As usual, Kelley Armstrong's writing is on point!
She sets up a great pace, full of mystery amd great characters.

*Someone Is Always Watching* by Kelley Armstrong is a fast-paced psychological thriller that keeps readers guessing. The story is filled with tension, mystery, and unexpected twists, making it an engaging read. While some plot points feel predictable, Armstrong’s writing keeps the suspense alive. The characters are intriguing, though their development could have been deeper. Despite this, the students at my high school library absolutely love this book—they can’t get enough of the eerie atmosphere and mind-bending twists. It’s a solid choice for fans of YA thrillers who enjoy unreliable narrators and a gripping, paranoia-filled storyline.

This book felt so long, I thought the beginning was really strong but it lagged in the middle. I would have liked to see more action at the mid point. It felt like a lot of talking but not much doing.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Someone Is Always Watching was such a good mystery book. From the very beginning, I was completely hooked and just wanted to know how this was all going to end. Memories filled with mystery, not knowing what to believe, or who you can or can't trust. There was so much packed into this book that it was very hard for me to figure out everything before the big reveal.

Honestly, anything that is run by a research lab is probably something to stay very far away from. For example, the show Stranger Things is a great example of that. So, it's fair to assume things will be thrown into chaos and death is lurking around the corner. Or maybe every corner, because again, you don't know who you can trust here.

In this, you will meet Blythe. She and her friends are doing great until something goes wrong. Gabrielle starts talking crazy (or normal depending on how you view it), and people think she is losing her mind. From that day on, all their lives are changed, and questions are being formed.

I'll admit, this book had so much suspense throughout it. With each twist and turn, I had no idea who to be suspicious of. Sure, some people were kind of obvious, but I try not to go towards that. Then all of a sudden, things started to freaking click, and my mind was going through mini explosions.

Without spoiling anything, I'm just going to say that I devoured this in one sitting and look forward to my next book by Kelley. Oh, and I definitely recommend the audiobook!

2.00 stars
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TW: Death, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Death of a parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide
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I waited a few days to write this in case my thoughts would have changed, the concept had me intrigued but the book fell flat. I love Kelley Armstrong's writing, but this was a bit too much for me - the characters have the plot figured out within the book's first quarter and it just drags on for the rest. The premise of having some subtle mind control was intriguing, but the characters were just too annoying for me.

The story unfolds through Blythe’s perspective as she navigates her day-to-day life in high school. Surrounded by her close-knit group of friends, Blythe’s routine is suddenly disrupted by an act of violence that forces her to distance herself from one of them. This simple act throws a rift in the friendship. When one of Blythe's friends starts acting paranoid, claiming they're being watched, and perhaps being the cause of a faculty member's death - Blythe needs to team up with her friends once again to save their friend.

Our characters are killed off one by one who no real reason, their deaths aren't needed to progress the story and don't add much to it other than a bit of drama. Also for a book about someone always watching, there's not a lot of watching going on. Great first half of the book, but it drags on far too much for me.
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I want to thank Penguin Random House Canada | Tundra Books, Kelley Armstong, and NetGalley for a copy of Someone Is Always Watching in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Someone Is Always Watching was published on April 11th, 2023, and you can order your copy today!

Someone is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong is a young adult type thriller set in a closed community. When strange memories start to surface, for the teenagers of the school they need to figure out what is true.

I enjoyed this book but felt they could have explored more of the adult side of the book for more of an insight into what exactly they were doing. Overall a good book and kept me hooked.

I think I'm pretty open to reading all kinds of books but this was just too over the top and weird for me. By the end I just skimmed through it, to be honest.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing a digital copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.


I love a good YA horror book and was really pleased with how fun and creative this one was. Blythe and her friends, Gabby, Tanya, and Tucker (dumbest names for siblings ever) go to school together, but when Gabby becomes unexplainably violent, they have to solve the mystery of why.

Gabby goes missing, and Blythe and friends try to find out where she went. Gabby also receives mysterious emails from “Veritas” who seems to know a lot about her friends’ childhoods before they moved to town.

The mystery of this book was so fun. Although I figured out where the book was headed, having it unfold in a well-written way was satisfying. The characters were great, the plot was unique, and I really enjoyed this one!

