Thank you Poisoned Pen Press & Cherie Priest for this read and HAPPY PUBLISHING DAY!

The premise had me desperate to read it and I wasn't disappointed! It's intriguing, mysterious and unique! This paranormal horror/thriller is suspenseful and switches from past and present in multiple POVs. Friendship is a strong theme throughout and the bond between the protagonists can be felt. I loved the hunt to find answers and that I was following so addictively along with our characters.

If you're after a paranormal read that is suspenseful, with friendship as a strong base, contains some haunting moments and a unique premise - this book is for you!

I have to preface this by stating that I am a huge fan of Cherie Priest as a writer and as a person. She has written some of my favorite books and I’ve never not like something she’s written.

I was immediately drawn in by the opening — the storm, the tragedy of Mrs. Culpepper, the disappearance of her grandson Simon, and most of all the appearance of a house on the shore, washed up on the beach like a shipwreck. That is an amazing premise.

The story shifts POV characters and times, something which Priest does masterfully. When in the past, it feels like the story is told from the view of a younger person. Mrs. Culpepper takes on the mythic properties of one of your friends’ guardians (we all had that one adult that we respected but were also terrified of). This is drawn into the present where Culpepper’s presence is still felt by Melissa and Leo, Simon’s friends since childhood who have come to search for him. This is a well illustrated dynamic, as we see how the two act without Simon being there to act as a lynchpin.

Unfortunately this is portrayed a bit too well, as the characters come off a bit unlikable at times. While totally believable, there were times when I just wanted to shake the two of them.

This, however, was the one thing which I disliked. There is a great building of tension as the two dig deeper and deeper into the Culpepper family secrets. There is a nice sense of claustrophobia created by the storm which traps them on the island. The plot builds, with discovery upon discovery, until the end which I will not say anything about for fear of spoilers.

All things considered, another fine outing.

I love old-fashioned haunted-house-type of horror books, and this one lived up to the hype. The visuals are terrific, and the premise absolutely original! But it's not hard to see why I characterized the book as "old-fashioned": the plot is quite straightforward, without any shocking twists, the characters' concerns are always reasonable and their thinking sound, and though the characters themselves are one-dimensional somewhat, the dialogue is natural, and the prose flows like water. Once I realized what kind of book I was reading, I was drawn in and couldn't stop turning the pages till the whole picture made sense to me and I had some idea where things were going. Admittedly, there's a very strong sense of familiarity throughout, but the author has a specific story to tell, and soon the familiar horror tropes become solely her own. She manages to offer a complex narrative, even if sometimes she stresses too much the story's fantasy and magical elements, at least for a horror book. After all is said and done, however, the fact is that I enjoyed the book immensely, and will gladly check out the author's other works!

This book had such an eerie setting and I really wanted to like it. However, I was not a huge fan of the third person writing, and I thought it was a bit slow. I did enjoy the characters, but felt they fell a bit flat for me. Overall, a three star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

Pretty solid haunted house story. It was entertaining enough, but I wanted more: more horror, more climatic moments, more build-up, more intrigue.

The book starts off pretty slow, but it gradually picks up until the last 10%, which switches up dramatically. For the most part, the characters just travel around trying to the solve the mystery, but it's mostly pretty mundane until the end. I feel that for a horror mystery novel, it comes through on the mystery, but is severely lacking in horror, except for a few moments.

This author’s writing always draws me in! This story was eerie and very unique. It had elements of horror and thriller and strangely fantasy as well.
I have not read anything like it. The unique premise also drew me in. I loved the atmosphere overall and would recommend.

A little too much telling and not showing for my blood. I want to say that the author has a unique voice, but theater kids exist and also sometimes write books, so that wouldn't be totally true. Unfortunately, these two factors combined really yank me out of the scary elements, which sort of defeats the point of a horror novel.

The synopsis of this book was perfect and the Priest delivered!
While the ideas behind the book are extremely to my tastes, I really did not enjoy the MCs. I found them both to be fairly annoying.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

The premise of this book really appealed to me but it kind of just fell flat. I thought it was slow to start, and I found the main characters to be unlikeable. I thought there would be more of a “spooky” element to it, but it seemed like more of a fantasy vibe but saying that I did think it was a very well written book and I would definitely check out more of Cherie Priests work and I can see people really loving this unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

★★
———————
I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to review this book.

After Melissa and Leo's friend Simon goes missing, they must get over their past to try to find him.

This one had a lot going on for a mystery. there were flashbacks and alternate povs, both within modern time and flashbacks. That made it hard for me to cohesively follow the thoughts. I wish the main storyline had only one pov, even if the past had multiple.

I loved Cherie Priest’s The Family Plot, and couldn’t wait to start The Drowning House. As I had hoped for, this one was so atmospheric and had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see how it wrapped up. I’ve never been to the PNW, but I definitely felt like I was right there with our main characters in the middle of the storm. There was a little bit of everything if you love the paranormal, we had ghosts and dark magic, atmospheric setting, complicated characters. It did read a bit slow for me, but I found it to be a nice break from all the blood and guts my horror reading heart craves and loved it anyhow.

If you liked The Family Plot, or are a fan of Darcy Coates, I think that you would enjoy this one. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for my eARC. The Drowning House will be published 7/23.

There aren't a lot of writers who can convince me that there is magic in the world. Cherie Priest is one of them. In this story, old friends Melissa and Leo rush back to the island where they used to spend their summers because their other friend is missing and his grandmother has just died. They find frights and mysteries, but they don't want to give up because both of them care so much for their missing friend.
The mystery is dark and never fully explained, but I'd rather not have a full explanation. Good versus evil, love as a motivator, and nature as a wild personality -- these are some of my favorite things in horror.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I consider The Drowning House to be a commendable book, potentially even exceptional. It captivated me to the extent that I found myself eager to continue reading and felt annoyed whenever life interrupted my progress. Notably, the book is commendable for its clarity and directness. Unlike some authors who meander, this one presented every flashback and contemporary event with clear purpose and intent. The narrative was meticulously structured and tightly contained. However, I found myself wishing for an unexpected twist or a surprising counter-twist at the end. The straightforwardness of the plot left me anticipating a significant turn of events that never materialized. Despite this, it did not detract significantly from my overall enjoyment of the book, leading me to rate it as an above-average read.

Simon, Melissa and Leo were best friends every summer on Marrowstone Island. From the 1980s on, we get chapters that explain their group dynamic and how these three became such good friends that they carried it into adulthood. Simon lived on the island with his grandmother, and after his two best friends moved on, he stayed at the house with her, as she was getting on in years and becoming forgetful.

On a regular Wednesday morning, Melissa saw that she had a voicemail from Simon. It sounded like a butt dial, with just the sounds of rain and breathing. Then she notices an email from him too - one that shocks her to the core. Simon’s grandmother is dead, having left the house in the middle of the night, in a heavy storm, and died on the beach. Despite her being almost 100 years old, Simon believes she saw something on the beach that literally scared her to death.

Melissa immediately tries to call Simon, but a police officer answers the phone. He explains that they got a 911 call from Simon about his grandmother dying, but when they got there, Simon was nowhere to be found. Melissa knows he wouldn’t walk away from his dead grandmother, so she calls Leo and together they head to the island to see if they can find out what’s going on.

When they get there, they notice something odd. It’s a house, on the beach, like a shipwrecked domicile. That’s when this turns from more of a thriller book into a horror story. How does an entire HOUSE wash up onto the beach, looking like it’s been in the water for quite a while?

While investigating and still trying to find Simon, they open up a giant can of worms. There is something strange happening on this island, but they don’t want to leave their missing friend behind, leading to some pretty creepy findings. Overall, I’m not big on haunted house books, but this one was unique and had great characters. 3.5, rounded up!

(Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Cherie Priest and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on July 23, 2024.)

I wanted to read this book because of the title.
How the hell is a house drowning? I needed to know!

This was definitely different and had no clue where this author was going to go with this story. I enjoyed every minute of reading this tale. Sorry not giving anything away in this review.

This book was FUN. Was it the most well-written? Debatable (a little too much repetitiveness of certain, unnecessary topics for my liking). Did I fully understand the underlying antagonist? No way. Was that epilogue necessary? Absolutely not. Did this book grip me by the shoulders through the last third and not let me go until I finished? YOU BET.

