I overall did enjoy this book. The narrator definitely made it a fast read for me to listen to. I think this book just isn’t my favorite type of thriller/horror, while I did enjoy the survival aspect I think I just didn’t find it as exciting as I expected. It wasn’t my cup of tea but I still thought I was a well written and enjoyable read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Keely Parrick for providing me with a complimentary digital audiobook ARC for Don’t Let the Cold which came out September 6, 2022. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Lottie and her new stepsister Jade decided hang out in the cabin for just one night. But they weren’t expecting the solar flare that caused a huge blackout. There’s no power or cell signal. It’s going to be a long night.
Then a stranger named Alex shows up at night. He claims he’s lost and needs shelter from the snowstorm. But Lottie sees him outside talking to two mysterious men in a truck. Soon after, a fire forces them out of the cabin into the freezing cold where they have to rely on each other to get to safety.

In the remote Tahoe forest, can they survive the elements and the men hunting them?

Overall, I liked this story but didn’t love it. I definitely thought this book would be darker in theme based on the cover and premise. I love survival stories, especially if it’s a hunter type or possible killer situation. I love stories in the snow when they have to fight against the elements. I thought with the cold elements and guys chasing them, there would be more danger. But things were resolved pretty quickly.

To be honest, I’d never let some strange guy stay at my cabin. It was a pretty dumb move on the girls’ part. It’d be one thing if he forced his way in. It was also hard to tell what Alex’s motives were. He moved in pretty fast with Lottie. Also Jade was there with them so when did they really have time for making out? Seems kind of awkward. I also never really got a sense of who Alex was, so I wouldn’t trust him.

I would recommend this to YA age looking for a tame thriller.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Rating: 3

I listened to the audiobook version at 2.5 speed and I only have one minor complaint about the narrator. The characters are supposed to be seniors in high school but the narrator sounds much younger than that. This is just a small issue that might not bother other people. In the beginning it bothered me but the longer I listened the more I just got used to it and chose to ignore it.

I want to start by saying I love a good survival thriller but sadly, this one let me down. It had so much potential and the writing was well done and the story itself was even fast paced but the problem was with the characters and all of the problems thrown at the characters. I struggled to connect with or care for any of the characters. I know they are teenagers but they didn’t make smart decisions and most of what they did just annoyed me. It didn’t help that the story kept going and going. The author had so many ideas and instead of trimming them and choosing their favorite they decided to write and include all of them. Doing this made the story feel longer and made me start to not care about what happened to the main characters. I don’t expect a story to be realistic but when it goes so far one way it starts to take you out of it. Overall, this book was just okay. It had parts I liked and others I didn’t. I would recommend this one to teenagers but not adults. I think there are better thrillers out there that adults would enjoy more.

Thank you so much @dreamscape_media for the gifted copy on #Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a gripping on the edge of your seat thriller. There were only a few characters in the book and all were well developed. The story is mainly told through the point of view of Lottie, the main character. When Lottie is left alone for the night in a cabin in the woods with her new step sister Jade, everything goes wrong. It seems a bit far fetched that so many things can happen to these girls, it reminded me of the old movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”. The outrageousness didn’t sway me though, the is book is written for YA so this writing style works. Overall a great book!

❄️ A U D I O • R E V I E W ❄️
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Title: Don't Let In The Cold
Author: Keely Parrack
Rating: 2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️
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Starting off the Monday blues with a not so great book review on this dreary rainy Monday.
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Woof, I was excited for this one, and was able to listen to this via audiobook thanks to @netgalley but this was a major letdown. 
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This one follows Lottie and her new stepsister Jade as their newly married parents leave them in the middle of a snowstorm in a secluded cabin to go on a one night honeymoon? The start of this is even ridiculous if you ask me. Then add in some rando dude and a cute as hell dog and then an astronomical number of scenarios of what could and did go wrong. This one felt never ending, like the author just kept trying to outdo each chapter with something more and more outrageous. There is no way that a group of people could have that much bad luck. Because of this I never found this story to really be suspenseful, more so just ridiculous, brutal I know but I'm being honest. Definitely not something I will ever remember, not something I would recommend. The characters did nothing for me in this one. I didn't feel connected to any of them. If I'm being honest, I just never really felt invested in this story. There was even a little side story of Lottie's dad which i was initially interested in, then the revelation of that was just more of a letdown too. 
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What I did like was that overall secluded in snowstorm atmosphere that was created in this one. While I never felt like this was a suspenseful book this did at times give me that claustrophobic, gut wrenching feeling of not having any way to contact anyone and being stuck in a bad situation. That was well written.
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Overall, the audio was good, the narrator did a good job in trying to keep this one interesting, unfortunately I just don't think this story is all that great, therefore I just really found myself not caring much about it. This isn’t one I’ll be recommending this upcoming winter season.
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#netgalley #netgalleyaudio #everythingthatcangowrongdoesgowrong #letdown #audioreview #snowstorm #seclusion #stepsisters #notasuspensefulread #notoneirecommend #dontletinthecold #keelyparrack

