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Bring the House Down
A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.
Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.
Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story.
A brilliant Trojan horse of a book about art, power, misogyny, and female rage, Bring the House Down is a searing, insightful, and often hilarious debut that captures the blurred line between reality and performance.
Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.
Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story.
A brilliant Trojan horse of a book about art, power, misogyny, and female rage, Bring the House Down is a searing, insightful, and often hilarious debut that captures the blurred line between reality and performance.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 8, 2025
324 people are currently reading
24107 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Runcie
5 books100 followersAuthor of books including the forthcoming debut novel Bring the House Down, out in 2025 with Doubleday Books (USA) and Borough Press (UK).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 543 reviews
April 25, 2025
"Fair criticism doesn't exist," he'd said to me in the newsroom once. "Life isn't fair, so why should I be?"
This is one of those books that sounded sort of interesting, so I picked it up with the intention to sample, get a feel for it, and then put it aside for later. And I was doing that, honestly, but then, somehow, the pages kept turning and I finished the whole book. I guess I really couldn't put it down.
I don't want to sell this as a thriller, because it's not. Bring the House Down is a literary character and culture study, and a thought-provoking exploration of the responsibility critics have to both their subjects and their audience.
Did I have a greater responsibility to the actors on stage, the company and crew who made this obviously high-budget and well-rehearsed show, or to the audience around me? Or to the people reading the paper, who would never see that particular production, but who kept up an interest in theatre and just wanted some opinions to chew over with their breakfast?
But if that sounds dry, I'm doing it a disservice. Because it's seriously compelling and juicy.
We dive right into what the blurb promises from the very first chapter: cutthroat theatre critic Alex Lyons sees a show at the Edinburgh Fringe and completely decimates it in a review. Immediately afterwards, he goes to a bar and runs into the show's creator and sole performer, Hayley, and the pair sleep together.
Hayley has no idea Alex has just written a career-ending review of her show, but when she finds out, she decides on the perfect revenge: revamping her show into a vicious critique of Alex and his whole life. Soon, others are speaking up about their negative experiences with Alex, both through his reviews and in his private life.
Runcie has written a thoughtful meditation on several different aspects of our culture here, and it is compelling because it is relevant, the stakes are high, and there are no easy answers.
When does criticism cross a line? If you give a harsh criticism then add the disclaimer “I’m just being honest,” does that make it okay? Is it always right to be honest or, at some point, are you-- as Madeline the Person puts it --"just being mean"? Or, conversely, is it better to be dishonest, as Sophie often is? To slap five stars against a production because you feel you should, out of a sense of duty to the creators? Does it matter less if your platform is smaller? Do you only have to temper your honesty if you know your voice is influential?
In Alex's case, he grew such a powerful reputation from being brutally honest. The readers loved his reviews because, if he thought it was shit, he said so. Nobody wanted the milquetoast three-star reviews. So is the problem even Alex, or the culture that built him? The culture that wants to know:
Excellent or worthless, nothing in between. Review your experience, share your thoughts, recommend us to your friends, swipe left, swipe right, leave a comment, have an opinion.
The book also looks at the aftermath of a "cancelling" with nuance. Alex is an asshole, no doubt, but as he becomes ever more hated, as more and more people gleefully gather round to judge him on social media, one has to wonder how much punishment he actually deserves. The book is stronger, in my opinion, because Runcie refuses to fully condemn or redeem him.
I am intrigued to see how other readers feel about the choice of narration. The story is told in first person-- not by Alex or Hayley, but by Alex's colleague, Sophie. In some ways, it's genius: Sophie is adjacent to the book's main events, close enough to witness them firsthand but far enough removed to offer a more balanced perspective. However, the book's biggest weakness, I feel, is that we also get a subplot delving into Sophie's life with her partner Josh and new baby, which I found to be the slowest and least interesting parts of the story.
But, overall, I really enjoyed it and found the moral ambiguity really compelling. Recommended for anyone who enjoys asking complex questions about the culture we live in.
May 24, 2025
4.5 stars, rounded down
Bring the House Down takes a whole new spin on the Me, Too situation and does it brilliantly. Alex, a popular theatre critic, known for his savage reviews, writes a one star review of a one woman show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Then he goes out for a meal, picks up the actor, has sex with her, all without ever telling her about his review which will show up in the newspaper the next morning. But she doesn’t just accept this. She revamps her show, exposing what he did and it’s a hit. More and more women come out of the woodwork, actors reveal how his reviews have hurt them. The man becomes a pariah.
The story is told from the perspective of Sophie, the “junior culture critic” also in attendance at the festival and sharing a flat with Alex. Through Sophie’s eyes, we are constantly reminded that there are two sides to each story. She raises some interesting points. “It’s not like with a bad review of a book or film, where the creative work is already out there in the world and done with, and the writer or the performer can just shrug it off and go onto the next thing. I can’t imagine what it must be like to get a bad review on the first night of your theatre run, and then have to get up again and keep going, putting yourself out there, knowing that people think you’re crap.”
I loved seeing Hayley, the actor, take matters into her own hands. But even she begins to wonder how everything will play out and what constitutes fairness.
The book lays out a lot of interesting points about creativity, acting and reviewing. It was a book that made me think, especially about to whom a reviewer owes their allegiance. And Alex has a point, no one wants to see a three star review. We are drawn to the dramatic. It would make for an interesting book club selection. Runcie knows whereof she speaks, having been an arts critic and columnist for The Daily Telegraph who frequently attended the Edinburgh Festival. And kudos to her for not taking the predictable way out with the ending.
I was less interested in Sophie’s personal story. She’s the typical working mom and there wasn’t much new there. It was a drag on the main plot.
My thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for an advance copy of this book.
Bring the House Down takes a whole new spin on the Me, Too situation and does it brilliantly. Alex, a popular theatre critic, known for his savage reviews, writes a one star review of a one woman show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Then he goes out for a meal, picks up the actor, has sex with her, all without ever telling her about his review which will show up in the newspaper the next morning. But she doesn’t just accept this. She revamps her show, exposing what he did and it’s a hit. More and more women come out of the woodwork, actors reveal how his reviews have hurt them. The man becomes a pariah.
The story is told from the perspective of Sophie, the “junior culture critic” also in attendance at the festival and sharing a flat with Alex. Through Sophie’s eyes, we are constantly reminded that there are two sides to each story. She raises some interesting points. “It’s not like with a bad review of a book or film, where the creative work is already out there in the world and done with, and the writer or the performer can just shrug it off and go onto the next thing. I can’t imagine what it must be like to get a bad review on the first night of your theatre run, and then have to get up again and keep going, putting yourself out there, knowing that people think you’re crap.”
I loved seeing Hayley, the actor, take matters into her own hands. But even she begins to wonder how everything will play out and what constitutes fairness.
The book lays out a lot of interesting points about creativity, acting and reviewing. It was a book that made me think, especially about to whom a reviewer owes their allegiance. And Alex has a point, no one wants to see a three star review. We are drawn to the dramatic. It would make for an interesting book club selection. Runcie knows whereof she speaks, having been an arts critic and columnist for The Daily Telegraph who frequently attended the Edinburgh Festival. And kudos to her for not taking the predictable way out with the ending.
I was less interested in Sophie’s personal story. She’s the typical working mom and there wasn’t much new there. It was a drag on the main plot.
My thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for an advance copy of this book.
June 1, 2025
4.5
Alex Lyons writes a one star review for a performance by Hayley Sinclair at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He doesn’t hesitate and really goes for it, annihilating her act, adding a picture for good measure, after all, she’s a pretty girl. As he walks through the city, he checks dating apps as they always explode during the festival and heads to a bar. A few feet away from him is Hayley, oblivious that he has all but eviscerated her, that is, until she wakes the following morning after, yes, you guessed it, spending the night with Alex. Oh dear, big oops and such betrayal. What is Alex thinking???What well known critic Alex doesn’t know (yet) is that she will turn the tables and how. Whose career will go up in flames, I wonder? Beware a woman scorned as it won’t be pretty and there’s a day of reckoning coming. The novel is narrated by Sophie, also a journalist at the same paper and with whom Alex shares a flat in Edinburgh.
First of all, the setting in Edinburgh during the Fringe is excellent and the variety of performing arts that takes place here gives the author masses of creative scope in which her wit and humour really shines. I love the premise of the novel as it allows for much drama, reading both sides of the dual between the central protagonists. Hayley clearly expresses how it feels to have a one star review and how you pick yourself up from that which makes me ponder my own reviews! Are they a fair reflection or are they an opportunity to be savage if the mood takes you? As for Alex, he does make good points especially about luke warm three star reviews (damned with faint praise) but he really is a piece of work leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. I like the way that the author uses Sophie to present his character in a balanced way as it stops the tendency for it to perhaps become a rant. Sophie is caught in the middle, she has sympathy for Hayley because who wouldn’t, but also for Alex and she’s very conflicted.
I’m glad the author chooses to tell the story via Sophie as it works really well but I’m not convinced we needed the side story of her feelings for her partner Josh and although it’s sweet, her love for her son Arlo, although he sure is cute.
The characterisation is exemplary, all can be imagined with ease and the pages are very lively when Alex‘s mother a renowned acting Dame, is present. What a luvvie! It also allows the author to look at privilege and nepotism (Alex) versus Hayley who has clawed her way up. There’s a lot going on but it’s woven together seamlessly and makes powerful points. I like the ending which feels just right
Overall, this is a very good literary character driven novel of revenge, arts and culture, of how people in positions of power treat others. It’s a creative and funny tour de force.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Harper Collins, HarperFiction : The Borough Press for a much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.
