I’m a big Mary Kubica fan. This book was engrossing and had an ending that I did not expect at all, but it was quite satisfying. I was rooting for Jessie the whole time I was reading and felt so much for her mother, Eden. I will be recommending this book.

Well the ending was the twist to end all twists. I think I liked it. Still thinking about how to process the information. The book was so well written and incredibly engaging. You think it will end one way and it doesn’t at all. The very definition of a psychological thriller. And a happy ending too. Well, kind of. A big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC. A truly enjoyable read.

3.5 stars

When The Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Harlequin – Hanover Trade Press, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis:
This book is the story of two women, bound by love....and a secret identity.

Jessie, a young girl whose mother is dying of cancer, realizes there is so much she doesn’t know. If her mom dies, she will be alone in the world. It was always just her and her mom, who always refused to talk about Jessie’s father. As her mother lays in her hospital bed, Jessie, with the help of some drugs from the doctor, finally falls asleep. When she awakes to find she slept through her mother’s death, she vows never to take another drug. But she is suffering from insomnia. With the chaos that follows her mother’s death, Jessie tries to “find herself” as her mom wanted. She found a place to live, but when she tries to enroll in college, she finds that her social insurance number belongs to a child who died at the age of 3….with Jessie’s name. As the insomnia starts to affect her body and her mind, Jessie starts to spiral out of control, seeing her father at every turn, and wondering about the dead child with her name. Reality and hallucinations blur.

20 years earlier, Eden was a young woman who desperately wanted a child. After thousands of dollars spent in trying to get pregnant with no results, her mind starts to go in different directions. She starts spending her days outside a ballet studio, watching one particular little girl who she feels is being neglected. She also starts working at a hospital, where she has access to the nursery ward. Eden’s husband, Aaron, starts to worry about her obsession, and tries to keep her stable, but Eden is out of control. Eventually even Eden starts to question herself, but by then….it’s too late.

My Opinions:
The story is told from both Jessie’s perspective and Eden’s, and although the reader knows how the two connect, there is always something else happening, so that when the expected conclusion finally arrives, there has been so much suspense, you have to take a deep breath. The stories intertwine beautifully.

The writing was superb, and the story-line was great. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, the characters, the plot….until the end…which, although I will not spoil it….I hated. I thought it was a cop-out. It's like the author got bored, and came up with a quick solution.  It was a 5 star book until then, and now I can't even give it a 4 star review. I am so disappointed.

Jessie Sloane sits by her dying mother's bedside and wonders how she will go on without her mom. One of her mom's last wishes is for Jessie to find herself, so Jessie sets out to do so for her mom's sake, but finds unexpected obstacles in getting on with her life.

I have read Mary Kubica's previous books and was excited to read this one. The description made it sound like the same type of thriller as her other books, but it was very different. It starts out in the same manner and I became hooked on the alternating stories of Jessie and of newly married Eden and her husband Aaron who are ready to start a family. Jessie is a sympathetic character and Eden and Aaron's problems were realistic and interesting to read.

Unfortunately, the ending was one of the biggest letdowns I've experienced in a recent thriller. I love being surprised by a clever plot twist and figured one was coming since some things about Jessie's narrative seemed a bit off. Without spoiling anything for other readers, I will just say that instead of a twist in the story, the whole story was a twist. Afterwards, I felt tricked for investing so much in what was happening throughout the book. I was left disappointed instead of entertained. Even though I didn't care for the direction the story takes, the book is well-written which is why I've given it 3-stars. I won't give up on Kubica in the future, but this is my least favorite of her books.

I received this book from NetGalley through the courtesy of Harlequin/Hanover Square Press. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Huge fan of her books, and this one did not disappoint. Definitely kept me on the edge of my seat with each turn of the page! I read it in 24 hours, and didn't want it to end. A must read!

This book left me saying “huh?” and not necessarily in a good way. I’ve loved the author’s other books, so I had really high hopes for this one. It started out okay, and the plot was intriguing at first. The more I read, though, the more I felt that things just kind of wandered. At various times it was a gothic mystery, a mistaken identity thriller, a self-searching introspective analysis...all in all, it just didn’t know what it wanted to be. In finishing, I realize why the author wrote it that way, but there wasn’t enough to tie it all together. As for the characters, other people with different life experiences may be able to fully relate to Eden and her troubles, but the long chapters of her describing her anguish did nothing for me. I did relate to Jessie a little bit more, especially at the beginning, but ultimately neither one really caught me up in their story. And the ending? I had to reread it 3 times to try to understand what had happened. It reminded me of a few TV shows that had similar finales, and I didn’t care much for those endings either. A good psych thriller should make a reader say, “Whoa, I had no idea!” not “Wait, wth just happened?” There was enough to make this an okay book, but nowhere near as good as her others. Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin-Hanover Square Press, and the author for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a three stars rounded up. I’m having a hard time writing this review because NOTHING HAPPENS IN THIS BOOK. It is full of internal monologue from two different characters during two different timelines. When the Lights Go Out is the epitome of a slow burn, and that just doesn’t sit well with me. When you’re writing this genre, something has to happen to keep the book moving. The event in this book is not believable in the least bit and I actually found myself yelling “WTF?!” out loud.


Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the chance to read this. All thoughts are my own.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT
By Mary Kubica

Thank you to Net Galley, Mary Kubica and Harlequin Publishing for providing me with my digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was very excited to receive this book as I loved Mary Kubica's first and third books. I am not quite sure if she is experimenting with a new writing style on this one. I was disappointed with this one as it is formatted very confusingly with Eden's time line jumping all over the place. Eden was the more likable character for me, but both Eden and Jessica droned on for way too long making this a challenge to keep reading. I am in the minority of other reviewer's who stated they didn't like the ending. For me the ending was what made this a beautiful story. It could have been much better if Eden and Jessica didn't bog the story down with excessive narratives.

Eden and Aaron move into a house on a lake. They are blissfully in love but it does not last. When failing to have a baby the traditional way fails they get deep in debt paying for a fertility specialist. When Eden miscarries after undergoing IVF Aaron says that he is done. I really could feel Eden's pain and heartbreak at every turn when she is so totally obsessed with having a baby. The author fooled me in how she acquired Jessica which was one of the reasons I loved the ending of this book. The only clarity the reader gains is at the very end of this book. Jessica is paranoid, hallucinates, sees and hears things that aren't there to the point of ad nausiam.

Jessica and Eden are all they both know as a family. Eden has died of cancer without ever telling Jessica who her father is. Jessica is told by Eden "to go out and find who you are." Jessica starts to question her identity when she is told by the college admissions that her name and social security number belong to a dead three year old girl who was killed by a hit and run driver. I began to question how far Eden would go to get her baby.
Jessica is an unreliable narrator who goes eight days without sleeping. The only things that she does or says that make sense is when she doesn't have a social security card or driver's license and is turned away at the Social Security office for lack of proof of her identity. Also when she tries to obtain a certified birth certificate and can't fill out the application for lack of information. The part where she meets Liam was lovely but short lived. She just goes on and on too much about following a man with an orange hat. This really bogs down the book and makes me frustrated. I had to put the book down several times.

The ending did make for a beautiful story and finally things I had been reading in the entire book converged and made sense. I was so thrilled that Eden and Aaron still loved each other. I was more happy to see that Eden gave birth to Jessica instead of her getting her the way the book implied. For these reasons I bump up my rating to 3.5 stars instead of three. Mary Kubica is capable of beautiful writing and changing genres. This was different, but the ending made me grateful to have read it.

When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica

September 2018
Fiction, mystery, suspense

I received this digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review from NetGalley and Harlequin/Hanover Square Press.

This story started strong but then took a wrong turn somewhere and was unable to find its way back. Jessie Sloane has spent the past 2 years caring for her mother, Eden, dying from cancer. All Jessie has ever known is life with her mother who refused to disclose any information about her father. With her mother dying Jess fears life alone with no other family. She stops taking care of herself and becomes so sleep deprived that she begins to hallucinate. Soon, she doesn’t know what fact and what’s fiction.

The story alternates between Jessie in the present dealing with the aftermath of her mother’s death and Eden about 20 years prior happily married but distraught over her infertility. Both mother and daughter are unreliable narrators who both seem to suffer from the same mental instabilities.

In the end, I was confused and disappointed. I thought maybe I was missing the rest of the book. I enjoy books with unexpected twists and turns but this was just one wrong turn that led nowhere. Since I like this author I was really hoping to enjoy this book which is why I gave 2 stars instead of 1. Unfortunately, I found this not to be one of her best works.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. My reviews can be found on my GoodReads page at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly.

Although I am a fan of Mary Kubica's other books, this was not my favorite. While the premise was good, a young woman seeking to find her true parentage after her mother' s death, I was disappointed in the execution. The plot veered all over the place, throwing up too many red herrings. At the revelation, I felt let down, as if the author came up with a ending that didn't match what had happened throughout the book. I felt cheated in a way and I hope the author returns to her usual form next time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start out by saying I have never read this author before but have heard SO much good about her books. When I saw this up on NetGalley I immediately though this is my chance to see what all the fuss is about! Now I'm not really sold on this author at all. I admit that this one is a DNF for me at about 40%. I HATE to DNF a book and really hate to DNF an ARC, HOWEVER, if I am truly miserable reading a book I am not going to force myself to continue on just for the sake of getting to the end. I had already heard many spoilery comments about how it ends and that really did help make the decision for me because honestly if it's true what I heard then I would probably only give this book a 1 star if I completed it.

Simply put I was bored. I didn't care for the characters at all and found it all a bit confusing in the beginning. It was admittedly a very tough topic for me since I lost my own mother a year and a half ago and was her caregiver. That brought up a whole lot of not so nice memories but I forged on because I don't let that interfere with a story if anything it usually connects me more to the characters. Then I just couldn't I found that I was coming up with anything to do to avoid sitting and reading and that's not a good sign. So there we go I'm a quitter. Sorry not sorry. I just couldn't go on with this one anymore and not so sure I will choose to pick up anymore by this author either.

