I was intrigued by the premise of the girl in the walls, it is pitched a a gothic story but I didn’t get this feeling whilst reading it, other reviewers have raved about it but I just didn’t feel it , it all felt unbelievable and I found myself getting annoyed with it, I can’t say the novel isn’t well written as AJ Gnuse describes things very well, it was just the big plot holes that unfortunately let it down.

I tried to like this book as the idea of it really appealed to me. However, I really couldn't connect with it. The writing was done really well, it just wasn't for me.

A very different story. An imaginative idea that someone can be living in your house without anyone knowing about it. There is a reason for this happening and the reader has huge sympathy for the girl. The things that happen are strangely believable and sometimes scary, leaving me looking over my shoulder!
The climate issues in the Deep South are also a factor.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, was very keen to get back to it and recommend it!

I was sent a copy of Girl in the Walls by A.J. Gnuse to read and review by NetGalley. What a superb novel! Ingenious, engrossing, heart stopping, emotional, all of these things in a well written little masterpiece. I don’t really know what I can add – I don’t want to reflect on the story itself, I just want you to read it for yourselves and savour the wonderful writing of a perfect book!

I requested this book as I was intrigued by the blurb. This book did not disappoint and all the time I was unable to be reading it, I was waiting for the chance to get back to it and find out nor about Elise and her tricky living situation. Orphaned and put temporarily into care, she runs away and returns to her old house, and moves in, living there without the knowledge or consent of the present occupiers.
No spoilers here, but I will say the evocative language, the insightful flashbacks and descriptions make this book an absolute delight.

I would recommend it to the top end of middle grade, even 12-14
There are scenes of pursuit and attack which could be quite worrying for younger children, the aspect of living in the walls, as well as the one (veiled) reference to masturbation make this suitable for an older child.

An absolutely brilliant read.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

A truly weird book, I really found it quite boring, and could not get into it at all. A girl in the walls is about a young girl living in the walls of her old house creeping around while the family are out.

This book blends several genres beautifully to create a unique, gripping book about grief, family, friendship and the secrets our homes may contain. It has a Gothic feel that I really enjoyed and the most evocatively described setting! The beginning of the book gave real depth to the characters, but I enjoyed it even more when the pace increased and the novel built towards the climax. It's very different from anything I've read before, and I'll definitely check out more books by this author.

I really tried to get into this book, but not matter how hard I tried, I do not seem to be able to force myself to read it which is a shame. The writing is beautiful, however there's something about it that doesn't pull me into the a story that I should otherwise love.

This is a clear case it's me, not the book.

Wow. It's hard to find a book which is something truly unique, clever and beautiful, but this book ticks the boxes of all three. The premise is a girl living in the walls of her old house and I was interested in how the story would develop but certainly wasn't expecting to encounter what I did. A truly evil villain, whose background story is explored just enough to understand yet not enough to detract for the real evil he carries with him. The grief the girl holds and the whole plot of being where you were most loved really broke my heart. Easily, without a doubt a 5* read for me. A must read.

I'm grateful to @netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in return for an honest review.

The Girl in the Walls is a unique story that I found myself being pulled in page by page, word by word. It was so different from anything I read before. Elise, the girl in the walls stole my heart more times than I could count as did Eddie. The author paints an intricately vivid world inside this house and even though I wasn't sure what was happening, there was something that kept me coming back to this book.

I am loathe to admit that I struggled with the first half of this book. The beginning captured my attention and I was drawn into Elise's story but nothing really happened after that and I didn't feel a sense of connection with the other characters. I wondered whether it was the book for me, but there was something, something that kept me opening it, to see what would happen to Elise. I'm so glad I did. This book, this story, from 53% completely took hold of me and I read the second half in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. It was tense, thrilling, and genuinely shocking from the moment Traust arrived. From that moment I was on tenterhooks and the story morphed into something dark and even a bit scary.

I loved the ending and felt it gave a real closure to the story and I closed the book with a smile.

It is truly deserving of 5 stars and even more. The author wove a tale that I won't forget for a long time.

"Girl in the Walls" is a bit different. It's well-written and a little bit creepy. I also found it very sad in parts. The characters are a tiny bit 2D for me and I would have liked them to be more solid - but maybe the author wrote them that way to highlight the main theme of the story. It was an interesting read, and I'll be looking forward to A.J. Gnuse's next book.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

A very slow start for me. After I read the first few chapters I wasn't compelled to pick it up again for another week and a half.

That being said once I got into it the story was interesting and creepy - imagine someone living in your walls, in your house, unseen, unconfirmed and you thinking you're just going crazy.

Like I said - interesting and creepy. However, it would have been nice if the main character - Elise was directive instead of reactional, I think that's why I was so indifferent about her. Things were happening to her and she wasn't really doing anything other than existing - albeit in a strange way.

It really grew compelling towards the end when Brody was introduced - as annoying as he was, and when the brothers reached out to the... exterminator.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I felt this story was a bit sad and creepy.

