A great book for lower Key Stage 3 children. The twists and turns keep coming as you work your way through the story. Enjoyable and easy to read. Likeable and realistic characters and plot.

Because this is a childrens book it was predictable in places but that is to be expected. I think this will work really well for kids, it was definitely a good fast read.

**Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This in no way impacted my thoughts or opinions, which are shared below**

This middle grade had a great drive behind it, by which I mean that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and didn't want it to end. The main character had a strong voice and her decisions and thought processes, albeit not always optimal, were explained through her prior experiences and characterisation. I really appreciated that. The other characters were amusing at times and I loved how they became interwoven by the end and each had a role to play in the overall plot. Nothing superfluous. Just the way I like it. I would, however, have appreciated some further diversity in these side characters.

The plot was fabulous. I can see this being super engaging for 9-12 year olds, and particularly fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events or Goosebumps, who enjoy mystery/scary genres. It was definitely appropriate to this age. The events were really unique and unlike anything I've read in other middle grade books. I appreciated that although there were were side elements about friendship, the main focus was on family. The conclusion did feel a bit rushed and wasn't what I was expecting, but tied things up well.

3.5 stars.

I was instantly drawn to the cover of this book which, after reading, perfectly represents the story and characters.

Faith, her mum, and her brother Noah live in an old, isolated house that has been in the family for generations. Faith's dad has gone missing, and not long after, Noah disappears too after Faith refuses to believe his story about the sea ghost in the cellar. Added to that is the fact Faith's mum won't get out of bed, the authorities are starting to sniff around, Faith's uncle is determined to get his hands on the family's money and a giant crack in the garden means the house could fall off the cliff at any moment.. certainly a lot for a 13-year-old girl to handle!

I loved the premise of an 'impossible to put down thriller' and although I think that statement is a little inflated, I did enjoy the story and the mystery surrounding Faith's family and their crumbly house on the edge of the cliff. I love anything paranormal so the ghostly occurrences in the old house definitely appealed to me. There were a couple of twists that caught me off-guard too (after I totally thought I'd worked them out). The main thing that let me down was the writing style; many of the sentences were unfinished, which I understand was representative of the 13-year-old narrator but I kept having to reread each one which interrupted the flow. I preferred the last half of the book to the first which felt slightly erratic and all over the place; I felt things came together in the second half and very much enjoyed the fast-paced drama and race against time to find the house's treasure.

The House on the Edge is a thrilling, poignant mystery that kept me utterly captivated throughout: a story of past and present; of loss and healing; and, of community, friendship and family.
Faith lives in an old house, The Lookout, perched precariously on the edge of a cliff which is in danger of being lost to the sea as cracks form in the garden, but the house is not the only thing that is in danger of being lost …
Faith’s family is in danger of falling apart after the disappearance of her father which has left her mother’s mental health in a very fragile state. Faith is trying hard to support her mother, her younger brother Noah and herself. Noah is obsessed with the notion that there is a sea ghost living in their cellar, a ghost who is looking for lost treasure. Meanwhile, her Uncle Art is determined to take ownership of her family home. Will Faith be able to save her family home before it is taken by the sea, or her uncle? When Noah goes missing, Faith finds herself on a mission to save not only her home, but her brother …
This is a wonderfully atmospheric read with oodles of intrigue that kept me on the edge-of-my seat as I was mesmerised by the tantalising twists and tragic truths hidden within family history and local legend. I loved how the history of The Lookout was reflected in both the past and the present in tales of sea ghosts, sacrifice, greed, shipwrecks and lost treasure, a reflection of the past filtering through to, and impacting on, the present …
Faith is an incredibly sympathetic young girl. She is angry and trying to hide it; she withdraws from her friends; she protects herself through denial and lying: such an authentic and heart-breaking portrayal of a young carer who is lost, scared and hurting, and who struggles to allow others to help her, trying to remain invisible in order to hide her family problems from others. I felt that her emotional journey was very sensitively portrayed as she comes to accept and forgive, showing great courage and strength in doing so.
This is a wonderfully heartfelt, gripping mystery that I would highly recommend to those of 9+.

This book broke my heart. Faith had to take on way more than any child should and I had nothing but hope for her the whole way through.

Seeing her determination to keep her family home intact as well as trying to juggle life whilst trying to look after her younger brother and pretend like everything is absolutely fine was nothing short of inspiring.

I absolutely despised Uncle Art and he made me feel so much rage at his lack of care for what his family were going through. The constant need to try and get money from the house frustrated me!

I really enjoyed this book and can't recommend it enough! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read it for review.

This was a pretty good, quick read and I’m sure children will love the excitement. For me I found it slightly predictable in places, probably because I’m old and have read many many stories now, though the ghost aspect was interesting. I felt most of the characters were well developed, but the story felt a bit disjointed at times.