Alex Lyons writes a one star review for a performance by Hayley Sinclair at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He doesn’t hesitate and really goes for it, annihilating her act, adding a picture for good measure, after all, she’s a pretty girl. As he walks through the city, he checks dating apps as they always explode during the festival and heads to a bar. A few feet away from him is Hayley, oblivious that he has all but eviscerated her, that is, until she wakes the following morning after, yes, you guessed it, spending the night with Alex. Oh dear, big oops and such betrayal. What is Alex thinking???What well known critic Alex doesn’t know (yet) is that she will turn the tables and how. Whose career will go up in flames, I wonder? Beware a woman scorned as it won’t be pretty and there’s a day of reckoning coming. The novel is narrated by Sophie, also a journalist at the same paper and with whom Alex shares a flat in Edinburgh.
First of all, the setting in Edinburgh during the Fringe is excellent and the variety of performing arts that takes place here gives the author masses of creative scope in which her wit and humour really shines. I love the premise of the novel as it allows for much drama, reading both sides of the dual between the central protagonists. Hayley clearly expresses how it feels to have a one star review and how you pick yourself up from that which makes me ponder my own reviews! Are they a fair reflection or are they an opportunity to be savage if the mood takes you? As for Alex, he does make good points especially about luke warm three star reviews (damned with faint praise) but he really is a piece of work leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. I like the way that the author uses Sophie to present his character in a balanced way as it stops the tendency for it to perhaps become a rant. Sophie is caught in the middle, she has sympathy for Hayley because who wouldn’t, but also for Alex and she’s very conflicted.
I’m glad the author chooses to tell the story via Sophie as it works really well but I’m not convinced we needed the side story of her feelings for her partner Josh and although it’s sweet, her love for her son Arlo, although he sure is cute.
The characterisation is exemplary, all can be imagined with ease and the pages are very lively when Alex‘s mother a renowned acting Dame, is present. What a luvvie! It also allows the author to look at privilege and nepotism (Alex) versus Hayley who has clawed her way up. There’s a lot going on but it’s woven together seamlessly and makes powerful points. I like the ending which feels just right
Overall, this is a very good literary character driven novel of revenge, arts and culture, of how people in positions of power treat others. It’s a creative and funny tour de force.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Harper Collins, HarperFiction : The Borough Press for a much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.
June 6, 2025
When I skimmed the first few pages of Bring the House Down, I couldn’t help but read on... and on... and on. At the Edinburgh festival, womanising theatre critic Alex watches a one-woman show, files a scathing one-star review, then promptly sleeps with the performer he’s just trashed. When she finds out, the performer – Hayley – retaliates by turning her show into ‘The Alex Lyons Experience’, a rebuke of the review... and of Alex as a person, which transforms it into a viral success. It’s one of those simple-but-rich ideas that makes a perfect starting point for this kind of chatty, accessible litfic, acting as a springboard for bigger questions about art, power, bad behaviour and the nature of criticism.
Simultaneously the book’s masterstroke and biggest flaw is its narration. The story is told not by Hayley or Alex or a chorus, but by Sophie, a long-time journalist colleague of Alex’s who is also at the festival and effectively (sometimes literally) has a ringside seat to the whole thing. Sophie is sympathetic to Hayley while remaining Alex’s friend, which allows for an arm’s-length ambiguity in the story’s approach to its characters. Of course, the use of Sophie’s perspective means her own life inevitably becomes part of the plot; some of this is comparatively tedious, if useful as a foil to the chaos surrounding Alex. Sometimes it feels like we’re following a subplot that wandered in from a different book, and while it all ties together in the end, it doesn’t totally land. Sophie doesn’t get the ending I’d hoped for (... was I supposed to feel sorry for Josh?), though admittedly, this is entirely in keeping with the themes.
Another big advantage of Bring the House Down is the way it plays with perspective. Alex, it turns out, has caused a lot of harm, but mostly inadvertently, within consensual relationships; at what point do we move someone out of the ‘bit of a cad’ category and into ‘creep’ or even ‘abuser’, and what then? What of the fact that Hayley’s show would never have become successful without the catalyst of his review? Then there’s Sophie, who has a lazy approach to criticism (stock phrases, insincere praise for things she didn’t even understand). Is her generous dishonesty any better than Alex’s brutal truth? Plus there’s Alex’s own privilege; as the well-connected son of a famous actress, he’s cushioned from real-world consequences in a way the likes of Hayley and Sophie aren’t. Even if he gets thoroughly cancelled, what’s at stake for him, really?
The book certainly packs a lot in, combining its conversation-starting central themes with reflections on grief and an examination of relationships, family and parenthood. Bring the House Down is thoughtful but it could also easily be a read-in-one-sitting kind of book, such is the momentum it gathers. It strikes the right balance between taking a stance and allowing the reader to make up their own mind; it’d make a great book club choice.
I received an advance review copy of Bring the House Down from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Simultaneously the book’s masterstroke and biggest flaw is its narration. The story is told not by Hayley or Alex or a chorus, but by Sophie, a long-time journalist colleague of Alex’s who is also at the festival and effectively (sometimes literally) has a ringside seat to the whole thing. Sophie is sympathetic to Hayley while remaining Alex’s friend, which allows for an arm’s-length ambiguity in the story’s approach to its characters. Of course, the use of Sophie’s perspective means her own life inevitably becomes part of the plot; some of this is comparatively tedious, if useful as a foil to the chaos surrounding Alex. Sometimes it feels like we’re following a subplot that wandered in from a different book, and while it all ties together in the end, it doesn’t totally land. Sophie doesn’t get the ending I’d hoped for (... was I supposed to feel sorry for Josh?), though admittedly, this is entirely in keeping with the themes.
Another big advantage of Bring the House Down is the way it plays with perspective. Alex, it turns out, has caused a lot of harm, but mostly inadvertently, within consensual relationships; at what point do we move someone out of the ‘bit of a cad’ category and into ‘creep’ or even ‘abuser’, and what then? What of the fact that Hayley’s show would never have become successful without the catalyst of his review? Then there’s Sophie, who has a lazy approach to criticism (stock phrases, insincere praise for things she didn’t even understand). Is her generous dishonesty any better than Alex’s brutal truth? Plus there’s Alex’s own privilege; as the well-connected son of a famous actress, he’s cushioned from real-world consequences in a way the likes of Hayley and Sophie aren’t. Even if he gets thoroughly cancelled, what’s at stake for him, really?
The book certainly packs a lot in, combining its conversation-starting central themes with reflections on grief and an examination of relationships, family and parenthood. Bring the House Down is thoughtful but it could also easily be a read-in-one-sitting kind of book, such is the momentum it gathers. It strikes the right balance between taking a stance and allowing the reader to make up their own mind; it’d make a great book club choice.
I received an advance review copy of Bring the House Down from the publisher through Edelweiss.
May 26, 2025
This book has all the pieces to make something truly interesting. The grey spaces of the MeToo movement. The public airing of private lives. The way social media can turn a moment into an avalanche. The tension between criticism and art. All of these things live in Runcie's novel. Unfortunately she constructs this fantastic and fascinating series of events and then does almost nothing with it.
I'm still confused by this. How can Runcie build something so sharp if she can't see it through? What is she trying to do here? Why give us all of this buildup and then just leave it in a final act that doesn't really do anything at all? On the one hand, it feels like some solid feedback and revisions could have turned this interesting book into something monumental. On the other hand, if this is all we're left with, perhaps this was what she wanted all along?
There were some signs along the way that this wasn't going to be as cutting and insightful as I wanted it to be. The main players here, Alex and Hayley, are not our protagonist. That is Sophie, who is practically a nonentity on the page for around half of the book. This also confused me because it sure feels like Sophie should have a lot of opinions. She is sharing a flat for four weeks at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as a critic for a major paper with her coworker Alex. And Alex sucks, this is clear from the first moment. Alex is selfish and egotistical, anyone stuck sharing quarters with him for a few days would be over it very quickly. And yet Sophie is on Alex's side. For ages. This man who has never expressed any affection or respect towards Sophie should not be her pal. But he is. Even after all the stories about Alex's mistreatment of women come pouring in. Sophie knows she shouldn't be on his side, and yet she is.
There is something very real here, it's not at all uncommon for the loudest defenders of men accused of misconduct to be women. And it would be interesting for Sophie to question her loyalty and examine that. But she doesn't really.
There is also Sophie's actual life, where she feels abandoned by her partner Josh who now acts as if he is moving mountains by parenting their toddler by himself while she's on the road for work. She has a lot of loyalty towards this man, too. Which is also a real thing that happens to women, especially once they've had children. The more of Alex and Josh we saw, the more frustrated I was with them. The more I wanted Sophie to realize that she can do better than these men. The more I thought maybe some cancelling would be best for everyone.
The strongest section of the novel is when Sophie gets to be a character of her own. When Alex and Josh are not around and we get to see her struggle to answer questions about what her job as critic actually is. Why is she doing this? What is the goal? How do you review a mediocre work that has good intentions? How do you review a work you didn't actually understand? Is there a place for a truly nasty review that takes pleasure in the pain it inflicts? When Sophie thinks about herself, and about Hayley--the woman Alex has mistreated who has now turned the tables--the more we have something to really chew on.
Sadly, at some point we just stop chewing. A subplot about Sophie's grief about her mother's death feels weirdly tacked on, coming out of nowhere to explain things that didn't need explaining.
Besides that, Runcie threads the needle well. Alex sucks but you have to question whether he deserves the label "predatory." He is careless, narcissistic, and cruel but he is a casual misogynist more than a malicious one. We see how his own insecurity about his place as critic has led him to this outsized version of himself, one who brings the same lack of emotional involvement to his life as he does to his work. It's a very smart portrait and nuanced enough for you to hate Alex and want him to get over himself more than you want to see him utterly destroyed. This isn't a book that says we shouldn't cancel people and it isn't one that says men can change. But it dances around the human factors nimbly.
