The House in the Pines

Just cleaning up my bookshelves and explaining my DNF and no rating.

This was the read for book club a few months back, but I didn't get around to reading it in time. Probs won't circle back to it, so adding to DNF shelf for filing purposes only, not cuz it was bad or anything.

Could not tell what was happening because it kept switching randomly from past to present and I didn't know where I was in the timeline. 

Okay, I was not aware this was a Reese's Book Club pick, but I stumbled across this book the same way I always come across new books: casually walking through the book aisles of Target, looking for something to distract me adequately while my 7-year-old looks and plays with the dinosaur toys to his heart's content. Of course, all in the hopes of killing time.

What drew me to this book was not the colorful and creative cover image, or the blurb on the back cover, detailing a story of a woman trying to investigate what really happened to her best friend all those years ago, but it was the opening preface. The descriptive nature of a cabin materializing from nothing, detail for detail, where it was easy to visualize the walls, the rooms, the doors. I find I have a very vivid imagination, and when I'm given a description of something, I don't just visualize it, but my mind conjures up elements to engage all of my senses.

I could practically hear the water of the creek running over smooth stones, the gentle breeze rustling in the grass. I smelt the soft, delicious aroma of stew cooking on the stovetop, feel the warmth of the cabin from the fireplace, and taste the food being described in those first couple pages.

All while standing in a Target toy aisle, surrounded by noises and bright lights and screeching kids.

I was sucked in immediately. And it was an instant purchase.

If only I had enough time to finish the book there in the store before bringing it home. And there's a number of different reasons why.

Needless to say I'm a sucker for psychological thrillers, books that could pull me in and get me thinking, start looking for clues and pieces that would unravel before my eyes, create complex characters, and generate a compelling conflict that would leave a lasting impression on my mind for years to come. I do not like detective mysteries, they don't interest me (because most of the time, the killer is almost always related to the detective or the spouse of the victim, a little too predictable for my taste). So it was a nice breath of fresh air to see the protagonist trying to solve this mysterious murder was your normal, everyday, flawed human being.

And boy, is Maya flawed. Suffering from psychological instability, drug withdrawals, hazy memories, Demons haunting her own mind and a sense of survivor's guilt that was consuming her life not just on a surface level, but subconscious level. For many years.

She's convinced her friend, Aubrey, didn't die of natural causes, but it is hard to convince other people when a relatively normal, healthy young girl just suddenly drops dead with no explanation, and your family just happens to have a history of mental illness.

Maya has resolved herself to her own personal suffering, her own trauma, and she's left to finding answers to unspoken questions at the bottom of a gin shot glass or prescription pill bottle. These addictive, self-destructive habits are dismantling her life, putting her career, personal life, and sanity on a razor sharp edge.

Then, after seven years, she watches a viral YouTube video of a young painter, Cristina, dropping dead in a restaurant, in the presence of none other than Frank, a man Maya dated in her small town around the time Aubrey died. This ignites Maya's obsession to figure out what happened, to Aubrey, to Cristina, and hopefully save it from happening to another girl. She returns to her hometown, confronting her past, her secrets, her memories, and that cabin in the woods where everything started.

The plot, the protagonist, the descriptive language, and the pacing of it all was well worth the read. The utilization of the past and present together felt like I was watching things happen within a movie. The last time I watched someone utilize these two different timelines in such a fluid, seamless way was the horror movie Occulus (and despite what some would save of the movie, it is one of my favorites for this very reason). It gave the opportunity to get to know the girls, bond with them, and relate to them on so many levels. Maya and Aubrey could very easily have been my own friends in high school, the type of well-rounded characters that spoke to a deep need in my core.

Then there was the pleasant surprise of incorporating Guatemalan heritage, a mysterious book of her father that served as a catalyst for bringing our antagonist Frank into the picture, and eventually as the conflict progressed, a pivotal part to resolving it. The folklore serves a purpose in dropping hints, and perhaps one of my favorite scenes in the entire book was what I would call the “connecting of the dots.” I could feel through the pages that “aha!” moment, that eureka feeling of when a realization hits you like a wrecking ball and it all makes sense.