Faith and her brother Noah live with their mother in The Lookout, a house balancing precariously on the edge of a cliff with centuries of history behind it. Their father has disappeared but Faith is sure that he’ll be back soon. Noah has become obsessed with ‘sea ghosts’ in the basement but Faith knows that they don’t exist. However, there is a large crack in the cliff, which seems to be getting bigger every day and then Noah disappears too. This is a wonderful middle-grade mystery about exploring and honouring family history. Faith is a very likeable, mature character with plenty of fire and determination to get to the bottom of things. She finds friendship in the most unlikely places too and despite the story being tinged with tragedy, there is so much heart and hope in it too.

Faith's life is full of instability. Her father has gone, her mother is struggling and the cliff edge they live on is crumbling into the sea. When her younger brother, Noah, disappears too, Faith must find a way to bring their family back together and save their house before time runs out.

Alex Cotter deals with some big themes here, such as grief, mental health, young carers and difficult family dynamics, but they are sensitively managed. Faith's character and the gravity of her situation brings a real sense of pace to this story which propels the reader along. The House on the Edge will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat!

Loved this book from start to finish, so much so that I couldn’t put it down and completed it in 1 sitting. A must for any upper primary aged children.

I found this story so haunting and cleverly written. The family situation and the sub plot were so engaging, I couldn't leave it for too long! I enjoyed the way in which the teacher character developed, and the interactions between her and the main character. I would recommend this to my pupils, as I think it is a great story, that has a strong female lead. It is really well written, and I'll be dipping in for sentence examples for my teaching! Thank you Net Galley for the read!

Eerie, atmospheric mystery full of sea ghosts, dark family history & long-lost treasure.

A wonderfully engaging first-person narrative really gets the reader on the inside of our heroine's story as she struggles to hold her fractured family together... and away from the edge.

A wonderful mystery adventure book set in a dilapidated house at the edge of a cliff. Faith is a relatable and courageous protagonist forced to deal with her father's disappearance and her mother's unresponsiveness. Not only that, her little brother starts hearing strange noises in the basement and apparently there is a ghost?! I expected a spooky story but while this book isn't really a horror book for children, I still thought it has its scary moments that are related to real life. A broken family, a neglected child, a surprise friendship, a lost treasure, a suspicious uncle - all of this combined to create a heartfelt and sincere story. Faith's desperation to keep everything as normal as possible got her into some interesting situations! Her eventual growth was great to read and felt satisfying. It's a story about grief, chosen families and letting go. I think this would be a good book for kids and adults alike!

Will Faith manage to save her teetering cliff-edge house, take care of her mum and little brother, AND find the Sea Ghost's treasure? She's certainly got her work cut out for her! The sense of burden on her young shoulders was handled brilliantly and I loved the setting..

The House on the Edge is a mystery, pulsing with emotion, that focuses us on Faith and her family. They live in Lookout House, a crumbling house perched on the edge of a Dorset cliff top. Their father has gone, their uncle is adamant the house should be his and Faith has to contend with her younger brother and a mother who won’t get out of bed.
The plot focuses on Faith and Noah’s efforts to track down the treasure rumoured to be hidden somewhere near their home. It’s a tale from the past, taking in wreckers and ancient family grudges.
Alongside this we have the heartwarming story of Faith’s learning to accept help and coming to terms with her father’s loss.
The story is a delight, though it doesn’t shy away from troubling ideas. Thankfully, things end fairly well and we get a lovely sense of wrongs being righted.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for letting me read this before publication.

This captivating book will be one I will have no hesitation in recommending to my Key Stage 2 children. Faith is a child with many worries, and she is fighting for the survival of her family and family home. Their house is in danger of collapse and their family is dealing with a missing father and all the raw impacts this brings. There are vivid characters to support Faith, her adventurous brother and new-found confidant Sam, on her journey to protect all she holds dear. Full of suspense and mystery, the historical smuggling element (with secret tunnels, treasure maps and ghosts) makes this an enthralling read.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A definite 3.5 ⭐️ read this was a wonderful, captivating and heartwarming read about loss and home, wrapped up in a mystery and ghost story. Faith, Noah, and Sam are just beautiful characters and I loved following their journey through this story. It's one of those reads (a fantastic middle-grade book to be enjoyed by adults too!) that leave you missing the characters when it ends. I highly recommend checking it out when it's published on July 1, 2021.

Life in the The Lookout - an old house that teeters on the edge of a cliff that would shine a light to provide ships safe passage - used to be great but now Faith’s life is crumbling all around her. Her father has disappeared. Her mother has lost her ‘Old Mum’ spark and spends all her time in bed. Her brother is obsessed with sea ghosts that may or may not be lurking in the cellar. And her home, The Lookout, has developed a huge crack in the back garden and could tumble into the sea at any moment.

