Every neighborhood has a house, a place that everyone whispers about. a place where terrible things happen and no one knows why. but could there be a reason more simple than we'd suspect? can a house have sentience? can a house possess a soul?

Caveat Emptor by Devon De'Ath is a classic British haunted house tale, however, there aren't any ghosts in Caveat Emptor. something much much worse haunts these halls. something more twisted and older than you could imagine. Devon De'Ath has woven a delightful story that i enjoyed very much. it takes quite a master to move from one extreme to the next as De'Ath does without descending into camp or abject silliness. by the time i read the last word, all the loose ends were neatly tied together in a way i hadn't considered.

can a house have a soul? i now know the answer to that question and wonder no more.

highly recommended.
5 stars out of 5.

Title: Caveat Emptor
Author: Devon De’Ath
Genre: Horror
Rating: 3.5 stars

Review:

This book was both what I expected and also… not. I enjoyed the book. When I saw in the description that it was a “Haunted House” style book, about a house with a soul, I was excited to read. But saying that the house has a soul isn’t quite how I would describe it. I can’t even say that its a haunted house book either. Its definitely horror. And it is an engaging read. I wanted to know what happened. But I have to admit that at times, it was a bit of a chore to get through. The main character, David, is a likeable guy, and relatable for most of us. The people who move through Meoria Grange are all different, and their deaths are all both horrible and also creative (can you say that about a horror novel?) But I will say the last person to die in the book, well, I was really hoping the house would get her. For real.

In the end, this was a hard review to write, mostly because I just couldn’t decide how I felt about the book. I wanted more detail about the hows and whys of what happened. There were some details that seemed to contradict each other, once I’d read the entire book. I also struggled at times with the leaps in time, as they happened without warning, and at times it took a moment to realize that we’d moved forward by years.

If you enjoy horror novels, especially the haunted house trope, then I would definitely give this a try.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in advance!

Gripping, captivating, haunting.

A gothic horror that centers on David and Meoria Grange, a house and its intriguing stance in history and throughout time. Mostly, this book is about David's unique connection to Meoria Grange.

This was original and so Interesting. Excellent read.

This book was a little out of my usual bailiwick - I enjoy Stephen King but am not really a horror fiction fan. But the blurb appealed and I thought I'd give it a go - and was so pleased I did! Its a really scary book, gripping the reader from the outset.

We first meet David Holmes as a young estate agent, starting out with a family firm. And visiting a rather dilapidated old house - Meoria Grange - after a tragic fire. We follow David's life, his manipulation into marriage and the various owners of Meoria who each suffer tragedy. It was an interesting use of historic events like the coming down of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 to show the passage of time in David's life. The tension builds as David begins to realise the importance this house has to his life and career... and his own role in the life of the house. I think the character I felt sorriest for was the psychic, Sable, who seemed to get an unnecessarily rough deal.

I found the ending a bit strange and stretching credulity a little far, but somehow it did work. So pleased I read it, it is certainly entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and Books Go Social for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It’s funny how it was able to stick with me. I started reading this book Back in Oct, got away from reading for quite some time yet I still had this book with me when I picked it back up to finish it.

The horror genre is saturated with sapless, vanilla volumes from bland writers who churn out boring title after boring title - leaving the reader with another notch in their belt, but completely dissatisfied.

This is not that sort of book.

This is a true horror novel.

It’s not often that even a book’s afternoon sunshine scenes carry a lingering sense of the dread lying in wait. De’Ath masterfully scared the absolute piss out of me…again and again.

This is the book that will make you fan of horror. This is the book that will immediately make you join a writer’s mailing list.

This is the book that will ensure you never enter your basement without a flashlight…ever again.

Do you believe a house can have a soul? How can pure love and abject horror exist together with such inexplicable harmony?

I'm a sucker for a good haunted house/gothic horror story and this certainly fit that criteria. Devon De'ath is a great writer and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I read this in like 4 hours. Great!

This unique novel has a split personality. Because it starts as a haunted house book, and by the end you realise it's actually a love story of a most twisted sort.

The house in question leaves a gruesome path of death and destruction whenever someone moves in. Murder/suicide, bloody horrific "accidents", and those who survive are never the same mentally ever again.

David is our protagonist and he's with a real estate firm at the tender young age of twenty two when we first meet him. He is tasked with the showings for this house and it often sits for years without selling because of it's morbid reputation.

But this book covers decades and, eventually, there's always a family willing to purchase the place. We'll read about them and their horrific endings as the book progresses. But David and the house seem to be connected somehow. He hates going in the cellar (and this cellar is extraordinarily frightening) but he's more concerned in talking people out of buying it for their own well being. He has an affinity for the place but no idea why.

At the beginning of this book, it asks a question. Can a house have a soul? That's the crux of this story.

This is an excellent book that takes a familiar trope and disassembles it before putting it back together in a completely different form. It's twisty and bloody at times but also terrifying as the house devours those who enter and don't belong.

The ending is also bittersweet and really changes your opinion of what this book is about. I loved the ending personally and thought it was as unique as the rest of the novel.

I highly recommend this one.