In the first few pages you realise that this novel isn't going to be just like A Curious Incident or A Spot of Bother. Instead, it apologetically and honestly reveals the inner thoughts and sectrets of two families, marriages and siblings. Personally i think this book has something for everyone and is an easy read. Little Benji was my favourite character and as Haddon really captures his young imagination and wit. The ending was perhaps a let down otherwise I would have given it a 5 star review.

It’s been a while since I read “A Spot of Bother” and the Curious Incident - so can’t honestly compare them that accurately - but I liked the tone of this. The set-up is a bit cliched - getting the two families away in enforced isolation - but the way that Haddon then explores the characters, their inner lives, snippets of their histories and the apparently-insignificant events of the holiday itself, just worked for me. I didn’t “like” all the characters equally, of course, but there was enough meat on all of them to form a view, and I could easily see a film or TV movie version in my mind. Some other reviewers seem to have missed having a “big event” to anchor the plot - but the accumulation of smaller and individualised crises was equally effective, in my view, and perhaps truer to life? Worth a read.

The Red House was a joy to read. The storyline was interesting, intelligent and beautifully descriptive. The psychological aspect of this book was especially interesting and well executed throughout. I found myself becoming very involved with both the grown up siblings lives which were so very different. Highly recommended.

This isn’t the usual type of book that I would read and because of that I think I was expecting a little bit more than I was. Personally, I found myself waiting for something to happen. There were those few moments of action but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The book seemed to flicker between attempts at ultimate action to mundane daily events which I wasn’t overly interested in reading. I did, however, manage to finish the book. Overall I found some of the characters more realistic and easier to relate to than others, and the author did manage to portray the different ages well. There were also points in the books whereby I was really interested in what was to come next which seemed to pull me through the duller moments. A quick note for you all, if interested in this book came about through the mention of ghosts be warned that they are figurative and not the haunting types that you find in the classic horror stories.

One reviewer described; "An almost story about nothing. I kept reading, waiting for the story to begin, for anything interesting to happen". I agree. Although I wouldn't say it was a bad novel, nothing actually comes of the hundreds of pages that Haddon has used to pain the scene. I kept reading on hoping that this would be the page that something rises up and fascinates my interest, but no, nothing. The novel contains several well written sub-plots, but no main event, which is a feature of Haddon's writing in my opinion.