Hello Spirit Seekers!

I’ve always loved the paranormal, how about you? I’ve had some scary experiences in the past, and lately I’ve been thirsting for more horror in my reads, so I decided to borrow Play Nice by Rachel Harrison from my local library.

This is my first time reading anything by this author, and after some lurking I discovered just how popular she is in the book scene. Have I been living under a rock?!

Once I had this book in my possession I just had to dive right in, so let’s see how it went!

Blurb

A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house.

Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parent’s messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped Alex of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house.

After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house flipping content. Only, as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother’s book, the presence in the house becomes more real, and more sinister, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio’s beautiful life to its very foundation.

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The Review

I love a good ghost story, and this one was pretty solid!

Clio has a beautiful life as an influencer and stylist, but when her estranged mother passes away she returns home to her dad and sisters to sort things out. A great source of pain for the entire family is the house her mother never sold, the one supposedly possessed by a demon that nearly tore them all apart. As Clio struggles to remember the fuzzy details of what happened, she embarks on a path of remembrance, forced to face the shadow that almost destroyed them all.

What stuck out the most to me was Clio’s character. She had a lot of sass in her POV that I loved and lots of great character progression. She’s not afraid to ruffle feathers, and her family members all had unique personalities that made them feel real.

Harrison has a way with words, and their style of writing really drew me in without being too flowery. There was lots of raw emotion in this book, and it had a chick lit feel that really worked for it.

I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the house and the conflicting opinions of what really happened. I’ll admit, I did want a little more with the paranormal side of things and resolution of the conflict, but what we have here is a well written book about family, discovery of self, and phantoms that refuse to be forgotten.

This definitely won’t be my last read from this author!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. Like what you see? Leave a tip!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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