Skip to main content

Member Reviews

**3.5-stars**

Scarlett Vantassel is at a crossroads. At 29-years old, after a recent break-up, she has returned to her hometown, moved in with her father and brother and resumed working at a dead-end job. Needless to say, for a girl who once dreamed of greatness, things are not going as planned. Even her popular YouTube channel, has lost its glow for her. Sinister Scarlett's spark is gone.

On the night that she is set to film her farewell vlog, something truly insane happens, which interrupts her filming. Just as she starts recording her swan song, there is a grand disturbance in Winterview City, where she lives. It affects the power and can be felt in the air. Immediately setting off to investigate, Scarlett never does return to filming.

Once the dust settles, the city discovers an enormous gothic mansion has suddenly appeared in the downtown area. No one can explain it. Where did it come from? The media dubs it, The House that Fell from the Sky.

Eventually a mysterious organization, Crow Corp, is somehow allowed to take ownership of the property. And as you do, when you gain a creepy gothic mansion, you host a horrifying contest. If someone can survive one night in the house, which is clearly haunted, they win a million dollars. Also, as you do, you select your contestants via lottery. I mean, it worked for Willy Wonka.

Before you get to all that however, there is a lot of build-up. We follow Scarlett, her brother, Tommy, his ex-girlfriend, Hannah, and Scarlett's best friend, Jackson, as they contemplate their lives, their friendships and the secret of the house. We get the history of their relationships, what has caused them to be strained now and their own personal desires to discover the truth behind The House that Fell from the Sky.

The character with the biggest drive to get into the house is Hannah. She believes the house holds the secret to life after death, and even that she may be able to find her recently deceased mother within the walls.

Coming in at over 500-pages, this novel really leaves no stone unturned. While I believe it could have been edited down, and certain areas tightened up, I did find the premise behind this extremely intriguing. If I had my way, I would have had either Tommy or Jackson be the main protagonist and I also would have had the entire friend group be around the age of 21. That's the age they seemed, although their stated ages were closer to 30. I also found both Tommy and Jackson more believable heroes than Scarlett, and don't get me started on Hannah. Frankly, I'm not sure why anyone was friends with her.

Their time in the house was intriguing. It was sort of a Lovecraftian-Overlook Hotel, run by Willy Wonka on acid.
If that doesn't have you lifting your brows, I don't know what will!?

One of the aspects I enjoyed the most about the friend's time in the mansion was the cyclical nature of it. They would experience a bunch of horrifying things, then it was like someone hit a reset button and they would start all over again. This thought of a never-ending trap makes me extremely agitated; like a hallway that never ends. That really freaks me out.

And while they were stuck, with no sense of time, the events and surroundings were actually continually changing. They continued to face new monsters and challenges while their sanity was pushed to the brink. Even though I had fun reading these sections, I did feel like it was a bit more fever dream quality than I would have preferred. There was so much, it was almost too much.

With all of this being said, this is a good book and an ambitious debut. The author, Patrick Delaney, is clearly wildly creative and I know as his career progresses, his material will continue to get stronger and stronger. I for one, will be along for the journey. Looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Oblivion Publishing, as well as the author, Patrick Delaney, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I truly appreciate it!!

Was this review helpful?

I have just finished reading the house that fell from the sky and WOW if you like creepy tentacled beasts then this is the book for you. I found the novel to be a beautifully crafted, atmospheric novel that drags you in to a surreal nightmare scenario. Which is what the citizens of Winterview realise when a massive Gothic house turns up out of nowhere and anyone who gets close to it goes insane or dies. Ultimately its a tale of friendship on acid and having the worst trip of your life. My only critcism with the book is, it is long a 573 pages and I found my attention wavering at times but plough on as it is good

Was this review helpful?

This book was all over the place. It was eerie and atmospheric, but also confusing at times. The horror elements in this book were extremely vivid and very creepy. Most of it read like a horror film. This would be an awesome film if adapted correctly.

Scarlett is home at her father's house when the power goes out suddenly and things get weird fast. The house that appears in town, taking up multiple city blocks, is a complete unknown. Police don't know what to make of it, neither does anyone else. The closer you get to the house, the stranger things get.

Strangely, this house sits there for a year before this giant Crow Corporation announces the lottery being held. Scarlett and her friends are granted access to enter the house and whoever can survive the night inside the house will be awarded one million dollars each.

So, Scarlett, her brother Tommy, his girlfriend (and Scarlett's bestie) Hannah and their other very good friend, Jackson (along with one other individual whom I won't reveal for spoiler purposes) enter the house and have to survive the night. But, inside the house they are constantly getting separated, shown terrifying sights and are getting sicker and sicker the longer they stay inside.

