Very interesting book, good story but quite descriptive. It seemed to drag in places. All and all a good story

Poppy lives in a constant state of confusion and grief. Just a year ago her husband was murdered in Manhattan. She descended into a mental breakdown, disappearing for several days, only to reappear in clothes she didn't even recognize without any memories of the days she was missing. The murder was never solved, and she has never regained the time she lost. Unless the things she sees in nightmares are memories. And now, someone is following her..... What is real? And what is nightmare?

Wow! This book is dark, disturbing, emotional .... just a great psychological thriller. It was a bit confusing in places....but that's all part of the plot. Poppy is confused and afraid, so a bit of confusion on the reader's part just helps build the suspense. The author does a great job of portraying a woman living in a state of fear, confusion and the after-effects of a mental breakdown. She isn't sure what is reality and what is not. She wants to know the truth of what happened and where she was for the time she was missing.....but at the same time, she is afraid of the truth. The whole time I was reading, I was imaging what I would do in the same situation..... Yikes! Quite disturbing! Very, very twisted! I had to take the trash out after dark while I was reading this book. I kept looking over my shoulder as if expected a dark, hooded figure to be lurking somewhere in the dark, watching and following me. I hurried back into the house...and kept reading!!

This is the first book by Lisa Unger that I have read. I have heard so many good things about her books that I was excited to read this one. I'm glad I did -- this book was well-written and extremely engrossing. I got sucked right into the story and just had to know what happened to Poppy and her husband. It quickly turned into a late night reading binge. I'm definitely going to read more by Lisa Unger! She has several other thrillers that sound like awesome reading, including The Sleep Tight Motel and The Whispering Hollows. Looks like there are many creepy nights of reading ahead for me!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Harlequin/Hanover Square Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Everything’s great in Poppy and Jack’s marriage until Jack is murdered during his morning run, in the new thriller, Under My Skin by Lisa Unger. The murder remains unsolved, and Poppy seems to fall apart. Things don’t seem to add up, as Poppy searches for Jack’s killer. It may be that Poppy has gone mad, or the trauma of losing the love of her life has caused a breakdown that she is unaware of. Poppy’s life has become one where things are not as they appear, and the things that happen are a bit surreal.

Unger is an excellent writer, and has a knack for building suspense and keeping readers on the edge. She has developed her characters so that they are unpredictable, yet believable, which keeps readers reading and reluctant to put the book down. As the suspense builds, things happen in the book that aren’t expected, and the twists and turns make it impossible to guess what will happen in the end.

Some of the scenarios are not quite believable, but since this is fiction, Unger has license, and it seems to work well and keep readers interest to the very end. The end, of course is unexpected, and makes it worthwhile to keep reading.

Readers who like very suspenseful thrillers with a bit of the surreal and a good mystery will definitely want to pick up this excellent novel. It will keep them reading and unable to stop until the very end, and most will consider it one of the best books they’ve read this year.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Tons of twists, turns and deception. You never knew what was real and what were dreams. Unfortunately started very slow for me. I would have appreciated Poppy getting her act together sooner in the book. The first half was almost torturous to live through. But once Poppy decided to live rather than sleep, the story really picked up. Grayson and Noah were some of my favorite characters, probably because they were more grounded in reality.

There is, at present time, far too many books that consistently paint the female protagonist as either mentally disturbed or being manipulated so as to appear mentally disturbed and at first glance this is the case with this novel. However, this is a Lisa Unger novel and if one knows Ms. Unger and her exceptional writing (and this reviewer is very familiar with her) then they know this is not the case here.

Our story opens with what is a typical scene played out around the world - a woman on a date who is wondering what she is doing there and looking for flaws. She is self-aware and knows she is looking for flaws to give herself a way out but she can't seem to help it. It is in these moments of character self-awareness that Ms. Unger shows the depth of her skill in writing. She is one of the best creators of conflicted characters that I have come across and all through this book, the characters are so well done that at times, you may want to go back and double check that you read what you actually read to see how you got fooled by a character.

