I like the Midwest vibe with this book. But that was about it. Emma could’ve done so much better than her husband. It was fine - pretty much in the middle until the end. WHY?! Just.. why.

I really enjoyed the premise and atmosphere of this book. It had a great creepy feeling but the plot was a little bit of a struggle for me. The story is heavy with mental manipulation and had a few hard to follow twists. Overall I had a hard time staying invested in the storyline but I know other reviewers really enjoyed it. It just might not have been the right fit for me. Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

All I Want starts off fairly strong. Ben and Emma buy a house that needs a lot of love and probably a good sage cleansing. Things from the past start creeping up and the narrative starts to bring in more of the creepy atmosphere. The house itself really brings on an excellent backstory. I was pretty hooked for a good bit.

Then things started to drag more than I like. Gaslighting becomes heavily prominent with the husband. There's a need to know the outcome and then there's that last chapter. I was doing well until that twist. I think its a twist that takes too much away from the novel's potential.

I'd recommend those who enjoy thrillers to check out more reviews on this one. I was entertained for a good bit and really liked the atmosphere overall. The end wasn't my cup of tea but others have enjoyed it. Thank you Atria Books for the gifted digital copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I guessed the ending from a fairly early point in the book which, in a way, made the book seem very slow. I usually love reading along as the author leads the reader to a reveal, but this was just not for me. The story just didn't hold my interest as much as I hoped it would.

This book had so much potential! I was intrigued by the plot, but it almost felt like I was reading a first draft that was choppy and hadn’t been edited yet. However, the story held me enough to fairly enjoy it. Until the end. The second to last chapter felt like a way too fast wrap up, but that last chapter was just a big WTF. Hovering between 2 and 3 stars for this one.

I like this kind of thriller! Darcy Bell wrote another good one here. Highly recommend for a book club.

After reading the description of this book, I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, I lost interest part way through and didn't finish.

Darcey Bell always mixes psychological thrillers with dark humor and this was no exception. The story had a great atmosphere and I enjoyed it overall but the he said/she said was a bit too much, leaving me not questioning who to believe but confused about some inconsistencies and what actually happened because of a few plot holes. Bell has talent but this wasn’t my favorite.

Liked the atmosphere of the almost-menacing house and the dreamlike story, but the final twist was puzzling.

I was really hoping for a suspenseful domestic thriller, but instead got a messy, drawn out story. The gaslighting throughout was no joke, and very frustrating. As others have said, that last chapter was ROUGH, and left me with a bad taste.

Thank you to the publisher and @NetGalley for the E-ARC copy of this book. The rating of this book is entirely of my own opinion.

All I Want follows Ben and Emma as they purchase and remodel an old, supposedly haunted house, in upstate New York. This book has a lot going on and yet somehow manages to be pretty slow. I was not at all feeling the beginning and honestly thought about DNFing. Right around 60% of the way through it started to pick up and I found myself wondering why we wasted all that time with the build up at the beginning. Why not just get right into it and then have the second half of the book to sort everything out? But then this book did something that I absolutely hate. I won't say what because it is a major spoiler, but honestly if you want to read this book, just skip the last chapter. I would have been much happier with the ending (although not even close to perfect) if that last chapter just didn't exist. I'm not sure if author's think they are being super creative by throwing this particular twist in there, but this is the 3rd book that used this twist that I have read this year alone. It's only February! I hate the twist. I hate it so much. It makes it feel like I just wasted any time that I spent reading the beginning. It's not mind blowing. All it is is frustrating. The icing on the cake for this book though is that she throws this twist at you and then it just ends. There is not time at all spent with how this revelation effects the characters at all. This book was not for me.

I went into this book with high hopes because I really enjoyed A Simple Favor, but I found that that this story fell flat and left me unsure how to feel. I was really intrigued by the concept of buying a house with a really interesting history and wondering what sort of haunted/mysterious things would happen over the course of the story. I was pulled in by the creepy atmosphere of the novel, but found myself often frustrated with the characters, In addition, the last chapter and the unnecessary plot twist really ruined it for me. I was left feeling very disappointed - it definitely had the potential to be something great. It just wasn’t.

Really expected so much more from this book. Nothing spectacular but I did enjoy some of it, other parts made me roll my eyes,. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Adult Thriller Fiction. Emma (pregnant) and her husband, Ben, buy a beautiful country home, but one in need of much renovation. They were extra-excited after finding out that it had its own theater; Ben is a play director/producer of plays. Emma loves her new home but continues to wonder about its past. When she discovers a journal (in the attic) of a young woman who also lived in the home. Little does Emma realize the extent of her new life to come because of this home. Overall, an interesting novel although a slow build followed by a rushed ending.

Ben convinces his pregnant wife Emma that they should buy a mysterious old project house in the country, where strange things quickly start happening. Good for fans of non-gory horror-style mystery.
I enjoyed the twists and turns!

As Emma spends more time alone at the house she and her husband bought, she learns more about its creepy past, and more coincidences between her life, and lives that may have taken place here before hers.

When Ben first finds a listing for a quirky Victorian mansion a few hours out of the city, he’s excited that it sounds just like the kind of adventure he and Emma would have loved in their early dating days. But Ben may be forgetting that he’s a married man and soon-to-be father now. He sets Emma up in the house with a bit of habitable space and a handyman around each day working on the rest of it, while he continues his theater job in the city.

The attic of the house is full of relics from when it was rumored to have been run as a rehabilitation center for theater stars There, Emma finds an old diary which tells of a young pregnant woman who was sent to the home to keep her out of sight until she delivered the illegitimate baby. It makes Emma wonder if she is just being kept out of the way as well.

The beginning of this book was a fun build up, and the house sounded amazing. The end was a bit less clear and felt unfulfilling. Sometimes the book seemed to be told by an unreliable narrator, but then doubts were cast if the narrator was unreliable or someone was influencing her perceptions. I’d give this book 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it as an interesting domestic drama.

2.5/5

This was bananas y’all. I’m not even sure what to say here honestly. It started out ok, (besides that bizarre prologue) and by 25 percent or so I was decently invested. I liked the creepy atmosphere and I liked Emma for the most part even though I felt like she was naive as to what was going on, but I was still interested. And then around 75 percent I was totally reeled back in again so basically lots of up and downs here. Parts were oddly compelling and parts were totally boring. By the time I got to the second to last chapter I was like ok this may be a 3.5-4 and then there was a totally unnecessary final chapter with a terrible twist that annoyed me SO bad and made me really dislike the book. Super disappointing and made me mad I even read it because it did have potential and a unique aspect that worked but there was just too much up and down for me to let it go.

All I Want kept me guessing until the very end. I never suspected what was actually going on, and when it was revealed to the main character, I was floored right alongside her. The atmospheric nature of the story taking place in an old mansion rumored to be haunted in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York is reason enough to read this book. Add in the unique characterizations and well-plotted mystery, and you have a binge-able tale you won't be able to put down until finishing. Great story!

Having just finished this book this afternoon, I am not sure what to think. I went into this book thinking it was one thing, then it turned into another thing, and by the end I was wondering what happened. Literally, what happened, because I am so confused. I have gone back to search out clues that I might have missed but I can't find anything. I really hope that in the future as more people read this that there will be some lively discussion and ideas thrown around about that ending. This book is suspenseful and keeps you guessing and is never as straightforward as it seems. I wish that a few more things had been explained as I do feel like a lot of this book was left up to the imagination of the reader. I give this a 3.5 because I need some answers!