There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
If you're looking for a book to really mess with you, look no further! There's Someone Inside Your House is a psycho thriller like no other!
The book is told primarily from the point of view of the main character, Makani Young, who recently moved from sunny, beautiful Hawaii to dull, cold Nebraska. Like all main characters, Makani is hiding a part of her past that haunts her. But now it seems that Nebraska will be just as haunted as students are being brutally murdered for no apparent reason. When the killer attacks Makani, she begins to question if the killer knows her true identity.
The few chapters that are told from the points of view of others are the victims last few minutes before being brutally slain. You learn how the killer messes with the victims minds, and has been for quite some time. For one, the egg timer keeps appearing even though she has put it away a few times. For another, he wakes up to his house being rearranged. I won't lie; any time my keys show up in a place different from where I remember putting them, I question my sanity now.
That is the effect the book has left on me. Makani, after her own run in with the killer, realizes that he has been messing with her for a couple of months. Months people! Granted, I don't like in a town of 2000 where people feel safe leaving their doors unlocked and their windows open (I am a firm believer in keeping everything locked no matter what), but that doesn't mean someone still couldn't find a way to mess with me if they really wanted to.
Stephanie Perkins does a really good job of mixing in the POVs of the soon-to-be victims with Makani's view, making the reader want more. You want the next POV so you know who the next target is; but you want Makani's POV because you want to know how she and the rest of the town are reacting to the new murder.
Comic relief is also prevalent in the book. Not enough that it turns it into a comedy, but enough that you can take a breath every now and then.
Perkins also does a wonderful job of describing small town life, and the people you will find. To some authors, it would seem out of place to have a girl who is transitioning into a boy in such a small town; but living in a small-ish town, I know that excluding a character like this wouldn't be accurate. Being small doesn't mean it doesn't have all kinds of kinds. You also have the different types of loaners, like Makani's new boyfriend, Ollie, and the bully outcast, Zachary. You have the tech group, the football players, the drama squad; everyone that you would find in a larger school is here too, because that's how it really is. But being a smaller town, when they start finding themselves picked off one by one, they all grow closer to each other.
I do have a few things that I wish were a little different. Both Makani's reason for leaving Hawaii and the killers motive seemed weak. There was a huge build up to both of them, especially the killers motive. But I ultimately felt let down by the motives. Also, a lot of people died or were injured in the killers pursuits, but you don't really find out what happens after. You learn that certain people are okay, which you assume means they'll live despite having serious injury; but the entire town must be reeling from this. I feel like there should have been an afterward, like 6 months later, to really wrap everything up. With the amount of deaths, I need something more than "...rendering the night soft and cold and safe" (p. 287).
This is definitely a good October read if you're looking for something to scare you; and ultimately a good read over all. It will make you feel like you're in a haunted house without ever leaving the comfort of your couch.
Rating: 8/10
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Contemporary
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| (Source: Kelsey Darling) |
The few chapters that are told from the points of view of others are the victims last few minutes before being brutally slain. You learn how the killer messes with the victims minds, and has been for quite some time. For one, the egg timer keeps appearing even though she has put it away a few times. For another, he wakes up to his house being rearranged. I won't lie; any time my keys show up in a place different from where I remember putting them, I question my sanity now.
"He was in his living room. Except he wasn't. Or was he turned around? Instead of facing the television, his gaming rocker was facing the couch. Rodrigo looked behind himself. The television was sitting on its stand in the middle of the room. Dead center.
There was a pause of incomprehension.
And then his mind snowballed with panic.
All at once, his gaze absorbed the rest of the room. The two chairs that flanked the couch had been switched. the coffee table was clocking the sliding doors. The fiddle-leaf fig had been moved from beside the doors to the opposite wall, and the floor lamp, usually nestled beside the couch, had been placed beside the fiddle-leaf fig.
His rocker was the only piece of furniture in the correct place." (pp. 120-121)
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| (Souce: Giphy) |
Stephanie Perkins does a really good job of mixing in the POVs of the soon-to-be victims with Makani's view, making the reader want more. You want the next POV so you know who the next target is; but you want Makani's POV because you want to know how she and the rest of the town are reacting to the new murder.
Comic relief is also prevalent in the book. Not enough that it turns it into a comedy, but enough that you can take a breath every now and then.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
I do have a few things that I wish were a little different. Both Makani's reason for leaving Hawaii and the killers motive seemed weak. There was a huge build up to both of them, especially the killers motive. But I ultimately felt let down by the motives. Also, a lot of people died or were injured in the killers pursuits, but you don't really find out what happens after. You learn that certain people are okay, which you assume means they'll live despite having serious injury; but the entire town must be reeling from this. I feel like there should have been an afterward, like 6 months later, to really wrap everything up. With the amount of deaths, I need something more than "...rendering the night soft and cold and safe" (p. 287).
This is definitely a good October read if you're looking for something to scare you; and ultimately a good read over all. It will make you feel like you're in a haunted house without ever leaving the comfort of your couch.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Contemporary
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