Maya sees a viral video of a woman in a diner suddenly dropping dead while seated across from her boyfriend. Maya knows this man, Frank, who used to be her boyfriend, and years ago her best friend similarly dropped dead in front of him. She thought Frank was responsible fro her friend's death, but everyone concluded she had mental issues. Now that the same thing has happened again, can she convince anyone of Frank's guilt? But it's even less likely this time, since she's addicted to sleeping pills, drinks too much, and has a dead-end job.

Reyes keeps the reader guessing as to what is going on, and the questions raised - Who is Frank? Why does he have this creepy relationship with Maya? - create a wonderfully sinister undertone. Reyes enriches the book by incorporating Guatemala's tragic history and a fascinating ancient poem. An easy book to finish in one sitting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut! I wouldn’t call it a thriller but it had just enough suspense to keep me intrigued, I needed to see where it went.

My favorite part(s) was easily the scenes in Guatemala. As a Latina myself, I loved reading about a Latin family that reminded me of parts of my childhood & family homes.

I can’t wait to read Ana’s next one!
Thank you to Netgalley & publisher for a n ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First off, thanks to NetGalley and Dutton publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review. This book was definitely psychological! This is a debut and was so unlike any other book I’ve read! Maya is definitely unreliable, which makes the reader question everything they are reading! This book infuses a bit of magical realism as well, I can’t really say much more without giving it away but it all worked. Also, there is a bit of Guatemalan culture thrown in that while it ties in, it still was a side plot. What I do wish was for the ending to be a bit less vague, after piecing this crazy mystery together, I wished there was a bit more payout. Overall, this was a great debut with an interesting concept. I can see this as a BOTM selection as well due to the nature and way it’s written. Excited to see what Ana Reyes will bring in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!

This is a really mind twisting and fairly disturbing thriller about how an imaginative and open mind can be manipulated by the wrong person to cause harm.

This was a really intriguing read. I saw in the acknowledgements that this author was inspired to write this from their thesis for their MFA. I absolutely love that little piece of information because it adds a bit of background to where this story came from within the author.

The main character, Maya, is going through so much right now. Klonopin withdrawal mixed with some irresponsible drinking. She sees a video online of a woman dying seemingly from nothing except the fact that this woman was with a man that was familiar to Maya and a history she's been trying to forget.

Out January 3, 2023!

I DNF'ed at 5%. I was so incredibly bored with the story and I didn't care if Maya got her pills or not. I need a mystery thriller that hooks me from the first page and this was not it for me. Thank you for the review copy.

I enjoyed this book and thought it was a unique premise. The story centers on Maya, whose best friend Aubrey died suddenly when she was with Maya’s boyfriend, Frank. Maya is convinced he had something to do with Audrey’s death. 7 years later she sees a video posted online where another woman suddenly dies while also in Frank's presence and Maya makes it her mission to figure out his connection in this dual timeline book.
The only part of the story I really didn't get was the connection to the book that Maya's father had been writing. This seems to be really symbolic, both in the synopsis and throughout the story itself, but I couldn't make the connection between that story and what was happening to Maya.
Overall, I really liked this book and found it to be a unique and engaging read. I'd recommend it to those who enjoy psychological mysteries.

Great synopsis, but it was very slow-going at the beginning, so I couldn't get into the story. This was a DNF for me.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for my gifted advance review copy!

Maya seeks to forget her difficult past by drowning her memories in alcohol and pills. Unable to sleep one night, she discovers a video online of a woman dying in a diner in an eerily similar manner to Maya’s childhood friend, Aubrey. Presented with the choice to either face her past or continue to ignore what ails her, Maya chooses to investigate what happened in her hometown a decade ago.

This book crams a lot of familiar themes and tropes into one novel. We have the MC struggling with addiction who may or may not be a reliable narrator, a parallel in the plot where a traumatic event in the past mirrors one in the present, the MC returning to her hometown (from which she’s previously been long absent), and a creepy cabin in the woods. To be honest, there was almost too much going on, and I didn’t really find much of it to be interesting.

The reader is told rather than shown a lot of things, especially early on in the novel, and this caused me to feel a lot of distance from the plot and its characters. I didn’t really feel any empathy or concern for Maya- there was definitely something missing here for me.

