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Harmony House
En Playa Paraíso algo está mal.
El padre de Jen cree que mudarse a Harmony House es la mejor manera de seguir adelante luego de la muerte de su esposa.
Pero todos los que han vivido allí saben lo que se oculta detrás de sus muros.
Todos conocen el poder de la casa y saben que el pasado puede tocarte la puerta cuando menos lo esperas.
Jen debe encontrar la forma de escapar antes de que sea demasiado tarde. Antes de que el pasado la atrape.
“Sheff escribió una historia de suspenso bien lograda que evoca los clásicos, tanto El resplandor de Stephen King como The Haunting of Hill House de Shirley Jackson. Una novela sólida y aterradora acerca de lo sobrenatural”.
–Kirkus Reviews
El padre de Jen cree que mudarse a Harmony House es la mejor manera de seguir adelante luego de la muerte de su esposa.
Pero todos los que han vivido allí saben lo que se oculta detrás de sus muros.
Todos conocen el poder de la casa y saben que el pasado puede tocarte la puerta cuando menos lo esperas.
Jen debe encontrar la forma de escapar antes de que sea demasiado tarde. Antes de que el pasado la atrape.
“Sheff escribió una historia de suspenso bien lograda que evoca los clásicos, tanto El resplandor de Stephen King como The Haunting of Hill House de Shirley Jackson. Una novela sólida y aterradora acerca de lo sobrenatural”.
–Kirkus Reviews
248 pages, Paperback
First published March 22, 2016
63 people are currently reading
3884 people want to read
About the author
Nic Sheff
6 books872 followersNic Sheff is the author of two memoirs about his struggles with addiction: the New York Times bestselling Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines and We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction. Nic lives in Los Angeles, California where he writes for film and television.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 340 reviews
January 3, 2019
Este libro es fascinante.
Tiene todo para ser una historia de terror que al menos te hace sentir un escalofrío o dos, dependiendo de tu nivel de resistencia al miedo.
Los personajes son ingeniosos, la parte religiosa funciona perfecto para darle más fuerza y ese toque tétrico que te hace respirar con dificultad y voltear a tu alrededor para verificar que no estés solo.
Los elementos fueron en la dosis justa para mezclar y embonar todo con cuidado y esmero.
Una cada abandonada, repleta de historias horripilantes en un pueblo pequeño y frío ya es un imán para mi, a eso añadanle una dosis de monjas crueles que hicieron más de una cosa horrible, una muerte de alguien joven llevada por las garras del miedo al infierno y visiones terribles de lo que aconteció y podría ser, y tendrán esta magnifica historia de horror, que disfrutarán leer de principio a fin.
Tiene todo para ser una historia de terror que al menos te hace sentir un escalofrío o dos, dependiendo de tu nivel de resistencia al miedo.
Los personajes son ingeniosos, la parte religiosa funciona perfecto para darle más fuerza y ese toque tétrico que te hace respirar con dificultad y voltear a tu alrededor para verificar que no estés solo.
Los elementos fueron en la dosis justa para mezclar y embonar todo con cuidado y esmero.
Una cada abandonada, repleta de historias horripilantes en un pueblo pequeño y frío ya es un imán para mi, a eso añadanle una dosis de monjas crueles que hicieron más de una cosa horrible, una muerte de alguien joven llevada por las garras del miedo al infierno y visiones terribles de lo que aconteció y podría ser, y tendrán esta magnifica historia de horror, que disfrutarán leer de principio a fin.
February 27, 2016
PLEASE NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Because I need to rant and I can’t rant without spoilers. You’ve been warned.
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…Seriously.. Stop RIGHT HERE if you don’t want to be spoiled!
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Okay.. Harmony House was one of my most anticipated books of the year. Based on the cover, title and synopsis, I was gearing up for something creepy and spooky that would make me want to sleep with the lights on. And… I didn’t get that. At all. This book was basically one giant metaphor for addiction. Which, with Nic Sheff’s past, I guess that isn’t so surprising; however, it was disappointing. It wasn’t scary and despite the fast pace and moments of intrigue, it was an overall boring read with a disappointing ending that left me feeling unsatisfied.
The characters in this book were all.. off and.. I don’t know..? I felt really detached from them and their stories. At first, I thought it was just the typical Horror Character Disconnection – where you refuse to let yourself like the characters because you don’t know who will survive and who won’t, so you refuse to get attached. But after finishing the book, I think it’s more that I just didn’t like them. Jen was odd and aloof when it came to the things happening to her. Like, “Oh, hey, I’m sick and hallucinating and having visions, cool!” Also, apparently she was pregnant and never questioned it, even though an ex-boyfriend is NEVER mentioned. Ever. Colin seemed like an intriguing character but he literally just showed up and disappeared and then… Nothing? Like, legit, nothing. We never found out who or what he was (except for that one flashback, but we received no confirmation after that) and then he just never showed up again.
I liked Christy but her character didn’t do much. I’m pretty sure the only reason she was in the book was so it would be less weird when Rose spoke to Jen. Also, because Christy’s accident allowed for Jen to leave the house and for Rose to get her alone to talk. That was it. Alex was an asshole and we never found out if he was JUST an asshole or if he was drunk or possessed or whatever. And that attempted rape scene? Why do male writers always do that crap? Please, can someone tell me why? And finally, of course, I hated Jen’s father and his asshole-ish behavior.
Now, speaking of Jen’s dad, that brings me to one of my biggest issues with this book (besides the fact that we were misled into believing this was a horror story and it wasn’t): Religion. Religion in books annoys the crap out of me for two reasons – First, I’m not a very religious person, so I don’t enjoy books that are overly religious. Second, most of the time, books with religion go the Carrie’s mom route and religion is just used as a scapegoat to make someone seem crazy, overzealous and righteous. Also, abusive. And Harmony House did just that (the latter, that is). Now, I might not be religious, but I don’t care if other people are – to each their own! And it isn’t fair to those who embrace their religion, who believe in God, to be portrayed as crazies all the time. And speaking of Carrie, this book definitely had a little bit of a Carrie vibe, what with the religious stuff/crazy religious parent and the way Jen’s anger manifests into telekinesis (which was completely random and never explained, either, by the way).
Now, I will say that this was a fast book and it had me intrigued and guessing until the end. I read half the book in two hours and then finished it off throughout the course of the day. It definitely had “Just One More Chapter” syndrome and I didn’t want to put it down. At least for that first half. With the second half, things began to feel… Well, I started to get that sinking feeling that this “horror story” wasn’t actually a horror story. And it wasn’t.
The ending was dreadful. Sometimes, horror novels with open endings are epic and keep you guessing, even after you’ve finished reading and you just can’t stop thinking about what you read. But Harmony House had me feeling like I missed something, like I wasted my time. SO many things were left unanswered and so many things lacked explanation.
I’m so tired of this trend of alleged horror novels that are not really horror or supernatural, just delusions or potential mental health issues or people playing tricks on other people or just a confusing ending where they don’t tell you if it’s real or supernatural. It’s so frustrating! I just want a straight-up supernatural horror read with an actual haunting and ghosts and WHY CAN’T I HAVE THAT?!? IS IT ASKING TOO MUCH FOR A LEGIT HORROR NOVEL?
*Takes a breath.”
Okay, rant over. So yeah, I don’t recommend this book if you’re looking for a creeptastic horror read. Because this is not a creeptastic horror read and you’ll be sorely disappointed. I know I am.
You can also find more from me on my blog: Pandora's Books
V
V
V
V
V
…You’ve been warned again…
V
V
V
V
V
…Seriously.. Stop RIGHT HERE if you don’t want to be spoiled!
V
V
V
V
V
Okay.. Harmony House was one of my most anticipated books of the year. Based on the cover, title and synopsis, I was gearing up for something creepy and spooky that would make me want to sleep with the lights on. And… I didn’t get that. At all. This book was basically one giant metaphor for addiction. Which, with Nic Sheff’s past, I guess that isn’t so surprising; however, it was disappointing. It wasn’t scary and despite the fast pace and moments of intrigue, it was an overall boring read with a disappointing ending that left me feeling unsatisfied.
