I really enjoyed this. It was certainly heavy material at times, but overall it carries itself well. The less you know about it going into it, the better.

Just found out it's going to be made into a movie. That should be interesting. I can see a lot of content having to be changed, cut out or only vaguely alluded to because of the giant stick up the MPAA's butt.

Which is then a little unfortunate, because the reveal in the third act (well, one of them - the final one, maybe?) is one that illicits such a strong reaction from our main character and sanitizing what can be shown.

That said, it seemed no one knew the whole story, just their parts of it, what they experienced - like they never talked to each other about it. Which is weird. So there seems to be some itty bitty plot holes around that.

All that said though, I had a great time trying to figure this book out, then giving up and going for a ride. Anyone who decides to check it out should be aware of the drug use and the childhood sexual abuse that's mentioned. Tough topics to have in any title, and doubly so here.

4/5

As emotional as it is suspenseful, Safe tells a story that grabs hold of the heart as well as the brain. Moments of unspeakably dark material are handled expertly by Barnett as the story weaves the past into the present and questions whether someone can feel safe outside, or inside, of a family.

Safe is likely not for everybody as it includes descriptions of all the many forms of child abuse in multiple parts of the book. While never done in a gratuitous way, the descriptions are sometimes quite graphic. Sensitive readers may struggle with some of the content, as this is a rollercoaster ride of a story. Just as you are ready to relax into the story and the unique characters, suddenly you are hit with twists, turns, and moments of tremendous intensity! For example, if the television show Criminal Minds, in particular their descriptions of crimes and criminal behaviour, is too intense or uncomfortable for you, then tread carefully. The intensity level is similar in some parts of the story.

Jenny has been missing since she was six years old. One day in her happy, quiet neighbourhood, she simply disappeared while walking to a friend’s house less than a block away. Now it is twelve years later, and Jenny has returned home out of the blue. Her parents (as ANY parents would) welcome her back with open arms. But her story of escaping her captors after all these years just doesn’t seem to ring true with her brother. In truth, her story hasn’t quite satisfied police detectives either. But the joy of having Jenny back home, and for Jenny herself being home safe and sound, is too great to let any doubts in.

Questions and concerns do start to mount, however, and there seems to be somebody watching Jenny after her return. Where has he been? After all these years, why was she able to escape and return now?

With Safe, Barnett is able to take what could have been old, very familiar territory and give it so many new and unexpected twists that it spins off into truly unpredictable directions. This binge-worthy tale genuinely brings new ideas, twists, and plots to the table, just when you least expect it.

This wild ride of a story, that manages to still be heart-tugging and deep, crescendos to a climax you will not see coming. DreamWorks has purchased the film right to this book, and in the right hands it may be an outstanding film!

What the heck did I just read??? This book blew my mind! Six year old Jenny Kristal walked down the street to play at her friends house and she was never seen again. The police investigated but they couldn’t find any clues and soon her case goes cold. Fast forward twelve years later and suddenly she’s back and it appears to be a miracle! Its immediately clear she had to deal with trauma and abuse while she was gone , but her parents are glad to have the family back together except her brother Ben he makes its known he doesn’t believe this is really Jenny something seems off . Immediately Jenny begins to receive emails informing her she’s not safe in the home, the more time she spends in the home Jenny begins to wonder if maybe her new found family are hiding some dark secrets. As we peel back the layers of the disappearance and dive into the family dynamic we begin to see the cracks they start out small and soon the floor begins to crumble! I was absolutely drawn in, the book was a rollercoaster of emotions. I do want to warn readers there were triggers of child abuse. This was an amazing thriller and be prepared to not be able to put this book down! Five stars! Available June 9th 2020!!

The Kristal family is forced to faced their worst fear when their six year old daughter, Jenny, is kidnapped on her way to a friend's house. After 12 years, a young woman comes forward saying that she is Jenny Kristal. Of course, any family would be thrilled for their abducted daughter to be returned safely. Eventually, Jenny starts getting emails that she is not safe in the house. Altering reading the synopsis of the book and so many excellent ratings, I knew that this was a book I didn't want to miss out on. As as parent of two little girlsmyself, this book definitely made me think what I would do in the parents' situation. Once I started reading Safe, it was so hard to put down. The book is pretty fast-paced, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. When the final twists were revealed at the end, I was like, "WHAT?!" This is one of those books that you want to buddy read with someone so you can talk about what is happening as you read. It was dark and twisty and disturbing. Something felt "off" with the Kristal family, and the author does a good job of creating suspicion without giving it all away. There are definitely scenes and parts of this book that were hard to stomach and made me feel queasy. It wasn't full of blood and gore, just unimaginable things happening to a little girl. Readers are definitely buzzing about this book and it's definitely worth a read! Thank you @duttonbooks @skbarnettauthor @the_grateful_read @netgalley for this book!

