Another "thriller" focusing on a woman with an unstable family background and past that comes back to haunt her. Not exactly new ground but the characters were enjoyable enough and the dialogue felt pretty natural. I did feel like I've read something very similar before recently but I know it isn't possible it was this book.

Behind the Red Door was different from other thrillers. When you can't trust your own family, who can you trust? This was a definite page turner and I couldn't imagine how the book would end. I couldn't put it down until I found out the truth of who was behind Astrid's disappearance. The plot was different from others I've read since it dealt with an unreliable narrator who couldn't remember the past. I wasn't sure if her memory was correct or fabricated. Luckily all loose ends were tied up in the end. It was awful to read about what lengths people will go to for success and happiness. Good book!

Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced copy. I didn't 100% believe that Fern could block out the traumatic event which took away a bit for me. I was able to figure this part out early on but, still enjoyed and this was a very quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC.

This thriller was hypnotic. I knew I had to read it after reading The Winter Sister - and this did not disappoint. I love the way Collins weaves in the smallest clues that keep you guessing. Just when I thought I had it down, she threw another clue at me that made me question my suspicions. I highly recommend this one.

If you are able to suspend your disbelief and believe that Fern Douglas really was able to block out an event that is as dramatic and traumatic as a kidnapping, then you will likely really enjoy this book. I was able to figure out the big reveal/kidnapping situation fairly early on, but the author did a fantastic job of making me question myself and my theories. I read this book pretty quickly, and after I got over the fact that I didn't believe that something like BEING KIDNAPPED AND HELD HOSTAGE FOR A WEEK was just something you "forget", I was really able to get involved in the story. It held my interest the whole time, and I'd definitely recommend reading it.

Behind the Red Door, by Megan Collins is a twisty, gripping psychological thriller, that mainly follows the point of view of Fern, a Social Worker who works with Children at school in Boston, where she lives with her Dr. Husband. She travels back to Maine to assist her eccentric Father pack up for his unexpected move to Florida. As I found out more about Fern's upbringing and both eccentric parents, an artist Mother and Professor Father, who specializes in the study of Fear, I could see deeper into the anxiety ridden Fern and why she suffered so severely. Secondarily we learn about Astrid, who was abducted twenty years earlier at the age of 14 for roughly four weeks, wrote her memoir about that frightening time, and who, it seems, has been abducted again! Fern's obsession over feeling like she knows Astrid and is somehow linked to her sends her on a journey of repressed memories and the hunt for the missing Astrid. Ms. Collins does a wonderful job of skipping back and forth from the present to the past, both Fern's and Astrid's memories of the past to help find the missing woman and her abductor. I really enjoyed this novel, and I would like to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

A few red herrings, an unreliable narrator (as she calls herself) but this was a very quick read for me. There's a lot to unpack in the book and I wish after the reveal that more time would be spent with Fern but I know that might've been another few chapters. The pacing was good, the story moved, the lead character was engaging and I'm definitely itching my wrists.

First, thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this advance galley in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Isabel DaSilva for the personal invitation to read this very interesting story.

Behind the Red Door is the story of Fern Douglas, an adult, married woman with anxiety disorder that once you are introduced to her parents it will become clear why. Fern believes that she has a connection to the decades old kidnapping of Astrid Sullivan who was abducted near her home around the age of 14. When the woman is reported missing again at 34 years old, Fern begins having recurring nightmares in which a girl reaches out to her. Are they nightmares or memories. She feels compelled to find out. She returns home, ostensibly to help her father pack for an upcoming move. While at home, Fern becomes focused on learning more about what happened all those years ago and discovers unusual connections between herself and the missing woman. In the process, the alarming truth she uncovers will change not only Fern’s life, but others’ lives as well.

What I liked: Miranda did an excellent job of building suspense. While I suspected early on who the villain was in the story, how it all unfolded was really well done and really unsettling. To say any more would require a spoiler. Fern is such a good character – smart, yet vulnerable and endearing. After all she had endured she still exudes strength of character and hope.

What I didn’t like: Despite how the author tried to introduce other potential villains to throw the reader off the track, it was unwaveringly clear (to this reader) who the perpetrator was. I wanted to guess a little longer.

That said – it was a really powerful story, great characters – to love and dislike – and a story that keeps you pushing ahead to find out what happens. A compelling read for sure.

So, I thought this had a really good premise and I couldn't wait to dive in. Unfortunately, I thought this veered off of the description too much. It IS about what it says, no doubt, but the end result (s) seemed incredibly far fetched to me. Also, and this is just my opinion only, I couldn't seem to rally behind any of the characters. Of course what happens to two of them is heartbreaking, but the characters themselves weren't likable enough to make me FEEL what I should for them. While the situation they faced was horrible, I didn't like THEM. Without giving too much away, I felt in the beginning that Astrid sounded entitled and I was right. Maybe the author made her that way on purpose. I'm not sure.


With all that being said, I still think this book will do well when it releases. I think a lot of people will enjoy it and quite frankly, I want it to do well. Ms. Collins is very interactive and polite with her followers on Instagram and I wish her the very best with it. Releases August 2020. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher. No review was required.

<i>Behind the Red Door</i> is a deeply disturbing thriller about two mysteries - a kidnapping from twenty years ago and a present day kidnapping; the same woman is abducted both times. What makes this novel even more twisted is that main character Fern, believes that she knows the abducted woman from her childhood—though she has no real recollection or collaborations of ever really meeting her in real life. She only has vivid dreams and memory fragments.

