2.5/5 stars

I have read an enjoyed a few other books by this author. So I was very excited to read this new book. I love a good psychological thriller. But the ending completely ruined this book for me.

This book has two narrators: Jessie and Eden. Jessie is college age. Her story is set in the present. Her story is connected to Eden's story from the past.

The prologue made me super anxious. And I honestly had no idea what was happening. The rest of the book was interesting enough that I wanted to try to figure out what was going on.

I really liked Liam. But it was sort of driving me crazy that Jessie was not sleeping.

In this book we go back and forth between Jessie's story and Eden's story. I knew right away who Eden was. And there was a bit of a mystery trying to figure out who Jessie was and what Eden did.

To me the end is everything. And the end of this book is a total letdown. I love a good psychological thriller. I love a good twist. But this did not work for me at all.

I lost sleep reading this book. Pun intended. 3.5 stars

When the Lights Go Out was Mary Kubica’s first for me. I’ve heard such great things about her other books and I was thrilled when I got the chance to read her latest. The book had me hooked immediately. I was invested in the character’s heartaches, I could feel what they were feeling. Kubica was definitely amping up to something huge, I could feel it in my bones.

Lights had suspense with every turn of the page (or swipe of the screen?). Jessie is reeling and Eden is falling and this mother/daughter storyline has you so wrapped up, you don’t know what is true or who is real. It’s funny what lack of sleep can do to a brain.

Without giving anything away, I will simply say the ending is not what I expected. I feel it will probably piss some off, while others may laugh and say, “Ha, damn. She got me good”. Which one will you be?

I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine alone

This pains me to write this, because I am a huge Mary Kubica fan. But, this book did not work for me at all. The book was super slow burn but I figured it would pay off in an amazing ending like some of her other books have, but this ending made me so angry. That twist at the end…ugh! Still love Mary Kubica and will definitely read her next book, but really didn’t love this one.

* ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Oh sigh. I hate to say this but I was sucked into this novel, went down the rabbit hole, and then- POOF- the twist at the end was just not what I wanted or expected. Jessie has just lost her mom, Eden, and finds that she might not be who she always thought she was. Jessie becomes a really, really unreliable narrator but her story alternates with Eden's. It is well written and fast paced (at least for me) but I was ultimately disappointed. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I've liked Kubica's other books and will definitely look for her in the future but this one.....

I'm really conflicted on how I feel about this novel.
Obviously, I liked it enough to finish it. I really did want to see what happens. However, the constant, I hadn't slept in 3 days, I having slept in 4 days ECT, got a little bit obnoxious. I kept thinking, ok I get it you're tired, you're so damn tired. But on and on it went thru out the whole book.
Of course you get to know why, but still half the book was about Jessie being so tired. The story about Eden was better. I enjoyed reading it much more so than Jessies, as nothing really happens with Jessie, except she is tired and avoiding sleep.
Edens story and obsession with having a child is probably something other woman in her situation might feel. Her character was pretty believable, and I think the book could've been better if it was soley about Eden and her journey.
The other thing that bothered me was the description of pictures taken in the 90's. The way the author made it seem like it was in the 1950's instead, like it was ancient and so old. It was like, hmmm yeah pictures might not of been as crisp as they are now, but it wasn't as bad as it was back in the day. It made it seem like the Eden and Aaron were from another era. Which seemed off to me.
Other than that it was ok, it does make you think and try and guess the outcome and has a small twist.

Thank you to NetGalley, Park Row and Mary Kubica for an ARC ebook copy for review. As always, an honest review form me.

Oh my goodness! Mary Kubica hits it out of the park again with this fantastic slow burn of a suspense novel. I thought I knew what was happening with a few possible endings, but she got me again. I didn't see that ending coming and I loved it!

Most of the book is a slow burn with small clues sprinkled about here and there. Just enough to make me think I've got it all figured out. I read with horror and excitement and then bam! The rug was pulled out from underneath me, but I landed on my feet. I loved the progressively more unsettling feeling the main character and us readers felt.

However the ending, as great as it was in terms of suspense, also left me feeling slightly disappointed. I wanted more. More what? I don't know exactly.

When the Lights Go Out is one heck of a thrilling ride. I know to expect the unexpected with Mary Kubica but I still did not see that coming. Got me again!

This was a long drawn out story. It was very confusing going from one person to the other, sometimes I had to go back a few pages to find who I was reading about at that time. At times a I didn't know if events were a dream or real. It was just a tangled up story.

I’ve quickly become a Kubica fan as I’ve read more and more of her books. With that said, I didn’t feel like this one suited me.

