I Mean You No Harm by Beth Castrodale is most assuredly a compelling read. This is quite gritty writing with good characterization and a plot that pulls your forward. Highly recommend.

A good mystery book with multiple timelines and perspectives. The author manages to capture the story in simple snapshots like the Polaroid artist’s exhibit featured in this novel. A great read for a holiday trip (maybe not a road-trip though).

While this was a fun read, there was nothing overly special about this book. A lot of the twists were fairly easy to see coming but I did enjoy the writing style and the dynamic between the estranged sisters.

Great book. Highly recommend and will most defiantly read more by this author and suggest to others!

So, a couple of things. First, the cover for this book is one of the best covers I have seen in AGES.

I wish I could say the same for the story. It’s *fine* but I wasn’t caught by the mystery. A few hints were too close together or too broad, so I had figured out what was going on too early in the story. The reveal wasn’t a surprise, which is a bummer because I liked Castrodale’s writing and I felt like the story itself had a lot going for it.

What I do wish is that I had more time with Layla and Jake. And more back story on Sara.

After an unexpected inheritance, struggling artist Layla ends up on a road trip with her half-sister, who was raised by their father, a man many years in prison and completely estranged from Layla. She may finally learn the details of her mother's death, and perhaps find a second chance at family. Castrodale keeps up the adrenaline with the ambiguity turning Layla's heart around and the terrifying people connected to her father. I recommend this story I was fortunate to receive from the publisher Imbrifex Books through NetGalley.

From the description, I thought this was going to be a thriller. Instead I got a (very) slow burning mystery. Not bad, but not what I was expecting. It took me forever to get into the book, and it really didn't get going until about 80% of the way through. And it was kind of depressing, honestly.

What starts as a family drama, revolving around the lives of Layla, Vic, and Bette, quickly turns into an engaging mystery with Layla finding herself on the brink of uncovering her mother's death. The plot takes on various elements including analyzing Layla's strained relationship with her estranged dad Vic, and her not-so-close relationship with Bette. I loved the premise of the cross country road trip that leads to Layla and Bette getting to know each other better, and it is so symbolic that it happens during a road trip, because it signifies what long strides they have taken in life in understanding each other after Vic's death. I enjoyed reading this book, and my thanks to Castrodale and the publishers Imbrifex Books, for gifting me with a copy of this book.

The title is a big lie. Plenty of harm is done in this novel. It starts off slowly as the author sets the scene. Told by the female protagonist over several timelines, this story makes for an easy read filled with drama and suspense.

Thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for an ARC to read and review.

"I'm sorry, he said. And he'd really meant it, hadn't he? He'd truly believed that this encounter would be a beginning, not an end. But maybe love was far from the savior he'd imagined it to be. Maybe it only made his urge more painful, and deadly..."

Struggling artist Layla finds herself at the wake of her recently deceased father. She has been estranged from her father for most of her life. Together with the mysterious death of her mother when she was only two years old, Layla could have been called an orphan way before her father passed away. But here she is and her half sister Bette is waiting for her, together with her mother and her son. Even though they barely know each other, they invite Layla to their home, where her father has left her something. Something Bette wasn't willing to reveal over the phone. Knowing that her father was a convicted criminal, Layla feels quite disturbed about this. What could it be?
Bette doesn't seem all that well and when she announces that she's going on a roadtrip to get art supplies for her son almost on the other side of the country, Layla decides it is time to start to protect her sister. She travels with Bette to Phoenix, but nothing is what it seems. Are they being followed? Is Bette's health deteriorating? Will they survive their roadtrip?

I Mean You No Harm is a novel that reads like a thriller. Page by page the reader follows Layla on her journey to figure out what happened to her mother and what kind of mess her sister Bette is in. Every page reveals a new clue, but not enough to be able to guess what is going on. It has caused me to finish this book way more quickly than I was planning to! I couldn't read it in one go, due to a job requiring attendence and my body needing sleep, but when I found time to read, I did so. Non stop.

Now that I have finished the book and know what happened to Layla's mother, I do not necessarily feel satisfied. Or perhaps I should say that the novel didn't exactly blow me away. I liked reading it, discovering every little bit together with Layla, but I didn't love it. I wasn't moved by it. And I am afraid I will not remember it in a couple of weeks. Which is a shame, because the story itself does have potential. Perhaps if the book had been bigger and there had been room to shed a little light on the other characters besides Layla, the story would get a little more depth, a little more intensity, a little more impact.

So who is author Beth Castrodale? Castrodale used to be a reporter, until her love for books led her to a career switch. She first worked as an editor. Before I Mean You No Harm Castrodale has written short stories, essays and three novels: Gold River, Marion Hatley and In This Ground.

