I have been reading a lot of boring books lately and this is one of them. Maybe because it is a horror book I was expecting it to be scary but this book is not. It does have a creepy element to it. It wasn't bad but it felt like it was a bit disjointed.

This was an interesting listen. The voice acting of it was amazing, however the story took a long time to get going. Honestly I am still trying to figure out how I feel about this one as I truly feel that this book had a lot of potential, but just let me down in the end.

I can't lie - the cover was the first thing that I noticed about this book! And have you read the blurb? Uhhhhh, yes, please!

This is a chilling gothic horror that caught me by the heartstrings and didn't let me go until the last page. Not only was this a creepy story of a family filled with secrets that they are forced to unravel, but it's also a story that shows how close may be too close when it comes to family. This is a story steeped in drama, family loss, secrets, and oh so much more.

This is perfect for anyone that loves a bit of mystery, a lot of drama, and just the right amount of horror. I would recommend this for ANYONE that likes spooky stories.

A creepy novel that includes a family secret, a family house that may be haunted, and twin girls that are at the center of it.

After his wife's sudden death Alfie is now left to raise his two twin girls on his own. While himself grieving his two daughters start having strange dreams and create a new imaginary friend. Though originally he believes it's part of their grief process he soon starts to wonder if there isn't something more sinister at play. Without knowing what else to do he asks Julia, his wife's twin sister and a psychiatrist, to help with his two daughters and their new behavior. But as the girls start getting more wrapped up with their new imaginary friend both Julia and Alfie start having strange things happen to them and soon have to confront their role in everything that is happening.

Both of the narrators are fantastic. The switch between Alfie's POV and Julia's POV was done very seamlessly.

This was an interesting debut novel. The writing made me eager to learn what exactly is going on in the family home called Hart House. I knew there was much more to the story that would eventually be revealed. Unfortunately, the reveal left me a little underwhelmed. And the story goes at a pretty slow pace so that may have added in not being super intrigued as we learned more about the family and the house. While reading the book felt like a chore when I switched to listening to the audiobook it helped me get into it much more. The narrators did a wonderful job making the characters come to life.

I really enjoyed the writing as a whole and the narration but felt like the story needed more. I wanted to know more about certain aspects of the story and the people in it.

While this book has some good moments, overall I was unimpressed with how everything played out. The romance was awkward at best and really detracted from the horror-themed elements. Audiobook was well voiced and well produced.

Let Him In exceeded my expectations. After reading the book's synopsis, I knew I was going to like it: the pacing was fantastic, the plot was engaging, and the kids were creepy. The book was an absolute delight to read and the characters were so vivid and well-written that I could not put it down. The atmosphere of the story was spooky and suspenseful, and the ending was satisfying. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read this spooky season. This book is definitely one you should check out if you are looking for a new book to add to your spooky season TBR list.

Let Him In
Written by William Friend
Read by Jodie Harris and Jonathan Johns
Book 219/200
Genre: Horror
Format: Digital/Audio, ARC
Pages/Time: 240/8hr 13min
Published: 2023
Rating: 6/10
Horror: 👻👻

Let Him In is a pretty creepy haunting story. Friend takes your typical ghost-type story and adds an interesting psychological element; this was my favorite part of the book. I was super engaged whenever Julia was the POV character, but unfortunately not when others took the lead.

I found the ending quite uncomfortable and unsettling, which normally would be great, but I just didn't like the feel of it in this story. Overall, this is a solid debut by William Friend and I am very interested to see how he progresses as a writer in future novels.

Even though I already knew the story, because I had read the book, the audiobook experience was wonderful. The story took on a much scarier contours, because the narrators' own intonation left the suspense in the air. There are books that don't work as audiobooks, but that's not the case with this one, because the experience I had reading the book, and then listening to the audiobook, was like an upgrade in the story, the suspense was more real. While I was reading, I never felt like looking into the dark and looking for the Black Mamba, but with the audiobook, the story entered on my unconscious mind and made me doubt the dark a few times. Netgalley, once again thank you very much for this terrifyingly magnificent experience.

#lethimin, #WilliamFriend, #horror, #netgalley

Let Him In by William Friend

My rating:
2/5
⭐️⭐️

Alfie a widow who lives at Hart House with his two twin daughters, starts to have strange things happen to him. When the twins mention their imaginary friend Black Mamba, he realizes that maybe their friend is not so imaginary at all.

I listened to this on on audiobook format thanks to source books who approved me for this ARC! I had seen this one a bit while perusing on netgalley and the cover looked creepy and intrigued me. I wish I loved this one, but I found it extremely confusing and I don’t quite honestly know what I even just listened to 🤯

While the story was definitely creepy, I didn’t get much of a conclusion to what was actually happening. This story was told in the perspectives of Alfie and Julia. Julia is Alfie’s late wive’s sister, who is also a therapist.

I enjoyed the story being told in two perspectives, and the narrators did a good job with portraying their fears and emotions.

Overall this one fell short for me and just left me feeling underwhelmed and more confused that satisfied or spooked. I loved the concept of this story and I truly believe that for the right audience, it could be quite enjoyable!

Thanks netgalley for the ARC! You can read this one now if you’re looking for a creepy story involving an imaginary friend! While this wasn’t my cup of tea, it absolutely could be yours!