When the Lights Go Out was definitely unexpected. Mary Kubica delivered an excellent psychological thriller that kept me engaged until the end. Jessie's hysteria is overwhelming and her journey to discover who she is, had me personally second guessing my opinions through the entirety of the novel. Her mother’s decisions throughout both her and Jessie’s lives had significant implications, specifically on Jessie as an adult. I would say, without spoiling the ending, that some of Jessie’s mother’s choices in raising Jessie felt a bit over the top and unnecessary. It felt like a bit of a reach to engage in some of those behaviors given the ending, but I still appreciated the overall story line and understand why that was served up in the beginning.

Wow! I am searching for words...this book really grabbed me in so many levels. I can't express enough how deeply moving I found the relationship between mother and daughter and the pain the mother went through in her own personal life. The author was so good expressing the pain in both characters, both mother and daughter, I felt it myself! This is what I love in books...when I'm pulled in so much that I'm sharing the same experiences as the characters. Mary Kubica writes so well that you feel that you are right there as the mother, also as the daughter experiencing all the pain and drama they are going through. AMAZING story and amazing ending. DEFINATELY READ THIS ONE

In a word...PHENOMENAL. Couldn't put it down. Great characters and a twist at the end that I never saw coming. BRAVO!

I finished this a week ago and couldn't rate it. I felt like I must have missed something because the ending was such a let down. After reading through some other reviews, I am not alone. This book has I high probability of causing a reading hangover/reading slump. I would not recommend this book if you are new to the genre. I would only recommend this book if you are a fan of thrillers and just want to see what the ending actually was. Also is you are a fan of Mary Kubica.

I enjoyed the book outside of the ending and would have given it a 3 or 4 star rating if the ending was different. I was shocked by some of the surprises and twist. I was very intrigued and emotional involved in the story but the ending was not what I was expecting and it really let me down.

OMG, this book, this ending. I was totally hooked by this book from page 1 and could not put it down. I thought I had it figured out several times but I was wrong every time. The book switches back and forth from Eden and Aaron, a young couple who are trying to have a baby to Jessica, a young girl whose mother is dying of cancer. Lots of twists and turns with an ending you will never see coming. If you love thrillers, this is for you and I highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of Kubicka's books, and though this one wasn't my favorite, there were a lot of things I enjoyed about this book! The writing was excellent and kept me engaged, the story was gripping and hard to put down, and I really appreciated the author's accurate portrayal of grief while describing Jessie's feelings regarding losing her mother. I didn't love the ending--but the author definitely wrote a page turner I couldn't put down!

Mary Kubica is a go-to author of mine for a smoldering, slow-burning fix. I can rely on her storytelling to be emotive and easy to fall into. When the Lights Go Out has a rather controversial ending! Read on to see how I felt about it (without spoilers, of course!).

When the Lights Go Out is told in alternating timelines: Jessie in the present day and Eden in 1996.

Eden desperately wants to be a mother. Her narrative is focused on that side of things. Jesse, Eden’s daughter, in the present time is struggling with caring for her mother and in the aftermath of her loss, as Eden has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and is nearing the end of her life.

After years of caretaking for her mother, Jessie is faced with rebuilding her life. On a leap of faith, she applies to college but quickly discovers there might be a problem with her registration due to identity. What does this mean for Jessie? The mystery of figuring out just who she is takes her down an unbidden path. She is extremely fatigued and overwhelmed with insomnia, and it is affecting every aspect of her life while she also tries to figure out who she is. The lines between truth and fiction become blurred, and the fact that Jessie’s judgment is unclear makes it even harder for her to see straight.

I quickly came to know Eden and Jessie because Kubica’s character-building is on point, and not only did I know them, I empathized with each of them and truly felt emotional about the issues they were individually facing.

As for that ending, I did not see it coming. Even with all of the reviews I had read, I never expected that. And I have to say, in all the thrillers I’ve read, I’ve never witnessed that before, so it was completely original. I was so shocked, I remember gasping out loud. I think that fit with the storyline, though it was a big risk.

Overall, I found When the Lights Go Out to be another page-turning suspense novel from Mary Kubica, more on the domestic suspense side than thriller. It is well-written, slow-burning, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that ending.

Thank you go Harlequin/Park Row for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I found this book to be an emotional rollercoaster with 2 narrators, Jessie in the present and Eden from 20 years ago. Jessie is getting on with her life after her mother's death by registering for college but soon finds out that her Social Security Number is registered as a deceased person. Eden and her husband, Adrian, are trying to have a baby but nothing is working. Mary Kubica allows us to feel these characters emotions and frustrations as she tells a heart wrenching story which is sure to pull at your heartstrings. The characters are well-drawn and very believable. I read this book in one day as I was not able to set it aside. The ending had me in tears and had a few twists that I didn't see coming. This is the first book of Kubica's that I have read but it won't be my last as I really like her writing and unpredictable ending. I would highly recommend this book to those who like psychological thrillers. I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin for an early copy for an honest review.