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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rachel’s book is a book which needs to be experienced. It’s dark, full of secrets, with all kinds of drama. To add to it, it has a possessed house that’s obsessed with this family. While they don’t live there anymore, the house still haunts them. It tries to rip apart the family, exposing all the family secrets, and revealing everyone’s weaknesses. This has a lot of trauma, mental health issues, and healing. Some things can be forgiven, some things cannot. I read this quickly, but I would go back and read it again to savor it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is a messy little cocktail full of toxic characters, demon/haunted house and dysfunctional families. It also has an overarching chilling theme of belief vs. delusion. Basically blurring the line between authentic memories and the distorted ones twisted through retellings and manipulation.
Don’t read this book if you hate unlikable characters. Every character sucks. Absolutely toxic. Zero redeeming qualities. Normally that’s a buzzkiller for me in books but I was busy watching the dysfunction unfold like it was the season finale of a trashy reality show.
Ok and the demon? So it’s slightly slow. The first 70% is giving unsettling vibes, like you know something’s off but not a ton of stuff happens. Then BOOM…demon time. I’m talking real evil, disturbing, psychotic chaos. The demon is unhinged, horrific and violently creative. (Horror lovers- Take this with a grain of salt, but I’ve personally never read anything else like this but it was tummy gross and I will 100% be sleeping with the lights on.)
For me I think the most terrifying part of the book was the whole thing with memories. What’s real, what’s planted, what’s someone else’s twisted version of the truth, what’s manipulation. It was crazy? Chef’s kiss. Deliciously confusing in the best way, like gaslighting but make it literary.
If you like nice characters and happy endings, run. But if you’re here for morally bankrupt weirdos, psychological spirals, and demons that go way too hard… Play Nice will absolutely ruin your night in the most entertaining way.
Don’t read this book if you hate unlikable characters. Every character sucks. Absolutely toxic. Zero redeeming qualities. Normally that’s a buzzkiller for me in books but I was busy watching the dysfunction unfold like it was the season finale of a trashy reality show.
Ok and the demon? So it’s slightly slow. The first 70% is giving unsettling vibes, like you know something’s off but not a ton of stuff happens. Then BOOM…demon time. I’m talking real evil, disturbing, psychotic chaos. The demon is unhinged, horrific and violently creative. (Horror lovers- Take this with a grain of salt, but I’ve personally never read anything else like this but it was tummy gross and I will 100% be sleeping with the lights on.)
For me I think the most terrifying part of the book was the whole thing with memories. What’s real, what’s planted, what’s someone else’s twisted version of the truth, what’s manipulation. It was crazy? Chef’s kiss. Deliciously confusing in the best way, like gaslighting but make it literary.
If you like nice characters and happy endings, run. But if you’re here for morally bankrupt weirdos, psychological spirals, and demons that go way too hard… Play Nice will absolutely ruin your night in the most entertaining way.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
5 ⭐️ I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again, I will read every single thing Rachel Harrison writes. This has to be my favorite book so far! Clio’s return to her “haunted” (according to her recently deceased estranged mother) childhood home uncovers more than old wounds, family trauma, and crumbling construction. This novel is full of tension, psychological thrills, paranormal chills and all the feels at the exact same time. There is family trauma, sibling bonds, a budding romance and explores the “crazy women” narrative - I have so many highlights about that alone! Begging everyone to pick this up!
Publishing 9/9/25
Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing Group, Rachel Harrison and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a dark and emotional read, I loved the demonic monster and haunted house but it was the family drama and generational trauma that were the real monsters in this book.
This was full of secrets brushed under the rug until they clawed their way out. It made me uncomfortable in the best way. Everyone is awful, and Clio is one of the most annoying characters I've ever read - in the most dysfunctional way that I ate up.
If you don't enjoy an unlikable MFC, this one might not be for you, but if you like all of the drama of an unreliable narrator plus a haunted house, then this read is for you.
I struggled a little with the pacing of this one, but over all, fantastic. This is on the light side of horror, but it gets under your skin and makes you an uncomfortable bystander for this train wreck.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.
This was full of secrets brushed under the rug until they clawed their way out. It made me uncomfortable in the best way. Everyone is awful, and Clio is one of the most annoying characters I've ever read - in the most dysfunctional way that I ate up.
If you don't enjoy an unlikable MFC, this one might not be for you, but if you like all of the drama of an unreliable narrator plus a haunted house, then this read is for you.
I struggled a little with the pacing of this one, but over all, fantastic. This is on the light side of horror, but it gets under your skin and makes you an uncomfortable bystander for this train wreck.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Play Nice is my second Rachel Harrison book, the first being Black sheep, which I read last year. Honestly I know almost nothing about this going in, though I am a fan of the haunted house/exorcism trope so I was keen to me impressed. I was not disappointed.
The central narrative voice of the main character grabs and does not let go. She is irritating and charming in that unique youngest sister way (for real as the eldest of three girls it was borderline triggering). I found her point of view so fascinatingly real, and there were moments where I could have genuinely punched the air in satisfaction. I enjoyed the sisterly dynamic a lot.
I could, and perhaps should have struggled with the central premise. Its was handled so carefully when needed and completely without sympathy when not. Just like life. In retrospect my critique of Black Sheep was that the tropes were slightly cartoonish. Everything in Play Nice felt real, and hard, and loving and hateful. It was also actually scary, especially towards the end, really great building of tension (importantly for a horror I feel and sadly missing in a lot of modern horror that seeks to shock or disgust rather than introduce actual tension). Sometimes you need a feminist horror allegory that reads like it could have been published in vogue and this is definitely it.