It is still so odd to have such a contrast between some of the elements Runcie executes while others fall so terribly flat. I still can't figure out where I fall on whether to recommend it or not. I lean slightly towards recommending, since I suspect a lot of people will not find the ending nearly as annoying as I did.
I'm still confused by this. How can Runcie build something so sharp if she can't see it through? What is she trying to do here? Why give us all of this buildup and then just leave it in a final act that doesn't really do anything at all? On the one hand, it feels like some solid feedback and revisions could have turned this interesting book into something monumental. On the other hand, if this is all we're left with, perhaps this was what she wanted all along?
There were some signs along the way that this wasn't going to be as cutting and insightful as I wanted it to be. The main players here, Alex and Hayley, are not our protagonist. That is Sophie, who is practically a nonentity on the page for around half of the book. This also confused me because it sure feels like Sophie should have a lot of opinions. She is sharing a flat for four weeks at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as a critic for a major paper with her coworker Alex. And Alex sucks, this is clear from the first moment. Alex is selfish and egotistical, anyone stuck sharing quarters with him for a few days would be over it very quickly. And yet Sophie is on Alex's side. For ages. This man who has never expressed any affection or respect towards Sophie should not be her pal. But he is. Even after all the stories about Alex's mistreatment of women come pouring in. Sophie knows she shouldn't be on his side, and yet she is.
There is something very real here, it's not at all uncommon for the loudest defenders of men accused of misconduct to be women. And it would be interesting for Sophie to question her loyalty and examine that. But she doesn't really.
There is also Sophie's actual life, where she feels abandoned by her partner Josh who now acts as if he is moving mountains by parenting their toddler by himself while she's on the road for work. She has a lot of loyalty towards this man, too. Which is also a real thing that happens to women, especially once they've had children. The more of Alex and Josh we saw, the more frustrated I was with them. The more I wanted Sophie to realize that she can do better than these men. The more I thought maybe some cancelling would be best for everyone.
The strongest section of the novel is when Sophie gets to be a character of her own. When Alex and Josh are not around and we get to see her struggle to answer questions about what her job as critic actually is. Why is she doing this? What is the goal? How do you review a mediocre work that has good intentions? How do you review a work you didn't actually understand? Is there a place for a truly nasty review that takes pleasure in the pain it inflicts? When Sophie thinks about herself, and about Hayley--the woman Alex has mistreated who has now turned the tables--the more we have something to really chew on.
Sadly, at some point we just stop chewing. A subplot about Sophie's grief about her mother's death feels weirdly tacked on, coming out of nowhere to explain things that didn't need explaining.
Besides that, Runcie threads the needle well. Alex sucks but you have to question whether he deserves the label "predatory." He is careless, narcissistic, and cruel but he is a casual misogynist more than a malicious one. We see how his own insecurity about his place as critic has led him to this outsized version of himself, one who brings the same lack of emotional involvement to his life as he does to his work. It's a very smart portrait and nuanced enough for you to hate Alex and want him to get over himself more than you want to see him utterly destroyed. This isn't a book that says we shouldn't cancel people and it isn't one that says men can change. But it dances around the human factors nimbly.
It is still so odd to have such a contrast between some of the elements Runcie executes while others fall so terribly flat. I still can't figure out where I fall on whether to recommend it or not. I lean slightly towards recommending, since I suspect a lot of people will not find the ending nearly as annoying as I did.
August 9, 2025
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.
Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.
Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story.
A brilliant Trojan horse of a book about art, power, misogyny, and female rage, Bring the House Down is a searing, insightful, and often hilarious debut that captures the blurred line between reality and performance.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Well, that was fun. Eviscerating, puncturing schadenfreude.
See? There's just one problem. It's Hayley's book. Alex whimpers “Haven’t you ever done something you regret? Why am I the only one who has to learn something here?” at one point, though, and it really hit me. No, you're not; but you are the one resisting the lessons. And Hayley's just the one to deliver them. She's decided that his misogynistic takedown of her show is misogynistic for the sake of it; therefore must be resisted and retaliated against. She takes no stock of his points. Self-examination would tell her she has a far more insidious enemy within the gates that poses far more of a threat to her future in the form of her partner Josh.
So I don't think this is a truly good story. It's mean, satisfying fun, though. Flaws and all I laughed where Author Runcie wanted me to, I winced at the pains inflicted and received, and stared in quiet hostility at the enemy within.
A well-spent afternoon of reading.
The Publisher Says: A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.
Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.
Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story.
A brilliant Trojan horse of a book about art, power, misogyny, and female rage, Bring the House Down is a searing, insightful, and often hilarious debut that captures the blurred line between reality and performance.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Well, that was fun. Eviscerating, puncturing schadenfreude.
How enormous a thing it must be to face the sum total of your flaws, and find that they were worse than you imagined, and obvious to everyone in the world except you. Maybe, like trying to look at the sun, it wasn’t quite possible yet for Alex to look at the truth about himself without experiencing so much pain that he then immediately had to look away again, dazzled by the brightness of his own cruelty.
See? There's just one problem. It's Hayley's book. Alex whimpers “Haven’t you ever done something you regret? Why am I the only one who has to learn something here?” at one point, though, and it really hit me. No, you're not; but you are the one resisting the lessons. And Hayley's just the one to deliver them. She's decided that his misogynistic takedown of her show is misogynistic for the sake of it; therefore must be resisted and retaliated against. She takes no stock of his points. Self-examination would tell her she has a far more insidious enemy within the gates that poses far more of a threat to her future in the form of her partner Josh.
So I don't think this is a truly good story. It's mean, satisfying fun, though. Flaws and all I laughed where Author Runcie wanted me to, I winced at the pains inflicted and received, and stared in quiet hostility at the enemy within.
A well-spent afternoon of reading.
August 25, 2025
This story coils its plot around a month in Edinburgh during the Fringe, where Sophie, a junior culture writer newly sprung from the toddler-swallowed hours of maternity leave, finds herself sharing an absurdly vast tenement flat with Alex Lyons, the paper’s charismatic, vain, and lethally quotable theatre critic.
The curtain rises on Alex’s one-star demolition of Climate Emergence-She, Hayley Sinclair’s solo show about climate collapse and the patriarchy, written in the same forty-five minutes it takes him to light a cigarette. Hours later, oblivious to her as the subject of his printed scorn, he seduces her in the Traverse bar. By morning, Sophie is drinking coffee in the kitchen when Hayley, fresh from the shower, fishes the paper from the recycling and reads Alex’s words, which label her “a dull, hectoring frump” and liken the show to “a self-important niece hectoring her elders at a family barbecue.”
From there, the fuse burns quickly: Hayley’s performance mutates into The Alex Lyons Experience, in which she reads his review aloud in various states of undress, smears her make-up with spit, sets the page alight, and invites her audience to share their own “Alex Lyons Experiences.” Sophie, spotted in the crowd, is pulled on stage to corroborate the tale, triggering a festival-wide wildfire of gossip, posters, and viral clips.
In plain terms, the storyline tracks the escalation from a critic’s scathing review to a public unmasking, as Hayley weaponises Alex’s own words against him in a live show, and Sophie becomes an unwilling participant in the spectacle.
The book slides between Sophie’s domestic calls to her partner Josh and toddler Arlo, her assignments at the festival, and her reluctant role in Alex’s implosion. Scenes scatter across press rooms, moth-haunted wardrobes, sweltering basement venues, and late-night streets where actors and critics orbit each other in equal parts hunger and disdain.
Along the way, Sophie witnesses Hayley’s transformation of humiliation into theatre, feels the crowd’s appetite for reprisal, and senses Alex’s reputation pivot from authority to cautionary tale.
Runcie loads the novel with theatrical ironies: a critic undone by performance, a journalist tasting the dangerous pleasure of mob approval, and a performer converting personal injury into box-office heat. Alex’s philosophy that “clarity is generosity” curdles in Hayley’s hands into public vivisection, while Sophie’s inner monologue turns wry and self-implicating, aware of how quickly outrage becomes entertainment.
The writing trades in quicksilver observations (“a rat matched his pace along North Bridge”), sardonic industry truths (“three stars isn’t even a bad review! three stars is good!”), and the sensory texture of Edinburgh in August.
At its heart, the book stages a conflict between two kinds of theatre: the sanctioned performance behind the footlights, and the unscripted drama that spills beyond them into bars, stairwells, and the internet. The effect is a work that draws from contemporary social-media pile-ons, and that leaves the reader with the uneasy knowledge that, once the house lights go up, everyone might already be part of the cast. This story should really resonate with Goodreads reviewers. What a wonderful surprise!
The curtain rises on Alex’s one-star demolition of Climate Emergence-She, Hayley Sinclair’s solo show about climate collapse and the patriarchy, written in the same forty-five minutes it takes him to light a cigarette. Hours later, oblivious to her as the subject of his printed scorn, he seduces her in the Traverse bar. By morning, Sophie is drinking coffee in the kitchen when Hayley, fresh from the shower, fishes the paper from the recycling and reads Alex’s words, which label her “a dull, hectoring frump” and liken the show to “a self-important niece hectoring her elders at a family barbecue.”
From there, the fuse burns quickly: Hayley’s performance mutates into The Alex Lyons Experience, in which she reads his review aloud in various states of undress, smears her make-up with spit, sets the page alight, and invites her audience to share their own “Alex Lyons Experiences.” Sophie, spotted in the crowd, is pulled on stage to corroborate the tale, triggering a festival-wide wildfire of gossip, posters, and viral clips.
In plain terms, the storyline tracks the escalation from a critic’s scathing review to a public unmasking, as Hayley weaponises Alex’s own words against him in a live show, and Sophie becomes an unwilling participant in the spectacle.
