Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I have been a fan of Lisa Unger's books for a while. This book did not disappoint. It was easy to relate to Poppy's feelings that she had after losing her husband to what seems to be a random murder. As she struggles to come to grasp with what happened, she also has to fill in blanks for times that she has no memory of. The book keeps having many twists and turns. I only gave it 4 stars because sometimes it was difficult to decipher the flashbacks from current events.

I hadn't read any other books by this author but I should! Great page turner, excellent characterizations, such a good thriller. This is how it's done.

I'm a big fan of Lisa Unger and normally her books keep me reading late into the night. This one, however, took me longer to read. I wasn't immediately grabbed into the story line.

The first half we meet Poppy, whose husband was murdered. She has spent a year basically having a nervous breakdown. She is seeing things including her dead bloodied husband, a person following her. She doesn't know if these are dreams or for real. She is taking meds with alcohol. Sometimes during the first half of the book I was so confused as to what I was reading, I seriously thought I was drinking and taking drugs along with Poppy!

But the second half was much clearer so evidently I really wasn't on the drugs and drinking while reading! Which was good to know. LOL After that, I enjoyed the book much more, enough to give 4 stars. Lots of surprises in the second half and Lisa, I still love your books! 💜

* I was provided an ARC to read from the publisher and NetGalley. It was my decision to read and review this book..

#NetGalley #Under My Skin #Harlequin Park Row

This is a psychological thriller about a woman named Poppy. Poppy's husband Jack is murdered one morning while he is out running.
Poppy wants to find out who the killer is and why he/she killed her husband. She is having blackouts and has lost all memory of a couple of the days following Jack's murder. She is abusing pills and alcohol, she thinks someone is stalking her. I found the story a bit confusing at times. It wasn't a bad story but not one of my favorites by Lisa Unger.

A few years ago, quite by accident, I read another Lisa Unger book called, Ink and Bone. I was actually looking for a book with the same title by a different author (Rachel Caine), requesting an e-book version. I was going to return the book, but thought I should read a chapter, just to see what that book was about... And I was hooked!

Under My Skin, Lisa Unger's latest book, is a thrilling trip into the mind of a woman who may, or may not, know why her husband was murdered. Through the haze of alcohol and prescription drugs, Poppy must sort through which of her dreams are fantasy, paranoia, or memories. This book was a wild ride, and I willingly called shotgun!

What I Liked:
Characters:

Poppy is a wonderful character who is unsure of her reality. Far from a perfect person, her life is so painful she is often tempted to lose herself in drugs, alcohol, or mindless hookups. Everyone keeps telling her to accept that her husband's murder was a case of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But she has a strong feeling that something doesn't feel right. I love how she realizes that she is being manipulated and that she finds a way to regain control of her life.

Meanwhile, every time life presents a problem, well-meaning childhood friend, Layla, throws money around to solve it. At first she seems like an obnoxious, pampered lady who lunches. But when we find out about her past of abuse and poverty, we can understand why security is so important to her.

Noah is one of the men that Poppy meets through online dating. Is he the sweet guy that he appears to be, or a stalker who obsesses over women. And did Poppy actually get with him before her husband's death?

Narrative Style:

This was a wonderful example of the unreliable narrator. Is Poppy a depressed widow, an unfaithful spouse who's lover murdered her husband, a woman losing her mind to a steady diet of drugs and alcohol? There are missing days and weeks that Poppy can't account for. Part of the mystery is Poppy trying to piece together what happened to her, so she can understand what happened to her husband. Right up to the end, we don't know know the whole story.

Easter Egg:

If you are a fan of the author's other books, there is a passing reference to The Hollows, the setting of several of her other novels. While this book is a stand alone work, it seems as though it does take place in the same universe as Ink and Bone! When I realized this I squealed in delight!

What I Was Mixed About:

Although the ending is very exciting, it is dependent on the reader believing that Poppy has no sense of self-preservation. Throughout the book, she seems to have a death wish, putting herself in potential danger again and again.

While the author does show us a pattern of "inviting the dark", it's hard to believe anyone could be so reckless.

3.5/5 stars

Under My Skin is a psychological thriller/suspense/mystery. The story takes place in Manhattan.

The narrator is Poppy. Her husband Jack was killed the year before. And she is still having a very difficult time coping.

Poppy and Jack were photographers. They had opened up their own agency representing photographers.

