I have to admit I expected a bit more out of this one. It was ok but the plot was a bit predictive and the characters were not really likeable.

Iris, who fled abuse in the past, is trying to live a new and different life.
As a single mother, Iris must cope with all the challenges of being a single parent, and she's responsible for the entire financial burden of raising Finn all by herself.
There's a lot of insight into Iris's anxieties and concerns in the present as well as snippets of the past abuse.
Several things made me like this book: it showcases a strong character who accepts help, it gives hope to those who might be in similar circumstances, and it encourages us to be aware of others.
A fast-paced, well-written story.

DNF: Unlikable characters, with the exception of Sawyer. Plus, going back to the early days of Iris's turbulent relationship as a battered woman were too stressful. I could not continue.

I did enjoy this story. However, readers should know that there is a lot of heavy subject matter. The short, fast-paced chapters kept me turning pages.

Book Review!
Title: Iris in the Dark
Author: Elissa Grossell Dickey
To be Published: June 6, 2022
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Special thank you to Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Elissa Grossell Dickey for allowing me to read and review this book! All opinions are my own.

From Goodreads: A single mother faces her worst fear―the past―in a provocative novel of suspense by the author of The Speed of Light.
Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen. She’s tried to escape these things for years. So when Iris is entrusted to house-sit at a lodge on the South Dakota prairie, she thinks she’s prepared for anything.
But one surprise is Sawyer Jones, the property’s neighbor and caretaker. He’s a caring, reassuring presence who’s making her feel safe and alive again. Then late one night, Iris hears a chilling cry for help coming from a walkie-talkie buried in a box of toys. As the calls get more desperate, personal, and menacing, Iris realizes the person on the other end isn’t reaching out for help. They’re reaching out to terrorize her.
Now the only way for Iris to move forward in life is to confront the past she’s been running from…a threat that has now followed her into the dark."

Read if:
🏠You love a good redemption story
🏠You want romance with a little spice
🏠You are new to thrillers
🏠You love stories about family

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The flow was good and it kept me guessing. I do wish a few things had been explained a little better, but it didn't detract from my experience too much. I absolutely loved the redemptive quality in this book and the reminder that family isn't just who you're born with, it's who you make.
I would say this is a great thriller for anyone looking to get their feet wet in the genre. Nothing too crazy or overly gruesome.
Be on the lookout for this book dropping in June!

Ever baked a cake having followed the recipe perfectly only to discover it came out looking differently than the photo in the cookbook? It may still be edible, taste good, or even salvageable, but not quite as you’d imagined. I have, and it left me slightly disappointed. This book was like that for me!

Two of the main weaknesses, in my opinion, are related to character development and fact-checking. I found too many holes in the narrative that had me pausing …”Wait, huh? Didn’t she just ….” and “Huh? If she’s so overprotective, how come….” I wonder if I could have connected better with the characters if they’d stayed in their roles? I also wondered if perhaps too much was crammed into one book? Romance, single mother, creepy lodge, drug trafficking, all kinds of abuse (including alcohol and drugs), illness, death…whew! I read to be entertained and when it edges towards depressing and frustrating, it’s difficult to continue.

Please check trigger warnings prior to reading. This book is full of them!

I can see why this is profiled as general fiction; it’s a little bit of many genres! It did follow the genre guidelines and concentrated on the daily conflicts of the protagonist. Personally, I was more drawn to the mystery/creepy aspect and could see so much unused potential. I could see the author wanted to explore the strength of motherhood. Unfortunately, with so much going on in this book, Iris Jenkins didn’t pull through for me. I hope this book finds the right reader.

I was gifted this book by Elissa Grossell Dickey, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of Iris in the Dark by Elissa Grossell Dickey.

Based on the description of this book, I thought this was going to be a fast-paced thriller. It had all the makings of one: a scared main character on the run, in hiding in a town, not wanting to be figured out. But not very far into it, all of a sudden there's a love interest. This story bounced from one genre from the other - thriller to women's lit - too many times for me to find it completely engaging. I also struggled with how quickly everything was resolved in this book - people are forgiven way too easily and everything is wrapped up with a nice little bow at the end. I really was hoping there would be a unique spin to this story.

This book was well written with a good storyline and well developed characters. It was fast paced in places and slower in others but i felt that it increased in pacing as the tension increased so this didnt affect the reading enjoyment. It had levels of unpredictbility too which helped the plotline along. I enjoyed it.

Summary:
The main character, Iris Jenkins, is a single mother of a 7-year-old boy named Finn. Iris has a past which makes her look over her shoulder and be on high alert at all times. She is asked to house-sit her friend’s lodge on the South Dakota Prairie and she hesitantly accepts, not knowing if she could handle caring for the lodge. Thankfully, there is a caretaker of the grounds, Sawyer, to assist her. The caretaker and Iris’s relationship grows stronger by the day, even more so after Iris realizes that his teenage daughter is someone she already knows.

