I connected with Melissa Larsen’s writing style.

Shutter is a debut novel and even when the prose lands a tad clumsy it still feels honest, endearing, like a late-night conversation with an emotionally overwrought friend. Characters with depth.

This story is told in breadcrumb fashion, keeping you alert and engaged as you make guesses at what might happen around each corner, moving at a steady pace throughout.

Having survived much history myself, I am not a delicate flower who is “triggered” by anything, but if you know you are sensitive and bothered by talk of trauma please read the blurb and the sample before purchase. I hate to see readers blame or bash an author in reviews for taking a poke at their “pain body”.

Overall it was a nice way to spend a rainy day and felt like a new thrill ride at an amusement park. I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised.

I'd like to thank the author, NetGalley, and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Shutter for an honest review.

I loved the way we got into the main characters head. I really felt like I knew her and the decisions she made made sense for her character (even though I found myself yelling “red flag girl!!!” more than once). The vivid imagery really helped me feel like I was there on the island with them. Overall, it was a slow burn and I kept waiting for something to happen. When it finally did, I was a little underwhelmed. I feel like there was a lot of potential for this storyline and there could have been a lot more twists and turns. While it was an easy and quick read, I wish there was more from the storyline.

I don’t know how i feel about this book honestly. I wrote some notes while reading it so I’ll share that here: (potential spoilers ahead-skip to bottom to avoid)

Thoughts 100+ pages in.
It’s a slow burn but one that i don’t mind because the suspense builds. And there’s just this eeriness that you feel throughout. Something isn’t right. But you can’t put your finger on it. And every moment has that questionable quality to it. Why is this happening? Is this normal? How frightened should i be?


Thoughts 200ish pages in:
The suspense builds but I’m waiting for the take off. I feel like the characters are kind of crazy. And hiding a lot. And i feel like Betty is just a pawn. And it bugs me how naive and willing she is to play a part. It bugs me how no one is worried about the danger they’re putting themselves in. I’m not even sure if there’s manipulation or if Betty is just fine with it.

Final thoughts: I’m really unsure what the point of this was. It’s really unlikely these events would occur. I found that bothersome. I think when the action really picked up, i just didn’t care by that point. I didn’t really care for any of the characters. Didn’t exactly dislike them but just have enough to make me like them or root for them. It just seemed like everyone was kind of the bad guy. And everyone was out to do something wrong. It was just a strange story.


I do think it was suspenseful. I just wanted more. I think honestly it would be better as a movie. Possibly a really good movie. But for some reason it doesn’t translate so well in book form. I didn’t hate this book but i didn’t love it. It was just an ok read. I think the writing was well done.

This book had a lot of potential. I actually really enjoyed a lot of it and it was a fast pace read for me.

Betty is the main character who left behind her past and is now couch surfing at a friends house in NYC. She wants to be an actress and her friends introduce her to a director/writer Anthony who ends up giving her a main role even though she has no acting experience.

She has no idea what her role is , just that there will be 5 of them on a private island with cameras all over the island with no script.

She has a fake boyfriend a new name and a guy who comes to the island who helps around and has no idea what is going on and whom she has to flirt with.

The story had potential and i feel like I'm butchering this review. When you find out why Betty has to flirt with Sammy and why this whole film is being made is makes you kind of question how petty this really is. There was also no chemistry or showing anything really of how the movie would lead up to the plot.

I did really like the ending a lot and even though this book has more potential I still very much enjoyed it.

Betty, a grieving but incredibly naive (actually, pretty stupid) young woman makes a bad decision when she enthusiastically takes on a role in Anthony's next movie. Sure it's on an isolated Maine island and there will only be five people and lots and lots of cameras but it's a great opportunity, isn't it. So what if there is no script and all Betty knows is that she's going to be called Lola. So of course creepy things start to happen when she gets there. What's the deal with Sammy, the caretaker? And Mads, the leading man. It's a lot for $40k. This one requires the reader to suspend belief and not shake a fist at the book. The end is, well, no spoilers but it isn't what I expected. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. This would make a good airplane book. Even if I wasn't wowed, Larsen has promise.