The book opens with Jessie’s mom, who has been battling cancer, dying. Jessie has been unable to sleep, and the one time she did, her mom died without her. From there, Jessie has to try to pick up the pieces of her grief and move on. When she gets a call from her college letting her know that her social security number is tied to someone on the death registry, Jessie sets out to try to learn more about the person she is.

Interspersed with Jessie’s story are passages about her mom, Eden, from before Jessie was born. They tell a story of a woman who is so desperate to have a baby that she goes into debt, sabotages her marriage, and even entertains the idea of kidnapping someone else’s child. Slowly, her story reveals the truth of Jessie’s origins.

The novel has Kubica’s trademark twist ending, but it wasn’t one that I loved. Jessie’s insomnia makes her a narrator who becomes increasingly unreliable, to the point where some of her passages were almost impossible to read. I recognize that this is down to Kubica illustrating the effects of insomnia, but it was a style that didn’t work for me. Those passages didn’t hold my attention as much as the Eden passages, and even Eden stars to deteriorate mentally as her baby obsession grows.

Lots of Eden’s tales made me sad, and Jessie’s made me crazy. The book was ok, but it’s not my favorite by this author and not one I see myself reading again.

It's just Jessie and her mom before her mom passes away from cancer and she is left alone. She never knew her dad and she has no other siblings or friends. Her mom's last words are to "go find yourself" so Jessie applies to college but a registration official calls and says her social security number belongs to a dead 3 year old girl, who died 17 years ago. There are 2 timelines in this book, current day with Jessie's POV, and another set in the 90s with Eden. Eden's only goal in life is to get pregnant. The two timelines seem like two completely different stories but as the novel progresses, you'll see the thread that ties them together. In all honesty, I read some of the spoilers online and contemplated aborting the book early on because of the ending. I agreed with a lot of the other reviewers who felt the author took the easy way out in wrapping up the plot. Obviously I'm not going to spoil it for you by detailing it here. I'm glad I continued till the end and was able to make my own judgment though (definitely not a perfect book but still enjoyable). I'm not sure I'd place this book in the psychological thriller genre though which was a bit disappointing since that's my favorite type of novel but it was still a readable choice.

Not what I expected...it was tough enough to get through the wild psychological ride with one of the main characters and then have it turn into that ending? I'm all for a good twist but this was not really for me. This was my first Mary Kubica and still want to read her other works, I just hope the twists aren't laid out like this. 2.5/3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin/Hanover Square Press for the ARC.

I've read all of Mary Kubica's books, so when I was approved for an ARC of When the Lights Go Out, I was pumped!

I wasn't a huge fan of Every Last Lie, but I thought her first three books were phenomenal, and the blurb made this one sound great.

And there were great parts about it. Kubica's writing is always very good, but I did question some of the word choices when Jessie was narrating. As a 17 year old, I would expect her to say whites of her eyes, as opposed to sclera, for example.

The biggest success of the book is the portion told from Eden's point of view. She is easy to empathize with as she transitions from a newlywed with a perfect life to a woman who really struggles through adversity she never saw coming, and then matures for the sake of her daughter.

I thought that using sleep deprivation as a vehicle for an unreliable narrator was unique. I was looking forward to the challenge of sifting through the clues to find out what was reality and what was blurred by sleeplessness. 

The story is fast moving and I was desperate to race through to the end and figure out what was going on. I could not wait to find out how it ended--until I found out how it ended.

To say that I was angry is to understate how I felt. I'm writing this review two full days after I read this book because when I woke up yesterday, I was still truly pissed. Like, I want to give this book zero stars kind of pissed. 

The ending is just disrespectful to the reader. These thriller wait for the twist kind of books should aim to be difficult to figure out, but the reader should be able to at least look back and think, 'Ah, so that was what was going on!'

There was none of that here, given the ending.  

I consider myself a pretty lenient reviewer; I wouldn't actually give a book zero stars. There were good things about the book, so I will give it two stars, but begrudgingly.

When the Lights Go Out is expected to be published September 4, 2018.

Thank you to Park Row for providing an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a fan of Mary Kubica since The Good Girl. This new psychological thriller is no disappointment, I enjoyed it. The story is slow-paced but keeps you on edge.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for this ARC.

Jessie Sloan''s mother dies of cancer, and her dying wish was for Jessie to "find herself". So Jessie sells the house she grew up in, signs up to go to college and finds a new place to live where there are no ghosts from the past. Then she receives a call from the college saying her social security number belongs to someone who has been dead for 17 years. This prompts Jessie to go on a quest to get answers to who she really is, and everything spirals out of control.
I really enjoyed this author's previous book, but this one fell short for me. There were twists at the end, but it just left me more confused and dissatisfied than anything. That said, give it a try and see if you come to a different opinion.

