i thought this was a very interesting book. It's actually a little weird but reading it reminded me of days when i had had trouble sleeping and the world feels a little off kilter and it actually played out very nicely I thought. Several plot twists before the end. I've found myself thinking about the story since i finished it and I believe that is always a sign of a great book!

I received an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. :-)

Holy Moly!! This book was intense! Had me at the edge of my seat!! Word of advice: "Don't read at night!" Great Book!

I am a huge fan of Mary Kubica! When the Lights Go Out is a twisty, what the heck is going on type of book! I was pulled in from the first page and loved reading the story from the viewpoints of Jessie and her mother, Eden. I didn't see the ending coming!

When the Lights Go Out is a captivating suspense novel by Mary Kubica, written from the alternating perspectives of two young women: Jessie, a teenage girl trudging through the pain and sorrow of her mother’s impending last breath, and Eden, a woman desperate for a child but struggling to conceive.

For Jessie Sloane, life has always been about her and her mother. There has been no one else–no true friends, no father, no life outside of the one she has with her mom. So, when her mother is diagnosed with cancer and rapidly begins to deteriorate, her world crumbles in on itself. She no longer sleeps, and can barely bring herself to eat. She has no other friends or family members on whom she can depend; she is forced to navigate the murky waters of life after her mother’s death all on her own. In addition to this suffering, Jessie discovers things about herself that make her question herself and her mother, whom she has trusted implicitly her whole life. Now she is forced to cope with the demise not just of her one and only living family member, but also of the person she grew up thinking she was.

Eden, on the other hand, has a perfect life. The perfect husband, a beautiful home where she and her husband can watch the sailboats pass by under the glow of the setting sun. However, there is just one thing missing–a child. And the more time that passes for Eden without a child, the more desperate for one she becomes. Soon, conceiving a child is her sole purpose–one that could destroy everything she has worked for. One that could send her perfect world spiraling out of control.

When the Lights Go Out is a beautifully-crafted story, both heart-wrenching and suspenseful; moving and tense. The story is fast-paced and exciting, with characters that are extremely honest and express such raw emotion, it’s difficult not to establish a connection with them. It’s impossible not to feel both Jessica and Eden’s pain. To grieve with them, and rejoice with them. Their anguish and desperation in their individual yet inextricably intertwined situations are abundant and powerful.

The results of Jessica’s insomnia, in addition to the secrets she begins to uncover about her own identity or lack thereof, invoke a deep sense of paranoia and foreboding that made me desperate for answers. More and more questions arise with each passing day, sending Jessica spiraling further down into the depths of confusion and despair. Eden’s struggle to make a family and the toll it takes on her relationships is truly painful to read.

When the Lights Go Out is a fascinating read, not only because it is an excellent psychological thriller, but also because it is a uniquely human story about the types of people we become when we are overwhelmed by grief and desperation. Grief can destroy us and turn us into people we can’t begin to recognize, and we ourselves are the only ones capable of determining whether we triumph and overcome that grief, or we let the weight of it crush us completely.

Well, she did it again. Mary Kubica has written a thriller so addicting I couldn’t read it fast enough. I guess you could call me a Kubica "completist" since I've read everything she has written. Her books are in the thriller genre, which is my go-to, but they are unique in the way she writes. The women in her stories are developed so completely that you feel what they're feeling and become emotionally invested in their situations. Typically, psychological thrillers are very dark and creepy and very much plot-driven. Kubica's thrillers are that and more; she takes a girl in a traumatic situation and really delves into the character's inner feelings. I would feel comfortable recommending her books to my non-thrillseeking friends who enjoy general women's fiction.

In her latest release, Kubica wrote an addictive, yet hypnotic story about a mother and her daughter. It is told in alternating timelines with each of the characters taking a lead role. It starts in present day with the daughter, Jessie, dealing with the death of her mother after taking care of her for several years. Once her mother dies, she finds herself alone and with no real plans for her life. She enrolls in community college and discovers her social security number is that of a deceased child. Then we begin the suspenseful journey of her trying to find out the truth. The chapters alternate back to 1996 when her mother was newly married and struggling with infertility. More suspense is introduced as she becomes obsessed with having a child. So many themes to unpack here: cancer, death, grief, marital issues, in-vitro, parenting while single, and the list goes on.

When I say she builds suspense throughout the book, I'm not joking. I was actually concerned halfway in when the plot was still being developed. I worried that it was going to be anti-climactic. I was wrong. The ending is such a surprise that I had to sit the book down and process it. I am not usually so shaken by a plot twist but this one threw me. Kudos to Mary Kubica for managing to shock a "seasoned" thriller reader. My best advice is to jump in without reading anything about it. Don't risk getting the ending spoiled! It's a biggie.

I gave this 4 stars - I liked it a lot!! The reason I didn't go with all 5 stars was the slow burning plot. While it is definitely still a "thriller," I got frustrated with the length of time it took to get to the thrill!

