Alexa is struggling with her mental health and is currently very down on her luck. She overhears a conversation about a nanny’s job in Norway and craftily manages to steal the job details and the identity of Sophie Hallerton, who is a nanny and applies for the job which to her astonishment she gets. She’s to work for architect Tom Faraday who is struggling in several ways. First of all he’s grieving the loss of his wife Aurelia who has recently died, secondly to look after his young daughters Gaia and Coco and thirdly to build a dramatic environmentally friendly cliffside house in Norway. The story is told Then by Aurelia and Now by Lexi who is posing as Sophie.

There’s a lot I enjoy in this chilling tale. The start most certainly makes you sit up and pay attention and want to figure it out. I love the Norwegian location and landscape which feels alive and adds a unique atmosphere. The premise, plot and characters are well thought out, I like the way it’s written, it’s clever, smart with injections of dark humour in the narrative. There are some scenes that are almost tragi-comic especially at the start and this contrasts starkly with the puzzling events in Norway. I love the folklore and superstitions and inclusion of Norwegian folk tales some of them send shivers down the spine but add an interesting dimension and an explanation of the occurrences. I especially like the legend of the nøkk , the water spirits. At times things become sinister, the ghostly elements raise the hairs on the back of your neck, with characters having intense dreams, hallucinations or visions which defy logical explanation which leads to a narrative chock full of atmosphere. There’s a thought provoking environmental aspect of a difficult build and what the author creates is like a war, a battle with Mother Nature who is in revolt. There are some other issues such as mental health and grief.

Whilst I enjoy the majority of the book there are times when the tempo dips, for example there is too much detail on the house build. The ending is a bit predictable but it is enjoyable.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, Harper Fiction for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Now this is how you write horror. No cheesy cliches, no constant gore, no spending the whole time running in fear. This story is character driven with so much depth to each person you can’t help but feel for them all. You are tense and scared not because of the terrifying thing in the dark but because you truly want the characters to be ok. Building that sort of connection in a book is a wonderful thing.
The fear this book invokes is so believable it almost feels familiar, so it’s difficult to put down until it concludes. 10/10, all the stars, loved it.

This book is full of mystery, and suspense. C. J. Cooke has summoned me into the story, dragged me to the green landscape of Norway. I love how detailed and intriguing the author has written. This is my first read of her works but definitely will not be my last!

Oh biy this was such a good read, it was dark atmospheric and gothic and I loved it I couldnt stop reading as I had to know what happened even if I was terrified, I cant wait to get my hands on more books by C.J Cooke

Lexi is desperate, she has no where to go and no one who cares about her. So when fate hands her the chance to go to Norway to be a nanny she grabs it even though she is not the person who everyone assumes she is. Confused you won't be! The family she goes to work for has been struck by tragedy, leaving a darkness hanging over their lives. Lexi finds herself being drawn into this darkness and begins to doubt her sanity.

This is a multi-layered novel which blends the present with Norways folkloric past, with Nature playing a huge role in the story. It deals with difficult subjects ...... post natal depression, suicide, jealousy to name but a few. It's also populated with characters who are difficult to like yet it works as people are complex beings! This is a perfect supernatural thriller for dark winter nights.

The Nesting combines elements of a psychological and gothic thriller, adds a smattering of unsettling Nordic folklore and mixes them together in this ambitious but ultimately frustrating attempt at a modern chiller. It is also one very busy novel that requires a hefty suspension of disbelief which begins with twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Ellis recovering from a failed suicide attempt only to be dumped by the boyfriend whose home she lives in. Effectively homeless, Lexi overhears a young woman discussing applying to be a nanny in Norway and her ears prick up. Suicidal as she is, she somehow finds the energy to steal the young woman’s name, CV and references and following a week in a women’s shelter turn up for interview and answer a few cursory questions to secure the job. Posing as Sophie Hallerton with a nursing degree, the ability to deliver a Montessori education and a certificate in vegan cookery there is no sign of the fragile woman of a week before when Lexi arrives in Norway.