This was an interesting read.

Kelley Armstrong is my top favorite author but this wasn’t my favorite.

I liked the horror elements for sure but I felt the teens are so bratty.

I’m all for entitled teen and revenge but this was annoying teen to where I wanted them gone.

Regardless still an entertaining read.

Thank you so much for the ARC!
The writing was very good with the storytelling. It was truly unexpected for me and I love that in thrillers. I enjoyed the main character and loved the relationships that were built throughout the book!

The book begins with Blythe and Tucker meeting as kids. Today, however, she’s in high school seeing a boy named Callum. Tucker is close with his sister, but she can’t seem to keep her mind off of sacrificing animals. Blythe’s sister doesn’t want Callum to date her, creating tensions, but something weird is happening with her friend Gabrielle, and she’s sketched out by the school’s security cameras.

She says her parents are dead, and she hasn’t forgotten about the camera’s, but Blythe hears this through a vent, ease dropping. Right after this, she hears her friend kill the vice principle of their school, bashing him over the head with his own trophy. After this, she finds and knocks out Blythe with it.

After this, Blythe starts getting false memories about the episode. That she slipped and fell in the shower, and that’s how she got hurt, rather than what actually happened with her friend. She starts hearing things, and seeing gory things. Then she starts getting weird emails, too. Ones that talk about what her friend Gabrielle really did. But she’s in the hospital.

After Blythe’s little sister Sydney is knocked out and almost set on fire after trying to find Gabrielle, Blythe and her gang of misfit friends vow to figure out what’s actually going on. And they’re never going to expect what they find.

Overall, I had a hard time getting into this book, even though the plot was exciting and different from what I’ve been reading lately. As a fan of the author, I was excited to check it out, but was kind of disappointed by it. I think I would give it three stars just because I had such a hard time getting into it.

I adore Kelley Armstrong, but I am not a huge fan of who-done-it thrillers or young adult thrillers anymore. But I will keep reading anything else by this author!

Kelly could write about paint drying and I would read it and love it.

This was totally not what I was expecting, but I still loved it. I definitely recommend going into this book blind because there are so many mixed reviews. It was such a good thriller that kept me flipping pages and trying to guess what was happening next. I really was captured by the characters from the get-go, and with the red herrings I was continuously hooked until the very end.

Thank you to Kelley Armstrong, Tundra Books, and NetGalley for an eARC of Someone Is Always Watching!

There are spoilers in this review, so tread cautiously!!

This book sucked me in with action and intrigue from the first few chapters. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical when one of the first scenes was a girl freaking out about cameras and people watching her, but I think Armstrong guided the story into a really interesting direction. She did a great job of laying out little breadcrumbs of clues and slowly tying together the mystery.

I did feel like the additional deaths among the friends were a bit dramatic and unnecessary. It felt like the author was adding additional trauma to these kids and families who were already traumatized enough. Though Callum's death did contribute to the plot, I felt like Deven's was unnecessary and that story line could have been wrapped up in a different way.

I was left wondering if this book would get a sequel. After checking the author's social media, the book is described as a standalone and there wasn't much coverage about it at all so my gut says no. It would be interesting to see where these characters are 5 - 10 years down the line and what other drama unfolded because of the experiment.

I truly did enjoy this book and, while I was disappointed with some plot points, I devoured the book in just a couple days. 4/5 stars.

Yet another amazing book by Kelley Armstrong. The way she builds worlds and the people in them is incredible. If you were a fan of the darkest powers world you will love this too!

Unfortunately this book wasnt for me - I found that it got quite convoluted and hard to follow in places.

Was a strong start and I anticipated a thrilling mystery. But after the first portion it went downhill and became very predictable and quite boring. I don’t know if it’s bad writing or poor editing but this needed something else

Post Gone Girl, some books just have too many twists. This is one of them. It started with a wild scenario and just got crazier as the story went along.

This was such a good book. I could not put it down, I had to know what happens. I read it in one day! I would definitely recommend this book.

Meh. This was ok, but nothing to write home about. I read a lot of YA thrillers so I’m not expecting anything super great, but this was just so-so.