First off, I love the cover! It’s giving atmospheric winter read vibes. A chiller, if you will!

The problem is that nothing really exciting happens. It’s too long for what it is and it’s not the journey I was expecting.

Lottie and Jade are new stepsisters. Their parents are going on a one night honeymoon(??) and they’re leaving their kids to get to know each other in the groom’s secluded cabin(??). Who among us has not left some kids alone in the woods?

After a solar event occurs, the power is knocked out, leaving them in ultra advanced darkness. A truck carrying some guys stops by but they leave. Soon after, a guy and his dog show up. Alex and Otis respectively. He’s charming so of course he weasels his way in. He says he was walking his dog and got lost.. a likely story. Jade offers to draw him a map but he insists on staying and he wears them down.

This is where it loses me. I assumed this was going to take place mostly in the cabin, a locked room mystery kind of deal or a claustrophobic thriller, but they burn the cabin down with pine combs only a few hours into their stay and then they’re on a survival mission.

There’s just not much that rings true to me and the characters were very blah. Maybe I’m too old for it and I know it was too long. It probably would have made a good movie. It reminds me of something in Hulu’s Into The Dark collection.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen and review. The narration was good.

Two new and wary stepsisters need to spend the night together at a snowy lodge. A storm knocks out the power and a mysterious stranger turns up seeking shelter. Thus begins an action adventure in which characters need to figure out who to trust while surviving natural elements and various villains.

First of all, I thought the narrator did a great job with this book! It was vey fast paced and it really worked. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the book as much as I would've liked to. Mainly because the main character was very annoying and unrelatable. I would've loved to have seen more of who she was in the beginning, so we could've had a better grasp about her character. I didn't really care about any of the main players, which made me not really care about what happened to them.
The writing was very approachable, and I did think the pace was well done for a thriller. I definitely think I enjoyed the book more since I had the audio version.
Thank you so much!

I went back and forth on whether I enjoyed this book or not. First, what I like about it. It is well written. In fact, I found myself wrapped up in a blanket even though it was 80 degrees outside! I liked that the characters developed and overcame challenges. What I didn't like about it - it was just a little too much. In the beginning, I was very frustrated with the characters because realistically who would really let in a stranger AND when you are suspicious of them AND they go outside, why wouldn't you then lock them out?? It just isn't believable. And then so much happens. So, so much. I like action packed thrillers but this became a little exhausting. I think less is more. I think too much happened to make it believable. However, I really enjoyed the authors ability to tell a story and look forward to reading something else by her. Just hope it's a little more believable and doesn't leave me exhausted.

When Lottie and her new step-sister ignore their parent's instructions and let a stranger in while their parents are away, they get sucked into a dangerous situation where the impending blizzard isn't their biggest concern. Forced to work together, the girls battle to stay alive.

This was a really great YA novel. It's adventurous and tense without being over the top for the genre. It's got a cute romantic storyline without being inappropriate. It was just a really well-balanced, fast paced book. I would definitely read more from this author!

I had to have this thriller the instant I saw the gorgeous cover! I occasionally read YA and have found several I enjoyed. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. But that doesn’t mean others won’t enjoy the action-packed tale.

Single parents, each with a daughter, get married and leave their two teens in a remote cabin overnight, forcing them to become acquainted quickly. Their evening turns into days as the girls battle a multitude of disasters……a fire, solar flares that cause a blackout, attempted break-ins, an encounter with a mountain lion, and a blizzard, to name a few. Oops, I forgot the budding romance with a young man who claims to be lost. All of this, especially the teen romance, was too much for me.

