The Drowning House, by Cherie Priest

Looking for a tame thriller and horror book that plays more on the illusion of fear? Then this is the book for you! It’s less about gory details and brutalization and more about the psychological suspense of fear and when it will happen. This story hands readers crumbs to unravel what is happening and plays on time and pace. Readers who like slow paced supernatural stories may want to check this one out!

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my advanced digital copy to read and review.

Had hopes for it but in the end I didn't really like it. The premise sounds much better than the actual book.

Special thanks to Poisoned Penn Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This book had an eerie atmosphere going and a spooky ghost story. Very unique. I've read Priest before somewhat ten yrs ago and was overjoyed bc her writing style is very different. Takes a great imagination to stick with but I did to the very end and I was mildly surprised when I liked it.

‘The Drowning House’ by Cherie Priest is a haunted house story, set in the Pacific Northwest on a lonely beach.

Melissa and Leo, two childhood friends, grew up together in their friend Simon’s grandmother’s house. They have grown a bit apart, but gather again when Simon calls about the death of his grandmother. They drive to Marrowstone Island and find an empty house with no Simon and a shocking site on the beach, and an older house that has been seemingly washed ashore. Now they have to find Simon and along the way, they discover a ghostly mystery that draws them in along the way.

The book builds slowly and is full of atmosphere. I love gothic fiction and ghost stories so this was perfect for me. The pacing felt a bit uneven at times, but that didn’t stop me from turning pages and getting spooked.

This book was a miss for me.
I failed to engage with the characters.
I cousins connect with the characters, setting, or the plot.

The atmosphere was perfect. I felt it all: the cold, wet, rainy beach weather.

Leo and Melissa were great. Their banter and friendship was impeccable.

The mystery aspect was right on target. I loved as they pieced together info from old newspaper clippings.

Where the book fell flat was the last 1/3. The ending climaxes weren’t enough. And the action toward the end seemed to take too long to happen. Or maybe it was the fact that each step was described so minutely.

Also I wanted to see more of what made Gunnar into the man he was. As well as how Otelia and Alcesta began their craft.

Still even with these complaints, I had a wonderfully good time with this book!

I will definitely read more from Cherie!

QUOTE: ““Being an adult sucks. It’s an infinite state of losing things: jobs, pets. People.”

Enjoyed this one very much, another great supernatural suspense from author Cherie Priest. Never disappoints, highly recommend!

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Cherie Priest for the chance to read ‘The Drowning House’! It’s difficult to say what I think of this book. I think I enjoyed the storytelling but not the story itself as much. I do feel like it lasted a bit too long.

The Drowning House by Cherie Priest was kinda hit-or-miss for me. The creepy, atmospheric vibes were top-tier, and the setting? Total main character energy. The whole “dark secrets in a haunted house” thing had me intrigued, and there were definitely moments where I was like, “Okay, this is spooky AF.”

But the pacing? A little too slow for my taste, and some of the characters didn’t really pop the way I wanted them to. It’s giving potential, but not all the way there. That said, if you’re into moody gothic horror, it’s still worth checking out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this - such a gripping and quick read. I would 100% recommend and read another by Cherie Priest. very unique concept

This was so spooky and eerie! The whole premise, a house washes up on a beach during a storm, is so different from anything I’ve read in a thriller. The vibes were vibing and this would be perfect to read during spooky season!!! 5 stars!!

"The Drowning House" is a paranormal thriller with a touch of horror vibes.

When a mysterious house washes ashore near the house of Mrs. Culpepper and her grandson Simon, things go awry. It is up to Simon'[s two childhood friends to untangle to mystery around the house and the Culpepper family before it is too late.

While the premise itself is fun, I think this is definitely targeted more towards people who are curious about horror but would classify themselves as scaredy cats. For people, including myself, who are horror fanatics, it feels a little lackluster.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me this ARC, I still found things to enjoy regardless.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to be able to read and review this book!

Unique and addicting.

This was so weird but in a good way! It was an interesting spin on a haunted house story with a great setting. I especially enjoyed the flashbacks. They were used very well to add context to the story.

If you're looking for a book with a creepy atmosphere and an intriguing plot, then you should definitely read The Drowning House.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’m a fan of any sort of magic that takes place in the real world and this was no different. Thoroughly enjoyed every part of this. Thank you for the ARC.

Cherie Priest’s prose and pacing stand out in THE DROWNING HOUSE, a gothic horror novel for all seasons.
THE DROWNING HOUSE by Cherie Priest

An ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. THE DROWNING HOUSE was published on 23 July 2024.

