On many occasions, I've heard people talk about how their relationships with their siblings are sour and I can't help but thank God for the siblings I have in this lifetime. I grew up with supportive, loyal, empathetic and respectful siblings and I do not know siblings to be anything other than this; or at least I didn't fully validate this notion up until I read “Home Is Where The Bodies Are.”
I stumbled upon this book when I went in search of thrilling novels to read and I was intrigued by the book title. At this point, I feel I have a knack for captivating book titles because the mere title allows my mind to run wild, thinking of every possible plot that can accompany such a title. As usual, I did a mental exercise (creative imagination, if you may) before reading this novel. Although I didn't get the plot spot on, I may have been very close to doing so.
About The Book
“Home is Where The Bodies Are” by Jeneva Rose is a psychological thriller, published on the 12th of December, 2020. The novel centers around three estranged siblings; Beth, the bitter and resentful first daughter, Nicole, the drug addict and Michael, the successful and prosperous son. The trio reunite shortly after their mother passes away to decide the way forward. As they sort through their childhood home and all of the items their parents left behind, they discover a disturbing video tape revealing their parents' involvement in the disappearance of their next door neighbour’s child, many years back.
With this shocking discovery in conjunction with their mother’s last words “Your father did not disappear, don't trust…”, the siblings set out to discover the truth behind the video they watched. Beth however, is the most cautious as her mother’s last words upturned everything she believed in because a few years prior, her mother told her, alongside her siblings, that their father had left them, without saying goodbye.
As the siblings dig deeper, they discover more troubling disappearances of certain people in their close knit community which happened around the same time as the first disappearance and this stirs up more questions. Together, they must work to find out who was the mastermind behind the disappearances because if such a thing occurs in a community where everyone is accounted for, then it's definitely an inside job.
My Opinion
For starters, I like how easy this novel was to read. In the past, I've encountered novels that are just so taskful to read for one reason or another. The pacing in this book was optimal, leading readers gently and steadily towards the climax and unlike many other novels, once the climax was reached there wasn't any attempt to prolong the novel just to increase the word count.
Next, the characters in the novel are well-developed and complex, with each sibling having their unique struggles and motivations. With every sibling’s point of view, there was always something new to learn about them.
I wouldn't say I had a favourite character from this novel but one character that got my sympathy was Nicole. Nicole is someone who I would like to describe as a victim of circumstance and one other person whom the medical system has failed. The thing with drug addicts is that they do not just get up one day and decide to become addicted, instead something must have led to it. In Nicole’s case, she was placed on powerful analgesics after a severe road accident and wasn't weaned off the medication properly which led to her addiction.
The novel explores themes of family, guilt, shame, identity, self-discovery and forgiveness. One notable aspect of this novel is that the author drew inspiration from her own childhood, setting the story in a real hometown. This adds a personal touch to the narrative, offering readers a glimpse into the author's personal background.
Recommendation and Rating
This novel has an engaging storyline with well developed characters and a somewhat hard to crack mystery. While it did not offer anything new to the conventional psychological thriller genre, it was a page turner for me. For this I would give the book 4 stars out of 5. Anyone looking for a good psychological thriller or murder mystery may find this book to be an interesting read.
