Member Reviews
QUICK TAKE: perfect for fans of Alex North (THE WHISPER MAN), and ultimately a really enjoyable thriller with a twist that could feel far-fetched in the wrong hands, but plays out well here. Part Piranesi, part Silence of the Lambs. Definitely worth recommending to fans of the genre.
This book started out interesting enough, but it ultimately wasn’t for me. I wasn’t able to finish it, as the content was all over the place and was too difficult to concentrate on the story. I rounded up since I feel I can’t give a fair review without reading the whole story in its entirety.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group for this advanced readers copy.
There were things that I loved about this book and things that I just thought were okay. We follow our main character Maya through a split narrative of when she was a teenager and now in her mid 20s. Maya had suffered a traumatic loss when she was 17 and is now self-medicating. As she is going through withdraw from Klonopin, she delves back into her past to uncover what really happened to her best friend seven years ago.
I didn't quite enjoy the split narrative of this book, I thought it would have been more effective to be told in parts. The jumping back and forth wasn't every other chapter or in a set rhythm so sometimes I would get lost in the narrative and re-read sections. I loved the Guatemalan backstory and I would constantly find myself researching more information about Guatemala. I thought the author, Ana Reyes, did an excellent job weaving in the history of Guatemala into the story. The main theme of this book, to me at least, is trauma and how it seeps into every aspect of your life.
While I loved the cultural and familial backstory, and I thought the description of withdraw and PTSD were very well done, I just didn't love love this book. I figured out the twist rather early on and I kind of hoped I was wrong. I did still enjoy the book and the bittersweet conclusion. I'm excited to follow this author as they continue to write and develop their career.
I really liked this book! The storyline was a little slower paced but it worked for me. I was intrigued throughout the story and overall liked it.
I was interested in the book right from the beginning and was curious as to how her friend died. I feel like there are a lot of books recently where the main character is abusing drugs so you can’t tell if you can trust them. It’s hard to relate to Maya because of this. The storyline did get a little confusing when it kept bouncing back and forth between the past and present so I wasn’t always sure what was happening. Frank was super creepy and I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get closure at the end with what happened to him. I’ve never read a book with hypnosis as a weapon so I do appreciate a different storyline!
First time reading this author and won’t be the last! So good! Such a thrill! Will share with others for sure!
The story centers on Maya, whose best friend Aubrey died suddenly while with Frank- the guy Maya was dating. There is something weird and creepy about Frank that Maya can’t put her finger on, but while no one else believes her, she is convinced he had something to do with the death. Cut to 7 years later and Maya sees a video posted online where another woman just keels over and dies while also in Frank’s presence. Maya knows this can't be a coincidence, and has to get to the bottom of what Frank's role is in these deaths.
The story goes back and forth between the present and the past- the time around Aubrey’s death, which also gives insight into Frank’s mysterious hold over Maya. Maya is currently battling an addiction to Klonopin due to seeing a therapist who prescribed it for her to sleep and is in a seemly good relationship, but when she goes home to do more digging into the deaths, her Mother seems to think she's gone off the deep end again.
I'm intrigued with her Guatemalan background and how it plays into her thought process, as well as her Father's unfinished novel. Definitely a cerebral book that borders on fantasy/spiritualism.
Overall, I found it to be a unique and engaging read. I’d recommend it to those who enjoy psychological mysteries. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a download of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Maya was a senior in high school when her best friend, Aubrey, dropped dead. Seven years later, Maya is living in Boston with a boyfriend and is kicking the secret drug habit that's allowed her to cope with what happened all those years ago. But when Maya discovers a YouTube video depicting a young woman keeling over in a diner, all those emotions, and questions come rushing back. Maya heads to the Berkshires to figure out the truth.
This book was sort of all over the place. The premise isn't exactly new, with the girl going back home to revisit the death of a loved one. The story wasnt the most cohesive either. She uses a half written book from her Guatemalan father for guidance. What? I also thought the ending was way too implausible. The premise was there, but it wasn't executed.
2.5/5
This was an interesting book. The writing was very good, but I thought that the story was a bit blah. I was really waiting for some excitement to happen, but the pace of the book kind of remained the same throughout the entire story.
I can’t believe that this is a first novel. Reyes has the goods and she drew me in with her story immediately. The novel covers a lot of ground over several timelines and I was never lost or confused. Unlike some books with shifting timelines, where I find myself frustrated to leave my favorite part of the story to travel backward or forward, that wasn’t the case here. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Every jump was worth the trip and added to the richness of the story.
Our protagonist is flawed and she is vulnerable, but she’s also strong and passionate. She longs to know where she came from and to understand how that shapes who she is today. And in order to complete that picture she will have to face down her biggest fears and a man that aims to do severe harm to her.
Avoid spoilers. Pick up the book and enjoy the ride.
Seven years ago Maya witnesses her best friend die before her eyes, but the cause of death is unknown. Now Maya lives in Boston with her boyfriend, but she keeps her secrets. One day she watches a video on YouTube from her home town in which a woman mysteriously dies in the same manner in which her best friend did. The only thing the deaths seem to have in common is the man who was with them, Frank. Maya sets out to discover the truth about the deaths and how Frank fits in their lives.