It was about a young girl who had lost her parents.

So, sneaking back into her old house, she stays hidden from the family who now live there, by staying in the walls.

But when the house is empty, she’s moved round making herself like she’s living there instead if the family, that is until someone sees her.

Here's the book that fascinated me since the first day of its being available at NetGalley; I'm attracted to the girl's silhouette and the title.

When reading it, I'm not sure how to feel. Sadness, yes. I mean, come on, the girl is a little girl. The whole thing about missing and the cops did not found her like come on, even if this is not a crime and investigation book but child welfare is essential!

And let's just say that I can't put an image of what's going on and how certain things can make sense in a house that I don't know the system and how it was built. I keep on thinking is it possible? The 11 years old can do it, so yeah, she's little and thin, that might work.

But really where's the setting of this place; in a suburban area, close to the woods, close-knit community, near the river, or what? With everything happened and the neighbor not even realizing what's going on. I mean with a girl looking wildly with her hair sticking out and television was turned on in full volume (probably house these days have soundproof walls) when the owner all went out, so if that doesn't make anyone eager, then I don't know what will. But perhaps I'm not attentive enough to small details therefore can't blame the book. When in doubt used google, okay? They're great to provide side information! Well, let's just focused on what the book about instead of unnecessary details like mine.

The Girl in The Wall has the same vibe (where the stranger living inside your house) as Parasite and I See You (2019 film) but not that it involves any bloody scene and murder.

It creeps me out every time I watched a film about humans trespassing by silently living in your house, rooming everywhere, eat and wear what you wear. The whole family might go crazy or lose their mind, thinking there's an entity living among them. What's to do after finding out the truth? And who would believe you if it's not recorded on CCTV or you don't even place it in the first place? It could make someone lose their mind and that's clearly shown in this book.

All this book/film is screaming CAUTIOUS and BEWARE at you. You'll never know what could happen so better be careful.

Well, I wanted more than the book could give but have to remind myself that the audience probably younger readers so the author can't make it too bold. I did feel suspenseful but overall it was just an okay read; not many scenes that could make stirs me from my sit. But no doubt, it's still an emotional read.

Beautifully written literary Gothic – just too much of it

A.J. Gnuse’s story of a strange Louisiana house, an orphan girl, two brothers, one somewhere on the spectrum and another mainly neglected child was, in the main, beautifully done though that somewhat dying breed, an editor with an incisive scalpel who could identify where the narrative arc needed to work at a lick, and where lingering time added weight and depth, was missing.

This is a debut novel, but does not read like one, although some over literary ideas (mainly the sophisticated imaginary dialogues between the central character and Odin) did get overdone. Likewise, not one but two ‘dark Gothic’ tension building sequences with the villain of the piece felt over contrived, and could have been shortened, as his unresolved psychology monologues were, by this time, just getting in the way of the need for the ending to be reached

Which was beautifully, delicately done

I was grateful to receive this as a digital Arc, via NetGalley, and will certainly be interested to read future works by this author

Unfortunately this one fell flat for me. I felt the pacing was incredibly slow and only really started to pick up about 50% of the way in. I also don’t think the atmosphere was as creepy as I had hoped it would be based on the synopsis.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A book full of tension and intrigue. Following the untimely death of Elsie's parents she starts living in the walls of her family home. The house is now inhabited by a new family and life becomes very complicated. At times terrifying, as the house seems alive and evil. Be prepared to be afraid, astounded and enlightened all at the same time. You can't see her but you know she is there.

So original. So different. So intriguing and SUCH a great read!

If you’re after a terrifying type gothic novel, I would say this one isn’t for you, at first I thought it was going to be a lot more gothic vibes hence me saying this. But if you’re in the mood for a slightly gothic touching novel but hitting more sorrowful notes, then this is it for you.

A story of grief, Elise was the only witness to her parents demise, and she finds herself orphaned with no family coming forward and being drawn to the comfort of the house she grew up in, she finds her way inside its inviting walls with it’s current occupants highly unaware of her presence there.

I found this such an enjoyable and different read, at times very slow paced, which isn’t a bad thing for myself, but a big point for those who don’t love to sit and dwell int he finer details of a story, but I would recommend this to anyone who wants to sit down to a book that is beautifully written with eery vibes and melancholy tones

Ok, this is a book that is impossible to review without spoilers, so don't read on if you don't want to see them!


Seriously, I'm going to summarise the whole book, so spoilers!



SPOILERS AHEAD!



Ok, so I went into this expecting a good old fashioned ghost story, imagining Elise to be the ghostly young girl who just couldn't move on, and Eddie the only member of the family aware of her existence. And I was sort of right, except for one key fact - Elise is not a ghost. Nor's Eddie or his family, in case that's what you're thinking. Everyone who lives in the house is alive and kicking. Essentially, what happens is Elise's parents die in a car accident, she spends a night in a foster home but isn't a big fan, so decides to move back in to her family home. The fact that the Mason's have moved in isn't an issue, because she lives in the walls instead.