The book slides between Sophie’s domestic calls to her partner Josh and toddler Arlo, her assignments at the festival, and her reluctant role in Alex’s implosion. Scenes scatter across press rooms, moth-haunted wardrobes, sweltering basement venues, and late-night streets where actors and critics orbit each other in equal parts hunger and disdain.
Along the way, Sophie witnesses Hayley’s transformation of humiliation into theatre, feels the crowd’s appetite for reprisal, and senses Alex’s reputation pivot from authority to cautionary tale.
Runcie loads the novel with theatrical ironies: a critic undone by performance, a journalist tasting the dangerous pleasure of mob approval, and a performer converting personal injury into box-office heat. Alex’s philosophy that “clarity is generosity” curdles in Hayley’s hands into public vivisection, while Sophie’s inner monologue turns wry and self-implicating, aware of how quickly outrage becomes entertainment.
The writing trades in quicksilver observations (“a rat matched his pace along North Bridge”), sardonic industry truths (“three stars isn’t even a bad review! three stars is good!”), and the sensory texture of Edinburgh in August.
At its heart, the book stages a conflict between two kinds of theatre: the sanctioned performance behind the footlights, and the unscripted drama that spills beyond them into bars, stairwells, and the internet. The effect is a work that draws from contemporary social-media pile-ons, and that leaves the reader with the uneasy knowledge that, once the house lights go up, everyone might already be part of the cast. This story should really resonate with Goodreads reviewers. What a wonderful surprise!
August 8, 2025
I love a delusional mediocre man who thinks he's hot shit without realizing how pathetic he looks to everyone else. Yes king, keep digging your own grave!
September 10, 2025
This is a unique and lovely, engaging little novel of many themes that deserves to be a sleeper literary hit. Sophie and her colleague Alex are journalists from a major London paper dispatched to cover the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which makes for a very interesting setting. Alex is a bad boy, privileged nepo baby star critic whose at-times unproductively savage yet popular and entertaining reviews tend toward the all or nothing, 5 stars or 1, and can make or break whatever (or whomever) he is reviewing. Sophie is a new mom recently returned to work after maternity leave and struggling with self-criticism and uncertainty, including in relation to her career, marriage, and as she recovers from her mother’s unexpected death at a young age and before meeting her grandchild. Sophie writes reviews too, but a bigger part of her job consists of a very different kind of life-product evaluation: she is assigned to draft obituaries of celebrities identified as at-risk of possibly imminently dying in order to have them at the paper’s ready. This book muses upon all kinds of unanswerable questions about what are the most constructive, reflective, responsive-yet-not-overly reactive, and hopeful ways to evaluate works of art and other inherently flawed efforts at living made by ourselves and other humans.
July 1, 2025
The premise of this was really interesting and the author could have made some good points about the things men get away with without consequence, but it was so centered on the man. Ultimately, reading about a privileged, misogynistic white man and how sympathetic the female main character was to him was not what I wanted to be doing for 300+ pages.
August 1, 2025
The premise of this novel blew me away and I can’t stop thinking about. For a novel with so many profound and relevant topics - the me too movement, cancel culture, infidelity, misogyny, and “everyone’s a critic” - it was also relatable, interesting, perfectly plotted out, and entertaining.
Theater isn’t my form of entertainment of choice but the critic element was really well done and felt relatable in many ways. Alex used the one star or five star rating system (nothing in between) and it felt authentic - three star reviews are good but maybe not? And also, they’re boring! Sophie’s struggles and insecurities wondering if a performance just went over her head were also extremely well written and hit close to home! I think we’ve all been there before - that “was this bad or did I just not understand it?” feeling.
I loved the foldout of Hayley’s story and piece at the festival. To take a horrific event like what Alex did to her and turn it into a buzz worthy show was fascinating. I also loved that the novel explored both sides - did she go too far? Is it still trauma if she profits off it? Regardless of the line or your stance, it was thought provoking and so very on point for the times.
This would be a phenomenal choice for a bookclub. There are so many important themes and topics for discussion.
Thank you to Doubleday for this awesome book. Very excited to read more by Charlotte Runcie!
Theater isn’t my form of entertainment of choice but the critic element was really well done and felt relatable in many ways. Alex used the one star or five star rating system (nothing in between) and it felt authentic - three star reviews are good but maybe not? And also, they’re boring! Sophie’s struggles and insecurities wondering if a performance just went over her head were also extremely well written and hit close to home! I think we’ve all been there before - that “was this bad or did I just not understand it?” feeling.
I loved the foldout of Hayley’s story and piece at the festival. To take a horrific event like what Alex did to her and turn it into a buzz worthy show was fascinating. I also loved that the novel explored both sides - did she go too far? Is it still trauma if she profits off it? Regardless of the line or your stance, it was thought provoking and so very on point for the times.
This would be a phenomenal choice for a bookclub. There are so many important themes and topics for discussion.
Thank you to Doubleday for this awesome book. Very excited to read more by Charlotte Runcie!
July 19, 2025
Charlotte Runcie is a new author for me. She has written a few other books, but this is her debut novel.
Description:
A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.
Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.
Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story.
A brilliant Trojan horse of a book about art, power, misogyny, and female rage, Bring the House Down is a searing, insightful, and often hilarious debut that captures the blurred line between reality and performance.
My Thoughts:
Alex Lyons comes across as arrogant and egotistical. He isn't being fair to the theater productions, giving only one star to most productions and five stars to a very few, nothing in between. He goes one step toof far with Hayley Sinclair though and her retaliation is epic. What happens after that is a ll out war and lots of surprises. I was amazed to find that this book was based on something that had actually happened to Runcie - a very vengeful retaliation to a bad review she had written. The book is disturbing and sad. It is well written and the plot moves at a good pace. It kept my attention throughout. An interesting story for sure.
Thanks to Doubleday Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.
Description:
A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.
Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.
Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story.
A brilliant Trojan horse of a book about art, power, misogyny, and female rage, Bring the House Down is a searing, insightful, and often hilarious debut that captures the blurred line between reality and performance.
My Thoughts:
Alex Lyons comes across as arrogant and egotistical. He isn't being fair to the theater productions, giving only one star to most productions and five stars to a very few, nothing in between. He goes one step toof far with Hayley Sinclair though and her retaliation is epic. What happens after that is a ll out war and lots of surprises. I was amazed to find that this book was based on something that had actually happened to Runcie - a very vengeful retaliation to a bad review she had written. The book is disturbing and sad. It is well written and the plot moves at a good pace. It kept my attention throughout. An interesting story for sure.
Thanks to Doubleday Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.
July 17, 2025
This is a case where the promotional texts for the book have felt misleading and definitely affected my reaction to the book. This book is billed (in the cover blurbs, in the summary , even in the cover aesthetic) as funny and hilarious but is neither. The book is also labeled "feminist" which is confusing to me because I am not sure where that comes from exactly. First, while interesting and at times entertaining, the story is told from the point of view of Sophie, a woman suffering from unresolved grief, and dealing with depression and marriage problems so the tone through the book is quite sad and heavy on reminiscing and emotional sadness. Sophie to me feels quite submissive and self doubting which makes her not a very compelling character but, to be true, a real one. Second, the book deals with a very complex topic, a "me too" kind of moment that is played in public and through social media. The author seems to have wanted to be nuanced, to not fall onto easy fast judgements but her attention is faulty. Runcie delves deeply on building the character of Alex, the narcissist, privileged man, critic of a main newspaper who first writes a scathing one-star review of a one-woman show, Hayley's ,and while that is in press to get published next day, he meets and have sex with her without telling her who he is and while lying about what he thinks. We end up learning a lot about Alex, the good things (good writer, decent colleague), the sad backstory (lack of parental love, etc), and the terrible (all the ghosting, lying, and unethical things he's done to women without remorse). So Alex, becomes a fully realized and complex character. By contrast, Runcie creates a sort of caricature of Hayley, the actress who has been lied to and who takes the situation in her own hands to rewrite the story. By the end of the book we know truly very little of Hayley. Seen mostly through Sophie's eyes, Hayley is seen as this shiny powerhouse until at the very end, when we get a bit of a glimpse of more, but barely. At the end, the two main women characters seem still fascinated by the narcissist guy, both self-doubt their careers, and don't seem to, necessarily go onto better things. And I am not saying the author should write a happy ending at all, but billing this as hilarious and feminist definitely seems a stretch and not very much matching the book. I want to end by saying what I did enjoy: I loved the main plot, it hooked me and kept me wanting to finish the novel even when Sophie's story interrupted the flow. I also loved the structure of the book based on the festival calendar, very satisfying. Runcie is clearly familiar with the art festival world and it shows, I enjoyed delving into it. Last, I wish the author had loved Hayley and Sophie as much as she seemed to have enjoyed writing Alex, because his character is fully developed, complex, and real.
June 3, 2025
This was a very sharp, funny novel - taking an issue(s) of our times and telling it in a humorous but also very smart and funny way.
Alex Lyons is a theatre critic, currently at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and is well known for his cutting reviews. After seeing Hayley's feminist play (the climate emergenc-she) he delivers a devastating one-star review. However, later he sees Hayley in the bar (with Hayley oblivious to who he is and what he has just written) and the two hit it off and spend the night together.
However, when Hayley finally reads the review, her stage show changes placing Alex, and his behaviour (past and present), in the spotlight of her one-woman show. Suddenly, more and more stories about Alex come out....
This was a really clever book, taking issues over power, misogyny, cancel culture but looking at them in a humorous way, whilst never seeking to minimise them.
This is definitely not a one-star book
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Alex Lyons is a theatre critic, currently at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and is well known for his cutting reviews. After seeing Hayley's feminist play (the climate emergenc-she) he delivers a devastating one-star review. However, later he sees Hayley in the bar (with Hayley oblivious to who he is and what he has just written) and the two hit it off and spend the night together.
However, when Hayley finally reads the review, her stage show changes placing Alex, and his behaviour (past and present), in the spotlight of her one-woman show. Suddenly, more and more stories about Alex come out....