The characters in this book were all.. off and.. I don’t know..? I felt really detached from them and their stories. At first, I thought it was just the typical Horror Character Disconnection – where you refuse to let yourself like the characters because you don’t know who will survive and who won’t, so you refuse to get attached. But after finishing the book, I think it’s more that I just didn’t like them. Jen was odd and aloof when it came to the things happening to her. Like, “Oh, hey, I’m sick and hallucinating and having visions, cool!” Also, apparently she was pregnant and never questioned it, even though an ex-boyfriend is NEVER mentioned. Ever. Colin seemed like an intriguing character but he literally just showed up and disappeared and then… Nothing? Like, legit, nothing. We never found out who or what he was (except for that one flashback, but we received no confirmation after that) and then he just never showed up again.
I liked Christy but her character didn’t do much. I’m pretty sure the only reason she was in the book was so it would be less weird when Rose spoke to Jen. Also, because Christy’s accident allowed for Jen to leave the house and for Rose to get her alone to talk. That was it. Alex was an asshole and we never found out if he was JUST an asshole or if he was drunk or possessed or whatever. And that attempted rape scene? Why do male writers always do that crap? Please, can someone tell me why? And finally, of course, I hated Jen’s father and his asshole-ish behavior.
Now, speaking of Jen’s dad, that brings me to one of my biggest issues with this book (besides the fact that we were misled into believing this was a horror story and it wasn’t): Religion. Religion in books annoys the crap out of me for two reasons – First, I’m not a very religious person, so I don’t enjoy books that are overly religious. Second, most of the time, books with religion go the Carrie’s mom route and religion is just used as a scapegoat to make someone seem crazy, overzealous and righteous. Also, abusive. And Harmony House did just that (the latter, that is). Now, I might not be religious, but I don’t care if other people are – to each their own! And it isn’t fair to those who embrace their religion, who believe in God, to be portrayed as crazies all the time. And speaking of Carrie, this book definitely had a little bit of a Carrie vibe, what with the religious stuff/crazy religious parent and the way Jen’s anger manifests into telekinesis (which was completely random and never explained, either, by the way).
Now, I will say that this was a fast book and it had me intrigued and guessing until the end. I read half the book in two hours and then finished it off throughout the course of the day. It definitely had “Just One More Chapter” syndrome and I didn’t want to put it down. At least for that first half. With the second half, things began to feel… Well, I started to get that sinking feeling that this “horror story” wasn’t actually a horror story. And it wasn’t.
The ending was dreadful. Sometimes, horror novels with open endings are epic and keep you guessing, even after you’ve finished reading and you just can’t stop thinking about what you read. But Harmony House had me feeling like I missed something, like I wasted my time. SO many things were left unanswered and so many things lacked explanation.
I’m so tired of this trend of alleged horror novels that are not really horror or supernatural, just delusions or potential mental health issues or people playing tricks on other people or just a confusing ending where they don’t tell you if it’s real or supernatural. It’s so frustrating! I just want a straight-up supernatural horror read with an actual haunting and ghosts and WHY CAN’T I HAVE THAT?!? IS IT ASKING TOO MUCH FOR A LEGIT HORROR NOVEL?
*Takes a breath.”
Okay, rant over. So yeah, I don’t recommend this book if you’re looking for a creeptastic horror read. Because this is not a creeptastic horror read and you’ll be sorely disappointed. I know I am.
You can also find more from me on my blog: Pandora's Books
January 3, 2020
Buen libro para quienes no se animen de lleno con el terror. Es un libro ligero que tiene sus buenos momentos de suspenso, elementos típicos del terror que animan mucho a empezar con el género. Es de lectura rápida, y a mí parecer, un lindo homenaje al terror de casas embrujadas, y grandes clásicos del género como El resplandor y Carrie de Stephen King, o La maldición de Hill House de Shirley Jackson. Mis inconvenientes con el libro: algunos huecos argumentales que me dejaron con la intriga, y un lenguaje poco diverso. Mucha repetición de ciertos adjetivos. Por otro lado, hago una advertencia por las dudas: el libro contiene situaciones de abuso (físico, sexual y de sustancias). No es muy sutil, por eso lo advierto, para que nadie se encuentre con nada que no quiera leer.
A pesar de ser un libro relativamente sencillo, disfruté mucho su lectura, y me pone contenta haber tenido la oportunidad de leerlo.
Si quieren conocer mi opinión en mayor detalle, acá les dejo mi videoreseña: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvaJ2...
A pesar de ser un libro relativamente sencillo, disfruté mucho su lectura, y me pone contenta haber tenido la oportunidad de leerlo.
Si quieren conocer mi opinión en mayor detalle, acá les dejo mi videoreseña: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvaJ2...
February 5, 2016
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)
This was an okay story about a girl living in a haunted house.
Basically this story was about Jen who was living in the haunted ‘Harmony House’ where her dad was basically working for the winter (bit reminiscent of ‘The Shining’) along with a little bit of mystery over Jen’s mother’s death, and some weird dreams that Jen was having.
I found Jen to be quite a scatter brained character, and it was a little hard to really know what she was really thinking at times, especially considering these weird dreams she was experiencing, and the weird stuff going on with her father! I did like her though, and I felt quite sorry for her with the things she was going through.
The storyline was basically about Jen finding out the hard way that Harmony house was haunted, and experiencing some nausea, weird dreams, and minor creepy events. The pace was a bit slow, but the story flowed alright, even if it wasn’t particularly scary.
The ending to this was okay, although we didn’t seem to get many answers as to what was going on or whether it would be over now!
6 out of 10
“The demon has taken hold of me.”
This was an okay story about a girl living in a haunted house.
Basically this story was about Jen who was living in the haunted ‘Harmony House’ where her dad was basically working for the winter (bit reminiscent of ‘The Shining’) along with a little bit of mystery over Jen’s mother’s death, and some weird dreams that Jen was having.
I found Jen to be quite a scatter brained character, and it was a little hard to really know what she was really thinking at times, especially considering these weird dreams she was experiencing, and the weird stuff going on with her father! I did like her though, and I felt quite sorry for her with the things she was going through.
The storyline was basically about Jen finding out the hard way that Harmony house was haunted, and experiencing some nausea, weird dreams, and minor creepy events. The pace was a bit slow, but the story flowed alright, even if it wasn’t particularly scary.
The ending to this was okay, although we didn’t seem to get many answers as to what was going on or whether it would be over now!
6 out of 10
January 11, 2016
I was highly looking forward to a good creepy read when I started Harmony House, in fact after reading the synopsis and seeing the cover, it is what prompted me to pick this up early in fall, the time of year ripe for a good scary read.
And after a fabulous prologue that completely fascinated me, I thought for sure I was in for a treat.
And while this was rather strange at times and even bordered on the bizarre and unusual, it was not very scary nor creepy and very little was said about the events that happened in the prologue, which was honestly, quite disappointing.
Instead we get flashbacks if you will, to a time years later from the prologue and it was very hard to see how they all fit together and how any of it tied together, in fact, I'm not sure it did all tie together other than the religious aspect, which is a whole other matter all together.
I found that I cared very little for either the protagonist nor the characters in the flash back/visions other than mild curiosity and because of it I felt very disconnected to the story as a whole.
I think after reading numerous other books in the genre and getting so much more, this just wasn't the right read for me at the time. I do think others will like it and maybe even love it, just sadly, not me.
*ARC copy provided by the publishers in exchange for an honest review.*
And after a fabulous prologue that completely fascinated me, I thought for sure I was in for a treat.
And while this was rather strange at times and even bordered on the bizarre and unusual, it was not very scary nor creepy and very little was said about the events that happened in the prologue, which was honestly, quite disappointing.
Instead we get flashbacks if you will, to a time years later from the prologue and it was very hard to see how they all fit together and how any of it tied together, in fact, I'm not sure it did all tie together other than the religious aspect, which is a whole other matter all together.
I found that I cared very little for either the protagonist nor the characters in the flash back/visions other than mild curiosity and because of it I felt very disconnected to the story as a whole.
I think after reading numerous other books in the genre and getting so much more, this just wasn't the right read for me at the time. I do think others will like it and maybe even love it, just sadly, not me.
*ARC copy provided by the publishers in exchange for an honest review.*
February 25, 2016
I picked up HARMONY HOUSE because the synopsis seemed amazing and the cover had a very Madeleine Roux vibe to it. Since I really enjoyed her Asylum series and this promised to be a creepy ride as well, I eagerly downloaded it.
Things start off with hopes of a good read. You get a very Casper (the movie) feel when they get to Harmony House and with the dad being half cracked in the head already there’s also this The Shining feeling that filters in. Sadly though, things very quickly start to fall apart all over the place.
The characters are seriously underdeveloped and all seem to have personality disorders that cause them to go from perfectly happy to murderous rage in .0002 seconds. This isn’t just something the dad does, as his cheater is supposed to be off his rocker, this is every single person we meet. From Jen to boys she meets on the road – everyone. I felt like I had whiplash trying to keep up with the mood swings.
One of the hardest parts with this was the fact that it effected Jen so frequently and since the book is from her POV it means it effects us as well. She would be calmly going about her business and then seconds later she’s swearing like a sailor in places it’s not even necessary. Even in her own thoughts this would happen. Aside from the fact that the constant cussing makes the language ineffective in a story like this, it also made me feel like the author didn’t have control over his own characters. He didn’t understand them, and didn’t really care to.
Underdeveloped characters weren’t the only issues. We have plot points that don’t add up and make me wonder if anyone read it through after it was drafted, let alone if it was even edited slightly before it hit the ARC stage. For instance, a huge amount of glass shatters all over the floor and Jen, who is mentioned to be bare foot at this point, walks through it with no mention of stepping on it, injuring herself – nothing. In fact the glassy mess is never brought up again. These kinds of things happen constantly, you just jump to a new place and are expected to forget about what just happened or fill in with your own story line.
And finally, we are thrown back and forth between visions, flashbacks and current day with no notice whatsoever. I had to often go back a paragraph or page to sort out where I was and what was going on. I was exhausted after finishing this one, I have to be totally honest.
I know that ARCs are not perfect versions of the story, but 99.999% of the time when a book reaches the ARC stage the worst thing you find are grammar mistakes and maybe a repeated line. Truthfully I felt like I was reading a first draft of a story. The bones were there but so much fleshing out was desperately needed it made this book nearly unbearable to complete. I was utterly shocked to read that Nic Sheff was a NYT best seller, because HARMONY HOUSE felt so underwritten for someone of his caliber
Things start off with hopes of a good read. You get a very Casper (the movie) feel when they get to Harmony House and with the dad being half cracked in the head already there’s also this The Shining feeling that filters in. Sadly though, things very quickly start to fall apart all over the place.
The characters are seriously underdeveloped and all seem to have personality disorders that cause them to go from perfectly happy to murderous rage in .0002 seconds. This isn’t just something the dad does, as his cheater is supposed to be off his rocker, this is every single person we meet. From Jen to boys she meets on the road – everyone. I felt like I had whiplash trying to keep up with the mood swings.
One of the hardest parts with this was the fact that it effected Jen so frequently and since the book is from her POV it means it effects us as well. She would be calmly going about her business and then seconds later she’s swearing like a sailor in places it’s not even necessary. Even in her own thoughts this would happen. Aside from the fact that the constant cussing makes the language ineffective in a story like this, it also made me feel like the author didn’t have control over his own characters. He didn’t understand them, and didn’t really care to.
Underdeveloped characters weren’t the only issues. We have plot points that don’t add up and make me wonder if anyone read it through after it was drafted, let alone if it was even edited slightly before it hit the ARC stage. For instance, a huge amount of glass shatters all over the floor and Jen, who is mentioned to be bare foot at this point, walks through it with no mention of stepping on it, injuring herself – nothing. In fact the glassy mess is never brought up again. These kinds of things happen constantly, you just jump to a new place and are expected to forget about what just happened or fill in with your own story line.
And finally, we are thrown back and forth between visions, flashbacks and current day with no notice whatsoever. I had to often go back a paragraph or page to sort out where I was and what was going on. I was exhausted after finishing this one, I have to be totally honest.
I know that ARCs are not perfect versions of the story, but 99.999% of the time when a book reaches the ARC stage the worst thing you find are grammar mistakes and maybe a repeated line. Truthfully I felt like I was reading a first draft of a story. The bones were there but so much fleshing out was desperately needed it made this book nearly unbearable to complete. I was utterly shocked to read that Nic Sheff was a NYT best seller, because HARMONY HOUSE felt so underwritten for someone of his caliber
October 25, 2016
I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed the premise of the book very much. I'm a sucker for any kind of haunted house type story. But then on the other hand, it was so juvenile at times that I actually cringed and the story was just so poorly fleshed out. Some details are just so vague and things are brought up, only to be left completely unexplained. This could have been a great book if it had it been properly fleshed out but ended up being just mediocre.
May 3, 2017
Seriously, you call that horror?
October 20, 2017
I would put a trigger warning on this for Child abuse and rape but i honestly don't think anyone should read this it started off strong but stop making sense in the end like this was bad like the writing was bad just don't read this
April 2, 2016
This was one of those books that I have been looking forward to since I read the synopsis and saw the cover and it just failed, epically. Where should I begin? From the massive plot holes and the confusing mindset of Jen, the main character, I finished the book going "What the eff just happened!? I'm warning you now, if you don't want to know what happens, don't continue reading. There is no way for me to write this review without spoilers. You have been warned. I'm also going to apologize now and say I HATE writing one star reviews but because of how bad this is written, I need to warn people away from this book.
If you read the synopsis and just the prologue, it sounds like this book is going to be horror filled and amazing. But then it just fails so badly in actually generating any type of fear in me, I was wondering if I had read the genre wrong.
o Plot holes. Let me count the ways (or rather how many). I seriously finished the book wondering if anyone had read this before they hit publish. The prologue is a great lead through to the horror that's supposed to happen but then I have no idea what happened. Who were these people? Why are you alluding to something but I don't get the rest when I'm done? It’s almost as if this was for another book.
o Jen's mother. We know she dies and was an alcoholic and she knows something is up with Jen. But we never know exactly what happened to her. Why the parents are always arguing. Why did they even get together when the dad is obviously nuts? Is she whispering to her daughter after having been dead for two months or is that the pills talking to Jen?
o The mysterious whisper and possessions. Ok, this is where I start swearing. "WTF!" Tell me who’s possessing them. Why the whispers, why possessing random characters and making them hurt themselves? To make the book scary? There needs to be something more than just random possession or a whisper here or there to make a book scary. "Ooooh, the lights went out so let's add a jump scare moment!" Jump scares don't work in books, dude. They just don't. Are they actually being possessed? This was the most confusing part because the dad is obviously one too many grapes short of fruit basket so his random moments of crazy could be all on him. Or he could be possessed...not sure by who.
o Jen's pregnant...This shit was so confusing. Who's the father? There is no mention of an ex-boyfriend. She just kind of shrugs it off, continues to pop pills and smoke and goes merrily on her way. Seriously? Then she "miscarries" (we actually don't know, she just assumes), changes her pants and drives away...What (Insert many swear words)?!
o Colin. Who is this dude? I thought he was going to be a ghost because he just randomly appears, turns into almost a love interest, and disappears. Where did he go? What happens to him in the end? Like literally. We have no idea what happened to him.
o Harmony House mystery. Everyone in the town knows that this place is spook central and an episode of Scooby Doo in the making, but no one knows what exactly happened in the house and apparently neither did the author. We know stuff happened but we are left not knowing how much of the urban legends were true or not. Jen finds gravestones that look like those of babies. But again, everything is allusion and assumption. A reader should not have to assume anything because you know what happens when you assume. You make an ass out of you and me.
o Religion. Honestly if I had known that there was going to be so much religion and repentance and "healing" shoved down Jen's throat, I probably wouldn't have picked this book at all and saved myself the pain of this epic debacle.
o And finally, 1997. The book was set in the 90's and the only reason why I can think that the author did this was so that he didn't have to explain why she didn't have a cell phone on her. Other than that, we never get a sense of it being the 90's.