This is an excellent book, I have been hand-selling it at my location as I have her other books. I have a great deal of fondness for well written material and certainly, Ms. Unger's book is that.

Hang on to your seats because you are in for the ride of your life as Poppy is on a journey of recovery after experiencing a nervous breakdown and temporary memory blackout following the beating death of her husband, Jack, that occurred a year ago and had not yet been solved. She suffers from debilitating sleep disturbances and unsettling memories that may or may not be from that elusive black spot. The illicit use of drugs she takes to justify taking off the edge is actually causing bone-crushing fatigue, paranoia, and wobbly, foggy, vague feelings. Read very intentionally as you try to discern if she is dreaming or recalling hidden memories.

This is a very enthralling read and am very impressed by the author's obviously well researched areas of photography, dreams, and consciousness. Highly recommended!

It has been a year since her husband Jack was murdered while on his morning jog in a park in New York, and Poppy Lang is still struggling. Poppy is back to work at the couple’s boutique photography agency, but she has been downing pills and booze and is haunted by hallucinations and nightmares. There is a reoccurring vision of a hooded man that could be related to Jack’s murder and a mystery woman named Elena who is someone connected to Jack. Poppy's best friend Layla and dogged NYPD detective Grayson have doubts about Poppy's mental state. As Poppy continues her search for the truth behind Jack's murder, she ends up uncovers plenty of lies and secrets that end up questioning her own key relationships and endangering her life. The plot was at times complicated, confusing but ultimately it was a thrilling read.

I received an eARC via Netgalley and Harlequin - Hanover Square Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

Hypnagogia - the state between sleep and consciousness. Twilight. When you‘re dreaming...yet somewhat awake.

Poppy is a recent widow. Last year she lost her husband to a violent death. Her life since has been a series of breakdowns and desperate attempts at crawling back to a life she no longer recognizes.

The police have no clues why her husband Jack was targeted and killed. To make matters worse, she now has the feeling there’s a hooded figure following her. Is she also in danger? Or was Jack's death simply nothing more than a random mugging gone wrong?

Poppy’s reality is mixed with her chemically induced dreams. Is she sleeping or awake? What’s real and what’s not? And of course...who can she trust?

Lisa Unger has been one of my go-to authors for years. She never disappoints! And wow did she just deliver another little gem! I was as caught up in the dreams vs reality as much as Poppy was! Questioning everything and of course, everyone! It’s fast and furious! Word of advice: you’ll need to stay focused and pay attention or you’ll be left behind in one of the dream states!

The ending was perfect! I had certain parts figured out, while others came as a complete surprise! Nothing suddenly out of left field!
Already looking forward to the next Lisa Unger release!

A buddy read with Susanne!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin- Hanover Square Press and Lisa Unger for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Poppy Lang can’t escape the anguish enveloping her. The sudden death of her husband, Jack, murdered during an early morning run, leaves Poppy in a fragile state, struggling to recover from a nervous breakdown. Her memory’s a black hole of somnolence and forgotten days, she’s consumed by strange dreams and tormented by inexplicable fleeting images.

And now someone is following her.

Is it paranoia, born of an exorbitant amount of pills and far too much liquor, or is Poppy’s life truly in danger? Can she find a way to distinguish between reality and imagination? Can she move past the tragic loss of her husband and put her life together again?

After far too many episodes of pills and booze, the missing pieces of Poppy’s days following her husband’s murder slowly unfold. She’s “stuck” at all the “what-if” scenarios she can conjure up; they form the obsession that she cannot relinquish.

The characters are well-drawn; the writing, first-rate. As Poppy struggles to define what is real and what is imaginary, readers wrestle with the same dilemma.

But the time Poppy spends inhaling pills and liquor feels as if it takes up too much space in the telling of the tale. As a result, the narrative tends to drag as readers muddle through these episodes and it becomes more and more difficult for them to continue to empathize with the grieving widow.

The pace . . . and the tension . . . ramp up significantly in the second part of the story. Astute readers may identify the murderer before the big reveal, but there are enough twists and turns here to keep those pages turning rapidly. Overall, this is a solid story and readers are likely to be pleased with the resolution.

