This was my first horror and while I wasn’t completely enamored with this book, I still had a good time in its world. I specifically enjoyed a lot of the ideas in this book and the more psychological, unreliable narrator aspect present throughout, but I also found it to be a bit too jumbled and seemingly random at times. This very well may have been a conscious choice so that readers can really experience Richard’s mental state first hand or it could’ve been more of a translation issue, I’m not sure. I still enjoyed a lot of the foundation of this story and think there was a lot of potential here. Would definitely recommend to people who enjoy a twisty story, slightly meta story, especially with a spooky house and some childhood trauma thrown in!!

***I received an ARC from Knopf Publishing and Netgalley for free and am leaving an honest review***

This is the first book by Jo Nesbo that I’ve read so I was very excited to start it. It is difficult to review due to avoid spoilers but here goes. Richard is a 14-year-old living with his relatives in a small rural town. He moved there after his parents were killed in a fire. Mysterious things happen. Can’t say much more than that without spoiling the plot. I was very disappointed and bored with the amateurish writing, but there is a reason it is written this way (can’t explain due to spoilers). However, I do wonder if something was lost in translation as well. It quickly became a slog to get through this book due to the writing style, and although there was a shocking twist, I also didn’t appreciate this particular trope for many reasons. I would suggest looking up content warnings. Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Jo Nesbo. I love the Harry Hole series and have also enjoyed several stand-alones that I have read. Therefore, I hate to say that I didn't love this book.

I wanted to be fair and give some thought as to what it was about The Night House that didn't resonate with me. I came to the following conclusions:

- The teenage boy narrator didn't work for me at all. I couldn't make any connection with this character and he annoyed me on many levels. Furthermore, this voice made me question whether I was reading an adult horror novel or a young adult book.

- The story was too disjointed for me. While I appreciated the story being broken up into 3 sections, it took me until the very end to understand how they complimented one another to make a whole.

- I felt like character development was lacking and what was there created characters that weren't very likable. Part of me wondered if some of the nuance got lost in translation.

With that said, I did enjoy a few things:

- I liked the overall idea of the story. The Night House is creepy and some scenes (like the telephone booth one) are pretty intense and grabbed my attention.

- The ending was a surprise. I didn't see it coming at all!

- The cover is awesome.

While this wasn't a favorite Nesbo book of mine, I will continue to be a fan and look forward to whatever comes next!

This was my first book by the infamous Jo Nesbo. I have to say, I was surprised. I really liked this book and thought I could predict the ending. However, I did not at all. I think it was really engaging and fun to read, but brought things back to an impactful place in the ending. Well done!

Book : The Night House
Author : Jo Nesbo
Pub Date : 03, Oct 2023

Thank you NetGalley, Knoph, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf, & the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This cover is incredible so we can start off by talking about that old school cover which I live for and love collecting. IN LOVE. This is one of my first books I’ve read from Jo Nesbo and it didn’t disappoint. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be. We follow MC Richard who is taken in by his aunt and uncle after the death of his parents. While living in this small town he finds completely boring—he tries to entertain himself with jokes, pranks and 14yr old boy shenanigans. Quickly enough though, strange things start happening and kids that he has been the last to see or hanging out with start disappearing and the people of the town are starting to point fingers at him.

Through this book we are introduced to this creepy house int he woods called the night house and the secret that this little town has been keeping very hush hush. This book for me was a whole entire mood. I devoured up with book just as quickly as that payphone sucked up Richards friend. I can not wait for October when this book releases! If you haven’t pre-ordered or stuck this book on your TBR quit waiting and do so now. You will not be disappointed.

The Night House was a horror book that I was not expecting! Wow! I went in completely blind, just requested the ARC based off of the cover. I would recommend going in blind too to have the best experience. There’s some pretty gruesome scenes to start off and an unreliable narrator. For a good 60% of the book I had no idea what was going on in the best way possible. It keep me intrigued but also questioning everything. The final twist at the end was shocking and tied up the book nicely. It was so fun connecting all the dots and having that final “ah-ha” moment. I feel like it was the right amount of horror and thriller! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed The Silent Patient or those who love horror in general!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book for free and give my honest feedback and review.

So this was my first Jo Nesbo book. I’ve heard that his books are completely horrifying. But I didn’t find that to be true with this one! It was even amusing at some points. Richard was a quirky and unique character. He was young when a terrible file destroyed part of his life-his parents. He struggles in the book.
I wouldn’t say this is adult horror though. More like YA.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher that gave me this book. My opinion on this book are my own.

Thank you to the publisher,and netgalley for an ebook to review


This is my first Jo Nesbo novel, but I have heard of him before.

This was incredibly fast paced. it's one you get sucked right into. At first I thought the novel was going one way before it whips me around,and were on another path, but not in a bad way. This novel kept me guessing till the end. I was confused, but excited to find out what happened next. I apologize my review is a little all over, but I seriously don't want to spoil anything. This did put a new fear in me, but luckly I don't think I'll have any issues with coming in contact with the new fear. Read this book to find out. Can you guess what It is? Another book to add to that Halloween TBR.

