The House Guest by Charlotte Northedge is a chilling psychological thriller with a dark, sinister plot!!

When struggling Kate encounters a benevolent life coach in a north London suburb, her prospects improve drastically. Kate enjoys babysitting for Mark and Della which gives her the opportunity to share in their picture book lifestyle. Della's increasing generosity guarantees Kate's loyalty.

Kate drifts away from her old life to a new beginning but is there something more sinister going on?

Gripping story, very well written with a cast of compelling believable characters. Looking forward to more from this author!

I was offered the opportunity to read this before publication in return for a review. I found the premise intriguing so decided to go for it. The prologue dangles enough to make reading on inevitable: who is the woman and who is the child?
The main character, Kate, is sympathetic; she’s bright and ambitious but has been through some tough times. A chance meeting in a café starts a chain of events that she (and I) could never have imagined. Of course Kate is attracted to Della, her house and family and lifestyle.
I hovered between eating up the story, eager to know how it would pan out, and wondering whether people (Kates or Dellas) would really behave like that. But does that really matter? I read in part to be whisked away from reality so perhaps not. Of course fiction doesn't have to be realistic but I think it’s more important that it is when the world in which the story is set is so true to life.
If you’re after a story that keeps you reading on to find out just what murkiness might lie beneath an apparently gilded life, this is for you.

Kate is working a zero hours contract at a coffee house. She is living hand to mouth in a dump of a flat. When the poised and glamorous Della shows a keen interest in her she is very flattered. Della invites her to join the life coaching sessions she runs for women. As they continue to meet their relationship becomes more complex and Kate becomes increasingly dependent on Della's approval. Kate is woven into the fabric of Della's family and by the time she understands the plans Della has for her it is too late.

This is a gripping and intriguing thriller with a pace that gradually increases the tension. It is very much about psychological manipulation and the exploitation of vulnerability. There are plenty of strands within a cleverly created plot. The writing is skilful and creates a real sense of drama. The characters are very well drawn; insecure and eager to please Kate, cold and calculating Della and her breezy husband, Mark. I did think that the characters of Della's children could have been more deeply developed given the important role they play in the story.

This is a really impressive debut novel which I recommend highly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kate comes to London to find her missing sister and embarks on a friendship with life coach Della. This friendship is the spark for a tense thriller that left me feeling so uneasy! Fast paced and drawing you in from the first page, this is a brilliant read.

Well this book keeps you on your toes. The author writes a very clever story. You think it's going in one direction and then it suddenly changes. I certainly wasn't expecting the ending. I would like to think that it will lead to a follow up book.
Kate and Della were interesting characters and I would love to continue their story.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Kate moves to London ostensibly to search for her older sister who has gone missing some time before the story opens. When we first meet her, Kate is living a lonely existence in a grotty flat share, with no friends, and a mundane job in a cafe, so when she meets the glamorous, Della, she is easily taken in by her charm. Life coach, Della starts to take an interest in Kate and whens she invites her to participate in a series of group meetings which Della holds at her beautiful home, Kate, although reticent about sharing her secrets, is drawn into what is on offer by this charismatic older woman.

The story flows, albeit it rather slowly in places but this doesn't detract from the overall effect of the plot as right from the start there is a sense of unease and a distinct feeling that something isn't quite right. Della is beautifully described, complex, manipulative and used to having things done her way and as she controls her group therapies as she does people it doesn't bode well for Kate who is easily drawn into this seemingly perfect environment. Kate was, by far, my favourite character, troubled beyond measure and yet so achingly vulnerable that only wanted what was best for her.

The House Guest is a well written, twisty, turny, psychological suspense novel about the bonds of sisterhood and motherhood and of the many differences between them which can so easily splinter and fracture into a million pieces. I won't give anything more away except to say that I raced through The House Guest in just one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed watching how everything came together.

This had a good opening and was an enjoyable enough book, but it never really grabbed me I'm afraid. The whole plot seemed very unbelievable with too many coincidences and difficult to believe that Kate was quite so naive, and Liam quite so understanding and long suffering.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book

This novel follows Kate, who moves to London in a spur-of-the-moment decision to look for her older sister who disappeared 15 years earlier. Kate meets enigmatic “life coach” Della and becomes entangled in her glamorous family, culminating in a thicket of life-changing plot twists.

