I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. I am not a fan of slow burn reads, and this book just couldn’t hold my interest. I finished the book, because I hate DNF books. The first half was super slow, but the second half picked up. There are some positive aspects of the book! The characters were well developed, the book alternates between three timelines (but it’s easy to navigate). The last half of the book was filled with a lot of twists and turns. Thank you for the ARC.

4 stars

Definitely an above average thriller! I love the different timelines, and I loved how everything came together in the end. A great fast paced page turner. I hope to see much more from Williams in the future.

WHAT A WILD RIDE! This story was told in 3 different timelines, and the way everything wraps up in the end is 🤌🏻🤌🏻. I loved how there were 2 major things happening, and both of them had me on the edge of my seat! I don’t want to give too much away, just read this if you’re looking for an intense thriller with a paranormal twist!

While I am one who usually enjoys a slow burn, this was a bit harder to get into. I kept losing focus the first half of the book. The second half was better when it picked up a bit and the overall story was good. Maybe the writing style just wasn't for me. I did like this, I just wasn't crazy about it. Three Stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars

I want to start this out by saying that overall, I enjoyed the book. It did take me a little bit to get into and it was definitely more of a slow burn thriller. There were 3 different timelines that happened in the book, and overall that really confused me at times because it was so difficult keeping up with what was going on in all of the different timelines and I think that the timelines also played a role in how long it took me to get into the book. However, around 50-60% of the book, it really started to pick up and once all the pieces started coming together, all the different timelines made a lot more sense. I think the author did a great job at making this book so eerie and suspenseful. The twists were also so good and some that I did not see coming at all. Overall, I think that it is a decent book that definitely needs to be read when you have more time and can fully concentrate on the different timelines to understand what all is going on.

This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

Overall, I liked this story. I'll admit I had some trouble getting through the first half. It felt very slow and a bit hard to follow. Typically that would be a recipe for DNF but I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. I am glad that I did, because it really picked up in the second half and I had a fun time with it. Just need to get through the beginning chunk!

Like others have said, this was a bit of a slow burn. A bit of a slow burn to be a thriller, but it did really pick up at the 50-60% mark. I absolutely hated Emily’s character, and rightly so, it appears! Aside from the slow start, the book was really well written and the ending was great. I’ll definitely read more from this author in the future!


Huge thanks to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

I really wanted to enjoy this book but I just couldn’t get into it. The beginning moved terribly slow and it felt like the POV jumped around so much I couldn’t follow. It had a lot of mystery but there wasn’t enough background to really get hooked.

While the premises of this book sounded intriguing, the execution and telling of said story was difficult, slow, and at times overwhelming to read. Basically, two girls meet while on vacation and are playing a game to conjure a local legend, a woman, thing, called Stitch Face Sue. Of course, things go terribly wrong, and we go from there.

20 years later, one of the girls, now going by the name of Sarah comes back to gather information for a book she is writing. The past and the present become intertwined in the telling of the remaining story.

However, it is muddled and the multiple viewpoints became overwhelming and tiring to keep up with. I do not mind a slow burning thriller, but I found myself having lost the enjoyment of reading and anticipating with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Eerie and dark in the best possible way. A page turner to say the least. This will leave you wanting more and you’ll have a hard time putting it down!

This book wasn interesting enough to stick to the end. The plot was good, and I liked it. My main issues were more with the way how the events were presented. Something in a way things were revealdes didn't stick with me like a mystery we waited for so long, wasn't as spectacular as I though it will be. Also, the fact of the prison sentence for main character wasn't reliable for me. I personally think for what she did being so long, she had much shorter time. I give this book 3 stars and recommed it for people who like criminal cooks with gothic vibe.

This book slowly unfolded the development of characters and setting. There were three timelines in this book which came together wonderfully at the end.

The first main timeline developed the story of two girls Emily and Charlie who met while on vacation with their families. They thought it would be all fun and games to summon the small town legend Stitch Face Sue until one night things go terribly wrong. Could Stitch Face Sue be real after all?

All small towns have devastating events, spooky legends and dark secrets, right? Twenty years later, a writer named Sarah, found herself in that small quaint seaside town in England in hopes to finding content for her new book. After talking to locals, reading about events and legends, and discovering the town, Sarah finds herself in potential trouble.

I enjoyed this slow burn thriller as it made me appreciate the story and characters even more. As a big fan of psychological thrillers and small town vibes, I was truly entertained by the dark twists and secrets.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC. Pick up this highly recommended book as early as April 18th, 2023.

