“A family is a group of people who have different versions of the same experience.”
How long do you think you could survive alone in a room with your family? Are there any secrets or bits of drama you’re worried would come to light? No need to answer that. Whilst we hope that prospect isn’t a horrifying one for yourself, it does make for a compelling closed-door premise. We’ll get into it later on, but Andrew Pyper’s The Homecoming was nothing like what we were expecting when we picked it up, but the central premise at its heart certainly kept us enthralled. Join us today at What We Reading as we put our first book by Andrew Pyper under the spotlight and share our thoughts with our The Homecoming book review!
Date Published: 2019
Author: Andrew Pyper
Pages: 352
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Goodreads Rating: 3.51/5
Premise
Aaron, Franny and Bridge Quinlan have just been informed their father, Raymond, has died. Having been absent for the majority of their lives, much of their father’s life had been a mystery to the trio but they are given an insight into his world when they are summoned to his vast estate known as Belfountain nestled in the middle of a rainforest to hear the reading of his will. There, the Quinlans are told that are all set to earn millions as well as Belfountain. To earn this, however, they must spend a month inside the estate with no contact with the outside world. Naturally, things go awry from there.
What Worked
As we mentioned, Andrew Pyper nails a stripped-back premise that hooks a reader and holds their attention. The enduring mystery of who Raymond Quinlan was and what the purpose of Belfountain is are both mysteries that are carried throughout. There are always new pieces of the puzzle thrown in as readers learn more, but they’re never spelt out, and the final reveals make for a stunning series of twists that we certainly didn’t guess.
On the twists, they are everywhere in The Homecoming. Pyper utilises short, snappy chapters to give the book an especially rapid-feeling pacing. Not only does this give a reader a good sense of accomplishment as they devour chapter after chapter, but it allows him to throw twist after twist in a manner that never feels overwhelming.
And there are so many sudden twists that completely throw a reader around, never settling long enough to feel like they have a grasp on what’s going on.
Finally, special mention has to go to Aaron, Bridge and their dynamics together. We’re big fans of sibling relationships being at the centre of thrillers, and these two characters are undoubtedly the highlight of the characters we have on offer here. Their relationship feels believable and does a good job of keeping the stakes high as both have something worth going on for.
What Didn’t
The Homecoming has a lot of twists and a lot of different ideas it tries to cram in, so perhaps it’s only natural a few of them feel slightly underdone. There are hints of the book being set in a dystopian near-future type of world; however, this is never given much of the spotlight and ultimately feels somewhat redundant.
Secondly, whilst Bridge and Aaron’s characters are both compelling enough, others in the book quickly fall into archetypal tropes and don’t have much in the way of development. For a book that is big on its pacing and twists but still stripped-back in its characters, we would expect to have a touch more depth and arcs on the show.
Finally, there’s something about Andrew Pyper’s writing style that we found somewhat jarring at times. There were several times we were struggling to picture the estate, the locations inside it and even where certain characters were standing or interacting with one another. It reminded us a lot of reading The Sanctuary by Andrew Hunter Murray, where your brain is desperately trying to picture something as your eyes plough on with the story.
Check Out Our The Sanctuary Book Review
Verdict
We mentioned above that The Homecoming is a breathless ride that deals out the twists and turns at a rapid pace, which makes it surprisingly difficult to pin down. Labelling this as a ‘horror’ book doesn’t feel completely accurate. With that being said, it certainly wasn’t the intimate psychological domestic thriller we were expecting when we picked it up. It’s hard to describe this book without giving away some major spoilers, it’s much better if you go into it completely blind.
The characters feel a little bland sometimes and Pyper’s distinctive style is something that struggled with at times. Nevertheless, the idea of a page-turner is to go on a thrilling ride that is enjoyable to read, and that is certainly what readers get as they follow the Quinlans into the mysteries of Belfountain.
Our Rating: 3.5/5
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
