I was kind of on the fence with this one. The main story line is intriguing, particularly with an unreliable narrator who has an unclear and dubious past. The past in question being the tangential focus of the sub story line.

I’ll be honest, I really didn’t care for the second storyline, particular due to the fact it was being told from the perspective of a not so likable guy. He meant well, but his behavior in the flashbacks was infuriating at best.

However the main plot does keep you on your toes as you slowly uncover how it all comes together in the end

Narrator did fairly well telling the story from the different perspectives.

Quick, enjoyable read. Definitely check the trigger warnings on this one before diving in - it discusses some very sensitive topics like child abuse & sexual assault.

The plot started off really strong, so I was invested in the story early. I thought the book kept a good pace throughout. The plot twists were a bit predictable, and I didn’t love the ending - it was too perfectly tied up for my liking.

I really liked the main character Paris and the fact that the story - from the very beginning - made you question whether to trust her or not. I liked learning about her life through the various flashbacks. Her character was very well developed. The other characters were well written as well.

This was a great book to listen to on audio. It was engaging and easy to follow along while driving to and from work. Definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for allowing me to review this audiobook!

While the story was pretty predictable, it was a still enjoyable. I’m Filipino so reading about our food and culture gave me a personal connection to the story. That’s where it ends though because the characters, aside of the protagonist, were awful people. Reading about them literally had my skin crawling.

Like I mentioned earlier, I was able to guess the twist early on but because the story is told with dual POVs and timeline, it didn’t matter. There was still one mystery left to solve in the end which kept me engaged.

Overall, I would recommend this book but be warned, there are plenty of triggers found in this book.

Smicker Smacker Smucker! 😳😯🤯

Fluffy Fluffer Floof! This has got to be the best Hillier novel she's done yet! Absolutely incredible. A true suspenseful thriller that you will not imagine the twists and turns that she throws at you constantly leaving you reeling! It was absolutely believable, intriguing, kept me hooked and at times utterly heartbreaking too. By far my favourite by her now. She kept me invested and delivered sumptuously!

Mყ 𝐒ყɴ𝐨ρѕιѕ: Paris, a young Filipina yoga instructor, has been married for a short time to a comedian celebrity, Jimmy. But she's now arrested for his murder after he's found in the bathtub and Paris is covered in his blood and holding the razor. But what truly terrifies her isn't this, but that the police and the media will unearth her past. Ruby, who's been in jail in Canada for years, for a similar murder that Paris is being accused of, ends up being released she knows who Paris really is and her utmost secrets, threatening her she'll expose her and her past. Can Paris finally face her truths but keep it at bay?

I'm still in shock of all the crazy things that Hillier threw in this novel. And I absolutely love how she's a fellow Canadian. I loved the telling of both past and present. It made this novel come together so well! To say I enjoyed this is an understatement! I was enthralled and the narrator was perfect. I think it made me love this novel even more. I loved how she touched on the different minority races with this. The culture, struggles, deep and raw. I definitely need another iced coffee after this intense thriller. And cuddles. Lots of dog cuddles.

🔴 Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault ; Physical Abuse ;

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for this ARC.
Release Date: July 19, 2022

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭: 4.5 / 5 Beach Waves! 🌊

Well, Jennifer Hillier can always be relied upon to deliver a dark and twisty story that will have you gripping the armrest of your reading chair and flipping pages with abandon.

She does an excellent job of keeping you off-kilter and not knowing whether you should like or hate her main characters. This book starts off with Paris Peralta being arrested for the murder of her celebrity comedian husband. The pair live right on Queen Anne overlooking the Seattle City. For those of you who haven't spent time in Seattle this means they are pretty well off. Those houses go for upwards of $6 Million. But with a seemingly airtight prenup in place, what motive could Paris have had?

Anyway, it becomes apparent that Paris has quite the secret history of her own, and this might not be the first time she's been involved in a murder. The rest of the book is spent between the past and the present time and Paris' history starts to unfold.

I can't say too much more without giving any spoilers, but in true Hillier style this story is pretty dark and there is a lot of abuse (child, emotional, domestic etc) which can be really hard to read about...at least I thought so. But it was so well written and even though I guessed at some of the twists it didn't make it any less compelling to read.

I loved Carla Vega's narration of the audiobook and will definitely seek out more of her performances. The audio is 12 hours and 21 minutes but seemed shorter because once I started it I quite simply couldn't stop!