2.5 Stars

I really wanted to love this book. I felt like a voyeur while reading it and the writing was very well done and it was very atmospheric. I especially loved the premise of the story BUT it was a really slow burn of a novel. And although I usually like slow burners...this one didn't get exciting until 75% in and then the "surprise" was kinda anti climatic and by the time I got to it I was already disinterested.

I didn't like this as much as I wanted to. It was an easy enough read, but the ending was quite unsatisfying.

We start off Shutter with an introduction to our main character, Betty. I found myself relating to her in a lot of ways. She was paranoid about fitting in and paranoid about a lot of things. She gets lucky enough to finally land an acting gig in a movie, except things seem so weird. Her friends know the filmmaker, Anthony, and oddly enough everyone seems to know the premise except Betty. They said it's best to know as little as possible. She's creeped out about the idea of a movie in a remote location with no script. I mean, who wouldn't be?

The middle portion of the book begins the grooming process for Betty. She receives a new identity for the movie that forces her to change her clothes, dye her hair blonde, and change her name to Lola. Is this just normal preparation for a movie role? The red flags are everywhere. She becomes stripped of her identity, isolated from the truth and experiences an increase in paranoia. Not to mention the film location is on an isolated island in a cabin. She finds cameras everywhere on location....and I mean everywhere.

By the end of the book, we've switched themes to revenge and the drama really increases dramatically. The grooming process for Betty continues until reality is hard to decipher.  The ending blew me away. It felt unbelievable, and extremely over the top. I'm still digesting this in regards to how it made me feel. 

Overall, this was a great thriller for me. This was a story of loss, love, revenge and justice. I was pulled in very early on and the story held my attention until the very last page.

(The following review will run on CriminalElement.com the week of publication.)

Betty Roux knows she’s something of a cliché. A small-town girl who ran to New York and is crashing on her friend’s couch, she’s hoping to become an actress. But it’s not as if she’s a starry-eyed dreamer hoping to see her name in big lights.

No, it’s just that her friend knows a certain indie director. Anthony Marino. The guy behind Betty’s favorite movie, a force of nature in search of the perfect girl to star in his highly-anticipated second film. Still reeling from the recent loss of her father, Betty is hoping to land the role because she has nothing else in her life; no other dreams to pursue or relationships to maintain.

At first, it seems that Betty’s in luck: Anthony Marino is looking for a lost, broken girl just like her, and immediately offers her the job, plus a sizable salary. This could be just what she needs to turn everything around.

But Anthony is a very intense filmmaker. His new project, Fear, isn’t like most films. There will be no script. Very little actual direction. All of the filming will be done over a couple weeks at his family’s cabin on a small island off the coast of Maine, via a bevy of cameras installed around the grounds. And his lead actress will have to transform herself into someone called Lola, who’s the antithesis of Betty Roux. The more Betty asks for concrete details on the project, the more Anthony demurs and deflects, saying only that it’s inspired by the classic 1962 revenge thriller Cape Fear.


“Listen,” he says. “We really aren’t remaking the movie. We’re capturing its essence. Its fear. This,” — he gestures to the TV — “is for you to have something to hold on to. Think of it like a mood board. It’s something you can refer back to, as we proceed, because — I don’t know if Ben or Sofia have told you — we aren’t filming off a script. Not even a treatment. Nothing.”
Talk to Anthony, is what Ben had told me, when I’d asked him for a script. He has his own way of doing things. I had assumed he meant that Anthony would decide when to give me the script. Not this.
“Nothing at all?” I ask. My stomach flips. I’ve never acted before. Am I going to have to improvise?
“Think of it like reality TV,” Anthony says — as though that explains anything. “It sounds more complicated than it is. It’s like a game. You don’t understand the rules until you start playing, right?”
“Sure, but—”
“Trust me, Betty,” he says. “You’re a perfect fit for this. It will come naturally to you once we start. You just have to trust me. Or yourself. You have to have faith in yourself.”


In just a couple days, Betty finds herself at a remote cabin with Anthony, her friends Ben and Sofia, and her co-star Mads Byrne. Given a drastic makeover and the new name of Lola, she’s left reeling, unable to find her footing on such shaky ground. She knows her every move is being recorded, but still doesn’t understand just what Anthony — who she finds herself more and more drawn to — expects from her.


