This book has a good start. But eventually it goes down. The plot is predictable. A little guessing game in the midway would give you the answers. Felt some dialogues/explanations are repeated.
The only character that had my interest initially is Stephanie. This type of narration is new to me and I liked it. I enjoyed the first half of the book. Not too good, not too bad. One-time read for me.
Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC.

I'm a fan of McQuestion but this one really fell flat for me. I'm glad that at least it was short.

Every twist, turn, and reveal was predictable way before it happened. Sarah was naive nearly to the point of stupid. Kirk was predictable and annoying. Also, some books can fit multiple character POVs and keep them well organized so there's no confusion but not this one.

I'll still look forward to the next book by McQuestion.

Oooh, this one grabbed hold of my attention and held on to it.

This started off with such a slow burn, which was great. An engaging and enjoyable domestic thriller, this one went quickly for me because I just kept reading, and didn’t want to stop.

214 Palmer Street
By Karen McQuestion

⭐️: 3/5
Pub Date: April 6, 2022

After suffering some mild cognitive impairment after being attacked by an unknown person in her backhand, Sarah starts noticing some strange behavior in her husband Kirk. Everyone, including the police chief and personal friend of theirs, Gavin, blames it on her recent brain injury, but she knows something is up. After uncovering part of Kirk and Gavin’s shared past, she is propelled on a path to discover the truth about what her husband is hiding.

Rating this book three stars is generous. I only bumped it from two to three because I like when characters get what they deserve in the end, which this book did not disappoint on. However, from exactly 35% (according to my Kindle), I had the main points figured out, including who we shouldn’t trust, what the secret was going to be, and who the POV of “Her” was, which some chapters were narrated by. This predictability was disappointing, and additionally, the character of Sarah was so painfully and annoyingly naïve (she even made a point to call herself out for being naïve which fell so flat because like, if you know, then do better 🙄) that it was hard to even root for her. It was a quick read, and could have been entertaining if the conversation with Kirk’s parents that makes everything painfully predictable happened later on in the narrative. Also, the dialogue didn’t sound like the way people actually talk, the character of Clarice was an over-dramatized-trope-cop-out, and the ending was strangely drawn out after the main action sequence. This book had promise, and with some restructuring earlier could have been much better.

Thanks to @bookouture and @netgalley for the eARC for review!

(2.5 stars)

Karen McQuestion’s 214 PALMER STREET ended up just not being a thriller for me.

This one came in sounding promising, simply with the description of a strange woman being spotted in the house of a couple who were out of town…However, that’s about as far as the intrigue went for me.


The cast of characters were all rather unlikable, with our main character, Sarah, lacking any sort of real personality, and her husband being a very confusing and flat character as well.

This book may appeal more to those who are newer to the thriller genre just because the twists didn’t shock or awe me in the way a more developed thriller would, and there is enough mystery to keep you flipping pages.

The good news is this book is on the shorter side, so if you are fascinated enough by the blurb, then go ahead and dig into this one over a weekend!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: April 06, 2022

2 stars ⭐️⭐️

Ever since Sarah was attacked in her own backyard, she hasn’t been herself. At the suggestion of her husband Kirk, Sarah quits her job to stay home and rest. With all this extra time on her hands, Sarah begins digging into her husband’s past. She soon discovers a secret that brings her straight to 214 Palmer Street.

The twist was pretty obvious early on, making this story uninteresting to me. The main characters weren’t likeable and made illogical choices (past and present) and the others (Maggie, Phil) were kind of pointlessly included.

Overall a quick read with a “twist” you’ll see coming a mile away.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Sarah is hit in the head with a rock on her patio and admitted to the hospital. After she is discharged, she is still not acting like herself and her husband kirk suggests she stay home for a bit and quit her job. The policeman looking into the attack is Kirks high school buddy Gavin. As the book continues, Sarah learns more about Kirks past and former relationships. She discovers secrets including what actually happened at 214 Palmer Street. Sarah continues to unravel the truth.

