Haunt Sweet Home

I adored this weird, tonally unexpected 'horror' novella. It's definitely in the cozy horror sub-genre, and it's more about familial expectations, being a fuckup generally, and finding confidence. I can't wait to buy a hard copy once it's released!

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker



Sarah Pinsker became one of my new favorite authors when I read her multiversal murder mystery And Then There Was N-1. It just blew me away. I loved her debut novel, A Song For A New Day, whose near future world of social distancing following a plague and terrorist attacks seemed far fetched when it first came out and now makes me afraid to reread it for how prescient it was. Her two short story collections entranced me - she is always a must buy author for me. I was overjoyed when I got an eARC of her new book, Haunt Sweet Home, from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so excellent! I couldn’t put it down! The protagonist is a young woman who has dropped out of multiple colleges and has been working crappy retail/service jobs for years when she gets an offer from her successful cousin to do grunt work on his reality show, which is half ghost hunting, half home makeover. The author captures the protagonist’s voice perfectly and seemingly effortlessly - within a few pages, you know her so well. This story surprised me several times - I thought I knew where it was going more than once and I was wrong each time, and happier for being so.

Are the ghosts on the show real or manufactured? I’m not going to spoil you, you’ll just have to read it yourself. Go out and get this book ASAP!

I love Sarah Pinkser so, so, much and couldn't wait to read this take on reality tv.

Pinkser plots a thrilling story of a girl who is trying to find her way while working jobs that require very little effort. When Mara's cousin get hers a job on. his fairly popular reality show, she is ecstatic. She finds out at the onset that she works the worst shifts and is called on frequently to create the haunted situations that have made the Haunt Sweet Home show infamous.

Without giving anything away - let's say that Mara gets much more than what she bargained for and this is a unique take on the coming of age story. Join Mara as she learns the hard way how reality shows are filmed !
#tor #sarapinkser
#hauntsweethome

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Haunt Sweet Home was a really fun read. It was a short and quick read that was just scary enough. I really enjoyed this story and I would definitely recommend it to horror fans.