It hits me, slowly, as I contemplate how unquestionably loyal Ben and Mads are to Anthony, than I can’t really judge them. After all, who am I to laugh? I’ve known him only a few days, but that’s who Anthony is to me now. My own personal savior. The epiphany sinks in with a twinge of something I mistake for pain, but that I think is fear.
I hardly know him. But already I’d be devastated if he let me go.


Then Betty meets Sammy, the cabin’s caretaker, a physically intimidating man with a long-held mutual animosity toward Anthony, and things begin to make sense. She realizes just why Anthony transformed her into Lola. Just what he intends to do with her; the real part she was hired for. And it becomes clear that there aren’t five actors in Fear — there are six.

Every thriller needs a villain, after all…

Shutter is one hell of a chilling debut. Larsen already has the finesse of a seasoned storyteller, spending a full half of the story steadily increasing the tension and unease until her audience — like Betty — feels like everything’s about to snap. Every action, every bit of dialogue, is laden with hidden meaning and secrets, making us wonder just what in the hell is actually going on here.

Is Anthony just a peculiar filmmaker, one of those super-intense method guys determined to make the most arthouse of art films? Is he purposefully setting Betty up to become a Final Girl in real life? Is this movie an excuse for him to finally achieve a revenge long dreamed of, one which may ultimately prove miscalculated?

Truly, nearly everything about this story is unsettling. Yes, Anthony is a cipher that oozes danger for most of the story, and there’s plenty to find ominous in the strange filmmaking process and creepy location. “I’m used to forgotten remote villages,” observes Betty at one point, “but this place is different. There’s something dark about it. Something ominous. It’s not just forgotten—it’s unloved. The village itself doesn’t want us here.”

But Betty herself, our first person narrator, is also a deeply disquieting heroine. We spend the entire story in her mind, and it’s not a restful, comfortable place to be. She’s not all that mentally stable herself; understandable, given her father’s recent suicide, but there’s clearly more going on with her, too. She latches on so quickly to Anthony, fast becoming co-dependent, and even when logic is screaming at her to get out of this bizarre situation, she can’t quite bring herself to run.

By Shutter’s end, it’s clear just why Anthony wanted to use Cape Fear as a “moodboard” for his film. This feels very much like a Millennial noir, where the damsel in distress may also be a femme fatale, and there are no white hat-wearing heroes, only a bunch of violent, selfish men in smoky gray. And the ever present cameras recording everything are both disturbing and fitting, given the all-encompassing eye of technology in modern society. Betty, like many of us, feels like she’s always being watched because she is — and sometimes, what the camera picks up is damning.

Shutter is heavy on the psychological and light on the gore, meaning you probably won’t have nightmares if you read into the wee hours of the night, but you’ll certainly be fighting back shivers of unease, particularly in the first half of the book, before the full details are revealed. Larsen takes a solid concept and a couple of vivid characters to create an impressively strong thriller; there’s no doubt that she has a stellar career ahead of her, given the quality of this debut.

Betty Roux is a young woman running from her recent past. Sleeping on her friends’ couch in New York City, she has vague aspirations of becoming an actress, but spends most of her days walking dogs and thinking about auditioning instead of doing anything concrete towards attaining that goal. So when her friends, married couple Ben and Sophia, offer to introduce her to hotshot director Anthony Marino, she passively goes along, not expecting much to come of it. In characteristically contrary fashion, she’s pretending to her friends that she’s never seen Reverence, the movie that propelled Anthony to stardom. Truth is, she loves the movie, loves the self-portrait Anthony created and starred in, but refuses to admit this to anyone for reasons of her own.

Anthony himself hasn’t created anything professionally since his debut. According to Ben, who worked with him on Reverence, it’s because he’s been looking for the perfect actress for his next feature. Betty doesn’t really think she could be the one he’s looking for, but he’s apparently drawn to the image she’s projecting of someone ignorant of his fame. And Betty in turn is mesmerized by this man, who’s unlike anyone she’s ever met:

QUOTE
So maybe I’m light-headed because this is a dream. Maybe the stink of the city doesn’t have that much to do with it. Maybe it’s because I’m standing out here with this man who can turn my lie into a truth. Like water into wine. And there is something compelling about him. Something mesmerizing. How relaxed he is. As I followed him through the dark bar, out onto the street, I couldn’t help but watch how he moved. That slow, loose gait. Ben and Sofia suddenly seem like mannequins compared to him. They act like they’ve figured out something no one else our age has yet--blissful, comfortable love--but they’re uncertain. Their smiles are bolted on. They worry about everything, like it might all be taken away from them, everything they have, at any moment. And I’m no different.
END QUOTE

Anthony’s supreme self-assurance sweeps Betty along to where she’ll agree to anything in exchange for a chance to star in his movie. It doesn’t help that she’s more naive than she lets on. Yes, she’ll be in his film, script unseen; yes, she’s okay with nudity and violence. Soon, she and Anthony, along with Ben and Sophia, are heading off to Anthony’s remote family home off the Maine coast in order to start filming. Along the way, they pick up the other star of Reverence, Mads Byrne, who’s been cast as Betty’s boyfriend. Except, in a break from everyone else’s norm, Betty has to go by Lola instead of her real name while in production.

As things get weirder and weirder, Betty begins to feel isolated from the rest of the cast and crew, who all seem to know more about what’s going on than she does. Anthony reluctantly tells her that the movie is meant to be a meditation on fear, and that all she has to do is to act natural while mics and cameras hidden all over the Marino estate capture the footage that he’ll later edit and splice to make his film. But he also tells her that he just wants her to relax and have a good time, and that he would never knowingly put her in danger -- words that are never as comforting as they’re meant to be. Poor Betty is constantly on edge:

QUOTE
In the silence that follows, I feel the weight of everyone’s gaze on me. The more I think about it, though, the more confused I feel. Where is the tension in a party among a few good friends? And what bugs me the most is that it feels as though Anthony’s keeping whatever danger is supposedly lurking out here in the woods from me. Is Mads going to attack me or something? Is Anthony? Is there a monster out here in this forest? Another actor I don’t know about? Why am I the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on?
END QUOTE

When Anthony’s plot finally kicks into high gear, Betty has to decide what she’s willing to do in order to protect not only her dreams of stardom but also her very life. But who is the real monster here, and who among them will be willing to kill in order to achieve their darkest desires?

This deconstruction of the Cape Fear movies, with more than a hint of Audition, is a modern re-interpretation of the classic revenge and escalation fantasy, told from the point of view of the woman caught in the middle of it all. I greatly empathized with Betty’s rage and lack of purpose, even as I kept wanting to yell at her “girl, noooo!” as she made one poor choice after another. Perhaps it is because I am older and wiser now -- as Betty constantly wishes in the narrative that she were too -- than I was in my own hopeful, starstruck early 20s, but everything about Anthony screamed “It’s a trap!” or at least sleazy “acting” school to me. So it was a pleasant surprise to see Betty’s layers unravel to reveal a strong, steely heroine within.

I don’t necessarily think Shutter hits all the emotional and intellectual highs it’s aiming for, but I do think this is a very interesting examination and subversion of the typical machismo that underpins a lot of modern American entertainment. As this is Melissa Larsen’s debut, it will be intriguing to see what ideas she explores with her next novel, which I’m certain will be just as thoughtful if not moreso.

I had such high hopes for this one, but it just fell flat for me. I couldn't get into the story at all. It's a DNF at about 25% for me.

Quick Synopsis: Betty Roux moves to NYC to start a new life and is thrilled when she is offered to play the leading role in an indie movie directed by the handsome Anthony Marino. The only issue is that she and the other casts would need to spend one month at Marino's cabin on his private island. Betty could not pass up this opportunity and against her better judgement, she decides to take up on Marino's offer anyway.

My thoughts: This was a slow-burn psychological thriller with a lot of creepiness and mystery surrounding the characters especially Marino. I was really worried for Betty and had to keep on reading to see what happens next! I also liked that the setting is on a private island which added so much creepiness to the story.

The story build up was really slow and it did take time to get really invested into it. But I did enjoy the pace. I liked the suspense and the descriptions of the island. I definitely could feel the atmosphere of the place.

Although I personally wish that there was a little more depth to the storyline, overall, it was still a pretty entertaining debut novel with a good story build up.