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. Even after letting it settle overnight before I post this.
For the record, I have a hard time with unreliable narrators. Mostly, because they generally are making self-destructive choices. I’m the person yelling, “Don’t drink more wine!” to Anna Fox and the Girl on the Train.

And that’s what I was doing with Jessie. “Go to sleep already! What is wrong with you?”

After wading through Jessie’s delusions, I felt cheated by the ending. I wanted more lucidity and a better explanation regarding past decisions. BUT, the book did keep me turning the pages and was well-written.

So, even though it says four stars, I’d say it was between 3.5-3.75 stars. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing that I’m still thinking about the story the next day and still conflicted about what I read. A book that makes you think is always a good thing.

I received an ARC of this title. All opinions are my own.

This is the stellar writing that I expect when I pick up a book by Mary Kubica! The characters are well developed and the plot moves along at a great pace. I became invested in Jessie's journey from the first page. This is how psychological thrillers should be written!

I hate to leave a negative review on an ARC however this book was so disappointing. I feel like the author really let the readers down with this one. Readers deserve better than this ending.

When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica is a so-so novel of psychological suspense.

Jessie Sloane's mother, Eden, dies from cancer and now she must try to continue on with her life after spending her teen years, since she was 15, caring for her mom. When the college she has applied to informs her that her social security number belongs to a 3-year-old girl who died 17 years ago, she needs to find her social security card, but can't. Jessie can't even find her birth certificate and she doesn't have any other identification, like a driver's license. Eden never told her the name of her father, so Jessie is running out of options. She is also struggling with insomnia, which is causing hallucinations and paranoia.

Between Jessie's narrative are flashbacks from Eden's past, beginning in 1996. Eden and her husband were newlyweds in 1996 and wanted to start a family. Soon her inability to conceive became an obsession for Eden and led to more expensive medical intervention to assist them. Her obsession becomes increasingly unhealthy and threatens her marriage.

The quality of the writing is great, but the actual plot, not so much. I struggled to get through this novel and kept talking back to the plot/action because it didn't make sense. The ending, which was likely supposed to explain all the things I was upset with in the novel only resulted in pure disgust and reduced my rating to 2 stars. (It is 2 stars because Kubica gets 1 for her writing ability. Great writer; bad plot device.) Saying anything about the extremely disappointing "twist" at the end will ruin the novel for others, but I feel like it was a lazy ending. When the ending technique used here has been tried in other circumstances, it is consistently a hit or miss for people. This was a total miss for me.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Park Row Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/09/when-lights-go-out.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2519976205
https://www.librarything.com/work/21688012/book/160127537
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/1037393710844194817

When the Lights Go Out is the story of a mother desperate for a child, Eden, and a daughter trying to find her identity after her mother's death, Jessie. Eden is married to Aaron, and they struggle with fertility issues. How far will she go have a baby or get a child? Jessie is trying to recover from the loss of her mother and find the father she never knew. Will she succeed before it drives her crazy?

The story is told from two points of view, and in two time periods, the mid 1990's and current day. This worked well keeping the suspense extremely high for most of the book. Eden was my favorite character to read, because the descriptions of the cottage and the lake were beautiful and her musings were somewhat normal. Jessie was erratic and harder to follow, being that she was living on 10 days without sleep. I feel like the ending should of shocked me more than it did, but once it was revealed, the rest of the novel made much more sense. It was definitely a page turner for me, I had to know the ending.

This is the first time I have been disappointed by a book of this author's. It starts out with an intriguing mystery and characters that you become invested in. That's about the only thing about the story I enjoyed. The pacing is slow and I found myself skipping sections to get to more interesting points. You go on this journey with Jessie and go back in time with Eden. These alternate POV's draw you into the mystery and have you wondering how it will tie together. Just when you think you have it figured out the author will throw in a small twist so you keep reading because you just want to know, and you overlook the flaws in the pacing. And then comes the ending. A terrible conclusion to all that build up and I felt like I wasted my time reading this book. I have always enjoyed this author and will give her another try with the next book, but I would recommend skipping this one.

I received an advanced copy of When the Lights Go Out from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First of all I am a huge Mary Kubica fan and I was super excited to receive an early copy of her newest novel When the Lights Go Out. This is the story of Jessie Sloan, a young woman coming to terms with the only person in her life, her mother, dying of cancer. She is not sleeping at all and the stress is weighing on her. She is not sure what she will do when her mother does leave her. As an act of bravery she applies for college but when the enrollment department calls to tell her there is a mix up, the Jessica Sloan with her social is dead. The news spins Jessie out of control trying to discover who she is and where she came from.

The story is suspenseful and dark as we follow Jessie down her sleep deprived rabbit hole. Overall I liked the premise of the story but I had a hard time fully liking the characters and emotionally connecting to them. Kubica is fantastic at twisty endings, and does it again in this one, although for me it was a little anticlimactic. Enjoyable novel for suspense fans.

