This is one of those books that sounded sort of interesting, so I picked it up with the intention to sample, get a feel for it, and then put it aside for later. And I was doing that, honestly, but then, somehow, the pages kept turning and I finished the whole book. I guess I really couldn't put it down.

I don't want to sell this as a thriller, because it's not. Bring the House Down is a literary character and culture study, and a thought-provoking exploration of the responsibility critics have to both their subjects and their audience.

But if that sounds dry, I'm doing it a disservice. Because it's seriously compelling and juicy.

We dive right into what the blurb promises from the very first chapter: cutthroat theatre critic Alex Lyons sees a show at the Edinburgh Fringe and completely decimates it in a review. Immediately afterwards, he goes to a bar and runs into the show's creator and sole performer, Hayley, and the pair sleep together.

Hayley has no idea Alex has just written a career-ending review of her show, but when she finds out, she decides on the perfect revenge: revamping her show into a vicious critique of Alex and his whole life. Soon, others are speaking up about their negative experiences with Alex, both through his reviews and in his private life.

Runcie has written a thoughtful meditation on several different aspects of our culture here, and it is compelling because it is relevant, the stakes are high, and there are no easy answers.

When does criticism cross a line? If you give a harsh criticism then add the disclaimer “I’m just being honest,” does that make it okay? Is it always right to be honest or, at some point, are you-- as Madeline the Person puts it --"just being mean"? Or, conversely, is it better to be dishonest, as Sophie often is? To slap five stars against a production because you feel you should, out of a sense of duty to the creators? Does it matter less if your platform is smaller? Do you only have to temper your honesty if you know your voice is influential?

In Alex's case, he grew such a powerful reputation from being brutally honest. The readers loved his reviews because, if he thought it was shit, he said so. Nobody wanted the milquetoast three-star reviews. So is the problem even Alex, or the culture that built him?

The book also looks at the aftermath of a "cancelling" with nuance. Alex is an asshole, no doubt, but as he becomes ever more hated, as more and more people gleefully gather round to judge him on social media, one has to wonder how much punishment he actually deserves. The book is stronger, in my opinion, because Runcie refuses to fully condemn or redeem him.

I am intrigued to see how other readers feel about the choice of narration. The story is told in first person-- not by Alex or Hayley, but by Alex's colleague, Sophie. In some ways, it's genius: Sophie is adjacent to the book's main events, close enough to witness them firsthand but far enough removed to offer a more balanced perspective. However, the book's biggest weakness, I feel, is that we also get a subplot delving into Sophie's life with her partner Josh and new baby, which I found to be the slowest and least interesting parts of the story.

But, overall, I really enjoyed it and found the moral ambiguity really compelling. Recommended for anyone who enjoys asking complex questions about the culture we live in.

A sharp, smart, and unexpectedly tender take on revenge, criticism, and the weight of public opinion, Bring the House Down is one of those books that sneaks up on you with big questions hidden under fast-paced prose and biting wit.

The plot kicks off with Alex Lyons, a notorious and womanizing theatre critic, delivering one of his trademark one-star reviews to a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe — only to sleep with the performer, Hayley, without letting her know what he’s done. When Hayley, in a fog of rage, reworks her show into a damning portrait of Alex’s personal and professional life, her act becomes a viral sensation — and Alex finds himself at the center of an escalating cultural reckoning. What follows is not just a tale of revenge, but a slow unraveling of identity, perception, and the very structure of who gets to hold power in the world of art.

Rather than being told through Alex or Hayley, the story is filtered through Sophie — a critic and Alex’s colleague, on the fringes of the drama (and the festival), whose own unraveling mirrors the public chaos unfolding around her. This narrative choice works beautifully, forcing us to question our own reactions to the spectacle. Are we rooting for justice, or just addicted to takedowns?

Sophie’s own storyline — defined by emotional absence, performative calm, and an inner disconnection she can’t quite face — reflects a subtler commentary on self-delusion and the roles we perform in everyday life. Everyone in this book is clinging to their version of the truth, and Runcie expertly uses this to examine what happens when those truths collide in public.

