“I loved The Death House. It’s moving and totally involving. Pinborough writes with vividness and emotional resonance. I couldn’t put it down.” (Stephen King)
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of 13 Minutes comes a heart-breaking, heart-stopping tale of love, life and death which will take your breath away.
Clara is a girl who was born to die.
Toby’s life was perfectly normal . . .
Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House. Isolated from the outside world the inhabitants of are watched for any signs of a mysterious illness . . .
Clara was a girl who had everything. Adored by her friends and her family, her life was destined for greatness. Now, Clara is the newest resident of the Death House and she’s determined not to allow her life to end there.
This is Toby and Clara’s story.
About the Author:
Sarah Pinborough is the NYT bestselling and Sunday Times #1 Bestselling author of ‘Behind Her Eyes’ which has sold in over 25 territories thus far and will be shown as a six part drama on Netflix in 2020 and the Sunday Times Bestseller, ‘Cross Her Heart’. She has also written books across a variety of genres including the YA thriller 13 Minutes (in development with Netflix). Her next novel ‘Dead To Her’ comes out from William Morrow in the US in feb 2020 and HarperFiction in the UK in August 2020. It is already in development for US television.
My Review:
I listened to The Death House on Audible and it was wonderfully narrated by Ben Elliot.
The Death House crosses a couple of genres; horror, romance, young adult, science fiction and dystopia so there’s something for everyone here!
Toby is your typical teenager trying to fit in at school and looking forward to a party at the weekend when he is taken from his family and friends and put into the Death House – a home for “defective” children who all carry a terminal gene which means they will become sick and die before they reach 16.
Overseen by Matron and several nurses, these children are isolated from everyone they know and basically left to spend their final days/weeks/months without their families and friends knowing they will die soon.
The Death House has similarities to a boarding school with dormitories, meals, structured lessons and free time, however because these children are all infected with the defective gene, they know that it’s just a matter of time before they start showing signs of illness and get taken away in the night to the sanatorium and NO-ONE returns from the sanatorium.
This book is beautifully written and the narrator was able to bring Toby and his friends to life for me. Listening to Toby, Will, Jake and Clara was heartbreaking and yet heartwarming at the same time. This is a story of hope, love, acceptance, friendship and sacrifices. Highly recommended.
