Noelle W. Ihli, best known for her fast-paced thrillers like Run on Red, returns with Room for Rent, a claustrophobic domestic thriller that explores paranoia, fear, and the cost of ignoring your instincts. While it carries Ihli’s signature atmosphere of dread and creeping tension, this one is a slower burn that divides readers between genuine unease and mild frustration.
The story follows Nya, a college senior with one semester left before graduation. Desperate for affordable housing, she rents a room in a decaying house with a strange roommate named Sidney. The situation quickly goes from uncomfortable to terrifying: her food disappears, her door rattles at night, and someone seems to be digging through her belongings. What begins as subtle unease escalates into a nightmare, as Nya realizes she might not be alone and her roommate may be far more dangerous than he seems.
Ihli’s greatest strength has always been her ability to create tension through setting and atmosphere, and Room for Rent delivers that in spades. The decrepit house feels alive with menace, every creak and shadow magnified by Nya’s anxiety. As Laura from Goodreads noted, “I could really picture the grotesqueness of the rental house and felt icky every time Nya was in that property.” The writing is tight and fluid, with short, punchy chapters that make for an easy and compulsive read.
However, the novel falters in pacing and characterization. Much of the story’s middle drags as Nya’s fear builds in repetitive cycles of suspicion, denial, and inaction. Multiple reviewers pointed out that her choices strain believability staying in a clearly unsafe environment for the sake of cheap rent feels implausible, even for a desperate student. As Karly put it, “She is a little dumb as rocks… creepy stuff is happening and she’s making excuses all cause she’s broke… absolutely the hell not.”
Despite these flaws, the final act offers the kind of chaotic payoff Ihli fans expect. The last 30 percent shifts gears from slow-burn tension to full-blown horror, with some disturbing reveals that justify the earlier buildup. Rachel the Page-Turner described it best: “It was a medium intensity until about the 70% mark, then it got crazy.” The mix of psychological unease and real physical danger gives the ending its impact, even if the final twist doesn’t completely shock.
Room for Rent might not reach the same adrenaline highs as Run on Red, but it still showcases Ihli’s knack for crafting unnerving, tightly contained thrillers. It’s an atmospheric, grimy little story that keeps readers peeking over their shoulders long after the last page. For fans of dark domestic suspense and tense roommate dramas, it’s worth a night’s read just maybe not one you’ll want to spend alone.
Verdict: 3/5 – Uneven but effectively creepy. A slow build that finishes with a scream.
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