I am at a loss for words over this book. Gripping from the first chapter, it was utterly surprising and delightful, and the first time in years that I’ve devoured a book with such speed.

This story follows a locally set mansion and the families that inhabit it throughout its history, each with their own traumas, trials, and tribulations, which often left me wondering how much of it was a Curse and how much of it was simply amplification of problems that already existed. (But this is a spoiler free review, so I shan’t say which, if either, is true). Pulley weaves all of these individual plot threads into a beautiful and intricate literary tapestry that is impossible to put down. If not for pesky things like work and sleep, I would’ve finished this in one sitting!

Suspenseful

So many questions hindered me from putting the book down. Very interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat.

No One's Home was a perfect autumn read! The Speilman family moves into an old run down house, and fix it up after some traumatic life events in their old town. When they move in, they start hearing rumors about their house. Some people believe it's haunted, and some talk abut murders and deaths that have happened there. When weird things start happening around the house, they start wondering if they've made a mistake moving there.

With an ominous sense of foreboding and a creepy atmosphere, this book was perfect for me to read on a rainy autumn day. I quickly devoured it, wanting to find out if the house was haunted, or if something else was going on!

This one reminded me a little bit of Mark Edwards' The Retreat, but in a different setting. If you liked that book, give this one a try!

On paper, this book was a great match for me. It was a mystery, set in more than one period, let the mystery be created and/or solved simultaneously from different points in time, and was written by an author I'd enjoyed before. And it wasn't bad - it was enjoyable enough that I finished it before starting something else, even. As a matter of fact, I think what I disliked about this book was more personal preference than issues with writing. It just wasn't my kind of mystery. I quite enjoyed the house having the POV - that part was carefully handled and never seemed odd, gimmicky or out of place. It was, at its essence a murder mystery. And for a story that seems to have been heavily influenced by pieces of Shaker dogma, there just wasn't enough emphasis placed on those elements. I feel like this book could have benefitted from more chapters or one fewer families in the mix because I just feel like we never really got enough of anyone's motivations. Of course, there was going to be some limitation there because of the POV. But, as a limitedly omniscient narrator, the house wasn't half bad. I'm left, largely with an, I don't know. I did like it. But I won't read it/listen to it again. I will, however, try another by the author.

Despite an intriguing and promising setup, I slowly came to realize during my time with this book that the author writes about sex, death, drugs, and medical science as if they are an eighteen-year-old high school student trying to finish a creative writing assignment the night before it’s due. Characters’ motivations are lost, picked up again, and then abandoned entirely. Nobody is likable enough or interesting enough to root for. My hopes for a creative and original haunted house story were dashed to the point at which I dreaded picking up my Kindle for the next chapter. Oops.

I liked the story, but it could have been a little shorter and more focused.

It took me over a year to finish this. I wanted to like it. I wanted it to get better. I forced myself to pick it up again. I only really connected with two of the families. Lots of back and forth and nothing even remotely scary happened. Skipped some stuff in between. It got vaguely interesting toward the end so 2 stars.

An awesome Horror Hamper choice by my best Book Buddy Emma.
A chilling ghost story, a unsolved mystery and a cast of great characters, I really enjoyed it.