Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: January 3, 2023
As a teenager, Maya watched her best friend die unexpectedly and seemingly without cause, right before they were both ready to set off for college. The only other person to see Aubrey die was Maya’s love interest, Frank, but he swore up and down he had nothing to do with it, even though Maya had seen the two of them speaking moments before Aubrey’s death. The police had agreed with Frank; after all, Frank had not made any physical contact with Aubrey and it really isn’t possible to kill someone with just a look. Is it?
Years later, Maya is trying to rebuild her life with a job and partner that she loves. But when she sees Frank on a TV news feed, she is brought back to that horrible time in her life. And when the woman Frank is with seems to drop dead right in front of him, without so much as a touch, Maya knows that Frank is up to something. In order to bring Frank to justice, can Maya jeopardize her relationship, her career and even her sanity?
“The House in the Pines” is a clever, suspenseful debut novel by author Ana Reyes. Touching on mental illness, addiction, gaslighting and emotional abuse, Reyes delivers a gripping read. Narrated by Maya in two time periods (before Aubrey is killed, and afterward, when Maya is an adult), “Pines” is a slow burn, but as the plot develops, it quickly turned into a non-stop page turner.
Maya has struggled with addiction since the death of her best friend, has been labeled “crazy” by doctors and even her loving mother, and is fearful that her boyfriend will leave her if he ever finds out the truth. She is an exceptionally powerful character who is so dysfunctional and human, I couldn’t help but root for her. Right from the start, there is something not quite right about Frank but Reyes keeps this secret hidden until the deliciously twisted ending, which was unexpected yet still extremely entertaining.
It took a bit for me to get into this novel, as I was trying to sort out timelines and characters, but once the story caught me, I was hooked. To think that this is a debut novel definitely speaks to Reyes’ creativity and talent, and I have no doubt she will be one to watch in 2023 (and years beyond).

This book is one of those books where take whatever you think happened and throw it out the window, in a good way. I honestly can say that I have never read or heard of a murder that is preformed in quite this manner. I would have never really guessed what was happening. Which is great. I think it is always fun to read a book where you are surprised. The author does a great job of setting Maya up to have reasonable doubt. With her dealing with withdrawal, one never knows what she is seeing or experiencing is really happening or if it is a side effect. I love how the story bounces between the past and the present. It really allows the reader to understand Maya and Frank’s past, and how Aubrey played an important part in it. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.
Thank you so very much to Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded interesting to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

After Maya witnesses her best friend, Aubrey, drop dead for no apparent reason after talking with Maya’s boyfriend, Frank, she drowns all feelings with pills and alcohol. She spends her life trying to convince herself she’s not crazy, but when a video surfaces of it happening to another girl after talking to Frank, she goes back home, determined to track him down and stop him from hurting other girls. I do love an unreliable narrator and past/present dual timelines, and this book has both of those things. For the first two thirds I was so into this book. I found it very propulsive and I liked the central mystery presented in the novel- two girls dead after just talking to the same man. The resolution to that mystery? Ehhh I don’t know how I feel about it. I think this kind of falls apart a little at the end. I really love the main relationship between mother and daughter and the evolution of their relationship, and Maya’s desire to connect to both her Guatemalan identity and her deceased father through his unfinished manuscript. Although as a whole it didn’t work for me, I do like a lot of the themes it’s exploring- manipulative men, familial and racial identity, and how the only way to be happy where you are is to address and work through the traumas of your past.

Maya is in trouble. Unbeknownst to her boyfriend, she is going cold turkey off of Klonopin. She can’t sleep and is using alcohol to try to help. Her use of the medication dates back to treatment she received after high school when her best friend died in front of her and she swore that her boyfriend at the time, Frank, had something to do with it. Her memories of Frank and her experiences with him haunt her. When she sees a video on social media showing another young woman dying in Frank’s presence, her paranoia and anxiety are ignited all over again. She must return to her childhood home to investigate.

This psychological thriller is told in dual timelines. It is a debut novel with a unique plot. I have to admit I struggled in the beginning to get through it, but by the end I was totally engaged with the story. You may buy the resolution or not, but it certainly was intriguing.

The premise behind The House in the Pines is intriguing. The characters are well developed, but what ultimately didn't work for me is the pacing. Maybe I just wanted it to be darker or more suspenseful, and I did end up finishing it, but I felt like there was a fair amount of extraneous detail that didn't contribute to the story. The plot line of Maya's family in Guatemala and the mystery surrounding her father's unfinished book also had potential to be an interesting part of the story, but it wasn't as developed as I would have liked. I am interested to see what Ana Reyes writes next.

A deftly written thriller with a side of unique. As a teen, Maya watched her best friend die suddenly. Her friend was only talking to Maya’s boyfriend Frank and then suddenly died. Now, years later, Maya learns that another young woman has died while Frank was talking to her. Maya knows it can’t be a coincidence. She returns to her hometown to find Frank and discover what’s really going on.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into to this book, but it turned out to be an intriguing and entertaining suspense thriller. The concept seems like it should be a little outlandish, but author Ana Reyes makes it all work. This is a crackerjack debut novel and Reyes doesn’t pull any punches. The characters are interesting and the pacing moves along at a fast clip. I thought the twist was unusual and kind of unique. The ending is ambiguous enough to leave me wondering if there will be a sequel in the future.

