A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel from the USA Today bestselling author.

Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parent’s messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped Alex of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house.

After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house flipping content. Only, as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother’s book, the presence in the house becomes more real, and more sinister, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio’s beautiful life to its very foundation.

I received an advance copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

I’ve really enjoyed every Rachel Harrison book that I’ve read (Black Sheep and The Return have been high on my list for a while), but Play Nice shot straight to the top for me. This one isn’t just a haunted house story; it’s a sharp, messy exploration of family ties, memory, and the ghosts we carry whether we want to or not.

Our main character, Clio, has built a career and a reputation as a stylist and influencer. On the surface, she’s polished, glossy, enviable. But Harrison doesn’t let us sit with that image for long. Beneath the curated lifestyle is a woman who grew up with secrets she’d rather keep hidden—mainly that she once lived in a house her mother swore was possessed. After her mother’s death, Clio inherits that very house along with her sisters. While the others see nothing but trauma, Clio sees an opportunity: flip the house, make content, and maybe finally prove she’s in control of her story.

Of course, nothing goes smoothly. The brilliance of this book is how it blends supernatural dread with human messiness. Harrison layers the narrative with excerpts from Clio’s mother, Alex’s book, letting us see what Alex believed, what Clio remembers, and what may have actually happened. The result is a slippery, eerie interplay between memory, imagination, and reality. You’re constantly asking yourself: was Alex right, or was she spiraling? Is Clio’s picture-perfect life built on denial, or is there truly something evil at work?

Clio, as a character, is incredible. She’s the kind of protagonist who makes you want to hug her one moment and shake her the next. She’s messy, insecure, ambitious, and deeply human. By the end, she feels fully realized in a way that sticks with you. Before this book, I would have told you Vesper from Black Sheep was my favorite Harrison creation. But Clio? She wins. She’s thorny and unforgettable, the kind of character who lingers long after you close the book. (Sorry, Vesper.)

And let’s not ignore the family dynamics. They’re complicated, raw, and at times painful to read, but they also elevate the story. The tension between Clio and her sisters, their diverging memories of childhood, and the shadow of Alex’s choices all make the haunting feel heavier and more personal. This isn’t just about creaking floorboards and dark basements. It’s about inherited trauma and how much of our parents’ truths we’re willing to carry with us.

I tandem read this one, reading both and ARC and listening to the audiobook, and I have to shout out the narrators. Alex Finke and Natasha Soudek nailed Clio and Alex’s voices. They captured the vulnerability, the bite, and the exhaustion in ways that made the story even more immersive. If you enjoy audiobooks, this is one worth grabbing.

I found this book to be sharp, unsettling, and emotionally rich. It’s a haunted house novel that’s less about ghosts and more about the messy, inescapable ties between mothers and daughters. Harrison balances creeping dread with biting honesty about family and identity, and the result is a story that grabs hold and doesn’t let go. This is absolutely one to add to your fall reading list. If you’re in the mood for a haunted house story with real teeth and a protagonist you won’t forget, this book delivers.