I received an e-copy of this book from Harlequin-Hanover Square Press/Park Row and NetGalley.
#UnderMySkin #NetGalley

You know when you’re falling asleep and you feel like you’re falling and jerk awake? "The state is called hypnogogia, the transitional phase between sleep and wakefulness, or wakefulness and sleep." Is Poppy hallucinating or dreaming? Or Is she remembering?
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If I had a more open mind going in, I would have enjoyed this book even more. I found myself getting tired of my main female characters drinking and taking pills and in turn, being just another unreliable narrator. It took me a couple tries to get into this story. However, towards the end of Part 1 and until the end of the book, I was hooked. I loved the ending! It’s not my favorite Unger book that I’ve read, but I do think it’s worth a shot!
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Under My Skin" really did get under my skin. From the first page till just about the very last 10 pages, this story took me on a psychological and mental ride. Just when you think you've unraveled one piece of the mystery, four more pop up in its place - a never-ending tangled web of "what's going on?" and "what really happened!?"

This one took me a while to read because of the amount of information that I was required to process. I didn't want to miss any clues and although I feel like I was pretty accurate with my prediction of what happened, there were still pieces of it, most particularly the dream sequences, that had me scratching my head in confusion and thinking to myself, "what did I miss?".

I really enjoyed this!!

This is the second book that I read from this author. I read Ink and Bone and reviewed it on my blog. I enjoyed this new thriller but thought it was a bit too long. I had a hard time getting into the story but was compelled to finish it to see how it ended. I wish there were more realistic, thrilling moments in this book and not just at the end.
I don’t want to say too much about this book as it is a thriller and the best way to go into them is blindly.

Review: UNDER MY SKIN by Lisa Unger.
Good storyline. I thought I had this one figured out but was wrong. I did think at times it was a bit unrealistic and too wordy. The story seemed to go on forever.⭐⭐⭐Three stars.

While I enjoyed Under My Skin, it wasn't a 5 star read for me. It was filled with ups and downs and lots of suspense, but after a while all the spacing out and flashbacks started to bother me.

I enjoy books by Lisa Unger and was excited to read this one, but it dragged during the multitude of flashbacks and soon I found myself skimming those parts.

I will continue to read Lisa Unger's work, I just wouldn't recommend this one as highly as I usually do her work.

This book grabs a hold of you from the very start and doesn’t let go.. I enjoyed the style of writing and the character development was incredible. I can’t ssy more without giving away the story. Go read it. You won’t be disappointed.

This was a unique and emotionally gripping thriller. I loved the author's exploration of memory, dreams, and consciousness. It was out there and twisty, yet realistic as well.

Talk about a book that will make your head spin!! I will admit for the first bit I was slightly confused but I think that’s mostly due to the fact the Unger is such a fantastic writer that she just drew me into the tangled web that is Poppy’s life so wholly. Once I caught on I was utterly hooked, and found myself totally caught up and invested in this one.

I haven’t so strongly felt a characters paranoia and unease since The Woman in the Window, I had similar feelings while reading this especially as I could not for the life of me figure out if Poppy was insane or not. She teeters back and forth between seeming mostly sane and then she goes off the rails, she has crazy dreams and has problems separating her dreams from what’s actually happening and I couldn’t begin to figure out what was actually going on and what was part of her delusion. Add in a penchant for popping pills and she was one hot mess but she was sympathetic. She’s deep in the throes of grief and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her even if her decision making skills were severely lacking.

This was just really well executed overall, the writing is top notch and the plot itself was gripping as well. Poppy was extremely well developed and highly complex, love her or hate her she was endlessly fascinating and I couldn’t wait to see how things would play out for her. Fans of Unger will be pleased and new readers will be happy to discover a talented new author.

Under My Skin in three words: Wild, Unnerving and Unreliable.