Now thankfully I can take long breaths because since I took this book into my hands: I forgot how to breath, blink, form a word: my eyes wide open, my nails, oh yes they‘re long gone, my hair looks like I stuck my finger in an electrical outlet: in the air, smoky, my eyes: popped out of the sockets, feet: tapping, fists clenching.

My husband was scared of my appearance during my reading and locked himself in the bathroom, talking with his therapist on the phone ( bastard also stole my last bottle of Chardonnay and two bags of my Doritos which I hid in the oven-we never use it so I thought he never finds out-) WTH I just read and right now I’m dying to know the identity of the author! But I’m so sure he or she (my guts tells me: he) will get another movie adaptation agreement sooner because this book has so many potential to become dazzling, mind-blowing, couch-breaking, soul-captivating thriller movie. I already thought Ella Fanning as the leading actress and Jaeden Martell as Ben.

I’m giving five blazing, exciting, unputdownable, hurray this book is glued to my hands and my mind and I cannot stop thinking about it stars!
I’m gonna summarize the plot without giving any vital spoilers so you don’t have to boo me, block me or curse me!

Jenny Kristal, kidnapped when she 6 and she’s back after 12 years to her family’s home. Her mother Laurie and father Jake are happy for the reunion and they don’t question much what happened to her throughout those 12 freaking years or if she is telling the truth about her identity.

But when her brother Ben arrived at home to meet with her, he just freezes and rejects to talk to her till he starts making sneaky comments and talking about the false memories about their childhood to confuse her mind. Ben thinks she is not her sister. Is he right?

Is new Jenny who is traumatized, abused, sexually assaulted girl living in their house, acting like a part of the family is Frederic Bourdin ( I mean “imposter” and for the record: I highly recommend the documentary from 2012 with the same name) And of course Jenny starts getting emails from a facebook account warning her that she is not safe in the house. Could she put herself into danger by taking her steps into Kristal family’s house? Nothing seems crystal clear about them. Which one of them is telling the truth? If the girl who claims she’s Jenny is a doppelganger, where is the real Jenny?

So many questions, so many twists and surprising, head spinning ending make your reading experiment so much better at each chapter. Try to relax yourself before reading the last high tension chapters ( do some yoga moves without hurting your muscles and repeating a mantra like “this book is not disturbing”, “we’re not in quarantine, this is Truman Show and there is hidden camera positioned behind your bathroom mirror’’) because pacing gets incredibly fast and your heart rate may hit the roof and soar through the chimney, vaporize into thin air.

Overall: I loved it! One of the best thrillers of the year and I highly recommend it to genre lovers.

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP/Dutton for sharing this exhilarating ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

An un-put-downable, all-consuming psych thriller!

This felt like a really fresh thriller and I read it compulsively in about two sittings. At first, it seemed like your run-of-the-mill missing child story, but it was NOT. There were so many twists, turns, and "oh shit" moments. I highly recommend this one!!

When you first start reading this book you may think it’s just another missing child story and that it’s been done before. Well, you would be wrong because the author managed to take a commonly used subject and flip it on it’s head and I am SO into an original and fresh thriller! This was compulsive, exciting and had me changing my theories multiple times, is there anything better than being on the edge of your seat AND being kept on your toes at the same time?!

If I could, i would give this book more than 5 stars. This book deserves ALL the stars. Dynamically written. Excellent story. I read it in a day. I ignored the TV. I could not stop reading. And wait for the ending...it will grab you and not let go!

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin, and Dutton for providing me the e-book to review.

Safe by S.K. Barnett is a fast-paced thriller about Jenny, who was kidnapped at age 6 and has now returned home 12 years later. Although you'd think she would feel much safer being back in her childhood home with her family, it quickly becomes clear that both Jenny and her parents have something to hide.

Safe has a gripping, unique plot that makes it hard to put down. I love a thriller with a twisty ending, and this one definitely delivered! Although Jenny was an interesting, well-developed character, her family and friends were a little flat. There were some parts to the story that were a little too unbelievable but overall I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to fans of thrillers with big twists.

I really wanted to enjoy this as I'd read good things about it, but unfortunately, it just didn't grab me. I found the writing jumped around a lot and I'd lose focus on what was going on. I also didn't love the author's tendency to throw in a number of pop culture references; it seemed odd to me that "Jenny" knew so much about cell phones and current culture and that no one seemed to notice (might that not be odd for a kidnap vicitm?). I might give this another try later, but I've read stronger titles similar to this.

There is a lot of exciting hype surrounding this book, so I was so grateful to be given access to the e-galley. It has a thrilling premise and hooked me easily. I may be alone in this, but I felt like it dragged a little with gruesome details and all the great plot twists were too rushed into the end. Although I agree this is definitely a must read.