All in all, I did like reading I Mean You No Harm and would happily recommend it as a nice get-away novel. Do you have some time to kill or want to get your mind off something, do pick this novel. It will work like magic!

i really enjoyed reading this book, the premise was what drew me in and I'm glad that I was able to read this. The characters were great and the story was written so well.

For me this was a reasonable book. I liked the developing relationship between the two half sisters. I did get a bit frustrated when we went away from that storyline, and back in time. I also found that this made the book too slow for me, not bad, but not a thriller.

This book is honestly the epitome of “fine, not great” to me. I feel like it lacked enough character development to be driven entirely by the relationship between Layla and Bette, but there also was not enough energy put into the mystery plot line for it to really fall into the plot-driven thriller category. I also wanted to know much more about Vic’s history. Ultimately, the book just felt lacking to me. Everything about it was just not quite enough.

My thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for the advance reader’s copy.

This is a slow burner. Layla is estranged from her father after the death of her mother and meets up with her half sibling at their father’s funeral. I did not feel there was any real depth to the plot and the characters and in the end gave up. Thanks for the chance to try and connect with a new author.

Really enjoyed this book! It was the first one for me to read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters stick with you long after the book is over.

Layla Shawn finds herself at the funeral of her estranged father, Vic Deloro. Vic has never been much of a father, especially since Layla's mother was murdered when she was just a small child. Layla has a half sister Bette, that she has not seen in some time. After the service, Bette shows Layla what her father left fro her. Bette then tells Layla she is taking a trip to meet someone to drop off some of her fathers items in exchange for some computer art supplies for her Bette's mentally challenge son. Layla is concerned because Bette seems ill, so she offers to tag along on the trip.

From there things get really strange. Layla has had a stalker who has been sending her packages for several months. She also gets the impression that there is more to Bette's trip than she is saying. Bette seems very paranoid when she sees a white car that appears to be following them. There's also the little problem of how Vic made his money.

This is a great story about the things we do for family, even if they aren't blood. Both Layla and Bette are well fleshed out characters and though very different in their views, they come together for the good of the family. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in a day because it was hard to put down. Lots of excitement!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Heroine Layla Shawn is estranged from her criminal father while her mother had been killed when she was younger. Upon her father's death she attends his funeral and meets up with his other daughter, Bette. Layla is also presented with a box of money to the tune of $50,000. Undecided on if she should take the money, Layla embarks upon a road trip with Bette and finds answers she wasn't expecting.

If you are looking for a book that will grab you by the lapels when you read the first sentence, this book is not it. In fact, it started out very slow and I was inclined to give up. I’m glad I didn’t. Now, this book isn’t a huge rollercoaster. It does have moments where it piqued my interest to keep on reading. I nearly gave up at the very beginning, but when the heroine was given a box that housed $50k in cash, it kept me going.

What also kept me going was watching how Layla and her sister, Bette, grew their relationship. From virtual strangers, to two women taking a cross-country road trip, who end up forming a bond that they didn’t have before, recognizing that they are sisters.

Insights to human nature and a relationship Layla never had with her father are touched upon and examined, but not so much that it bored me – haha.

I feel like the book could do with some polishing and a bit more construction – the flashbacks are, in my opinion, not really used well and seemed superfluous. It was almost like it was a word count kind of thing back in college. 5,000 words OR ELSE! kind of thing.

If you like stories that are a bit of an even keel, with no dramatic highs and no dramatic lows, this is good enough.

A million thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Imbrifex Books, for giving me the opportunity to read and review.

I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it. I guess I didn't particularly like it either. It didn't maintain my attention, which is always a poor sign. Perhaps it's because of Laya, the main character, who was raised by her grandparents after her mother's untimely death and ends up reuniting with her half-sister when their father (who was involved in some shady business) passes away. I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What makes this book different is that it's a character-driven thriller. Most thrillers are plot-oriented, with characters used as devices to move the story forward, In this book, the characters rule.

I liked that the book was a mystery, I liked the two protagonists, I liked the surprise ending, I liked the themes of family and revenge. Give me an inheritance book and I'm a happy reader! Having said that, I didn't connect with the book as much as I normally do, hence the 3-star rating.

As all have already indicated, its a thriller novel, which started a bit slow. The end was typical mafia style. This is my first book by Beth Castrodale, thanks to the ARC provided by Netgalley, thus didn't know much of the genre that Beth wrote on. Not much a fan of thrillers, hence I would suggest its a one time read.