It’s slow to start but really picks up about half way through and then I just couldn’t put it down! Lots of twists and turns and quite open ended so you can imagine what Kate might get up to after the novel ends or, like me, be annoyed that it’s not better resolved. I was worried at the beginning it was going to be a bit similar to a book I read last week about a woman who loses her sister and moves in with an enigmatic stranger, but this book quickly forged its own path and became something really quite unexpected!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I have to be honest here, I couldn’t really get into this one. It was a bit confusing as it seemed to jump from Kate’s life now to beforehand. I think she is still living in her past as she goes back there a lot. The characters I thought worked well but it just wasn’t for me. Good storyline but hard to read.

When Kate's sister disappeared she decided to move to London but as no friends to speak off and was feeling alone until she met life coach Della.
But when Kate takes up the offer to move in with Della and her family all is not what it seems.
What is the family hiding and is it reallysafe for Della to be there?
Full of twists that you will not be expecting.

Kate and Della meet up by chance but they are not good for each other. Kate becomes too entangled in Della's life and as cracks begin to surface some unsettling occurrences begin to appear. An unsettling story that you can't help getting pulled into. Would definitely recommend it.

This is a really good psychological thriller. The story picks up pace gradually and keeps you hooked right until the end. The atmosphere also starts to change as the story picks up as you realise what is happening and the pieces start to come together. This really is a cleverly written story which is well thought out and plotted. The leading characters of Kate and Della are equally well written, both completely different characters but both strong yet damaged in their own way. This is a really great debut thriller.

I tried to enjoy this but sadly had to give up as just could not engage with the story or the characters and found it meandering,apologies as I really did want ti enjoy it

“You won’t regret it,” she said…Sometimes when I wake in the night, I can still hear those words.”

The House Guest is part thriller, part mystery, and part domestic drama. It’s a twisted tale of manipulation and deceit. Kate has moved to London to look for her missing sister. She’s barely surviving on a server’s salary and living with two roommates in a cheap apartment when she meets wellness guru and lifestyle coach Della Hunter. Della invites her to a mentoring group she leads for young women. Kate quickly falls under the spell of this charismatic older woman and becomes enmeshed in Della’s life. There are catered dinner parties with sophisticated, successful guests, fancy meals and expensive wines. When Della and her husband Mark invite Della to come with them to their summer home in the south of France. Kate thinks she will be the babysitter for their two young children. She will but she doesn’t realize they want much more from her. So much more.

The House Guest is an unputdownable read! Charlotte Northedge builds suspense slowly and the tension is nearly unbearable. You feel Kate’s confusion and anger build until a shocking decision threatens to destroy her life. And then there is one last final twist that you will not see coming! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK and Charlotte Northedge for this ARC.

Loved this book. Was very entertaining. The plot was interesting and I kept wanting to warn her what was coming!would reccomend

Kate moves to London searching for her sister. She finds a friend in Della but is soon caught up in Della's life and is finding it difficult to escape. What does Della want with Kate and is their friendship all it seems to be?

Twenty five year old Kate has finally left the cocoon of her home and ventured to London to find her sister, Scarlett, who disappeared 15 years ago. Kate is lonely, overwhelmed with things and lacks confidence so she falls easy prey to Della. Della Hunter is a very sophisticated life coach and invites Kate to join her group of young women who are seeking motivation and confidence to pursue their life goals.

Della is a force of nature, a very compelling woman, with a handsome, successful husband and 2 well behaved and polished young children. Kate can’t help comparing herself to the perfect Della, wanting what she has, wanting her life. But as she gets more sucked in to Della’s orbit you realise this isn’t going to end well. Alarm bells should be ringing for Kate but she is too far down the rabbit hole to hear them. She gets inextricably tied to this family and she doesn’t realise until it’s too late that she has been tricked and manipulated.

I couldn’t really get into this story and definitely couldn’t relate to Kate. I kept wondering if she was really that dumb or just hopelessly naive as she lurched from one bad decision to the next. I know she was stitched up but still, you have to take some responsibility for your actions, you can’t go through life blaming others. In any case, I found the plot quite implausible. I didn’t think any of the characters acted rationally. Why did Kate’s mum hold on to her secrets for so long - in trying to “protect” Kate she only ended up damaging her even more. He father was a cardboard cutout. Liam was sweet but honestly, what guy would hang around for a madwoman like Kate. Della was manipulative and cold and the perfect husband turned out to be less than perfect. But the dubious prize for the most annoying character has to go to Kate. What a miserable drink of water she was! When she finally found some gumption she went and did something stupid. Again!

