The House That Fell From The Sky is a dark, fantastical and strange addition to the horror genre.

A combination of sci-fi elements and haunting scenes makes The House That Fell From The Sky a fresh take on the haunted house trope.

A golden ticket lottery allows people to enter the house for just one night – the winners will be the lucky recipients of one million dollars.

Scarlett and her friends are in their late 20’s, but they’re all stuck in their teens by what we see from their actions and behaviour, especially Scarlett. Scarlett has returned to town and is trying to rebuild her friendship with Hannah and Jackson.

It took a bit too long for to get into the house for me. While I enjoyed the build-up, it was a little repetitive at times.

Once illusionist, Vincent Velledux comes on the scene, the action and horror is ramped up. Scarlett, brother Tommy, best friends Jackson and Hannah enter the house along with Vincent. Each of the participants finds themselves challenged in different ways, much like exploring a haunted spaceship. I enjoyed the sci-fi elements, mixed with horror. The different facets of the house brings the reader on a nightmarish journey through the warped house. These scenes have a twisted dream-like quality to them

My favourite part of the book was the relationship between Scarlett and her brother. The sibling dynamic was realistic and poignant.

To conclude The House That Fell From The Sky is a creeping, sci-fi haunted house horror.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately I could not get into it. I do not think this was the one for me. The premise was super interesting, but towards the end to me it just fell apart.

Realizing her life doesn’t look like she thought it would, nor does it resemble anything she wants for herself, twenty-nine-year-old Scarlett Vantassel drops out of school and moves back home. Not long after her homecoming, a mysterious house drops from the sky in the center of town and sparks a national media frenzy. Scarlett’s childhood friend, Hannah becomes obsessed with the house, convinced it holds the answers to life after death and will provide her the opportunity to reconnect with her dead mother. When a privately-owned company takes control of the house and hosts a lottery for the chance to stay in the house overnight (and a huge cash prize for doing so), Hannah secures a spot for her and her friends. Can Scarlett and her friends save Hannah, or is she too far gone?

This book started strong for me. A mysterious house falls from the sky, and the very few people who go in die or go insane. Sign me up. The premise is unique, and I love a good haunted house. I wasn’t in love with the dialog, however, and the writing wasn’t quite there for me, but the story is solid. The characters and their relationships are good. I was rooting for them and I liked their group dynamic, I just got lost in the descriptions occasionally and got the feeling of telling rather than showing more than once.

This book covers a lot of ground and was no easy undertaking, and I appreciate that. If you’re into cool, spooky stuff and can overlook some details, I still recommend it, and I’m glad I got the opportunity to read it, just wished I had loved it as much as I wanted to.

This book started out great. A house falls from the sky! I mean, what?! How can you not want to read more?! Is it full of monsters, is it haunted, are there aliens?! I NEED TO KNOW!

We meet the four main characters and a possible fifth (a disgraced magician). The four main people could've been interesting if their ages had been cut by a decade, their backstories cut dramatically and their dialogue improved. As written though I found myself cringing at times and the only one who interested me was the magician and he's set on the backburner which saddened me.

I'm super nosy. I love backstories and emotional ties but I didn't feel the friendship here so reading over 250 pages of these 4 and their awkward and strained ties and endless bickering was too much for me. Communication and empathy would've gone a long way here but these 4 seemed emotionally stunted and I lost patience with all of them and that was a huge problem for me.

The House that Fell from the Sky started out promising but then devolved into a subpar story. In any case, cover is captivating.

I had a bit of a hard time with this book. It was a little long, and saturated with small details and awkward dialogue. I did love the concept, it was creative and interesting, but not enough to make up for the characters and forced interactions.

With this cover, this title and this description, I had high expectations!
In the end, I can say I enjoyed some parts of the story, but it didn't deliver what I expected. Read it to make up your own mind!

I really, really wanted to love this but every time I picked up The House that Feel from the Sky I put it down again a few minutes later. I kept coming back to it because the premise is so catchy and I felt drawn to it every time I would see the cover. The characters and storytelling just didn't work for me. I think this is probably a great book for other readers, but I just couldn't connect with it.