The cast of characters in this book were great. I loved Scarlett. I loved how she interacted with each of the rest of the group. She has her flaws, yes, but who doesn’t? And she is dealing with her own struggles that you get bits and pieces of along the way. I wasn’t a huge fan of Hannah, on the other hand. She just seemed problematic for me.

All in all, this was a really creepy book. But even having read it in its entirety, I'm still left confused. There is a lot of going back in time and being given information about things that happened in the past that connect everyone together, that help tell the full story... But still, WHAT?!?! Very scary visuals and sense of fear, though. I really enjoyed this one.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It is set to be published in September 2020.

"The House that Fell from the Sky" by Patrick R. Delaney starts with a very original premise, which soon morphs into a not-so-original revisiting of the haunted house trope.
It takes forever for the plot to get started - the first 76 pages are just characters talking and talking - and even when things actually start to happen, there's still too much chatting and very little action. It felt like the whole story only occupied about 100 pages or so, and the other 400-something pages that make up the novel are just a filler, only there to make the book longer.
A lot of clichés of the horror genre are recycled in here, without the author bothering to develop a fresh approach to any of them.
The narration would have benefited from the application of the "Show, don't tell" rule and from some serious editing--the prose is inflated with adverbs and adjectives, and besides there are some pretty hilarious typos, such as "the cat's tale" instead of "the cat's tail" and things like that.
The characters are not particularly nice or intriguing--I found myself not caring much whether any of them lived or died.
There are some pretty heavy influences from Stephen King and Lovecraft, but it's not as good as the original.

Was this review helpful?

A haunted house that came out of nowhere? And you need a golden ticket to enter? Hello Charlie and the Chocolate Factory mixed with a Halloween haunted house! These were my thoughts going into the book, and after the book, I was a little confused about a lot of the book.

The premise was better than the execution of this story. The creepy house and the mystery surrounding it is the whole point of reading this book, or so what I gathered, but that wasn’t explained by the end of it. Why did it come out of nowhere?

All the main characters seemed more like teenagers than people who are in their late 20’s. Perhaps this is why the friends group was targeted since they haven’t completely matured and all have issues with unresolved grief. The house brought their grief front and center. The characters were all layered very well and had great depth, but didn’t mesh as well together as I initially thought they would.

The last half of the book was way better than the front half, it was such a slow burn. I’m thankful for the patience I have because I think it would have been a DNF if I was an impatient person. I really thought the book was too long and front loaded with information that didn’t pertain to the story in the end.

But the biggest question mark, Vincent offers entrance for Scarlett but she doesn’t want to go without her friends. There were three golden tickets, allowing each winner to bring a friend. How did we muster up all these tickets? Perhaps I completely missed something!

Was this review helpful?

3 stars
This is "13 ghosts" meeting "charlie and the chocolate factory", with a dash of HP Lovecraft's monsters.
After a painful breakup, Scarlett Vantassel, moved back home in Winterview, in an attempt to figure out her life and reconnect with her family and friends. Just a few days before Halloween, the city was invaded by unnatural lightning and unearthly sounds, bringing the most an expected thing a gigantic house.
the sinister mansion seemed to have mythically sealed entries, that would not give up to any attempt to open them, except on Halloween night.
Scarlet's best friend Hannah becomes obsessed with the house when one day she saw a glimpse of her deceased mother in one of the house's windows. a year after the bizarre event, a lottery is organized by a private company, promising 1 million dollars to the winners If they accept to stay inside the house from midnight until dawn. well, guess who is going in?  

I was extremely excited about this book and had to align my reading with my annual holiday so I can fully enjoy it. Well, this didn't go as well as I expected.
The plot is original and alluring to every horror fan. I mean this is a haunted house that fell from the sky!
My anticipation started dissipating when I got to about the middle of the story. I ended feeling disappointed and confused. I sincerely wanted to like this book. I just found myself skimming in "part 3". I think it might have been better had it been shorter.

The idea is brilliant and the first part was great for me, but I felt that there was a lot of preparation to get to the point of the book (the house!). The gothic vibes and the freaky decor was amazing. At an extent, because shortly the events got foggy and confusing, I barely could follow.
The main characters are a group of childhood friends, who got somehow drifted apart in the past years, and will go on the ultimate spooky adventure that will bring or break them apart for good. 
at first, I really liked the characters, the dialogues were witty and entertaining. (well in the first part).
Jackson is the ultimate class clown. I really enjoyed his funny comebacks.
Hannah is the serious one with an obscurely sealed sadness and Tommy is head over heels in love with her, and trying his best to make it after he lost his chance in becoming a major league baseball player. 
Scarlett sounded like a brave and eccentric character with a sensitive side. I really liked her in the first part of the book, but once in the house, a lot of her actions were unexplained. I ultimately ended up finding her annoying and most times I couldn't understand why she was crying. 
ok, I really couldn't get the role of vincent? seriously why is he even a character?
I really don't know what happened to the second half of this book. 😔
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my ARC

Was this review helpful?