This was the first of Karen McQuestion’s books ive read. i requested it while on a thriller binge and i was not disappointed! It was a quick easy read that kept you on your toes! I would recommend to anyone.

Thanks netgalley for the ARC!

The first half of this book wasn't bad, but then the plot just fell apart in the last third or so. No logical reason for some characters to do things that they did, characters that were just caricatures of bad movie villains, and a very strange ending that didn't make a lot of sense. Major miss for me, but I did finish it.

Fast paced, thought out mystery. A quick easy read, perfect for a beach day . I liked that the goodness of Sarah and even though she had tragedy in her life, she didn't let it soil her.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

This psychological thriller was a good read, full of suspense and with plenty of twists and turns throughout. The characters were good, the plot was great and the style of writing was perfect. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but I’ll be keeping my eye out for more in the future.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

A psychological thriller that just failed to find its footing for me. A slow paced plot, and characters that didn’t draw me in. Ultimately, I bailed on this one about halfway through.

Thank you Bookouture for the #gifted copy!

I always love a good murder mystery and multiple POV. This book had a good story line with going back between the present and the past all while including the different persons point of view. It definitely built momentum as you read but the climax just wasn’t for me. I guessed the whole ending of the book. Very cliche in my honest opinion. I felt like the characters lacked true character.

The plot line sounded interesting...but the story as a whole was not really appealing to me.

Maggie is a neighbor living across from one of her favorite neighbor's house. But when she sees someone in the house, she couldn't believe it as the neighbors had gone for a vacation. When she approaches towards her, the woman is introduced as Sarah and told Maggie that she was housesitting for the family. Maggie believes her...but Sarah panics as no one was supposed to see her...

Initially, this started as a slow burn to me. It was boring and not very fast paced like you would normally expect in a thriller. In the middle of the book however it got a little interesting. The ending was predictable and not much of twists and turns you normally would expect in a thriller. Overall, in my opinion it wasn't really a good thriller that will keep you on the edge. Worth two and a half stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

This book is amazing, literally amazing th writer is so very talented. This book had me gripped from the very beginning to the very end. Full of twist and turns and is amazing.

*shrug*

This was okay. It's not going to win any awards for creative storytelling. The set up was more interesting than the actual plot twist.

There were a few loose threads that were kind of thrown in to throw the reader off the trail (Maggie, Phil, the head injury....) but honestly, the 'twist' was pretty obvious from the start.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This mystery was a fast read with building tension. It's a thriller with a shifting narrator, which is something I always enjoy, as it's intriguing to hear from multiple characters and get different perspectives. However, I felt that the mystery in the book was predictable as you got about halfway through. I didn't know the exact solution or resolution to the story, but I felt like I could predict a variation of it. I prefer to be surprised or at least kept guessing. Also, it felt like the character development could have continued, but it stagnated at a certain point. There are tensions that the author could have elaborated on or used to introduce some nuance and complexity to different characters, but the eventual characters don't have complexity or nuance, they are simply bad, good, or weak. They' don't feel like real people. I felt like the main character's friend was completely two dimensional and not a believable character. At first the introduction of this character felt like a promise of a new storyline or a new side to the main character, but it was sadly unrealized. Ultimately, though, it was a fast read with some action and excitement so 3 stars.

Intriguing Premise…
Who is in the Caldwells home? Maggie, a concerned neighbour, knows that the family are away. Sure that she has seen someone, she calls and discovers Sarah. Sarah claims to be house sitting but what is she really doing there? Engaging suspense with an intriguing premise and scattered with clues along the way to resolution.

This one wasn't for me. I struggled to care about the characters because they lacked much depth. The writing had promise but the story was too slow for me. Thanks for the advance review copy. 2.5 stars.

I was pulled by the blurb and requested the book. What started well became too predictable and the reasoning was more like a YA fiction. Would recommend for readers who prefer a plain and superficial plot. 2.5 stars