3/5 Stars

Thank you to Oblivion Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a freaking page turner. Book had me guessing from page to page and I never wanted to put it down. Literally did not see the end coming. At all. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Highly twisted nightmare of a story delving into life after death. Totally resets the bar of what a haunted house story should be.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3537022301

Too much background and very, very slow build-up. Very annoying characters that don't act their age. I'm sure it gets more interesting but its been dull for too long and I just can't find myself to reading any more.

***Copy obtained from Oblivion Publishing via Netgalley***

What a ride!
From the moment I saw the cover, I knew I had to read it! I’m so grateful to Oblivion Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

Delaney is very detail-oriented and that allowed me to visualize every moment as if I were there in the scene. He also invests time in his characters, which allowed me to get to know them and gave me more of an interest in their journey as the story progressed.

I know not every reader appreciates a slow burn, but I enjoyed every moment Delaney put into building up the tension and dread. There was even a moment that spooked me so much strictly because of the build up and from that moment on I couldn’t read it at night.
When the characters finally interact with the house, the pacing gets thrown off a bit, but that actually helped me to get into the mind of the characters.

What didn’t work for me was the age of the characters. They were supposed to be late twenties but acted more like early twenties at the oldest. I also wish we got more of an explanation regarding Vanessa and the creation of the house. I don’t like the big gaps of information even in a cosmic horror story like this one when some mystery is expected.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time reading this book and I want to read many more stories from this author!

This book checked all the boxes for types of stories I like to read, so I was very excited to start it. However, it felt like it took me so long to read this because I just could not get into it. It starts of very interestingly, but then the middle of the story drags on and on. It takes forever until they finally get to explore the house, and even that part was a bit disappointing. I wanted to love this book, but it fell flat for me.

I have to thank NetGalley for potentially introducing me to my new favorite author and potential favorite book of 2020. I have heard of Delaney before, but never read any of his work. This book checked ALL of the boxes and more. From the instant I started reading, I felt an instant connection to not only the stories, but the characters, as well. All of the main characters are so relatable and likeable. The story has all of the classic horror elements, with modernity added throughout with many awesome pop culture references that had me smiling from ear to ear. I can't remember the last time a book not only terrified me but actually made me emotional, as well. The ending is perfect and I could not have asked for a better ending. This is the first book I have read in exchange for a free review that I think I will have to buy a copy of for my collection, as well as any other books from Delaney now.

This book was right up my street so I was very excited to be given a chance to read an advance copy. I’m sorry to say I was really disappointed. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, who were all jn their late twenties, but you could easily have mistaken them for teenagers the way they carried on. I found the book far too long, everything was described to within an inch of its life and because of this it was almost half way through the book before anything actually happened. I’m sure there will be plenty of readers who will enjoy it, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think this one tried to do too much and fell short on so many levels. I thought the premise was intriguing, but it lacked good flow.

This was an interesting little book. Like other reviewers have mentioned, it's hard to delve into a review for this one without giving away the story, so I won't discuss the plot at all. Atmospheric, eerie, original - this was a refreshing read in a genre that is having a big mainstream resurgence. I'd recommend it to patrons who are after something creepy, spooky, and surprising.

This book is about four friends who, with the help of an enigmatic magician, try to understand the house that suddenly appeared out of nowhere one dark and stormy night. The house is strange enough on the outside, but once it’s doors finally unlock they realize the true nightmares lay within. A quick creepy read

I just finished this book and I have no idea what to think. It started out good and interesting and I had the feeling the book and I would get along well.
Then came the second chapter and I felt like I was reading about a bunch of teenagers instead of people close to 30 and I became annoyed with the book and almost didn't finish it. I say "almost" because after the second chapter, my interest into this book was sparked again, so I kept reading.
Then, something I've ever experienced with a book before happened.
I read and I read, because it started to get really interested when they went to check out the house and then I glanced at the little number down on the page that tells me how far I've read in percentage. I was shocked and stunned to see that I had almost finished the book without realising it.
The issue is that I can barely remember anything that happened in the middle. It feels like reading the first few chapters and then, all of a sudden, I had already reached the end. Even if I am not fond of a book and don't want to remember the middle, I usually remember having read the middle...
However, the end made this book really worth the while. It starts with the car accident and from that, it picks up pace incredibly fast and I was completely smitten by the book once again. The ending almost broke my heart, which was not exactly what I expected. I felt for Scarlett when she lost her best friend and brother and I am uncertain whether I think there should/could be a second book or not. The ending was incredibly well done; I love a ending that sums up the book well while staying open, so there's room for a potential sequel.
I have no idea how to rate that book. The ending is 5-stars worth, in my opinion, but I am irritated about that missing middle.
Three stars seems a bit low, because that book wasn't medicore, except for the second chapter (I really did not like that second chapter...).
I think I am going to settle on four stars because I was positively surprised by the ending.