And that, perhaps, was the final moment in the book that I felt connected. As the last third of it began to come together, it felt like all of the key points were lost and became vague. The revelation came, how it all happened, the answer to this seven-year-long mystery of how these girls died and what part Maya has in it all and what Frank did... fell short of anticlimactic. If anything, it felt unbelievable, and not in a good way.

I went from being invested to being detached and disassociated. From some deep crevice in the back of my mind, Johnny Depp's voice echoed to the surface, a quote from that disaster of a movie, “Secret Window”: “the only thing that matters is the ending; it's the most important part of the story, the ending.”

That's what happened here. A thrilling story, a compelling idea, believable protagonist, relatable characters, the fast pace, the descriptive language. Only for it all to fizzle out in a less than satisfactory conclusion that left me with a puzzled look on my face, wondering if I was really reading the same book.

For this reason, I rate the book at 3.5 Stars. The fresh, powerful new idea, the writing, all of it was wonderful and outmatched what many in the genres do. But that ending... it would have been 4 Stars if the ending were different.

Honestly a pretty boring thriller, doesn't really pick up until you're halfway through the book. I thought the main character was highly unlikable. The twist was impressive and not at all what I expected but there was also no way to have guessed it which is likely what made most of the book boring

1.5

such a waste of this beautiful cover

This would have been a five-star for me but I felt like the ending/reveal was too far-fetched and inconclusive for me. Until then, I felt this was well-written and a solid debut, although Dan seemed to not be very supportive so I wondered about that.

Is Literary Thriller a genre? Because that's what this is. Literary themes on humanity/psychology are used all throughout this book without being forced. They include themes and situations I identify heavily with. So sentamentality.. check. Expert writing... check.

I loved this book.

However, I can see why the people who are like “I was promised a thriller!!!!” are upset. Luckily, I just saw this book at the library and picked it up.. and then didn't get on Good Reads to mark it as Currently Reading and accidentally start looking at reviews. And I totally missed the Reese's Book Club sticker on the front. So I guess I accidentally read this for what it is, and it's liberating! (We should all try this.. remember when we were kids and we just read something we wanted to maybe because one friend was reading it or maybe because we saw it, read the book blurb or thought the cover was cute, and wanted to read it? The days.) It's definitely not the same kind of book as other contemporary thrillers. It tiptoes up to the line of some thriller tropes, but doesn't touch the line. And is not even close to crossing the line. Writing like that is fucking expert, if you ask me.

Overall the story is creative and engaging. It switches between time seamlessly, and the pacing is superb. Every part felt purposeful. On a line basis, the sentence structure was short, sometimes with staccatoed phrases. Which I find poetic and relaxing although this is a thriller. I can't imagine it's easy to find that kind of balance in your writing.

5 stars. But not actually because I thought it was perfectly executed. There was one plot point I didn't think was woven in as well as the others, and there was overuse of “as” phrases, which I know has become very popular but it's too passive, especially for fiction and everyday conversation. (This is just my soap box.. I digress.) One of these is my trauma, and the other is so slight that it doesn't detract from how much I. Loved. This. Book. I think I will probably look back on this book as one that I connected with deeply and maybe return to it a few times in my life. At least I hope.. I love those books that are like hugs.

Also, this book dropped some brief (but shocking) history lessons about Guatemala. My mind was blown. So bonus points for teaching us important things in fiction.

Overall, if you're suuuuper into contemporary psychological books, you may have a hard time with comparing and not letting yourself enjoy this one. But if you can go in without expectation and just take it for what it is, I think you would really like it.

(Also, if you want to lament about “as” phrases, I'm ya girl. Holla.)

I liked the Guatemalan parts of Maya's story and history. Her dealing with her addiction issues was pretty well done. Her romantic relationship was also well done. She was struggling with several things, but she wasn't hopeless in the struggle. The actual thriller/ mystery part was a bit slow going and the twist was kinda drawn out. So the pacing was a bit weird. The characters were good, but the plot struggled.

3.5 stars.

I love a book that engages me from the beginning. This book was more than just a story. It was an education in mental health. The characters were well formed and the story flowed. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery/thriller.