Synopsis
Blanche Potter is more than just a documentary film-maker. She’s the daughter of infamous mass murderer and cult-leader Chuck Varner. Blanche wants nothing more than to leave her past behind her, but when her mother is murdered, she’s forced to return home. She must go back to the place where it all began, and she fears that her father’s followers are only getting started…

Plot
This book is slow paced at the start. Ripley provides a lot of description of the setting and Blanche is quite introspective. The plot picks up as the story progresses, maintaining an even pace until the climactic finish.

There are excerpts from a true crime book scattered throughout the narrative. They provide much-needed backstory that fills in the gaps in Blanche’s memory and let us know what was going on that Blanche hadn’t known about.

While slow paced, there are leisurely twists and turns in the plot that kept me engaged in the story line. Despite the introspective nature of the book, it’s a quick read, and I gobbled it up in nearly one sitting.

While an engaging book, the story didn’t move quickly enough for me. I would have preferred for this to have been balanced with more twisted introspection, but the characters were quite tame compared to other books about serial killers.

Characters
The most intriguing part of this book is the main character. Blanche Potter is the daughter of a murderer and cult-leader. She always knew who and what her father was, which makes for interesting backstory.

I was particularly fascinated by her friendship with Jaya. They’re best friends, and there are intriguing parallels in their histories. Blanche’s father was a murderer. Jaya’s father was murdered. Their friendship is unlikely and compelling, and it was beautiful to see how much Blanche relied on that relationship, how much she leaned on Jaya in times of distress (which was basically this entire novel)

I recommend this book to any fan of serial-killer fiction. It puts more emphasis on character and atmosphere than on convoluted plots, which will appeal to those looking for a character study of the daughter of a mass murderer.

"Your Life Is Mine" by Nathan Ripley

My first time reading that author.

The summary looked so good to me! But I was disappointed! Not the psychological thriller I thought it would be!
I wanted to love that book but I just didn't.

I loved the way it started but then it was SO SLOW! 25 % into the story still nothing happened! A noisy journalist knows who Blanche really is, about her family... pages and pages of talking with nothing going on, nothing happening, so slow and quite boring!
Just not what I expected at all after reading the blurb!

It is well written though and interesting. Just not for me, not what I thought it would be.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review. All opinons are my own.

Cults are my absolute favorite thing to consume in media. I love TV shows, movies, books, anything pertaining to the theme. So, when I saw this was about the daughter of a former cult leader - it was like this book was screaming READ ME!

And it was not a bad book. It wasn't the best one I ever read, either. I hate writing 3 stars, middle of the road reviews.

I didn't really like the writing. I felt it was a little disjointed at times, and it lacked the atmosphere I crave in books like this. I didn't really like the main character, Blanche, either - although I definitely understand the amount of trauma she must've gone through, I felt the author didn't do such a good job showing us that her actions were a direct result of the trauma she underwent.

I also didn't really understand how Blanche's father was supposed to be such an influential leader when his philosophy just didn't make sense. We see him trying to recruit boys and men to his sect, yet he doesn't seem to truly succeed. His teachings of chaos just didn't have a purpose? The author could've explored the construction of toxic masculinity with the plot he came up with; instead, everything was left at surface and because of it, nothing came together in a way that shocked me.

But this is me being overanalytical; overall, like I mentioned, it's a fine book. It's just not much more than that.

2.5 stars

Your Life Is Mine by Nathan Ripley is a psychological thriller.
First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Atria Books, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Blanche Potter has tried to get on with her life. Her career as a filmmaker is taking off. But she can’t out-run the past. Changing her name, moving, having nothing to do with her mother…nothing has worked. She will always be the daughter of the serial killer/cult leader Chuck Varner. Even though he died when she was a child, he lives on in people’s minds.
When her mother dies, Blanche feels nothing but relief. The woman who had raised her until she was 16 was as much of a monster as her father had been. In the years since Blanche left home, her mother has been carrying on Chuck’s name, and enlisting followers. She recruited weak-minded people and filled their heads with the same propaganda her husband had spouted. She was grooming another mass murderer….

My Opinions:
I struggled with this book. I found it to be very slow, with little excitement until the end….and then still not enough.
The premise was good, and the characters were deep enough. I just didn’t really like any of them.
There’s not really anything major wrong with this book, but somewhere it just missed the mark for me.

this was an interesting, smart book. suspenseful and human, what becomes of a child growing up with a killer for a father, a self proclaimed cult leader. this book was almost a five for me, in the way it kept my interest throughout.

The daughter of a mass murderer turned cult inspiration is forced to return home when she learns her mother has been killed. Concerned about another potential mass killing, Blanche who is also a documentary film maker follows the clues until her own life is put in danger.

