There's Someone Inside Your House

There’s Someone Inside Your House is Stephanie Perkins’ first thriller novel and I have to say it wasn’t all that bad! Early reviews had scared me a bit because people weren’t enjoying it and I knew Stephanie was known for her previous contemporary series, so I admit I was a little concerned about enjoyment and thrilling levels and really it was a pretty solid read!Makani has moved to Nebraska after an “incident” in Hawaii and lives with her grandmother. Her grandmother’s health is on a slow decline with sleeping walking issues, so they basically take care of each other. Makani is starting her senior year at high school and things are rather sedate in their quiet little town of Osborne. But then a girl is murdered and pretty much everything begins to fall apart thereafter as it becomes clear that their quiet little town has been invaded by a serial killer.I started this book on the wrong foot, because apparently Goodreads didn’t use the full description that included Makani! It really just leaves out the first paragraph from the dust jacket that basically clues you in on your main character and who you’ll follow around! So when the book opens with a girl being murdered I was baffled! Clearly reading the sampler to begin the story wasn’t the best idea because it didn’t have the description of the story and it was sort of discombobulating to think that our main character was killed within pages! I started wondering if this is how the book would be told. This is clearly an error on my part and Goodreads for that matter too!This story also includes romance as well, which I was well prepared for too. Makani had a summer fling with Ollie, one of the police officer’s younger brothers. Ollie has his own dark past and secrets as well. It makes him and Makani a fitting pair in a sense. The romance was kind of sweet too. It may take over the story a little and just as you’re wondering if this will turn into a full on romance novel, someone else gets killed too.I found it really interesting that we get these chapters from the victim’s point of view. The novel is in third person point of view, but we follow Makani for the most part until the moments when we happen upon a new person and these end up being the killer’s victims. It was a little intense reading those chapters because it lets you see how freaking sick the killer is.I was also aware that our killer’s identity is revealed fairly early on, but I will say that doesn’t take away the scary factor too much. Despite knowing the name of the killer, the killer (yup vague terms that get repetitive all to protect the identity…of the killer) is still on the loose and still killing.I have to say that despite the claims that this wasn’t as thrilling as some readers had expected I will say that it was far more gruesome than I anticipated as well! The killings were brutal and sick. But that just shows that Stephanie can write a pretty great villain! The kind of villain that’s real and a type I hope to never ever cross paths with for that matter as well!There’s Someone Inside Your House was a rather quick little read. It has it ups and downs, but for the most part I was kept on the edge of my seat wanting to know just who will survive this reign of terror the killer is inflicting! Not all will survive and the end pretty left me with my jaw dropped in a few aspects! There’s a darkness to this book as well in terms of past events, but it makes for good reading and well developed-characters! This is definitely the kind of book you want to read on a dark, lonely night when you’re home alone! (Or if you’re like me, midday during broad daylight!)Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