I wish I had been warned before picking up this book and saved my money. I feel sad because this sounded like it had huge potential but just failed so badly.
If you read the synopsis and just the prologue, it sounds like this book is going to be horror filled and amazing. But then it just fails so badly in actually generating any type of fear in me, I was wondering if I had read the genre wrong.
o Plot holes. Let me count the ways (or rather how many). I seriously finished the book wondering if anyone had read this before they hit publish. The prologue is a great lead through to the horror that's supposed to happen but then I have no idea what happened. Who were these people? Why are you alluding to something but I don't get the rest when I'm done? It’s almost as if this was for another book.
o Jen's mother. We know she dies and was an alcoholic and she knows something is up with Jen. But we never know exactly what happened to her. Why the parents are always arguing. Why did they even get together when the dad is obviously nuts? Is she whispering to her daughter after having been dead for two months or is that the pills talking to Jen?
o The mysterious whisper and possessions. Ok, this is where I start swearing. "WTF!" Tell me who’s possessing them. Why the whispers, why possessing random characters and making them hurt themselves? To make the book scary? There needs to be something more than just random possession or a whisper here or there to make a book scary. "Ooooh, the lights went out so let's add a jump scare moment!" Jump scares don't work in books, dude. They just don't. Are they actually being possessed? This was the most confusing part because the dad is obviously one too many grapes short of fruit basket so his random moments of crazy could be all on him. Or he could be possessed...not sure by who.
o Jen's pregnant...This shit was so confusing. Who's the father? There is no mention of an ex-boyfriend. She just kind of shrugs it off, continues to pop pills and smoke and goes merrily on her way. Seriously? Then she "miscarries" (we actually don't know, she just assumes), changes her pants and drives away...What (Insert many swear words)?!
o Colin. Who is this dude? I thought he was going to be a ghost because he just randomly appears, turns into almost a love interest, and disappears. Where did he go? What happens to him in the end? Like literally. We have no idea what happened to him.
o Harmony House mystery. Everyone in the town knows that this place is spook central and an episode of Scooby Doo in the making, but no one knows what exactly happened in the house and apparently neither did the author. We know stuff happened but we are left not knowing how much of the urban legends were true or not. Jen finds gravestones that look like those of babies. But again, everything is allusion and assumption. A reader should not have to assume anything because you know what happens when you assume. You make an ass out of you and me.
o Religion. Honestly if I had known that there was going to be so much religion and repentance and "healing" shoved down Jen's throat, I probably wouldn't have picked this book at all and saved myself the pain of this epic debacle.
o And finally, 1997. The book was set in the 90's and the only reason why I can think that the author did this was so that he didn't have to explain why she didn't have a cell phone on her. Other than that, we never get a sense of it being the 90's.
I wish I had been warned before picking up this book and saved my money. I feel sad because this sounded like it had huge potential but just failed so badly.
April 2, 2021
NOTA: 2.75/5
Cuándo empecé este libro, pensaba que me iba a asustar mucho y que me iba a costar leerlo porque de por si, soy miedosa. Pero no, para nada y de hecho lo leí súper rápido.
La novela trata de Jen, una chica a la cuál su madre se le murió por problemas de alcohol y para superar eso su padre hace se se muden a "Playa paraíso" dónde vivirán en Harmony House... una casa que es muy antigua y que ha presenciado varias cosas terribles a través del tiempo.
La historia comienza super bien con un prólogo que me hizo dar escalofríos, pero hasta ahí llegó. No se supo más de lo que pasó y el autor prefirió enfocar la novela en otras cosas.
De por sí la historia es bastante rara y no se llega a compreder el por qué de las cosas realmenta. Queda a la imaginación de cada uno... lo que cada uno interprete.
Tenemos fanáticos (FANATICOS) religiosos, una protagonista que su mente no está 100% bien según yo, con todo lo que piensa... y de alguna manera encontramos ¿poderes mágicos?.
No lo sé, siento que fue un revoltijo de cosas que no se supo poner en orden y nos dejó con muchas dudas sobre qué es lo que verdaderamente pasaba.
Me decepcionó :(
Cuándo empecé este libro, pensaba que me iba a asustar mucho y que me iba a costar leerlo porque de por si, soy miedosa. Pero no, para nada y de hecho lo leí súper rápido.
La novela trata de Jen, una chica a la cuál su madre se le murió por problemas de alcohol y para superar eso su padre hace se se muden a "Playa paraíso" dónde vivirán en Harmony House... una casa que es muy antigua y que ha presenciado varias cosas terribles a través del tiempo.
La historia comienza super bien con un prólogo que me hizo dar escalofríos, pero hasta ahí llegó. No se supo más de lo que pasó y el autor prefirió enfocar la novela en otras cosas.
De por sí la historia es bastante rara y no se llega a compreder el por qué de las cosas realmenta. Queda a la imaginación de cada uno... lo que cada uno interprete.
Tenemos fanáticos (FANATICOS) religiosos, una protagonista que su mente no está 100% bien según yo, con todo lo que piensa... y de alguna manera encontramos ¿poderes mágicos?.
No lo sé, siento que fue un revoltijo de cosas que no se supo poner en orden y nos dejó con muchas dudas sobre qué es lo que verdaderamente pasaba.
Me decepcionó :(
August 15, 2016
This book was such a mess! From the description I was all set for a creepy thriller ride, but what I ultimately got was a crazy father spouting insane offensive nonsense and a daughter who couldn't quit self medicating and cursing like a sailor. SO not what the book description promised.
This review will be filled with spoilers so you have been warned!!!!
Starting off I couldn't stand the main character Jen. She was rude and I am totally a fan of free speech and I know teenagers curse, but her language was WAY out of hand. At times I felt completely uncomfortable and I just wanted to wash her mouth out with soap! I get people talk like this I do, but in a book I would prefer the language toned down especially in a YA book. That wasn't my only problem with her though.
She, in the beginning, seemed to be somewhat level headed and I did feel bad for her because of her father who was completely bat crap crazy, but she wasn't much better by the end! She self medicated even after she found out something important about herself (which came out of left field since nowhere in the book did this particular topic come up) and she chose to make bad choices repeatedly. Jen was not a character I could ever stand behind even with her bad situation with her father.
Which brings me to her father. Nowhere in the description of this book does it say anything about religion being inside it's pages. Religion was ALL OVER this book and not in a good way or really even creepy way. It was very insane and offensive and just not what I signed up for when I picked this up. If I had known going in this was going to be the main focus I would have completely passed on this book. I don't like religion in my books for the most part, I can handle them in creepy ones because they do add an interesting spin at times, but this was not one of those times. At one point I felt like the author had an agenda and was preaching through his character, not good AT ALL!
The biggest reason why this book didn't work for me though was the overall story line. It made absolutely no sense! And here is the biggest spoiler....the house had nothing to do with the craziness!! There were a few scenes and I mean maybe two where the house might have had something going on, but in the end it was all about her crazy father and his past! The author could have made this amazing if he would would have focused more on that factor and less on trying to make his readers feel icky. I liked the backstory honestly, it was intriguing, creepy as all get out even with the religion aspect thrown in and I would have loved if this was the main focus. And it was to a point, but the author got to caught up in trying to make this book about something else and it just all fell apart.
The last thing I'll talk about it the writing. I just didn't like it. Every time someone came into the picture they were laughing! I don't think the author ever used other verb to describe anybody and it drove me insane. I also noticed a lot of inconsistencies like on one page the sun had set and then on the next page same scene she was out just before the sun set. I know this is an ARC and I should overlook those things, but there were just so many of them that it got to be impossible to overlook. Makes me wonder if the author rushed his work. With some good editing this could have been so much better.
OH and one more thing, in the end I swear the author threw everything but the kitchen sink into this story. We have powers, religion, weird boys who come out of nowhere, and a medium. I mean does the description mention any of these???? NOPE!