While Fern returns to her hometown in hopes of regaining some of these memories, she is also faced with her family and the traumatic childhood she had. <i>Behind the Red Door</i> is a poignant, deep-seeded thriller with many twists, turns and trauma. The author does an excellent job of weaving through two stories - both Fern’s and of the kidnapped woman’s past and present.

Despite wanting to shake the narrator and point out the OBVIOUS, it was alright. I liked it better than the Winter Sister which was a little melodramatic, if I’m remember correctly. Some stuff was a little frustrating here too. But I think there was enough good things to balance it out.

Fern sees the news about a woman who has disappeared, Astrid Sullivan. The thing is, Astrid disappeared for a short time when she was a teenager, and had released a memoir about it shortly before her second disappearance. Fern can't recall ever hearing about the first disappearance, but regardless, Astrid seems very familiar to her. During a visit to her hometown to help her father pack up his belongings for an impending move, Fern begins to put together the pieces of exactly how she knows Astrid, as well as how Astrid disappeared this time.

WOW. This book had it all: twists, multiple red herrings, and a gripping and suspenseful story. I loved it, and couldn't put it down. I never knew (until the last 10% of the book) if I was guessing even remotely closely at the conclusion or if I was way off. I love when a suspenseful book keeps me guessing like that, and it was perfect.

During these challenging COVID-19 times, a good book is a wonderful way to escape the monotony of staying at home and working. I've actually been working more during this time than the "before", so I was looking for a book that would capture my attention and not let go and Behind the Red Door is THAT book - the one that you can't put down and keeps you up well into the night. I read this book in one sitting and stayed awake until 1am because I just couldn't stop. It has everything you want in a thriller while being fresh from some of the others that are on the market. After reading this, I started reading a bunch of thrillers and have finally put my reading slump behind me and I'm so thankful! Read this book as soon as you can, you won't regret it.

When Fern Douglas sees the newspaper and reads Astrid Is missing again, twenty years later she is devastated. She doesn't know Astrid but there's a familiar pull.
Fern starts getting flashbacks as she gets nearer to her hometown. She is helping her father pack up the house for his move to Florida. Her father is a fear psychologist and has been running experiments on Fern as long as she can remember. Her parents are not typical parents. They've let her know they never wanted children and they never nurtured or cared for her like parent normally do with children.
Fern's flashbacks indicate she was kidnapped and held with Astrid. She doesn't have the whole story but she's hoping she can trigger memories that will help her find Astrid.
A psychological thriller that has every twist and turn you can imagine.
Excellent read!

I don't know what it was about this book that compelled me so much. It was predictable, formulaic, and just like most mysteries. However, I could not put it down. Early on I guessed the twist in the story but something about the character development continued to make me read and compulsively so. Everything about this book should not have worked and yet, it was amazing.
I was spellbound by the descriptions of the main character's anxieties, and could not stop reading this book even when it was WAY too late at night.
Collins deftly weaves a story that will keep you up late, and sincerely makes you wonder if you are also lost in the story with Fern.
The plot revolves around Astrid, who was abducted as a child, and is suddenly abducted once again as an adult after the release of her memoir about her kidnapping.
The writing is superb, though the story is somewhat rote. This book will keep you occupied, which is something I think all of us are looking for - a little bit of escapism.

Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Fern is happily married and living in Boston when her very odd father calls and says that he needs help moving. This brings her back to her childhood home at a time when a woman, Astrid, who lived in the same town as a girl and was kidnapped but released as once again gone missing. Astrid has recently released a book about her kidnapping and while Fern is reading it, she thinks she may have been the second girl that was held with Astrid.

This was a well written novel that I mostly enjoyed. I had a little trouble getting into it but once I got over the hump, I liked it. Fern’s father Ted was an interesting and awful character and I could see how being raised by someone like him would lead Fern to having anxiety and start to believe things about her parents that may or may not have been true. Overall an interesting premise that was pretty well executed.

This is the first book I have read by Megan Collins! Holy Cow....what a great story. I read this book over a weekend, and just when I thought I had it figured out, the story changed again. I could not put this down. I am looking forward to going back and reading her debut novel. I cannot wait to purchase and recommend this book to everyone! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Megan Collins is a master of writing characters who are both really unlikeable but really compelling.

Fern's inner monologue is uncomfortable...but it's because her voice is so solid. What an interesting rabbit hole to go down, living in the headspace of a person who has been traumatized on purpose by her family. Interesting, and horrifying--Collins hits the correct balance of wanting to look away, but not being able to. Somehow you still care about Fern and her discoveries that lead deeper and deeper down the well of her own childhood memories.

The dual discovery timeline worked really well for me. I loved solving "both" mysteries by the end.

While I guessed the perpetrator early in the book... the trip to finding out HOW it all came together/happens is worth the read. It didn't detract one iota from my enjoyment of the book, and Collins does a masterful job of throwing *just* enough red herring into the plot that you question your own well-grounded suspicions.

This book kept me up reading way too late, which is saying something considering I have two small children.

Megan Collins is a beautiful writer, and she does unsettling family dynamics better than almost anyone. BEHIND THE RED DOOR is the kind of chilling, compulsively readable novel you'll devour in a night—but also the kind that will leave you thinking about its characters long after you've closed the book.

When I first started this book, I thought for sure it would be a 5 star read for me. It had everything I love in a psychological thriller and it is a MAJOR page-turner! I do love how Megan Collins writes and I think she had a fabulous concept in this story. But if I'm to be totally honest, I figured it out in the first couple of chapters. I kept thinking, no, that can't be it and for that reason, I kept going and turned page after page. And because I'm not good at plotting, I assumed I had it wrong, lol.

Still, it's a good read with great characters and a really intriguing premise.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.