This was a good book, not great. The cult aspects were interesting but overall it just lacked impact. Blanche was the way she was due to her upbringing which unfortunately made her a rather cold and bitchy character. She’s the kind of woman who acts like a raging bitch when things don’t go her way, and then when anyone accuses her of being a bitch, she’ll say she’s acting like a boss and then call you sexist. She’s cold and unattached yet somehow cares enough to return home to confirm her mother is dead. Had she stayed away, none of what followed ever would have happened.

When you find out who the would be mass murderer is, it’s realistic yet impactless because his lack of involvement in the rest of the book. The only character who was likable was her best friend who disappeared for the first half. It was way too slow to develop and the lack of interesting characters made it hard for me to lock in and focus.

I didn’t dislike it, there was nothing majorly wrong with it, but I felt it could’ve been much more than it ended up being.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this title. Thought this was a good story, but it didn’t blow me away. I think I may be a bit burnt out on thriller type stories, as many seem to be having to reach harder to keep the readers surprised. The build up was a bot slow for my taste and at times a little predictable. If you haven’t read a ton of thrillers (or maybe have taken a break for a bit), I think this would be an enjoyable read!

3.5 stars.

Last spring, author Nathan Ripley set the world on fire with his sinister debut novel, Find You in the Dark, and so I could hardly wait to read his new release. Big thanks go to Net Galley and Atria for the review copy. Although this psychological thriller is a solid effort, there is an unevenness of quality that holds it back.

The opening is strong, both urgent and original:

Before a shooter is a shooter, he’s just a man in a room. It’s what follows that brings the background to the scene, to the way we remember it. The domestic dispute reports, the spotty employment record, the legal and illegal firearms history, the I-always-knew neighbors. Before all of that, he comes into the room with his gun, hidden or not, and he is a just a man. Chuck Varner was holding his daughter’s hand when he walked into the mall. My hand. He took me up that escalator and told me that he loved me. He told me to walk away from the mall and go back to my mom once he was done…I was seven years old.

Blanche Potter is a journalist, and she tells us that she is fine now. She has shed her horrifying past and her psycho parents like a ratty old coat, and her way of processing the experience that marked her childhood is by creating a documentary about it. The only person in her life now that knows who is she is, is her childhood friend Jaya. Jaya’s mother took Blanche in, introduced her to normal life. Jaya means everything to Blanche.

Unfortunately, another journalist has uncovered her past and is making demands. Emil Chadwick is the son of the biographer that spilled her family’s private details to the world back when Blanche was still a child; he threatens to out Blanche if she doesn’t cooperate with the work he is doing now.

The story is told in the first person primarily by Blanche, but it’s punctuated by Emil’s narrative and that of his mother Jill. We learn that Varner left followers that are still intent on fulfilling the mandate of chaos that Varner named “Your Life is Mine,” and at least one more mass shooting is in the offing. As Blanche untangles the truth, she reveals the secrets that she has withheld from her colleagues as well as her loved ones for all these years.

Blanche’s character is expertly handled, and of course she isn’t fine at all; she’s just good at compartmentalization. Ripley is deft as he introduces elements that tug at one fragile string and then another that are holding Blanche together emotionally. No one can read this story without believing Blanche and cheering for her, the plucky, bright young woman determined to proceed with her life despite a desperate, harrowing childhood.

But a thriller like this has to have a powerful resolution, and this one doesn’t. Within the last fifteen percent of the book, Blanche makes errors that don’t characterize her as we know her, and that cannot be accounted for by her development. The ending is more fizzle than boom, and to add insult to injury, Ripley moves to a third person narrative at the ninety percent mark; it’s awkward and jarring.

I like this author’s work and will continue to read it. As for you, I recommend you get it free or cheap, unless your pockets are deep ones.

When Blanche was a little girl she witnessed her father, a cult leader, kill nine people in a mass shooting in a mall. Two decades and a name change later, she's become a documentary film maker and thinks her old life and self are well past behind her. That is until her mother is murdered and she has to go back to her hometown as she's convinced her death is cult related and another mass shooting is gonna happen.

Though there's nothing wrong with the plot, characters or writing style this was just ok for me. We never get a clear sense of what the cult was all about in spite of being one of the main plot points and with that premise I thought it would've been a lot darker and creepier. There are a couple of good twists but the final one in which the killer's identity is revealed was quite disappointing.

All in all, a good not great mystery/thriller that you can easily read in a couple of sittings. I'll definitely check Find You In The Dark.

Your Life Is Mine made for a fun quick read on my recent trip to the beach. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers I am sure that this book is another which you will devour.

Blanche is a documentary film maker who has lived much of her life hiding who her father is. This is because he is the perpetrator of a large mass shooting and a cult leader. Blanche was raised by a mother who insisted that she was the chosen one to finish her fathers revolution and continued her training. However a reporter had managed to uncover who she is and has come to tell her that her Mother has been dead for a month.

Overall the story was fun and fast. One you will be sure to eat up. For me though it was just not my favorite thing to read this year.

Thank you to those tagged for this book in exchange for my honest review.