The House in the Pines is a suspenseful, engrossing thriller with a captivating plot. The story follows Maya who lost her best friend Aubrey when she mysteriously dropped dead in front of a man they had spent a lot of time with that summer seven years ago. Now Maya has tried her hardest to move on even though she's only managed to cope all these years with drugs. When she sees a video of a stranger dying the same way in front of the very same man Aubrey died in front of, Maya heads back to her hometown to get answers. Her deceased Guatemalan father's book seems to hold some clues. Why does Maya have gaps in her memory from that time seven years ago? The story is filled with twists and plenty of suspense. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out The House in the Pines today.

I finally put up a few decorations today! I am not a hugely festive person anymore, so I don't tend to read holiday stories. I am much more interested in the winter thrillers and suspense stories, and THE HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes fit my sensibilities perfectly!

Maya sees a video of a guy with whom she had a weird relationship as a teen, with a girl who collapses and dies. Seven years ago, a similar situation happened when Frank came over and Maya's best friend Aubrey confronted him and collapsed and died. That event was traumatic and she was just finally feeling like she was on a solid track before this video surfaced. Now she must go back home and confront what happened, but when she starts investigating, truths long buried begin to surface. Will anyone believe her this time?

This is a psychological thriller that felt fresh and creepy! I couldn't tell if there were going to be supernatural elements in it, especially with a connection of Maya's father's long set aside book manuscript and how it affected her in this journey.

I think this will appeal to people like me who read fiction to escape reality. If a reader wants a super realistic story, this might not be the thing for them. I love to think of the "What If?" and this story goes into that realm. I was invested in Maya and her story and the ways she felt she would be discounted in telling her story.

I think this was an interesting point with which I found fascinating: the idea of what makes someone believable. Or not.

Thank you to @netgalley and @duttonbooks for this digital ARC for my thoughts. This will be out on January 3rd 2023. This was a win for me and a debut author to keep watching!

This one just didn't hook me from the start. I felt like it was very wordy without saying many important things and just dragged on and didn't get really exciting.

#TheHpuseInThePines #NetGalley
GENUINELY CREEPY.
The cabin lies deep in the woods, where the trees are so dense it's easy to miss. On the outside it might look like it's crumbling, crawling with weeds, but on the inside it's warm and cosy. A fire crackles in the fireplace. Dinner simmers on the stove. Maya once saw this cabin as an idyllic place, like a cottage from a fairy tale, but now she knows the danger that lurks beneath. The summer she visited the cabin was the summer her best friend Aubrey died. Now, another woman from Maya's hometown has died in the same strange, unexplained way, and Maya believes only she can save the next innocent girl. Guided by her fractured memory and a mysterious, unfinished book by her late father, Maya returns home to face the house in the pines and the man who waits there - the man she's tried so hard to forget . . .
IT was awesome. I didn't expect that twist which punched me in my guts but I really adored it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for giving me an advance copy.

This one was just so so for me. It seemed drawn out and slow at times. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

I enjoyed the first half of this book
The second half, not so much. And I can't put my finger on why that was. I may try it again in the near future.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this prepub book.

I really wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I did. It was just an okay read and I really had to push through to finish it. Thanks NetGalley for letting me give it a chance early.

The suspense in this read is palpable! There is a specific moment that I know I will never forget. The writing is absolutely in engrossing and poignant! Five stars ALL THE WAY!

I guess this was just not what I was hoping for. Maya is a super unreliable and untrusting narrator and the plot just is not well developed. I was so intrigued with the description of the book, as it is right up my alley. Just the execution really lacked. The ending you are left very confused and ultimately questioning what you read.

The plot about women mysteriously dropping dead around a specific person, and Maya, the MC, trying to figure out and piece together what is really happening and what happened to her best friend who dropped dead 7 years ago, definitely intrigued me to read this book.

The House in the Pines is told in one POV but jumps from past to present throughout the book. While I found the premise intriguing, I thought the execution was not as gripping as expected. I found it to be a bit slow and the revelation of the mystery unsatisfying. I didn’t feel like I was submerged in the story and therefore found it to be a middle of the road type of read.

An enjoyable and quick psychological thriller. Maya was an unreliable narrator, and the end was somewhat unclear.

The intriguing and original plot and excellent writing kept me reading this book until I finished it in one day. The dual timelines work well; even without an obvious indicator at the beginning of a chapter about the year or whether it was in the past or present, it was quite clear within a sentence or two. I also enjoyed the respect and affection Maya had for her Guatemalan father, who died before her birth, and for his writing and culture. I did feel the book was a little longer and in some parts slower than necessary, and by the end I was coming close to skimming. Still, I was able to appreciate fully the answer to the mystery, which I found reasonably plausible and satisfying. Many thanks to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book, which I would definitely recommend.

In this debut novel from Ana Reyes, Maya stumbles upon a video of a woman dying under mysterious circumstances in the exact same way her best friend, Aubrey, died several years earlier. The alarming part is that this woman dies while sitting with the exact same man, Frank, that Aubrey was talking to when she died. Maya seeks to find out the truth of what happened to her best friend and how Frank May be connected.

This was a great psychological thriller with an interesting twist at the end I haven’t seen yet. It was a quick read I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ana Reyes, and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.