<b>ARC received in exchange for an honest review</b>

Wow this is so disappointing. This was one of my most anticipated ARCS but I can barely get through it. Despite being marketed as an adult horror novel this reads like teenaged fan fiction. The dialogue is stupid and tries way too hard and Scarlett as an MC is unbearable. She’s “not like other girls” and represents all my most hated characteristics. This book is supposed to be about a terrifying haunted house and yet I’m having to slog through a “buying dresses” scene? I’m sorry but I’m just not surprised this wasn’t picked up by a major publisher.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley for opportunity to R&R</i>

Was this review helpful?

Oh man. I really really wanted to love this. It has everything I love: a strange house that kills people, a group of friends/enemies... I mean, The Haunting of Hill House.....right?

This, however, drags. The main characters are petty and just ridiculously unlikeable. I couldn't connect with anyone and was just waiting for someone to mess up so the book would end.

I think someone that the idea and plot of the book ends up overwhelming writers. This could have been great, had it been about 200 pages less.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Was this review helpful?

"Rose Red meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

When twenty-nine-year-old Scarlett Vantassel comes to the conclusion that her life doesn't resemble any of the things she actually wanted for herself, she drops out of school and moves back home, attempting to reconnect with the people she left behind. But a shadow falls over her return one early October morning when a sinister house miraculously appears in the center of the city, sparking a media frenzy that attracts attention nationwide.

Soon after the newspapers label it, "The House that Fell from the Sky," Scarlett's childhood friend Hannah becomes obsessed with the idea that the house holds the key to discovering whether there really is life after death. Undeterred by her friends' numerous warnings, Hannah becomes increasingly consumed with the desire to enter the house, convinced it would allow her to reconnect with her recently deceased mother.

Despite a series of escalating events suggesting that the house may be more dangerous than anyone ever thought possible, a privately owned company seizes control of the property and hosts a lottery to lure the city's residents, promising the winners a large cash reward if they dare to enter the house. To Scarlett's horror, Hannah uses her vast wealth to secure a spot among the winners to gain access to the house.

Now, it's up to Scarlett, her older brother Tommy, and her friend Jackson to face their fears and journey into a place where nothing is ever quite as it seems, and decide if they can help a friend in need, or if Hannah truly is lost."

Sold at the mention of Rose Red. In other news, I am now rewatching Rose Red.

Was this review helpful?

I DNFD this book at the halfway point. It was to slow for me and not something that I was loving while reading. I think this book has an amazing concept but overall it just wasn't for me.
Thank you for the gifted copy to read and review.

Was this review helpful?

This book really did bring out the creepiness. I liked the whole idea of a house that just showed up from nowhere and what that could do to a community. The whole atmosphere around the house was great. The friendships in this book felt real as well, because everyone can make mistakes and still be there for each other.

The pacing of this book felt a little too slow for me. The first half of the book felt like it took a long time before anything happened, while the second half picked up the speed.

One thing I would have loved to know more about is the house and it’s origins. I have so many questions about the house that I felt weren’t answered.

Was this review helpful?

Finally a haunted house story that is actually creepy.

A house appears in the middle of the city. No one knows where it came from, Only that no one can get inside. A corporation buys it and creates a lottery for the people in town to go inside the one day the house opens up. However, before the door opens the house still haunts people.

There are many unhappy souls caught in the house. There is no reason why they're caught and I'm glad it's never explained. I don't need reason in a ghost story. I just need creepy ghosts.

The beginning was slow. As much as time was spent on the characters I could never figure out the main character, Scarlett. Her wanting to become a detective came out of no where. She had a popular vlog for horror novels. She never mentioned being interested in mysteries or true crime. Personally, I judged her considering The Stand as one of the best books written. I know people are fans of Stephen King but really? The Stand?

This review is based on an advanced copy provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately it wasn't for me. It was a tad long winded at times and I never found myself really connecting with the characters. I did love the premise and the cover is spectacular!! I would have loved a slightly more condensed version of the story, I think.

Was this review helpful?

Struggled with the first 10% of this novel. Unfortunately I just didn’t click with this one.

