A book that sits well within the 'easy reading' category. Enough cliffhangers at the end of chapters to leave you guessing/wondering what might happen next. Past reviewers have highlighted the ending as being somewhat confusing or unclear. It did make sense to me, even if it went in a different direction to that which I was expecting. Overall, interesting but not the most gripping I have read this year.

This is a decent enough read by Nina Manning, although it’s certainly not a stand out book this year.
It started off well, however the pace slowed mid way through. There’s a good twist at the end, although it’s a little far fetched,
Overall, it’s a 3 star read for me.

I usually know what to say in a review, with this book I am struggling

There is no doubting it’s all there for a great psychological thriller, we meet Regi, a woman with OCD as she moves to a new life in a house share and becomes obsessed with an influencer on Instagram ( Mrs Clean ), there is an abusive past husband who starts to stalk her, she has flashbacks to her previous life where we find out she lost one baby and had one ‘sold’ by this awful husband, we see her slowly getting to grips with her OCD and starting to rebuild a life ( has to be said the OCD she experiences is told to the reader on almost every page and becomes tiresome but I guess that’s the point ) and she finds an ‘almost’ love interest and it’s all intriguing and then Regi decides to go stalking herself and goes on a mission to find the troll on Mrs Clean’s Insta page, and then you get to the final chapters and the ending and I have to say I was flummoxed by it, it goes into a parallel universe and makes zero sense at first, I had to read it 3 times before kinda understanding it, I took the liberty to check some other reviews and some reviewers say the same ( plus one had spoilers so that helped ) so feel a bit better about it but it is a very very difficult to ‘get’ ending that needed to be explained better ( imo )

Disappointing and as muddled as my review ha

2.5 Stars
5/10

all the stars! Loved this book so much. My favorite 2020 read so far. Thank you for creating such an amazing tale

The House Mate is a psychological thriller that blew me away and caused me to rethink my perceptions of the entire story after the book came to an end.

What I Loved

I love that there are so many themes running through the plot. The most obvious of these themes is the overuse of social media and how people can’t distinguish between reality and the carefully filtered world of Instagram. The main character, Regi, is drawn into the world of #cleanstagram, and she quickly learns about trolls and tries to save her favorite Instagrammer from the mocking comments of one such person by locating that person and paying him/her a visit. Are you cringing yet? Well, you should be.

Along with the theme of the overuse of social media, there are more subtle related themes of perception versus reality and the ability to hide in plain sight while rewriting your own story. Regi changed her name as a reflection of wanting to change her story. The big mystery is why? What is she running from? There are many more themes I could identify, and I loved how each developed throughout the story. It provides lots to discuss long after I finished the book.

My favorite character is Sophia, one of Regi’s housemates. Genuine diagnosable OCD is a challenging disorder to live with as much for the person who has it as those who live with that person. It takes patience and understanding that are unusual to see in college-age young men and women. Still, in that sea of misunderstanding, Sophia, with her gentle ways and empathy, never wavered. She is an excellent reminder that mental health disorders are an illness, not a choice.

I especially love the ending of this story. I went along, keeping a pretty fast pace and glued to the book, though not understanding where the story was trying to go. And, then, the end happened, and I was blown away. I read so many psychological thrillers that surprises don’t happen as much as I’d like, but The House Mates not only surprised me with the ending, it made me realize that my whole perception of the story had been incorrect. I am in total awe of any novel that can blow my mind, and The House Mate not only blew my mind, but it shook it up and spat it back out.

To Read or Not to Read

If you are a psychological thriller-junkie like me, you won’t want to miss this shocking, fast-paced tale of misperceptions.

The book started out interesting. Present, Past and a Social media world. Looking into three different aspects of someone's life and their obsessions with different things started out interesting, to being bit dragged out to finally having the perfect knot to the bow in the end.

Pros: I loved how all three stories came together in the end.

Cons: I only wish the middle parts of the story were bit more fast paced. Also, the social media revelation wasn't surprising.

Wow... What a story! Love it when you stumble across a gem of a book like this.

OK ill be honest, this is one of those books you come across that you think "yeah that sounds like something I might like" but you're not particularly bothered either way. I got approved for an advanced copy to review and had a gap in my reading plans to fill so went for it. And OH MY LORD!! Hooked from page 1, this was such an interesting read. What stood out for me initially was the way our main character's mental health issues were addressed. Regi suffers from OCD and extreme anxiety, the descriptions of everything she has to go through on a daily basis were so vivid and well written. It must be so exhausting to live with this disorder, I was exhausted just reading about it. The author's research into this subject stood out by a mile. This book was already a 4 star read for me for these reasons alone, the thriller part of the story was great, but I assumed I had pretty much worked out where it was all heading... and then.. BAM!! PLOT TWIST ALL OVER MY FACE!!!! Never saw it coming, not even an inkling! Definitely bumped this straight up to 5!

This is a great physiological thriller. Extremely well written and covers a multitude of topics. Massive congratulations to nina on this awesome book, and so many thanks to netgally for providing me with a copy in exchange for my review.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Mmm ... this was a bit of a strange one
It took me a bit of time to get into but sometimes that happens to me if I'm not in the right mood for the genre. I do try to time my reading of certain genres so I can get the best possible experience of reading said book.

It really did seem to be storytelling in 2 halves - present interweaved with the past - usually I'm ok with this but in this instance struggled a bit with it

Reflecting, I found the second half of the book better than the first half. More plot driven, going towards the end.. I certainly enjoyed the second half more than the first.

Overall, I think maybe a good story but could have been executed better
Is that the author's fault or editor - not sure

I'm so confused!!!
How can Regi be the then and now characters? Who is then? What happened to Olga and who was Fabrice? Is Baby Boy Jack? Is Lee the abusive D? Did she have 2 boys and a miscarriage? What was the point??????

