A unique story that had an unexpected conclusion. The characters were well thought out. Frank was the most mysterious character. Girls liked him and he played on their wanting to be with him. This was a great first book for an unknown author. I was intrigued with the way the story was put together. There was something wrong with the relationships between Frank and the young girls but the reader was not told what that was until far into the story.
I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from Dutton through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are completely my own.
#AHouseinthePines #NetGalley

This is a magical-realism meander on home and identity, crossed with a realistic serial murderer thriller. I liked both aspects, but couldn't figure out what I was reading here. It's a really promising premise, but the story felt kind of disjointed, doing two genres at once. Even though I like both genres in general, and I thought the main character was intriguing, it was very frustrating to swing wildly between such different feelings and moods.

This book drew me in at the beginning but quickly took a turn, I’m sorry to say.

The dual timelines were very confusing and disjointed. There was no indication that we were shifting timelines, and the flashbacks were not introduced until well into the book. I was lost.

The pacing was very slow, and I found myself doing a lot of skimming.

Oddly, I felt like I was reading two separate books – the one concerning Maya and the one concerning her Guatemalan ancestry. The latter was never tied in and honestly could have been left out completely without changing the book at all except to perhaps make it better.

I never like to give a less than positive review, but I feel I must be honest.

My thanks to NetGalley and Dutton Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Ana Reyes debut novel, 'The House in the Pines', is a fun twist on a typical thriller/mystery. What makes this even more thrilling is the narrator's unreliability; the reader is forced to make assumptions about what is going to happen next.

When Maya was a senior in high school her best friend Aubrey unexpectedly dropped dead in front of a man named Frank, whom they had spent their Summer with and Maya secretly harbored a crush on.
Maya can't help but think that Frank had something to do with Aubrey's death. Her theory is proved to be real when seven later she sees a video of another woman dropping dead right in front of the same man.

Maya returns to her hometown to seek answers to the questions she has been haunted by the last seven years. Like, what really happened to Aubrey that night? And why does everything lead back to Frank's cabin in the woods?

I really enjoyed the shocking twists and turns with this one. I did think, however, that the storyline was very slow-going. This story is really about a haunted girl with a dark past trying to piece together a traumatic incident from her past and how that incident has shaped her life now.
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3.5 Stars*

Struggling with addiction, Maya heads home to search for answers from a tragedy in her past. ANd along the way stumbles into even more trouble.

I really liked the sound of this mystery/thriller, but it found it to be too slow for my liking. The premise and ending were inventive and unique to what I was used to. This is definitely for someone, just not me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The House In The Pines was a totally unique and interesting story, about a girl with a drug addiction, who witnessed the brutal murder of her best friend when she was a child --or did she?
The story was a little slow for me sometimes, but it did have some entertaining twists and turns. Overall I give it 3.5 stars for uniqueness.

When Maya was a senior in high school, getting ready to leave for Boston University, her best friend, Aubrey died. What looked like sudden unexplained death. Only Maya never believed that. She was sure that a guy named Frank had something to do with it. And seven years later, Maya sees a video of another girl who just keels over dead and who is sitting with her but Frank.

Maya is struggling. Trying to withdraw from Klonopin and having an issue with alcohol. While her boyfriend is a great guy, she doesn’t tell him about either. Or Frank.

Now she is going home to her mother. Hoping to find Frank and the mysterious cabin in the woods and find out how he killed her friend.

For a Mystery/Thriller this moved at a snail’s pace. I almost gave up halfway through but slogged on. The ending was unique and inventive, however.

NetGalley/January 3rd, 2023 by Dutton

A sincere thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advanced readers copy (ARC) of “The House in the Pines” in exchange for an honest review. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this story and leave my review voluntarily.

**3.5 stars**

Ana Reyes’ debut novel, The House in the Pines, is a clever and captivating thriller with a unique premise, dual timelines and an unreliable narrator.

Two women die in the presence of the same man, seven years apart. What’s the connection?

The story is told from the perspective Maya, who, seven years later, is still haunted by the death of her childhood best friend, Audrey. When another woman dies under similar circumstances, she returns home to learn what happened.

Let me start off by saying this book has a twist that I didn’t see coming! An unlikely story? Sure. But, I found Reyes’ writing so captivating that I gladly wandered down that rabbit hole! Reyes’ penned a beautiful story that conveys the powers of past and present, love and loss, and memory and manipulation.