Thank you to Dreamscape media for providing this gifted ARC through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#dontletinthecold #keelyparrack #yathriller #teenagers #teenageromance #struggletosurvive #blizzard #remotecabin #bookreviewer #crimeandcocktailsbookcrew
#mysteryandthrills #readwithme #bookaddict #thrilleraddict #thrillersofinstagram #bookstagrammer #lovebooks #bookreviewersofinstagram #lovetoreadbooks #honestreview #fortheloveofbooks #readingintherockies #netgalley #dreamscapemedia

Audiobook Review - I really wanted to love Don't Let the Cold In. While I did enjoy this audiobook I found that the story dragged on in certain sections. The premise of the story is great and I would recommend this book to fans of Five Total Stranger and Ski Weekend. But I don't think all teen readers will stick with this story till the end.

I want to first thank the publishers and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to the audiobook ARC.

I feel like this book for me is a solid 3 out of 5 stars. I feel like some that is young or really enjoys YA would like this book more then I did, but I personally felt it was a little dramatic.

Lottie, and Jade are new stepsisters staying in Jades cabin in Tahoe while there parents celebrate the honeymoon in the town. An Blizzard hit earlier then expected after a solar flare cuts the power and everything unfolds from there.

They meet Alex, and his dog Otis who is not what he says he is, as well as AJ and Nico who say they are looking for a friend but 100% do not pass the vibe check.

While I felt like the book was dramatic, I did still find it pretty enjoyable. I liked the character development, and the some of the bickering that happened between characters but I think my biggest gripe at least in the beginning is everyone is keeping secrets for no reason. The only person that I understand would lie and have secrets is Alex.

The other thing I thought was a little weird was Jade was 15 and Lottie was 16, and they mentioned Alex was near their age but I don't know how old AJ and Nico were. They mentioned that Alex and AJ were friend at some point when they were younger but AJ and Nico do not act like they are teens in anyway. Maybe they are supposed to act older then they are because the environment in which they were raised but that felt like a slight disconnect.

I would recommend the book especially to anyone that like a survival story, with people chasing after you, and a random crazy guy giving off cult energy.

This thriller throws everything it can at you. I assumed it was about surviving the cold while evading some bad people, but there's also a fire, a blackout, injuries, and a suspicious man in a church. While all of these elements kept the plot busy, I thought it was a bit too much and would have preferred to focus on just a couple of these things and really dive in.

There were a few times I got frustrated with Lottie for not listening to her gut when she sensed something was wrong. If something seems wrong, go with that instead of dismissing it and ending up in a bad situation. On the other hand, she's a teenager and it can be hard to push back against other people telling you that you're making a big deal of nothing. Lottie did really step up during all of this and there were multiple times the group would have died if she didn't act. I appreciate her fighting spirit.

I could have done without any romance and there wasn't really any chemistry between the characters. Also, they only met for about four days so how much could they fall in love while also struggling to survive? Either way, this was easy to binge and I was rooting for Lottie and Co to survive the cold.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the copy

Read this book if you ever want to know what NOT to do. Every single thing that happens is just ridiculous. Lottie was one of the most useless and condescending main characters I have read in a long time. You would have to be brain damaged to choose her as the one to lead this group through these circumstances. Or any circumstances. I had to give up on the audiobook completely. When all but one of the characters is American, why choose a narrator that cannot do an American accent? She couldn’t do a basic accent and mangled the regional.

Don't Let in the Cold follows Lottie and her new stepsister, Jade, as they attempt to survive not only a blizzard, but two dudes who just won't leave them alone for some reason. (Actually, I know the reason, but after a while I wondered why these two bad guys were hell-bent on chasing some teenagers even after they got what they wanted.)

Don't get me wrong the writing here is good, but the story. Whew! Where do I start? If you're looking for a book that throws practically everything but the kitchen sink at its characters, then look no further. I'm all about making characters suffer. I get it. But here it was just one thing after another. What's more is that the characters seem to overcome one ridiculous obstacle after the next so easily.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Penelope Rawlins was a fine narrator except that all her American guys kind of sounded the same. Unfortunately, this book was just too much for me.

This audio was fine. It didn't stand out to me at as a favorite as far as narration goes, but there wasn't anything wrong with it. I would pick up other books from this narrator for sure.

My full review of the books is as follows:

On their first night home alone together, new step-sisters, Lottie and Jade run into a whole host of problems. The first being, they don't know each other at all, but are suddenly expected to act like sisters. Are they even going to be able to get along?