This book was interesting to read because Poppy was a mess. She had disappeared for a few days right after her husband died. And that time period was still a blank for her. She is having dreams, but is unsure if these are memories or nightmares. She hallucinates and has blackouts. So much of the time she and the reader are trying to figure out what is real and what is not.

There is an interesting mystery. What happened to her husband? And is somebody after her?

Poppy's doctor is Dr. Nash. Her best friend from childhood is Layla. Their friendship was pretty amazing and they were definitely more like sisters.

I definitely did not want to put this book down. But to me the end of a book is everything. And while the end was good, I feel like the first half of the book was stronger for me than the second half. I found a few things in the second half a bit confusing.

The reveal at the end was good. I definitely did not see it coming. However, Poppy did some really dumb things. They made the end more dramatic. But they were really unbelievable, even for her.

This review is my personal opinion only. I have read Lisa Unger books before, many of them actually, & this one sorely disappointed me. It is so slow that 14 or so chapters in I went all the way to the end just to hurry up and see who done it. I have never read one of her books that was this slow paced. Poppy lists her husband to what looks like a wing place wrong time tradegy but then she starts seeing this dark hooded man everywhere. Making her wonder is she having another nervous breakdown or was her husband's murder something totally different. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC for an honest review

4 Stars.

A Crazy Compelling Psychological Thriller!

Poppy lost her husband Jack a year ago now - when he was murdered in what the police say was a random event, though they don’t have any answers as to what happened to him. Poppy, can’t let go of what she lost that fateful night and unfortunately she can’t remember a thing about what happened immediately thereafter, as she disappeared for a few days and everything is still a blur.

Now her dreams consume her, she sees images and doesn’t know if they are real or imagined. Of course, it could be all of the pills she’s popping and the alcohol she’s consuming. Then there’s the fact that she’s being followed by a hooded man, and then there’s Jack, who she starts seeing everywhere.

Poppy is terrified, yet determined to figure out what happened to her husband before something bad ends up happening to her too. Can Poppy take control and tame the demons around her? Time will tell, as it always does.

“Under My Skin” by Lisa Unger is one heck of a page turner. Twisty, turny and all around crazy, it was unputdownable!

This was a buddy read with Kaceey. We sure had a wild time trying to figure this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin - Hanover Square Press - Park Row and Lisa Unger for a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley, Goodreads and Twitter on 9.7.18.

I love this book!! Lisa Unger knows how to write an amazing novel, especially a thriller! The story line really draws you in and holds you there. The characters are fantastic. A must read!

I wasn't in love with this book (especially its first half), but thankfully stuck with it. The second half was much more solid. Overall it was an pretty enjoyable thriller.

The first half of the book, like our heroine, Poppy, is kind of a mess of memories. We're not sure what's real. We follow Poppy on a self-destructive streak of self-medicating, withholding information from the people closest to her, and having hallucinations (some of which may be real).

During this section, Poppy makes a lot of boneheaded decisions and everything is very vaguely ominous, so I found it hard to connect with the book at that point. (Especially all of the..."Someone is stalking me...I know, I'll date men from the Internet who I don't know very well and go on adventures by myself. That'll make me feel better!")

Later, as things become more of mystery with less focus on the frustrating/fantastical elements, things started to gel a bit more. (Although I'm still not sure what "Under my skin" actually references. I guess everything being trapped in her memories??) Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been nearly a year since Poppy Lane’s husband was brutally attacked and murdered while jogging, but she is still struggling to separate her dreams from reality as she tries to remember what happened during the four days following his funeral when she disappeared. Are her dreams bits of reality or just drug-induced hallucinations? Who is the mysterious hooded man following her? Maybe her husband would still be alive if they hadn’t fought the night before and she have gone jogging with him? As all these thoughts tumble in her head, Poppy tries to move forward with her life, but still struggles to find the truth.

The story starts slowly and builds suspense as the reader is drawn into Poppy’s untrustworthy reality.

I am a big fan of Lisa Unger and enjoy here thrillers. And I really wanted to love this one also, but it didn’t knock me out. The story is about Poppy whose husband was murdered when he went for a run one morning. A year later, his murder is still unsolved and Poppy has been living in a fog, taking medication and having blackouts. When her nightmares seem to be real, she believes they could be memories. On top of that, she thinks she is being followed. Sounds like one for the loony bin. As the story progresses, we learn more, but is Poppy safe? I just couldn’t get into Poppy’s story and therefore was not ecstatic about this book.