Okay that's it I'm done.
This review will be filled with spoilers so you have been warned!!!!
Starting off I couldn't stand the main character Jen. She was rude and I am totally a fan of free speech and I know teenagers curse, but her language was WAY out of hand. At times I felt completely uncomfortable and I just wanted to wash her mouth out with soap! I get people talk like this I do, but in a book I would prefer the language toned down especially in a YA book. That wasn't my only problem with her though.
She, in the beginning, seemed to be somewhat level headed and I did feel bad for her because of her father who was completely bat crap crazy, but she wasn't much better by the end! She self medicated even after she found out something important about herself (which came out of left field since nowhere in the book did this particular topic come up) and she chose to make bad choices repeatedly. Jen was not a character I could ever stand behind even with her bad situation with her father.
Which brings me to her father. Nowhere in the description of this book does it say anything about religion being inside it's pages. Religion was ALL OVER this book and not in a good way or really even creepy way. It was very insane and offensive and just not what I signed up for when I picked this up. If I had known going in this was going to be the main focus I would have completely passed on this book. I don't like religion in my books for the most part, I can handle them in creepy ones because they do add an interesting spin at times, but this was not one of those times. At one point I felt like the author had an agenda and was preaching through his character, not good AT ALL!
The biggest reason why this book didn't work for me though was the overall story line. It made absolutely no sense! And here is the biggest spoiler....the house had nothing to do with the craziness!! There were a few scenes and I mean maybe two where the house might have had something going on, but in the end it was all about her crazy father and his past! The author could have made this amazing if he would would have focused more on that factor and less on trying to make his readers feel icky. I liked the backstory honestly, it was intriguing, creepy as all get out even with the religion aspect thrown in and I would have loved if this was the main focus. And it was to a point, but the author got to caught up in trying to make this book about something else and it just all fell apart.
The last thing I'll talk about it the writing. I just didn't like it. Every time someone came into the picture they were laughing! I don't think the author ever used other verb to describe anybody and it drove me insane. I also noticed a lot of inconsistencies like on one page the sun had set and then on the next page same scene she was out just before the sun set. I know this is an ARC and I should overlook those things, but there were just so many of them that it got to be impossible to overlook. Makes me wonder if the author rushed his work. With some good editing this could have been so much better.
OH and one more thing, in the end I swear the author threw everything but the kitchen sink into this story. We have powers, religion, weird boys who come out of nowhere, and a medium. I mean does the description mention any of these???? NOPE!
Okay that's it I'm done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2016
Discord House... cough....cough Oh! I mean Harmony house was one I thought that was going to scare the pants off of me. That prologue was menacing and that alone would make you sleep with the light on. And then this happened....
*Clears throat* Chapter one.... Jen is moving to a small town with her dad to get away from the devilish past to a house called... dun dun duuuuun *creepy music starts to play* Harmony House. Of course, Dad is a super psychotic god worshiping freak and her mom was an alcoholic. They have come to wash away Jen's "sins".
Things go from bad to worse as the house taunts and haunts Jen in dreams and even in real breathing life. Her dad goes overboard with his beliefs and has Jen locked away in that creepy old house. It leaves you not guessing on what will happen next, but getting it right on the nose. If you read this text closely, you'll understand why this house is the way it is.
Not impressed Nic.... not at all.
If you're a horror freak like I am, then this book will be as no surprise to you. It takes some key parts of some very classic creepy movies and he turns it into a book of his own. Shame on you.
I would not recommend this book to anyone who reads and breathes anything horror. To the average normal person, this might scare you. For me my dear friends it did nothing but deceive.
*Clears throat* Chapter one.... Jen is moving to a small town with her dad to get away from the devilish past to a house called... dun dun duuuuun *creepy music starts to play* Harmony House. Of course, Dad is a super psychotic god worshiping freak and her mom was an alcoholic. They have come to wash away Jen's "sins".
Things go from bad to worse as the house taunts and haunts Jen in dreams and even in real breathing life. Her dad goes overboard with his beliefs and has Jen locked away in that creepy old house. It leaves you not guessing on what will happen next, but getting it right on the nose. If you read this text closely, you'll understand why this house is the way it is.
Not impressed Nic.... not at all.
If you're a horror freak like I am, then this book will be as no surprise to you. It takes some key parts of some very classic creepy movies and he turns it into a book of his own. Shame on you.
I would not recommend this book to anyone who reads and breathes anything horror. To the average normal person, this might scare you. For me my dear friends it did nothing but deceive.
September 15, 2015
I'm going to go ahead and post this review. So, here it goes!
Thanks to the publisher, I received an ARC of this book, and in return, I’m providing an honest review. The following quote from the book is subject to change and may not be included in the released edition.
“I don’t want to be extraordinary,” I tell him. “I just want to be ordinary. I just want to be like everybody else.” He wipes my tears away. “You never will be,” he says. “I wouldn’t be here, if you were.”
After a tragedy strikes the Noonan family, seventeen-year-old Jennifer (Jen) and her father, Anselm, move to Beach Haven, New Jersey, which is a quaint, beachside town, in order to start their lives anew, finding a fresh start. They move into Harmony House, a gothic-style home built in the 1800s, which was at one time a home ran by the Catholic Church for mothers who had or were carrying children out of wedlock, and is now a hotel for travelers and tourists. Anselm, a devoutly religious man, has taken over as the caretaker of the hotel for the winter, and in moving to Beach Haven, Jen has had to leave behind her friends, including her best friend Stephanie, her high school, and the life she knew. Now she is required by Anselm to help take care of Harmony House by cleaning and doing chores around the perimeter of the estate. As well, Jen’s father does not let her attend public school, mandating that he teach her at home after her morning chores have been completed.
Honestly, I had no intentions of reading this book, but I picked it up because I was in a slump with the other book I was in the middle of at the time. So, I was kind of surprised at how much this novel kept my attention, and now I’m even more excited about reading Nic Sheff’s earlier book, Schizo, which has been on my tbr shelf for some time. With Harmony House, the author does a great job crafting not only a detailed but also fast-paced story, allowing the reader to become fully immersed in what is taking place. Even though this book is categorized as horror, I was never really scared while reading it; however, there were still moments that I felt my pulse rising in anticipation of what was about to unfold before my eyes. This is where I believe that, as a genre, horror is subjective, because what isn’t frightening to me may be terrifying to someone else. The fact that I was never scared or frightened in any way, however, never detracted from how entertained I was. The suspense and intrigue was enough to keep me reading for hours, and I never saw most of the twists coming, even though I probably should have.
On the other hand, this book does have its faults. While writing this review, I’m trying to keep in mind that I read an ARC, and this book is not yet a finished product. But I have a feeling that my complaints will not be remedied in the published edition, so I might as well not hold anything back. For the most part, I didn’t really care about any of the characters, never having really developed a connection. Jen was underdeveloped as a protagonist, and I still have too many questions in regard to her “power.” By the end of the book, I didn’t really feel like I knew who she was. Anselm was creepy as hell, but I never understood why his behavior changed so much. The secondary characters were also relatively underwhelming and just kind of meh. Oh, and I have no idea what the overall purpose of the prologue was, because it didn’t have that much to do with the storyline. I just have so many questions that were never answered, but maybe that was what the author was going for, trying to leave the reader with an air of mystery. If that’s the case, he achieved his goal.
All in all, regardless of the things I didn’t like, mainly the character development and lack of answers, this was a quick and enjoyable read. Yes, it may not be a work of literary genius, but this book never tries to be something that it’s not. As a result, I gave this novel a middle-grade rating, because I neither really liked nor disliked it. Like I said, horror is subjective, so I believe there are many people out there that will be thoroughly entertained, even frightened, by this book. Give it a shot and find out for yourself!
Thanks to the publisher, I received an ARC of this book, and in return, I’m providing an honest review. The following quote from the book is subject to change and may not be included in the released edition.
“I don’t want to be extraordinary,” I tell him. “I just want to be ordinary. I just want to be like everybody else.” He wipes my tears away. “You never will be,” he says. “I wouldn’t be here, if you were.”