So no, I didn’t enjoy this book. It seemed awfully long to me and dragged in places and the writing, while good, was not good enough to save the book for me. Having said all that, I am aware that others enjoyed the book more than I did. It just wasn’t a good fit for me at this time. I received an advance review copy for free through Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This has been a read filled with tension and suspense and I have been completely hooked. I have adored the way this has been written and fully engaged in this novel.

Desperately Seeking Scarlett ( my own alternative title for this compulsive psychological thriller!!). Actual rating 4.5 ⭐️

Kate is a woman fixated on the past, the disappearance of her beloved older sister Scarlett when she was ten years old leading to a lifetime of obsessive searching. Taking her from her parents home in Cambridge to London, Scarlett’s last known whereabouts, Kate’s unhealthy obsession and sense of abandonment morphs into a fixation of a different kind. Lured into the inner sanctum of life coach and tv personality Della Hunter by visions of a more hopeful future and an impression of what happy family life should look like, as opposed to her own, Kate takes her first tentative steps on a path from which there is no turning back. Charlotte Northedge has written a dark, compelling thriller, unsettling the reader from the very first page with her acknowledgement of the insecurities and anxieties that afflict the younger generation. Through her characters she’s captured how easy it is to idolise those who project an image of perfection, buying into the fallacy with a haste and a hunger for the unattainable. Wrapped within these notions of perfect lives is also an idealised version of motherhood that doesn’t augur well for the characters here who are either caught in a cycle of perpetuating these myths or susceptible to their power, infiltrating their innermost thoughts.

With a gripping and intriguing prologue that bears the hallmark of a great psychological thriller, this storyline reminded me of the childhood poem The Spider and the Fly, with the author adding a modern day twist to this old cautionary tale. As a deeply unhappy and tormented figure, friendless and alone in a strange city with only housemate Liam and her cafe job to offer temporary distractions from her search, I could understand the allure for Kate of a welcoming, friendly face amongst a sea of strangers. Following a chance meeting, Della invites Kate into her group of equally lost young women all soul searching and looking for their own slice of perfection, instantly recognising Kate’s vulnerability, and fragile mental state. Taking her under her wing in ways that traverse professional boundaries Kate is bombarded and blinded by evidence of Della’s successful and contented life,living with her husband Mark and two children in their beautiful home, suggesting her new friend holds the key to Kate’s own future happiness. As the group’s charismatic mentor, all these women are inspired by and aspire to become the spitting image of Della Hunter and it is this adulation that sparks off a tremor of disquiet , a disturbing sense of dread that deepens exponentially until it reaches its final crescendo.

The pace is seductively slow, gradually building as Della and Kate’s lives become further entangled but I enjoy this type of thriller that creeps up on you so that any twist is more likely to take you by surprise. As the author moves the setting from London to France and back to Cambridge, the intensity of the storyline heats up from a flickering flame to a burning furnace, where emotions run wildly out of control. Tentacles of unease reach out to grab hold of your attention from the very beginning, pulling you into a spiral of obsessive, manipulative, controlling and delusional behaviour from which there seems to be no obvious escape, either for the characters or the reader! A predator is on the prowl and the hunt is wickedly entrancing, potential weaknesses are spotted and capitalised upon so that all thoughts of Scarlett’s disappearance melt into the background but never fade away completely. This is an element that regularly resurfaces, and one to watch out for as the insidious manner in which Della and Kate’s lives entwine takes hold. The idea of entrapment becomes more sinister, the feeling that their situation is preventable diminishing with every lie told and with every secret withheld. I love this aspect of the author’s writing which manages to somehow ‘normalise’ behaviour that is far beyond acceptable so that the only way forward is for the characters to endure whatever is forthcoming and hope that they remain relatively intact by the time all is said and done. I was almost delirious with anticipation when the point finally arrives for an escalation in plot twists which are expertly embedded in the narrative, catching me off guard. I blame the excellent portrayal of the two main characters for my shortsightedness! As the author steers this uncontrollable series of events to a gratifying halt, leaving some questions unanswered which suited me just fine, I have only one further comment to add. READ THIS NOW!

The House Guest is a cleverly written and well executed thriller that really impressed me and I’m quite a harsh critic when it comes to this genre. My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for The House Guest after reading the synopsis. Although this book made for an enjoyable read I wasn’t gripped by the story, maybe it was frame of mind who knows. It’s a dark and a fairly twisted tale but I was hoping for a book that would make my pulse race, unfortunately it didn’t.