Book Review: The House of Secrets

How was your Christmas?! We had a lovely one but, no lie, it is kind of nice to be all done. I am looking forward to finishing out 2020 at home, reading, and watching the kids play together with some new things. I am really not hating life being low key right now. I can tell my depression is ramping up, I'm going to start increasing my vitamin D, as I do normally in the winter, I'm getting outside and standing in the sunshine a few times a day, trying to eat well, and hoping for the best. 

But mostly this week I'm going to be posting book reviews because guess what? I am DRAGGING to the finish line of my 2020 Goodreads Challenge! My goal was to read 125 and this one is book 121. 

The House of Secrets - Sophie Draper

Claire lives with her family in a beautiful house overlooking the water. But she feels as if she’s married to a stranger – one who is leading a double life. As soon as she can get their son Joe away from him, she’s determined to leave Duncan.

But finding out the truth about Duncan’s secret life leads to consequences Claire never planned for. Now Joe is missing, and she’s struggling to piece together the events of the night that tore them all apart.

Alone in an isolated cottage, hiding from Duncan, Claire tries to unravel the lies they’ve told each other, and themselves. Something happened to her family … But can she face the truth?

Alright, if you like a psychological thriller that will have you all over the place, this is FOR YOU. I hadn't read any of the reviews before I got into this one and that was maybe for the best because I think it would have been more confusing for me, which is saying something because I was so thoroughly confused throughout this book. I found myself wishing I took notes because I was forgetting what was going on, and when, and there are parts where characters seemed to not be with it? I can't explain it to you without giving information away, but I was having to re-read several sections because I was so confused. 

All of the characters were pretty deplorable so I had a really hard time giving a damn for any of them and I had no idea what to even hope for as I got to the end of the book. The great thing is that while I wanted to give up at several points in the book, it was a fast read for me because I was so frustrated and wanted to know what the heck was going on. Even better is the ending of the book because there are a few twists at the end that make you reconsider what you just read and I did find myself reading things way earlier in the book to see if I missed something and sure enough, I did. The last few chapters are the best one, easily. 

If I had to commit to a rating, I would have to give it a 3, and that's pushing it. If Goodreads would let me, I'd go with a 2.5 because it was OK and I kind of liked it. I think if the whole book was as strong as the last few chapters, this would have been a 4 or higher. The author IS a great writer and you can tell that throughout this book, it just doesn't get there all the way for me. If you are a fan of strange books that is more suspense than thriller, and one that messes with your head a lot throughout, this is one you'll enjoy. 

Thank you to Harper360 for sending me a copy for review, they have been cranking out great books this year and I'm so excited to see what is to come in 2021! 

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