"This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who's been searching for the truth all these years . . .

When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school."

I had high hopes for this book, having heard great things about it and the Author, but not for me unfortunately.

If the song Thriller by Michael Jackson was related to a book, Jar Of Hearts would be that book. This book was a fantastically written thriller that I could not put down. The mysterious aspects of the novel and the reveals truly blew me away. Can't wait to read more of the author's work.

5 stars!! This book deserves all the hype, so much in fact that I rushed out to buy a hard copy to add to my library. It was dark, unsettling, suspenseful, and I devoured it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC via NetGalley.

Really enjoyed this thriller, it pulls you in and you just want to keep reading to figure out who you can trust in the end. I like it so much that I looked up other books by this author and downloaded them as well.

4.5/5

This was a lot of fun! A dark and twisty serial killer story. I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong. Anytime I wasn't reading, I was thinking about the story. And whenever I was reading, the page turned fast.

The Author's Note in the back of the the book mentions that Hillier's other books are standalones set in the same fictional world with a few crossover characters. I didn't know this, but it sounds like fun!

Audiobook Notes: I added the audiobook from my library to this read since I love the narrator, and it was a great listen. I read most of it with my eyes, but I loved being able to just turn on the audio and continue with reading when I needed to leave the house to run errands and work.

Title: Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
Narrator: January LaVoy
Length: 10 hours, 43 minutes, Unabridged
Publisher: Macmillan Audio

I received an early digital copy of this book a long time ago via NetGalley in exchange for review, and I finally got around to reading it. Better late than never! I let it sit on my digital shelves for WAY too long.

I finally read this book as part of an online book club. I'd forgotten that I'd requested a copy for review and I'm glad that I didn't have to read it alone. I liked having the opportunity to discuss JAR OF HEARTS with others making it more of an experience. The story was chilling and complex and kept my attention throughout. As with other mystery thrillers I've read, I'm always trying to play detective and figure out the twists the author will spring upon the reader up until the very end. Overall, I enjoyed JAR OF HEARTS and would recommend it to readers who are in the mood for a dark thriller.

Jar of Hearts took me by surprise. Sure I read a lot of thrillers and they usually don't get to me like this. While it was a bit graphic and sometimes I didn't want to know but it was like a car crash and I couldn't stop reading. This review is late because I forgot I hadn't done it. My apologies to Net Galley, the author, and publisher for being so late.

a total page-turner! The story unfolds with killer twists, keeping you hooked till the end. The characters feel like real people with messy lives, making the book relatable.
The writing style is super engaging, The pacing is spot-on, blending character stories with the plot seamlessly.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review Jar of Hearts!

Jennifer Hillier is a go to author for me! Super fast paced domestic thriller! If you are a fan of Karen Slaughter, you will love this author and her book, Jar of Hearts!

4 STARS

It's a good thing I didn't know this thriller was centered around a serial killer. I'm so burned out on serial-killer mysteries/thrillers/police procedurals I've begun avoiding them across the board. Fortunately, Ms. Hillier has done what I thought impossible—written a serial-killer novel that's entirely original.

For 19 years, Georgina Shaw harbored a horrible secret—one drunken night in her junior year of high school she helped bury her murdered best friend. Then the dismembered body of Angela Wong is discovered in the woods near her home, and the man who killed Angela, Calvin James, is charged with the murder of three more people.The arresting officer is Kaiser Brody, her other best friend in high school, who loved her then and is forced to admit he still does.

Angela Wong was the poor little rich girl, beautiful and with the kind of charisma that led everyone to ignore her darker side. When her body is found and Geo's part in her death is revealed, that darker side is erased; and Geo's carefully constructed life of denial is over.

Geo is compelled to admit what she saw and did that night or spend the rest of her life in prison as an accessory; she is sentenced to five years. Calvin is convicted, but shortly afterwards escapes and disappears. Then, within days of Geo's release the bodies of a woman and a toddler are found in almost the same spot where Angela was buried. And then another woman and child. Kaiser has no doubt Calvin is back. His partner, and erstwhile lover, isn't as sure.

The title references a Mason jar of cinnamon hearts Calvin gave Geo. She disliked the candy, and he ended up eating them, emptying the jar the last time she saw him. The night he raped her.

It will seem to some I’ve just done what I swear never to do, which is write a review containing spoilers. You’d be wrong. If, however, you're gotten a sense this is a story infinitely more complex than the standard fare, you win the prize.

Ms. Hillier has a new book coming out shortly, so I’m embarrassed I’m more than a year late posting this review of her first one. Which, per requirements, I’ll note I read as an advance review copy provided by the publisher. I swear I’ll try to be faster reviewing #2.

Great characters lead the way through this chilly thriller. Not only are the characters fully developed, they draw you into a twisty plot with an ending that leaves you winded. Fully worth the hype!

I bought this book in 2020 and there it sat patiently on my kindle waiting for me. Why did I wait so long? I truly have no idea because it was 5 stars!

This was my first book by Jennifer Hillier, but I doubt it will be my last. This was a page turner with murder, lust, rape, body mutilation, prison time, and a few twists/turns I didn't see coming.

If you love thrillers with grizzly topics than you will love this book!