Late into the night, Iris hears a scream coming from somewhere within the house. She finds out that the scream is coming from a walkie-talkie, a child-like voice pleading for help. Then, the scary voice says her name - the voice on the other end knows Iris and hints at something from Iris’s past.

Iris is faced with a hard decision - running or staying at the lodge to finally make a home for herself and her son. Choosing to stay, things take a turn when the lodge’s owner, Iris’s boss and friend, sets up a dinner for potential buyers of the lodge. During the dinner, Iris’s past is revealed to everyone at the dinner, including Sawyer whom she has become closer to. This is when they realize that they are actually linked in a way they never expected.


Review:
I read 70% of the book in one sitting and then woke up the next morning itching to finish the book. I thoroughly enjoyed Iris in the Dark! It kept me engaged and I couldn’t guess the plot twist until the main character also figured it out.

My only bother with the book is the dialogue. Some of the things the characters say to each other or when it’s said just doesn’t flow and it reads a bit cheesy - after a kiss, Finn asks if Sawyer made a wish on a star and he says “it already came true”. It’s sweet, though, and did not hinder me from enjoying and finishing the book.

Overall, I would recommend Iris in the Dark to anyone who enjoys a little bit of suspense and mystery!

This is my first book by Ms. Dickey and I was very pleased with the author's writing style. This is a hard book to tie to any one genre. On GoodReads it is listed as a thriller and on NetGalley it is listed as women's fiction...I guess it could be both. There is definitely a mystery vibe, a touch of romance and a whole lot of drama. The plot is kinda creepy as Iris, the main character, starts hearing things from a long abandoned walkie talkie. I liked the the author tells this story as it is incredibly intense and had me glued to the pages. Although I guessed some of the twists there was the one at the end that I did not see coming and that pushed me to round up to four stars. I also liked that this was a short book (202 pages on my tablet) with short chapters, it made it a quick read with tension that pops off the page. I thoroughly enjoyed this one as it wasn't what I was expecting at all. I also want to add that I love the cover, it is spot on.

Slow burn, but enjoyable! I'm not usually a mystery-ish reader but still enjoyed every word of this one

I really wanted to loved this the cover drew me in i liked the writing style but the characters didnt talk to me how i wanted them too maybe doen the line i might read this again it wasnt a bad story just didnt connect

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review electronically…intrigue…secrets…mystery…themes in this book…the author is talented and gifted and writes about a woman and her frightening life journey. Enjoy this one…

A single mother faces her worst fear—the past….. I cannot wait to read more by this author. This author has now become a go-to author.

Elissa Grossell Dickey did it again, friends! 𝙄𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 is a must-read this summer. It's part thriller, part women's fiction, and part love story, and it's the perfect combo of all three. This is the second book I've read by Elissa (I'll link to my post on her first book in my stories, The Speed of Light - another must-read!) and I have been completely blown away by both. Elissa's writing is so beautiful and immersive that I found myself halfway through the book in one sitting. ⁣⁣⠀
⁣⁣⠀
Iris is a fierce mama with a troubled past who will do anything to keep her son safe. I think many readers will be able to relate to her on some level. I really loved the fantastically creepy calls for help - it had me giving my son's toy box the side-eye.

What drew me to this book was it's blurb. This sounded like a really interesting, creepy and dark story and unfortunately this book was the opposite of that.
This book had the foundations to be really good but it just fell short at every hurdle.
I think the main problem with this novel was the characters. They were all very hard to connect with as they never felt fully fleshed out, just very sterotypical and made very odd, illogical decisions through out the book. There was just none of that suspense and gripping atmosphere within these pages that was alluded to in the description. I also hated the insta love that was in this novel, not to mention that the romance felt like it jumped straight out of a YA novel.
This was just a bad experience for me to read, I only kept going because I wanted to find out the ending but even that wasn't worth it in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I found "Iris In The Dark" by Elissa Grossell Dickey to be an addictive, suspenseful & interesting story that pulled me in & didn't let me go until its final page.
I would definitely read another book by this author.