The job entails looking after the daughters of high-concept architect, Tom Faraday, who is returning to Norway to recommence building on ‘Aurelia’s Nest’, a family home named after his wife who committed suicide just nine months previously. Against her expectations Lexi falls in love with infant Coco and six-year-old Gaia but the more she learns about the ominous circumstances that wrecked Tom’s previous attempt at building a home (‘Basecamp’) and Aurelia’s death from housekeeper Maren gives her cause for concern. When a series of strange happening begin that include finding animal footprints inside the house, strange moaning sounds from the basement, visions of a strange ‘Sad Lady’ also seen by Gaia and deceased Aurelia’s diary following the birth of Coco turning up Lexi starts to worry that the children could be in serious danger. Combine these with reading Gaia rather sinister Norwegian folk fairytales and Maren’s ominous warnings about the destruction of Basecamp being payback for humans interfering with Mother Nature and it all gets a bit hectic.

The story follows a ‘Now’ and ‘Then’ dual narrative, the present day component predominantly told by potentially unreliable Lexi in the first person and the past component made up of snapshots into Tom’s increasingly doomed first build along with extracts from Aurelia’s diary. The plotting is patchy and things occur which do not always lead anywhere, making for a not entirely coherent whole with deviations from anything requiring a potentially tricky explanation! In fact there is so much happening, much of it not followed up on, that it’s hard to make out the authors intention and see the wood from the trees, let alone the fjord! The reader doesn’t really learn anything significant about Lexi’s own troubled childhood until much further into the novel and the main source of narrative tension is derived from her suspicions that husband Tom had a hand in Aurelia’s death and her determination to protect the children. The eventual conclusion is strangely neat given all the events of the novel and left too much unaddressed for me to swallow or make for a wholly satisfying read.

By far the most interesting aspect of the novel is the obviously well-researched elements of Nordic folklore which, when combined with snapshots of the landscape outside of the lodge, do evoke an oppressive atmosphere. Disappointing the novel fails to weave these native myths into the overarching mystery of Aurelia’s death and they sit alongside in a disappointingly unconvincing manner.

This book kept getting pushed down my huge tbr pile repeatedly, and I wish I hadn’t done!

What is really mad about this book is that Lexi’s friend lives in the same streets at I did until last year. What a coincidence!

However, back to the story, really loved it, I disliked Lexi at the start but I quickly warmed to her.

The description of this book as a gothic nanny story is bang on. It’s exactly that, and for me it hit all of the buttons. Creepy!

My thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Very different to my usual book. But I loved it. It’s mystery mixed with a fairy tale/gothic type story. Please buy this! 5/5.

Unfortunately I just could not get into this book. It may be one for other readers, but I was unable to finish it.

This book is a really interesting mix of gothic fairytale, environmental parable and exploration of depression. It is dreamy and ethereal and dark and scary, and surreal all at the same time. The threads are so tightly and cleverly woven together by the author that, even by the end, you won’t be quite sure what is real and what has been a dream.

The book is told through the voices of a number of people. Troubled Lexi, running from her demons and her problems, finds herself hiding out in Norway, pretending to be someone she isn’t in an effort to find a life better than the one she has been living. Tom, battling the forces of nature in a remote Norwegian forest to balance building his beloved wife’s dream holiday home with protecting this unspoilt wilderness. And Aurelia, feeling isolated in the aftermath of her second daughter’s birth and haunted by the ghosts of the Norwegian forest. Each of them experiences supernatural events in the dark, Norwegian forest and the remote fjord, but which are real, and which are products of troubled minds.

The dive into Norwegian folklore and stories was the part that most drew me to this book, because anything along those lines fascinates me. I loved the way that the author wove them in to the narrative of the novel, and used them to make commentary on the impact of human beings on the planet and its non-human inhabitants without being preachy. It was also a clever way to explore why we are drawn to stories of darkness to explain things that we are afraid to confront inside ourselves.

Aside from these themes, this is just a cracking good story that is a compelling read. What is actually happening out there in the Norwegian forest? What is Aurelia really experiencing, and what is just a result of the problems that can afflict women after child birth that can go unnoticed and unrecognised by those around her? Is Lexi’s past going to come back to haunt her? Is Tom everything he seems to be? I was eager every time to get back to listening to the book, and it made some mundane chores seem a lot less arduous, I was so engrossed.