This was a really clever book, taking issues over power, misogyny, cancel culture but looking at them in a humorous way, whilst never seeking to minimise them.
This is definitely not a one-star book
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
July 9, 2025
1.5 ⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and Double Day for this eARC in exchange or an honest review!
Bring the House Down is describes as "hilarious" however, I found it anything but. I was so excited for this book, but I couldn't even finish it. I found it hard to read with weird prose, rhythm, and felt so detached while trying to read. The characters are unlikeable and rude, with the story seeming to focus more on Alex (however, that could also be seen as a nod to the meaning of the book). Ultimately, I DNF'd around 50% and don't see myself trying to reread this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Double Day for this eARC in exchange or an honest review!
Bring the House Down is describes as "hilarious" however, I found it anything but. I was so excited for this book, but I couldn't even finish it. I found it hard to read with weird prose, rhythm, and felt so detached while trying to read. The characters are unlikeable and rude, with the story seeming to focus more on Alex (however, that could also be seen as a nod to the meaning of the book). Ultimately, I DNF'd around 50% and don't see myself trying to reread this.
July 15, 2025
Sophie is a journalist of listicles, not the hard hitting important journalism she once dreamed of. She has a small child named Arlo, and a roommate named Alex. Alex is the son of a famous actress, and often called a "nepo baby." Alex is currently a theatre critic, often writing scathing reviews. He only chooses 5 stars or 1 star, and a lot are 1 star. He has a one night stand with a woman named Hailey who had a show he gave a 1 star review and Hailey turned this into a new one woman show panning him and exposing him for basically being a bad person.
Alex is a side character, this is really Sophie's story. I really loved the theming- this book has a lot to say about reviewing, which is what we do. 25 years ago, when someone wanted a plumber or a boyfriend, they asked people they knew. Today, this decision is made by consensus. So instead of people we know, we rely on hundreds of reviews to give us access to who we should choose. This book reminded me of Such a Fun Age and Becky not Rebecca and some other books written about cancel culture. The theories about reviews really hit home since I write a review every day. And I am not a writer, not an expert, I just write reviews and say if I like something or not. It is bizarre, I will give some classic literature story 3 stars and a bizarre zombie book 5 stars. Sometimes I feel like- who the heck am I to assign a star rating to a book someone and their editor and publisher have worked on for a decade?
I would have liked to have understood Sophie's relationship with Josh more and dug more into her motherhood. This would be a great book to discuss in a group, such as a book club. You can easily see both view points and no one did anything illegal. It is definitely a different world and "morals" and "civility" and "manners" are cultural constructs that change frequently.
What do you think? Is it right for Hailey to create a career behind trying to end the career of Alex? Did Alex do anything wrong? Do we owe our transparency to readers and is this different for professional critics?
Alex is a side character, this is really Sophie's story. I really loved the theming- this book has a lot to say about reviewing, which is what we do. 25 years ago, when someone wanted a plumber or a boyfriend, they asked people they knew. Today, this decision is made by consensus. So instead of people we know, we rely on hundreds of reviews to give us access to who we should choose. This book reminded me of Such a Fun Age and Becky not Rebecca and some other books written about cancel culture. The theories about reviews really hit home since I write a review every day. And I am not a writer, not an expert, I just write reviews and say if I like something or not. It is bizarre, I will give some classic literature story 3 stars and a bizarre zombie book 5 stars. Sometimes I feel like- who the heck am I to assign a star rating to a book someone and their editor and publisher have worked on for a decade?
I would have liked to have understood Sophie's relationship with Josh more and dug more into her motherhood. This would be a great book to discuss in a group, such as a book club. You can easily see both view points and no one did anything illegal. It is definitely a different world and "morals" and "civility" and "manners" are cultural constructs that change frequently.
What do you think? Is it right for Hailey to create a career behind trying to end the career of Alex? Did Alex do anything wrong? Do we owe our transparency to readers and is this different for professional critics?
September 9, 2025
The Edinburgh Fringe, the granddaddy of all Fringe festivals, just wrapped up a couple of weeks ago.
Charlotte Runcie’s very entertaining first novel Bring the House Down is set entirely at the festival, and it made me want to experience all the action firsthand. One of these days I hope to get there.
Alex Lyons is the London-based chief theatre critic of a well-known British newspaper — one “considered by some people to be the last remaining newspaper of decency, and by other people to be a rag of unforgivable bias.”
The book opens as Alex writes a one star review of a dreadful-sounding ecological-themed solo show called Climate Emergence-She, by an American expat writer named Hayley Sinclair. After filing his copy, Alex sees the unsuspecting writer/performer in a bar (she has no idea who he is), chats her up, and takes her back to his flat.
When Hayley reads the pan the next morning, and realizes she just slept with the guy who wrote it, she becomes livid. She soon changes the name of her show to The Alex Lyons Experience. At first, she reads the review out to audiences, with vitriolic commentary, but then she opens up the show to be a forum for others who have suffered similar bad behaviour from the man: exes, emerging artists who gave up promising careers after receiving bad reviews, etc.
The show quickly becomes one of the festival’s runaway hits, and Alex is on his way to getting cancelled.
Rather than narrate the novel from Alex or even Hayley’s point of view, Runcie lets us watch the drama unfold from the clear-eyed perspective of Sophie Ridgen, a junior culture writer at the same paper where Alex works.
The two are staying at the Edinburgh flat rented by their newspaper to cover the festival. While Alex is busy going to five or six shows a day and then filing his reviews, Sophie attends art exhibits to do the same thing. She is happy to be covering the Fringe, having recently come back from maternity leave. She also writes obituaries, often of people who are very old or ill, so they’re ready to run when the person dies.
Sophie is glad to be away from her London home for a while — she and her academic husband, Josh, have reached a plateau in their relationship, though she misses her 14-month son Arlo — to concentrate on journalism.
But her enjoyment is interrupted when the scandal breaks. She has always looked up to Alex as a more senior arts journalist, but has her judgement been clouded by his reputation, intelligence and glamour? (He is the son of one Dame Judith Lyons, a well-known aging actress and director. Alex grew up going to plays, having theatre and film folks around his home, and immersed in industry gossip.)
The book is at its best when Runcie — a former arts columnist at The Daily Telegraph who’s also written for The Times and The Guardian — describes the arts beat. There are painfully accurate descriptions of listicles, bad Fringe plays, mildly debauched cocktail parties. She also knows how quickly copy has to be turned around.
Runcie is incredibly shrewd about how the internet changed reading habits — and publishers’ and editors’ bottom lines. And there are extended musings on the star-rating system. Is a 3 star (out of 5) review fence-sitting? No, as my colleagues and I used to say at NOW Magazine, it’s recommended!
While Sophie’s personal story slows down the mid-section of the book, she does make a balanced, even-handed narrator. And she seems to be at a crossroads herself — in her life, as well as her career. You get the sense that she’s learning from what’s happening around her. Her description of a play about the migrant crisis is great writing. Every theatre critic has seen this kind of show. But how to write about it?
Where Runcie excels is her questioning the ethical and humane implications of arts criticism. Did Alex behave badly by doing what he did? If so, did he deserve what happens to him?
Much to think about as you stand in line at a show, Fringe or otherwise.
Charlotte Runcie’s very entertaining first novel Bring the House Down is set entirely at the festival, and it made me want to experience all the action firsthand. One of these days I hope to get there.
Alex Lyons is the London-based chief theatre critic of a well-known British newspaper — one “considered by some people to be the last remaining newspaper of decency, and by other people to be a rag of unforgivable bias.”
The book opens as Alex writes a one star review of a dreadful-sounding ecological-themed solo show called Climate Emergence-She, by an American expat writer named Hayley Sinclair. After filing his copy, Alex sees the unsuspecting writer/performer in a bar (she has no idea who he is), chats her up, and takes her back to his flat.
When Hayley reads the pan the next morning, and realizes she just slept with the guy who wrote it, she becomes livid. She soon changes the name of her show to The Alex Lyons Experience. At first, she reads the review out to audiences, with vitriolic commentary, but then she opens up the show to be a forum for others who have suffered similar bad behaviour from the man: exes, emerging artists who gave up promising careers after receiving bad reviews, etc.
The show quickly becomes one of the festival’s runaway hits, and Alex is on his way to getting cancelled.
Rather than narrate the novel from Alex or even Hayley’s point of view, Runcie lets us watch the drama unfold from the clear-eyed perspective of Sophie Ridgen, a junior culture writer at the same paper where Alex works.
The two are staying at the Edinburgh flat rented by their newspaper to cover the festival. While Alex is busy going to five or six shows a day and then filing his reviews, Sophie attends art exhibits to do the same thing. She is happy to be covering the Fringe, having recently come back from maternity leave. She also writes obituaries, often of people who are very old or ill, so they’re ready to run when the person dies.
Sophie is glad to be away from her London home for a while — she and her academic husband, Josh, have reached a plateau in their relationship, though she misses her 14-month son Arlo — to concentrate on journalism.
But her enjoyment is interrupted when the scandal breaks. She has always looked up to Alex as a more senior arts journalist, but has her judgement been clouded by his reputation, intelligence and glamour? (He is the son of one Dame Judith Lyons, a well-known aging actress and director. Alex grew up going to plays, having theatre and film folks around his home, and immersed in industry gossip.)
The book is at its best when Runcie — a former arts columnist at The Daily Telegraph who’s also written for The Times and The Guardian — describes the arts beat. There are painfully accurate descriptions of listicles, bad Fringe plays, mildly debauched cocktail parties. She also knows how quickly copy has to be turned around.
Runcie is incredibly shrewd about how the internet changed reading habits — and publishers’ and editors’ bottom lines. And there are extended musings on the star-rating system. Is a 3 star (out of 5) review fence-sitting? No, as my colleagues and I used to say at NOW Magazine, it’s recommended!