Really unlikeable FMC.
Read very much like a YA, maybe it is and I didn’t realise
Read very much like a YA, maybe it is and I didn’t realise
I lost all sense of time and other priorities while reading Play Nice--could not put it down!
All the way through, it was obvious that we were dealing with one or more demons. The question was whether they were metaphorical ones belonging to the Barnes family--sisters Clio, Daphne, and Leda; their father and stepmother, Amy; their recently deceased and estranged mother, Alex--or some external force residing in Alex's post-divorce home that she briefly shared with the girls before losing custody. The truth is a slippery thing throughout the book, and where lies, exaggerations, gaslighting, and mistruths abound, it's no wonder that Clio (our narrator) begins to doubt everything she sees and everyone around her. As a reader, I loved not knowing who to trust or whether Clio's family and friends' reactions were justified. Even the book within the book, Alex's published account of her haunted house, must be taken with a grain of salt, as Alex notes her own embellishments in the annotated copy she leaves for Clio.
Make no mistake: this book is creepy and may be best read with all the lights on. But it also does a fantastic job of exploring the facades average people put up and maintain for power, influence, or even just to keep the peace. It's hard not to be judgmental about some of these (there's at least one irredeemable villain in my mind), but all the characters are so layered that they can be both their best selves and demons at the same time.
And as with her other books (my faves being Such Sharp Teeth and So Thirsty), Rachel Harrison has written a sharp, complex female protagonist. Clio's often unlikeable, but because we don't get relief from her perspective, we get to see how she's not only unlikeable.
Can't-look-away dysfunctional family drama meets haunted house horrors. What's not to love here?
I received an advance reader copy from Berkley for an honest review.
All the way through, it was obvious that we were dealing with one or more demons. The question was whether they were metaphorical ones belonging to the Barnes family--sisters Clio, Daphne, and Leda; their father and stepmother, Amy; their recently deceased and estranged mother, Alex--or some external force residing in Alex's post-divorce home that she briefly shared with the girls before losing custody. The truth is a slippery thing throughout the book, and where lies, exaggerations, gaslighting, and mistruths abound, it's no wonder that Clio (our narrator) begins to doubt everything she sees and everyone around her. As a reader, I loved not knowing who to trust or whether Clio's family and friends' reactions were justified. Even the book within the book, Alex's published account of her haunted house, must be taken with a grain of salt, as Alex notes her own embellishments in the annotated copy she leaves for Clio.
Make no mistake: this book is creepy and may be best read with all the lights on. But it also does a fantastic job of exploring the facades average people put up and maintain for power, influence, or even just to keep the peace. It's hard not to be judgmental about some of these (there's at least one irredeemable villain in my mind), but all the characters are so layered that they can be both their best selves and demons at the same time.
And as with her other books (my faves being Such Sharp Teeth and So Thirsty), Rachel Harrison has written a sharp, complex female protagonist. Clio's often unlikeable, but because we don't get relief from her perspective, we get to see how she's not only unlikeable.
Can't-look-away dysfunctional family drama meets haunted house horrors. What's not to love here?
I received an advance reader copy from Berkley for an honest review.
Play Nice is a horror novel about a possessed house as a fashion influencer attempts to flip the house where her and her sisters were plagued by their mother's insistence a demon was living there. Clio is a stylist and influencer with a devil-may-care attitude, unlike her sisters Leda and Daphne. When they find out that their estranged mother is dead, they convene at their father and stepmother's house, but there Clio finds out that her sisters don't want anything to do with their mother, not her funeral and not the house that has been left to them. Clio is determined to get the house ready to sell, but as she starts to learn more about what happened there in her childhood, the process isn't as simple as it seemed.
I like Rachel Harrison's style of high concept horror with modern day female protagonists, and Play Nice fits with her usual formula. The book is told from Clio's perspective, so all of the family drama is filtered through her viewpoint. It is purposefully difficult to know what really happened, as the book explores the line between seeming crazy and trying to be believed about demonic possession. There's not a simple answer to who you should sympathise with or what should be believed, but instead there's plenty of classic haunted house 'what is really going on' moments. There's also some commentary on how women are believed or not and the complexities of family dynamics and what matters when someone says they acted out of love.
The plot itself is pretty simple, with plenty of tension and an expected but fitting ending. There are some details or plot points that seemed like they might become relevant again but didn't, and generally I think the influencer side of things could've had a bit more of a role in the book as it felt like there could have been more to say. Overall, Play Nice is another fun horror novel, one that isn't particularly scary but which offers a family drama-centric take on the haunted house subgenre.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Horror books written by women just hit different!! I really liked this one a lot from the jump and felt connected to Clio pretty quickly.
The family drama in this one was SENDING me I was in a rage but like in a good way. I also found myself creeped out more than I thought I would be.
The way this one was written was just so well done it was like watching a movie in my head with no effort. It was kind of giving me Haunting of Hill House (tv show) vibes and I love that show so I found this book super engaging.
I also love how the cover looks much more cutie than the contents within. That definitely drew in me!!
Thanks to Berkeley Publishing Group, the author, and NetGalley for the arc
The family drama in this one was SENDING me I was in a rage but like in a good way. I also found myself creeped out more than I thought I would be.
The way this one was written was just so well done it was like watching a movie in my head with no effort. It was kind of giving me Haunting of Hill House (tv show) vibes and I love that show so I found this book super engaging.
I also love how the cover looks much more cutie than the contents within. That definitely drew in me!!
Thanks to Berkeley Publishing Group, the author, and NetGalley for the arc