long and boring

nothing happens in this book
no suspense at all
took forever to finish it
narrator is very good

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Outstanding

Publisher’s Weekly listed this as one of the 10 best works of fiction in 2022, and for good reason. The premise starts with the idea that infamous true crime writer, Gage Chandler, is going to buy a murder house in small-town California to recreate an infamous “Satanic Panic” unsolved homicide from the 1980s; but by the end it’s changed direction multiple times and becomes about how the author deals with his own demons, and the choices he’s made to become the famous writer he is today.

Darnielle is an amazingly gifted singer, songwriter and author, and while his stories take some meandering tangents along their ways…without question every journey he takes you on is epic. This is his best one yet.

The changes in direction are jarring, but I promise the ending ties it up together brilliantly. There’s a later section in the book that deals with parental and spousal abuse that literally ripped me open to the core and had me in tears…so beware if that is also one of your personal triggers. This book is genius, and Darnielle’s interesting (and varied) delivery styles make the tale even more outstanding.

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Meandering tale of a property

Story started out interesting enough as the story of a property and its inhabitants over time. However soon lost its way in authors pointless philosophies about wayward teens and their graffiti on walls. Waiting for author to get to point seems hopeless, Can’t listen to any more drivel. Story blurb is inviting, story is boring.

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Missed the mark on what it strove to be

This book is well written, and the conceit was there; I can see what the author was trying to accomplish. But it just didn't quite meet the mark. If you are looking for a horror novel, this is not it and if you are looking for a crime/ mystery novel, this is also not it. I am not going to spoil anything; this is the type of book you need to experience for yourself and make your own judgment on. I suppose I just wanted it to be more than it was. I wanted the author to carry the thread of the story to the finish line and he just did not. Again, the writing is technically great...and that's probably the best thing I can say for Devil House.

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Ugh

Overlong and increasingly tedious as it goes -- you'll be thankful for being able to fast-forward through this one. Until you get to the ending, that is, which mainly brings disappointment

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bait and switch

This is very much a case of don't judge a book by its cover. Because the cover is fantastic. The design is just so evocative, crisp and graphic but wonderfully lurid with a 70s paperback style that is just immaculate. It's wonderful.
The book, itself, though? It was a long, slow meander where nothing really happens until the big, stupid reveal at the end. It was "literary." And "intellectual." A lot of people go bananas for that sort of thing. I don't. I'm reading, or in this case listening, for entertainment. If I wanted to learn about the ethics of true crime journalism I'd look up some articles on JSTOR. Which would have been a whole lot more efficient and probably a lot more informative. But yeah.
In fairness, it was a thoughtful meditation on the subject. True crime has always captured the popular imagination, but now, in the era of podcasts, it's like anyone can become an amateur sleuth/reporter. Which can be great- people have made a real difference. At the same time, though, you're still just getting one narrative. And it's true crime with real people, a lot of whom are still around to be retraumatized. And misrepresented. The author did a thorough and sensitive job.
But good lord, it was dry. And so, so slow. There was no sense of urgency, and like, minimal emotional investment. And then there was no real resolution, you know? The plot with the teacher who savagely (over)killed the two students who broke into her house with an oyster knife. She was demonized in the press, the true crime author took the opposite stance, the mother of one of the victims writes a heart-rending letter giving her side of the story, and honestly, if it were a reddit thread, the consensus would be ETA- everyone's an a-hole. Everyone. We never get closure, but that's not as bad as it could have been, because everyone sucked and it was hard to even care
And then the main plot with the devil house. It left me feeling a little bit bait-and-switched. I was expecting one thing, some kind of mystery, I guess, but what I got?
Honestly, I found it unrelentingly bleak and oppressive and kind of pointless. Again, there's a huge market for bleak, oppressive, meandering books, and I'm sure people are going to love this one. But I didn't.
The narration was pretty good, and the addition of music by the author was a- I want to say a interesting choice, but it really wasn't. The author is is relatively famous musician. Of course he's going to add music to his audiobook. I wish I could say that it added to the experience, but it was an "I could live with or without it" situation.
I just really was not the right reader for this one.

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