The Nesting is a great book for anyone who loves the gothic and the mythic, but also for anyone interested in the human brain and the things it can do for us when we are thrown off balance. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be recommending it to a few friends.

If you are in the mood for a twisty, chilling thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat then this book more than hits the mark with its spooky story. It’s definitely one of those books that lingers in your mind after you’ve put it down and makes your fingers twitch to get back to it.

It is a definitely firmly in the thriller genre, but also so much more. At its heart is a deep mystery with a narrative that moves between past and present, revealing more and more of this story of identity and loss, drip by drip, drawing you in. Amidst the mystery are also layered tangles of Nordic folklore, superstition and the supernatural. The untamed wild Norwegian landscape of fjords and dark, creepy forests in which the book also feels like a character in the book, only adding to the growing palpable tension.

Curl up, get a glass of something you like and immerse yourself in this spooky, gothic treat.

First of all I just wanted to pass comment on the absolutely stunning and bewitching cover of The Nesting by C.J. Cooke.

The Nesting is a gothic tale of the finest proportions, perfect for the nights that are now drawing in. I recommend hunkering down and getting totally swept up in this often bleak and brutal story of Norwegian Fjords, folklore and psychological suspense. Although I would personally recommend leaving a light on.

Lexi is a complex character and has been having a tough time so when by chance more than anything she stumbles across a job as a Nanny it seems like the perfect escape and an opportunity for reinvention. Lexi is feeling that she might have bitten off more than she can chew when she realises that the job is in fact in Norway and she is leaving virtually straight away.

The job will be challenging that is for sure the two young girls have recently lost their mother Aurelia and husband Tom is grieving and on the surface seems more interested in money and work than his childrens well being.

So when the atmosphere around the house and strange things seem to be going on Lexi puts it down to herself and her current state of mind at her recent events. Although it transpires that she might not be the only one that is finding things a little strange and unusual.

Tom is an architect and he is building a house for his wife Aurelia, when she passes away he decides to finish it anyway. I found the landscape took on a character and a life of it's own. I could hear the noise of the fjords and sense the vastness and the great beauty. Also the fact that some things are way bigger than us as humans and that we should often have more respect for what is around us and our environment. Some things and places are meant to be wild and not tamed.

The Nesting is told in the present by Lexi and also other chapters revert back to the past and events that have led up to the present. I found these particularly moving and a sense of foreboding was screaming out across the pages like a howl in the wind. At points a shiver ran down my spine as if I was standing underneath the snow covered trees.

I found The Nesting completely unsettling, incredibly compelling and an ode to Norway, to the landscape and the vastness of nature and also a nod to the folklore that features.

Beautiful and bewitching in equal measure.

Persuasive writing , adept and allusive writing draws us into this unlikely story of survival of spirit in amazing and compelling way .. I've never read her work before (in any of the pseudonyms) but I'm certainly looking now. Serendipity is perhaps stretched when she takes on another identity and then pens her own novel but it sure works!

I really enjoyed reading this book and thank NetGalley for the opportunity to do so in exchange for an honest review. The style of writing is enthralling and the story is an absolute page turner.

I really enjoyed this book, got Turn of the Key and Bly Manor vibes from it. It was interesting and well put together - the animal imagery was brilliant and I enjoyed reading it a lot.

BUT I’m writing this review a month and a half after I read it and I can’t remember what happened in the end. I may need to rethink my rating...

A thoroughly modern mystery, set deep in a beautiful backdrop of woods, cliffs and fjords.
The storyline was composed of very contemporary issues, intertwined with dark and ancient folklore, producing a dark tale with a fresh and innovative air.
The characters were woven well, realistic and engaging.
This was an intriguing read, with layers of stories within stories, creating an atmospheric and highly enjoyable read.
I couldn't put it down

Winter Scandi noir books are absolutely my thing and The Nesting deserves a place on the bookshelf of all fans of this genre of literature. Lexi has lost her boyfriend and her best friend when both of them decide to move in together. Lexi gets to move on when she, by chance on a train, overhears nanny Sophie talking about a post with a Norwegian architect widower and his two daughters. Lexi, as Sophie, impulsively applies for the position...and gets it. But when she arrives at the remote Norwegian farm nothing is as it seems. While Lexibonds with her charges she begins to hear strange noises in the house, see elk footprints and receive visitations from a woman ... without any eyes. Why is the architect Tom pursuing building a home in a remote area, just how did his wife die and why are locals reluctant to work with him. This is a beautifully written fabulously dark and unsettling horror story. Highly recommend.

