I chose this book because of the psychological thriller element, but although I was really invested in Regi’s heart-wrenching story, it fell short for me.

The signs of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) described in the novel are well-researched. I had a friend with this disorder who was traumatized and developed similar compulsions, i.e. excessive door locking, counting, and extreme cleaning after his home was broken into.

I was intrigued by Ms. Manning’s plot beginning with an eye-opening prologue and then giving the reader a look into the life of an interesting and vulnerable main character trying to deal with a traumatic secret and a very real mental health disorder while moving on with her life as a traditional college student. The suspense is gradual but effective and the idea of using Instagram posts as a relief for her anxiety is unique. However, the ending was confusing and did not mesh with the climax of the story which was unbelievably coincidental and unfortunately, a real let down for me.

Overall, this is a promising thriller told in past and present. The well-written scenes are compelling and nail-biting as well as moving and heartbreaking. The characters are intriguing and mysterious. Unfortunately, I had more questions than answers at the end.

Thank you to Ms. Manning for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

I didn’t know where this story was going and felt very unsure of the journey. I was trying to take it in the direction I thought it was headed in my mind as I was reading it, you know the direction. The predictable one, but rest assured, this author did a great job of veering off the beaten path and taking you on a journey you have to finish.

Written in chapters that alternated between then and now and voiced entirely from the perspective of the main character Regi, this is the story of a woman's struggles to lead a normal life whilst dealing with debilitating mental health issues. Regi was a complex character who's story caused me to experience a wide range of emotions as I learned about the heart breaking events from her past and the reasons behind her behaviour. In the chapters that were set in the present day whilst trying to believe that she had escaped her past, she was living in fear of someone finding out where she lived and was convinced that she was being stalked by a man wearing a baseball cap. She was also convinced that the little boy who lived next door was being abused by his mother. Were these things really happening or was her paranoid and anxious mind playing tricks on her? Was it her desire to lead a normal life like her housemates or her obsessive behaviour that caused her to be drawn into the addictive and very often epic world of social media? Poor Regi certainly had issues and I felt loads of empathy for her as she struggled to get through each day with the help of her obsessive rituals. All she wanted was to be accepted and to have someone who cared for her but she struggled to trust people especially men due to the events from her past. Her housemates were a realistic trio, some of whom had secrets and like everyone else had their own everyday issues to deal with whilst struggling to deal with and understand Regi's issues and behaviour.

This is a captivating, well written story with a plot that covers a wide range of relatable issues including obsession,abuse and grief. The Author has written about the very debilitating issues of mental health and it's affects on human behaviour with care,understanding and sensitivity. It's not a fast paced story but it is a gripping read that caused me to experience a wide range of emotions. I thought this was a very enjoyable read and I would happily read more of this author's books in the future.

Regina is 35 has moved to a new area. Fresh start, new her etc and has signed up to a textiles course.

She has OCD and anxiety as a result of a traumatic past and is sharing a house with 3 other twenty something girls also at uni.

She starts to focus her energy on a social media account and becomes obsessed with the cleaning guru.

She gets drawn in and as the story unfolds we find the true reason behind her anxieties and OCD and what she has been through.

This book had a fantastic twist at the end and it certainly had me gripped.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed this book. Regi the main character is so likeable & you feel so much empathy for her situation. The story is really good & although the ending is far fetched it is overall s good read.

I really enjoyed this book all the way through. It had a really good plot, great main characters and really keeps you hooked on the plot. I would highly recommend this book.

Regi -Regina - is 35 years old and finds herself moving into a shared house starting her life with a clean slate. She has OCD and has her little behaviours that she must do in order to go about her daily life. Her housemates 'tolerate' her OCD and when Mini introduces her to the world of cleanstagrams on Instagram this gives Regi something to focus on  and put her OCD to a use within the house. She begins to obsess over Mrs Clean's account and a troll who seems to just want to put the account owner down all the time, I found this pretty prevalent  in terms of the top cleanstagramer that is currently taking Instagram by storm and it reminded me of her and her trolls on her account. 

The choice of using the chapter headings THEN and NOW gives you a look into her life and that fact that she is hiding from someone in her past, that is until you reach the end chapters and are met with a twist that I never saw coming!

I loved this book it was a very gripping and compelling read but come the end I had no idea what I had just read! I actually had to re-read the last two chapters. Kudos to Manning for creating and writing the book in the way she did, she certainly threw me off kilter on those last few chapters! The choice of using the chapter headings THEN and NOW gives you a look into her life and that fact that she is hiding from someone in her past, that is until you reach the end chapters and are met with a twist that I never saw coming!

