I received this book through Netgalley. I love thrillers and I found I couldn't put this one down, and hated to reach the ending. The book moves back and forth through time, which made it more interesting. The main character is flawed yet you find yourself rooting for her; and there were many other well developed characters in the book as well. I have never read anything else by Jennifer Hillier but I'll be sure to look up her other books now!

I was excited to have the opportunity to obtain an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from NetGalley.

“Whoever said lying was hard was so, so wrong. Lying was easy. Lying was like a hot knife slicing through room-temperature butter. Lying was a bunch of words strung together in a pretty sentence designed to make the other person feel like everything was fine. Telling the truth, however, was impossible...Sometimes karma came for you later. Sometimes karma came for you right away.”

Geo lives with the secret of what happened the night her best friend Angela went missing until fourteen years later when the girl’s bones are discovered near the house where Geo grew up. Geo and her former boyfriend turned serial killer, Calvin, are sent to prison for Angela’s murder. The best friend of both girls, Kasier, is the police detective who arrests Geo and who is assigned the case when more women are killed in a similar manner to Angela. Kaiser struggles with his feelings for Geo. He’s horrified to learn she played a part in Angela’s death, but he never got over his high school crush on her. As the truth about Angela’s death is slowly revealed and the body count rises, Geo finds she has more to worry about than simply adjusting to life after a felony conviction.

The book is arranged in five parts, which are titled with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, and told in Geo and Kaiser’s points of view. Glimpses of Geo’s relationships with all the key players are shown in flashbacks. The author unflinchingly tackles tough topics such as what Geo must do in prison to survive and her abusive relationship with Calvin. None of the characters are idealized. They have all the flaws found in real people.

JAR OF HEARTS is full of twists and turns that keep thriller lovers reading well into the night.

I could not put this one down. So many twists and a remarkably likable heroine, considering you learn almost immediately, that she has a violent past. The prison scenes reminded me of Orange is the New Black, but so much better! While I needed to tear through this one, I was sad when it was over.

Thank you for the advance copy! Will definitely look for more by this author.

Loved the characters, the story line is great and I finished this book in less than a day. It is filled with everything...heartbreak, death, love and overcoming despair. This book keeps you guessing the entire way through. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’ll keep coming back for more!

A fast paced thriller with alot of unexpected twists and turns. I didn’t love this book but I didn’t hate it and wanted to find out out the whole shocking truth. Very well written.

When I started this book I thought big deal some private school teenagers getting drunk and whatever. When I finished the book I thought it was a solid four plus stars with a remarkable plot and some of the best functioning dysfunctional characters around. I won’t spoil the novel for other readers by revealing more of the plot, but will say you learn what is going on now, what happened nineteen years earlier and what happened during Geo’s prison stay. Thanks to Net Galley and Minotaur Books for an ARC for an honest review.

The newest thriller from Jennifer Hillier is a spine tingling heart stopper. Jar of Hearts is a riveting page turner that delves into the mind of the truly twisted. A tale of the mistakes we make and the past we can not escape. It will grab hold of you from the first word and leave you breathless and shaking by the final period.

Jennifer Hillier scares me. I was engrossed in Jar of Hearts right from the start. Her way of going from the past to present day is expertly done. There was always something I didn't know lurking in the corners of my mind while I was reading her story. The suspense was slowly built and kept me Interested right up to the last reveal which was totally unexpected. This is a great book.
Thank you NetGalley, publisher and author for this advanced readers copy.

First off let me say that I have read all of Jennifer Hiller's books, and though she may not be well known, it's just a matter of time. The story involves Geo, a successful young woman at the height of her career and personal life, until the past catches up with her. Mistakes that were made when she was a teenager come back to bring all of her adult life to an end. The memories of the past have never left her but the darkness she kept them hidden in can no longer be buried. As we follow her through the story you can't help but feel that although the mistakes were quite large, the path that she chose for herself at the time is one many could have stumbled into. It is a story of youth and all the insecurities a teenager faces. Choices that are filled with regret but not having the strength to deal with the magnitude at the time, she is forced to reconcile with and face now. The danger has not ended for her, the past is not dead and buried. A gripping mystery awaits you as the story takes you full circle from the future she created to the one that was waiting for her all along.

If you enjoy teenage angst, drama and sudden horror, Jar of Hearts is the book for you!
Drawing you into their lives and wrapping you into their teen drama, bring you all the way to adulthood...for some of them.
Definitely a solid 5 stars

Thank you to Jennifer Hilliard, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my advanced ecopy of Jar of Hearts.