With their parents rushing off on a quick one night honeymoon, the girls are left to their own devices at Jade's Dad's Tahoe cabin. One would think that it couldn't be too bad. It's one night. Even if they lock themselves in separate bedrooms for the night, they should be okay, right?

But many, many, many, many things are not going to work in their favor that night. For example, there are strangers lurking about the remote cabin, including a young man named Alex and his adorable dog. Then there's the solar flares that cause a massive blackout, causing the cabin to lose power and all connection to the outside world.

It doesn't stop there though, ultimately the girls are forced out into the cold, bleak wilderness, in the midst of a horrendous blizzard as they struggle through every obstacle known to man to try to reach help.

Speaking of struggles, I had my own struggles trying to get through this one. I listened to the audiobook, thinking my annual road trip to Maine for Labor Day weekend would be the perfect time to listen to it. I am a huge fan of Survival Thrillers, or Horror novels, and this sounded like it would be right up my alley. Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case.

I quickly found the whole thing ridiculous and not in a good way. Oftentimes ridiculous can be hella fun, but it has to be engaging. This felt monotonous to me and never-ending. The characters were bland and there was a completely unnecessary romance thrown in. With everything they were going through, was finding love truly needed?

Honestly, this felt like the author sat down and compiled a list of forty-five things that could go wrong if you were staying at a remote cabin in the mountains and then connected all of those things with lightly-entertaining filler content.

I know that's harsh, but clearly I'm burnt that this is what I spent almost my whole solo car trip listening to. I was relieved when it was over. Nevertheless, as we all know reading is highly subjective. Just because this one didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you. Please don't take my word for it. If the synopsis sounds interesting to you, give it a shot, you may end up loving it!

Thank you to the publisher, SOURCEBOOKS Fire and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. I appreciate it very much. I am glad that I picked this one up. Even though it wasn't necessarily my cup of tea, I would have always wondered about it otherwise.

This one wasn’t a mystery, definitely leans more thriller as well as leaning towards the older end of young adult.

It was okay! I love a bit of mystery and that was lacking here but the story of the step sisters kind of overcoming their respective losses and finding each other was heart warming.

I thought the Carl storyline dragged on and on and on it made me want to rip out the book pages because he was the worst 🤣

Otherwise expect a pretty classic snow storm thriller without mystery YA novel!

3.5 Stars rounded down because I couldn't in good faith give this book a 4 star review.

I received an arc of this book from Netgalley - thank you!

I wanted to read this book because it was presented as a character vs. nature with a bit of a thriller element added in. What I got while reading was all that and everything including the frozen kitchen sink and Eisenstein's telescope.

The book begins like a lot of YA books do. Lottie is forced to spend a night alone with her new step sister while her mom and new stepdad go off to celebrate their recent marriage. She's not excited about it at all. Oh, wait - the parents also leave them alone in a cabin. Sure, they couldn't have predicted what was to come but that was the first thing that struck me as off about this book. Sure, sure. It's a literary device to set them up for the story, but still - come on? Leaving 2 teenagers a lone in a cabin overnight? Not a good idea.

But onward we go - a stranger shows up and just like in a horror movie they let him stay and of course they shouldn't have.

Through out the story the trio encounters a lot of believable and unbelievable stuff. I loved all the character vs. nature stuff and found their encounters in the wild to be believable enough to be a bit spine tingling. It was their human encounters and one in particular that made the book move from entertaining and mostly believable to me rolling my eyes. That's what took this from a solid 4 star YA read to what the heck am I reading.

Overall, I think that was this book's main issue - it tried to be everything - a bit scifi, a bit family drama, a whole lot thriller and character vs. nature and in the end it just felt like too much for a good book to contain.

Still, I don't regret reading it. So, what did I like?

Ottis - he's a dog and my favorite character in the book. I wish they were all a bit more likeable like him. He's a good boy and deserves a lifetime of happy nose boops.

The character/relationship development as the story went on. I'm a sucker for a found family story and by the end that's exactly what Ottis, Jade, Lottie, and Alex are to each other. That part and the character vs. nature parts were what saved this read for me.

If you really enjoy character vs. nature and can way suspend disbelief I'd recommend this book.

Thank you again to Netgalley and Dreamscape media for providing this arc.

Alone in a remote cabin with your new, mean stepsister, an insane days-long blizzard, a solar flare induced massive blackout, a stranger... or strangers? Don't Let in the Cold has your pulse racing. This young adult contemporary mystery suspense thriller made me squee!