I especially appreciated how the novel doesn’t let any character — or the reader — off the hook. Hayley’s actions are bold and cathartic, especially in the early chapters, but as the narrative progresses, it also challenges the thrill of public revenge. Runcie doesn't offer easy heroes or villains, and the book is stronger for it.

Runcie’s prose is another highlight — stylish yet digestible, moving at a clip without sacrificing insight. I flew through the novel in two sittings, drawn in by both the drama and the sharp observations. That said, there were moments I wished the book had dug deeper. The festival setting is fertile ground, and I would’ve loved more of the messy, behind-the-scenes energy that an environment like the Fringe undoubtedly brings. Similarly, while Alex is drawn with clear (and deserved) critique, I was curious to see more of what drives people like Sophie — those who sit in judgment but rarely center themselves in the story.

While the pacing lingers in places — perhaps due to the third-party perspective — it ultimately builds to a satisfying (if slightly rushed) resolution. Still, the novel succeeds in asking the right questions: Who gets to be heard? What happens when we confuse accountability with entertainment? And what, exactly, do we lose in the process?

If you're into messy moral questions, razor-sharp cultural commentary, and emotionally complex takedowns, this one's worth grabbing a front-row seat for.

The world of art and art criticism is examined in a darkly humorous way by Charlotte Runcie. As she explores a system that is fundamentally flawed against the backdrop of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a damning one-star review, she doesn't hold back when addressing issues of misogyny, nepotism, cancel culture, and the inevitable response. The drama is deepened by Runcie's characters' flaws and general messiness.

This novel has such a great hook. I love how the story is narrated by Sophie, who is Alex's colleague, so that she can give a different perspective. I did find the opening chapters a bit 'tell' heavy, but after that the story really got going.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

I’d finished two books in a day, and was waiting for my partner to get into bed and thought I’d have a click around on my kindle and read a chapter and randomly chose this ARC, I got sucked into the story very quickly.

Chapter one opens with theatre critic Alex who is covering shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and his first show is for Hayley Sinclair and her show Climate She-mergency. He types his review up on the wall outside, sends it off to the paper with a scathing 1 star review. Alex meets Hayley in another bar - she has no idea he was tucked at the back of the crowd and that his review will be in national papers in the morning - and after a few drinks Alex takes her home.

After seeing his review, this ignites pure rage within Hayley - She reimagines her show as a takedown of Alex and men like him, sparking attention far beyond Edinburgh as the show goes viral.

The story is predominately told through the eyes of Sophie, a junior colleague of Alex’s who is also working the fringe and has a front-row seat to his bad behaviour and what follows after. While the initial setup focuses on Alex and Hayley’s clash, the novel gradually shifts toward Sophie’s journey, sometimes straying from what initially drew me in.

The irony isn’t lost on me that I had to give this a star rating - when the story itself really all stems from the problematic nature of the scoring system for someone else’s art. But I genuinely enjoyed it - with female rage, unlikable characters, revenge, power dynamics, cancel culture, and feminism, all with a sharp and witty edge. Despite the weighty themes, I found myself laughing often and highlighting passages throughout.

That said, it lost some points for me as the plot took a few unexpected turns, and the ending felt somewhat disconnected from the book’s premise and blurb. The shift in focus made me lose some of my initial investment in Sophie’s character.

Charlotte Runcie herself is a radio and arts critic, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much of her own experiences and industry insights are embedded in this sharp, thought-provoking read.

It was like being at the festival in Edinburgh. Imagine getting a one star review and then...well it all going very wrong after that! In the most unexpected of ways. Fun and dark - just the kind of thing you want at the festival and now you have it in a book!

So raw and entertaining this is a masterpiece. I loved everything about it from the characters to the setting to the sentiments and dialogue. So well planned and delivered.

This was so compelling and so fun. A proper couldn’t-put-down holiday read.

Sophie is a journalist in Edinburgh for the fringe as a culture writer. She’s staying with her colleague, Alex, a well-known theatre critic. The book opens with him giving Hayley’s feminist environmental performance 1 star. And the aftermath of this.

I loved the decision to have Sophie narrate this rather than Alex or Hayley. Sophie is interesting as a character in her own right, but her detachment works to give texture. I also really liked the element of “you had to be there” which could have really fallen flat. It’s hard to get a sense of Hayley’s show its impact and I really like that the book didn’t try.

