Book: There's Someone in Your House
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Pages: 306
Publisher: Penguin
Read on: Kindle
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: Over a year after her parents sent her away from Hawaii to live with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska, Makani Young is still adjusting to her new life. She's made a small group of close friends and even flirted with romance, but her past in Hawaii is still hard to forget.
And then . . . one by one the students of her new high school begin to die in a series of gruesome murders. Makani doesn't know who's next on the list. Between this, and a secret scorching relationship with the school weirdo, this school year may turn out to be one to die for . . . literally.
General Thoughts: I wanted to read this book since it came out but I heard quite a few mixed things and decided to wait and get it later. Earlier this month I had a pang to read something YA and thriller-ish and this book seemed like the perfect amalgamation of the two. So I got it on my Kindle and decided to read it for Femme March.
Things I Liked:
1. I've read two other books by the author before- Anna and The French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. I skipped Isla and the Happily Ever After since my sister read and reviewed it and she wasn't entirely in love with the book. I loved the first two books and I enjoyed the authors writing style immensely. In this book, the writer has gone in a whole new direction from her previous body of work- moving from YA romance to a slasher/thriller. I was excited to see how she writes a new genre of book and I enjoyed both the writing and style.
2. The thing I have loved best about Stephanie Perkins' books are the characters she crafts. She writes some of the best and fully fleshed out people in YA lit. I loved so many characters in her other books and this one, I am happy to report is more of the same. She has managed to write very believable and real and relatable characters. From Makani to Ollie to Darby and Alex to Grandma Young and even Ollie's cop brother and even the characters that appear for fleeting moments are very well written and entirely memorable.
3. The slasher aspect of the book was good fun too. I am a BIG fan of slasher films. Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and movies in the same vein were some of my favourite films from the 90s. I am so bummed that they no longer make slasher films! :( So reading this book was like going back to an old, familiar favourite genre.
4. The author doesn't compromise on the body count. You cannot accuse Stephanie Perkins of not killing enough people, the body count is pretty high! She doesn't shy away and the book is pretty hardcore...YA or not. Yet it isn't gory! I really appreciated that.
5. This book has so much diversity and so much inclusiveness that it warmed my heart. Makani is bi-racial and there is also a trans teen- Darby- in the book, and all of this is handled so beautifully. It is just a part of the story and yet these important aspects are acknowledged and given importance.
6. The friendships and relationships in the book are incredibly relatable and were some of the best bits in the book.
7. What would a Stephanie Perkins book be without a romance? Even though this is thriller there is a romance here as well. Makani and Ollie and their romance was something I enjoyed quite a bit. It wasn't the main focus of the book but it was shown well and it wasn't overly sweet or mushy. In fact I think it was a fairly real depiction of teen relationships.
8. Throughout the book you get to see the victims world and their thoughts before they are killed. You really do get to know them and when they are murdered you feel the loss. Unlike several other slasher films and books where the dead person is just that- a body and nothing more. I liked getting to know the victims.
Things I Didn't Like:
1. The murdered is revealed at 57% in. Yeah! You are told who the killer is and that is that.
2. The killer's motive is super lame. It just doesn't fully make sense and is a little too convenient.
3. Makani is supposed to have this big mystery in her past and that big thing is told in 65% into the book and honestly it wasn't even such a big deal.
4. The book could have been a whole lot shorter, the middle portion lagged quite a bit.
5. Overall, it was not the most satisfying thriller.
6. There are no twists here at all!
Rating: 2/5
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