Unfortunatly this was not a book for me... Whether it was the plot that couldnt hold my attention or life being too distracting but either way i couldnt make it past chapter 3 which is a shame as i loved other books by NM

*So what's the Story...*

Regina Kelly is a 36 years old woman who is living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She is doing an introductory textiles course. Regina shares a huge three storey, five bed Victorian house with three other female students who where strangers just a few weeks back. Sharing a place with other people does not help with Regina's life full of anxiety and compulsions. But she is trying her best to get her life back on track.

But who is the man who seems to be following Regina everywhere? Who is she trying to hide from?

The story of House Mate jumps between two time periods, then and now. It is abundantly clear that Regina is hiding a secret. Perhaps she is living a lie. As her anxieties keep increasing she turns to Instagram to distract herself. In doing so she becomes obsessed with a cleanstagrammer called Mrs. Clean. Where the story goes from there is what you'll have to find out for yourself. And you WILL want too find out, that I am sure off..

*Honest Impressions*

I read Nina Manning's 'The Guilty Wife' just a few months back. It was a book I highly enjoyed reading. I am an ardent fan of psychological mysteries. The Guilty Wife fit the bill perfectly. And so does 'The House Mate'. I love how similar these two books are. Not in the plot though. Oh no. But the style of story telling.

Nina Manning has a unique style which really works for the tales she spins. She introduces two parallel story lines right at the onset of the book. And then she manages to wrap these two lines in an unforeseen knot. This author does not simply on the twist. Even when the reader start feeling that they have come close to solving the mystery, Nina Manning pulls out a surprise.

*Reasons to read 'The House Mate'*

1. An excellent and accurate portrayal of the daily struggles of living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorderr. The author actually delves into the intricacies of the person's mind. As a psychologist, I really appreciate that.

2. The twists keep coming!

3. 'The House Mate' is a story extremely relevant to the times we are living in. This is an era where everyones life is on the internet. From online bullying to stalking, 'The House Mate' peers into all these issues.

4. I feel the author really seals the deal with how she constructs her prologues. Both 'The Guilty Wife' and 'The House Mate' boast of prologues that takes the reader's curiosity and level of excitement to a certain threshold. After the prologue, you cannot possibly put down the book. You HAVE to know.

*Do I recommend it?*

For sure. Also read 'The Guilty Wife' if you haven't yet. You will be able to appreciate Nina Manning's art of story telling more.

I read this book for a blog tour.

This was very cleverly done, flipping between Regi now and what seems to be Regi in the past, but then a massive set of twists throw all of your assumptions in the bin!

There's also a Mrs Hinch style instagrammer in the mix, which seems banal but Regi gets very curious and goes digging.

A very clever, very gripping thriller that just isn't what it seems at all. I think Nina might just be a bit of a plotting genius!

Feels like a bait and switch. I was all in for most of the book. What is her big secret? Who is after her? Why is she like this? What does the number 6 mean? I was left with red herrings and disappointment. This could have been very powerful. It seemed to be very coincidental and manipulative. Just didn't work for me.

This book is split into two POVs, plus random posts/comment sections from Regi's fave 'cleanstagrammer' (very Mrs Hinch-esque), and we spend most of our time the present day - with Regi navigating uni and a houseshare as a mature student, dealing with her OCD, and getting minorly obsessed with instagram trolls. The other POV is in the past, and seems to tie-in with the loss of a child that Regi seems to be struggling to cope with in the present.

This was a quick read, it's well-paced, but a lot of it was very predictable. The bits that weren't were less clever and more just outlandish, and from reading several other reviews it seems it wasn't just me that was left confused and unsatisfied by the ending. It was like the ending to a different book? But I genuinely enjoyed Regi's trials as a mature student, and reading about her coping with OCD (from what I've seen from some own voices reviewers this appears to have been written about well). Social media in thriller/horror is one of my fave tropes and I feel like this came sooo close to what I love about that vibe, and just missed the mark. Overall I feel like the end tried to do too much in not enough space and it left me feeling like I'd been robbed of the neat, satisfying ending I was expecting (and not in a good way).

Big thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Boldwood Books for the advance copy - this one's out now!

The House Mate by Nina Manning is a solid read, and one that will certainly have you questioning events as they transpire. I was a little slow to warm to this novel, but when things eventually began to fall into place I became fully engaged. Stay with this one, it will all come together in the end.

Regi is a thirty-something woman who is sharing a house and studying part-time at the university. Not really connecting with her younger housemates, Regi finds an outlet for herself by obsessively following an Instagram influencer, Mrs Clean. From the start, it is clear that Regi has a past from which she is hiding. This is the now.

