What a read! It is suspenseful and sometimes just plain weird. Emily Proudman aspires to be an actress but somehow always seems to screw up her auditions. She is also the receptionist for Proem, an investment company, but ends up getting fired. Facing eviction from her apartment, her former boss and head of Proem, Scott Denny, offers her a job at his estate in France. The job would be as housekeeper, gardener, part-time nanny, decorator, etc. She accepts the job and is in awe at the beauty of the estate although some of it seems to be in disrepair. Emily is to live in the guest house and is told by Scott's wife, Nina, that she is never to come into the main house. Daughter Aurelia is nonverbal and supposedly has a sun allergy so she is dressed in long clothing and a large hat at all times. As times goes on, Emily notices how strange things are around there and she decides to go into the main house and do some snooping. There are lots of surprises in this book which I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book, which turned out to be a page turner for me, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for this beautiful ARC. I loved the cover which drew me in right from the beginning. I wasn’t sure if this was a thriller or a mystery or a drama and it definitely caught my attention. The story is about a girl who goes to work for a secluded family estate. The husband hires her to go help the wife restore the old estate and watch his daughter. The main character, Emily, has no idea what she is getting into but she has nothing left for her in London.

Thoughts: I liked the writing style of this book and thought the premise was extremely interesting. It started off really slow for me and it was very hard to get into the book in the beginning. I did want to see where the story took me and I felt that it picked up as it went along. There were lots of mysterious details that made you wonder what was going on, but the story took a bit too long to reveal itself. I liked the setting of an old creepy house, and wished that there were more suspenseful moments.

I enjoyed learning about the characters, and felt that they were interesting and unique. Reading about them made you want to dig deeper. The ending was pretty anticlimactic and I think there could have been a lot more done with the finale. It left you feeling unsatisfied and a bit let down. Nevertheless, it was an intriguing premise and a fun beginner mystery. 3-stars

This was really good. As the summary suggests, young Emily gets an opportunity of a lifetime to set her own underwhelming life aside to become hired help at a beautiful, secluded estate. She words hard at her tasks while always feeling something isn't quite right. The obligatory twist unfolds expertly from the author, Anna Downes. I haven't read her work before but certainly will again. Yes, twisty, but still within reason. The characters motives are always well-explained and believable. Finally, as the author ties up all of the ends, she does so in a way that is completely satisfying with seeming patronizing. I enjoyed this thoroughly and recommend it highly. Thank you to Minotaur Books/Netgalley for the ARC of this title.

Emily Proudman wants to be an actress, but can't seem to break in to the business. Then she loses her office job; then she gets evicted. Life is going downhill until she runs into Scott Denny, the CEO of the company where she just lost her job. He offers her a job at his estate in France to help his wife with everything from watching their daughter to renovations at the house. Although she isn't quite sure about it, she has nothing to lose since she has no job and no place to live right now.

However, as in lots of psychological thrillers, things aren't quite what they seem. Something seems off to Emily, but living at the estate is like a dream come true.

We get perspectives from Emily and Scott, as well as what is most likely Scott's wife Nina, so you can quickly discover there are dangerous secrets being kept. I thought the ending was a bit predictable, but I enjoyed the book and the story and characters were intriguing.

What a fine book about an eery situation.I liked it a lot. It was a different kind of “suspense“ novel then the ones I usually read.. Page turner!

My Thoughts
This book was a quick read and the plot was relatively interesting; however, I had a few issues with it. Here are my pros and cons for The Safe Place:

Pros

1. The author creates an amazing sense of unease throughout the first half of the book. Everything seems to be perfect for Emily with her new job in France, but there is an underlying stench to everything (literally) and the author lets the tension of the situation build nicely.
2. I did not anticipate the reveal. I didn’t have any pre-conceived notions at all about where the story was going and I think that was a good thing.
3. Aurelia is creepy!

Cons

1. Even though I didn’t have any preconceived notions about where the story was headed, once everything was revealed it felt a little dull to me. There was potential there that wasn’t quite realized and the ending was a bit anti-climactic. I wasn’t wowed and I wanted to be wowed.
2. We get very little information about Nina to really understand her motivations or issues. There just wasn’t enough there for me to feel any connection at all with her character.
3. All characters were just a tad flat and superficial in my opinion.

Summary
I always enjoy reading books from new authors and I think this is a solid debut. A 3-star rating from me means that I generally liked the book, but I don’t think it will be particularly memorable for me.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a relatively light, quick thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for a free eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Emily’s life has always in her eyes been a constant struggle. She lost her temp job, her acting agent, and her apartment all in one miserable day.

Until Scott her boss at the temp job chases her down and makes her have a full blown panic attack. All he wants to do is offer her another job, he tells her it was a mistake she was fired but he has a better job for her that no temp agency could fill for his family.

She is swept off to France where she will take on the roll of being his families housekeeper, she then soaks up all the day long swimming, the occasional redecorating of the guest, taking care of animals, etc. She falls head first into the beautiful weather along with the daily wine drinking. But there is no WIFI, no phones, no one around them anywhere and she isn’t allowed to speak of the place they live when she goes to the market.