After a tragedy strikes the Noonan family, seventeen-year-old Jennifer (Jen) and her father, Anselm, move to Beach Haven, New Jersey, which is a quaint, beachside town, in order to start their lives anew, finding a fresh start. They move into Harmony House, a gothic-style home built in the 1800s, which was at one time a home ran by the Catholic Church for mothers who had or were carrying children out of wedlock, and is now a hotel for travelers and tourists. Anselm, a devoutly religious man, has taken over as the caretaker of the hotel for the winter, and in moving to Beach Haven, Jen has had to leave behind her friends, including her best friend Stephanie, her high school, and the life she knew. Now she is required by Anselm to help take care of Harmony House by cleaning and doing chores around the perimeter of the estate. As well, Jen’s father does not let her attend public school, mandating that he teach her at home after her morning chores have been completed.
Honestly, I had no intentions of reading this book, but I picked it up because I was in a slump with the other book I was in the middle of at the time. So, I was kind of surprised at how much this novel kept my attention, and now I’m even more excited about reading Nic Sheff’s earlier book, Schizo, which has been on my tbr shelf for some time. With Harmony House, the author does a great job crafting not only a detailed but also fast-paced story, allowing the reader to become fully immersed in what is taking place. Even though this book is categorized as horror, I was never really scared while reading it; however, there were still moments that I felt my pulse rising in anticipation of what was about to unfold before my eyes. This is where I believe that, as a genre, horror is subjective, because what isn’t frightening to me may be terrifying to someone else. The fact that I was never scared or frightened in any way, however, never detracted from how entertained I was. The suspense and intrigue was enough to keep me reading for hours, and I never saw most of the twists coming, even though I probably should have.
On the other hand, this book does have its faults. While writing this review, I’m trying to keep in mind that I read an ARC, and this book is not yet a finished product. But I have a feeling that my complaints will not be remedied in the published edition, so I might as well not hold anything back. For the most part, I didn’t really care about any of the characters, never having really developed a connection. Jen was underdeveloped as a protagonist, and I still have too many questions in regard to her “power.” By the end of the book, I didn’t really feel like I knew who she was. Anselm was creepy as hell, but I never understood why his behavior changed so much. The secondary characters were also relatively underwhelming and just kind of meh. Oh, and I have no idea what the overall purpose of the prologue was, because it didn’t have that much to do with the storyline. I just have so many questions that were never answered, but maybe that was what the author was going for, trying to leave the reader with an air of mystery. If that’s the case, he achieved his goal.
All in all, regardless of the things I didn’t like, mainly the character development and lack of answers, this was a quick and enjoyable read. Yes, it may not be a work of literary genius, but this book never tries to be something that it’s not. As a result, I gave this novel a middle-grade rating, because I neither really liked nor disliked it. Like I said, horror is subjective, so I believe there are many people out there that will be thoroughly entertained, even frightened, by this book. Give it a shot and find out for yourself!
August 12, 2018
It was a pretty good story but it felt very unfinished.
March 14, 2016
2.5/5
Mon avis en Français
My English review
It’s been awhile since I had not read any novels classified as horror, so it was nice to discover this new book. However, despite the evocative summary, and an unhealthy atmosphere throughout the story, we aren’t in a real horror book.
It’s very hard to give an opinion about this story and I admit that I wondered for a moment how I would write it down. It’s not that it’s not a good novel, I enjoyed the writing of the author and the story is read very quickly but what bothers me more is about the plot. As I said, we found a completely oppressive and unhealthy atmosphere of the manor and its past, which is also reinforced by the visions that Jen is having. Through her, we see moments from the past featuring a little boy moving in a religious quite difficult environment and where his only friend is a young woman who is too gentle for the place. But then on top of that, we find our heroine, Jen, who after the death of her mother ends up having to move into an abandoned mansion. Many reviewers did not like the girl, saying that she was finally always angry but I didn’t have this feeling, this is a person who has gone through difficult events and who tries to recover as best as she can. It must be said that her father does not help either given his frenetic obsession with religion and prayers. I did not expect such a character and although I do not usually appreciate the religious connotation in books, here, it did not really bother me. What was more troublesome was the mostly continual obsession for prayers facing the most elementary things.
As for the rest of history, many points left me full of questions and it is true that it is quite difficult to understand all the events and indeed the whole story. Indeed, the girl wakes every morning up with many bruises on her body and I wondered if she was raped and when she gets pregnant and that nobody speaks about it, I could not help but think of a possible rape (by her father?) again. When two characters disappear into the house and that they come back changed, we can only wonder what happened to them without never have an answer. Her father becoming increasingly crazy is also a quite complicated fact. We understand that the house is for something or at least the secrets contained in it, but I think it is mainly the story of a man who sinks into madness and taking religion as the single point of salvation because of his past.
In short you will understand, this is a pretty strange feeling that we feel at the end of the story and I do not really know if I really understood the story. Besides, by talking with Kindlemom, I think I definitely did not understand it lol. In trying to compare my feelings and questions, I understood that she had seen other even more inconvenient things, and finally, all was much more complicated than I had expected.
Mon avis en Français
My English review
It’s been awhile since I had not read any novels classified as horror, so it was nice to discover this new book. However, despite the evocative summary, and an unhealthy atmosphere throughout the story, we aren’t in a real horror book.
It’s very hard to give an opinion about this story and I admit that I wondered for a moment how I would write it down. It’s not that it’s not a good novel, I enjoyed the writing of the author and the story is read very quickly but what bothers me more is about the plot. As I said, we found a completely oppressive and unhealthy atmosphere of the manor and its past, which is also reinforced by the visions that Jen is having. Through her, we see moments from the past featuring a little boy moving in a religious quite difficult environment and where his only friend is a young woman who is too gentle for the place. But then on top of that, we find our heroine, Jen, who after the death of her mother ends up having to move into an abandoned mansion. Many reviewers did not like the girl, saying that she was finally always angry but I didn’t have this feeling, this is a person who has gone through difficult events and who tries to recover as best as she can. It must be said that her father does not help either given his frenetic obsession with religion and prayers. I did not expect such a character and although I do not usually appreciate the religious connotation in books, here, it did not really bother me. What was more troublesome was the mostly continual obsession for prayers facing the most elementary things.
As for the rest of history, many points left me full of questions and it is true that it is quite difficult to understand all the events and indeed the whole story. Indeed, the girl wakes every morning up with many bruises on her body and I wondered if she was raped and when she gets pregnant and that nobody speaks about it, I could not help but think of a possible rape (by her father?) again. When two characters disappear into the house and that they come back changed, we can only wonder what happened to them without never have an answer. Her father becoming increasingly crazy is also a quite complicated fact. We understand that the house is for something or at least the secrets contained in it, but I think it is mainly the story of a man who sinks into madness and taking religion as the single point of salvation because of his past.
In short you will understand, this is a pretty strange feeling that we feel at the end of the story and I do not really know if I really understood the story. Besides, by talking with Kindlemom, I think I definitely did not understand it lol. In trying to compare my feelings and questions, I understood that she had seen other even more inconvenient things, and finally, all was much more complicated than I had expected.
December 20, 2020
No sabría por donde empezar con este libro, pues debo decir que en ningún momento logra destacar en lo absoluto. Aun así, aquí les dejo mis cinco aspectos:
-Trama/Desarrollo: Cuando lees la sinopsis “Un hombre y su hija que se mudan a una casa embrujada después de la pérdida de la esposa/mamá” no puedes negar que suena un tanto interesante. Sin embargo, la trama parece una total mentira.
En este libro parece que te vas a encontrar con una historia de muchas situaciones incómodas tales como violencia, abuso y uso de sustancias. El autor no tiene una gran precaución para las mismas, por lo cual, conforme vas avanzando, te va a asustar lo repentino que todo sucede. No tengo mucho que decir. Creo que el libro no empieza bien y no esperes que mejore conforme avanza.