I raced through this in less than 48 hours on a weekend away. It’s exactly the kind of book that everyone will be talking about this summer.

Feels weird to give this a star rating with the topic of reviews and criticism a big part of it, but it’s a solid 4.5 for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#Gifted
Lifting a glittering veil on the power play fuelling societal praise, Charlotte Runcie’s ‘Bring Down The House’ is an engaging insight into how we perceive and judge through review culture.

The debut novel from the former Daily Telegraph radio critic opens with a defining event at the lauded arts festival, Edinburgh Fringe. After watching a tedious solo comedy performance by struggling actress Haley Sinclair, notorious critic Alex Lyons delivers a brutal blow – penning a one-star review that will end her career.

In truly caddish fashion he sleeps with her that night – a decision that sees a humiliated Haley revamp her show to eviserate him onstage for his villainous behaviour.

As her show gains national momentum, spawning a national conversation around misogyny, toxic review culture and its abuse, his colleague Sophie watches from the sidelines narrating the swirling cultural earthquake, and a world radically changed.

Touted as a ‘conversation starter’, Runcie’s manuscript was subject to a four-way publishing war and it’s easy to see why. Through a fast paced, yet intimately told tale, she uncorks one of the last taboos in writing – control of the narrative.

Those in politics and PR know the black art of spin-doctoring the truth to influence a situation. In Runcie’s tale this is transferred into the art world – showcasing the power critics have to deem something worthy.

Through the character of Alex, she probes how critics rate performances and if they should take into account the sweat, blood and tears poured into a piece of work – or if they have a credit to the audience to tell the real truth.

Elegantly told, with the succinct descriptive markers of a trained journalist, Runcie uses Alex and Sophie to tease out arguments for and against hardline reviews, that can be subject to abuse- while layering in tones of misogyny and gender power play.

A thought provoking read – especially as a mirror for bookstagram. Kindly gifted by @harpercollinsuk @boroughpress via @netgalley - Published June 5th. @charlotteruncie

#bookstagram #booksta #bookworm #newbookalert #irishbookstas #irishbookstagrammer #irishbookstagram

"Looking back now, this was the first moment I knew Alex Lyons was living a marked life. Like the subject of a stock obituary lying on file, he was dead already, and he didn't know it."

A fantastic, funny, fierce debut with an electrifyingly unique premise. Full of feminine rage and revenge, on the surface this is a sharp story about a woman getting payback on a misogynistic man who used her, but underneath is a clever commentary on the different versions of truth, artistic expression, critique vs cruelty, and the blurry line between avenger and villain. The discourse around the morality of reviewers was interesting as one myself, asking me to look at my own responsibilities as someone dealing with art, but also trying to maintain honesty and integrity.

We first meet Alex from the perspective of Sophie who also works at the unnamed “paper” with him, starting our behind the scenes tour of the critic and journalism world and an oddly neutral perspective (old workplace crushes aside) of both Hayley and Alex, letting us see both characters externally and having to form our own opinions about their inner workings and feelings. We sit in a rented flat share while Sophie works and deals with her own issues, Alex spirals, and they both watch Hayley blow up on the festival circuit and through the media.

"Making art is terrible, a lot of the time. So much rejection, so much disappointment. Someone like Alex, who's never been rejected in his fucking life, whose name has opened every door for him, he can't understand that. He says whatever he wants and has no idea of the messy reality of life for the people with big plans, and weird brains, and good intentions, who spend their day making beautiful new things."

Despite a lot of the story taking part with us watching tv, browsing social media, walking round a festival - it was captivating, well paced and had a great flow despite a lull in the middle.

It’s a darkly heartwarming tale of solidarity and standing up against users, manipulators and liars but also warms of the potential danger of revenge becoming all consuming, exhausting, of mob mentality and the court of public opinion — and the consequences of fame or infamy. Ending in an explosive conclusion that slowly sizzled on its way out, it was a strangely unfinished and mildly frustrating end that worked - life kept happening beyond the end of this story.

Bring The House Down was a scorching debut and I hope to see more from Charlotte Runcie soon.

