The House by Christina Lauren Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Published by Simon and Schuster on October 6th 2015
Narrator: Deacon Lee, Elizabeth Louise
Genres: Horror, Romance, Young Adult
Purchase links: Amazon, iTunes
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Source: Purchased audiobook, Simon & Schuster
Gavin tells Delilah he’s hers—completely—but whatever lives inside that house with him disagrees.
After seven years tucked away at an East coast boarding school, Delilah Blue returns to her small Kansas hometown to find that not much has changed. Her parents are still uptight and disinterested, her bedroom is exactly the way she left it, and the outcast Gavin Timothy still looks like he’s crawled out of one of her dark, twisted drawings.
Delilah is instantly smitten.
Gavin has always lived in the strange house: an odd building isolated in a stand of trees where the town gives in to mild wilderness. The house is an irresistible lure for Delilah, but the tall fence surrounding it exists for good reason, and Gavin urges Delilah to be careful. Whatever lives with him there isn’t human, and isn’t afraid of hurting her to keep her away.
We received this book/audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
BOOK AND AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: 5 STARS
Every now and then I like to get out of my comfort zone and read something different. This time, I chose Christina Lauren’s new book: The House. I must confess, I was afraid to read it. Not because of CL’s writing— they are great at it— but because I’m a chicken when it comes to HORROR. When I’m watching a horror movie I have my eyes closed half of the time, so can you imagine how I would look reading this book? OMG! I was scared to death, but I kept going because the storyline was so interesting, all the suspense, romance—yes, there is romance in this book—, and mystery throughout the story was really spectacular.
The House tells the story of Delilah and Gavin—two people who’ve had a huge crush on each other since they were kids. When Delilah arrives back into town, she and Gavin start dating. When all the “normal” boyfriend & girlfriend stuff starts to happen, like meeting the parents and such, that’s when all the suspense starts because Gavin doesn’t have a normal family or live in a regular house. But despite all these unusual -and scary as hell- facts about him, Delilah is always there for him. She accepts everything and tries so hard to find a balance between all the craziness that surrounds him.
I was a roller coaster of emotions while reading this book. At first, it was so cute how they started dating and shared their first kiss. I also enjoyed Delilah’s honesty and how unfiltered Gavin was—making The House nice to read. Then the story became more intriguing, when Gavin took Delilah to his home for the first time, also when he wasn’t recognized by the delivery guy from the grocery store. But when “things” started happening to Delilah, I WAS REALLY SPOOKED!
It was so cool reading a strong leading girl in this book. Delilah wasn’t just determined to have a relationship with Gavin, no matter how scary things were around his house. She was also determined to have HIM forever. I love how she handles everything at the end of the book. She is definitely the heroine of the story and I’m so happy to say that they had their HEA, which was totally unexpected for me.
Elizabeth Louise and Deacon Lee both made excellent performances in this audiobook. When I would hit play, I couldn’t stop listening to it. I’ve listened to other audio books with these narrators, and, somehow, they reinvented themselves in The House.
Elizabeth has the best voice for young characters. She can show sweetness and fierceness with her voice. And when Delilah was having “those kinda thoughts” about Gavin, she made it sound both naughty and sweet at the same time.
Deacon was a perfect Gavin. His voice translated his personality, his happiness, and especially his fears about everything that happened to him. I would totally listen to the house one more time, and I suggest that everyone accompany this book with the audio. Just thinking about all the spooky moments and action at the end of the story made me want to start over and listen to it all again right now!
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