There's Someone Inside Your House

Makani Young hates Osborne, Nebraska and longs for Hawaiian heat, sun, and sea. She can't return because of her past, her parents' dismissal, and her grandmother's need for someone to watch her. With a different last name to prevent discovery, she made friends in Alex and Darby and a fling with Ollie until he started ignoring her. When someone murders the talented lead of the school musical, the town is sent reeling. She and Ollie try again at their relationship while their classmates keep dying around them. Is Ollie the killer or is he just a quiet outcast? Who keeps killing their own classmates?

There's Someone Inside Your House is a departure of the norm from Stephanie Perkins who usually rights cute contemporary romance books. This one has the same adorable relationship not toxic or abusive with interesting people. Makani and Ollie both have their hangups about things. Makani tries to keep something she did secret from Hawaii while Ollie's parents died years ago and he coped with it in unhealthy ways. Both stopped talking to the other after the summer and assumed the other abandoned them. It was refreshing to see this teen couple actually talk and be frank with each other. Once they were honest, they realized it was all over nothing and resumed their unspecified relationship. They respect each others boundaries, don't feel shame about sex, and treat each other with respect which is surprisingly rare in teen fiction. There are a few minor red flags about Ollie, but they seemed manufactured to lead you to think he might be the killer.

The slasher elements are well done. The book is structured like a slasher film with a character starting a chapter going about their lives until they are murdered. The killer usually uses a hunting knife to mutilate the body in some way. The victims have no real connection to each other, so most of the book has numerous theories as to why these people were chosen. The most creepy thing the killer does is stay in the house when his victims are home and move objects around. It's so disturbing because I would never even dream it was a random person trying to hurt me. I would assume the culprit was someone I lived with or myself because I spaced out or forgot where I put things. It also shows that your living space has been invaded in a different sort of violation. The killer's identity is known about half way through the book and it loses the mystery aspect for me. Sure, his location and motives aren't known, but those are secondary to figuring out which character is the murderer.

There's Someone Inside Your House is a fun teen scream read with an adorable romance, varied characters, and brutal kills. The only faults are the mystery ending half way through the book, the killer's lackluster motivation, and the extremely abrupt ending. I like to see a bit of denouement to see the impact of the finale. Other than that, the book is worth your time.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins