Member Reviews

This book was okay but strange. In some spots it was really well done and in others you can tell it"s an indie, first time author. 2.5 stars rounded down. Sorry it's not a better review!

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I enjoyed this book. The main characters had a lot of chemistry and felt destined to be together. I felt there was to much unnecessary art talk and this took away from the romance. The ending felt very rushed.

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Thank y0u to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for this advance reader's copy of You Will Never Know by S.A. Prentiss.

I had high hopes for this book. I was mostly disappointed. There were some high points, including the plot, which was original enough that I hadn't figured out all of plot twists before they were revealed.

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Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a tough one for me. It was a fast, suspenseful read that I easily polished off in a day. Unfortunately, there was not a single likeable character. Everyone seemed to be out for themselves and I found myself surrounded by some very bad people. Not having anyone to root for or get behind, dramatically affected my interest in the book. There was also a side story taking place that didn't add to the story but did serve as a distraction from the main story. A psychological thriller with some much potential but it fell short of its mark.

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I really liked the idea for this book, but overall I found the story itself to be lacking. Most of the twists were fairly obvious and lacked the element of surprise. The characters were one dimensional and hard to connect with. If you are new to thrillers you would probably enjoy this book more than a seasoned thriller reader.

Note: I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you Netgalley for an copy of YOU WILL NEVER KNOW.
This book is crazy I know I shouldn't root for Jessica but I do. Gives a very GONE GIRL vibe, I enjoyed this book .

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This author is new for me so I was unsure of this book. I really liked thus book, it keep me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Full of deception, murder and loyalty.

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This books has more twists and turns than a roller coaster at an amusement park, some a saw coming and some were like a blind curve! The book started a bit slow for me, but once I got going I couldn’t stop.

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After a tumultuous early marriage, Jessica Thornton has found happiness and stability with Ted Donovan. They have each brought a teenager into their new blended family - his son Craig and her daughter Emma. Jessica works as a bank teller while Ted has a real estate agency. Life is good. Then one night, everything changes.

Ted comes home from a business meeting later than expected. He discovers that Craig and Emma are missing. When they return hours later, they have only a suspicious excuse. The next morning Sam Warner, a popular student and captain of the wrestling team, is found dead. He has been murdered. The police concentrate on a party Sam hosted at his home the night of his death while his parents were away. There are rumors that Emma was there as well as an angry father who threatened Sam. Now alibis fall apart and secrets are slowly revealed.

Jessica has another problem. Her former sister-in-law has hired a private investigator to look into her late husband’s death. He died when he hit a deer and crashed into a tree while driving drunk. She doesn’t understand why there is a need to reexamine the death but she agrees to meet the detective.

As this dark thriller concludes and we learn what really happened to Sam Warner, we see that things are not really what them seem. Neither things nor…people. This is a 4 star read. It was really hard, if not impossible, to find a character I liked.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penzler Publishers and S.A. Prentiss for this ARC.

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Thank y0u to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for this advance reader's copy of You Will Never Know by S.A. Prentiss.

I had high hopes for this book. I was mostly disappointed. There were some high points, including the plot, which was original enough that I hadn't figured out all of plot twists before they were revealed. Multiple narrators made for some interesting diversions from the main plot. What is the main plot? Essentially, a blended family where the members don't like or trust each other for the most part and a crime that could or could not have been committed by one of the members of said family.

Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with any of the characters they way they were written. The dialogue didn't sound natural or any way that actual people speak to each other in real life. Also, I deeply disliked all of the main characters from the start, meaning that I didn't empathize or care about any of them. This was a fast read, which is a plus, but I won't remember it in a month.

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After Jessica’s first husband dies in an accident, she struggled to make ends meet until she meets and marries Ted Donovan. Blending their two families together hasn’t been as easy as she was hoping, but she is happy in her new life. Jessica will do anything for her daughter, Emma, a track star with the world at her fingertips. When a classmate of Emma’s and her stepson, Craig, is murdered, her family comes under close scrutiny. Did one of them kill Sam Warner? This book was extremely predictable and filled with stereotypical characters of the genre, but it was a fast paced, quick read that I found to be diverting during this crazy time we live in!

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Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC. I liked the idea for this book, but the story itself was lacking. Most of the twists were obvious and lacked the element of surprise. The characters were one demensional and left me wanting more. If you are new to thrillers you would probably enjoy this book more than a seasoned thriller reader.

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Things are just a little shaky in Jessica's world. She's hopeful that her blended family- her daughter Emma and her new husband Ted's son Craig- will succeed. She's balancing work and school and family. Then, Sam, a classmate of the kids, is found shot in the forest. Who did it? Readers of the genre know that some old secrets will come out as the investigation heats up. You also know that Jessica might be an unreliable narrator. The plot line here isn't unique but the characters (once you get past the beginning which is slow) will draw you in. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers from me.

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Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher (Scarlet), and the author, S.A. Prentiss for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

I love reading books about blended families, how they all attempt to get along, and seeing which child becomes #1 and who gets pushed to the wayside. The further into this book I got, the secrets became more intense, the kids became a bit more standoffish, and I felt that the parents were soon beginning to hate their life. As with most blended families I did feel that each parent were pulling for their own biological child, however it never seemed like the family was actually a 'family'.

I did also feel that I knew the plot of the book within the first 1/3 of the book, and by the end of it, I did realize that I called it from the beginning, however the book was still a good read, and I enjoyed the authors writing style, and the plot of the book, although it was easy to catch onto.

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This was a quick read fraught with suspense- I read it in just over a day. It centers on Jessica, who once longed for stability but is now married and raising her daughter along with her husband of 3 years and his son. Things were going well until a classmate of her daughter/stepson is murdered and questions start swirling around where the kids were when it happened and what exactly their relationships were with the victim. Told almost entirely from Jessica's POV, the reader is able to get into her head and learn how she thinks throughout the book.

The mystery is good, though there was a side story around an investigator looking into the death of Jessica's first husband that I felt distracted me from the main story instead of added to it. I thought I had it all figured it pretty early but ended up being surprised a couple different times and changing my prediction. There were definitely a few times where I had to suspend my disbelief, though- curious things happen that are not followed up on, which felt very unlikely in real life.

I didn't find any character in this book to be likeable, but I think that was intentional. Everyone was looking out for themselves in one way or another and it was difficult to empathize with any of them. That being said, the story that unfolds is interesting and unexpected and really allows you a glimpse into the mind of some not-so-nice people.

Overall, I thought this was a good read and I'd recommend it to those who like phycological thrillers , domestic suspense, and mysteries. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you Netgalley, and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This book HAD me, with the blended family, the mother Jessica coming from an abusive past, and then finally finding her a new man who will give her the life she always wanted for her and her daughter, Ted and his son Craig. The secrets between everyone in this book was so INTENSE, yeap I loved all of that, but then the book started to fall short after seeing how oblivious Jessica was to think that her daughter was an angel, and only caring for her well being and no one else’s, that got SOO annoying. There was so much going on, that I felt like the characters had to turn from being sweet people to sounding like creepy-thriller like characters, that was so damn spooky. I would say give this book a chance, a lot things did take me by surprise, but the ending could’ve been a little better.

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I enjoyed certain aspects of this book -- it's always nice to see the blended family represented in fiction, for a start. The murder of a teenager that shakes a community is one of my favourite plot-lines. I liked the 'close to home' feel of the crime.

However, I couldn't get into the narrator's voice at all. I think because, overall, there were a lot of clichés typical to the thriller genre throughout the book, and the dialogue often felt unnatural, or like something out of a cheesy film than real life. Maybe it's because I've read A LOT of thrillers this year, but the twists also felt predictable.

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the story was pretty interesting with lots of unreliable narrators. not one person that was trustworthy in this mystery about a popular high school student being murdered and how it affect this blended family,

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Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

This book is about a murder of a high school wrestler and prestigious member of the community. The whole town is in shock. The same night of the murder Jessica's daughter and her stepson did not come home until 3:00 am. They claim they were on a scavenger hunt set up by mystery people. This book was full of twists that keeps your guessing.

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2* an OK read, but, not for me.

Jessica is on her second marriage, with a daughter she adores and a stepson she's very unsure of. Then she finds that her husband's business is failing and things start to crumble.

It's mainly a tale of family disparity, with a step sister and step brother who have difficulties and an overbearing mother in Jessica who seems overly obsessed with her daughter. Then, a school friend is murdered and things get darker.

It's an OK read, but, I found it uninteresting and with irritating characters and plot.

Thanks to NetGalley and WW Norton and Co for the opportunity to preview.

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