Pub. Date: June 15th, 2021

**Thank you Berkley Publishing Group, author Melissa Larsen and NetGalley for this gifted copy to read and review.***

Not a final girl at all, are we? I mean, do you make it after all? All all all? I know that SHOW AND DON'T TELL is imprinted on the eyeballs of everyone whose ever been in a writing workshop. Still, why get buzzy for a book where the 1st person narrator constantly thinks - "I wish I wasn't so dumb." or "I wish I wasn't so young." If she'd given a "I wish I wasn't so full of cum" this would have been a better, or at least, much more relevant book.

Many thanks to Berkley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I was slightly disappointed in this book because the premise of five people filming a movie on a private island sounded like the perfect book for me.

Betty has recently moved to New York and reconnected with an old high school friend, Sofia. She is desperate to start a new life, so she agrees to meet with director Anthony Marino to audition for his next film.

The audition, although strange, goes well, and soon Betty is headed to the private island with Anthony, Sofia, Sofia’s boyfriend, and the other star of the film. Betty has never been in a movie, but she knows something is off when she learns there is no script for the movie, which is titled Fear. Anthony has cameras all over the island and tells Betty to act natural-except everyone will call her Lola on the island.

First of all, the plot moves at a snail’s pace, so it was really hard to stay interested. I started skimming long passages because there was not a ton of dialogue or interaction between the five characters on the island. Second, I thought the reason for the movie was ridiculous, silly, and unrealistic. I don’t know why anyone agreed to be part of the movie, especially Betty once she was finally in on the secret plot.

The writing was easy to get into and I think there was a lot of potential here, but the entire book fell apart for me once the “plot” of the movie was revealed. I was expecting something more sinister and less juvenile.

Full disclosure, I was not feeling this book from the beginning but kept on reading since I was hoping it would get better and I suffer for the inability to DNF books. I think it was predominantly that the plot was super lackluster, the main character is not very engaging/likable and most of the first part of the book was an internal monologue for the main character that was not very interesting and moderately angsty. Overall, I am sure someone will like this but it was not me. There was too little conversation and reasoning, too much internalization that was filled with memories and confusing emotional ramblings and when I got to the end I was let down by everything (which is my own fault since nothing in the book indicated I should have high hopes or that this would have a sound ending).

The pacing was quick but the characters were not appealing and the story felt like it wasn't finished. The characters were very unlikeable and I didn't enjoy the book as much as I was hoping I would.

I don’t even know how to rate this one. Im not afraid to admit when I feel perplexed. & this book has me a bit stumped.

It’s about a girl who has left her home to start fresh in New York after the suicide of her father. She’s overcome with grief and wants to be an actress. Her friends get her a job with a esteemed indie director/actor and she goes with a small crew to begin filming on a isolated cabin location. From there, things get dicey.

While the writing itself was good and I was definitely intrigued by the characters + story...it was a VERY SLOW, slow burn that ultimately went nowhere and left me feeling extremely underwhelmed at the end. It didn’t feel finished and I was bummed.

I’m actually surprised I made it to the end based on the pacing, and then to be so let down when I finished ...😩

Was it interesting? YES
Would I go around recommending it to people? I don’t think so
Should YOU find out for yourself? The answer is always YES.

Overall, this debut novel was just OK for me. I needed more, but would be interested to see what this author writes in the future because she is talented at creating complex characters, and some of the descriptions in this story will stick with me for a long time.

3 for neutral, unfortunately, after multiple tries I could not get into this one enough to finish. I will update if able to finish at a later date, as it definitely could’ve been my mood, but it was just too slow moving for me.

Shutter by Melissa Larsen is a compelling, slow burn thriller with an interesting twist at the end. I love stories in which the characters are in an isolated location, and Shutter was one of those books. I also enjoyed trying to understand each character since no one was who they seemed to be.
This is a page turner! I read it very quickly because I simply had to know what was going to happen next. I will admit that I didn't quite bond with the main character, Betty. I questioned her judgment many times. This didn't lessen the tension in the story, but it did trip me up once in a while.
Overall, though, Shutter was an interesting and compelling book.

Special thanks to Berkeley Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Especially for a debut, Shutter has great chops. Surprisingly good, this is a thriller and you with some great twists to it. Author Melissa Larson builds up the story nicely so you don't see it ending in a twist. A little predictable in other areas, I still really enjoyed it. 3.4 stars!