She senses one day that Scott and Nina are holding onto a very deep and dark secret as their daughter can’t be as ill as they let on.

My review: I absolutely loved this story. It had me inhaling the pages and words. The story line was like nothing I have ever read before. I was enjoying this magical place called Querencia. I was lost in the friendship between Nina and Emily, how Emily fantasized about being with Scott, just all of it had me feeling like I was there.

Until the day that Emily takes off the blinders and sees what is really happening around her for the first time in 6 weeks since she has been at Querencia.

Is Emily’s life now in danger? How can she get away? No passport, no phone, no exit!!!!

I was so excited to be approved for an ARC for The Safe Place.
First, it was the cover that got my attention and the it was the blurb!

Was it this book a life changing book. Of course not. Was this book predictable, yes. Was this book the perfect distraction from all the doom and gloom of what is going on today? Hell yes!
This is Anna Downes first novel and its a solid debut novel.

I liked the original story line but could not fully immerse myself in the plot. The characters of Emily and Scott were not likeable to me, although others loved Emily's growth from beginning of book to end. I personally did not. I am in the minority in this one as being a perfect thriller. Little Aurelia's character does not flesh out well and Nina's handling by Scott is a mystery. Don't get me wrong I still would recommend because of the descriptive writing. The setting was perfectly written in my opinion -you could almost smell the decay when Emily first arrives at the seemingly beautiful south of France location of Querencia:).
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read and review

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Minotaur for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I was hooked into this story from the beginning. The allure of what is really going on had me turning the pages until the end. I was, however, left with some unanswered questions at the end. Anna Downes sets you up for a thrilling ride that took a few turns I wasn’t expecting from a typical thriller.

I'll admit the premise of Emily hit a little too close to home, which is what probably drew me to the book. I put it down a couple times because it didn't seem to be drawing me in; also I think I was a bit distracted. At some point I've no idea when I found I couldn't put it down! I even took a half day off work so I could finish it LOL. Terrific story, devious characters and really well written. Thank you so much!

Loved the premise and that's what hooked me in to read this one.

Certainly an interesting story. However it did fall a little short of my expectations. I could see where the story was leading, but felt a little frustrated at the time it took to get there. And the payoff at the end wasn't quite to a level I was hoping.

Truthfully, I didn't really look into this one too much before reading it. I quickly read the synopsis and saw all the early buzz about it so was excited to give it a read. It wasn't at all what I was expecting but I really enjoyed it.

This was a bit of a slow burn, a lot of character and plot development but done in such a way you couldn't help but keep turning the pages. It was confusing and weird in the best way. Certain parts were a little bit predictable but it didn't take away from the story for me.

The story is told by Emily, a down on her luck, struggling actress. Her former boss Scott and Scott's wife, Nina. Scott offers Emily a job that seems to good to be true. He asked her to be a live in helper for his wife on their beautiful estate in France where she lives with her daughter with serious medical conditions since he's often gone due to work. Once she's there things don't seem as perfect as they once appeared!

There were a couple of questions I feel like I still have at the end of the book but mostly was super happy with the ending. Overall this was a quick and easy read that I definitely recommend!

COMES OUT JULY 14TH 2020

TW: self-harm!!!! can't believe it's not mentioned, it is not even a spoiler.

So this book wasn't as thrilling as it could have been for pretty much three fourths of the book. Where was the anxiety inducing suspense? The urgency? The creepy feels? I was waiting for something to happen during the supposedly hair-raising moments we were given (pretty much the few times she went inside the family house) — like Nina catching her, or her breaking something or anything that would have added some spice to the thrilling part of the story! But of course, nothing of the sort happened, and I was NEVER truly scared for Emily during her snooping around.

The story suffered from clichés (the setting, the characters, the romance…) and plot points that have been overused recently in the thriller/mystery genre. If I have to read another story where the phone runs out of battery when this could have been clearly avoided, I’m gonna scream!

I think the writing is not terrible but it's not great; it's very melodramatic and over-the-top. The pace of the story was also very slow and it took too long for the story to become somewhat tense and suspenseful. I personally didn’t mind the plot and found it interesting, but I can definitely see some readers be bored by its predictability and its lackluster characters. I also did not like the romantic aspect and thought it was unnecessary and reaaaaally annoying to have in the background.
The ending was… interesting. Not sure if it was satisfying, though. Also, two things that were left unanswered:
– were some of the flashbacks Emily's past?
– what was the story about the body discovered in the woods?

Oh lastly, I would have really appreciated some indicator of time at the beginning of chapters as sometimes you really couldn't tell whether it was from the past or the present until you had read a few paragraphs.

