This was the most meh book that ever mehed.
I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it either. The characters were so flat and instalovey, bleh…
I wouldn’t say this is horror, the “spooky”elements were too juvenile for me, even considering this was YA. I liked the other Christina Lauren books I’ve read, and wanted to like this. The summary made it sound like I would be transported back to my initial love of horror, but sadly, my hopes were too high.
That all being said, this isn’t an objectively bad book, it’s just not for me. ( )

This book would make a creepy movie. A house that is alive, and caring for a child/teen is an interesting premise. There isn't any killing for a real horror movie, and the ending is highly satisfying, so Hollywood probably wouldn't want it. But I don't like creepy books, and I liked this one. ( )

This is the first book by Christina Lauren I have read and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The entire premise of a haunted house that is seemingly alive is so unique and while I was a bit skeptical (I've never been a fan of the haunted house trope before) I ended up being really intrigued by House and the way it interacted with Gavin.

I wouldn't really call this suspense or spooky. Maybe because I'm not into haunted house stories because I seem to be the only person who doesn't consider it creepy.

The issue I had was the combination of romance and suspense. It just didn't work for me. I wasn't invested in the characters because I was more interested in the suspense but the romance kept pulling me out of the creepiness of the book so I wasn't as immersed in the suspense as I wanted to be.

I know I'm making it seem as though I didn't enjoy the story but I honestly did. The writing flowed well, the characters were well developed. I would absolutely read one of their romance novels because without the suspense running alongside the romance I feel like I would really enjoy the story more than I did in this particular book.

So, I really like this cover. That's ultimately why I bought it. I'm a sucker for a good cover. But, I do enjoy reading the odd spooky story. This unfortunatly, isn't all that spooky.

Now, don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the premise, the idea of the story, but, it took FOREVER to get there. These characters are ridiculous. They are both so incredibly un-relatable. Ugh.

It felt like, although there was a big scary house they had to deal with, sex was more important. Constantly touching each other was more important then the giant house that wanted to kill people!

The last 50 pages were the most interesting, and still the book ended with a sex scene. Unnecessary. ( )

I was fonder of the house than the people, so while an inventive story, it also proved a bit of a struggle to get through scenes with only the humans since they rarely felt all that human to me.

After years away at boarding school, teenager Delilah returns to her home town every bit as consumed with and protective of the mysterious Gavin as she had been as a kid, the only problem is Gavin’s house, which is very much alive and very much an overbearing parent to Gavin. The house is even more consumed and protective of Gavin than Delilah is and it’s in no mood to share him.

The house was easily the most interesting aspect of the book, I loved how it was temperamental one minute, warm and affectionate the next, and all the little details of how it “raised” Gavin were entertaining, too, showing Leave It To Beaver on the television, the way it had milk and cookies waiting, the transportation to school, providing the trampoline and taking it away, in many ways the house felt like a more realistic parent than either of Delilah’s parents did. It speaks to how little attachment I felt to the actual characters that even in the house’s sinister moments, I was more intrigued by what was going on with it, by its next conniving move than I was concerned for the people it threatened.

I’m not someone who generally enjoys the villain more than the heroes so this book was an odd experience. I just had a really hard time buying into the characters, the extreme detachment of Delilah’s parents, the instantaneous obsessive feelings between Delilah and Gavin, the way Gavin had spent little to no time thinking about the unusual circumstances of his life including the absence of his parents, and it felt like the few who found out about House had fairly muted reactions rather than exhibiting more of the disbelief, fear, or just plain weirded out responses that you’d think a person would initially have to something so unexpected. Most everything about the characters felt so unreal that a house that’s alive somehow ended up seeming more believable.

I had mixed feelings about the ending. I do appreciate it when the heroine is the one required to step up rather than play the damsel in distress, however, the ending seemed a little too easily accomplished, and again, with the unreal characters thing, I thought there maybe should have been more complicated/complex emotions from Gavin after everything. It also surprised me that a certain someone was simply mentioned rather than featured in a scene with Gavin considering the significance it would have had. ( )