Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

e-ALC, 10:17:42
Narrated by: Alex Finke & Natasha Soudek
Release Date: September 9, 2025
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: September 7-9, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a free ALC from the publisher’s app. I also won a giveaway that had all of Rachel’s books. This did nothing to influence my review)
Content Warning: Alcoholism, Death of a Parent, Gaslighting, Animal Death, Self Harm, Blood, Homophobia, Forced Institutionalization, Infidelity
For Readers Interested In: Audio, Family Diversity, Horror, Sparkly Cover, Most Anticipated, Paranormal, Thrillers

     A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house.
     Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parent’s messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped Alex of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house.
     After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house flipping content. Only, as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother’s book, the presence in the house becomes more real, and more sinister, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio’s beautiful life to its very foundation.

*MY THOUGHTS*

Y’all this is probably the weirdest book I’ve read in a long time. And I read some weird stuff lol This was really weird. But definitely a good weird. I remember having to read a different book before I went to sleep lol And I gotta say, that’s a sign of a damn good horror book lol

So obviously the biggest thing about this book was the devil or the haunting. There was so much about this that I liked, but there was also some that I didn’t. Like I loved that it was so active. That thing made sure to let them all know it was there. Even if it was just communicating through one person. But on the flip side of that, I was disappointed that we never saw it manifest. I guess I wanted to “see” what it looked like? I know we get some info about it in the end, but I guess I just wanted to see it and get some confirmation. BUT I also think the way she did it was more believable and more scary. Especially since there was no proof for the mother. Idk I have a bunch of mixed emotions about this lol And CLEARLY I’ve thought about it too much. So I’ll just say this. It’s a slow burn, but it actually IS creepy.

I will say though, the main character got on my nerves. But I guess I understand now WHY she was that way. But I guess it was because of what was happening in that house. Or at least I hope so lol Because Lordt. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it was never confirmed or denied so I can’t be sure. I also wasn’t a fan of the dad because my guy you too old to be lying like this lol And you had to know at least one of them was going to want some real answers. I just found his reasoning to not say anything being so dumb.

And for those of you like me, it IS slow burn. Things do start happening almost immediately, but its like in real hauntings, super small things first. Really it’s things that could have been anything. And it just goes on. Let me tell you, I went into this like ok this is good. To being super creeped out by the end. This book has a slow burn yes, but the creepiness is there the whole time. It’s like you have this ominous feeling on whether or not this weird thing was just a weird thing or a WEIRD thing. So basically, I loved it.

I loved this entire book. It felt like I was watching a Paranormal Activity movie. I don’t think I was expecting this either. I remember going back and adding all the books on her backlist. This is going to be one interesting Scary Season. I plan to scare myself silly lol

Overall, I give this