Hi Everyone,

This is the last review I have to post to bring me all up to date, so I’m feeling pretty smug with myself right now. I am able to completely ignore the fact that it was my fault that I fell behind in the first place. That’s a me problem and nobody else need worry about it.

Book 📖

Thank you to @tandemcollectiveuk for having me on this listenalong of How to Sell a Haunted House by @gradyhendrix. How to Sell a Haunted House was published on 27th February 2023 and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

Every childhood home is haunted, and each of us are possessed by our parents.

When their parents die at the tail end of the coronavirus pandemic, Louise and Mark Joyner are devastated but nothing can prepare them for how bad things are about to get. The two siblings are almost totally estranged, and couldn’t be more different. Now, however, they don’t have a choice but to get along. The virus has passed, and both of them are facing bank accounts ravaged by the economic meltdown. Their one asset? Their childhood home. They need to get it on the market as soon as possible because they need the money. Yet before her parents died they taped newspaper over the mirrors and nailed shut the attic door.

Sometimes we feel like puppets, controlled by our upbringing and our genes. Sometimes we feel like our parents treat us like toys, or playthings, or even dolls. The past can ground us, teach us, and keep us safe. It can also trap us, and bind us, and suffocate the life out of us. As disturbing events stack up in the house, Louise and Mark have to learn that sometimes the only way to break away from the past, sometimes the only way to sell a haunted house, is to burn it all down.

General Thoughts 🤔

Full disclosure, this isn’t going to be a glowing review like I was hoping it was going to be. Unfortunately this book and I were not meant to be and we did not get along. I spent the majority of the time I was listening feeling very confused and not knowing if I was supposed to be laughing or if it was supposed to be scary.

Some of the people on the listenalong were feeding back that they were scared but I genuinely thought that it was so bizarre and so strange that it wasn’t scary at all. However I can also appreciate that this can be quite a personal thing. Some people are frightened by super natural whereas real life scares me so much more.

Characters 👫👭👬

Because I was so confused and put off by the story, I didn’t strike up a relationship with any of the characters either. There was promise to start off with and I thought that maybe there would be some interesting sibling rivalry between Louise and Mark. However I got completely distracted once the crazy started and the two of them continuously annoyed me.

Writing Style ✍️

I wasn’t completely offended by the writing style. There were no serious red flags with the tone of the structure of the book. It was the plot that I didn’t get along with. I would potentially be interested in reading another book by this author to see how I find it.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

I don’t know if it’s horror that isn’t for me or if it was this particular horror book, but I didn’t have a great time listening to this book. I was really confused about what I was supposed to be feeling and I found myself laughing at as opposed to with on many occasions. There were lots of people on the listenalong who loved this book, so I am concluding that this is 100% a personal preference. I’m happy that this book is being so well received by others, but I’m sad to say that it was a no from me.

😍😍😐😐😐