Nope. Easy read but I think it was ridiculous. I am a fan of many of Card's books. This one missed the mark for me.

Book started with great character development, then went sideways into fairly shallow supernatural territory. Ending was fairly predictable. Almost abandoned this one half way and ultimately wish I would have.

I loved the way the author describes the beauty and power of home and the despair and loneliness of being without one. I love that the main characters are middle-aged and beyond.

The plot was easy to follow and had just enough foreshadowing to guide to the ending smoothly.
The main character is the corporeal form of the stereotypical Man's need to fix/rescue those he loves and is the central theme. The main character is in deep mourning due to the loss of his child from the negligence of his ex-wife who . The whole story spins from this deep dark place.
He drowns his sorrows by buying and renovating old houses. His latest house is a decrepit mansion. He has to deal with nosey elderly neighbors and develops closer relationships with two ladies; the real estate agent and the squatter.
I found both female characters to be interesting and strong willed yet vulnerable. The main character is strongly attracted to one, but ends up feeling more fatherly than romantic and the other way around with the other woman. I'm not sure what message the author intended to convey when one emotion morphs into the other and vice versa, perhaps that the two emotions are so similar in a man that they are very difficult to keep apart? I don't know, it just felt a bit disturbing in the reading.
All in all, a very satisfying book that I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys an atypical ghost story that is more about learning how to cope with grief and daring to live happily after an ending.

It was okay, not his best work

Wuh?

I think my book is missing a chapter. I really felt a vibe with the male protagonist, his honorable manner with Cindy, and his acquiescent nature with Sylvie, and he is serving those around him in a very real and struggling unselfishness, and then after struggling with his innate desire to be a good father for Sylvie . . .sees her in an attractive light . . . And then is love with her and that becomes the motivation for the latter half of the book. The transition was abrupt and awkward and I spent several subsequent chapters waiting for Cindy to return, and for Sylvie to fade. The conclusion was fun and the grand finale was very exciting and I hoped for the Lissy Sylvie transition, BUT I never felt the transition for Sylvie like I did with Cindy. The chemistry felt way better and made sense. Sylvie was a kid that took a 10 year hiatus into self denial and somehow her capacity to be a match for Don just didn't fit.

Most ghost stories are mysteries at heart, and Homebody falls more strongly on the mystery side than the spooky side. There were a few moments towards the beginning of the novel when I forgot I was reading Card and thought I was reading Stephen King, but a King novel with the same concept would have gone in a totally different direction and been a whole lot scarier.

Which is not to say that Card's book is bad--it's sweet, and well told, and compelling ... it's just not a "keep you up at night with all the lights on" kind of book.

This was the first book I've read by Orson Scott Card, and I'm impressed. He takes seemingly ordinary characters and wraps them up in an extraordinary tale that is so much fun to read.

El peor libro de casas encantadas que he leído en mi vida.

I describe this book as the Harlequin Romance of science fiction. I thought it started with an interesting premise and went downhill from there. I did appreciate the language was clean.

Orson Scott Card Stephen King olmuş. Çok güzel bir romandı. Card'ı sevenlerin ya da Stephen King'in doğaüstü konularla ilgili kitaplarını sevenlerin kesinlikle okuması gereken bir kitap.

Unanswered questions! A lot! I found the first romance believable but the second one did not have a good build up or understanding of love. I love Orson Scott Card and was entertained, but not one of his Better books.

I admit that I've been a bit lax in my Orson Scott Card reading. The last thing I read was First Meetings in Ender's Universe, and that's been a while. So I'm here thinking of child prodigies and such when I pick up this book (metaphorically speaking since I got the Kindle edition).

Yeah, this is not Ender's Game.

Now, long ago Shirley Jackson wrote a play called The Haunting of Hill House. (In fact, I met my husband when we both acted in a community theater production of this play.) There have been movies of this play but not, to my knowledge, one that has been faithful to Jackson's original screenplay about a house that's haunted but not in the usual "there's a ghost in the house" sense.

This is not that story either.

Instead, this is a story with wonderfully written, real characters with real emotions, suspense, the supernatural, magic, and...but I wouldn't want to spoil the ending. Definitely, definitely worth the purchase and the read. Oh, how I've missed you, Mr. Card. I definitely have some catching up to do.