In Your House Will Pay, two families' paths cross in the most tragic of ways.
Grace Park is left wondering why her older sister has become estranged from the rest of her family whilst Shawn Matthews tries to help his cousin adjust to life outside the jail cell he called home for a decade.
A tragedy from the past is uprooted as events appear to repeat, and lives collide enough to change them forever.

I really enjoyed this book. It highlights the issues faced by immigrant families in America both today and in the past. At a time when the Black Lives Matter campaign is rife, this book serves to show the contrast between how different ethnicities are treated in the American justice system and the shocking consequences which can arise.

The characters in this book are developed really well. Personally, I think they were successful in helping you to understand the pain and confusion which they face.

I would recommend this book.

I was provided with a free e-book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Faber & Faber, and the author Steph Cha.
Undoubtedly a timely and interesting novel focusing on racial relations and injustices in Los Angeles, both in the past and present day. It was enjoyable to read, but ultimately fell a little flat with the characters not feeling totally developed. The ending was also a little disappointing. 3 stars.

I’m abandoning this at 40% on the grounds that it’s simply not holding my attention. It's well enough written but somehow it seems like a story that we’ve all heard too often, and I don’t feel it’s bringing anything new to the subject. I've decided not to review it on my blog or elsewhere since I don't feel I've read enough of it to give a full and fair review. Sorry.

A story of racial tensions in L.A. in the 1990s. As I do not live in the USA I am not aware of the background to this story. It certainly seems to have produced a lot of tension and anger.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book is based on real life events/people which makes this book even more shocking and thought provoking as to how race still plays such a vital role of how we are treated within the world even today.
Stephanie Cha captures both sides of both the victim and the killers families within this book fantastically. Given from two characters POVs - Grace (the murderers daughter) and Shawn (the victims brother). The book switches from each POV smoothly and gives you a feeling of how each family feel and the trauma and fallout each character and their family have been through.
This book really makes you think about race, culture and cultural differences, society, the justice system and how many people are discriminated against within this system, inequalities, violence and how our impressionable youth can be sucked into gangs and gang culture from having it glorified to them.
This book really gives you some food for thought and has left my mind whirling about many of these matters as a whole.

I’m probably not the target audience for this book as I’m not American and was only vaguely aware of the troubles 20 odd years ago. I found the multiple characters confusing and ended up researching the back story for myself. I found out that some of the characters had been prettied up and wrapped in glittery paper with a bow whereas their real life characters were quite unpleasant people with very disfunctional lives, which irritated me. I’m sorry but this one was not my cup of tea but I appreciate the research

interesting, attempt at drawing commentary on social issues. not sure how accurate it is in terms of all identities, namely of jewish identity.

A powerful and absorbing story that explores the racial tensions in LA amidst the race riots of 1992 and beyond. The author really drew me in from the opening few pages with both her writing style and her characters. A great worthwhile read

I read this book thanks to #Netgalley. The 15-year old black girl, Ava Matthews was killed 20 years ago by a Korean woman in a shop in the Korean part of the city, having been mistaken for shoplifting. The pain doesn't go away and revenge could be in order. Thrilling.

This is a novel based on a true story. Thought provoking, contemporary, well written and researched, it is a slow burn of a read yet emotional and absorbing.

Hard hitting story that tells the story to illustrate issues happening in America, it took a while for me to get into this book but glad I stuck with it to the end. How do you come together after tragedy’s how does it effect the whole family into the next generations racial issues continue to affect families a powerful story bringing two families together

This book was based on real events that happened in LA in the nineties about racism. It was very hard to read, too graphic in violence from time to time. But, it was very well written.
Very emotional, moving narrative.
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

This book is an account of a very difficult time in LA, with rampant racism and grim lives lived out in fear and suspicion. It is very well written, but unfortunately a bit too graphic and gritty for me. I struggled to relate to the characters, but the fault is mine, I feel I am not the ideal target audience for this story, being too far removed from this life in LA. Hard hitting and thought provoking nevertheless.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

Although a work of fiction it is clearly based upon real events in L.A in the nineties and the racial tension and violence that existed.
Without doubt this is a gut wrenching read but one that is necessary to get an understanding of events from that time.
Hard hitting it is but also a very worthy read.