Going to leave it down for now and come back to it in a few weeks as I can see it has potential.

I’ll update this review in a few weeks.

Was this review helpful?

There's a lot to like about this book - the horror aspect is a total mash-up of Stranger Things + Alien + Stephen King, the characters are for the most part intriguing, and the writing is incredibly detailed.

My issue with the book stems from the various back-stories - told in a series of flashbacks. The central plot about the house that mysteriously fell from the sky one October evening is very strong - the author definitely knows how to paint a horrifyingly beautiful picture with words. The back-stories felt a bit forced, and I honestly didn't think they added anything to the story. The group's foray into the 'haunted' house is the star of this book, and its in those chapters that the author shines.

Overall, I think it's worth reading, but if you want to skip over some of the 'Before' sections, you will still find this a fascinating read.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the combination of thriller with horror. It held me in the book and it definitely felt like I hadn't read many books like this before. The characters made me fear for their safety and I needed to know what was going happen at the end.

I would recommend this book.

Was this review helpful?

Unfortunately I wasn't a fan. It didn't feel like a gripping story. The characters were rather shallow, I wasn't rooting for them even though I wanted to. The ideas were there, creepy horror vibes, some mystery, but in the end the execution didn't work for me.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you, Oblivion publishing, and NetGalley for a copy of The House that fell from the sky by Patrick Delaney. This is a new genre for me to read and I was taken in by the Blurb and the fantastic cover.
When a mysterious house falls from the sky in the small town of Winterview. There is a lot of speculation where it is come from. At first no one could enter the house. There were no door handles and those who have got disastrous side effects.
The story centres around four friends Scarlett, Tommy, Jackson and Hannah. The build-up to the day they go into the house and what they faced whilst in there and Vincent the Magician who at first the authorities thought the house was a stunt, he pulled but when they change their mind when things start to happen.
Well what can I say about this book. I loved the premise of this story. It really drew me in. But I found the characters were a bit immature for their age considering they were supposed to be in their twenties. I expected this book to be spine tingling scary novel. Or is that my perception of what a horror book should be, I don’t know. I thought that the build up before they went into the house was too long. I wanted more about the house and the author kept going back before. When they were all friends together and when they first met Vincent. Don’t get me wrong, its not a bad book but I just expected more than it delivered.

Was this review helpful?

**This review will be posted on my Instagram book blog close to the publication date**

A house that dropped off the sky, and a group of friends adamant to find out the secrets that lie within. Such a catchy blurb, what’s not to like! I was a bit intimidated by the length of it but I had to get in!
Alright, first things first, it’s exceptionally written, even when the dialogues seemed a bit forced, the writing flowed very well and I truly liked how it was written and the way the whole story was told. This might be a chunker but the chapters were short and that helped in keeping the reading pace up. The idea was brilliant and really enjoyable, reminded me of Charlie and the chocolate factory, and took it up a notch by adding in the creepy, evil vibes of the house.

What bothered me just a little bit was how descriptive it was. It took very long to get to the heart of the story and after that, it was kinda predictable and read so much like a YA, the characters all acted and talked like spoiled teens, which they aren’t in this story! I encountered a few brick walls in the story too, which is normal I guess, given the length of the book. So basically what I’m saying is that this could have been better 100-200 pages short.

I have to say it, I think this book and writing takes on after King, well written, character-driven, and full-on descriptive, but just a tad bit short on the execution of a brilliant idea. Also, now I want that special edition of The Stand that’s mentioned in the book if it exists. Lol.

Thanks to Netgalley, publishers, and authors for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

As the title states, this is a story about a House that fell from the sky. Well we really do not know where it came from, but one day it just appeared in the town where friends, Scarlett, her brother Tommy, his girlfriend Hanna, and their friend, Jackson live. Jackson's dad is the police chief and is talked into letting the four friends and Scarlett's dad get close to the house. The house by now has already caused one death and one person who went inside seems to now be insane. After leaving the house and for the next year they all start to see weird things. This is the one part of the book that I just can't wrap my head around. The house is bought by a corporation who decides to let lottery winners inside the house on the next Halloween eve. There is very little explanation as to what the government or any authority tried to do for a year's time. Anyhow, guess who wins the lottery, kind of. Inside we are treated to some very detailed descriptions of what they are seeing and what is happening to them. This was my favorite part of the book. The visuals the author was able to create for me were detailed and while creepy, they were great. I will not go farther as I do not want to ruin the very gripping ending. I give this book a solid 4 star rating. I am very stingy with my 5 stars. I was privileged to be given this book in exchange for a review from Netgally, this was surly one of my best pics.

Was this review helpful?