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hi friends! I received this book from Oblivion Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book has already been published, so you can read it now if you’re interested! Although I received this book for free, all thoughts and feedback are my own.

Synopsis & Quick Thoughts
The House that Fell from the Sky is a standalone by author Patrick Delaney that isn’t your run-of-the-mill haunted house story. Twenty-nine year old Scarlett Vantassel isn’t happy with how her life has turned out. After dropping out of school and lacking inspiration with her once-successful horror blog, Scarlett returns home to connect with her family, friends, and roots again. However, the town of Winterview is in for a surprise when one October morning, a large Gothic mansion appears downtown, drawing questions and bringing horror to the area. A year later, it is announced that there will be a competition by lottery to spend a night in the home with a prize of a million dollars to those who succeed. When Scarlett and her friends end up as the chosen few, they will have to face horrors they didn’t know existed.

This book was a lot. For a very average-sized novel, I spent more time reading this than I have any book in a number of months. I feel like a common theme among books I’ve been reading recently, especially those of that fall into the horror/thriller genre, is that they’re often full of great ideas and concepts but lacking in execution. Unfortunately, The House that Fell from the Sky falls into this category to a near perfect degree. While the concept is exciting and I love a good haunted house story, the implementation is poor, especially in terms of writing and character development.

Positives
I really don’t enjoy saying that a book doesn’t have a lot of positives. For me, this was the case. However, I do believe that this book could be great for other people with different tastes in the genre. Some of the descriptions given for events and environments within the house were detailed and really creepy. The concepts concerning what went on inside the house (specifically with Scarlett and Vincent) where fun to read even if they were never fully explained at the end.

It’s hard to count an idea as a positive if it was poorly executed, but the concept for this novel was super unique and intriguing to me. I know it’s a cliché but I enjoy the competition/battle royale/survival of the fittest trope and based on the synopsis, this book appeared to fit that niche. I would be ranting and raving over this book if that trope was more fully developed and played out instead of the direction it chose to take, but I do think, all things considered, that this plot is unique and has a lot of interesting concepts.

Negatives
This review has taken me a while to write, and I don’t want to spend a long time nitpicking each negative aspect of this novel, so I’m going to focus on two main issues that hindered my enjoyment of this book the most: writing style and character development.

If I had to guess the target audience of this book based solely off writing style, I would assume that this book is for middlegrade readers who don’t have a lot of experience with horror novels apart from the occasional creepypasta. Taking into account the language and content of this book, I end up confused, as the material itself is suited for more of an adult or YA audience. There’s a lot of telling and little showing, and what few instances of showing there is is followed up by an explanatory clause that made it feel like the author didn’t trust me to follow along with his writing (a huge personal pet peeve of mine). The prose tended to be long and descriptive without saying much, and I feel like a more effective story could have been told in half the length.

I think the character developmental flaws is tied in to the strange writing choices, but is still a separate topic I think is important to discuss. It’s stated numerous times that all four of the main characters in this story are in their late 20s, yet constantly speak and think as if they couldn’t be more than seventeen (and none of this would be an issue if the author changed their ages!). None of the characters were overly likeable, more for a lack of development and ability to sympathize with any of them than any unlikeable personality traits they were given. Character relationships seemed flimsy and undeveloped, so the consequences of the climax of the novel weren’t anything that hit me too hard; even the characters didn’t seem too affected by the outcome of the plot. A shame, since improving the characterization of the protagonists could have saved this whole story.

Rating & Final Thoughts
I really, really wanted to rate The House that Fell from the Sky more than 2 out of 5 stars. I had never heard of this book before I requested it from NetGalley, but the cover and synopsis drew me in. I’m disappointed it didn’t live up to its premise, and the subpar writing style and character development made it somewhat of a slog to get through. I think there’s a real gem of an idea here, and I’d be interested in reading more from the author, but this one fell a little flat for me, although I would recommend it for a younger horror reader or a YA fan who is more of a plot-driven reader.