Your Life is Mine has everything I love in a book - good writing, compelling characters, and some nice twisty bits. I’m fascinated by cults, and the cult leader, Chuck, found here is perfectly created by Ripley. He has a very Manson-esque quality while remaining unique to this story.

Seeing how multiple lives are ultimately affected by this man’s ideas and manipulation is heartbreaking and fascinating all the time, especially when connections you don’t see at first come to light. I really enjoyed this book and have every intention of reading more by Nathan Ripley in the future.

I received a free e-copy of Your Life is Mine by Nathan Ripley from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for my review.

This novel was a slow burn, unfolding minute piece by minute piece. Sadly, sometimes the reader doesn't get those pieces at all. Since the book focuses on Blanche and how she has dealt with her father and the massacre he committed 20 years before, the reader does not get a solid view of the supposed cult he headed up. At no point is there a mention of meetings, of followings doing anything, etc. It just existed. And when he died, his wife carried it on, but somehow without Blanche's or anyone else's knowledge. The end result is me, stuck as a reader, between just enjoying reading what Mr. Ripley offered me to read, and wanting more.

This was so not what I expected. After reading the description I thought the story would be something more. I’m not even sure why I finished it...I suppose I was curious what will be the end but that was just nothing special.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

Your Life Is Mine by Nathan Ripley is a dark, twisted story! I loved it! The opening chapter was one of the most chilling I’ve ever read. I really enjoyed Ripley’s first book and was hoping this one would be as good.....it definitely is. This book is not for readers who like upbeat, happy books. Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Talk about a woman who can't go home again- and then does. Blanche has done everything possible to separate herself from her cult leader murderer of a father. But then her mother, who she has also been estranged from, reaches out before she too is murdered. Blanche can't not find out the truth because she carries a lot of guilt. There a narration by the murderer but you won't immediately guess the identity. Some twists some turns, a little creepiness. I would have appreciated a better sense of the father and his beliefs but on balance, a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book wasn't what I would categorize as a thriller or suspense (others may feel differently). For me, this was more of a slow mystery that made me think, trying to figure out who "The Boy" was and how Blanche fit in to the whole plan. It wasn't action-packed, but it kept my interest. I liked that the author slowly unveiled the connections that various characters had to Chuck Varner's cult. I thought he also did a good job capturing the essence of how cult followers feel about their leader and their beliefs.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

Thank you for my ARC book Netgally. The description is intriguing yet the story wasnt too bad. The book was a little slow for me. I really liked the character of Blanche.

You Life Is Mine is your average typical psychological thriller. The story isn't wow but it isn't bad either. The story just exist with like able characters and a average story line that readers who enjoy this type of thriller will be able to see the predictability of the the story. The characters do not stand out as memorable. The story moves slowly giving readers a chance to decided to stop readers or finish the book in hopes of twist they do not see coming. Unfortunately the story doesn't give readers the twist they are hoping for leaving the bored.



Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Atria Books for the advance copy of Nathan Ripley Your Life Is Mine

I really enjoyed my time with Find You In The Dark last year so when I saw a new title by Nathan Ripley I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to read it. I've been looking forward to pick it up ever since, especially with such an intriguing premise. I mean, the idea of having a cult in the spotlight and the main character being the daughter of the cult leader and mass shooter sounds both disturbing, twisted and absolutely fascinating! Now I've read it, I still think there is a lot to love in Your Life Is Mine, but in the end the story failed to convince me completely. A big part of this feeling had to do with the very slow pace during most of the story. The slow pace came as a surprise especially considering just how twisted things get at points... Especially in the second half you will find a lot of action as things are spinning out of control, but somehow the overall plot still feels slow? It sounds contradicting, but sadly it was how I felt about the story as a whole. The main characters of Your Life Is Mine are not easy to like, but I do admit they are all very intriguing. It was interesting to see Blanche react to such a messed up childhood and learn more about Chuck, Crissy and their cult ideas. The cult plays a role throughout the story even though we only see Chuck actively in the beginning, as followers keep his memory alive after the mass shooting in 1996. It's scary to think that the ideas of a man long dead can still have such an influence... There are quite a few twists and turns involved in Your Life Is Mine, but most are very easy to guess for those who regularly read (psychological) thrillers. And this fact kind of took the thrill out of the story for me. The end was also a bit too abrupt for me and I remember thinking: 'is this all?'. It wasn't particularly a satisfying ending for me, although I do get why the author decided to go down that road. Your Life Is Mine is by no means a bad read and it has some very interesting and twisted elements, but sadly it failed to stand out above other recent thrillers I've read. If you like the genre and don't mind a slow pace and easy to guess plot twists, you will probably enjoy your time with Your Life Is Mine.

Your Life is Mine by Nathan Ripley is a story of escaping your past but having it come back to haunt you in a severe way.

When Blanche's past shows up, a cult her father was the head of, she heads back to her home town investigate.

I thought there could be more to this book, it was easy to read but didn't grab me like I thought it would. I liked the idea of the book but I thought it could have been much more thriller - like.