The House Mate
My Rating: 4
Genre: Suspense
Format: audiobook*
Publication Date: October 15, 2020
Author: Nina Manning
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The House Mate Blurb
The perfect life? …Or the perfect lie?
When Regi moves into her new houseshare, she’s ready for a clean slate. A new home. A new routine. A new identity…
Desperate to escape the shadow of her past that follows her everywhere she goes, Regi finds the ideal distraction in the perfect lives of others on social media.
But as innocent scrolling turns into an unhealthy obsession, Regi will soon learn that seeking perfection comes at a price…
The House Mate Review
As a quick reminder, here is my rating structure:
- 1 star: Did not finish
- 2 Stars: Finished but I do not recommend
- 3 Stars: Liked but could use some improvements
- 4 Stars: Loved this book!
- 5 Stars: Rare. The unput-down-able, binge read obsession.
My star ratings are also based also genre based. I compare all books with books of the same genre. While I would love to believe that my love of books in general transcends all bias, there are genres I prefer over others.
I’m human.
Example: If I read a mystery novel and think it deserves a 5-star rating, then I have compared it to other mystery books, and determined it to be one of my absolute favorites. The unputdownable mystery.
This will hopefully keep me from comparing Outlander, a personal obsession of mine, with the experience of reading The Hate You Give. Both 5 star books for me, but completely and totally different. I couldn’t even try to rate them against each other, so I don’t. Makes my life easier. 🙂
My Thoughts
I love listening to a good, suspenseful audiobook. I get all of my laundry and dishes done because I just keep doing things so that I can keep listening.
Sometimes, I even put the laundry away.
Anyway, The House Mate helped me get a large amount of house work done without even realizing I was working.
Helen Keeley did a great job narrating this novel, especially considering the dual timeline approach. I don’t know how I was able to keep the flashbacks straight, except that the author and narrator did a good job identifying them.
Speaking of the dual timeline, this book will not work for people who struggle with shifting plots or flashbacks, because the narrative of The House Mate is driven by the unknown events in between the past and the present. All of these questions fuel the suspense, so if you do not enjoy that type of structure, don’t pick this one up.
I was so happy to read an unreliable narrator book that didn’t use a drunk heroine. Instead, Nina Manning chose to use mental health and PTSD to call Regi’s thoughts and feelings into question while simultaneously dealing with these important issues with a lot of care and respect.
The ending threw me a little bit, but it was supposed to. I figured out one of the plot twists early on, but definitely not all of them. I wasn’t necessarily all in for the ending, but I get it and it definitely worked for this book.
The House Mate is a good addition to the mystery/suspense genre with a fresh take on storytelling.
Conclusion
If you like thrillers and want something a little different in the genre, The House Mate is worth a read.
~About the Author~
Nina Manning began her career in the catering industry. She has worked as a private chef cooking for royalty and TV personalities.
She has a degree in Psychology and has three books published with Boldwood: The Daughter In Law, The Guilty Wife and The House Mate.
Her fourth Psychological thriller is published in Spring 2021.
Nina is a voracious reader of many genres, is the founding member of a long standing book club and the founder and co-host of a book podcast called Sniffing The Pages.
She is a mother to three young children so when she is not writing or reading she can usually be found scaling a soft play tower or romping in the woods with the family and her chocolate Labrador.
*Special thanks to Nina Manning and Rachel’s Random Resources providing a copy of The House Mate in exchange for an honest review.
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