Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker

Review

NetGalley and the publisher have my thanks for providing me with a review copy.

Haunt Sweet Home is a not-so-spooky ghost story set primarily on the set of a haunted house home renovation reality TV show. It has some heart and some laughs, but it falls a bit short of a home run hit.

Pinsker gives us a main character who is a bit stuck. She's tried college a few times and a few jobs, but nothing has seemed to work. Of course, this comes to a head at a family gathering where the successful TV show host cousin offers her a job as an assistant on the set of his show.

This goes pretty normally, honestly, but eventually, things get a little bit weird. This is the primary hook of the book, and honestly, I felt it was one of the weakest. There's always a delicate line to try and straddle when it comes to introducing an element the reader may guess before the character, and even though everything in this novella has a relatively short page count, I felt the time between the twist becoming a bit obvious and the main character figuring it out drug a bit.

That being said, the found family vibes in this were pretty solid, and I always appreciate when the born family isn't despicable in found family stories.

Overall, if you're in the mood for a non-spooky-spooky-season book or a quick read that incorporates traditionally scary elements without much scare, this would be a good grab from your library.

Genre: Fantasy, Horror (light)

Publisher: Tordotcom

Length Category: Novella

Score: 3.5

Pub Year: 2024

Pub Date: 2024-09-03

Start Date: 2024-09-04

End Date: 2024-09-04

Author: Sarah Pinsker

Tags: arc, ghost, woman author, found family, book, media

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