While Sophie’s personal story slows down the mid-section of the book, she does make a balanced, even-handed narrator. And she seems to be at a crossroads herself — in her life, as well as her career. You get the sense that she’s learning from what’s happening around her. Her description of a play about the migrant crisis is great writing. Every theatre critic has seen this kind of show. But how to write about it?
Where Runcie excels is her questioning the ethical and humane implications of arts criticism. Did Alex behave badly by doing what he did? If so, did he deserve what happens to him?
Much to think about as you stand in line at a show, Fringe or otherwise.
July 8, 2025
Update 7/8/25: Reposting my review to celebrate that today is publication day!
Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for sending me an ARC of Bring the House Down in exchange for an honest review.
The Goodreads description of this book tells you everything you need to know about the story, so I’ll jump directly to my thoughts.
Bring the House Down was directly inspired by something that happened to Ms. Runcie. While an intern at a magazine, she wrote a negative review of a young (now famous) comedienne who proceeded to read the review to future audiences, roasting both the review and Ms. Runcie personally. There’s a great deal of material in the story that weighs in on the dynamic between artist and critic. Why do people choose to become critics rather than artists or performers themselves? Do critics owe a duty to the artists, who sacrifice to create something and put it out in the world? Or is the critics’ only duty to their audience? And why does anyone care about other people’s opinions, especially of strangers on places like (gasp!) Goodreads?
However, unlike the real world incident, Bring the House Down presents a scenario that allows for an exploration of misogyny large and small, its role in the arts, and how women do and should respond. Alex is a fascinating character, but not a great guy, though he’s painted with enough nuance that the extent of his villainy towards Hayley can be up for some debate. But is Hayley’s response, essentially nuking his life, proportional to his offense towards her—and does that even matter? What exactly do we want to happen to these men, and what will actually change things? The book is structured like Fleischman Is in Trouble, in which the story of a troubled man is being told by a woman in his life who’s also working in the story of her own troubles. Why does Sophie feel a pull to take Alex’s side? And how different is Alex’s misogyny from the subtler but still very real misogyny of her partner, Josh?
Bring the House Down is an entertaining and thought provoking read. It may not have all the answers, but it asks some great questions. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
How enormous a thing it must be to face the sum total of your flaws, and find that they were worse than you imagined, and obvious to everyone in the world except you. Maybe, like trying to look at the sun, it wasn’t quite possible yet for Alex to look at the truth about himself without experiencing so much pain that he then immediately had to look away again, dazzled by the brightness of his own cruelty.
…
I wanted to be near him in the same way that, standing on a cliff, you want to look over the edge.
…
“Haven’t you ever done something you regret? Why am I the only one who has to learn something here?”
Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for sending me an ARC of Bring the House Down in exchange for an honest review.
The Goodreads description of this book tells you everything you need to know about the story, so I’ll jump directly to my thoughts.
Bring the House Down was directly inspired by something that happened to Ms. Runcie. While an intern at a magazine, she wrote a negative review of a young (now famous) comedienne who proceeded to read the review to future audiences, roasting both the review and Ms. Runcie personally. There’s a great deal of material in the story that weighs in on the dynamic between artist and critic. Why do people choose to become critics rather than artists or performers themselves? Do critics owe a duty to the artists, who sacrifice to create something and put it out in the world? Or is the critics’ only duty to their audience? And why does anyone care about other people’s opinions, especially of strangers on places like (gasp!) Goodreads?
However, unlike the real world incident, Bring the House Down presents a scenario that allows for an exploration of misogyny large and small, its role in the arts, and how women do and should respond. Alex is a fascinating character, but not a great guy, though he’s painted with enough nuance that the extent of his villainy towards Hayley can be up for some debate. But is Hayley’s response, essentially nuking his life, proportional to his offense towards her—and does that even matter? What exactly do we want to happen to these men, and what will actually change things? The book is structured like Fleischman Is in Trouble, in which the story of a troubled man is being told by a woman in his life who’s also working in the story of her own troubles. Why does Sophie feel a pull to take Alex’s side? And how different is Alex’s misogyny from the subtler but still very real misogyny of her partner, Josh?
Bring the House Down is an entertaining and thought provoking read. It may not have all the answers, but it asks some great questions. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
May 12, 2025
I was in the mood for a light, funny read that also had some substance that would help to pass some time when it was harder to focus on more “serious” reading, and the premise of this one was all I needed to know to give it a shot. I’m happy to report that it delivered exactly what I needed at the time and is a book that I can see having wide appeal this summer when it is published.
The story follows Alex Lyons, a theater critic and son of a famous actress who is known for his very extreme reviews - everything is either five stars or one star with nothing in between. After sitting through a terrible one-woman show one night, he quickly writes his scathing review and heads to the bar, where he ends up running into the star of said show, Hayley, and having a one-night-stand with her. Of course, Hayley had no idea who this man was when she went home with him, but it only takes until the next morning for her to put it together, and the story takes off from there.
I appreciated that the novel was interestingly not written from Alex or Hayley's POV, but from the POV of Alex's colleague and temporary roommate, Sophie. Sophie has her own storyline throughout the book and is doing her best to balance Alex's drama with that in her own personal life. The narrative is both a literary character study and an examination of culture and the human condition in today’s day and age. I enjoyed the commentary on some big topics like cancel culture, relationships, forgiveness and parenthood, and while it was contemplative in that way, it also made me laugh. I also really appreciated that the author was able to paint Alex in such a real way that even though his actions were often terrible, we still managed to be sympathetic towards him. It was really interesting to me how the author never really chose a “side” when it came to Alex - he was never fully redeemed but also never fully condemned, leaving it up to the reader to decide his fate for themselves.
Although there was a lot that I enjoyed about this one, it definitely felt like the debut it was to me in that some of the storylines could've been a little more fleshed out and benefited from some tighter editing. I found myself wanting more development and backstory from some of the characters, such as Hayley and Sophie and her family. It also seemed to drag a bit for me in the middle after such a bang of an opening and a strong ending. All in all though, it was successful in being an entertaining story that really made me think about all sorts of things from when criticism crosses the line into rude territory and the role of honesty in all things in life.
Although I'm going against everything Alex Lyons stands for by giving this one a middle-of-the road rating, I still had fun with it and I'm looking forward to what this author will do next. Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
The story follows Alex Lyons, a theater critic and son of a famous actress who is known for his very extreme reviews - everything is either five stars or one star with nothing in between. After sitting through a terrible one-woman show one night, he quickly writes his scathing review and heads to the bar, where he ends up running into the star of said show, Hayley, and having a one-night-stand with her. Of course, Hayley had no idea who this man was when she went home with him, but it only takes until the next morning for her to put it together, and the story takes off from there.
I appreciated that the novel was interestingly not written from Alex or Hayley's POV, but from the POV of Alex's colleague and temporary roommate, Sophie. Sophie has her own storyline throughout the book and is doing her best to balance Alex's drama with that in her own personal life. The narrative is both a literary character study and an examination of culture and the human condition in today’s day and age. I enjoyed the commentary on some big topics like cancel culture, relationships, forgiveness and parenthood, and while it was contemplative in that way, it also made me laugh. I also really appreciated that the author was able to paint Alex in such a real way that even though his actions were often terrible, we still managed to be sympathetic towards him. It was really interesting to me how the author never really chose a “side” when it came to Alex - he was never fully redeemed but also never fully condemned, leaving it up to the reader to decide his fate for themselves.
Although there was a lot that I enjoyed about this one, it definitely felt like the debut it was to me in that some of the storylines could've been a little more fleshed out and benefited from some tighter editing. I found myself wanting more development and backstory from some of the characters, such as Hayley and Sophie and her family. It also seemed to drag a bit for me in the middle after such a bang of an opening and a strong ending. All in all though, it was successful in being an entertaining story that really made me think about all sorts of things from when criticism crosses the line into rude territory and the role of honesty in all things in life.
Although I'm going against everything Alex Lyons stands for by giving this one a middle-of-the road rating, I still had fun with it and I'm looking forward to what this author will do next. Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
July 4, 2025
Actual Rating: 3,5 Sterne
Wer Fan von "Prima Facie" ist, der sollte diesem Buch auf jeden Fall mal eine Chance geben! Ich fand nicht alles daran perfekt - gerade die Erzählstimme und Weise der Protagonistin hätte ich mir etwas mehr am Geschehen gewünscht, aber es beinhaltet unglaublich wichtige Themen! Und ganz viel Theater, West End und Edinburgh liebe <3 Da ich selbst als Filmkritikerin arbeite und mit dem Diskurs aus Kunst und Meinungsfreiheit nur all zu vertraut bin, hat es mich besonders gecatcht. Bin gespannt, was die Autorin in Zukunft noch so bereit hält!
Wer Fan von "Prima Facie" ist, der sollte diesem Buch auf jeden Fall mal eine Chance geben! Ich fand nicht alles daran perfekt - gerade die Erzählstimme und Weise der Protagonistin hätte ich mir etwas mehr am Geschehen gewünscht, aber es beinhaltet unglaublich wichtige Themen! Und ganz viel Theater, West End und Edinburgh liebe <3 Da ich selbst als Filmkritikerin arbeite und mit dem Diskurs aus Kunst und Meinungsfreiheit nur all zu vertraut bin, hat es mich besonders gecatcht. Bin gespannt, was die Autorin in Zukunft noch so bereit hält!
February 23, 2025
I cannot remember the last time I managed to read a book in less than 12 hours but Bring The House Down by Charlotte Runcie managed to capture my attention enough that I simply couldn’t stop reading it.
I reviewed this ahead of publication thanks to NetGalley and I am so glad I got the chance because I’ll be putting it physically into as many hands as possible come publication.
