Book Review: The House Share by Kate Helm

“Seven housemates. Seven lies. Would you join The House Share?”

Published in 2020, The House Share by Kate Helm follows Immi who thought she had found the perfect new home in central London: a shared warehouse with luxury accommodation, a rooftop terrace and daily yoga, all with a surprisingly affordable price tag. The Dye Factory is a ‘co-living’ community, designed to combat the loneliness of big city life.

But soon after she moves into her new haven, Immi realises that it’s not quite as idyllic as it appears. No one seems to know who is behind this multi-million-pound urban experiment. And her housemates may be hiding a dangerous secret…

Then, as a series of pranks escalate into something much darker, Immi is left questioning whether, in this group of strangers, she can ever really be safe. And when you’re sharing a house, you can’t always lock the danger out.

Rating:

An original and enjoyable thriller, The House Share is sure to pull you in with its intriguing plot which consists of multiple characters to scrutinise and a curious building to try and figure out the logistics of.

I loved the synopsis of this story and everything is really well described. I got a brilliant image of the building and its layout which really enhanced the story for me, and the characters are all full of personality.

The characters are all very strongly developed, but as with most thrillers in this subgenre, none of them are likeable enough to really get behind. I even had my doubts about Immi, but the feeling of not knowing who to trust did add a lot more tension to the story.

However, I don’t feel like the story picked up enough energy after around the halfway point. The pace remains very medium, never dipping but never grabbing your attention completely. And then when the answers did come, the end was wrapped up a little too quickly for me to really have time to take it all in.

Still, Helm shows a lot of great qualities as a thriller writer and I’d definitely be interested to read more by her.