[NO SPOILERS]REVIEW: Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose
90s nostalgia, unputdownable thriller, & dark family secrets
Synopsis: After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm's length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn't been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before.
While going through their parent's belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.
Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.
I completely fangirled over THE Jeneva Rose, my thriller queen since 2021, dm’ed me on Tiktok offering an ARC. Of course, I said yes! Disclaimer: The following is my honest review. I was not paid to review or post any content revolving around this book.
Let’s get down to it. I rated this FIVE STARS!
If you like:
Small Town Vibes
Multi POV
Multi Timelines (flashbacks)
The 90s
Complicated Family Dynamics
Twists and Turns
Then this book is for you.
Home Is Where the Bodies Are had me hooked right from the beginning. This story had me crying (literally within the prologue), laughing, and saying WTF out loud. Not only do we get to ‘meet’ each character as they enter the story, but we get to see how they are perceived by their other siblings.
A big theme throughout this book is grief. As we know from the synopsis, Beth, Nicole, and Michael’s mother passes away. Her death becomes a domino effect for the dark secrets that not only lay within the town but their own family.
This story sets a theme that we may forget as humans.
Grief is multifaceted, complicated, hard, and uncomfortable.
Jeneva did a powerful illustration of how the death of their mother affected each character specifically. As someone who has lost loved ones, there were many parts I resonated with throughout this story. You will be sure to read many hard hitting lines that will make you go ‘damn, Jeneva fucking did that’. I mean that in the best way possible. I genuinely connected with this story in ways I didn’t expect to.
While there was a twist that I did guess, I was second-guessing myself the whole time. Then during my second-guessing, I began scheming on what the certain twist at the time was, and usually not being right. That is my favorite feeling with thrillers. If you’re a reader you’ll get this:
When you put down your book and your mind wanders back to it throughout the day, you know it’s a damn good read.
That was this novel for me. Cheers to one of the queens of the thriller genre. This is going to be a perfect read as we go into Summer.
Jeneva’s book releases on April 30th, 2024 and you can preorder your copy now.