When Londoner Vikki receives an invitation from Niall Blake to join him for a weekend at his family home in a remote part of Ireland, she hopes it will be the perfect opportunity to turn their friendship into something more significant. But Niall has a different reason for his proposition ... As the weekend takes a sinister turn and Vikki discovers more about Niall, his estranged older brother Alex and his over-compensating sister Lainey, it becomes clear that the family harbours a long-buried secret. But who is out to destroy them? Could it be one of their own? And why did Niall invite Vikki along for the weekend?
The ending of this book was really good, but the lead up to the end wasn’t that great. When I started reading there were points that I was so bored, which is why my rating lost 2 stars. Then mid book the story line caught my interest. One point I want to make is that this booked hyped up Vikki’s big secret and in the end it wasn’t even that big a secret. Then, when she finally revealed it to help out the Blake’s, it literally did nothing to help. So that was kind of stupid...
Great characters and suspenseful writing. I thought I had figured out the mystery a few different times towards the ending, but she still got me! It’s a fair story, all the clues were there, which I appreciate. I recommend this to any mystery, thriller fans.
Vicki has a secret crush on good friend Niall and she’s over the moon when he invites her to accompany him back to his childhood home in Ireland. But with all the family together in over twenty years since their mother’s death in a tragic accident, there is a certain tension in the air. When I decided to pick up this book, I thought it would be a thriller of sorts. If you’re looking for that type of book it is definitely not that, in fact it turned out to be more of family secrets with a little bit of suspense There were some deep and dark undercurrents between the siblings and it took a long time for that to come to a head. There were some instances where it was a little slow and then I almost felt the ending was quite rushed but it did tie up all the loose ends. This ended up being quite an enjoyable story but not what I was expecting. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.
Le doy 3.5. Me ha entretenido aunque a menos de la mitad de la historia era bastante predecible adivinar qué sucedía y quién era responsable. He encontrado partes bastante poco creibles. La culpa, por ejemplo, o los motivos de Vikky para ocultar su pasado o no querer hablar de él, tanto como los hermanos no queriendo hablar de los motivos por los que Alex y Neill no se hablaban.
The most ridiculous story ever. The secrets were nothing that you’d be shocked at IE they all blamed themselves for the tragedy 🙄 . The over use of “ a knowing look passed between them”. Just an unbelievable story with unlikable characters. And I could tell half way through what the “big” reveal was. Don’t waste your time on this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Listened to the audio version of this, and found it super confusing. I got lost a lot, but in the end with the twist, I finally realised what was going on. Would have been great if I knew what was going on.
Thank goodness for libraries I say as that is where I got this book so I was not upset that I had wasted money on it. The story is boring in the extreme and not a good book to encourage anyone to visit Ireland. The characters all all dreary as hell and why Vicky would be bothered with Neil I cannot tell. Vicky gives up her job pretty much to go to Ireland for the weekend with drippy Neil. Goodness must she have been kicking herself for that one. To be stuck with this lot of characters for a night would be hell …a weekend …well. There are some nasty feelings between the siblings which I thought would never be resolved. The ending was rushed which was a good thing with this one. I would think seriously before reading another book by this author. Could not recommend
Lots of reviews so not going to into it too much - loved this book for all the reasons most people have listed - good suspence etc.. But I also loved the beginning, unlike some of the reviews I thought the imagery and descriptions were amazing and I got lost in the location, to me it just seemed magical, I wanted to go visit!!!! I did not find it in anyway long or boring but I do enjoy all genre of books and I am Irish so not sure if that helped but I really LOVED this book, also it was well written
I really liked this book, Zoe is excellent at setting the scene, I felt I was in the wilds of Ireland and although I guessed the ending I needed to finish the book to confirm I was right and it didn’t disappoint. If you like mystery with romance thrown in you will like this book. I look forward to reading more Zoe miller books.
I liked the book but it did take some time to build the storyline. It literally was about 300 pages in that I was starting to get really interested. Good but wouldn’t rave
I really enjoyed this book, it kept my attention all the way through and I hadnt a clue what was going to happen until virtually the moment it happened, which is always a good surprise
It was the beautiful cover that drew me to this book, and I had the idea it was going to be a psychological suspense - which it isn't! There is a big old house and a very dysfunctional family (who could use a lot of therapy), and it's one of those stories where everyone has a secret. And I enjoyed it a lot.
A House Full of Secrets is mostly told from two points of view: Jenna, who is married to Alex, the eldest son of the glamorous Blake family, and Vikki, who is friends with the troubled youngest brother, Niall, but is hoping for a lot more, especially after he invites her to spend the weekend with his family. Twenty years ago Alex, Niall, and their sister Lainey were poised on the brink of glittering careers when their mother died and their world shattered. Alex ran away to New York, where he met Jenna, and Niall headed to London. Only Lainey stayed in Ireland. Alex and Niall have not spoken to each other since that summer but now they have been summoned back to the family home, Lynes Glen, and the tension is mounting by the minute.
I loved the characters, even the bossy Lainey, but I especially loved Jenna, who cannot understand why her husband Alex is so on edge and why the family never talk about the mother they obviously loved so much. I also loved Vikki, who had some horrific secrets in her own past, and the way she was trying so hard to fit in with the upper-class Blakes. And I always enjoy stories about big old houses that have a mystery at their heart!
Most of the story is set in the present day but there are some chapters set in the 1960s, showing how the siblings' parents met, right up to the 1990s when their mother died. I would have preferred it if there had been more of these set at regular intervals throughout the story, because there came a point towards the end of the book where the segments clustered together, detailing each character's take on exactly what had happened the day their mother died. But the negative for me was the villain, who became a bit pantomine-y towards the end, and I'm afraid I skipped the big confrontational scene.
Despite this, I really enjoyed A House Full of Secrets and I would definitely recommend it to fans of authors such as Lulu Taylor, Eve Chase (Black Rabbit Hall), and Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca).
Thank you to Zoe Miller, Hachette Books Ireland, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.
Finished this book in a day, I needed to find out what the big secret was. It kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat. I kept thinking it was one person, then was sure it was the father. When the big secret was revealed finally , I was not really impressed. The whole it was a fight thing wasn't that big of a deal. I started to wonder if maybe Vicki was Neille or whatever his name is, could be a half sister. I was almost right. since it was revealed that there was a half sister. I didn't care it was Erin since she was a underlying character. I did really like the book, but the stories within a story thing isn't my type of thing. I didn't care that shit happened to Vicki nor did I think it was cool the cousin slept with Alex. How icky that was. I will read more from this author though for sure!
A brilliant tense read that had me hooked from the first page. A gripping storyline, gorgeous scenery and fascinating characters and a plot that ends with a bang! Would highly recommend