Okay, the premise of this book drew me in, but honestly this is one that I probably wouldn’t recommend as a physical/ebook to read. I ended up requesting the audiobook version and that was the only way that I was able to get through this book. I feel like this book just didn’t hit the mark for me and just didn’t keep my attention or really provide a spooky atmosphere like I was hoping. Overall, this is one that I’m just not sure I would recommend or would be first on my list to recommend.

I love a creepy house with all my heart and this family lives in a house full of secrets and ghosts of all varieties.

Are the twins malicious? Have they invented an invisible friend in order to lash out at their recently widowed father? Or are they helpless against the dark presence that permeates the family home and snatches away family members one at a time?

There are occasional hints of the books that laid the path for this one, including Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. But Let Him In isn't just a rehashing of a typical haunted house story, or a possession story, although it is both of those things. The plot was refreshing and unexpected as I tried to figure out how much of the menace originated with people and how much might be supernatural.

The narration was decent. I did lose my immersion every time the male narrator said a plural possessive. I don't know how it's written out in the book, so maybe it's a weird character quirk but most people don't pronounce girls' as girlses or twins' as twinses. This guy does. There was also something off about the female narrator's pronunciation of certain things, including the letter O that grated on me. Upon researching, I found she is apparently Australian, not British, so perhaps I wasn't crazy for wondering if she was faking the accent.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook for review purposes.

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"There's a man in my room."

Could there be a more chilling statement from your child in the wee hours of the night? The absolutely spine tingling Let Him In by debut thriller author William Friend begins this way and starts the goosebumps that stay all the way through the jaw dropping end.

As a newly single father to young twin girls, Alfie is having a hard enough time dealing with the sudden death of his wife Pippa and now his daughters, Sylvie and Cassia have an imaginary friend. Except it gets weird when they say he's an older man named Black Mamba and can change into a snake or a bear or a wolf. It suddenly isn't an innocent response to their mother's death.

Alfie asks for help from his psychologist sister in law, Julia, who wants to believe it's all imaginary but there are too many scary coincidences to what her and Pippa saw as children in this same house.

Narrator Jodie Harris is so good, as always, in her performance as us, the audience, trying to believe in reality. Don't look, there's nothing supernatural going on here in this house where questionable deaths have occurred, and some right out murders. Narrator Johnathan Johns took some getting use to as his performance was a bit stilted at first but the last half there was no faking the absolute terror in his voice. I felt it in my bones.

With eerie twin girls reminiscent of The Shining, a creepy house with a dark history and a father unraveling from his grief and guilt Let Him In is the perfect way to start the spooky month of Halloween. You don't have to let him in but, maybe, "No one's gotten into the house. He's been here all along!"

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Dreamscape Media via #NetGalley
for a fair and honest review. All opinions

After Alfie's wife Pippa dies, he becomes a single father to twin girls. In the setting of grief, the girls make what they think is a harmless imaginary friend. But instead of the pleasant friend, they get Black Mamba, a dark and dangerous man who can transform into any animal. Alfie reaches out to Pippa's sister, who also happens to be a psychiatrist, but he's shocked to learn that Pippa and her sister also played with Black Mamba when they were girls.

This was so chilling and atmospheric, and a great portrayal of the grieving process.

Thank you netgalley and Dreamscape media for giving me an advanced review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I hate it took me so long to finally listen to this one because once I stopped, I didn’t want to stop listening! It hooked me in and kept me on my toes.

A spooky read of twin girls, who keep seeing the figure of a man called Black Mamba. This book is ideal for spooky season and while I don't often scare, this one did give me the chills as I listened to the audiobook. I was hoping for more in the ending and was a little disappointed at how quickly it wrapped up, however I would still recommend it purely for the scare factor.

Chilling and spooky, perfect for an October read! Well written. The love story was unique and thoughtful.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I think it had the potential to really be scary, but the backstory was lacking definition, and the ending left me confused and unsatisfied. The reason I have mixed feelings is that despite all of this, I enjoyed this audiobook. I think I enjoyed the idea of it rather than the execution of that makes sense. This one truly had a lot of potential if it just made things clearer to the reader.

Audiobook-wise, the narrators were very good, and I enjoyed their storytelling.

Altogether, I give this 3.5 stars rounded up to 4⭐️. I will definitely read (or listen to) more of this author's work.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advanced audiobook copy of this book. I am very appreciative!

I just love a creepy story that stays with you after finishing. I took away a star because the story jumped around at times, which led to me being confused about what timeline I was in. This is perfect for spooky season, and the audiobook was well done.

2.5 stars!
Alfie’s wife unexpectedly passed away, leaving him as the sole parent to their twin daughters. Sylvie and Cassia are only seven years old. They have created an imaginary friend named Black Mamba to help themselves cope, which shape shifts and seems to have sinister motives. Julia is the girls’ aunt, and is also grieving the loss of her sister while trying to support Alfie as he becomes increasingly unhinged trying to help the girls and deal with Black Mamba’s oppressive presence in their house.

I listened to this book thanks to @dreamscape_media and @netgalley. I did not like the narrator at all. He was hard to understand and it honestly took away from the book for me. There were definitely some creepy moments and the imagery was haunting in parts. However, the story just got way off track (imo) and I didn’t like any of the characters? I particularly found Alfie hard to stomach.

I was surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. The whole time I wasn't quite sure whether Black Mamba was a symptom of grief or something more sinister and it kept me on the edge of my seat right up until the very end. Would recommend this to fans of psychological thrillers!

Disclaimer: This book heavily focuses on a grieving family. If you yourself are grieving, this may not be a good book for you right now.