The story is set in Edinburgh during the fringe season and begins with a one star review from a Journalist named Alex Lyons to a woman performing a one woman show about the climate change crisis. Lyons knowingly sleeps with the woman while also being aware that in the morning her show will have received a pretty dismal write-up for all to see.
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On discovering this fact the next day, while still in his accommodation, the performer changes the name of her performance to ‘The Alex Lyons Experience’ setting off a chain of events which leads to many other women coming forward to speak about their own experiences with him.
The story is told from the point of view of his flatmate and fellow journalist Sophie, a new mum who is also battling her own grief from the death of her mother and who she is as a parent.
The book was fast-paced and kept me hooked from start to finish. I enjoyed the way in which the life of Sophie was weaved into the plot but also how the novel shows that ultimately, when men in positions of power behave badly, no one wins. Even the women who do come forward and valiantly tell their stories - it all comes at a remarkable personal cost.
As someone who lives in East Lothian, where part of the book is set, and who lived in Edinburgh for many years, I loved the setting and the descriptions of it. The author really managed to project how mad the month of August is with the Edinburgh Fringe but also the amount of work that goes into performing.
There are many important questions raised about male privilege and about blurred lines which exist in how they use their power to treat women. I’m not part of the arts world but feel this book was also perhaps shining a light on the pressure which exists for performers in theatre and the wider arts community and the struggle for artists who really on decent reviews. It also highlighted the nepotism that often exists in Journalism as an industry too.
This novel is a powerful, moving and funny account of what life affords you when you never really have to think of the consequences of your actions or how you treat others because of your privilege. I think many people will be able to recognise people they’ve met, particularly in work, where this problem still exists.
I reviewed this ahead of publication thanks to NetGalley and I am so glad I got the chance because I’ll be putting it physically into as many hands as possible come publication.
The story is set in Edinburgh during the fringe season and begins with a one star review from a Journalist named Alex Lyons to a woman performing a one woman show about the climate change crisis. Lyons knowingly sleeps with the woman while also being aware that in the morning her show will have received a pretty dismal write-up for all to see.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
On discovering this fact the next day, while still in his accommodation, the performer changes the name of her performance to ‘The Alex Lyons Experience’ setting off a chain of events which leads to many other women coming forward to speak about their own experiences with him.
The story is told from the point of view of his flatmate and fellow journalist Sophie, a new mum who is also battling her own grief from the death of her mother and who she is as a parent.
The book was fast-paced and kept me hooked from start to finish. I enjoyed the way in which the life of Sophie was weaved into the plot but also how the novel shows that ultimately, when men in positions of power behave badly, no one wins. Even the women who do come forward and valiantly tell their stories - it all comes at a remarkable personal cost.
As someone who lives in East Lothian, where part of the book is set, and who lived in Edinburgh for many years, I loved the setting and the descriptions of it. The author really managed to project how mad the month of August is with the Edinburgh Fringe but also the amount of work that goes into performing.
There are many important questions raised about male privilege and about blurred lines which exist in how they use their power to treat women. I’m not part of the arts world but feel this book was also perhaps shining a light on the pressure which exists for performers in theatre and the wider arts community and the struggle for artists who really on decent reviews. It also highlighted the nepotism that often exists in Journalism as an industry too.
This novel is a powerful, moving and funny account of what life affords you when you never really have to think of the consequences of your actions or how you treat others because of your privilege. I think many people will be able to recognise people they’ve met, particularly in work, where this problem still exists.
September 1, 2025
4.5/5
Noch ein #metoo Roman? Ja, aber anders!
Hayley Sinclair tritt als Comedian beim Fringe Festival in Edinburgh auf. In der Nacht nach dem ersten Auftritt lernt sie in einer Bar einen Mann kennen und verbringt die Nacht mit ihm. Was sie noch nicht weiß: Er ist Alex Lyons, gefürchteter Kultur-Kritiker und hat zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits eine vernichtende Kritik über sie geschrieben, die am nächsten Morgen erscheint. Als sie das herausfindet, macht sie “die Sache mit Alex Lyons” zu ihrem neuen Programm - und das geht durch die Decke, denn immer mehr Frauen haben Geschichten parat, wie arschig der notorische Frauenheld zu ihnen war.
Erzählt wird das alles weder von Alex noch von Hayley, sondern Alex’ Kollegin Sophie - war erst gewöhnungsbedürftig, hat aber dann doch richtig gut gepasst! Vom Ton her war es trotz des Themas eher locker und hatte irgendwie diesen Sound, den normalerweise die Bücher von pola haben, wenn das Sinn macht?! (Btw: Übersetzung: Katharina Martl).
Was mir besonders gefallen hat: Derr Roman lotet sehr klug die Graustufen aus. War Alex ein Arsch und das Getane falsch? Absolut. Hat Hayley das Recht, das Erlebte öffentlich zu verarbeiten? Absolut. Aber ist es gerechtfertigt, dass er seinen Job verliert? Er selbst sagt an einer Stelle, trotz des Verschweigens lag Konsens vor und es müsse Abstufungen zwischen so etwas und bspw. einer V3rgewaltigung, Betatschen etc. geben. Hab noch länger über einiges nachdenken müssen!
Dazu kamen viele spannede Beobachtungen zur Kulturszene und zum Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Kunst(freiheit) und Kritik - wie weit darf Kritik gehen? Mit welcher Sprache darf kritisiert werden? Über Sophie kamen auch Themen rund um Mutterschaft und Carearbeit hinzu. Das alles macht in Summe dieses Buch nicht nur zu einem meiner Lesehighlights, sondern bietet auch genug Diskussionspotential, dass es ‘ne richtig gute Buchclublektüre wäre!
Noch ein #metoo Roman? Ja, aber anders!
Hayley Sinclair tritt als Comedian beim Fringe Festival in Edinburgh auf. In der Nacht nach dem ersten Auftritt lernt sie in einer Bar einen Mann kennen und verbringt die Nacht mit ihm. Was sie noch nicht weiß: Er ist Alex Lyons, gefürchteter Kultur-Kritiker und hat zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits eine vernichtende Kritik über sie geschrieben, die am nächsten Morgen erscheint. Als sie das herausfindet, macht sie “die Sache mit Alex Lyons” zu ihrem neuen Programm - und das geht durch die Decke, denn immer mehr Frauen haben Geschichten parat, wie arschig der notorische Frauenheld zu ihnen war.
Erzählt wird das alles weder von Alex noch von Hayley, sondern Alex’ Kollegin Sophie - war erst gewöhnungsbedürftig, hat aber dann doch richtig gut gepasst! Vom Ton her war es trotz des Themas eher locker und hatte irgendwie diesen Sound, den normalerweise die Bücher von pola haben, wenn das Sinn macht?! (Btw: Übersetzung: Katharina Martl).
Was mir besonders gefallen hat: Derr Roman lotet sehr klug die Graustufen aus. War Alex ein Arsch und das Getane falsch? Absolut. Hat Hayley das Recht, das Erlebte öffentlich zu verarbeiten? Absolut. Aber ist es gerechtfertigt, dass er seinen Job verliert? Er selbst sagt an einer Stelle, trotz des Verschweigens lag Konsens vor und es müsse Abstufungen zwischen so etwas und bspw. einer V3rgewaltigung, Betatschen etc. geben. Hab noch länger über einiges nachdenken müssen!
Dazu kamen viele spannede Beobachtungen zur Kulturszene und zum Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Kunst(freiheit) und Kritik - wie weit darf Kritik gehen? Mit welcher Sprache darf kritisiert werden? Über Sophie kamen auch Themen rund um Mutterschaft und Carearbeit hinzu. Das alles macht in Summe dieses Buch nicht nur zu einem meiner Lesehighlights, sondern bietet auch genug Diskussionspotential, dass es ‘ne richtig gute Buchclublektüre wäre!
August 20, 2025
Dieses Debüt wurde mir als Überraschung von Piper zugeschickt und an dieser Stelle muss ich ein großes Danke an die Verantwortlichen aussprechen, denn das Buch hat richtig gut meinen Geschmack getroffen 🤓📦🤌🏼
Hier geht es um den Starkritiker Alex Lyons, der eine vernichtende Kritik über die Performerin Hayley Sinclair schreibt, nach ihrem Auftritt einen One Night Stand mit ihr hat und das, obwohl er ihre gesamte Karriere zerstört hat. Nach dieser Prämisse dachte ich mir nur let the show begin! 🍿
Charlotte Runcie hat es geschafft, dieses Buch zu etwas ganz Eigenem zu machen! Dieses Buch enthält so viele (!) relevante Themen, ohne dabei jedoch ermüdend zu sein. Es geht um privilegierte weiße Männer, Misogynie, Kunst- und Meinungsfreiheit, Cancel Culture, das Me Too Movement, das Frau- und Muttersein und mehr. Besonders spannend fand ich die Erzählweise: das Ganze wird nämlich weder aus Alex noch aus Hayleys Sicht erzählt, sondern aus der Sicht einer Arbeitskollegin von Alex, die uns quasi als direkte Beobachterin des Geschehens mitnimmt. So geraten wir als Lesende auch in den Gedankenstrudel einer (vermeintlich) unbeteiligten Dritten, die hin- und hergerissen zwischen ihrer Arbeit als Kritikerin, Alex und Hayley ist. Alle Charaktere des Buches sind unterm Strich unsympathisch und genau das, macht das Buch irgendwie aus 👀
Fazit:
Eine richtig gute Überraschung. Die Geschichte war teils etwas ausufernd, aber insgesamt doch echt gelungen 😊
Hier geht es um den Starkritiker Alex Lyons, der eine vernichtende Kritik über die Performerin Hayley Sinclair schreibt, nach ihrem Auftritt einen One Night Stand mit ihr hat und das, obwohl er ihre gesamte Karriere zerstört hat. Nach dieser Prämisse dachte ich mir nur let the show begin! 🍿
Charlotte Runcie hat es geschafft, dieses Buch zu etwas ganz Eigenem zu machen! Dieses Buch enthält so viele (!) relevante Themen, ohne dabei jedoch ermüdend zu sein. Es geht um privilegierte weiße Männer, Misogynie, Kunst- und Meinungsfreiheit, Cancel Culture, das Me Too Movement, das Frau- und Muttersein und mehr. Besonders spannend fand ich die Erzählweise: das Ganze wird nämlich weder aus Alex noch aus Hayleys Sicht erzählt, sondern aus der Sicht einer Arbeitskollegin von Alex, die uns quasi als direkte Beobachterin des Geschehens mitnimmt. So geraten wir als Lesende auch in den Gedankenstrudel einer (vermeintlich) unbeteiligten Dritten, die hin- und hergerissen zwischen ihrer Arbeit als Kritikerin, Alex und Hayley ist. Alle Charaktere des Buches sind unterm Strich unsympathisch und genau das, macht das Buch irgendwie aus 👀
Fazit:
Eine richtig gute Überraschung. Die Geschichte war teils etwas ausufernd, aber insgesamt doch echt gelungen 😊
August 6, 2025
Es hat so stark angefangen und dann hat‘s mich irgendwie verloren. Ich konnte die Protagonistin stellenweise nicht nachvollziehen und auch wenn ich die ganzen Debatten rund um Cancel Culture, Kritik von Kunst und der Macht einzelner Stimmen total spannend fand, hätte ich einen TedTalk zu dem Thema vermutlich besser gefunden. All in all trotzdem gute Lektüre über ein spannendes Thema.