-Personajes: Desafortunadamente, creo que ninguno destaca. Nuestra protagonista, una adolescente, es de las que se considera (y viene redactado en el libro) “única y diferente”. Es decir, cree que no hay nadie como ella y que los chicos no le harán caso porque no es la popular. Ya con eso creo que es suficiente para un cliché. Por el contrario, tenemos a un padre abusivo y controlador, el cual simplemente no para de terminar de desagradar y llegué al punto donde no sabía si estaba leyendo sobre una casa embrujada o una historia de violencia.
Hay personajes secundarios que no aportan nada en lo más mínimo.
-Género: No puedo recomendar esto como un género de terror, a menos que seas principiante y no hayas leído una pizca en tu vida de este. Sin embargo, hay muchos temas que hacen que ese toque se pierda y termine por ser una historia sin pies ni cabeza que clasificaría como “quiero abarcar muchos géneros y no sé”.
-Escritura: Lamento lo que diré, pero la escritura es muy mala. No tiene muchos diálogos desarrollados pues todos son muy simples. Se repiten muchas cosas y no hay un mínimo tacto para las situaciones. Las escenas más “terroríficas” son de lo más simples y una caricatura que no sea de terror se esfuerza más por asustar.
-Final: Sin comentarios. No sé cómo pude terminar, pero lo logré. Creo que me interesaba saber si podía mejorar (cosa que no pasó).
-Trama/Desarrollo: Cuando lees la sinopsis “Un hombre y su hija que se mudan a una casa embrujada después de la pérdida de la esposa/mamá” no puedes negar que suena un tanto interesante. Sin embargo, la trama parece una total mentira.
En este libro parece que te vas a encontrar con una historia de muchas situaciones incómodas tales como violencia, abuso y uso de sustancias. El autor no tiene una gran precaución para las mismas, por lo cual, conforme vas avanzando, te va a asustar lo repentino que todo sucede. No tengo mucho que decir. Creo que el libro no empieza bien y no esperes que mejore conforme avanza.
-Personajes: Desafortunadamente, creo que ninguno destaca. Nuestra protagonista, una adolescente, es de las que se considera (y viene redactado en el libro) “única y diferente”. Es decir, cree que no hay nadie como ella y que los chicos no le harán caso porque no es la popular. Ya con eso creo que es suficiente para un cliché. Por el contrario, tenemos a un padre abusivo y controlador, el cual simplemente no para de terminar de desagradar y llegué al punto donde no sabía si estaba leyendo sobre una casa embrujada o una historia de violencia.
Hay personajes secundarios que no aportan nada en lo más mínimo.
-Género: No puedo recomendar esto como un género de terror, a menos que seas principiante y no hayas leído una pizca en tu vida de este. Sin embargo, hay muchos temas que hacen que ese toque se pierda y termine por ser una historia sin pies ni cabeza que clasificaría como “quiero abarcar muchos géneros y no sé”.
-Escritura: Lamento lo que diré, pero la escritura es muy mala. No tiene muchos diálogos desarrollados pues todos son muy simples. Se repiten muchas cosas y no hay un mínimo tacto para las situaciones. Las escenas más “terroríficas” son de lo más simples y una caricatura que no sea de terror se esfuerza más por asustar.
-Final: Sin comentarios. No sé cómo pude terminar, pero lo logré. Creo que me interesaba saber si podía mejorar (cosa que no pasó).
October 13, 2016
¿Misterio? Lo tiene.
¿Muy oscura? Lo es.
¿Me recordó un poco a una novela de Stephen King en concreto? Obviamente SI.
¿Me dio miedo? Sinceramente NO.
Eso responde lo que me encontré dentro de esta novela.
Harmony House tenía toda la pinta para haberse convertido en un libro de terror muy prometedor pero no llego a serlo del todo.
¿Muy oscura? Lo es.
¿Me recordó un poco a una novela de Stephen King en concreto? Obviamente SI.
¿Me dio miedo? Sinceramente NO.
Eso responde lo que me encontré dentro de esta novela.
Harmony House tenía toda la pinta para haberse convertido en un libro de terror muy prometedor pero no llego a serlo del todo.
March 15, 2016
Wasn't great, although there were one or two parts that could have made it better. Full review on my blog, Lisa Loves Literature, later this week.
March 25, 2021
So. Alright. The story here is solid. The premise is cool. All of the pieces sound great. Why doesn't it work? It's getting a bullet list because I'm annoyed.
- The characters are not characters. They have one note of personality each with the exception of Colin, who is not featured often enough for it to matter. The only thing I felt for the MC was pity and consuming frustration. Not frustration because of her situation, frustration because she just didn't fucking do anything.
- The MC is rebellious and outspoken unless the plot needs her otherwise, then she doesn't say anything. There are hints that, maybe, this was an intended trait. She might have a savior complex with her dad. Might. It's hard to tell. Because despite this being written in first person, she seems to have very few thoughts, opinions, dreams, aspirations, likes, dislikes-- you know, these things that tend to make up personalities. And characters. Is she even a character? I actually just realized I can't remember her name which is wild because I just finished it like 5 minutes ago. Maybe the book isn't real and I zoned out for 4 hours.
- Yeah, I know what Harmony House was trying to say. When your parents are abusive and you still love them, it's complicated. It's just not portrayed well, at all, whatsoever, period. There's a very brief period in the beginning where the MC repeats that "dad is trying" as if she's trying to convince herself to like him, but then immediately he shows her that no, she cannot convince herself of that. She doesn't seem to love, like, or be cowed by him. She follows along with some of his crazy shit because it's easier, which I get, but there comes a point where I cannot... imagine anyone just going 'well okay'. If you see your dad fill his shoes with glass and whip himself while singing church hymns, maybe become a little more proactive? Or give us an actual reason the character does NOT become more proactive?
- The characters act off. Just, all of them. None of them feel real, talk real, or have realistic reactions to anything.
- Plot points fly out of nowhere with no previous hinting of them being a possibility.
- It's too short, nothing is fleshed out, and each piece is disjointed. Sincerely, the story by could have been pretty awesome (generational abuse is a really common topic tackled in haunted house stories, often to great effect) but none of the concepts breathe. Some of them don't even connect. When we get a twist about that dad, I groaned.
- Powers are introduced and not consistent.
The reason I'm so annoyed is because this could have been rad! And it's not, and that makes me sad.
- The characters are not characters. They have one note of personality each with the exception of Colin, who is not featured often enough for it to matter. The only thing I felt for the MC was pity and consuming frustration. Not frustration because of her situation, frustration because she just didn't fucking do anything.
- The MC is rebellious and outspoken unless the plot needs her otherwise, then she doesn't say anything. There are hints that, maybe, this was an intended trait. She might have a savior complex with her dad. Might. It's hard to tell. Because despite this being written in first person, she seems to have very few thoughts, opinions, dreams, aspirations, likes, dislikes-- you know, these things that tend to make up personalities. And characters. Is she even a character? I actually just realized I can't remember her name which is wild because I just finished it like 5 minutes ago. Maybe the book isn't real and I zoned out for 4 hours.
- Yeah, I know what Harmony House was trying to say. When your parents are abusive and you still love them, it's complicated. It's just not portrayed well, at all, whatsoever, period. There's a very brief period in the beginning where the MC repeats that "dad is trying" as if she's trying to convince herself to like him, but then immediately he shows her that no, she cannot convince herself of that. She doesn't seem to love, like, or be cowed by him. She follows along with some of his crazy shit because it's easier, which I get, but there comes a point where I cannot... imagine anyone just going 'well okay'. If you see your dad fill his shoes with glass and whip himself while singing church hymns, maybe become a little more proactive? Or give us an actual reason the character does NOT become more proactive?
- The characters act off. Just, all of them. None of them feel real, talk real, or have realistic reactions to anything.
- Plot points fly out of nowhere with no previous hinting of them being a possibility.
- It's too short, nothing is fleshed out, and each piece is disjointed. Sincerely, the story by could have been pretty awesome (generational abuse is a really common topic tackled in haunted house stories, often to great effect) but none of the concepts breathe. Some of them don't even connect. When we get a twist about that dad, I groaned.
- Powers are introduced and not consistent.
The reason I'm so annoyed is because this could have been rad! And it's not, and that makes me sad.
January 24, 2020
2.5 stars.
December 20, 2021
The plot and flashbacks kept me intrigued enough to keep going. I banged this book out in like 3 sittings! A lot of it was really predictable, however. Sadly the characters were incredibly generic and didn’t have any distinguishable traits! The seeds for some good tropes were there but not executed well.
July 17, 2023
Just weird and kind of uncomfortable
October 26, 2016
Situada a las afuera de un pequeño poblado en Playa Paraíso se levanta una imponente y antigua casa, ahora hotel, en la que una joven de nombre Jen, junto con su padre, están por llegar con la firme intención de reconstruir su vida después del tormento pasado que les dejo de la pérdida de la madre de Jen. Lo que en un principio parece tratarse de un cambio aburrido y completamente fuera de lugar en para ambos, pronto se desencadena una serie de eventos que pondrán en duda todo lo que alguna vez creyeron conocer.
Jen recia a aceptar su nuevo día a día, se muestra como una chica rebelde, mientras que su padre está decidido a evitar que ella caiga en malos pasos, forzándola a llevar una vida apegada a la religión que tiende a caer en el fanatismo, por lo que su manera de evitarlo es escapando, de diferentes maneras, de su realidad gracias a fármacos que ha robado; por otro lado ha logrado hacer algunas peculiares amistades en el poblado, que irán revelando algunos detalles de lo ocurrido en el que es ahora su nueva morada, dejando varios secretos por resolver en sus manos.
Sin entrar en mayores detalles de la historia para evitar soltar algún spoiler importante, puedo decirles que la trama girara entorno a este misterio lugar y nos situara en diferentes eventos que han sucedió en él a los largo de los años y que tienen relación directa con lo que está a punto de ocurrirles a sus nuevos inquilinos.
En cuanto a los puntos más interesantes que nos presenta esta novela se encuentran la manera en que poco a poco iremos descubriendo cada uno de los rincones de la sombría Harmony House, junto con sus personajes; provocando ese sentimiento de ansiedad que tanto deseamos encontrar en historias de este tipo, también es importante reconocer su narrativa cinematográfica que nos presenta su autor, por lo que los escenarios serán detallados a la perfección siendo uno de los principales atractivos de la trama.
Continua con la reseña en: http://rincondelecturamx.blogspot.mx/...
Jen recia a aceptar su nuevo día a día, se muestra como una chica rebelde, mientras que su padre está decidido a evitar que ella caiga en malos pasos, forzándola a llevar una vida apegada a la religión que tiende a caer en el fanatismo, por lo que su manera de evitarlo es escapando, de diferentes maneras, de su realidad gracias a fármacos que ha robado; por otro lado ha logrado hacer algunas peculiares amistades en el poblado, que irán revelando algunos detalles de lo ocurrido en el que es ahora su nueva morada, dejando varios secretos por resolver en sus manos.
Sin entrar en mayores detalles de la historia para evitar soltar algún spoiler importante, puedo decirles que la trama girara entorno a este misterio lugar y nos situara en diferentes eventos que han sucedió en él a los largo de los años y que tienen relación directa con lo que está a punto de ocurrirles a sus nuevos inquilinos.
En cuanto a los puntos más interesantes que nos presenta esta novela se encuentran la manera en que poco a poco iremos descubriendo cada uno de los rincones de la sombría Harmony House, junto con sus personajes; provocando ese sentimiento de ansiedad que tanto deseamos encontrar en historias de este tipo, también es importante reconocer su narrativa cinematográfica que nos presenta su autor, por lo que los escenarios serán detallados a la perfección siendo uno de los principales atractivos de la trama.
Continua con la reseña en: http://rincondelecturamx.blogspot.mx/...
March 10, 2016
Plot: Harmony House begins in the 19th century in a very ominous setting. From there, we are transported to 1997 to a teenaged daughter and her father who have recently just purchased an abandoned home. Of course, there is something suspicious happening in Harmony House and Jen's father seems to be affected the most. There isn't much I can say about this book. The plot moves like my grandmother driving shift-stick for the first time. None of this came together in the end and I'm still not too sure what I just read.
Characters: No one in this book is likable. Not one person. Jen is crass and whiny while her father is extreme. He is the extreme of extreme. He is a very religious man but he's that stereotype of a crazy pastor in the boondocks. He quotes scriptures and forces his daughter to repent for all her sins, which makes her act out more. Everyone just left a bad taste in my mouth. The general interactions between characters were stilted and almost comical. There is a scene where this is a legit conversation:
"I hate you," I tell him.
"What?"
"Nevermind."
That basically sums up everyone and their interactions with each other and I wish I was kidding.
Worldbuilding: Harmony House is set in the 90s but there isn't anything that makes it distinctly 90s. In the beginning, there were random references to pop culture but that was about it.
Short N Sweet: Harmony House was a confusing mystery with unlikable characters.
Characters: No one in this book is likable. Not one person. Jen is crass and whiny while her father is extreme. He is the extreme of extreme. He is a very religious man but he's that stereotype of a crazy pastor in the boondocks. He quotes scriptures and forces his daughter to repent for all her sins, which makes her act out more. Everyone just left a bad taste in my mouth. The general interactions between characters were stilted and almost comical. There is a scene where this is a legit conversation:
"I hate you," I tell him.
"What?"
"Nevermind."
That basically sums up everyone and their interactions with each other and I wish I was kidding.
Worldbuilding: Harmony House is set in the 90s but there isn't anything that makes it distinctly 90s. In the beginning, there were random references to pop culture but that was about it.
Short N Sweet: Harmony House was a confusing mystery with unlikable characters.
June 13, 2016
Too many curse words for me. Though, the plot moved at a fast pace and I really did want to get to the bottom of what is going on. It is written where there could be others after it. It seems to take a stand against addiction and religious zealots. Some very weird stuff in here but it did help to up the creepy factor which is why we all read spooky books.
There was a little bit of everything in here. I felt there were lots of loose ends though and would have felt better if I knew there was a sequel and if she would stop cursing worse than a sailor.
There was a little bit of everything in here. I felt there were lots of loose ends though and would have felt better if I knew there was a sequel and if she would stop cursing worse than a sailor.
July 1, 2020
3,5
Esta es la clásica novela que buscas cuando quieres leer algo de casas encantadas en pequeños pueblos alejados, con habitantes extraños.
Entre secretos religiosos y antiguas leyendas macabras, conocemos a Harmony house, una peculiar mansión victoriana que guarda tras sus paredes hechos horribles, que marcaron las vidas (y las muertes) de muchas personas.
Con un toque de sobrenaturalidad, esencia de película y restos de adicciones a las drogas, el autor deja ver en la obra su propio interior, dando como resultado esta historia, que se lee demasiado rápido y es completamente adictiva.
Esta es la clásica novela que buscas cuando quieres leer algo de casas encantadas en pequeños pueblos alejados, con habitantes extraños.
Entre secretos religiosos y antiguas leyendas macabras, conocemos a Harmony house, una peculiar mansión victoriana que guarda tras sus paredes hechos horribles, que marcaron las vidas (y las muertes) de muchas personas.
Con un toque de sobrenaturalidad, esencia de película y restos de adicciones a las drogas, el autor deja ver en la obra su propio interior, dando como resultado esta historia, que se lee demasiado rápido y es completamente adictiva.
Read
September 7, 2016Graded By: Brian
Cover Story: Weird Title
Drinking Buddy: Nope
Testosterone Estrogen Level: Flatline
Talky Talk: USA Up All Night
Bonus Factors: Haunted Mansion, THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
Bromance Status: Fifth Grade Campmate
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Weird Title
Drinking Buddy: Nope
Talky Talk: USA Up All Night
Bonus Factors: Haunted Mansion, THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
Bromance Status: Fifth Grade Campmate
Read the full book report here.
October 11, 2015
This book had lots of messed up things happen, but it wasn't scary. At all. And I am left with far too many questions to be quelled by the book being over.
Sadly it's a no from me.
Sadly it's a no from me.
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