There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins (Website, Twitter, Goodreads)Published by Penguin Young Readers Group on September 26,2017
Genres: Contemporary, Horror, Romance, Thrillers & Suspense, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Scream meets YA in this hotly-anticipated new novel from the bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss.
One-by-one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.
International bestselling author Stephanie Perkins returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.
UGH you guys… I wanted to love this so much more than I actually did. I adore Steph Perkins and I had such high hopes for this.
Let me preface this review with the fact that it honestly takes a lot to creep me out and scare me. I grew up on The Exorcist, The Shining, Amityville Horror and so many more classic horror films that I feel like I might be numb to what is considered scary these days.
So going forward the rest of this MAY contain spoilers, so please read with that warning in mind.
What did I like… I really enjoyed the romance, but there is no surprise there. Perkins does swoon wonderfully and I loved Ollie and Makani together. There is one part that sticks out to me most and it’s when they decide to have a real talk about how they feel about each other and I just loved that so much.
I also thought that the opening of the story was really well done – it just grabs you and it totally made me think of Scream (the movie) as far as something that just immediately draws you in and invests you in the story.
That said, my attention waned as the story progressed.
I struggled with connecting with the characters. I think what I missed most was the connection amongst the friends. It all seemed somewhat superficial… which is understandable because Makani is new to the town and hasn’t known these friends very long, but I think it was sorely needed to keep me invested in the relationships and the story itself.
I also really didn’t understand why the big reveal was made so early on in the story… I felt for almost half the book, that I was reading about a wild goose chase and people guessing what or who was next and why, why, why was this happening.
Perkins did a great job not holding back on any of the blood and gore – though it wasn’t a problem for me, some might find it a bit too much.
Overall, a different read for the YA genre and I would love to see more from Perkins like this, but I’d like a bit more suspense where I’m on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who the big bad guy is and I definitely need more twists and turns to get there.
Thanks to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
About Stephanie Perkins
Hi, there! I'm Steph, and I wrote ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, and ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I also edited (and contributed a short story to) a romantic holiday anthology called MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME. A companion anthology, SUMMER DAYS & SUMMER NIGHTS, will be released in 2016. My next YA novel will be horror—a teen slasher published by Dutton.
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