. Morality and truth are difficult parts of life. The author explored this theme through the eyes of Dr. Shields, her husband and the subjects of her morality study. I enjoyed how the authors developed characters that were believable and for which I found myself alternating between love and hate for all of the main characters. The story builds to a conclusion that leaves the reader unsure what the truth is until the final word.

Sometimes a test is so small and quiet you don't even notice it's a test.

Uhm. Wow.

What starts as a study and answering a few questions, escalates to something way bigger than Jess had anticipated. She wasn't supposed to be part of the study, but she lies in order to secure a spot because she could really use the money. Before she knows it, she is pushing moral boundaries and wondering why Dr. Shields is asking her to do these things. After some digging, it all comes to light. And it's way more than Jess bargained for.

An Anonymous Girl sneaks up on you. You start reading and before you know it, you're engrossed in the story. I liked that there wasn't a HUGE plot twist like in The Wife Between Us. There were smaller, shocking moments, that kept the momentum of the story going. It just kept picking up speed, until all is revealed at the end.

This one is a definite Must Read.

If you’re into screwed up marriages, twisted sociopaths and brilliant stalkers, then you’d better grab a copy of An Anonymous Girl when it publishes on Jan. 8, 2019. Because this psychological thriller from bestselling authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen will give any lovers of Gone Girl, The Widow, or Girl on the Train their fix.

THE STORYLINE
An Anonymous Girl begins by following Jessica (friends call her “Jess”)—your typical poor, young makeup artist living in New York City. Like many struggling artists in The Big Apple, Jess has secrets from her past she doesn’t want to face, which makes finding a relationship a tad difficult.

When the opportunity for some easy cash practically falls onto her lap during a makeup session one day, Jess signs up for a mysterious study on morality from the esteemed Dr. Shields. But as Jess becomes Subject 52, she begins to learn this study isn’t what it seems and now she’s in so deep, she’s not sure she can make it out alive.

WHAT I LOVED
The story’s pace is so fast—with its short chapters and cliffhangers—I found it hard to put down (even when I was exhausted from a long day at work). An Anonymous Girl switches point-of-view between Jess and Dr. Shields, which adds a layer of psychological depth to their newly forming, toxic relationship.

I don’t go for cheap thrills, instead preferring story arcs that allow me to understand a character’s motivations. I want to know the why and An Anonymous Girl delivers, developing a complex, fascinating and terrifying villain in Dr. Shields. In the end, you might find yourself empathizing with this cold, calculating doctor.

WHAT NEEDED WORK
I wanted more punch from the end. The story’s intensity developed so well, but the end wasn’t as strong as the buildup. It wasn’t ­bad, per say; in fact, the final note still completed the story nicely and gave me a sense of satisfaction. It just wasn’t enough.

THE FINAL NOTE
A story of obsession and control, An Anonymous Girl will chill you to your bone and leave you pondering its intricate and dark characters. This is a strong book, a quick read—and I promise, it will be worth your time.

“It’s easy to judge other people’s choices... We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can’t recognize them ourselves.”
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I loved The Wife Between Us; it was one of my top reads from 2018. I was so excited when St Martins Press sent me this ARC of An Anonymous Girl. Between the cover and first page, I was lured in. It was a slow start for me but once I hit halfway I couldn’t put the book down and breezed right through to the end.
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Jessica Farris is a 28 year old, struggling makeup artist traveling from client to client in NYC. Her life was normal and uneventful until one 45 minute makeup secession lead to one overheard voicemail about an upcoming NYU psychiatrist’s study and Jess makes a snap decision that changes her life. I don’t feel like I can say much without giving anything away. But Jessica is asked a series of questions based on morality and ethics and given various scenarios. Based on her answers she becomes the perfect subject for a study conducted by Dr. Shields. Jessica becomes Subject 52, and no only discovers the premise of the study but also more about the past she, herself, had previously hidden.
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“A secret is only a secret if one person holds it.”
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An Anonymous Girl is out January 8, 2019. A must add to your January reading if you haven’t read it already. Thank you St Martins Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jess is a cash-strapped young woman who lies to get into a study on ethics and morality. Ironic, no? I was immediately hooked.