Poppy is grieving the loss of her husband. It has been a year since he was murdered, and the case has not been solved. Soon after her husband's death, Poppy disappeared from her family and friends for a few days. She never told them where she was or what she was doing, and, in fact, Poppy has blocked those days from her memory. Now that Poppy is attempting to move on, she wants to remember those days, and feels that if only she could regain her memories, she could discover what happened to her husband.

Poppy is a mess of a character. She is, understandably, devastated with the loss of her husband. She self-medicates and drinks too much to deal with her depression. The mixing of pills and alcohol causes Poppy to suffer from blackouts. She thinks that someone is following her, but she's not sure who or why. Since she's not the most stable person, it's hard to believe if she's really in danger. When Poppy is seems to be onto something that may lead to answers, she self-destructs. It's frustrating, but gripping.

The story is told from Poppy's viewpoint, which is confusing and chaotic. An engaging and unpredictable psychological thriller. Dark, suspenseful, and twisty.

I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Poppy is trying to get her life back on track after her husband's death. The problem is that his death still haunts her. This was a good story and at times really intense. Not one of my favorites from Lisa Unger, but still is a good read for suspense fans.

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger is a psychological thriller that is just that, thrilling. Information of varying magnitude is parceled out slowly to keep readers off balance so they won't (at least so I didn't) become complacent and think they know exactly where this story is headed. The story is narrated by Poppy Lang who became a widow a year earlier when her husband was killed as he was on his early morning run in a New York City park. Poppy managed to hold herself together until the funeral was over but then she had some type of blackout and disappeared for four days. When she resurfaced she was unable to remember what had happened during that time and spent time in a clinic after she had a breakdown. No progress has been made by the police regarding who killed her husband so Polly is trying to pull herself together with the help of her psychiatrist, her friends, and her business associates. It seems to be working okay until she begins to see the man in the hoodie following her.

This story is written with a lot of tricky maneuvers by the author. If you read a flashback, don't assume that you will be given the whole story in that flashback because Poppy has issues with being a reliable narrator. Which, of course, is what makes the book thrilling. I was having to work pretty hard to keep up with all the flashbacks, switchbacks and outright misdirection. I will admit to getting somewhat impatient with the story at times. I had the "who" figured out pretty early on, but didn't have a clue as to the "why".

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin - Hanover Square Press for a digital galley of this novel.

It's a year after Jack's murder and Poppy can't move on. They had a lifetime of plans that were all gone. Poppy needs it to make sense. She needs to remember what happened to her during the 'missing' days after Jack's funeral.
This is a psychological struggle that could happen to anyone. At times it seems disjointed, but that's because Poppy's memory is disjointed. What's in her real world ? What's in her dream world?
Very thought provoking. A very good read.

One morning Jack goes out for his usual run, but his wife, Poppy, is a bit under the weather so decides to stay in bed. Jack never returns, and Poppy's world falls completely apart. She loses three days of her life and ends up hospitalized for a "nervous breakdown." As the book begins, time has passed since Jack was murdered and Poppy is back to work; but her life is still a hot mess, and she's making a lot of risky choices. Her best friends Layla and Mac are there to help, but maybe not in the best ways.

"Under My Skin" is classic Lisa Unger. It's suspenseful and well plotted, and Unger masterfully puts the reader smack in the middle of the massive confusion that is Poppy's life after Jack. She's hallucinating, and she's crushed with guilt and confusion about Jack's death. She needs it to be solved, and so did I.

I highly recommend "Under My Skin." You may be confused in the beginning, but stick with it. You'll be glad you did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing me with an advance e-copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Review Copy of Under My Skin.
A year after the unsolved murder of her husband, Poppy is still searching for answers and struggling to pull herself out of a drug and alcohol induced funk. She is haunted by memories, dreams, and delusions so much that she can't determine what was real and what what imagined. As she finally pulls herself out with the help of an unlikely friend, the answers become clear and the truth is closer than she ever imagined.

This is a great psychological thriller and really delves into the mental state caused by the mixture of grief, fatigue, alcohol and chemicals. The reader is pulled along, and down, with Poppy and the ending is a true surprise.