What this book lacked in details about the central plot, it made up for in the sheer chaos that Priest puts Melissa and Leo through is fantastic. She creates an atmosphere that you can feel and that really elevates the story for me. While the fantastical elements leave a little to be desired (a LITTLE more information about thing happenings and the whys of things would have been nice) Priest relies more heavily on the surrounding nature, on the isolation of the island, on the absolute creepiness of a house washing up on shore. All of those elements tied together really make the story sing.

I’m a sucker for haunted house stories and this one did not disappoint! 👻🏚️ But it’s also more than just a haunted house story - there’s some mystery, twists, and dark magic involved too! 🙌

Highly recommend to my fellow spooky vibe fans!! 👏👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Cherie Priest for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

The Drowning House by Sherry Priest, when the book starts there’s a thunderstorm in despite it being the middle of the night Mrs. Culpepper just woken up by a sound she has only heard one other time in her life and it also wakes up her grandson Simon. When she runs outside to the beach with Simon close on her heels Simon is amazed to see the house on the beach where there was no house before Mrs. Cole Pepper not so much unfortunately it’s more than her heart can take an on the beach is where she dies. Soon Simon contacts the only two people he knows that are left and will care that she is even gone. It’s his best friend from childhood Melissa and Leo but when they arrive on the island Simon is missing although the house is still there throughout the book the narrative goes back-and-forth between Melissa and Leo adfirst trying to find Simon and then The summers they spent on the island with Simon and his grandma. This is a great supernatural take all the missing person because it forces Melissa and Leo to go back through the history of Simmons family to figure out one where did this house come from and to where is Simon? The answers about these questions or tied up in the solution and I thought this was a great book I love magical realism in a book and I thought slowly alluding to his grandma‘s magical ability was a great way to get into what turned out to be a really good story. This book has everything a mystery a haunted house a missing person a twisted past and it’s a book I really enjoyed.#PoisonPenPress,#NetGalley, #SherryPriest, #TheDrowningHouse,

If you like truly terrifying books, you may be disappointed in this one.  If you do not like scary stories at all, this book will be too much for you.   If you want to be terrified just a little bit, here you go, this one is for you!

I would not normally want to read a book about a haunted house that washes up on an island, but Cherie Priest is one of those authors that I will follow into hell.  Her books tend to very quietly drag you into the weirdness, and before you know it you're surrounded. It won't be flashy.

I have a vivid imagination and it's not too difficult to scare me silly.  

This book got off to a slow start.  At first, it was mysterious and eerie and (mostly) interesting, although I became very impatient with all the flashback chapters.  I wish Priest had not tried to make this a multiple timeline. We didn't need all those flashbacks, they just slowed down the story.   Melissa and Leo are spending a lot of time together looking for Simon, they could just as easily have conversations that describe what happened in the past, or think about what happened.  (I also didn't need all the realtor nonsense from Leo - I thought it might somehow play into the plot eventually, but it never did.  It seemed like a failed attempt to give Leo a character.)
Once the story gets rolling, it DOES get scary, for a little while, and I started to question my sanity since I was choosing to read it late at night while home alone.  I had to take several pauses to get away from it and touch GRASS (or dirt - whatever worked to distract me).

Priest REALLY bends over backwards to make Melissa unlikeable, and I wasn't really sure why.  I thought it might play a role in the plot, but it did not, not really.  ALL of the women in this story (Melissa, Otelia, and Alcesta) are assholes.  Why?  I don't know.  Maybe Priest wanted to write a "women behaving badly" story, and this is what we got.  

The ending felt like a bit too much, <spoiler>and since Simon was - apparently - dead and sacrificed to whatever god Gunnar was trying to summon, a happy ending was not possible</spoiler> and the epilogue added nothing to my reading experience.  I usually love Cherie Priest, but this book felt like a swing and a miss.

My thanks to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, Sourcebooks, and the author for the free digital copy of an ARC to read.

Is this a new genre or am I just discovering it? Fantasy books that feel like they are aimed at grown ups who loved The Chronicles of Narnia as kids. This is the second recent book I've read that felt very much like that. I loved it! It felt somewhat cozy, nostalgic, but the story and characters still connected with me as a grown up. I will say, however, that I struggled accepting Melissa, Leo, and Simon as grown ups. I'm not sure why since I am perfectly comfortable with dual timelines. I will also say that this book got way darker and twisted than I expected it to! But, I also felt a little sense of glee when clues were revealed. Yes, I think reading this book made me feel younger and more adventurous for a little bit!