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It Was Her House First by Cherie Priest Book Review

 

Title: It Was Her House First 

Author: Cherie Priest

Genre: Horror

Published: 07/22/25 by Poisoned Pen Press

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy for review.

 

When Ronnie buys a huge dilapidated mansion to renovate with the inheritance from her brother she doesn't realize the blood soaked history of the house. The vengeful spirit of the former owner, Venita Rost a silent film star, is waking with the new activity in the house.

This is a fun haunted house novel with duel timelines, and multiple points of view. As Ronnie discovers the history of her new project house the story also introduces the POV of multiple ghosts. The ghosts become really well fleshed out characters, and the story feels rich without taking itself too seriously. This is not what I would call a scary story. The tragic uncovering of the mystery, super strong female main characters, and a unnerving depiction of grief are all highlights from the story that had me hooked. If you like an extremely haunted house and hard grief ridden content that never feels to oppressive than this may be the book for you.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

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