TW: cancer, physical abuse, dead spouse, human trafficking, alcoholism, drug abuse

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:A single mother faces her worst fear―the past―in a provocative novel of suspense by the author of The Speed of Light.Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen. She’s tried to escape these things for years. So when Iris is entrusted to house-sit at a lodge on the South Dakota prairie, she thinks she’s prepared for anything.But one surprise is Sawyer Jones, the property’s neighbor and caretaker. He’s a caring, reassuring presence who’s making her feel safe and alive again. Then late one night, Iris hears a chilling cry for help coming from a walkie-talkie buried in a box of toys. As the calls get more desperate, personal, and menacing, Iris realizes the person on the other end isn’t reaching out for help. They’re reaching out to terrorize her.Now the only way for Iris to move forward in life is to confront the past she’s been running from…a threat that has now followed her into the dark.
Release Date: June 7th, 2022
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Pages: N/a
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ (1 star for the creepy feeling of the plot & 1 star for how easy it is to read this book)

What I Liked:
• Seems like a creepy plot
• Easy to read

What I Didn't Like:
• Mentioning Menards (I worked there for 3 years)
• The writing sounds amateur
• Iris is a complete idiot
• Using abuse as a subplot for a romance and plot line
• Constantly says Legos when it pronounced Lego, there is no s.
• Instant romance
• Cheesy lines
• The ending isn't good

Overall Thoughts:This had moments where it made little sense; Sheri says she has 3 kids then gets a text from her oldest who is a boy and says he's supposed to be watching his siblings. Her daughter is 15 so that's weird.

Sawyer is made out to be better because his wife died rather than them being divorced.

Iris just meets all these people and it's like they are best friends. Sawyer has known her for one day and he's already staring at her with puppy dog eyes and reassuring her there is nothing between him and Sherri.

Iris is WAY too trusting. She doesn't know anything about Sawyer but she let's this man hang out with her son. She even let's her son take him to his room unsupervised. My red flags would be up if a man was hanging out with my kid while I wasn't around.

For a woman that is terrified of someone she sure feels comfortable letting her son run off by himself.

I hate Iris. She tells Finn no to looking at toys at Menards (they don't have toys in their stores only seasonally 👀) but then Sawyer says he'll take him to look at them. Dude is undermining her and doing what he wants, again she let's him go with him - alone! He is a stranger that keeps finding reasons to be alone with him. Then then....a little girl wanders up to her and she gets this Spidey sense that something is wrong and thinks the man kidnapped the girl. Like lady stay in your lane! Some guy you don't know is walking around with your son and you're more worried about this girl. She talks about how overprotective she is and she is not. In the beginning of her getting to the lodge she has a weird feeling about the two hunters that are checking out and wanting breakfast but she leaves Finn in the room with him until he comes in to talk to her. That's not overprotective. She leaves her son with strangers all the time.

There were so many errors in this story it drove me crazy! Iris talks about cleaning the kitchen while Sawyer is out with Cole, but she just cleaned the kitchen that morning when Natalie came over so why is she cleaning it now..she only got Finn a bowl of cereal.

So plot draws you in because it sounds creepy but we've all read this story before 100 times.

Iris is one of those women that needs constant saving from men.

Lowell calls Iris to tell her that someone was waiting in his office on Monday. She asks him who and he says Bradyen. She doesn't ask Lowell what he wanted but rushes off the phone assuming that he's the one behind all of this. It's not weird that he would be in the office as he works for the Lowell's newspaper. It could be about anything and here Iris goes rushing off to accuse Bradyen of screwing with her.

There are just too many weird coincidences that circle around Iris and her past; Jane works at a domestic violence shelter, Natalie was suggesting a report for human trafficking, and Cole is a drug user and dealer.

I had to skim some pages. It gets annoying that almost every page someone is telling Iris she is a great mom. So annoying.

The book tries to leave each chapter on these cliffhangers but it can't because you're already like eight steps ahead of Iris. So you already know this information there's no shock value when she realizes what's happening. Which I don't even know how she doesn't know what's happening at this point.

Natalie ends up being the one that takes spin and is the one who is talking to her through the walkie-talkie because she is mad that Iris didn't take her out of the car when her mother was killed in the car accident that Iris boyfriend was driving. And then they come to this conclusion afterwards when Iris comes to get Finn that everything's okay and she doesn't hate her and now everybody is okay and she's no longer angry. Like she's been holding onto this grudge for years and shes now over it in 2 seconds. That's what's wrong with the ending. Every time there is a conflict it seems like it's taken care of so easily about any real issue. Is usually solved in a page.

By the ending I'm confused as to why she changed her name and ran away to escape Rex. Rex wasn't even after her so that went no where.

Final Thoughts: No offense but this book just wasn't good. Too much going on that went no where. Gives you the message that it's woman power but our main character relies on men to help her through her life. Plots go no where and ones that were brought up just seemed basic in nature

This was an interesting book that kept me engaged the entire time! I loved how the story went back and forth between the present and past. I was determined to find out what happened and really enjoyed the plot twists!

A nail-biter of a thriller, with a looming sense of dread etched on every page, shot through with hope, love, and purpose as Iris navigates complicated emotions and confronts a troubling history that threatens the simple small town life she’s always longed for. I could not put it down!

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the author for a chance to read early and review