Member Reviews
I’ll admit, I felt this book was a bit slow at first. But it soon picks up and keeps you wanting more. Well written and thought out. This is a fast paced novel that keeps you guessing till the end.
I devoured this book I'm a few hours. Cassie, a women with obsessions, gets a job working at a temp agency and quickly discovers a way to break into and obsess over a man's accounts. She begins to stalk him and even forms a relationship with him. Wonderful twist at the end. A must read!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Are you tired of reading thrillers about hapless women with strong moral compasses? Then, you should check out Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron. Cassie Woodson is a temp worker at a law firm with secrets in her past. In her free time, what she loves doing is reading the private emails of lawyers at her firm. One email in particular catches her eye, and she' becomes convinced that the sender, Forest, is the perfect man for her, even though he's already married. Cassie is morally ambiguous, flawed, and her personality is a bit on the evil side. While reading this book, I actually started rooting for her, even though she's an attempted homewrecker. Cassie's sarcastic inner monologue reminded me of #fashionvictim, another thriller with a morally grey protagonist. I took one star off, because the beginning of the book is too wordy for my taste. The action really starts to pick up in the second half, and then it's twist after explosive twist. I really enjoyed reading this book, particularly the second half, and I highly recommend it to fans of #fashionvictim and other books in the thriller genre.
Wow, what a captivating read! I could not put this down and read in just one day, well past bedtime. Such a fast paced ride with a great ending that I did not see coming. The plot was a refreshing, original concept. I felt I was getting into a reading slump reading the same old tired plotlines but this really lifted me out of that dreaded slump. Looking forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the advanced reading copy
Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron is the first book I have read by this author. It was an interesting read and was well written, but I couldn’t really get in to it because I didn’t like any of the characters. Thanks Netgalley for this arc.
Cassie is a lawyer. well, she was. But something happened at her plush law firm and now she's temping. She gets a job that she considers beneath her. She hates this temp job, coming to work everyday as a temp, now one of the lowly workers she used to ignore when she was high on the totem pole. She has made exactly one connection there- another temp named Dalton. It is he that first brings it to her attention that the emails they are reviewing can have some interesting gossip in them. Cassie soon realizes she has a number of interesting emails in her workload as well- and they are all from one inbox belonging to Forrest. She's enamored with Forrest and his correspondence with his wife. They seem so perfect and she wants that for herself. She sets up to learn all she can about him, and eventually manipulates a meeting. Will Cassie get what she wants?
This writing was a different style than i am used to and i really enjoyed it. It was interesting to be inside the mind of someone that's nor really all together. I appreciated that even though i knew Cassie's actions were wrong, the author still made me root for her. And while there was a bit of a twist, i didn't predict it until very near the end of the book. i appreciated that the ending was not obvious and i look forward to more from this author.
Thanks to Net Galley and :Lindsay Cameron for this book.
This was an interesting read. I loved the conflict of the heroine/anti heroine combination. You wanted to not like Cassie for being so obsessive and compulsive in being a stalkerish unhinged woman, but at the same time it appealed to that independent with a touch of psycho crazy vibe fulfillment! One thing I didn't like is at some point around the halfway to 3/4 mark I was getting lost and detached from the story not meshing well with how it rolled together with the death of someone Cassie knew to what it had to do with her obsession. I would've liked a smoother transition, and I figured out earlier than I would've like where the book was going. I don't mind predictable with a twist though I thought it could've been a little more in depth to the ending to make it more explosive. Overall decent read! Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review with my honest opinions!
I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review
Cheesy but fun; goes down smooth and quick. 3.5 rounded up
I was so excited to receive an early copy of this one as the subject matter is my absolute favorite! Nothing like a good stalker story to make me look forward to my evenings with my iPad ! The characters were fascinating and well developed and it held my attention from page 1 all the way to the end. I will admit the ending was a little complicated if you don't understand legal ramifications but it all fell into place by the last page. I agree it was along the lines of "You" even leaving it open-ended at the end in case the author wishes to continue Cassie's story. Highly recommend this book and looking forward to more from this author! Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this one!!
Cassie has a pretty boring temp job. She reads through emails to find fraud for the company she works for. It is monotonous until she stumbles on a very private email between one of the company's partners Forest and his wife Annabelle. Although she should not read the private emails, she finds the exchanges fascinating and soon wants to meet Forest. She know his schedule through his emails, and "accidently" meets him and makes up quite a story about her life. He does seem to want to.meet again, so Cassie reads his profile and makes extensive notes about his likes and his home life. Cassie envies Annabelle and decides to buy the same clothes, perfumes and soaps that Annabelle orders online. She wants Forest to feel at home when he is with her. But Cassie has a secret past which could make her world come crashing down if Forest found out about it and how well does she really know Forest.
This book was a real page turner which kept me reading late into the night. Looking forward to more by this author. Thank you o the publisher, author and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you Netgalley, Ballantine Books, and Lindsay Cameron for this fantastic ARC.
I read a lot of psychological thrillers, so it can be hard to find stories that are original. This book put a surprising and deliciously fresh spin on the genre.
Our point of view character has some major mental defaults. She holds a murky past, currently lives a pathetic life, takes to stalking a big wig at her new crappy job, and seems to have missing blocks of time. Cassie Woodson spirals down a captivating and frightening rabbit hole of obsession.
But not everything is as it seems in this story . . .
Cameron wrote a gripping, suspenseful, dark, and sharp novel and I'll be looking for more from her. If she can continue to turn out such devious characters and addictive sinister plots she'll be a household name readers beg to get their hands on.
Cassie Woodson has come down in the world after she had a run in at the law office where she was employed. She finds herself working in as a temp in another law firm scanning files for keywords in an upcoming lawsuit. During the mind numbing drudgery of her days she comes across an email between a man named Forrest Watts and his wife Annabelle. The loving tone of the exchange captivates Cassie and she begins searching for more information on the couple and scheming on how she can befriend them. As she works her way through their lives though she begins to notice that Forrest is no longer wearing his wedding ring and her fantasies now are of taking Annabelles’ place. Her voyeurism has developed in to copying everything about the two from the wine they drink, to the events they attend to the products that Annabelle uses. She arranges a chance meeting with Forrest and soon believes that her fantasies may come true.
I was actually reading another book and was going to read just a chapter of this and turned the last page a few hours later. This is one of my favorite types of story. The absolutely crazy woman who can make any excuse for her invading someone else’s privacy in pursuit of a happy ever after. Perfect for fans of “ You” or “ The First Mrs.Parrish”. I took off a star because I was really hoping for something much juicier as her reason for his being dismissed at her previous job.
Another to add to your summer reading list as expected publication is July 27,2021.
Thank you to #netgalley and Ballantine books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Apparently I am not a fan of this genre. The description, along with all the glowing reviews intrigued me and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. Unfortunately, it did not deliver.
Cassie is an extremely one-sided character who convinces herself that a man she ‘met’ only by trolling through his private emails is her one true love and devotes her entire life to stalking him. Sure, a stalker is not a likeable character, especially to the extent which Cassie takes it. But even the most villainous villain must have some redeeming qualities so we care about her. Cassie doesn’t. She lives in her own self-possessed fantasy world where she trusts the wrong people and dismisses those who could help her find her own worth. When it turns out the one she trusts most is the exact opposite of what she imagined, I did feel a bit of empathy for her but after her rescue she learned nothing and went back to the same dysfunctional behavior. This type of ‘full circle’ ending would have worked if Walter had given Cassie some redeeming quality. Unfortunately, unlike most reviewers, I didn’t see her as sympathetic. This book was not for me. I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, what a mind blowing, fast paced, unputdownable read! So fun, realistic, and unique, I was definitely flipping pages way too late, needing to finish, but dreading it’s ending! The character development was nailed, making it impossible to walk away once I started! Absolutely chilling to the bones, thrilling as a ride, and gasp worthy shocking! A must read for my fellow thrill seekers, as I promise it will provide the suspense and thrills you seek!!! Highly, highly recommend!
Thank you to both #NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for providing me with an advance copy of Lindsay Cameron’s latest novel, Just One Look, in exchange for an honest review.
#JustOneLook is a psychological thriller, emphasis on the psycho. The protagonist, Cassie Woodson, sounds as if she is suffering from the aftermath of a total meltdown brought on by 5 years of stress, working as a lawyer at a Manhattan law firm and coupled with a difficult existence. To put it mildly, Cassie is in need of a therapist and some strong antipsychotics.
Before I am crucified by the internet for that last comment, here are some supporting examples: she hurts herself and self-medicates to dull the pain, her ex-fiancé took out a restraining order against her, she stalks a couple she has never met, she may or may not have physically attacked someone, and she experiences delusional episodes, indicating that she suffers from psychosis. Find me a sane person who fits this description and I will gladly choke on my words.
Moving on, if this book were a wine, its profile would read: full-bodied text of You, with notes of Girl on a Train, and tinged with a twisted version of Legally Blonde. Although the Legally Blonde is more of stretch since it primarily stems from her being a female lawyer and having an ex-boyfriend who is an egocentric attorney, plus the nod to Elwood’s (Elle Woods, get it?)—a fictional midtown bar in NYC, when every other brand, store, restaurant, and so on mentioned are real places.
Part of what distinguishes this novel from others in its genre are the details of the plot. The plot is truly terrifying when you think about how much information can be gleaned from a simple online search. Literally, anyone who knows how to use social media (i.e., virtually, everyone) can mimic Cassie’s actions and access enough data to stalk someone.
Her behavior is beyond unsettling, it is downright creepy. I think this is also what makes Cassie such a great character. She serves as both the protagonist and antagonist for most of the novel. On the one hand, the reader may be disgusted by her actions, but on the other, it is hard not to want to feel sympathetic towards her because some of those actions were brought on by real tragedy and not getting the professional help she needs. The author even has the character allude to this once, but she quickly dismisses it saying valedictorians don’t need fixing.
Aside from the stalker tips and Cassie, the story otherwise follows your traditional thriller pattern. The author keeps the reader in suspense with short chapters and quick pacing, leaving readers trawling after red herrings along the way. The story is told from Cassie’s perspective and is mainly set in Manhattan; split between her apartment and her temp job. While there are other characters mentioned throughout the book, the only ones who really matter are Cassie, her work friend Dalton, and Forest Watts (the object of Cassie’s affection/obsession). Ricky is purely comic relief.
Finally, though the ending felt a bit contrived and predictable, I still found it entertaining; especially, the snippets of faux news articles and the epilogue. I discovered Lindsay Cameron’s first novel, Biglaw, right before taking the LSAT in 2015. I can attest that #JustOneLook is much different than Biglaw, but I think that both are worth the read.
P.S. Lindsay, if you’re reading this review (though I know most authors don’t), I also swear by #JuicePress’s “Volcano.” Total lifesaver in the winter.
I really enjoyed this one. For me, it definitely had a Caroline Kepnes You series type of stalker feel to it and I loved those books a lot. I love a good book about a creepy stalker. Cassie seemed like an unlikable character, but in a good way. I found myself rooting for her even though I knew I probably shouldn’t. At times the pacing and direction of the book was a little hard to follow, but I devoured it fairly quickly. All in all, a great book!
Cassie, a disgraced corporate lawyer, takes a temp job, far below her abilities just to pay the bills.
When she comes across some e-mails from a senior lawyer and his wife, Cassie becomes obsessed with Forest and his wife and makes some very irrational choices to get close to them. There are twists and turns galore and every character has something to hide. The author keeps you guessing until the very last line.
4 solid stars
I was thrilled to have my wish granted for this title, and quickly dove in.
Following an embarrassing and possibly damaging termination from her job at a prestigious law firm, Cassie takes a job as a temp in order to pay bills and figure out her next move. It's mindless, thankless work, but as she's examining documents, Cassie stumbles onto an active email inbox and finds herself fixated on an executive at the firm. Documenting his every move, she begins to imagine what it would be like to be in his life, and before long, her obsession grows into dangerous territory.
I really enjoyed this book.
Cassie is not only unreliable, she's unlikable in the best possible way. Calculating and a bit detached, she lacks the social restraints to understand boundaries--morally and ethically. Her need to track Forest and his wife becomes an addiction. She can't function without the delusion, yet she's completely unaware how far down the rabbit hole she's gone. As we get access to her inner-most thoughts, her fear over getting caught trumps any debate she has about responsibility or reality, and in the end, what matters most is the goal--not the means she takes to get there.
This definitely had a Kepnes feel, and in Cassie, we get someone who takes the simplest act of kindness to dangerous levels of involvement. I enjoyed her sarcastic and oftentimes cutthroat responses to the people around her; Cameron did a wonderful job creating a layered and humorous voice despite the oftentimes creepy and unpredictable nature of her actions.
I had a small issue with the pacing and structuring, wholly set on the focus of the book being Cassie's pursuit of the Wattses and unexpectedly thrown into a possible murder mystery. It pivoted a bit too far, almost like two books put together--maybe in an attempt to cast Cassie in a better light or create an alternative psychological suspense angle--and while I thought it was interesting, I pegged the course early on and found the subsequent conclusion to be on the anticlimactic side.
Overall, though, Just One Look was an entertaining, addicting, psychological suspense with humor and unapologetic candor. I'd recommend for fans of Kepnes, Obsessed, or stalker narratives with a female protagonist.
Big thanks to Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.
Just one look...Just when you think one thing - it may be another!!! I thought I had this book figured out early on and turns out I was wrong! Then I thought I had it figured out in the end, and on the very last page - wrongs again! Will
keep you guessing the entire time. What didn’t work as well for me in this book is that I didn’t “like” the main character? At times I felt bad for her, but never actually liked her? I didn’t realize that was important to me before, but may need someone I can resonate a bit more with. Thank you for the advance copy of this book! I will check out more in the future from this author!
This was a wild ride of a book! Gripping. Tense building. Disturbing.
I absolutely loved this book! It has been of the best I've read in 21
Cameron really knows how to keep the reader engaged and flipping through the pages!