January 25, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for providing this book, with my honest review below.
One of the most interesting things about Bring the House Down, for me, was that it seems to be based on author Charlotte Runcie’s own experience in ‘having the tables turned’ when she wrote a bad review about a comedian who then spent the rest of their Edinburgh Fringe Festival appearances eviscerating her onstage. She used that experience as basis for the story but through a lens that delighted and had me going down twisty paths in my own mind - a young female performer, Hayley, does the same but with a critic who gave her a one star review and proceeded to sleep with her without disclosing that. Hayley turns her revamped show, The Alex Lyons Experience, into a critique on misogyny and at one point says something that will stay with me - we identify bad behavior of some men and talk about it in the press, maybe they lose their jobs past that, but we then move on. Why not park on it and reflect back all the people these men hurt publicly and in such a way where they can’t escape their wrongdoings and the general public has more than one impersonal story to see the effects as well?
This book goes deeper than that and also explores many things from personal fulfilment and happiness to the lies we tell ourselves and the perspective we have on our own actions vs others. There are a lot of thought provoking ideas at play and I enjoyed the paths I went down as they were introduced, with Sophie, Alex’s colleague, the facilitator for many of them. Very much a serious read in fun wrapping, you will most definitely have some strong opinions about a good many things at the end.
One of the most interesting things about Bring the House Down, for me, was that it seems to be based on author Charlotte Runcie’s own experience in ‘having the tables turned’ when she wrote a bad review about a comedian who then spent the rest of their Edinburgh Fringe Festival appearances eviscerating her onstage. She used that experience as basis for the story but through a lens that delighted and had me going down twisty paths in my own mind - a young female performer, Hayley, does the same but with a critic who gave her a one star review and proceeded to sleep with her without disclosing that. Hayley turns her revamped show, The Alex Lyons Experience, into a critique on misogyny and at one point says something that will stay with me - we identify bad behavior of some men and talk about it in the press, maybe they lose their jobs past that, but we then move on. Why not park on it and reflect back all the people these men hurt publicly and in such a way where they can’t escape their wrongdoings and the general public has more than one impersonal story to see the effects as well?
This book goes deeper than that and also explores many things from personal fulfilment and happiness to the lies we tell ourselves and the perspective we have on our own actions vs others. There are a lot of thought provoking ideas at play and I enjoyed the paths I went down as they were introduced, with Sophie, Alex’s colleague, the facilitator for many of them. Very much a serious read in fun wrapping, you will most definitely have some strong opinions about a good many things at the end.
May 8, 2025
During the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Hayley meets Alex in a bar and sleeps with him. Unbeknownst to her, he is a theater critic who has just given her performance a scathing one star read. When she finds out the next morning, she responds by making her one person show all about Alex and the atrocities he has inflicted upon women over the years. The show becomes hugely popular with negative repercussions for him. The only person who seems to still support Alex is Sophie, a fellow critic who is struggling with her own professional/domestic situation.
This debut fiction by a Scottish journalist familiar with the world of art and critics is a compelling narrative that gives the reader much about which to contemplate. There is exploration into ageless topics as well as some that are very contemporary. It touches on mysogyny, art and criticism, the power of men and critics, motherhood, grief, Me Too, cancel culture. Despite such deep and sometimes dark subjects, it is entertaining, even amusing at times.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #DoubleDayBooks for the DRC.
This debut fiction by a Scottish journalist familiar with the world of art and critics is a compelling narrative that gives the reader much about which to contemplate. There is exploration into ageless topics as well as some that are very contemporary. It touches on mysogyny, art and criticism, the power of men and critics, motherhood, grief, Me Too, cancel culture. Despite such deep and sometimes dark subjects, it is entertaining, even amusing at times.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #DoubleDayBooks for the DRC.
May 15, 2025
The irony of critiquing a book critiquing the criticism industry…
This was great! I loved the perspective the author chose to convey the events of the story. It was surprising and entertaining while also providing fresh takes on current topics.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was great! I loved the perspective the author chose to convey the events of the story. It was surprising and entertaining while also providing fresh takes on current topics.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 28, 2025
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The setting: Alex Lyons, scion of a famous actress, is a theatre critic. He writes a scathing review of woman's play [Hayley Sinclair] at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with whom he has had a one night stand. He believes a review deserves either one star [which he gave to Hayley's show] or 5; anything in between is meaningless. "Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his ... critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story." And so it begins.
Of art, power, misoygny, rage, family.
Much on Alex and his family [mostly mother], his dalliances. Add in Sophie, her family situation-- [dead] mother, son--not married to his father/her partner, Josh--and their story.
I needed a break from slogging through my last two reads and this proved an antidote. BUT... There were laughs and aha moments.
Some wonderful descriptions and no cringy prose--a plus:
"quite addictive dread"
"I didn't need conselling to realise that grief would never leave me, and that the rest of my life would only gradully grow around it."
"attentive ease"
"remarkable how she mangaged to arrange her face and body to feel appropriate for any situation"
Minuses:
starting about 1/3 through I sensed notions where the plot was heading--several times!
3.5, not rounding up. Interesting but not enough especially as was uneven and the neat and tidy was the finisher.
Note: Charlotte Runcie began her journalism career as a critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe -life mirrors art.
The setting: Alex Lyons, scion of a famous actress, is a theatre critic. He writes a scathing review of woman's play [Hayley Sinclair] at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with whom he has had a one night stand. He believes a review deserves either one star [which he gave to Hayley's show] or 5; anything in between is meaningless. "Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his ... critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story." And so it begins.
Of art, power, misoygny, rage, family.
Much on Alex and his family [mostly mother], his dalliances. Add in Sophie, her family situation-- [dead] mother, son--not married to his father/her partner, Josh--and their story.
I needed a break from slogging through my last two reads and this proved an antidote. BUT... There were laughs and aha moments.
Some wonderful descriptions and no cringy prose--a plus:
"quite addictive dread"
"I didn't need conselling to realise that grief would never leave me, and that the rest of my life would only gradully grow around it."
"attentive ease"
"remarkable how she mangaged to arrange her face and body to feel appropriate for any situation"
Minuses:
starting about 1/3 through I sensed notions where the plot was heading--several times!
3.5, not rounding up. Interesting but not enough especially as was uneven and the neat and tidy was the finisher.
Note: Charlotte Runcie began her journalism career as a critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe -life mirrors art.
August 24, 2025
looking for a book that will suck your soul dry until you’ve turned the very last page?
this was such an insightful reflection on criticism and the world of reviews in general; the trust we put in them, what art awakens in each of us, and how deeply it can stir something within. I was completely swept away and had no choice but to devour it in 24 hours. It’s the kind of book you tear through with urgency and intensity. It had everything I crave: a sharp feminist message exposing misogyny, male privilege in positions of power and our societal bias in judging men and women differently for the same actions, sneaky twists you never see coming, drama, characters overflowing with raw emotions who act on impulse without considering the fallout, and a finale rich with maturity and introspection. I especially loved the journalistic angle, set against the chaotic backdrop of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (which is now officially on my bucket list). the narrative given to Sophie, who emerges as the true main character, was a thoughtful and bold choice, opening up themes of grief, parenthood, friendship, and love.
this is the kind of book that will spark more than a few late-night conversations with fellow readers. highly recommend!
this was such an insightful reflection on criticism and the world of reviews in general; the trust we put in them, what art awakens in each of us, and how deeply it can stir something within. I was completely swept away and had no choice but to devour it in 24 hours. It’s the kind of book you tear through with urgency and intensity. It had everything I crave: a sharp feminist message exposing misogyny, male privilege in positions of power and our societal bias in judging men and women differently for the same actions, sneaky twists you never see coming, drama, characters overflowing with raw emotions who act on impulse without considering the fallout, and a finale rich with maturity and introspection. I especially loved the journalistic angle, set against the chaotic backdrop of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (which is now officially on my bucket list). the narrative given to Sophie, who emerges as the true main character, was a thoughtful and bold choice, opening up themes of grief, parenthood, friendship, and love.
this is the kind of book that will spark more than a few late-night conversations with fellow readers. highly recommend!
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