My only criticism is the use of Poppy's life experience as a photographer. The early chapters show the world as a photographer sees it, describing well the impact of light allowing the lens to capture things about us that aren't seen by the naked eye. I enjoyed that, however that literary device disappeared for much of the book and resurfaced at the end. I wish the author had kept that going, showing us how Poppy sees the world through her camera. That's a small concern however, it's a wonderful book and I recommend it highly.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Park Row and NetGalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book.

I don’t think I have ever been so bored and detached while reading a book pegged as an “addictive psychological thriller.“ Under My Skin promised a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, a narrator who struggles to recall the days she lost following her husband’s death and, of course, an answer to a murder that happened a year ago. Instead I just got a lot of internal monologues and the occasional dip into mystery and intrigue.

Lisa Unger’s fatal flaw lies with her tendency to connect sentences with commas that should not be connected with commas. (Or, in general, be connected at all). The result is a disjointed narrative that does nothing to add to the mood of the text (which could have been tense and suspenseful) nor to the character’s emotions. I could let this go if it happened once or twice, but very clearly comma splices are a favourite of Unger’s.

The surface beneath me is cold and hard, my head a siren of pain. Nausea claws at my stomach and the back of my throat. My shoulder aches, twisted under me. A sharply unpleasant odor invades.

Contracts signed, assignments late, a payment dispute. I let his words wash over me, offer comments, suggestions. I know what to do. He has questions. I have answers. Work is easy, even the problems and negotiations.

Poppy has a lot going on in this book. It’s the anniversary of her husband Jack’s death and despite the summary saying she’s “finally begun to move on,” she is a hot mess. She doesn’t remember the four nights following his death, she’s heavily medicated on sleeping pills, she’s ghosting several men in an attempt to re-enter the dating world, she’s being stalked, she has lucid dreams and hallucinations, and the police might actually have a lead on her husband’s death. Despite all of this, she reflects little to no emotion to the reader. I blame part of this on Unger’s writing style, where sentences are disjointed and hard to connect to. But another part is Poppy’s depiction/characterization. She does not show emotion, but tells it to the reader in explanatory paragraphs. Someone mentions her husband’s death? Poppy doesn’t say “after he died I cried for days.” She describes the details of his beating à la info-dump. Her best friend is introduced? Poppy doesn’t talk about the grandest of their adventures, she describes the details on how best friend Layla came into her wealth and has such a nice chauffeur. This is not to say emotional sections don’t appear in the book — this is to say that they are much too far and far between.

Unsurprisingly, I did not connect with a lot of the book at the beginning. I pushed myself through the first thirty percent with a lot of confusion tingeing my reading. Poppy experiences vivid dreams — dreams so vivid that she can’t tell she’s sleeping when they happen. Just like Poppy, the reader is shocked to find out events never happened later on in the story. I liked this concept, but will admit it wasn’t a complete win for me because I was already so distanced from the characters. Shocking twists like, “Wait, we never spoke!” would normally have me gasping in shock. But since even Poppy didn’t seem too upset (yes, she tells her therapist, yes she adjusts her medication, but her internal monologue remains calm and detached) I struggled to invest myself.

Later on in the book, Poppy begins to date a character defined as “suspicious” not only by the police but by herself, her friends, and her mother. This entire relationship remains uncomfortable and odd to me, and I kept waiting for some kind of plot twist that never happened.

The story’s ending was interesting. Some points didn’t make sense but I’ll accept this one.

One thing Unger does really well? She’s comfortable at recognizing different identities in her writing. For example, at one point Poppy casually inquires about her assistant’s dating life (they’re friends, it’s not a totally out of the blue question) — without assuming that her male assistant would be dating a woman.

This book will receive two stars from me. The mystery element was thought out. There were innovative aspects in this writing, including Poppy’s hallucinations, Layla’s home life, and the looks into marriage lifestyles (and how that affects the people involved). But the writing style fell flat and ended up bringing the rest of the piece down with it.

Posting review on Goodreads: October 2 2018 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2495932638)
Posting review on blog: October 2 2018 (https://bookprincessreviews.wordpress.com/)

Thank you #NetGalley and #LisaUnger for my ARC!! I absolutely LOVE Lisa Unger, but was a little leery going into this one as I had read some other reviews, but I really enjoyed this book!! Admittedly not as fast moving as some of her others, it is still an extremely enjoyable and twisty read! The first half is a little confusing as far as what is real and what are memories, but it does all come together in the second half! I recommend this book!!