disappeared and Richard was the only one with them when it happened.

This book is all of that and none of it. You can't possibly predict where all of this is going.

I really, really loved this book. I think I'm a Jo Nesbø fan now.

I love horror, both novels and movies, so I was really excited when I read the synopsis of The Night House. It sounds so creepy, like it would be right up my alley, and the cover art is amazing. Alas, it fell short of my expectations. It wasn't as creepy or scary as I thought it would be. The storyline moves a little slow, the "villain" is just meh, and the twist was frustrating. I also was surprised to see the Magical Negro trope utilized. Although that character was probably the most likable one in the book, it just seemed really random. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

The Night House started off strong.

There are horrific occurrences happening to the children in Ballantyne. Richard seems to be the one link to these happenings. Investigators don’t believe him and he starts to feel trapped in his own mind.

Once “Part 2” started I was lost. I was enjoying the first setting but all the sudden I was ripped from it. Then “Part 3” felt like a different story all together.

3 stars for hooking me in the first half.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC!

How much did I love this book!!!! Jo Nesbo is one of my very favorite authors and this book goes in a totally different direction than any other book that he has ever written! It's a cross between Nesbo, Stephen King and Chuck Wendig...all my favs! It's a quick read, horrifying, frightening and shocking!!! at the same time. Congrats on a terrific story!! Your prose, Mr. Nesbo, is brilliant. You draw pictures with your words, in this case….horrible and scary pictures!

Such a good spooky book. It gave me the creeps and it was just amazing. It was well written. It messes with your head which is so fun in books. When it leaves you questioning everything. The MC was kinda unlikeable and got on my nerves but I think he was written right for the age.

Good Rec for a spooky night