This is the perfect summer read, set in a beautiful vacation estate home in France, where everyone can relax and be themselves. It’s isolated, no internet, no neighbors, the perfect getaway or the perfect trap? Let’s see. One of our characters Emily, has a really, really bad day, losing her job when her boss, Scott, offers her a new opportunity to be the housekeeper/personal assistant for him and his wife Nina at the family’s home. When bad things start to happen, we want to shout at unsuspecting Emily who finally catches on that not everything is as it appears. . The writing was actually very good and the characters were well written and I could see them clearly from their perspectives. Although a little predictable, I enjoyed the trip and was satisfied by the ending.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes is...in a word excessive.
I’m sure the intention behind the lessons of this story were great, but the execution fell short. My biggest take away from the whole thing was to love and appreciate your parents. But that’s a lesson that could have been reached in a multitude of different ways.

I read a review that stated the ending was anticlimactic, and for a little bit at the end I thought this reader had been wrong. But no, I was wrong.
I will say, for a debut novel it’s not terrible, but the thrill and suspense are sorely lacking. The quality of writing is great, and there are few errors I found. There is one glaring inconsistency that was upsetting to see- I’ll never understand how these things are missed.

For a good portion of the book you’re strung along thinking that this is just a strange story about some weird, dopey, homely girl(Emily), and a very wealthy man(Scott). He hires her to work at his estate in France as a “do-all” type, and it’s all a bit strange. Emily is tasked with maintenance type tasks, and the like. However, childcare is a weird handle in and of itself. Aurelia is an eccentric little girl, who gives off some sinister vibes.

Once the suspense starts to build, all the answers come out at once. There were very few hints or clues along the way to give the readers something to hold on to- to try and figure out. There was a small “oh my gosh” moment, that turned out to not be as relevant as I’d hoped.

I’m left feeling very unsatisfied by this book, as a whole, but especially the ending. I’m quite disappointed, because I felt so much promise when I requested a copy to review.

I did enjoy the writing style, and would likely give Anna Downes another go in the future- but I say save your money on this one.

Buckle up. This one is an incredible twisty read that will rival your favorite theme park ride. There are plot twists inside plot twists on top of more plot twists. It will have you muttering “what are they thinking” more than once and constantly changing who you believe the protagonist is and making you twinge with guilt over feeling compassion for the antagonist. Definitely one to preorder!

Sometimes isolation can be good for the soul but it is important to always be able to stay connected to and find your way back to those who you can count on. When Emily was offered a job at a remote and beautiful home in a remote location that she always dreamed of visiting she jumped at the chance to disconnect and start over.

Unplugged could be amazing and refreshing but also get lonely. When Emily starts noticing strange things for the family she works for I think the loneliness causes her to second guess herself.

The Safe Place had just the right amount of mystery to be suspenseful but not scary. This book was paced perfectly with the action unfolding with perfect timing. I would have enjoyed reading a little more backstory on Yves but I can also see how his mysteriousness added to the suspense of the plot.

I loved this book and would definitely recommend it!

Thank you #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of #TheSafePlace in exchange for my honest opinion.

"The smallest thing can change your life. Just one decision can open so many doors. You can walk through any one of them - or all of them at once - and become a completely different person. And just like that, nothing is ever the same again."

The Story: Emily Proudman is down on her luck. She has no job, no acting agent, and at the verge of getting evicted from her apartment. Her foster mom, Julie, is not going to bail her out again. Her life is falling apart fast, until Scott Denny, the CEO of the company which just fired her, offers her a job as a live-in housekeeper at his remote estate on a coast of France. Emily quickly accepts the dream job. As Emily is slowly settling in Querencia, she begins to feel something is not right about the place. Scott's wife, Nina, and their six year-old daughter, Aurelia, begin to make her feel uneasy too. Everything feels perfect and safe yet it is not.

My Thoughts: This is one gripping slow-burn suspense thriller and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The writing held my interest and there were so much suspense in the story! I just had to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next. As for the plot, I think it is a pretty clever one although you could somewhat figured it out halfway through. This did not take away my enjoyment though. There are enough twists and turns in the story to keep you at the edge of your seat! The ending, oh my goodness, was an unexpected one! The Safe Place is definitely one of the best thrillers I've read this year!


Pub. Date: 14 Jul, 2020

***Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this gifted review copy in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed in this review are my own and was not influenced by the author, publisher or any third party.***

This book was a quick and fairly enjoyable read for me. The majority of the book is set in a private French estate and it sounded beautiful. ⁠
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The Safe Place featured dual narration between Scott, a wildly successful CEO and a struggling actress and temp Emily. Everything in Emily's world is falling apart, she even looses her temp job when the CEO Scott tells her he has the perfect job for her. It's helping to care for his french estate with this wife and daughter but things feel a bit too perfect. ⁠
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Emily felt like a girl in a horror movie, the one who you find yourself yelling at to not go down the basement or ignore her gut. ⁠
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For me the book was just a little too predictable. The pace was a little off as well. I enjoyed reading it but probably wouldn't ever pick it back up. ⁠
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Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for a review copy of this beautiful book. ⁠
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