Stephanie Perkins is by far one of my favor authors. The basic concepts of her Anna and the French Kiss series are nothing unique – it’s her execution of these premises that sets her apart. Her books have intricate characters, tangible chemistry, and an atmospheric vibe that is matched by few. Needless to say, I was beyond excited to read her latest book, There’s Someone Inside Your House. Sadly, it fell a bit short of my expectations.
There’s Someone Inside Your House takes place in a rural town in Nebraska where someone is picking off high school students one by one. Each murder is more gruesome than the last and there is no discernible pattern between the victims – anyone could be next. New to town, Makani mostly keeps her head down, and wants desperately to keep her sordid past a secret. With the growing terror and her growing feelings for Ollie (the resident bad boy and suspect in the murders), it’s only a matter of time before her past catches up with her.
I wish there had been more exploration of Makani’s relationship with her parents. They basically abandoned her during their messy divorce, but it’s only brought up once or twice. In terms of side characters, Makani’s friends (Darby and Alex) really just existed to doubt Ollie. Their friendship with Makani felt forced and trivial – they didn’t appear in the book a lot, and there was no real friend chemistry between them and Makani. Makani and Ollie were also pretty one dimensional. They were both bland and lacked development in their theoretically interesting background stories. Also, there really wasn’t much chemistry between them, making them a not very believable couple.
One thing I did like was having chapters set in the point of view of the murder victims. It added a level of tension and emotional investment that was otherwise void in this book. Overall, that’s what was lacking in this book: tension and emotional investment. In the final scene of the book, one of the major characters is murdered – it should be a gut wrenching raw moment, but to me it just felt skimmed over. I felt more empathy for the earlier victims who had chapters in their POV. The thriller plot felt fairly by the numbers – there was little suspense. It’s kind of like watching an episode of CSI that you’ve seen a million times before – still entertaining, but not thrilling.
While it’s not a bad book by any means, it’s just lackluster. The lack of tension and emotional investment in the characters prevented it from being the heart-pounding, tense, slasher thriller it could have been. I’d give it a solid 3/5.
26 Comments
Yikes – this is a pass for me. I appreciate your honest reviews
Thanks – they’re definitely the toughest for me to write
Ohh I like books like this, but prefer mine with a little more oomph.
Yeah, there are definitely some better books in this genre
Sorry it wasn’t for you. I really liked this one. I thought it was very 90s horror fun, but def not for everyone.
It definitely did have a 90s horror movie vibe to it – I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Sorry to hear you didn’t get on with the book – the premise does sound very interesting! xxxx
Yeah, I was disappointed because the premise was good and I normally love this author’s work
Hopefully your next read is 5 stars! Thanks for the honest review.
Thanks! I hope so too!
I’ve heard quite mediocre things about this one. I do have it on my shelf though so I think I’ll give it a go because it’s quite short. Thanks for the review.
Gemma @ http://www.gemmasbooknook.blogspot.com
Yeah, sadly people seem to be enjoying this book less than the rest of her books.
It’s such a bummer that most people haven’t really enjoyed this book. I bought it recently because I love horror (and I loved the cover) and was really hoping it would be good! I’ll still give it a shot but my expectations are pretty low now.
I really enjoyed reading your very honest and useful review. I don’t think I will read it now.
Thank you so much! Glad I could help
Sorry this didn’t live up to expectations. I like the cover, though.
I love the cover too!
Ah sometimes the books that just fall flat are the hardest ones to review – you don’t love it but you don’t hate it either. Really enjoyed reading your thoughts!
Thanks!
It sounds like something that I would want to read for pure entertainment and not because I am hoping to gain anything from it. I still watch the episodes of CSI, even if they’re not all that great.
It would definitely be a good read if you go in with that mindset
Sometimes we get disappointed. I hope you have better books next time.
Thanks, I hope so too!
It looked like it had so much potential. Too bad.
It has been a long time since I read a Perkins. But reading this review made me say “PASS”
It’s interesting to have a book from the victims’ perspective – sounds like Perkins was trying to do a Lovely Bones but didn’t quite have the same impact. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.