Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing this Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review of the book; all opinions expressed in the review are my own.

“Little Red House” is the debut book by Liv Andersson. It follows two women named Eve and Connie Foster in two different timeliness. One timeline follows Eve during 1997, on her efforts to find her lost daughter, Kelsey. Kelsey has always been a handful, trying to play games on Eve’s mind and trying her best to be as destructive as possible. On another timeline during the present day, we follow Connie as she tries to learn to live in a house in New Mexico which was left to her by Eve, who is her late adoptive mother.

Connie and her twin sister Lisa have always been very different, both in appearance and nature. Ever since being adopted by Eve, Connie’s spirited nature led her to be punished by Eve frequently and the punishment mostly always was a variety of mind games involving cruel tasks. As we follow Eve in 1997, we get to know the kind of person she was and how she became that way.   

Both timelines and their events converge at a certain point, in an intriguing and slightly off-beat manner, into a psychological thriller of dark and ominous undertones containing twisted characters who are not very likable. The story starts off slowly but picks up pace after about one-thirds of the way through. The twists interspersed within the story along with the various shades of all the characters, make for an interesting read but not a compelling one. It is a good attempt by the author; however I also felt the story lacked soul.

Still, if you like to read dark, ominous books featuring damaged people, do check this book out.

This book gets 4 out of 5 stars.