I love Mary Kubica and have read all of her other books, this one unfortunately was my least favorite.

The good - the writing. Her writing style is really beautiful and made reading this book enjoyable while I didn't love it. The first half was beautifully done. I really enjoyed the different viewpoints and the transitions were smooth and added to the story. As always her characters are well thought out and relatable even when there are some you don't like.

The bad (for me) - the plot twist. It's not that I didn't like the twist, more that I didn't understand it. I don't think it added to the story or made a ton of sense.

I think this book will have two camps of people, those who loved it and those who do not. Enjoyable read for the most part but just not for me. Will still pick up all of her books as I think she is a great writer.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Park Row Books, and Mary Kubica for the opportunity to read her latest thriller. I'm a big fan of Kubica's writing and this one - for the most part - didn't disappoint.

Told in the voices of Eden in 1996 and Jessie in present time, Jessie is struggling to start a new life after the death of her mom and years spent taking care of her. When Jessie tries to enroll in a community college to fulfill her mom's wish that she move on with her life, she finds that her social security number shows her as being deceased. In fact, it shows her as being a deceased 3 year old child. Jessie has horrid insomnia and hasn't slept in days - she starts imagining things and people in her home and on the streets.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, Eden and her husband Aaron are starting their lives with a new home on the lake and are anxious to have children. But Eden struggles with infertility and it's causing a rift in her life and marriage.

I couldn't put this down but I'll admit that the ending was disappointing and had me reeling! Go into this one blind, without reading the reviews (except mine maybe!). Kubica's beautiful writing kept me glued to the pages.

Have you ever read a book where you were loving it and then the ending comes and it sucks and you feel cheated?? That was me reading When the Lights Go Out. I was really liking it, wondering what was going to happen as I was going on a twisty ride and then the ending happened…WTF was that. Seriously?! It was disappointing.

When the Lights Go Out has an unreliable narrator. Jessie has been dependant on her mother and when her mother passes, Jessie is in grief and can’t tell the difference between reality and imaginary. I felt for Jessie, but couldn’t trust her completely even she had no idea what was going on.

I also liked the other perspective of Eden (Jessie’s mother) when she was young, recently married and unable to have a baby. I felt so much for Eden and it was tough reading about her struggles and watching her breakdown.

I’m so torn on my rating because I enjoyed it, except the ending, which was a big slap in the face. I don’t know if I want to recommend this novel to others because I don’t want other readers to share in my disappointment. Of course, you are welcome to read it if you want to know what the ending was!

Wow! Mary Kubica has done an amazing job with writing When the Lights Go Out. This was such a twisty tale that kept me guessing and confused the entire read. Just the kind of stories that I love! Just when I thought I had it figured out what had really happpened, Kubica would twist the storyline so that yet again I was confused. This just made me want to read it all the more. I had to know, who was Jessie and where did she come from? I really enjoyed reading this and I know anyone who likes mystery/thriller type genres will enjoy it also. I want to thank NetGalley and author Mary Kubica for giving me the opportunity to read and enjoy an early reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. It’s truly a great read!

I am at a loss for words on this ending. I don’t know if I liked the end of the book or not. I had several different scenarios playing out in my head and none that were correct. The end threw me but there were plenty of clues peppered throughout that I didn’t pick up on until they all came crashing back to me once I realized what was going on. Seriously 90% in.

This story has alternating time lines with Jessie in the present and her mom, Eden, in the 1990s. Jessie suffers from insomnia after her mother’s death. Her mom’s final wish: Jessie find herself. Jessie finds she doesn’t know who she is and seems to be living a life with a stolen identity. Eden’s past has everything to do with Jessie’s present. This was a great read and will definitely be reading more from Mary Kubica. That ending still has me shaking my head. Well played, Kubica, well played.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for this ARC!

I have really enjoyed Mary Kubica's other books, so I was looking forward to this latest read. I'm afraid to say it wasn't my favorite. It did have twist and turns, but you could easily figure them out. I like books where the past and present come together, but in this book only the past was interesting, the present was just to far-fetched to believe.

As usual, Mary Kubica does not disappoint! I enjoyed this book, as I knew I would. I love everything by this author.

Suffering from severe insomnia and grieving the loss of her mother, Jessie tries to figure out her true identity. Will she find the answers she seeks? Is Jessie even her real name, who is her father, and why did her mom keep his identity a secret? Is her lack of sleep causing the paranoia and hallucinations, or could it be something else?

As always, I enjoyed the author's writing style and the story itself, and had fun trying to guess where it was going. However, I found myself extremely distracted and even somewhat irritated by the insomnia sections and, in turn, the unreliable narrator. By the time I reached the end, I understood why the author wrote it the way she did, and while I found some portions of the end sweet and touching, it fell flat for me overall.

With that being said, I would highly recommend The Good Girl (4 stars) by this author!

Trigger warning: Breast cancer

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Location: Illinois (Albany Park and Chicago)