The House Mate by Nina Manning wasn’t for me. I tried, I really did, but I had to DNF at about 35%. I have given her past 2 books 4-5 stars so I know I like her as an author but this book just wasn’t for me or I wasn’t the right audience. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

Desperate to escape the shadow of her past, Regi finds the ideal distraction in the perfect lives of others on social media. But innocent, scrolling turns into an unhealthy obession. Regimwill soon learn that seeking perfection comes at a price.

Regimis in her thirties and has a severe case of OCD. She starts a course at University in London and house shares with three other women. Discovering the "Cleanstagrammers" Regi starts following a Mrs Clean. Regi's past is dark and she is constantly afraid of something and Mrs Clean seems to help ner cope. I found there to be a few confusing elements especially nearer the end. The characters were realistic. The chapters were written in thenthen and now format. I did feel sorry for Regi, I don't think i could cope with OCD.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #BoldworldBooks and the author #NinaManning for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance copy of, The House Mate by Nina Manning. I found this book a little boring. The characters were ok, but it was just to dry for me.

A woman in her thirties with a severe case of OCD starts a university course in London and shares a house with three other girls. She discovers the world of "Cleanstagrammers" and starts following a Mrs. Clean which leads to new discoveries. The book switches to the past every now and then and the reader is left wondering what happened in her past. An interesting read, quite the page-turner but the end was a little disjointed and disappointing.

Very good read. I was engaged from the beginning which can be hard to do in this genre. While engaging, I feel like it took way too long to get to the plot. With that said, the last 10 chapters had me completely on edge! There were a few holes that I wish were expounded upon further. What happened to Baby Boy during the time he was taken away from Meghan? What happened to Olga? I know she had kids but the sudden disappearance is a mystery. Was Lee hiding her as part of a witness protection program or something? I wish the significance of Fabrice in the story was also further explored. Was he was a coworker of Lee's who was protecting Lee's child? Why wasn't Jack talked about more?
Overall a good story that deserves a part two.

I'm still trying to figure out if I liked this or not. I did take a while to get through the book. The HouseMate tells a story about Regi who has.OCD. You follow her as she seemingly tries to start over after having some traumatic event in the past. The reader is kept guessing on what it was. Regi also becomes obsessed with an instagram influencer. The chapters are interspersed with another story that has happened in the past. In the end I understood why the author had these parts but ultimately I don't think it fit. There were slot of instances that seemed unbelievable. I honestly wished the story ended differently.

Thank you #NetGalley for allowing me to ready this copy of #TheHouseMate

What did I just read? I just read a novel with chapters labelled “then” and “now” with several postscripts sprinkled after the “then” chapters from an Instagram Influencer, Mrs. Clean.

The book was a real page turner featuring Regi or Regina who was a real psychological mess – severely OCD, paranoid, guilt ridden and more – who seemed to be hiding from an abusive husband. I’m assuming that also involved here is the Stockholm Syndrome, but I’m not really sure about that because of the climax.

Following the ending, I was so confused about the plot and the finale, first I read ALL the reviews (which I never do) and then I simply re-read the entire book – thinking I had missed a critical element in the plot. And I have no more clarity about what happened than I did the first time. It would seem that Regi and the person we learn is hiding behind the Mrs. Clean moniker were interchanged in the plotting (both had sons called, “Baby Boy” and both were imprisoned by their mates and both were abused).

I have no idea what the real story is. Someone please tell me! I don’t know how to rate this. It was certainly “compelling” (to use the current buzzword), but I have no clue as to what really happened and who was who.

I’m thankful to NetGalley and the publisher, Boldwood Books, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Serious slog from a usually thrilling author; you can absolutely pass. Meh to the core

Regina has OCD and is now making a new start at the age of 35. She is now living with younger students in a shared house . We know that she has had some trauma in her life but although a story is gradually revealed and you sense that she is very frightened of something/some one in her past, you do not find out what until well on in the book. The descriptions of the tics and her feelings about contact with others are very well written and you understand why she feels the compunctions to do what she does. I also liked the description of the relationships with her housemates and others.
Regi becomes obsessed with an instgram influencer who has a page about cleaning. This ties in with her own cleaning obsession.. Another voice tells the story of an abused woman, is this Regi in a previous life ? This is also very well written and you can imagine that this is the cause of her current problems.
This book, although a slow burner in parts, manages to build up suspense and you get the idea early on that something sinister is going on (which is right, though I did not see the twist in the tale until later) . By the last few chapters it became a page-turner that I could not put down . I needed to see what happened so stayed up late to finish the book.
Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review .

When Regi joins a house share with three other university students it seems as though she is fighting to leave her past behind.
It becomes clear that anxieties are ruling her life, and the one release she finds is to start following Instagram pages, particularly ones showing the order and neatness she craves.
One in particular, Mrs Clean, attracts her attention, but when people seem to be making unpleasant comments on her posts, Regi starts to dig a little deeper.
The characters around Regi seem sympathetic to her neuroses, but Regi herself wants to overcome them and move forwards. But all the time she is receiving phone calls from THAT number which brings back memories still too painful to deal with.
The ending of the book was tense, emotional and a real surprise. Cleverly written and fast paced this was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

The story gives you a creepy feeling. Regi's obsession with cleaning and whatnot gets on your nerves. There isn't anything like obsessively obsessed, is there?

I was pretty sure I was going to give this book a 4.5 or 5... but the ending surely dampened all the suspense built throughout the story. I actually read the last two chapters twice to make sure it was all part of the same story. I was like, WHAT? WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?

I do like twists in a story but I am not sure how far this particular addition (the last two chapters) could be called one.

This would have been a gripping thriller and a sure 5-starrer if not for the unbelievable ending.