Review: The Misery House by David Kummer

The Misery House (The House on the Hill, Book #1)

by David Kummer

Release Date: July 7, 2023

2023 David Kummer

Ebook Edition; 232 Pages

ISBN: 978-1088059364

ASIN: B0B5YQC1CC

Genre: Fiction / Horror

Source: Review copy from author

3 / 5 Stars

Summary

This rural town has never seen a string of tragedies like this. A local store burns to the ground with two bodies inside. A newlywed couple goes missing, and all signs point to the abandoned house. With no answers, the townsfolk grow more and more worried.

The Woods family has lived here forever. But when their friends and their own children are put in danger, the threat hits home. This close-knit family must risk everything to find answers, but time is running out.

 

My Thoughts

The Misery House is the first book in a planned trilogy, and I thought this one set up the story quite well, even if it was a quite slow at times. And by slow, I mean it took a very long time to get to the house and even now, I won't even pretend I understand anything about it.  The author did have a very descriptive writing style that drew you into the lives of the characters, but upon looking back, that's exactly what the story was about, the lives of the characters. And while I don't mind descriptive writing, I would have liked to have seen more build up of the atmosphere, some more horror, some tension, but it was a bit lacking overall.

 

At this point, I'm still on the fence about the use of multiple POV in this book, at least from the whole family. I enjoyed learning about the Woods family and their different perspectives on things, and I definitely enjoyed the author's writing style when it came to the characters, but the way it was written left some gaps in the story line. Because of this writing style, it was left to the reader to assume the sheriff believed certain things because the characters said so, not because you actually got to witness his behaviour through the story. Or Malaki, we just assume he is this horrible person because of someone else's POV, but never really see anyone else's POV or hear his side of things.  I am not a fan of assumptive story telling as I would prefer to draw my own conclusions about characters, not be led around by the nose.  Now Malaki has this association with the house, we hear all these rumours about it through other characters, but where is the investigation or where are the dialogues about this behaviour? Nowhere.

 

I did enjoy this book quite a bit, but that doesn't mean I was oblivious to the plot holes.  The author has a great writing style that I enjoyed, he has a way of drawing you in, but he does make use of assumptions way too much. When Kaia's best friend Allison goes missing, a witness saw her in that creepy abandoned house, but the sheriff doesn't go looking for her asap? Why not? Why does he arrest someone else in the community instead? We don't even get to see that part of the story, it's all told through other characters and how angry they are.  And personally, it doesn't really make sense. As a reader, we are just told this is what happened, but the why is glossed over and we are expected to just accept it without motivation or cause.  Uh uh, not me.  And Kaia? The minute she got that text from Allison, why would she not report it or at least text her back?  And then get all upset because nothing is being done.  What?! The author was trying to build up suspense, but honestly, the scene with Nate and Naomi when they were cycling past the house is the way to go as that scene had me rushing through the pages.  Withholding info, never a good way to create tension or to create a way for someone to go investigating on their own.  

 

Verdict

The Misery House had a lot going for it, definitely enough that I will be grabbing the second book when it is released in June (The Silent Forest).  It does have a lot that I love in a haunted house book, and the author's writing style does draw you into the story and the characters' lives. There were a lot of gaps however, that were not explained or covered up through assumptions, and the ending definitely lowered my rating as the book simply...ended. And honestly, there is just so many times you can read about a character having an 'ick' feeling about something, but do nothing about it, before you start rolling your eyes. That being said, I am curious about that dang house, so I have to read book 2.