#Geo #Calvin #Ang #Kia #Murder #BestFriends #5Stars

An incredibly well told story from several POVs. We continue to get flashbacks into Geo’s life to understand why and how she made the choices she did as well as how Kaiser solves this mystery. The plot twists were strong and cringely believable.

I do feel that the ending happened too quickly. The story was strung out without skipping a detail and yet once the final bell sounded on this tale, it seemed everything just got packaged up and set out to ship. I LOVED the story, don’t misread my comments - I would have just liked a few more chapters to see how everything played out after she left her bedroom that afternoon - how was it all explained, did Kai find her/take her in, how did that entire situation turn out so neatly??? She has a record!

We all make choices everyday and every choice we make, lie we tell, action we take have consequences that we must own up to and live with on our conscience.

This was my first book by Hillier but most certainly won’t be my last.

Excellent from start to finish. So glad I got to read this book. It is one of my favorite reads so far this year.

"Jar of Hearts" didn't grab me right off but reeled me in slowly until suddenly I was halfway through and anxious to keep reading. As a teenager, Geo and her boyfriend killed Geo's best friend, Angela. For 14 years, they got away with it. Then the truth comes out. Or does it?

The story alternates between the past and the present, slowly unraveling secrets and keeping us in the dark. Whenever we think we know what's going on, Hillier reveals a new fact or throws us a curve. It's a dark story, full of pain and grief, choices and consequences, hope and despair, cringe-worthy moments and empathetic moments. Geo was difficult to like at times. She could be selfish, cold, and, well, heartless. Let's not forget she killed her friend. She could also be smart, funny, compassionate, and generous. Her relationship with Cat, a woman in prison at the same time as Geo, was sweet and made me tear up, and then she would turn around and do something selfish. Her relationships with her ex, Calvin, and her dead best friend, Angela, were complicated and are the heart of the story. All of them are complicated and complex, more than they originally seem.

"Jar of Hearts" was gripping and the details a little creepy. Hillier takes some cliches and reader expectations and twists them around, most of the time. The pace was slow at times and I did figure out some of the twists, but "Jar of Hearts" was twisty and twisted, compelling and dark, and full of surprises. It's a fascinating read.

I read this as part of the Novels & Natter monthly read and my god I wish I read this miles sooner, what an amazing read. Brilliant. Fantastic twist which I did not see coming, I was hooked and loved every single part of this. I've always been fascinated by anything prison so the start of this book was really interesting to me with it being set in a prison. Jaw dropping ending that made the whole book for me. An all round enjoyable, well written and clever story. One I will not be able to forget in a hurry. Highly recommend. A well deserved five stars from me.

Oh my! I was extremely excited and very much looking forward to reading this highly anticipated book after seeing some fabulous reviews for it. I can more than happily confirm that after I'd finished reading, it was everything I had expected and MORE!
Frighteningly vivid and so tense there were times I didn't realise I was holding my breath, I was so immersed in the moments and the well developed characters. It truly felt as though I was actually standing in the story viewing it as a spectator. Such a professionally written and polished story with an intense clarity to detail, it really did make for a sick, twisted and utterly compelling novel. The women's prison scenes at the start were truly scary and certainly had me on the edge of my seat.
"Jar of Hearts" is told between the present day and the past as it actually happened and although I did start to work out the twist towards the last quarter of the book this didn't effect my enjoyment of the story as I was hooked into still seeing how it all came together at the end. And what an ending!
I haven't read any of Jennifer Hillier's other books but I am now very keen to read more by her because if they are anything like this one, then they will be fabulous too!
A word of warning though - there is a continuous flow of sensitive and explicit scenes throughout, very much needed for the telling of the whole story, so therefore if you are easily offended or squeamish then this sadly may not be for you.
Fast paced, creepy, twisted, dark, gruesome, stomach churning, enthralling, addictive etc etc etc I could go on! I SO LOVED this book, it was everything I seek in a serial killing thriller and I will be certainly be putting this book in my top ten possibly even my top five for 2018!!

A fabulous 5 stars and more!

I feel it would be best for everyone to read this book without knowing too much so I'll be brief. This is a tightly paced mystery with a lot of twists and turns. I was never bored and I was even surprised a couple of times.

I thought it was shocking. Everyone is extremely flawed. Three bestfriends - Georgina, Angela and Kai. Angela is missing and 14 years later her bestfriend Geo and her gorgeous boyfriend are tried and jailed for the crime. Not only is Angela murdered but dismembered and Kai is the cop who arrested them, but what really happened and is there a serial killer still out there years later . Title should have been something more fitting for the shocking reveals throughout. How well can you really know anyone and do they know themselves and what they are capable of doing, which is scary.

Jennifer Hillier is a hit or miss for me and I found this one to just be mediocre. I really love anything to do with murderers and serial killers, but I like them to be unique and truly scary and frightening. I just didn't find our murderer to be so this in this book, which is what I feel like Jennifer Hillier books often lack. Characterization and plot development are her strong suits, but I just feel like she lacks in making her anatagonists scary. I will definitely continue to pick up all her forthcoming books, I just don't really go into them expecting really scary characters.