What a great book this was! I enjoyed the dark and twisty story line. It kept me guessing and I never did quite get all the ins and outs figured out. This story of Jessie is everyone’s worst nightmare - being left alone in the world and then not quite knowing who you are. I would highly recommend this book!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. I have read several books by Mary Kubica and this book did not disappoint. In this story, Jessie is mourning the loss of her mother. One of the last things her mom tells her is to "find herself". Without ever knowing her father, Jessie embarks on the heartbreaking journey of determining who she is and where she came from. With many twists and turns, Jessie finally comes to realize what her mother's words meant and accomplishes this.

Just like her other books, Mary Kubica successfully navigates the multi-person narration; this time between mother and daughter. The book shifts seamlessly between present day daughter Jessie, and mother Eden before Jessie was born. I thought I had the entire story figured out from an early point, but I was wrong -- there is a great plot twist! Mary Kubica never disappoints with her interesting plot lines and surprises. A must read for the fall!

Jessie Sloane is on the path to rebuilding her life after years of caring for her ailing mother. She rents a new apartment and applies for college. But when the college informs her that her social security number has raised a red flag, Jessie discovers a shocking detail that causes her to doubt everything she’s ever known.

Finding herself suddenly at the center of a bizarre mystery, Jessie tumbles down a rabbit hole, which is only exacerbated by grief and a relentless lack of sleep. As days pass and the insomnia worsens, it plays with Jessie’s mind. Her judgment is blurred, her thoughts are hampered by fatigue. Jessie begins to see things until she can no longer tell the difference between what’s real and what she’s only imagined.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier and two hundred and fifty miles away, another woman’s split-second decision may hold the key to Jessie’s secret past. Has Jessie’s whole life been a lie or have her delusions gotten the best of her?

My Thoughts: From the first page of When the Lights Go Out, I thought that I had a good grip on where this story was going. Narrated by two characters, twenty years apart, we slowly learn the story of a mother and a daughter. But the bizarre twists and turns lead us to scratch our heads and ponder everything we thought we knew.

Who is Jessica Sloane? What secrets did her mother, Eden, keep from her, and why? How did Jessica’s grief lead her down some very uncertain pathways? Has Jessica been living with a stolen identity? Was her life a lie…or a strange dream?

As I read, I couldn’t help thinking of movies I’ve seen in which the conclusion shows that the whole story has been a fabrication…or a Twilight Zone of some kind. So I felt stunned. And as if I, too, had been led into a kind of alternate reality, which I then had to interpret and sort through. Until the last sections, I was headed toward a 5 star rating…instead, 4 stars from me.

***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thanks to Mary Kubica, and NetGalley for the chance to read this book before it hits shelves later next month. This book was good, nothing like I had thought it would be. I liked how the author goes back and forth from past and present. I had so many questions as I was reading it, and then when I got to the end, I had even more. I didn't really like the twist at the end, like I said I still wanted to know some things. I really didn't like her friend Miranda and I felt like she was just parading around her fertility in front of Eden, knowing that they were having trouble. I think I want to read some more books by Kubica, seeing as this was my first one. Twisty ending for sure!

I usually like Mary Kubica books but I was very frustrated with this one. The story was like a slow burn, not much happening, but I held on feeling it would all pay off in the end. However, I was disappointed with the twist at the end.

Spoiler alert!

Flashback to 1986. I was 18 years old; sitting in my dorm room eagerly awaiting the Dallas season finale with my roommate. Way back when entire seasons didn’t drop on the same day. Back before binge watching whole seasons in a weekend was a thing. Back when you talked about the season finale all summer long.

And ding dang it… Bobby Ewing steps out of that shower. What the heck? How can that be? We all saw him die! Really? The entire last season nothing but a freakin’ dream. You could hear the shock and dismay up and down the hallway as we watched with our doors open.

Fast forward 32 years. I feel almost as cheated. Even if you are under 40 and did not watch with the rest of the world, you are probably familiar with the way that producers tried to bring back an actor that had quit the show and subsequently been killed off and buried.

The title should have been a huge clue. What happens “when the lights go out”? I thought it would be a bit more interesting than going to sleep and having a scary dream. Read the book synopsis (I won't regurgitate it here); it is so intriguing.
The book was great until the twist reveal. It was well-written and engaging moving between 1996/1997 and 18 years later, to tell this story of mother and daughter.
In the end, I gave it three stars. I mean, it was a surprise and diversion from her other books. And after all, she gave Jessie what everyone eventually craves at some point in their lives: a few more minutes with someone they love. Something even Pamela Ewing got!
#WhenTheLightsGoOut #NetGalley

Publication Date: September 4, 2018
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Cover: OK
Rating: 3 stars
Source: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!