I couldn’t finish the audiobook. The audiobook was absolutely terrible. She had no passion or emotion in her voice . It sounded like someone reading ingredients from a can. Also the speed is totally off. It’s way too slow at 1.75x but at 2x it was a bit too fast. Please fix this to match the speed of other books. Do not recommend.

Thank you MacMillan audiobook and NetGalley for the review audiobook of Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier. This is a four star audiobook for narration and style/production but a 2-3 star plot, the story just never grabbed my attention and the slow burn to speedy resolution did not work for me. This book does have content warnings and I would encourage readers to review them (they won't spoil the book); content included topics on abuse/child abuse, foster system, suicide, and related mental health topics.

The narration as I noted is well done, Carla Vega gives nuance to the different characters and their backgrounds, has effective pacing, and has an engaging presence as a voice actor in terms of style, emotion, and clarity.

The plot: The book is easy to follow, even with dual timelines, and the writing is strong but I just never got into this story. I think some of my lack of engagement was this is not a thriller, there was for me no suspense, just a slow burn (drawn out) narrative that did not have sufficient pay off to earn the slow burn pace. The characters perhaps were not given enough to do to really have an engaging plot and I did not have a sense of tension or building suspense. This has nothing to do with the overall quality of the audiobook itself but overall this is a like but not love review.

I really loved this compulsively readable thriller! Things We Do in the Dark is fast-paced with dual timelines about Paris Peralta, who has run from her traumatic past and made a new life for herself. We're immediately plunged into her life as she discovers her husband has died. The story follows her present-day and about twenty years prior. The story moves swiftly and feels like watching a movie. I loved the writing style and characters. Though I guessed the reveals, I still really enjoyed the story and couldn't stop listening to the audiobook. I loved Carla Vega's narration. It was perfect for this book. Highly recommend if you're looking for a captivating thriller!

Thank you Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook / audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was my first Jennifer Hillier book and it did not disappoint! I will have to pick up more of her books for sure.

This book covers topics of rape, child abuse, and murder just to warn anyone triggered by these topics. This book is gritty and dark and the character development is amazing. I loved and rooted for Paris and I absolutely loved hating Ruby. I love the back and forth between the present and the past of the main character's childhood. It is so well written and the story had me hooked. It's also a good murder mystery. I don't want to spoil any of the story so I am being kind of vague. I will say the title is absolutely perfect for the book and is referenced throughout. This will be a book that stays with me and one of my favorites so far this year!

My first book by Hiller proved to be an enjoyable, twisty ride through crime, podcasts and deep rooted secrets that threaten to come to life. It was the sort of compulsive read (err, listen) that you didn't want to pause awaiting whatever the next chapter would add to the buildup of tension. I enjoyed the sections/parts being broken into song lyric references and the slow unfurling of the past colliding with the future. TW for suicide, drugs, child and sexual abuse.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

ARC audiobook provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Things We Do in the Dark” is a murder mystery/thriller that proceeds through multiple timelines with multiple murders that eventually collide in the present. In the present, Paris Peralta awakes in a bathroom, covered in blood and holding a straight razor while her famous husband’s assistant screams that Paris has murdered her husband, who lies dead in the bathtub next to her. Paris is quickly arrested for her husband’s murder, and the court of public opinion immediately sides against her, labeling her a money-hungry murderess who married her much older (30 years to be precise) husband solely for his money. Feeling alone and confused, Paris not only fears what will happen to her in the present, but also fears what secrets the past may unravel.

In the past, we follow Joey as she works to evade her complicated history and her mother who has such a prominent role in it. Soon history appears to repeat itself and Joey realizes she is caught in an impossible situation in which she finds only one solution: run. However, can she really outrun the past? As she prepares to disappear, questions arise as to whether the past and the present will catch up with her in the end.

Ultimately, the mystery of the death of Paris’ husband slowly unfolds into a final climax wherein the lives of Joey and Paris collide.

I found this book to be a middle-of-the-road read for me. The author did a good job with the dual timelines and the writing overall. The author’s writing style made it easy to become immersed in the book. The mysteries of the past and present are slowly revealed, colliding into a present that wraps up a little too quickly for me. Therein lies the problem I found with this book: the majority of the book is a bit drawn out, slowly exploring the dual timelines, but then the book swiftly wraps up at the end with a neat bow resolving everything. The ending just feels rushed, and the quick and neat resolution of all of the storylines feels forced. I did enjoy the book for the most part, but the ending left me feeling unsatisfied.