This was an excellent thriller that grabbed me from the first page. Geo was a unique protagonist as the reader spends the majority of the book wondering about whether she is a bad guy in her own right or if she was just a young girl being brainwashed by older boyfriend/psycho.

Admittedly, I have reached an age where I often roll my eyes at literary behaviors of teenagers. In Jar of Hearts, whenever I noticed myself doing this I had to remind myself that 16 year old girls with significantly older boyfriends often are easily manipulated.

But then there was some stuff in the last 20% of the novel I had just not seen coming. Totally shocked me and threw me off-balance about how I felt about Geo overall. By the very end of the book, I was satisfied yet deeply conflicted about some things, which is often a very good way for me to feel about a book.

Warning: Jar of Hearts doesn’t shy away from heavy, dark, and violent themes and content.

A murder solved 14 years later, the victim’s best friend and her older boyfriend arrested and sent to prison for it. But what really happened to Angela Wong? Her best friend Georgina served five years behind bars for the crime, while her high school boyfriend and man accused of killing Angela and three other women escaped from prison. When Geo is released, murders begin again. Is her past boyfriend trying to get her attention again? And why?

This novel weaves both past and present murders together as the reader tries to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. With one main character accused of murder and another working through his own problems, Jar of Hearts is a story of secrets that are revealed slowly. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and its flashback scenes up until the last few pages. Was it what I was expecting? Not at all. Then again, I’m not sure of any other way to wrap up the story.

It may sound trite, but this book is an absolute must read. Because of the excellent timing and sharing of Geo's flashbacks, the reader will be kept guessing until the very end. Call it karma or consequences of bad decisions, it may not happen right away but it will. I didn't want to put it down and fortunately had the upcoming weekend to finish reading it. It is that superb!

I couldn't put this one down, literally. A few minor holes in the plot, but don't let that stop you from reading this suspense thriller. Fast passes and un xpected twists and turns. I loved it.

Net galley boasted that Jar of Hearts was to be the “breakout psychological thriller” of the year. And unfortunately I feel like that falls short.
This book was amazing, very well written, good details with enough information to piece everything together and feel comfortable with the lay of it all.

However, there was no psychological aspects to this book that would make it a psychological thriller, in my opinion. To me a good Psych Thriller is a book like B.A Paris’ Behjnd Closed Doors, or her novel The Breakdown.

As far as this book being a thriller, I would agree! It was a lot of fun to read and had honest views of what life can be like. I really enjoyed learning about “the event that started it all” and how I’d impacted Geo’s life, and her decisions.

Like many books before this one, I’m left with many questions. I wonder if there’ll be a follow up or side line book to give me answers.

I’m definitely a fan of Jennifer Hillier’s now, and look forward to reading her earlier works.

Jar of Hearts is set to release in June, and I hope you all pick up a copy!

I read this in two days. I could not stop. It hooked me from page one and took me for a ride I could not stop. Great writing, and that includes characters and plot. I will say it went off the rails in the end, and had me questioning some of it. But thank you to Net Galley for this great read. I highly recommend it!

***Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of JAR OF HEARTS by Jennifer Hillier in exchange for my honest review.***

Oh, Jennifer Hillier. Where have you been all my life? How did I not know you existed before JAR OF HEARTS. We have some catching up to do.

People like Geo, a thirty-year-old VP at her fiancé’s company, don’t get arrested at board meetings, especially not for murder. Kaiser, the arresting officer, harbored not so secret feelings for Geo in high school. He never suspected she took part in the murder of their third best friend Angela.

Told in Geo’s and Kai’s third person points of view, Hillier takes readers on a deliciously intriguing road in five parts, each a stage of grief, until the surprising conclusion of JAR OF HEARTS.

Hillier gave Geo and Kai engaging voices, almost as if written in first person. While the story is primarily Geo’s, Kaiser’s investigation plays an equally important component as the story unfolds.

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, the less you know the more you’ll enjoy JAR OF HEARTS as the big and little revelations happen. Mystery, thriller and women’s literate lovers will devour every word of this gem.

Received a copy of this book yesterday. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. Twist and turns in every chapter. One of the best that I've read in a long time.

What a twisted tale the author weaved. This dark, thrilling story takes you on a ride you know you should get off of for fear of what the next chapter will bring but your ensnared and cant help but keep going.

Jar of hearts is the kind of psychological thriller that centres around a series of events that occurred whilst the protagonist was a teenager, which is personally one of my favourite kinds of thriller. Fans of Luckiest Girl Alive, Friend Request and Watching Edie will enjoy this book. It is gripping and effortless to read. A real pleasure