I devoured this book on a sunny and breezy summer afternoon (I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!), but as I became immersed in the pages, I found myself transported to other places. A cold, dreary winter evening in New England. A sweltering home in Guatemala City. An uncomfortable dinner with a partner’s parents. A cabin in the woods.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to suspend disbelief and get lost in a great thriller. Readers of Simone St. James, Stuart Turton and Riley Sager are sure to like this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

A well-constructed debut thriller that's especially strong in the female friendship it draws at the center of the book. Aubrey and Maya really resonated with me, and the author captured something fundamental about the way they grew up through and around each other. I don't think I'm the audience for this book—the twist is well executed but unfortunately also one of the things in my "no" column—but there are definitely those out there who will go for it.

This book was such a wild ride. Kept me hooked til the very end and tied together perfectly in the end. Definitely worth a read.

A promising debut from an author with some interesting ideas. Ana Reyes crafts an interesting and mysterious protagonist in Maya, whose traumatic past has raised its head, endangering her recovery from the addiction she developed to cope with its aftermath. Reyes has fun playing with the unknowables in this story: Maya has large gaps in her memory thanks to the aforementioned trauma and addiction, and the things that happen to her defy explanation. I had fun getting to the bottom of this eerie, atmospheric mystery: would make a great beach read.

Mesmerizing and hypnotic in language and plot, although in retrospect, the whole thing seemed very forced and contrived. Young women in the company of a certain man just drop dead? Come on.

Nevertheless, The House in the Pines certainly held my attention.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

I’m giving this one four stars because it’s so freaking original and unique. This one combines elements of terror/horror and magical realism as well as weaving Mayan history throughout. Creepy and interesting, it’s full of dread and mysticism.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group/ Dutton for sending me a complimentary advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Maya has put her past behind her and is working to kick the addiction she has suffered with ever since the bizarre death of her best friend, Aubrey, during the summer of their senior year in high school. Seven years later, living in Boston with her long time boyfriend, Maya is jolted back to the past when she hears about the unexplained death of another young woman. She died the same way Aubrey had, in the company of a man named Frank, the same man that Aubrey and Maya had been hanging around with that fateful summer, seven years before; leading Maya back to her hometown and to Frank’s cabin in the woods

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the copy of The House In The Pines. The story slowly drew me in. This is not a seat-of-your-pants thriller, you have to be patient while the story unfolds but the quality of the writing was worth it. It was pretty obvious what Frank was up to, but I liked how it was revealed. Maya was a great but flawed character and I cared about her and her wellbeing. I really liked how tenacious she was about uncovering the truth. If you want a thought-provoking, kind of creepy read, this is for you.

I would have NEVER guessed the outcome of this book!!! I will not share more on that, but just know it is essential to read this one. This will undoubtedly be a top selling book. It was a slow burn for me as I was grasping the past versus present writing and piecing everything together. So much detail in this book so make sure you are paying attention. A very unique storyline - literally so clever!! It is invigorating to see a book so dissimilar from other thrillers I have read. 4 star read for me! Cannot wait for this book to come out January 2023.

A young woman named Maya, with a haunting past that has become detrimental to her current life. Her addiction is one of the unfortunate outcomes from a very traumatizing time 7 years ago. In this novel you are taken back in time to Maya's teenage years when her best friend mysteriously dropped dead outside her home. Maya makes her way back to her hometown to try and piece together the memories she has of that time and how they correlate with what she saw in a video recently with another woman and her old summer crush, Frank. She has always felt something wasn't right when she was with Frank. His cabin in the woods might give her the answers she needs to finally move on from that time with Frank, find closure for Aubrey, and put her life back on track.

I don’t want to say I was disappointed by this book but… one one hand the story itself is great, fairly fast paced, It’s suspenseful and keeps you guessing, Maya’s character was thoughtful and deep. Honestly I liked her a lot. Her thoughts on her dads writings, while it did give me insight on her and was interesting, I feel the book could have been left without it. Frank’s cabin basically threw me for a loop and honestly I read several passages twice to make sure I was following the story correctly. I felt the writing was good, and I love a book that keeps me turning the pages which this did. On the other hand, The ending could of definitely been more spectacular and I was left feeling a little unsatisfied. Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to review this eARC!

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes- I found this book to be a little difficult to follow. I thought the characters were fairly well-defined and liked the aspect of Maya trying to get over her addiction. That felt realistic. However, the story itself was lost on me. People just dropping dead felt implausible. I got about halfway through this book and gave up.

I was excited to read this one, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. The plot was interesting, but the pace was way too slow for the genre. I kept expecting it to pick up, but it never did. It was quite predictable, as well. There was a lot of potential, but it didn't live up to it. It was a struggle to stay engaged.