The study starts out with her answering simple ethics questions for which she gets paid handsomely. Apparently, Jess forgot these adages: 1) if it looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true and 2) you don’t get something for nothing.

As the financial compensation increases, Jess is required to do field work in real life scenarios, which makes her increasingly more uncomfortable and suspicious. Jess soon finds herself up against a diabolical schemer.

The first half of the book is a slow burn. It was interesting enough, but I had no trouble putting the book down. However, in the last half, the suspense builds and I finished the book in one sitting.

Twisty tales that deliver twists only for the shock value leave me cold. But twists combined with secrets, obsessive love, the psychology of motives, honesty, and ethics and I’m in 100%. I was kept guessing as to who was the villain and which one would outsmart their opponent in this cat and mouse game. One twist I saw coming but it didn't ruin the fun and the ending still surprised me.

For me, a psychological thriller has to be fun, and this one delivers. Plus, it features a psychiatrist, always an added plus, since I love to delve into what makes people tick. There are a lot of interesting themes explored that kept me invested. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a stickler for believability but who cares about total believability when you’re having this much fun?

The book is broken up in three parts and I really consider DNFjng during the first part but I had a lot of people tell me to just keep going because things will get better and I’m glad I did. I didn’t get hooked into the book until part 2. What I liked is how the book has short chapters but I didn’t like the second POV chapters. They creeped me out lol. I can’t even go into the details of the story but this book was really crazy. I never knew what to believe and I feared for Jess every time she was with Dr. Shields. Who is a crazy lady may I add?

I may have to read the authors first book because this one was fairly good.

This was a fast-paced psychological thriller that I gave 3/5 stars. I enjoyed it, but I found the ending to be slightly anticlimactic. I did like the protagonist, a young woman named Jess who does makeup for a living, but gets herself caught up in a psychological experiment that doesn't turn out to be quite what she expected. It was an interesting read, and I liked the way the psychologists perspective was written as though it was her notes. Objective. Scientific. And, I guess the ending did fit with the rest of the plot when I think about it now, it just makes sense, but I thought with such an uneven playing field between antagonist and protagonist, it would've been a lot harder for our young heroine to triumph.

This book is already earning a lot of hype, so when I was given an ARC By NetGalley, I was excited to be one of the firsts to read it.
I liked this book, and it was different from other thrillers but, I found Jess the protagonist a little annoying. Jess was annoying because she was earning and saving money to help her family out, due to a secret she carried for many years. Call me selfish, but I would never work that hard to give all my money to my parents to care for my sister. There is another layer to the plot, a woman you later meet named April and I would’ve liked to learn more about her and less about Jess’ horrible secret, that really wasn’t even a big deal.

I am most certainly in the minority with my feelings on this book, if the other reviews here are any indication. Wondering if that will change once the book is released.

The premise here is an intriguing one. Jessica Farris, the struggling makeup artist, finds out via one of her clients that there is a psychological study paying $500 for a few hours, and elbows her way in. It's a study on morality and ethics, so she's already winning by lying her way into it. After answering some essay questions in the strangest TMI manner ever, the doctor behind the study takes a very real interest in her, and decides to make her the focus of their entire study.

Or so it seems.

The number of times I could hear the stage cue for dramatic music throughout this book was so painful.

This book is just so freaking dramatic, and honestly, there was no need for it. The plot, while not the best thing I've read this year, was really decent. My biggest complaint about The Wife Between was that the authors included WAY too many out of nowhere twists. And in this case, we didn't actually have any twists.

Or, if we did, they were way too gentle and felt more like steady curves in the road, rather than abrupt bends.

But I swear to god, every time we got a Dr Shields POV, I could picture them in a dark trench coat, in a poorly lit room, with the light only shining on their eyeline. And whenever we had a Jess chapter, she was huddled in a corner, or walking down a street hunched over, casting glances behind and all around because she was so damn paranoid.

