Smart, fun and very binge-able. Asks so many interesting questions about power dynamics, the role of the critic, revenge and cancel culture - it has that perfect blend of juicy gossip and big ideas, perfect for a book club read. The book does a great job with its two main characters, Alex and Hayley, portraying each with enough nuance that there's no perfect hero or villain. Genuinely can't wait to recommend this one during Edinburgh's festival season. A treat from start to finish

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

This is a brilliant read! Thought-provoking, and took me right back to my first Edinburgh Fringe. The author skewers the festival in precise prose, and I found Sophie - the colleague of Alex Lyons - very relatable, including her struggles post-maternity leave. The social media snippets are also pitch-perfect, I feel like I could’ve read any of them in real life in response to the latest scandal. I’m so glad I requested this!

This was a very sharp, funny novel - taking an issue(s) of our times and telling it in a humorous but also very smart and funny way.

Alex Lyons is a theatre critic, currently at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and is well known for his cutting reviews. After seeing Hayley's feminist play (the climate emergenc-she) he delivers a devastating one-star review. However, later he sees Hayley in the bar (with Hayley oblivious to who he is and what he has just written) and the two hit it off and spend the night together.

However, when Hayley finally reads the review, her stage show changes placing Alex, and his behaviour (past and present), in the spotlight of her one-woman show. Suddenly, more and more stories about Alex come out....

This was a really clever book, taking issues over power, misogyny, cancel culture but looking at them in a humorous way, whilst never seeking to minimise them.

This is definitely not a one-star book

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I loved reading this. I found it nuanced in its portrayal of the subject matter and hugely insightful. The fact that the narrator is not at the centre of what unfolds (or not exactly) meant you got an additional level of perspective. I was compulsively reading this and will be recommending it!

Having survived a good few Edinburgh fringes myself as a poet and compere, with a couple of forays into stand-up, and both two- and five-star reviews under my own belt, I binged this book without putting it down. This is the story of critic Alex Lyons, and perfomer Hayley - who he unfortunately sleeps with and files a one-star review of her show the same night (oops).

In an interesting twist, the tale is told not by Alex or Hayley but the unremarkable-seeming Sophie Rigden, a journalist and mum in her mid-thirties who's enjoying a taste of freedom in Edinburgh and also sort-of-enjoying being the designated driver and minder of Alex's chaos, as well as dealing with some complex feelings about him and realising she's not recovered from her own unrelated grief over the death of her mother. So, not much going on at all, then!

A chunky, significant look at whose job it is to tell stories, whose job it is to judge them, whether criticism is inherently class-marked or misognystic, what theatre does or is supposed to do, how power corrupts and how far simplicity and cancel culture can go in today's hounding-focused society, Bring the House Down doesn't promise any easy answers but it does promise a rollicking ride through Princes Street and beyond.

Five stars - well deserved, and I'm not sure what the author might do if I gave her any less. Just don't go near any naked flames.