I can’t actually remember how I heard about There’s Someone Inside Your House now that it’s been out for several months, however, I do remember reading the above reviews and thinking I absolutely had to get this book when it came out. It sat on my Amazon wishlist for a short while and once it was released I pounced. As a fan of horror and slasher movies and books, I thought for sure I would absolutely devour this one. I raced through this novel within just two days back in October of last year and then didn’t get around to actually writing a review until now. Why? Because I struggled to figure out how I actually felt about it. I both liked it and disliked it in equal measure.The story opens up introducing us to a female character that is killed off within the first few pages. Like a few others, I wondered if our main character was really going to be gone so soon. Was this a flash-forward? What was happening? Luckily this girl was not our main character but I actually appreciated the little mislead Perkins gave us here. If anything it fueled the mystery on at a quicker pace. When we are introduced to our main character, she’s easily very likable. Perkins gives us a strong female lead that clearly isn’t going to take the upcoming events lying down. Mekani is harbouring a dark secret but doesn’t let this stand in her way of making friends and forming a core group of survivors early on in the story.With most slasher/Who-Done-It novels, the identity of the killer is usually saved as an end reward. With TSIYH however, the identity is revealed just past the halfway mark – far too early. Again, Perkins makes the mistake of giving us an underdeveloped character thrown into the main plot and when you are told who the killer is, the ‘surprise’ falls flat. The only way such an early reveal could have worked would have been to have the killer be one of the core group (this also would have served as a reason to keep reading after such an early reveal). Had she actually taken the time to flesh out the killer’s character more with some more backstory, and made the novel itself a little longer, then this reveal would have worked.I saw some complaints about the level of violence in the killings, however, the blood and gore element of the novel was definitely fitting for a slasher if you ask me. Quick, bloody, no clues left at the scene and typically incompetent detective work from the small town local police department. The problem with Perkins’ choice of victims was that they were all minor to relatively unknown characters. I felt no emotional connection when the victims died and our main characters probably would have felt the same had it not been so close to home. Although I will say that the murders were well written and gorier than I expected.I will say this novel wasn’t horrible and it wasn’t as difficult to read as a lot of people are saying, but it also wasn’t a “hair-raiser” either (although I do see where the Scream comparisons come in to play). Ultimately there are two main elements to this novel: romance and (mild) horror, with the former unfortunately taking over. There’s Someone Inside Your House is chock full of teenage romance and plenty of make out/sex sessions, which detracted from the overall supposed seriousness of the situation given that people were being killed off left, right and center. Just one example is that two of the main characters made out during a moment of prayer for their classmates who had just been killed. Disappointing for a book that was touted as “The best new horror of the season.”Stephanie Perkins is a YA romance writer and it shows. Had the writer cut out at least half of the romance element and given us a little more of a feel for the characters being killed off, half the amount of criticism it received would also have been halved (since horror fans are notoriously hard to please). I wouldn’t rule out reading another slasher novel by Perkins and you shouldn’t either. Reading through TSIYH, you can tell there is a good slasher in there, and I don’t doubt a second would actually be better now that she’s gotten her first out there for us to read. If you don’t mind romance, you’ll be able to enjoy this book no problem. If you’re like me and could do without it, you might want to go into this one with an open mind and an extra scoop of patience.

I loved this book. I honestly don’t see what people are so upset about. The gore is good, the story is good. And plus it’s more of a YA suspense thriller book. I didn’t pick this book up expecting it to be very adult and dark. This book met my expectations for what it was advertised. Makani and Ollie are the cutest. I was very happy with this book, I would read it again, and I would recommend it. I enjoyed the love blooming amongst all the horror. And of course as teens, there will be a lot of angsty romance. The killer was wild, all the different gore and the plans of messing with people before he attacked them. It was unsettling. It will definitely make me think twice about a misplaced item or a cabinet left open. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is because the ending is not what I would have wanted or really expected? I still feel pretty unsure about how it panned out and the real why behind everything. I feel like another five pages could have wrapped everything up nicely. I know some people like the open ended, leave you guessing, think of the ending yourself and your way. But I don’t like that at all. I want everything laid out for me all nice and neat.

Makani Young leaves Hawaii under a cloud to stay with her grandmother in Nebraska. With her friends Alex and Darby, plus her new romantic relationship with Ollie Larsson, life seems to be getting back on track. Suddenly her fellow students start dying in gruesome murders and it seems like Makani may be on the killer's hit list too.I expected a lot from this book - it has a great cover and the synopsis seemed intriguing, however it was merely okay. I didn't feel that I connected with any of the characters which left me feeling a bit removed from what was happening. In this kind of book, you really need to empathise with a character to give it that sense of urgency and menace, but that was missing for me.TW: the murders are described in quite a lot of detail, some sexual scenes, swearing.

Really enjoyed this story. It started a little slow but then really got going to the point I couldn't put it down. Fantastic writing and really made you feel what the characters were feeling.Will recommend

Item bought as Christmas present, so don't have any views on it. Arrived on time and in good condition.

Enjoyable enough to fly through, but 3 stars is quite generous tbh. And I resent this being compared at all to Scream.The last chapter irritated me.

I love the front cover.