Oh, I'd like to also comment on the cover of this. The cover is incredible. It's so spooky, and spine chilling.

I’ve only read one other Jo Nesbo book and that was recently (loved it!) so I am not super familiar with her style or overall vibe as an author like many others who have read all her books. I will say that I am truly a fan of hers now and plan to read some more books of hers. I really enjoyed this horror book and felt like the twists and turns were fantastic and it kept me interested and spooked quite a bit of the time. This book had the feel of a horror movie and I absolutely loved that! Overall, great book!

This is completely different than any of the other books that I have previously read by Nesbo. That being said I don't know how I feel about it. There are a lot of twists and turns and it's pretty unpredictable. It does have a little bit of a Stephen King feel. 3/5 stars

Super weird, fun little novel with some great twists throughout! I didn't realize Jo Nesbo did horror, and I would happily read another book from her in this genre.

In this book nothing is what it seems. This is Nesbo’ s first horror book and it has all the elements of a classic horror novel: suspense, paranoia, violence, an unreliable narrator and the supernatural in an otherwise verosímil world. I celebrate Nesbo’s incursion in this more classical take of the genre. Richard is 14 years old when he is sent to live with his relatives after his parent’s tragic death. But the peaceful town of Ballantyne will be shaken by the disappearance of two boys in strange circumstances. The common element of these disappearances? In both cases Richard was the last person to see them alive and his story is bizarre and implausible. He will try to probe his testimony and in doing so he will uncover the town’s best kept secret about the Night House and an even most disturbing reality about himself. The book is quick paced and a pager turner from the first page. It comes out next October and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for this is the ultimate Halloween read.

I’m normally a big Jo Nesbø fan, but I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book. There were parts of it that felt like they were meant for a teen audience rather than an adult audience. I’m honestly also not really quite sure what was true or not in the book.

This was entertaining. It wasn’t really what I was expecting, but I still had fun reading it. For the most part, this seemed a bit more YA than horror.

I am not going to lie I was a little let down by this book. I didn’t find it scary at all. It was almost comical at times! The writing is good but I just didn’t vibe with the story or characters.

In Nesbo's latest, THE NIGHT HOUSE, we are introduced to our main character Richard. Richard has lost his parents in a fire, and he now lives with his aunt Jenny and uncle Frank. In his new school, he's not doing well socially. One night he and Tom are playing around, and Tom disappears when he is sucked up by a public phone. Everyone, including the police, thinks Richard murdered Tom.

I liked this story. It's well-written, and the first person voice worked well with this. It had a Stephen King-but-less-rambling vibe, which I have an affinity for. I think this story will stick in my mind longer than the typical novel.

I have never read Jo Nesbo before, and I think that should change! I'll keep this author in mind when I'm in the mood for a horror novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story felt like a roller coaster. I don't want to give too much away but will say that it had me believing one thing and then another and then yet another.

We follow Richard, a recent orphan who is an outsider in the new town he moved to in order to live with his aunt and uncle. When a boy goes missing, Richard is blamed. His alibi? Well, Tom was sucked into the telephone receiver in a phone booth of course. Other strange things start happening as Richard maintains his innocence and commitment to his outlandish story.

This is a supernatural, psychological, campy horror. I will say that I had to double check the genre because this book felt very YA in the beginning. I don't mind this, as it reminded me very much of Goosebumps and Fear Street, but it caught me off guard. Part 2 gave me an "a ha" moment in regards to this feeling and then Part 3 lost me. I really enjoyed this story up until the second half of Part 2. Things got a little too strange and Part 3 seemed a bit too cliché for my liking. All in all, this was a fun read. I just wish the latter half of the story lived up to the expectations set forth in the beginning.

Thanks so much to Knopf and NetGalley for my digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is not your average horror book , so if that's what you are looking for you may want to pass it over. I did not find the book scary, but it was entertaining. At times there were a lot of storylines to keep track of, but it was still a fast and fun read.

The cover and the blurb automatically interested me In The Night House by Jo Nesbø, and while it did have a strong opening, I felt it got a little too campy. Also, it did read more like a YA horror than adult.
I enjoyed the premise more than the final product, but overall this was a fun, quick read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of The Night House in exchange for my honest opinion.

A grown-up Goosebumps!

Jo Nesbø's The Night House is a campy horror that reframes the classic haunted house. Each of the novel's three parts recontextualizes the same terrifying events in 14-year-old Richard's young life. Fun and frenetic, The Night House is a quick read that will keep you reeling.

The only thing that didn't meet my expectations was the way some of the "twists" were played. Some are imaginative and interesting, but others felt like cheats to explain away unresolved plot lines.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!