Our House by Louise Candlish

Imagine coming home one day to find someone else moving in to your house. That is exactly what happens to Fi (short for Fiona) in Our House by Louise Candlish. Fi and her husband Bram are separated, but in the interest of their two young sons, they've set up an unusual arrangement known as Birds Nest custody. Basically, rather than the boys shuttling between the individual homes of their parents, the children stay in the family home and the parents take turns living with them in it- Fi during the week, Bram on the weekends. This works well until Fi arrives home to find all of her belongings missing and someone else's being moved in.

This book is told in three perspectives- as Fi discovers the strangers in her home, Fi telling the story from the beginning on a podcast called The Victim, and Bram telling his version of events in a word document to be sent after the fact. This storytelling was interesting, but also confusing at times because the reader has to keep straight what we know from Bram but that Fi doesn't yet know. A mystery and a thriller, the reader is compelled to keep reading to find out what the heck is going on, but there were many times I was frustrated with one character. I wanted to say, "Come on! You can get out of this by just coming clean and taking a small punishment." This book took me a little longer to read because I had to keep taking breaks from it. Maybe current events have me a little less tolerant of being on the edge of my seat- right now that's the only sitting I seem to do as it is- but I didn't feel as motivated to read as I usually do.

This was a very interesting book with a lot of compelling concepts that would be worthy of good discussion with your book club. The ending was especially thought-provoking. If you're up for a little thriller distraction, I think you'll really like this one.

Just be sure you know where your house keys are at all times!


*This Advanced Reader Copy was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for and honest review.*