This one took me months to read. I kept losing interest, would put it down, pick it up later, rinse and repeat.
This sort of novel is usually exactly what I love, the mystery, the unexplained deaths, hazy details that might be real, might not, but for some reason it just didn't sit. I think this would have made a fantastic novella, but didn't quite have the depth for a full on novel. Too much drawn out that didn't keep me turning pages. As a debut author, I think she has a lot of potential though and I will for sure give her work another go when she puts out another book!

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes is a mesmerizing tale that draws you in and doesn't let go. Her character descriptions are vibrant and evoke the reader to emotional connect with them. This is a definite must read! Bravo to Ana Reyes on her first amazing novel.

Solid thriller, my first read by Reyes, but hopefully not the last.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy to read and review.

Maya, dealing with drug dependency issues and alcoholism watches a video of a woman drop dead in a diner on the news. Just like her best friend dropped dead when they were high school seniors. Both were with the same man, Frank. Frank dated Maya while she was in high school. She is now scared that he is going to try to kill her too. But first she must figure out how he killed the two women without seemingly touching them. A good page-turner which touches on family connections and social perceptions.

This book had promise, but I was never fully invested in the characters or the plot line. Maya was a senior in high school when her best friend Aubrey died right in front of her after a visit from Frank, a darkly mysterious man the two of them had become acquainted with that summer.

As years pass Maya turns to alcohol and Klonopin to subdue her feelings of losing her best friend when she stumbles across a YouTube video of a young woman who suddenly falls over dead in a diner in Maya’s hometown and Frank is seated across from her. Maya's quest to make sense of both what happened to Aubrey and the woman in the diner is confusing and borders on the line of obsession and creepy.

The idea of The House in the Pines is very compelling, but I felt as though this novel relied too heavily on its incoming plot twist. And I found the conclusion unsatisfying, the pacing is off for most of the novel. I feel the pacing was too slow meaning it felt like an effort to pick up and read.

A great, spooky atmospheric read. I will be recommending this to those looking for a new voice in thrillers.

This book was very interesting to me. From a purely thriller perspective I found the ending a little far fetched and hard to grasp, but there were other aspects of the book I really liked. I enjoyed Maya's background and the Guatemalan history/culture that was added into the book. As a whole it was interesting and an easy read but personally the end didn't resonate with me.

Maya, a student at Boston University, lost her friend, Aubrey, when they were in high school. It was classified as an unexplained death. However, Maya had other indications that it was actually a man named Frank who had something to do with Aubrey’s death. Seven years following, a video appears where a girl keeps over dead with Frank sitting by her. Maya returns home in search for Frank at a cabin that is in the woods. This book was a bit slow. However, the end of this was very intriguing and unique.

The title and cover alone told me this was going to be a dark eerie read and it did not disappoint. It's perfect for the spooky season and I think everyone will enjoy this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advance copy!

I found this to be an engaging thriller, with elements that reminded me of an old Dean Koontz favorite of mine, False Memory.

While I predicted the twist due to being exposed to this concept a few times in other thrillers, I thought it was used in a unique way.

This alternated between present and past timelines, which I enjoyed as a way to build the suspense and gradually give more detail to the time surrounding Aubrey’s death. However, I found the significant time devoted to Maya’s family in Guatemala and her father’s book to be a loose thread that didn’t really add to the overall story. I kept trying to grasp to make that work thematically and didn’t really find value in that extra layer.

A literal worst-case scenario, our Main Character (no spoliers) is caught in a web of unreality as she battles with inner demons and outer nightmares.

A solid 3.5 for me, the concept and terror expressed by the lack of control the MC has makes the book for me. As a first published novel, there is the charactoristic lack of sustained growth... the starts and stops... the jumps in perception.

No matter the rough edges to be sanded off by Reyes' upcoming honing of the craft, this story was worth it!

The logline for this book is fascinating, and for the first third I was really, really excited to find out more. There's a lot of beautiful writing here, and great descriptions of Pittsfield, MA and the surrounding area. Once I figured out the "twist," though-- which happened fairly early-- there was little more to glean from the story beyond simply following the thread to its natural conclusion. The red herrings felt like red herrings from the start (also the side plot about her father's novel was so irrelevant I literally forgot about it until finishing this review and had to come back and add it). I'd read another Ana Reyes novel, but this one wasn't for me.

I can’t imagine how hard it would be to know someone did something sinister yet nobody believes you. Instead you’re labeled crazy and given meds that completely change you and damages your relationships. Maya has dealt with this exact situation for years but upon seeing a video showing a girl dying in an unexplainable way - exactly like her best friend died - she knows she holds the key to unlocking the mystery. I was enthralled with this unique story!

I loved the premise of the storyline but the delivery and ending left a lot to be desired. It’s a solid 3/5 for me. I enjoyed the dual timeline and the inner workings of the human brain but felt the connection to the folklore book seemed vague.

This debut was excellent! I could tell that this book was well researched and it was written in a way that made it intriguing and easy to read. I really felt for the main character, Maya, even though she made some questionable choices. I was sad that she had never met her father and was desperate to feel close to him. Frank was a very interesting character. I really didn’t like him, but I found him compelling and I could see how Maya would fall for his charm. This thriller is truly unlike anything I’ve ever read. I did predict what was going on early on, but I still thought the book was suspenseful and thrilling. I couldn’t stop reading!

Thank you @dutton and @netgalley for the eARC of The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

This is a debut and and is unique in that I don't think I've read anything quite like it.

This psychological thriller/suspense book starts out slow but picks up the pace quickly. Maya is a drug addict who sees the death of a girl on video. The girl is seen with Maya's former boyfriend, Frank. Maya is sure that Frank is responsible for the death of the girl. She also thinks that Frank is responsible for the death of her best friend years ago.

Maya sets out to find answers. Problem is.....Maya is a drug addict coming off her drug of choice cold turkey. So.....can she be trusted or believed???????

This was really kept me engaged. However, I have to say I found the twist and ending somewhat hard to believe.
Overall, a good read and a good debut!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

I really disliked this one. I wanted to like it but I was just left with a feeling of having no closure and I felt like the story was kind of all over the place. It kept me reading, but it was more because I wanted to see if I could figure out if this was going to end or not.

Maya is medicating and drinking years after the death of her high school best friend. When she see a viral video of another woman dropping dead exactly like Aubrey years earlier, she sets out to find the common denominator- her ex-boyfriend Frank.
This story is beautifully written and fast paced. I found it to be very unique in the weaving of the main character’s background and what family history can do in the present. The plot was fresh and exciting and definitely had me enthralled until the end.
Thanks to NetGalley, the Penguin Group and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Entertaining and engaging. The House in the Pines is a recommended purchase for collections where thrillers are popular.