Lie of the Land is domestic fiction with a thriller edge and just a sprinkle of horror set in the UK's Black Country. Jemma and Rory have recently started a relationship and bought a fixer-upper in the Midlands. Jemma is ready for neither. Hadley-Pryce takes you gently by the hand and leads you into a bleak, unsettling place where everyone and everything is just a bit…off.

Overall, this is a deeply unsettling fever dream of a novel. It's a quick read, but you won't relax the entire time. The brisk pace keeps you engaged, making it a domestic horror that delves into the awful feeling of being absorbed into another person's life.

The narrative voice takes some getting used to with its constant "Jemma will tell you" and "Jemma will say." It sets up a distrust of our main characters, and their actions don't do much to change that over the course of the novel. Of course, the secondary characters don't seem especially trustworthy, either. You'll be constantly off balance and questioning.

Regarding the characters, Hadley-Pryce did a fantastic job populating her bleak landscape with people ranging from "the worst" to "seems fine, but is probably the worst." The true horror is that these characters are entirely believable. I found myself identifying with some and being repulsed by others.

I won't spoil the ending for you. Still, if you're not okay with a certain
amount of ambiguity, you'll likely be disappointed by this one. I actually went back and reread the last 30-ish pages to make sure I hadn't missed anything. There's definitely more going on than meets the eye, but there are no neat, easy answers at the end of this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Salt Publishing for the ARC.

Jemma and Rory buy a “doer-upper” semi in the Black Country. Odd neighbours, weird noises in the night etc.
There is a constant feel of unease about this story which is beautifully described. The narrative style, however, did not work for me.
And I was quite cross at the end when it all just petered out.

Thank you NetGalley and Salt Publishing for the eARC.
This was a difficult read for me. The constant use of she says/tells was exhausting and therefore I got bored, lost interest and dnf. Sorry!

The book is atmospheric and writing is poetic. The characters were mysterious. Rory and Jemma buy their own house in the grimy midlands. The house seems to be eerie, compelling and dark. There is something just so unsettling about it. While all the unexpected happenings and accidents surrounds them. The neighbour is mysterious too. The ending was so unexpected and unsettling.

Thanks to the Author and Netgalley.

I feel a bit conflicted on this one, the writing style didn't really work for me.
The constant "she says/tells" was a bit much. That's just me.
However, the story was good, and there's a real sense of unease through the whole thing.

This is a 'read now' book on netgalley which I rarely look at, preferring to request books instead. My (now I realise incorrect) opinion is that the read now books generally lack quality and are to be avoided.

However, this book drew me in. The synopsis sounded intriguing and, at only 176 pages, my thoughts were that if it was rubbish, I wasn't wasting much time on it.

And how pleased I was to be surprised by the quality of this book, it really gripped me and Hadley-Price is a very gifted, poetic, lyrical writer who gave this novel a great sense of foreboding..

I was very surprised but this book is a 5 star for me