It was so. un.necessary. Especially considering that for the first 70% of the book, Jess thinks Dr Shields is a totally normal human being with no dastardly agenda. Like, the summary of this book kind of ruins that turn of events by saying Dr Shields Knows Too Much About Her.

I don't know, this book felt so disjointed and I couldn't take any of the events seriously. It never felt like Jess was in real mortal peril. Was Dr Shields manipulative as shit? God, yes. Was it annoying? Incredibly so. Was Jess a real moron for handing over so much information to this "anonymous" study, and for spilling her verbal diarrhea all over the place with these questions?

Good grief, what even were those answers?

I will say one thing, though. While trying to figure out where this was going, I came up with a hell of a plot that would fix this. Maybe one of the British thriller authors can pick that one up. They're impressing me more and more lately.

I received an e-ARC of An Anonymous Girl from NetGalley. The book is officially coming out in the US on January 8, 2019. This is a psychological thriller focused on love, guilt, jealousy, obsession as well as the issues of honesty and deceit. Since a big part of reading a psychological thriller is experiencing the sense of suspense, I cannot summarize the plot without revealing too much.

However, here are a few essentials: the main character - Jessica Farris - is a 28-year old make-up artist living in New York who decides to earn a quick $500 by participating in a morality and ethics study conducted by a psychotherapist at NYU. We slowly learn more about Jessica, as well as the guilt and secrets she harbors.

The other voice in the book is that of the psychotherapist conducting the study. The chapters alternate the points of view between the subject and the researcher. Jessica's chapters are written in the first person, whereas the researcher's are constructed in the second person - you - addressing the subject. All the actions performed by the psychotherapist are described in clipped passive voice sentences that sound clinical and precise (e.g. "a beverage is offered" instead of "I offered her a beverage").

I devoured the book in two days, which is an impressive feat for me (I am not a fast reader). In the beginning, I had doubts about whether the book would be able to pull me in. Mostly, this was due to the fact that I did not like the main character. She immediately struck me as someone who makes questionable moral choices and I could not easily relate to her. On the other hand, such emotional divesting allowed me to focus on the plot and not feel anxious while reading. (I do feel anxiety when I read thrillers if the character seems like someone I could really relate to).

A couple of warnings: the books is focused heavily on cheating, jealousy and romantic obsession. If those are the topics you'd rather not read about, I would pass this book. 4 out 5 stars overall. A good choice to read over a weekend or on a long airplane ride.

Thrilling and edge of your seat.

Jessica is a struggling young women working her hardest to become a successful, financially stable make up artist in New York. She becomes entangled with a clinical study on morality. Little does she know that Dr. Sheilds who is the professor running the trial is not what or who she seems. She is a psychologist running the study. She is attempting to prove that her husband, who does not live with her, is not loyal. She uses Jessica as a pawn to catch her husband being unfaithful.

A book full of twists, turns and shocking revelations.

I give this book 4.5 stars. I absolutely love the way that this book was written. There are POV chapters, but aren't labelled between Jess and Dr. Shield's characters. You can certainly tell the difference in the tone and the word choices. Dr. Shield's seems to be talking directly to Jess's character as if she is omniscient.

Jess is Dr. Shield's lab rat throughout this story, but toward the end of the story, Jess seems to be picking up on some of the things that are a bit unnerving and eventually starts to gain some control over the situation and realizes that this is a game of chess. She needs to stay one step ahead of Dr. Shields, though Dr. Shields has been setting up all of the rules of this game.

“Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.”

Struggling financially, Jessica Farris, a makeup artist, signs up to participate in a study conducted by Dr. Shields for some extra cash. As she sits at a computer alone in a classroom, she is asked questions like:
* When was the last time you treated someone unfairly and why?
* Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?
* Should the punishment always fit the crime?

This book had twist upon twist and I never knew what to think or who to trust. As a psych/research nerd, I absolutely loved the concept for this cat-and-mouse thriller and the detailed observations noted throughout. I don’t even want to say anything else about the plot, just read it!