When a house washes up on the beach of Marrowstone, an island in the Pacific Northwest, there is only one person who knows anything about it. But Mrs. Culpepper dies of a heart attack at the sight of it. Her grandson, Simon, is left to pick up the pieces. Except, when his old friends arrive to help him, he, too, is gone and Melissa and Leo have more than one mystery to solve.

Beach, please!

Cherie Priest, who has her feet planted firmly both in horror and SFF places, seamlessly combines genres in her latest supernatural Scandinavian gothic horror novel. At the heart of it lies Marrowstone Island, a real island near Seattle with less than 1000 inhabitans. Priest’s opulent, rich writing style imbues the fictional version with life and deep-seated roots. At the same time, her voice is close to meme-ish in places which can be jarring at first but ultimately fits the 40-something protagonists of the story and their backgrounds.

Another of her strengths are the pacing and use of tension throughout The Drowning House. The changes between tension and relief are well-balanced, allowing both hard-boiled and easily scared readers to breath without the story falling into any unintentional lulls. Priest also jumps between timelines with ease, telling the fractured story in a surprisingly straightforward way. The only thing not quite holding up might be the ending, specifically the real-life consequences and police scrutiny thereof. But that doesn’t impact the enjoyability of The Drowning House as a whole in any meaningful way.

Rating

Priest’s prose drew me in like the current of a particularly vengeful body of water. The Drowning House – both story and building – breathes from page one. It clashes somewhat with the chapters of modern-day Melissa and Leo who read much more “terminally online”. And although that makes sense and adds to the fish-out-of-water aspect of their story, it also took me a while to shake of that kind of grating feeling. That is probably the main reason why I settled for three stars in the end. Apart from that, The Drowning House really is a novel for all seasons and works as both beach and spooky Halloween read.

Spooky mystery with folklore fantasy elements that is a perfect rainy day read. On a dark and stormy night, on a secluded island off the coast of Washington, a mysterious house washes up on the shore waking Mrs. Culpepper from her slumber. In a burst of energy and rage she heads to the beach only to be found dead by her grandson Simon. In the aftermath of the events Simon contacts one of his childhood friends and disappears. Melissa and Leo have spent every summer with the Culpepper’s exploring the island, so when Simon can’t be found in the wake of his grandmother’s death, they know they must find him. Not always on the best of terms the two butt heads constantly, but they can both agree that something strange is happening on the island, and the house on the beach is probably to blame. Cherie Priest has deftly built tension throughout this whole story, balancing real world mysteries with the spooky and unexplained. Your heartrate will be up while reading but there is a resolution that’s worth reading to get to. The coming-of-age friendship anchors the story and makes it feel like a 1980’s horror movie, with the right amount of secrets and bonding to make the scary story feel warm and inviting. The setting is perfect in both its isolation and its “dark and stormy night” vibes you would expect to find in a scary story. I enjoyed the characters and their development throughout the story, but the strong-willed sisters are what definitely made me love the story.

I really enjoyed this one, unsurprisingly since Princess X is one of my all time favorites and she’s had several others I’ve enjoyed as well. There were some aspects I wanted more from, but all in all it was a good ride.

Melissa, Leo and Simon were childhood friends. Now Melissa has received an urgent message from Simon informing her that his grandmother has died under mysterious circumstances. She and Leo rush to help Simon, only to find that Simon has disappeared and a house has somehow managed to wash ashore near Simon’s house.

This was very tepid horror, and only got mildly exciting at the end. The first part of the book switches back and forth between the present mystery and early incidents. I was first frustrated by the lack of anything interesting happening in the childhood chapters. Then I realized that nothing was really happening in the present chapters either. An occasional spooky clue just wasn’t enough for me. It was an interesting premise, but don’t expect thrills.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

The Drowning House by Cherie Priest is a captivating and atmospheric novel that blends family secrets, history, and a bit of Southern gothic flair. The story is set in Galveston, Texas, and Priest does an amazing job of bringing the town’s stormy, mysterious past to life. The main character, a photographer named Ada, returns to her hometown and quickly finds herself caught in a web of long-buried mysteries.

I loved the way Priest built the tension throughout the book. The writing is beautifully descriptive, making it easy to picture the old houses, the sea, and the eerie mood of the story. The characters feel real and complex, especially as Ada uncovers more about her own past and the secrets surrounding her.