Maya is an unreliable narrator, which I typically enjoy because it keeps you guessing. However, I didn’t feel any kind of connection to any of the characters in this book. I found the middle to be a bit slow and I honestly could have done without the parallel with her fathers book. I thought there was going to be more there. The big twist fell a bit flat for me. Unfortunately this book didn’t do it for me.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review!
I tried to get into it but couldn’t and skipped to the end. I don’t like to leave 1 star reviews for not finishing so I gave it a 2 just because.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
The main character is haunted by her best friends death when she was younger. A very similar occurrence happens bringing her back to the cabin of her youth. Is the boyfriend of the recently murdered girl sinister or is it Mayas psychological problems but hat are making her see thing that aren’t there? That is the question. I have to say the revelation of who was responsible if anyone ( don’t wanna ruin it) wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped.
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. Maya is convinced that Frank had some kind of power over both of them. Years pass, and Maya turns to alcohol and Klonopin when she stumbles across a YouTube video of a young woman who suddenly falls over dead in a diner...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 murky and confusing. The premise was there, but the execution needed to be more sharply focused. I'd love to see what this author comes up with next. THE HOUSE IN THE PINES will publish January 3, 2023, from Dutton Books. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this early read.
I'll admit, this book had me for a minute. Maya and her boyfriend Dan have been together for a couple of years and are relatively happy. She sees a video online that triggers her in the worst possible way, which starts her on a pretty dark spiral until the reveal at the end.
Now by happy I mean a little delusional since Maya has been on certain meds for years because of a trauma that happened to her at the end of high school....and Dan has no idea. He knows small details about the trauma but nothing about the prescription meds abuse. Now that Maya can't get the meds under the table from a friend anymore, she has to stop taking them cold turkey. This condition that she is in throughout the story provides for some bogged down storytelling and fever induced dream sequences. Which can be fine if used correctly but, in this book, it came across as several "Info dumps" which slowed the plot of the story and was unnecessary in the end. I'm also not a fan of unreliable narrators, which I was beginning to believe Maya was by the time I got about halfway.
The jumping of storylines between present day, high school, and her dad's life before she was born was too much for me, there were times when I wasn't sure what time we were in until I had read a couple pages. I think the story could have been told from present day and high school POV and still been a satisfying story.
The reveal at the end was too unbelievable for me, but I don't think it will be for everyone. It's impossible to say anything about the ending without reading the whole story.
I am still going to give it 3 stars though, because as much as I wanted to put it down, the writing instilled enough suspense that I really wanted to see what happened in the end, no matter how wonderful or disappointing it was going to be. The things that I didn't like were not enough to outweigh the allure of the mystery.
This book was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.
This was a little hard to get into and not what I was expecting. I never really felt engaged with the plot or storyline. It was just to slow.
Thanks for letting me review this book to Netgalley and the publisher
Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for the gifted eARC.
There is nothing more exciting to me than reading a debut from a Latina author, which is why I originally requested this ARC (besides the fact that I also love psychological thriller novels). The description sounded enticing, however, this book ended up falling a little flat for me.
The House in the Pines follows Maya, a half American, half Guatemalan woman who is haunted by the death of her best friend, Aubrey, when she was 17. Maya is convinced her ex boyfriend Frank killed Aubrey, and now, after finding a viral video of Frank and another girl dropping dead the same way her best friend did, Maya falls back into the past and works to solve the mystery of what really happened to her and Aubrey 7 years ago.
This book was a little too slow for my taste, and I felt like it could have been 100 pages shorter. The middle dragged on and on, and I was close to DNFing. There was no action that sucked me in and it took me a lot longer to read this book than I wanted to because I found myself getting bored, thus, getting distracted. Also, I am tired of the unreliable narrator character because a woman is going crazy for one reason or another. It gets a little exhausting.
That being said, I did not see the twist coming whatsoever! Although it took a while to get there, I was floored. Finally, around 3/4 of the way into the book, I was sucked in and was reading quickly. I also loved Maya's character development through the story and her connection with Guatemala and her father, although never having met him. As a Latin American Studies major, any mention about Latin American History (which this book had) is an automatic thumbs up for me. Guatemalan history and culture was weaved perfectly into Maya's story.
The end was a little abrupt. I wish it would have ended with more finality than it did, but I guess it could leave the door open for a sequel if Reyes chooses to do so.
CWs: drug addiction, murder
Ana Reyes breakout novel, The House in the Pines, follows a seemingly psychotic and unreliable narrator as she fills the gaps in her memory from seven years prior. Maya, currently going through Klonopin withdrawals, struggles to make sense of her past involving the death of her high school best friend right before she leaves for college.
Teetering from past to present, we watch Maya fall in and out of love with Frank in the past and find out Frank’s involvement in her best friend’s death in the present. Although the timeline is sometimes confusing, each chapter gives clues to what happens next and who is responsible. This is truly a mystery until the last few chapters, and the novel had a satisfying end.
In her thesis turned thriller, Reyes’ novel is the perfect psychological thriller to binge-read. I recommend this novel to any fans of murder mysteries, fans of psychology, and anyone looking for an easy read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Very interesting book. Maya and the struggles
she faced even if in some cases she brought them
upon herself. Was she really hallucinating about the murder of her dearest friend or did she have
mental illness and imagined it all up? Thank to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC
I was really excited to read this early copy. I have to say it was a little slow for a thriller. I never quite felt connected to the main character. This one just fell a little short for me.