An Anonymous Girl is made up of short chapters that kept me turning pages and switches frequently from the perspective of Jessica Farris and the mysterious Dr. Shields. Thoroughly enjoyed this one from start to finish.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press for the advance reader copy!

This review can be viewed on Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter @kaylagetsread by 12/29.

After a lukewarm reaction to the first collaboration of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, I was hesitant to pick up the invitation extended to me by St Martin's Press for their Sophomore release, An Anonymous Girl. I must say that I enjoyed this novel more than I did "The Wife Between Us". The structure of this narrative lent itself much better to the team approach to writing since there were very different voices between the two main characters that came through very well.

The psychology behind the premise is compelling but if you are looking for something that will keep you on your toes with twists and turns, this one is fairly straightforward as far as the plot is concerned.

Definitely pick it up for a light and fun read.

Completely unbelievable, yet totally enjoyable!

A psychological study on morality turns into a game of cat and mouse. Who will come out on top? The subject of the study or the doctor who is playing much more than a game.

That’s all I am going to say about the plot. It’s best to go into this blind.

I didn’t love The Wife Between Us due to the number of twists and some other elements. I decided to go into An Anonymous Girl with an open mind. I knew this was going to be over-the-top, but I decided to suspend my disbelief over the plot. Once I did, I had a lot of fun reading this.

The narrative alternates between doctor and patient. I found the former to be cartoonish, but the latter was intriguing.

This is a fast-paced, entertaining read that requires one to suspend disbelief. There might have been a few times where I was laughing out loud at moments that probably were not meant to be funny, but I found them so. With that being said, the plot is original and engaging. There were a few threads that felt incomplete and I was left with some questions. However, in spite of these moments, the entertainment factor won out in the end.

I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tightly written psychological thriller that explores fidelity, loyalty, moral flexibility. Intriguing beginning, a looser and more distracting middle, but a satisfying ending.

Really tightly written thrilled. As a psych major, I was intrigued by the premise, but it dragged a bit past the middle. I did figure out most of the resolution as we went along. I enjoyed the read.

This book was so bizarre! Lol I loved it. It was dark and intriguing. It didn't have as much of a holy crap factor as The Wife Between Us but it was still crazy!

An Anonymous Girl is the second book I’ve read by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen and it’s also the second book by them that I can’t say a lot about without potentially ruining the story for you. Because of that, just trust me when I say that this book takes the “I don’t know who to trust” lens to a whole other level.

Jessica Farris is the main character although this story is really told from multiple perspectives. With that said Jessica’s actions really kick off what happens in this book. As a makeup artist in New York City, she isn’t really making a ton of money so when she hears about a paid psychology study being conducted by a mysterious Dr. Shields, she jumps at the opportunity to participate. Little does she know that there is something at the root of the study being conducted and as Jessica gets pulled deeper and deeper into the doctor’s world, she finds herself mixed in something that she never could have imagined.

Jessica is an interesting character. She’s had some traumatic things happen in her life that have pushed her to make some questionable decisions but ultimately, she is trying to move on and do things that will make things better for her and her family. Unfortunately, she can’t control everything and just when she thinks things might be taking a turn, she gets pulled into the world of Dr. Shields.

I’m not going to say too much about the doctor and her story because it would ruin the book but trust me when I say that I wasn’t clear on her motives until the very end. She takes Jess on some twists and turns but she never thought Jess would be one to deceive her and that is when things get really interesting.

If it tells you anything, I read this book in one day because I couldn’t even force myself to put it down. I really wanted to know how things were going to end up and every chapter revealed something new that made me want to turn the next page to see what else was going to happen.

If you are looking for a story that will keep you interested and wondering what will happen next, make sure you pick this one up when you can. Hendrick and Pekkanen have written some very interesting and twisted thrillers and I can’t wait to pick up whatever they write next!

Mark my words; even those this releases in January, it will be one of the best books released in 2019. I was on the edge of my seat the entire book, the suspense built from the very beginning. The characters were very well written, BUT it was so hard for me to pick who to trust and who was lying. I love this about psychological thrillers—another winner for this writing duo!

I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.