Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes.

I tried this book this summer and tried it again this November and still it wasn't for me. I read many mixed reviews of this title, but wanted to experience the book for myself before making up my mind.

Unfortunately, this was a big miss for me. The plot never pulled me in. I requested this title, because of the plot summary. It is exactly the kind of book I go for, but the execution had me drifting off over and over.

A big thank you to Dutton for granting me access to this title. I am super sad this was a miss for me.

Wasn't my favorite read. Lots of plots that were missing something to connect it all together. The story didn't flow as well as I was hoping. Thinking maybe the author needs to try writing a different genre.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. This was a miss for me. Two girls die when they are near the same man and it turns out that he is hypnotizing them? Then there was the back and forth timelines that were rather confusing and the cabin in the woods that did exist or did it not? Meh, not worth your time!

There is no sugar coating this one.... I thought this was terrible. Completely ridiculous in parts and boring in others.

It’s not often a book leaves me completely confused by the end (and not in a good, cliffhanger way). The House in the Pines follows an adult Maya as she tries to remember her friend’s death that she witnessed years before, suddenly dying in front of the mysterious man they started spending time with, Frank. As an adult, Maya sees a similar death online with none other than Frank in the picture again, and to uncover the truth, she must dig into her own family history and revisit Frank’s cabin where it all began. Unfortunately, this story was all over the place, and it was hard to follow which timeline we were in and many parts felt confusing or unnecessary to the story.
Thank you to NetGalley & Dutton for the ARC. This is out now.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me this ARC. This novel started off great with a couple of mysterious unexplainable deaths, a ton of flashbacks and for me, a hard to swallow plot point. It was a fun read but can't say that it was a recent favorite. Might be someone's cup of tea but not mine. Sorry.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick. Our library purchased and our patrons have been checking out and and enjoying the book. I see it is a popular book club choice as well we hope to have more oppurtinies to support authors like them

I loved the exposure of abuse in this book. Not prevalent - just a hint to tease. So similar to a lot of people's experience in life - including my own. Frank used a different method but created the same results of gaslighting. Maya has missing hours - a hint of something she cannot access.
Still suffering from the trauma of the her best friend's death the summer before college, seven years later Maya still struggles to recover. A video of Frank with another young woman - dead, spurs Maya to action.

This book was SO fast paced I finished it in one day! the plot twist was very interesting but unfortunately the characters weren’t my favorite. I would still recommend to people who want a quick thriller!

Seven years ago, Maya's best friend, Aubrey, died unexpectedly. She was having a conversation with her boyfriend, Frank and died while in conversation.

Now, Maya struggles to kick a drug addiction that she has had since that happened. She struggles with the aftermath of the trauma. Unable to remember and forget exactly what happened.

Then, one day, she sees a video of a girl that is across from Frank at a dinner table and unexplainably dies. Is there a connection?

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an eARC for my honest review.

This was fast-paced with an unusual concept for the suspense. For a debut author, I thought she did a good job of making it intriguing. I wasn’t thrilled with the ending, I would have liked more closure.

#TheHouseinthePines #NetGalley

Maya has some issues. She drinks. She takes pills. Maya has a wonderful part of her bleak life, she has a boyfriend who loves her. One day she sees a shocking online video that takes her back to a time that is full of questions and hurt. Her best friend died in front of Maya’s boyfriend. Was he involved? She goes on a journey to solve this mystery and perhaps save herself as well.

This was interesting because it’s a weird concept. Frank her ex-boyfriend is very much an interesting and suspicious character. The book was easy to read and flowed by fast. Her mental issues (trauma) and addictions were presented very well.

What I didn’t like. Unreliable narrator. I have a huge issue with substance abuse for people not to believe in someone. If the person is a chronic liar. I get that, but because someone is addicted to drugs or alcohol……they become unreliable. I don’t think that’s necessarily always the first case.

The ending and the mystery was quite honestly underwhelming. I thought, “Wow, this is it?”

Overall I did appreciate the realistic view on the thought process of someone in the throes of addiction.

I've been bamboozled by the plot!!! Did I finish this? No. The unreliable narrator was INSUFFERABLE. But happy for the author that this is their debut and it was a Reese's book club pick? lol

I loved a twist in this book. I never though about hypnossis as it is presented in the book. Can hypnossis be a murder weapon or is it all just an excuse ?

I really wanted to love and enjoy this book, especially because the cover and the precious sounded so good. It was creepy AF BUT....
* the plot had some predictable twists
*the ending did not fit with the rest of the plot (IMO)
*did not seem plausible
*main character complained a lot

Cannot recommend this book, but I can see why other people would enjoy it. I hope her next book is better than this one.

Thanks to Netgalley, Ana Reyes, and Penguin Group Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already Available

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review. I wanted to read this book because of the hispanic representation and because it was part of Reese's Bookclub. Im sad to inform that I found this book to be silly. I loved the beginning. The background of her dad and his book and the poem was so creative. I feel like I understood what she was going for but the story would have benefited from diving more into magical realism. There were some actions of Maya that drove me crazy, wasn't believable at all. I do think it does a good job at setting the locations very well, the execution of the whole story was creative but left me wanting more.

This was a very creepy read, and not a typical psychological thriller. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it is a hard book to recommend!

This book intrigued me quite a bit. However, the ending was too far-fetched for me. I just couldn’t buy into it, and that ruined the whole book for me. I love the authors writing style, and I thought this was going to be a winner for me, but I just didn’t care for it. Three stars.

I truly wanted to love this one. I started reading and then switched to audio thinking maybe; however, it didn’t hold my attention. I constantly had to go back until I decided to dnf