My copy of this book was an audiobook, so I must comment on the narrator. I though she did an excellent job. Her voices, including her male voices, were perfect and kept me engaged in the story. Her overall narrative inflection and pace really brought the audiobook to life. I would definitely recommend the audiobook version of this book.

Overall, this was an okay read. It is a quick and easy mystery/thriller book that I believe would work well for adult and young adult audiences. While I found the book a bit lacking in part, I enjoyed the author’s storyline and writing style on the whole to the extent that I would read other books by her. If you’re looking for a simple straightforward mystery, this is the book for you.

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Pub day: 7-19-2022

I’ve heard people rave about Hillier’s books and I now know why. This was quite the ride with twists that kept on coming. I liked that this had me feeling tense and worried through its entirety, and I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.

There are some big trigger warnings, one being the abuse of a very young girl. That was hard to read and made my stomach turn on multiple occasions. When that element is in books, it’s an automatic deduction for me because of how difficult it is to read about, but I still thought it was a good book even with those unfortunate details.

The narration by Carla Vega was exceptional!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the alc in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed this story though it was completely disturbing at times. It was so enjoyable to read and hear bits of Filipino culture throughout this book. There is a lot of accuracy that this author portrayed with the characters in this book. With the additional tone and Filipino accents of the amazing narrator, there was a lot of authenticity in this book.

To me this is quite a thriller. Where there are small powerful moments rather than fast paced, action packed scenes. The layout of the story was interesting having been told from different points of view and different timelines. There was a lot of details that went into this story and though some things I guessed before the end was revealed, it never took away from the overall enjoyment of this book.

This book reads like a movie. The author has a vivid way to write which makes the words and scenes pop from the book. With the addition of the amazing narrator overfilled my senses and completely immersed me in this story. The narrator brought this book to life by giving life and color with her narration. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC

Jennifer Hillier coming in hot with another excellent unputdownable thriller!⁣
⁣
Paris awakens covered in her rich, older husbands blood, with the police arresting her, and a dark past that haunts her.⁣
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There are so many ways this story could go. With Paris’ dark past and found next to her husband, you assume she did it; but did she? ⁣
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She had an abusive child hood. She’s receiving black mail letters from the Ice Queen who’s in prison for murder. An old friend who has a podcast ‘’Things We Do In The Dark’’ discusses his deceased best friends past and her mother who is in jail for murder. ⁣
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There’s a lot of interesting characters, a finger could be pointed at any of them at some point. I was always trying to guess what was going to happen next and was still left shocked at the twist at the end and loved how it ended. I absolutely loved this book. ⁣

Thé narration was fabulous and I didn’t want to stop listening. It was really well done.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Things We Do in the Dark is a highly addictive, dark & gritty thriller that I devoured in two days. I went into this blindly, other than reading the synopsis which had me hooked.

“Paris Peralta is arrested in her own bathroom covered in blood and holding a straight razor. Her celebrity husband dead in the bathtub behind her.”

I loved the heart-achingly messy & flawed characters in this story. Joey just about broke my heart watching her go through such a horrific childhood with an absolutely awful mother. I loved the music quotes so perfectly chosen and the Canadian references 🇨🇦

This was my second Jennifer Hillier book, and both were 5 stars for me. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next, she’s definitely on my auto-read list now!

Thank you to MacMillan Audio, Minotaur Books & NetGalley for the E-Arc.

This is my second read by this author, and I feel the same way about this one as I did about Jar of Hearts: it was an intriguing ride, but at no point did I feel like I cared what happened. I just don't feel very compelled by her characters, I think. And it makes for more lackluster "twist" endings.

This was my first Jennifer Hillier book and I was excited to receive an ALC as I have heard so many rave reviews of her past work.

Ultimately, I liked Things We Do in the Dark but I didn’t love it. I thought the writing was fantastic, but this particular story was predictable and too slow of a burn for my taste. The beginning started off strong, but the flashbacks took up a lot of the story and then considering how it ended, I didn’t think we got enough of the present day perspective.

The narrator was great and made it very easy to listen to and follow along.

I do recommend to those who like a slow burn mystery, but be mindful of content warnings as some of the plot lines in this book are intense and could be triggering.

I will be checking out Hillier’s past work because I think she’s a great writer.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced audiobook. A fantastic thriller/mystery! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Someone needs to make this a movie ASAP!

The narrator did a fantastic job as well.

This is a decent thriller, but not one I haven't read before. I loved this author's backlist titles but found her newest work to be underwhelming. The story is told over multiple perspectives which I felt muddied the narrative when I really only cared about the main murder mystery.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.