A woman lives in fear of her abusive husband, having given birth to a baby boy who remains nameless. She rarely leaves the house for fear of the repercussions. That was then.

Told from the alternating timelines of 'now' and 'then', there is a palpable sense of tension throughout as the reader desperately tries to find a link between the two narratives. I, for one, was taken completely by surprise. Well played Ms Manning.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

This wasn't a bad book but it was not at all what I was expecting. The story claims to be a psychological thriller but it was less thriller than character study. Which is fine but it was not what I was in the mood for. I did feel like the mental health aspect of the story, Regi's anxiety and OCD were portrayed very well and well explained. Other than that though I was fairly bored for most of the book though and overall just didn't really enjoy it.

I was intrigued by this one, due to the fact social media features in it. Spending hours scrolling on Facebook or Instagram is easily done and before you know it time has disappeared from you. Many of us are guilty of sitting in front of the TV in the evenings aimlessly scrolling.

Regi suffers with OCD. She doesn’t share a lot about her domestic abusive past. When one of her new housemates shares an Instagram account with her called Mrs Clean, Regi develops an unhealthy obsession. It hits another level of obsession when a troll attacks Mrs Clean online.

The House Mate is told through the “then” and “now”. The “now” is Regi and the “then” seems to be about Regi, or is it? For me, it all got a bit confusing at this point! It’s a well-written novel, but you really need to get your attention span into overdrive to keep up with what’s going on. I’ve never read a book like it if I’m being honest. It’s definitely smart and a strong character-driven novel! I think I will need to read it again!

I went from thinking "I'm so confused this book makes no sense" to an instant revelation that changed the thought to "ohhh that makes so much sense". I immediately wanted to go back and reread it knowing what I know now. There were so many moving parts and unexpected twists that you don't know exactly what is going on until the very end. This is the kind of book where after you finish you have to sit and process while all of the pieces fall into place.

I really liked the premise of this book. Regi, the main character, has OCD. The depiction of her OCD is done very well, and gives you the feeling of being inside Regi's head when she feels compelled to do things like lock and unlock doors and rearrange jars. Though it's currently "trendy" to have a main character with a mental illness, some authors miss the mark and make the illness unrealistic or stereotypically "crazy." That doesn't happen here as Manning does a great job developing this aspect of Regi's character.

Unfortunately though, outside of the slightly scary and out=of-control feeling the author delivered successfully inside Regi's head, I did not find this book too suspenseful or scary. I did enjoy the author's tone, and thought the way she incorporated instagram posts into the narrative was fun. But the book focused more on relationships, babies, and past trauma more than a present-day mystery or thriller, until the very end.

An interesting story of obsession and how past trauma contributes to present-day coping mechanisms, but as a thriller, it did not really thrill me and I felt like I spent too much time waiting for something exciting to happen. The book may appeal to you if you are into character studies (Regi is an interesting character) and women's fiction/drama type books. Nina Manning is a talented writer though and I'd definitely give another thriller by her a try.

Thanks to Boldwood Books, NetGalley and Nina Manning for the advance copy!

This is my third Nina Manning psychological thriller and I love the way she teases us in one direction only to snap us back and leave us wondering what we just read. The protagonist Regi is attempting to start over which is difficult when she is constantly reliving her past, while trying to clean it up, literally and figuratively. Told in then and now timelines, the reader is given glimpses of a dark past that manifests in a troubling OCD of constant cleanliness, exasperated by following a similar person on Instagram. I honestly had no idea of what was going to happen, but I knew it would be very bad, and oh, was it bad. Great read and when you are finished, you may need to go back and start it again.

4 Stars from me

I think my head is still spinning...

I loved Regi and her motley crew of twenty-something housemates. So many times I felt very proud of her for tolerating the situation and being brave enough to keep going. 

Nina Manning's writing of her little 'routines' was excellent. The coping mechanisms and the awkwardness and angst that surrounded them was just so well captured.

The House Mate is divided up into 'Now' and 'Then' chapters - I don't want to give any spoilers so all I can say here is pay attention!

I also loved @MrsClean! I thought the whole instagram bit was nicely done and the nod to also becoming one of Regi's routines.

There were so many times when I thought the book was heading in a certain direction or that a character was going to end up doing a particular thing or being bad/good and I think pretty much every time I was wrong!

There's topsy-turvy and then there is this book...

Regina lives in a shared house with younger roommates. She is thirty five and has OCD so she has many repetitive movements. She has obsessions with things like cleaning etc. Something tramatic has happened in her past and you can sense her fear of someone or something in her past. Many questions within the book tie back to the possibility of Regina's life previously.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.