When Faith is befriended by the mysterious Sam, she learns that there may be more fact than fiction to Noah's ghost stories. The house is hiding secrets and if Faith can uncover them then there may be a way to save it but can she find the answers she needs before everything comes crashing down…

In her debut read, Alex Cotter offers readers a thrilling mystery that weaves together a broken family with legends of the past to create a suspense-filled narrative where literally everything could come crumbling down at any moment. Delivering surprises, twists and turns, Cotter keeps the reader wanting more and frantically trying to join all of the pieces of the puzzle together before it is too late.

The House on the Edge is essentially a story of a child trying to save her family home in which main protagonist Faith finds herself in a race against time before The Lookout either falls into the sea or Uncle Art gets his hands on it and knocks it down for profitable gains. Whilst this is the driver for the narrative, there is so much more going on; a family in crisis with dramas unfolding all around, a web of lies that is creating more problems than it is solving and a troubled past history catching up with and influencing the present.

The story is told in first-person by Faith who does so at a relentless pace. You live and breathe every decision that she makes and you desperately want her to ask for help but to do so would mean inviting adults into her life and home and that could have terrible consequences. As the story moves on, Faith uncovers a dark history that connects the house with smugglers, shipwrecks, terrible actions and hidden treasure. With Faith crumbling under responsibilities, trying to keep up a happy facade and the house teetering ever more precariously on the edge, it seems only a matter of time before one, the other or both will crumble.

Cotter deals with important issues. Faith has been forced to grow-up fast and her carefree life has been replaced by responsibilities way beyond her thirteen years. She finds herself in the role of a young carer who is having to support a mother who is struggling with mental health issues, having to look after her younger sibling and trying to maintain the pretence that everything is normal at home.

An assured debut and I look forward to Cotter’s second book which is due out in 2022.

Recommended for 9+.

With huge thanks to Alex Cotter and Nosy Crow for the advanced reader copy that I received via Netgalley.

The House on the Edge is a story of life on the edge: on the edge of family break down, on the edge of loss, on the edge of everything falling apart.

Faith and her little brother, Noah, live with their mum in The Lookout – a strange, old house that sits on the very edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. For years, it flashed a light to warn ships of the rocks below but now it is falling apart and a crack in the garden hints at trouble to come.

Mum hasn’t been the same since Dad left. She hardly gets out of bed and Faith is left to care for them all. Responsibilities, anxieties and lies told to keep strangers away build up until she just can’t cope anymore. When Noah talks about a ghost in the cellar and the voices of the old house get louder, Faith has to do something.

Perhaps the Preservation Society can help save the house but can it help with the mysteries deep inside? Stories of shipwreck, treasure and ancestors with dark secrets show Faith there is so much more to the House on the Edge than meets the eye.

This story has one of the strongest voices I have ever read. The character of Faith is gripping – readers feel every bit of her panic and her urgency to protect her home and family. This is a captivating story of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. Young readers will be swept away in this brilliant combination of folklore and modern family issues.

Thank you to Nosy Crow for this fantastic book!

Faith’s dad has disappeared, and she is trying to care for her younger brother Noah so no-one will become suspicious that Mum is not coping and come to investigate. To add to her worries, their ancient house the Lookout, perched on top of the cliff at the edge of the village, is developing some worrying cracks, which her dad was constantly trying to fix, despite her mum’s insistence that it was time to move. To fend off gossip and to the keep their situation secret, Faith has isolated herself from her former best friends, and feels totally alone, so when highly imaginative Noah claims to have been talking to a ghost that he must help, she refuses to believe him. However, Noah’s obsession is spilling over into his school work causing his concerned teacher to ask for a meeting with Mum, and her uncle is threatening to have the house condemned. Faith is certain that if she can save the house, Dad will return, Mum will be well and her former life will be restored.
The hope of a grant to preserve the house on historic grounds is sparked by the school librarian, and an ally is found in the mysterious Sam who appears with uncanny regularity and knows the contents of the local museum inside out. Perhaps some research will find the clues Faith needs to save her home.
This story combines some very appealing elements: the hidden history of the house and Faith’s ancestors, the race against time to save a much loved home, the strong female protagonist taking on the role of family protector and the elusive ally with a mysterious past. Told in the first person from Faith’s point of view, the narrative has urgency and tension, and the feelings she reveals have an immediacy that will resonate with readers: familial love, broken friendships, overwhelming anxiety caused by a concrete issue and desperate hope of a solution. This is an engaging and ultimately life affirming read, where help comes from unexpected sources and characters have a realistic level of good will in their hearts.