‘The Housemate’ by Nina Manning is the newest offering in her psychological thrillers. I have read a few of Nina’s books and always enjoyed them, so I hoped The Housemate would be just as good if not better. I need not have worried, this book keeps her high standards if not higher.
Regi is an older, mature student who house shares with three much younger students in London. We soon discover that Regi has more issues than meets the eye. She is suffering from OCD which is never easy as well as trying to escape her past. The story is told through ‘now’ and ‘then’ alternately. This woman had my emotions rolling as the past events in her life are slowly revealed and the state of her mental health can be better understood.
The present makes us wonder if she is really being stalked by a man in a baseball cap and if any of the other things she is constantly overthinking are real or the result of her failing mental health. Even her social media obsession makes us think, is this due to her obsessive behaviour or because she is trying so hard to lead a normal life just like her housemates.
This book made me feel for Regi, her struggles just to get through a single day were hard enough. Her housemates are all as you expect of uni students, trying to ‘get’ Regi and her issues at the same time as having their own stuff to deal with.
This is not a fast-paced story, but that is good. All the issues highlighted, abuse, grief and obsession along with mental health problems may have not been dealt with the correct sensitivity if it was faster. I was gripped by this captivating story and as I said previously, it had me feeling every emotion as the story unfolded.
Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources and Nina Manning for the copy of the book to write my review.
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