I’m also tired of reading books where addiction is a convenient plot device. Maya has a pill problem til she doesn’t and drinks too much til she doesn’t. It felt that this aspect of her was turned on and off like a faucet or switch depending on what was going on in the rest of the story. It’s also frustrating that her character remains in denial of her addiction/complicated relationship with drugs and alcohol til the (painfully) perfect end of the book.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 for Goodreads

A really fun read that struck a chord with me. The protagonist, Maya, is horribly unreliable but not in a way that makes the narrative a slog. The antagonist, Frank, is very un-antagonist and his motives are foggy at best. I loved the way the story unraveled piece by piece. RIP Maya's Dad. He was my favorite character and he wasn't even alive when this book started.

Maya escaped her past by moving to a new city and finding a new love. When she is brought back into her hometown from a video that shows her ex-boyfriend and a dead woman, she can’t help but wonder how this has happened… again. Maya goes through a rollercoaster of emotions trying to figure out the “key” to this mystery, that has her ex-boyfriend at the heart of girls who have died in his presence.

This book was not what I expected but it was the best surprise. The beginning was slow as readers will not know where this story is going but to press on, is to jump full force into a spiraling abyss. This book confused me in the best way possible. It was difficult to see where this story would be going but mid-way through I wondered about how it would end and made a prediction. My prediction turned out to be right, but even before I knew that, I could not piece together how the end would unfold. It was amazing to see the inside of Ana Reyes’ mind as she used psychology, thriller, and mystery to create this plot. I can honestly say that this book was a very interesting and fun read that I would recommend for anyone else looking for a new upcoming book to be engulfed in.

The House in the Pines is an atmospheric thriller about Maya, a young woman whose best friend Aubrey from high school died suddenly in front of her while in the presence of Frank, a strange young man Maya had recently begun dating. Years later, in the city she fled to for college, Maya sees a video online of another young woman dying suddenly and mysteriously in her hometown, while seated next to Frank. Struggling with her own patchy memories of her relationship with Frank and coping with withdrawal from the substances she used to cope with the loss of Aubrey, Maya returns to her hometown to finally get to the bottom of what happened to her friend.

An interesting story -- the challenge of an unreliable narrator and a nearly inconceivable plot twist made this one a bit challenging to get through, but ultimately a satisfying read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

While this book was intriguing and mysterious, it really fell flat and didn’t conclude in a logical or gratifying way. I was a bit disappointed at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dutton, and Ana Reyes for the advanced copy of The House in the Pines in exchange for my honest review.

I unfortunately decided to DNF this one about 20% in. I wasn't connecting to the story or the characters and I was kind of frustrated with our female main character in particular.

As always, I will not be reviewing or rating this book on any retail sites aside from NetGalley!

had so many promising aspect but i had to dnf it at 40% through the book.... i was sooo sad that I had to dnf this because this was one of a good creepy reads

This excellent thriller makes me wish that there were more books to read by this author. I was thoroughly invested in the story which was delightfully creepy. I also enjoyed the interesting parts about Guatemala, and I learned so much. Each character was interesting and well-developed.
The only thing I didn’t like was the end. It ran on too long after the climax of the story. I was hoping for a final punch, but it never came. The ending was more of a whimper than a bang.
I will definitely read more by this author.

This book has unexpected reasons for unexplained events that keep the reader wondering if it is a paranormal or magical story. Once the mysteries are solved, the darkness and deception of the antagonist are fully recognized. At times, as a reader, I was annoyed with the main character for her seeming inability to make good decisions. The eventual resolution of her many problems provides her with a fairly happy ending.

I really enjoyed this book and its’ unique premise. Maya’s best friend Aubrey suddenly dies in the company of Frank, Maya’s boyfriend.
Maya is unsure about Frank, but she can’t quite see what it is…she is, however, convinced he played a role in Aubrey’s death.
7 years pass, and Maya sees a video online of a woman suddenly dying in Frank’s presence, and this seems to prove her suspicions. She decides she has to get to the bottom of this.

There is a shift between two timelines, the current one and the time of Audrey’s death. This gives some insight into Frank’s strange hold over Maya.
Maya is a sympathetic character, suffering with trauma and addiction. This book made me feel uneasy even when not much was going on.

I found this both unique and captivating.

Maya has gone off to college after a few traumatic events. While there she realizes she has some unfinished business back home, so she leaves Boston and her BF Dan. Maya is on the search to find out what happened to her best friend Audrey the day she died. She knows in her heart a guy named Frank has something to do with Audrey's death a possibly a few others. The catch is Maya and Frank had been seeing each other at the time of Audrey's death. Her theory takes a bit of convincing. Back home she finds out what really was going back when she was a teenager.

I just didn't like that Maya already knew everything but just couldn't but two and two together. Good story and Frank is for sure creepy.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A young woman loses her best friend in a mysterious manner. When another woman dies under the same circumstances, she takes it upon herself to search for a resolution.