Cue some quick googling, which led me to discover the intensely creepy thing that is crawlspaces (I live in the UK, and I don't know if they're not common over here or if I've just not heard of them, but the idea of having enough room in your walls or under the floor for someone to be shimmying around in them freaked me right out). So, Elise has a little nest in the attic, and moves around the house by sliding up and down walls and popping out of the back of wardrobes and cupboards (yep, I checked all of mine after reading about that!). She then ventures out into the rest of the house once the family are out for the day, spending her time reading, stealing bits of food, and generally having a strange yet (to her) pleasant existence. Until Eddie and his brother being to twig that something spooky is going on. But instead of assuming ghost, as I thought they would (yes I still held out hope that it was a ghost story in disguise), they worked out pretty quickly that it was a real person hiding in the walls, and managed to find a guy online who promised to help get rid. He turns up, is a total nutcase, nearly catches Elise but then doesn't, he does a runner, the parents come home (still don't believe that there's someone in the walls, not sure what exactly they think is going on at this point) and everything carries on as it was, just with the boys being thoroughly freaked out by the knowledge that yes, there is someone living in the walls. Until there's a massive storm, the family evacuate, everything floods, creepy man comes back, nearly gets Elise again but instead drowns. The family come home, Elise has gone. And there's a rather sweet side plot with Elise making friends with a neighbours kid who keeps popping up. And an epilogue that catches up with Eddie and Elise years later, which wraps things up nicely.

So yeah... it was weird. Not even remotely what I expected, and in that sense I was a bit disappointed as I do love a good ghost story. It's hard to describe what I made of it if I'm honest, as while I enjoyed elements of it, it definitely wasn't as good as I expected. Part of the issue is how much the synopsis and marketing for this novel portrayed it as a gothic novel. It makes you expect something creepy and tense, and when you instead get something that instead is quite odd and almost flat in tone, it's bound to lead to disappointment.

A further part of the issue was the pacing. Most of the book was incredibly slow and repetitive, until creepy bloke turned up then it tried to become this almost thriller style read. And speaking of creepy bloke, there's so much left unexplained in relation to his character that it just felt like lazy writing. This was something I also felt in relation to Elise. She's incredibly hard to connect to, as she felt like a very underdeveloped character, coming across as very unemotional and flat at times. Obviously she's grieving, and there's some quite poignant parts of the plot where that really hits home (her search for things of her parents that might be left in the house, as mementos of happier times), but at other times she just comes across as a very one dimensional and hard to understand character. Partly because you have limited insight into why she does what she does, such as why she went back to the house and lived in the walls and why she suddenly decides to leave at the end. It left certain elements of the plot feeling quite hollow and rushed, and others completely unfinished.

All in all, a very strange book that for me failed to live up to it's potential. At it's heart is a very unique idea, but it fell victim to an overly long and drawn out plot and, at times, poor execution. It reads to me like a book that couldn't decide what it wanted to be, and that disjointed feeling lead to what I felt was quite an unsatisfying read.

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.

‘But people who go missing, they don’t always disappear.’

The idea of someone else living in your house unawares has become an urban legend and a bit of a creepy pasta, but it does have its roots in some creepy real-life stories! In the author’s notes at the end of Girl in the Walls, AJ Gnuse writes that he created Elise as a way to comfort him when hearing odd noises around his home. Although Elise is probably the nicest person you could hope to be unknowingly sharing your house with, this book certainly made me happy I live in a small flat with no gaps between the walls or dark corners for someone to lurk in! From newly freed jailed exes to convicted felons I think given the choice I’d rather have sweet Elise in my walls as well – she is young, quiet and respectful but it’s still a creepy situation.

Girl in the Walls is actually a story about trying to deal with grief and moving on with your life. Elise’s family die in a car crash and with nowhere else to go and no-one to turn to she instead returns to her family’s home to be around her childhood roots. It’s very touching and melancholic in places and it’s written very beautifully. It does feel a little like it drags in parts but then the action builds up with the introduction of JT. I was perhaps expecting more of a horror element of this book (I kept waiting for the twist that Elise had been dead all along or something) but actually it’s more of a human story than a horror.

JT was a scary villain and the idea of him trashing the beautiful old mansion was very sad. I liked that the author says he is the ‘what could be’ for Eddie – someone so obsessed with the idea of people living in the walls that he becomes deranged. I perhaps didn’t get this enough in the writing itself, just from the author’s notes at the end and I felt it needed to become a little clearer when we are introduced to him or in his email chains to the boys. There were a couple of plot holes as well – I understand that Eddie didn’t want to acknowledge that Elise might have been real but when his brother gets involved why do they not set up hidden cameras rather than inviting a stranger into their home? That would have saved a lot of grief! I also really liked the ending (no spoilers!) but I found it hard to believe the change in Elise’s character to just adapt to real life with no support system or base.

Overall, The Girl in the Walls is a hauntingly sad story which made me look at my own house in a completely different way! Thank you to NetGalley and 4th Estate for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.