A politically charged novel about the racial tensions that remain present in L.A. to this day, particularly relevant since the Trump administration has seen a rise in alt-right groups. Centred around the shooting of 16 year old Ava Matthews (based on the real-life shooting of 15 year old Latasha Harlins), this book pulls no punches when looking at the far reaching consequences of racially motivated crimes. Ava's family has struggled to move on from her shooting, particularly as her murderer, a Korean shopowner, Jung-Ja Han, walked away from her crime with no prison time. Ava was shot in the back of the head as she turned to leave a shop after being accused of shoplifting. It is now 2019, and her Uncle Ray has recently been released from prison following a ten year sentence for armed robbery. Is this the chance for the family to put the past behind them somehow and look to the future? A chance encounter at a memorial for Ava, brings together the Parks family and this is to have devastating consequences for both families. Grace Parks believed she had a pretty normal, happy childhood. But when her mother is shot, she is forced the confront the truth of the past, and has to question everything she thought to be true.

This is a story of two families, one Afro-American, the other of Korean origin, whose lives are changed by a brutal act of violence. As events unfold, we discover that the two families share a joint history and that events from the past have had a tragic effect on the present.

This is a slow-burner of a novel. Events and information about key characters is revealed gradually until the book erupts about halfway through and really picks up in pace. The novel ends with events unresolved but in a very satisfying way.

The novel is strongest in its depiction of how crime affects black families, both as its victims and its perpetrators. The #BlackLivesMatter movement features significantly in the background to the novel. The portrayal of the Korean family is less strong and the relations between the two communities is not explored in much detail.

Well written and well plotted and an ultimately enjoyable read.

(I was given an advance copy by the publishers in exchange for an honest review)

Thought provoking, topical, important - a must read.

I was incredibly moved by this book which both opened and broadened my mind.

I will not elaborate on the subject matter as it has been explained and explored in great depth elsewhere but I learned so much and was also thoroughly entertained.

Not much more you can ask for in a book!

Whilst the issues in this book are all to real and horrific I just can’t say I enjoyed reading it. It is based on a true crime in the US so it had to be hard hitting and it was. It is a cop out to always imagine the worst stories are fiction. I think I was probably not the best audience but still this is the review of how I found it.

Your House Will Pay is a work of fiction based on a real crime that took place in LA in the 1990’s. I always feel books with the ring of truth to them often have even more resonance because of it and that did indeed prove to be the case here. It did take me a few chapters to get into it but I became slowly engrossed in both the modern storyline and the 1990’s one. This book really paints a picture of LA both then and now and demonstrates both the parallels and the differences intelligently.

We follow two characters, Grace and Shawn who at first appear to have very little connection. They are different ages and from different areas, however, there are past events that do intrinsically tie them together. I was fascinated and eager to uncover the ways their lives become intertwined. All the characters in Your House Will Pay are really compelling with many layers and subtle nuances to their personalities which I appreciated although I didn’t massively connect with any of them which is my only tiny negative. What I thought was particularly well done, however, was that there were absolutely no easy answers here. As with real life, this book is full of shades of grey.

Overall I found Your House Will Pay hugely interesting. It told me a lot about a period of recent history in LA that I knew relatively little about and conveyed how long the consequences of one person’s actions can reverberate. Ultimately this book is about family, loyalty and vengeance. It asks the question, is revenge ever justified? And even if it is, does that make it right?

Thank you to Steph Cha, Faber and Faber and NetGalley for the ARC of YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY.
I found this a difficult read, not because it's a bad book but it was like a punch in the guts. It's riveting and compelling of course, and written with such heart you'll want to keep reading no matter how painful it gets.