3.0
Dream House
ByPublisher Description
“The perfect haunted house story for these unnerving times.” —New York Times
Dream House, the riveting debut novel from Pushcart Prize-winning author Valerie Laken, tells the story of one troubled house—the site of a domestic drama that will forever change the lives of two families. Embracing volatile issues such as race, class, and gentrification, while seamlessly mixing genres as diverse as crime fiction, suspense, and home renovation, Dream House is a “sexy, sharp-eyed, deeply haunted, [and] wonderful book.” (Charles Baxter, author of the National Book Award finalist The Feast of Love)
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesDream House Reviews
3.0
“Summerween: A book with a creepy cover
Empty stairwells have always creeped me out. I don't know why, they just do. If I had to choose between walking up an empty stairwell or getting to an elevator with a serial killer...
Serial killer elevator wins every time.
So based on this creepy cover and the synopsis I expected a mildly scary story. I mean it mentions words like haunted, rage that echoes through walls, a terrible outrages act.
I thought I was gonna be on the edge of my seat.
What I got was a book about white people fixing up a "dream house". I was 100 pages in to this and still had no clue what the plot was. In a normal sized novel like this(336 pages) by page 100 I should know what the plot is and I should have a basic knowledge of character motivation. I got neither in this book.
I actually did something I don't normally do. Half through I started reading reviews for this book. Some gave it 1 star like me but a lot of reviews talked about what a great job this book did talking about race.
???????
Ummm???
Of the 5 main characters 4 were middle class white people and the 5th was a Black man who was an ex-con fresh out of jail for murder who is described as big and angry. Walker the big angry Black ex-con spends his nights in a white neighborhood creepy around the house of a white woman. He parks his car across the street and just looks at her house...in the middle of the night in a white neighborhood. He creeps into her backyard and looks into her windows and at one point when she's not home he breaks in....
I live in a white neighborhood, its me and 2 other Black families and I can tell FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE that if white people she a Black or Brown person that they don't know just hanging out in a parked car...You can rest assured that the police will be called.
Despite the (to me) obvious race issues, my biggest problem with this book is that its boring. Its so so so so so boring. Nothing happens. I read the entire book and I still have no clue what the plot of this book was.
I'm going to spoil the only interesting thing that happens in this book and I'm not hiding it because I don't want anyone to read this book:
The house accidently burns down killing a dog and despite it not being big angry Black ex-con Walker's fault he takes the blame for....reasons??? and then the main characters go to a wedding.
THE END!
DONT READ THIS BOOK!
One more thing: Walker is big and angry and black”
“I am terrible at this. Sorry. As many others have said, it's not actually a ghost story - I assumed it wouldn't be, since the quote also says "plausible and rational ghost story." Part of me wishes I could have read this book without having read the quote on the front cover.
Instead, we get a book about a house and the "ghosts" within its walls, and four characters with skeletons in their closet. Overall, I enjoyed this book - the story tugged me along nicely, and it definitely describes the imperfectness of real life and the way people's imperfect lives come together imperfectly.”
“I really enjoyed this book. It was a lot different than I thought it would be (in the best way possible). If you want to read a suspensful, heart warming story that allows you to get to know many different characters..then read this! I can't wait for her next book.”
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