I really enjoyed this one, it’s an excellent debut. I feel almost wary of reviewing it because of how it made me feel about reviewing culture and the effects on artists (luckily I really loved it so hopefully the author will not mind too much!). The book is a real page turner, I was absolutely hooked by the concept and it didn’t disappoint. The themes of misogyny and cancel culture are discussed to death in the current climate, but this was a fresh and interesting take on it that I would definitely recommend. It skilfully poses the questions - if something is immoral but not illegal, where is the line for public and professional backlash? When our story involves someone else, who has the right to tell it?

I cannot remember the last time I managed to read a book in less than 12 hours but Bring The House Down by Charlotte Runcie managed to capture my attention enough that I simply couldn’t stop reading it.

I reviewed this ahead of publication thanks to NetGalley and I am so glad I got the chance because I’ll be putting it physically into as many hands as possible come publication.

The story is set in Edinburgh during the fringe season and begins with a one star review from a Journalist named Alex Lyons to a woman performing a one woman show about the climate change crisis. Lyons knowingly sleeps with the woman while also being aware that in the morning her show will have received a pretty dismal write-up for all to see.

On discovering this fact the next day, while still in his accommodation, the performer changes the name of her performance to ‘The Alex Lyons Experience’ setting off a chain of events which leads to many other women coming forward to speak about their own experiences with him.

The story is told from the point of view of his flatmate and fellow journalist Sophie, a new mum who is also battling her own grief from the death of her mother and who she is as a parent.

The book was fast-paced and kept me hooked from start to finish. I enjoyed the way in which the life of Sophie was weaved into the plot but also how the novel shows that ultimately, when men in positions of power behave badly, no one wins. Even the women who do come forward and valiantly tell their stories - it all comes at a remarkable personal cost.

As someone who lives in East Lothian, where part of the book is set, and who lived in Edinburgh for many years, I loved the setting and the descriptions of it. The author really managed to project how mad the month of August is with the Edinburgh Fringe but also the amount of work that goes into performing.

There are many important questions raised about male privilege and about blurred lines which exist in how they use their power to treat women. I’m not part of the arts world but feel this book was also perhaps shining a light on the pressure which exists for performers in theatre and the wider arts community and the struggle for artists who really on decent reviews. It also highlighted the nepotism that often exists in Journalism as an industry too.

This novel is a powerful, moving and funny account of what life affords you when you never really have to think of the consequences of your actions or how you treat others because of your privilege. I think many people will be able to recognise people they’ve met, particularly in work, where this problem still exists.

This book is a hoot. It is funny and relevant of todays world and I loved it.

Hayley is a fabulous character and I got all I expected and more in this read.

I would love to see it as a TV drama, it is one of those books that doesn't come along very oftern and I found it a little special..

worth all the stars

Pick up this gorgeous hug of a book and get transported to a beautiful place wraps itself round you like a cosy blanket. It has warmth, charm, laugh-out-loud moments and a wistful nostalgia. I absolutely loved it.

Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie explores some interesting questions about the nature of art and performance, cancel culture, fidelity, motherhood and work-life balance.

This layered and nuanced book 11is a clever and emotive look at power and misogyny. Runcie uses comedy with expert skill but also manages to intercut this with page turning drama and emotional depth. There's a lot here to provoke thought and I loved the concept of reviewing/criticism and what the purpose and value of this is.
There's also an insightful reflection on grief.
It's a highly entertaining read that I read in 24 hours. I loved this and have already ordered a hard copy. A really accomplished debut.

After the first night of her show, up and coming actress Hayley has a one night stand with a man she met at the bar, who, unbeknownst to her, is a famous critic who just submitted a one star review of her show. When she finds out about this, Hayley changes her show, which soon becomes a vicious and deserved takedown of Alex, the critic.
The story is told from the point of view of Sophie, flatmate and colleague of Alex. This makes the reader feel like they can make their own decision along with her, even though Sophie is often a flawed and unreliable narrator. The book is more then just a feminist look on a womanizer man, even though that aspect is also well- done; a lot of the story looks on the very ethics of criticism, reviews and bias. I found it profound, gripping, and thought provoking. Four and a half stars!

This review is now posted on Goodreads, storygraph and instagram