I liked the premise of this novel but it wasn't as good as The Gone Girl! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book? Is that I would consider the book version of click bait.

Apparently though, I am in the minority here.

If you pick up this book thinking you're going to get a good mistaken identity book or... kidnapped child mystery... you'll be wrong.

And yet it is another story from the point of view of an 'unstable woman'. I am just so tired of all the female characters in psychological suspense books being 'unstable' in some form or another. This one is just the same as all the rest.

This book was just not for me.

When the Lights go out is a story told from two points of view; Jessie's who is trying to figure out what her mother never told her, and Eden's who so desperately wants a baby. The stories of these two women are woven in a way that made me never want to stop reading. Kubica does an excellent job detailing all the emotions Eden felt surrounding her issues having a baby and her grief. While "When the Lights Go Out" is an excellent read, I feel Kubica rushed the last chapter a bit.

When The Lights Go Out is about a young woman Jessie who try’s to go on after her mother Eden dies. We are taken back to before Jessie is born and Jessie’s current life. Full of many surprise twits.

Holy crap. This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time (and sitting straight up in bed with the lights on too!) and left me in tears at the end. I couldn't put it down! There is a reason Mary Kubica is one of my favorites and she has once again captivated all of my attention with When the Lights Go Out.


And the story goes...


Jessie Sloan finds herself devastated when her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, leaving her with nothing but endless insomnia. After her mother passes away, she must find herself (her mother's last wish), so she decides to sell the only home she knows, find an apartment, and enroll in college, only to find out her social security number is not her own, but of a little girl who died when she was three. This discovery leads her down a sleepless rabbit hole consumed with hopes of finding out who she really it's to late.


Eden, a once happily married woman who 20 years earlier longed to have a child, only to be faced with endless disappointment. This obsession lead her to a dire decision which holds all the secrets to Jessie's past and who she really is.


Mary Kubica's When the Lights Go Out will keep you up way past your bedtime (and with the lights on!!) until the very end... and you won't believe the ending! Make sure to pick this up on September 4th to find out who Jessie really is...


Many thanks to Net Galley, Harlequin, and Hanover Square Press for the advance reader's copy in return for my honest review.
#netgalley #whenthelightsgoout #harlequin

I was given an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review. This book was so very well written. It captivated me the entire time!

As a fan of Mary Kubica, I enjoyed this book but I wouldn't put it in the same category as Good Girl. I really enjoyed the suspense of the first part of the book and the alternating narrators, however, toward the end I started skimming to get to the plot twist as the novel was getting predictable. Despite the ending falling flat for me, I remain a fan of Mary Kubica and would recommend this book to someone looking for a beach read.

Thanks for Mary Kubica for the entertaining read, and to Harlequin Trade Published and Netgalley for the Advance Readers Copy

What a twist. Reading 80% of the book, thinking it is a thriller. When the twist comes and the tear begin to flow, it turns out it is a story of love and reflection of a life lived and lost. A great read.

See my review on goodreads..com

As with every Mary Kubica book, I didn’t want to put this one down. She has such a knack for creating characters and storylines that pull you in and won’t let you go - even when the story ends!

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for a free ARC novel in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when you are sleep deprived and you start imagining a whole life for yourself. That's what Mary Kubica shares with us in this book. Jessie Sloane has always wondered who her father is and why her mother never wants to talk about him. Then as her mother is dying of cancer she devotes herself to her and loses herself. There is a lot of time travel back and forth to tell the story of how Jessie got to this point. It tells the story of her mother Eden and how desperately she wanted a child. The lengths that she would go to, in order to have a child. The end gives us a final twist that you don't even consider possible.

Kubica is like candy I can't resist. No matter how many times I feel like her novels make me rush through to find out the ending, just to be left perplexed, I still pick up her next one. Kubica's novels aren't that great, but I really can't stop myself from reading them so maybe they're better than I think they are.

OK, here is what I expected to get (publisher’s blurb): “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.”

And TBH I have enjoyed Ms.Kubica’s books in the past, so I was pleased to have a copy of When the Lights Go Out from Harlequin-Hanover Square Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Based on the blurb above, I expected a journey by Jessie to some secret(s) from the past, possibly identity theft or something along that line. What I got was…wait, I am not going to ruin my impeccable run of NO SPOILERS by giving anything away. So, here is how my reading went:
• Started OK
• 15% in, I thought I knew what was coming
• Alternating POV required me to pay attention LOL
• Lots of plucky heroine/woman in danger stuff
• At 50% in, I just wanted it over with
Yes, there are some unexpected plot twists, especially one gigantic one at the end. It all added up to a full day of my life I will never get back, spent with a book I truly disliked. A LOT. Other reviewers disagree, so I am completely in the minority here. Kubica fans will love it, but it just was NOT a book I enjoyed. One star.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT BY MARY KUBICA BOOK REVIEW
The mark of a good book for me is when I’m thinking about it days later. You know those type of reads, right? The storytelling & the characters completely envelop you & you almost feel a part of the story. This is exactly how I felt while reading When the Lights Go Out.

INSOMNIA TAKES OVER
If you’ve ever suffered from insomnia, you know the deal. The effects of sleep deprivation are all consuming & your mind starts to play tricks on you. If you’ve got anxiety, it gets ramped up. Your emotions are all over the place & you cannot think clearly.

We meet Jessie, who is piecing her life together after being a caretaker for her mother. Jessie’s insomnia is out of control. She is trying her best to move on & rebuild her life, but things aren’t adding up. She applies for financial aid at college and there is a problem with her social security number. This sends her down the path to the Vital Statistics office, which should be an easy fix, but it’s not. She’s left wondering who she really is. All the while, her mother’s voice is in her head urging Jessie to find out who she truly is.