Lisa Unger’s latest, Under My Skin (Park Row Books, 2018), is dark, deep, and full of desperation. Poppy Lang has come unglued. In the year since her husband was murdered while on his morning run she has vacillated between guilt (for staying in and letting him run alone), grief (he’s ever-present in her life, still), and periods of blackout, paranoia, and hallucination. In short, she’s a total mess.
On top of all that, someone is stalking her. She thinks. The tall man with a hood is ephemeral, much like her dreams and wakeful visions of Jack. Is he really there? She thinks so, but the detective assigned to investigate Jack’s murder isn’t so sure. Neither is her best friend or her therapist. He first appeared to her in the time immediately after Jack’s funeral, the time she can’t remember or account for, except in stray snatches of flashback. Did I mention that she’s a mess?
Unger’s tale is that of a tortured soul who is wrestling with both her ghosts and her sanity. After a year she still finds herself running to the controlling arms of her best friend all too frequently, and ingesting a mixture of pills from her friend’s stash along with those prescribed by her therapist. Adding alcohol is always a bad idea, but unconsciousness is preferential to mental anguish.
It’s difficult to imagine that Unger could create Poppy from thin air. Most would have had to experience the fractured inner world related in first person by Poppy to be able to share it in print, but Lisa pulls it off in stellar fashion. It’s my first experience with this writer, but certainly not my last. I especially enjoyed the introspective nuggets buried here and there: “Grief can be so myopic. You forget about what other people have lost.” And about her and Jack: “How well do we really ever know each other?”

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger is a highly recommended psychological thriller.

Poppy's husband Jack was murdered a year ago during a morning run in Manhattan’s Riverside Park and she is still grieving. The case is still open; Jack's killer hasn't been found. Poppy is also wondering what exactly happened to her after his death. She was missing for days and can't recall what happened to her. All she knows is that she showed up at her best friend's house, disoriented, wearing a tight red dress she didn't recognize. She was hospitalized after this nervous breakdown. Jack's murder still haunts her, as well as the missing days. Now Poppy feels like someone wearing a hoodie is following her, watching her. The thing is, she's abusing prescription drugs and drinking too much. She's having nightmares and blackouts. She's imagining things while awake. Is Poppy imagining her stalker?

This is one of those thrillers that is disorienting and disconcerting because of Poppy's drug abuse combined with her lack of sleep. She's hallucinating, dreaming, while awake. She knows she's drinking too much and mixing alcohol with pills. She's obviously a mess, grieving for her dead husband and seeing a stalker. We also know she was hospitalized for a breakdown. So, the real question is how much of what Poppy thinks is real? She doubts her own judgement. Is she reliable? Can she be trusted?

The character development of Poppy is exceptional. She's a fully realized character, but also, obviously, unreliable and struggling. You will want to support Poppy in her attempt to find out who murdered Jack and figure out if she is hallucinating, if someone is following her, and if her subconscious is trying to tell her what is going on.

The writing is excellent, but the actual unfolding of the plot happened a little slowly for me. Poppy's ruminations about her life with Jack, the man following her, her drinking, her pills, and her nightmares, etc, become a bit repetitious. While it does establish that Poppy is an unreliable narrator, it moves a tad bit too slowly to new revelations. The ending is very fast paced and dynamic, which kind of makes up for the bulk of the middle. I liked this quite a bit, but I have liked other novels by Unger better. Even so, it is a very good novel, just not one of my favorites.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Park Row Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/10/under-my-skin.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2558048112
https://www.librarything.com/work/21404705/reviews/161285161
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/1050107967629127681

This book was a tough read. After Poppy's husband Jack was murdered and the case remains unsolved, Poppy's life spirals out of control. They didn't have the perfect marriage, but she still feels a lot of guilt about what happened to Jack. She has help from her best friend Layla, her therapist, as well as Detective Grayson that continues to try to solve Jack's murder.

The story is told from a hybrid of present day, nightmares, daydreams, and memories of Poppy's past, and it's really hard to tell the difference -- for the reader and for Poppy. It may be an easier read if you read it straight through, but if you can't and pick it up in bits and pieces it's difficult to tell what is really happening (present) and what is a memory or dream.

Although by the end, we do end up finding out what happened to Jack, there just seemed to be something missing for me.