When someone is in such a depressed state that she has nowhere to go and no-one to turn to, then Lexi the central character jumps at the opportunity to take on Sophie's identity when she overhears her conversation on a train and ends up being appointed as a nanny to an architect. But this is no ordinary family as the mother has supposedly committed suicide and the father is building an amazing project deep in a Norwegian forest. As the story jumps between past and present, Aurelia the new mother and Lexi in the guise of Sophie the nanny we learn that there is something disturbing about the setting and the power of the nearby waters of the fjord. And throwing into the mix the detached state of the father and the fact that this amazing project is running out of finance and the partnesr are arguing about completion - then one realises that something is going to happen. Lexi sees things that are not there in the same way that Aurelia had and also there is a folk tale that is a theme that runs through the story. This is an atmostpheric gothic novel that is totally absorping and the underlying theme is one of vulnerability and depression. Having lived for a short time in Norway the author brings to life the feeling of darkness and winter so appropriately. Brilliant story!

The Nesting by C. J. Cooke
From the moment I turned on my e-reader, I was totally absorbed in this book! It was written from the perspective of two different characters, Lexi and Aurelia, through past and present storytelling. As the reader learned more about each woman, the tale became darker and darker, and evermore sinister. The Nesting was a powerful and very suspenseful story with great use of folklore. Set in Norway, it was an atmospheric drama with a marvellous horror thriller element, Gothic undertones and a story that touched on issues of mental health, grief, nature and the environment.

Often an emotional read, the author, C. J. Cooke explored themes of vulnerability and desperation, individual personalities and depression. The intriguing mystery kept me turning the pages throughout. I fully immersed myself in this one, following avidly as it moved towards a fulfilling culmination. The Nesting was character driven, ghostly and hugely fascinating, making it an utterly compelling read.

An addictive, quick-moving and creepy horror thriller that I highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from HarperCollins UK/ HarperFiction via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Wow. What a book! I have to admit, I was a bit unsure of this one, especially in light of its mixed reviews, but I'm so so glad I gave it a go. I personally love a good thriller, especially one with gothic undertones, but they are generally a bit of a washout, and I often find them hard to get into. The Nesting was completely different, and you were drawn in immediately by the writing style. I loved the tone, particularly of Lexi's chapters - it felt very chatty and relaxed, and completely drew you in even before any sinister events had begun. And once those creepy happenings begin... well, let's just say that there was one section in particular involving a basement that literally left me unable to sleep. I'm not normally a wimp when it comes to things like this, but the gothic imagery and the sinister tone really got to me, and I was totally freaked out!

So, there's a dual timeline approach here, flicking between Lexi in the now, and Aurelia in the past. I absolutely loved this, as it meant there was a real slow burn of tension being built - you know how Aurelia's story is going to end, but you have no idea how she got to that point, so there's that almost watching through your fingers feeling as you see her story develop. The atmosphere in this book is arguably one of its main strengths, along with its fantastic characterisation. Norway itself is almost like a character in its own right, with its ancient forests and magnificent fjords being described in a beautifully vivid manner. There's also a lot of folklore woven through the story, which I personally found really interesting (at times it felt almost like a fairytale for grown ups!), but I admit that it may not be for everyone - there's definitely a few times where you need to suspend your disbelief, but it's totally worth it.

All in all, I absolutely loved it. It truly is a fantastic example of how to write a modern gothic thriller, with the setting, tone, and characters all conspiring to create one of the best books I've read this year. It's completely riveting, with a writing style that I've never seen in other gothic thrillers, but which makes it all the more addictive. Definitely one I'd recommend (but maybe don't read it at night....

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to be provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.