TWO STORIES IN ONE
I love that When the Lights Go Out has two narrators in two different settings. I love Mary Kubica. I gave up trying to figure out where she is going a long time ago. She keeps me on my toes & I’m willing to go on any thrill ride with her.

THE VERDICT
I am Really Into This book. I seem to always finish Mary’s books really quickly because I cannot put them down. When the Lights Go Out is no different. And that ending, I was sitting there going, damn, she got me again. I loved it. This is a perfect choice for anyone looking for an enjoyable, interesting thriller that pulls the rug out from underneath you.

Also, special thanks to my awesome book buddy, Gare from Gare Reads Indeed. You’ve got to check out his amazing reviews & his Instagram page is so much fun. He casts all the books he reads. Its so much fun & he’s so creative. He sent me the ARC for When the Lights Go Out & I appreciate it so much!

Special thanks to Mary Kubica, Park Row Books & NetGalley for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review

Once again Mary Kubica has written a book that grabbed me right from the start and never let go.

Why can't Jessie apply to college? Now that her mom has died she is trying to carry out her mom's wishes and make something of herself. Unfortunately, it appears her social security number is listed for a Jessie Sloane with the same date of birth, same name, but is registered as dead. No paperwork can be found in her mom's stuff. No birth certificate exists for her, at least in that state.

Her mom used to clean houses and one of those past homeowners says that Jessie refused to be called Jessie and wouldn't call her mother anything but her first name. Catch your interest yet?

We think we know where this is going. Then alternate chapters are about Eden, who desperately wants a child and just can't get pregnant. Hmmm. Eden just happens to be her mom's name. Only Kubica can keep us going to the final page.

Great story! Thanks NetGalley for an advance copy in return for an honest opinion.

Read all my reviews at: https://brainfartsandbooks.wordpress.com

It has been a little bit since I've been thrown into a book this deeply. The book is narrated by two points of view. That of Jessie and that of Eden. And for the whole first half of the book you don't know how the two characters will eventually interact. Eden's timeline is dated, however Jessie's is not. The book starts out with Jessie in the hospital by her dying mother's side. Her mother always told her to "find yourself". As she gathers paperwork to sell her mother's house and to go to college, she gets a call saying that her social security number belongs to someone who is deceased. Going on a wild goose chase to find out who she really is and who her father is, Jessie starts imagining things and ends up not knowing what's real. In the other half of the story, Eden and her husband Aaron are trying so desperately to get pregnant. Eden becomes obsessed with the idea and they end up spending thousands of dollars on fertility treatments. When the two stories end up colliding, the reader ends up with a little better understanding of the story, but it's not until the very end where everything opens up like a light at the end of a long tunnel. This book had me captured from the beginning and had a very unexpected ending. A fantastic read by Mary Kubica!

Thank you to Netgalley, Mary Kubica, and Harlequin/Park Row for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When the Lights go out is a haunting and brilliant thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat. Readers won't see the end coming and will feel all sorts of emotions because of it. I love this authors writing, her books always seem to hook me until the bitter end, and she writes original tales. If you're looking for something that will keep you guessing, this is the book for you!

Jessie has just lost her mother to cancer and has now applied for college. However, they inform her that her social security number has raised a red flag. This and a number of nagging coincidences causes her to doubt everything she knows about herself.
As she grieves and becomes incapable of sleeping, her own mind turns against her and she begins to see and hear things. She is convinced she is going to die.
Running parallel to this story is the life story of her mother from twenty years earlier. As you learn about Jessie, there is a flashback to her Mom and what took place.
This book is well written and like any Mary Kubica book – riveting. You keep wanting to get to the end because you are convinced that you know the truth. However, when you do get to the end of the book, the solution is so simple that you almost feel cheated. Still I would give four stars as the story is compelling.

For Jessie's whole life it has only been Mom and her. Mom is in the hospital dying and Jessie isn't sure what she is going to do. Unable to sleep and not wanting to leave her Mom's side, Jessie survives on hospital cafeteria coffee and the kindness of the nurses. When the college financial aid office calls Jessie and tells her that there is a problem with her college application and that the social security number that Jessie has provided belongs to a dead girl. Jessie soon feels like Alice falling down the rabbit hole and starts to question who her mother really is and what happened to her father. Told in the alternating voices of Jessie and her mother, Eden, a horrifying story unfolds.

I have loved Kubica's previous novels, see my links to their reviews, but this book did not keep my interest. I guessed early in the book where the plot was going and hoped I was wrong. Maybe it is where I am right now, but the characters of Jessie and her mother did not hold together for me. It will be interesting when it is published to see how it is received and what others think of it. You'll have to read this one to decide for your self.

Nope, nope, nope. This was one of those books that absolutely pissed me off and made me vow never to read another book by that author. Seriously. It was that bad. Due to spoilers, I can't go into why it was so bad, but trust me when I say, it was a total cop-out ending.

I loved Kubica's first three books, but was disappointed in her last effort "Every Little Lie". This book, however, was even worse. Don't waste your time.

Ohhhh, this was good! This won’t be for everyone though. But if you fit into the category it does then hold on for this ride!

I dealt with infertility myself. I remember the isolation and desperation of it. You would do almost anything to have that baby, almost... If you haven’t been there then this will be maybe hard for some of you to understand and you may feel tricked or disappointed by this book. I get it.

I thought I had this figured out - so many times! The writing was so good! I would highly recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley, HARLEQUIN, and the author for the free copy in exchange for a review. My opinion was not influenced because of this.