Oct. 23, 2022 — A Goodreads Book Review
While I enjoyed the book, it seemed hard to get into at first because of its slow pace. I was able to work through it and I’m glad that I did. The plot twists shocked me completely.
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

Wow. Just…wow. I have to admit, this book had me questioning my sanity at multiple moments, and I loved it!

Varied timelines and perspectives come together to paint a very creepy tale.

What I liked:

The narrative had me taking note from the very beginning, looking for inconsistencies or clues to tie it all together.

The main character. Despite many reasons why not - I still liked her.

The descriptions and details were vivid.

We weren’t trying to balance the plot with a romantic storyline. That was peripheral at best.

I didn’t see every twist or know what was coming with more than half the book to go. Some connections I made early but it never felt like I was waiting for what I knew to be true to come together. Instead I several times felt a slow reveal as the clues came together.

What I liked less or didn’t care for:

Early pacing. The beginning is tough and it takes a determined reader to stick with it.

I have a love/hate with the number of items or phrases I had yo look up as an American reader. Some were very specific. I liked how it added to the book, but also I am positive that a less invested non-British reader might pass.

There were some details I would’ve liked to see wrapped up in more detail. I have a few questions about who knew what when from the townspeople. And I wanted more about Louise at the end.

This book started off slow, but I was interested at 20% and truly invested by the halfway mark. I will say I’m surprised I liked the book as much as I did after such a slow start, but I did!

Ok, Jen Williams fits quite nicely into a seasonal mystery niche right there with Alex North, Camilla Sten and C.J. Tudor: a perfect read for October. :)

Bare bones:
Charlie is back in the little seaside city of Hithechurch where years ago, when they were just kids, she and her friend Emily have done something terrible. Now Emily is realising a book of her account putting all the blame on Charlie. Under a false name and with her niece by her side, hoping nobody would recognize her, Charlie is trying to find out the evidence she need to refute the accusations. But a girl is missing and Charlie is unsettled remembering what happened that faithful summer and the story of Stitch Face Sue.

Told in alternating chapters from Charlie's pov in present and in past, the story slowly builds toward a culmination while managing to surprise the reader more than a few times along the way. Jen Williams is particularly great in depicting the creepy atmosphere and the darker vibe of the setting, so the slow build-up is intentional, but it may not be for everyone, especially those who expect fast-paced creepy horror from the get go. So, there is a lot of walking and talking scenes, but if you stick to it, just like in her previous novel, Williams will finish it up with all the crazy and over the top you can wish for. I actually criticised A Dark and Secret Place because it seems to have everything from dead babies to cults and myths included, but in this novel I kind of liked how the story went totally over the rails. It's like we started with a polite English countryside mystery not that different from Alex Marwood's The Wicked Girls and finished it with a cackling Death Becomes Her with a dash of Levine's Buffalo Bill. And that's not even all.
The story is focused on Charlie and I'd say Williams has done very good job with her because she managed to portrait both the vivid and intense imagination of young Charlie and the adult, more morose outlook present Charlie has. Past chapters were written in third person pov, while those in present are written in first person pov which I really like when authors do because it's an effective, and a visual way to convey who character was and who is now. Hence, Charlie was a happy kid, full of imagination who liked horror novels and who made up a lot of scary stories. But Charlie in the present is a quiet person, reluctant to socialize, and so, so guilty. Other characters don't really jump out beside being what they need to be in order for plot to work, but the plot and what will happen was what I cared for the most by the end.

All in all, I liked this one better than A Dark and Secret Place and the perfect timing to read them definitely helped. If you like a macabre lore of the land, urban legends, things creeping in the dark, characters who feel someone is watching them... Jen Williams is a good author to try.

Wow, What a great read !!! Loved the characters and was such a page turner. Really enjoyed the different plots. Definitely recommend! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

This book was a little slow in the beginning, but there was a big reveal about the 60% mark and I’m glad I stayed tuned it. Then the rest just sped up from there!

This is supposed to be a quiet holiday for Charlie and her niece Katie in a small quaint seaside town in England. Charlie is researching a book and wants to dig into some of the town’s spooky stories. As Charlie research digs deeper, a darker secret that hits too close to home is revealed. As more young woman go missing, and many have throughout the town’s history, can Charlie figure out if she’s the one who let the monster out as a teenager? There’s no way these things can be related…or could they?

This was a solid read, and I would agree with the publisher that fans of Jennifer Hillier and Alex North will be interested. This book was told with multiple points of views, and one, Charlie’s, was past and present. This book was a little too slow for me in the beginning, and it didn’t pick up until it was more than half-way over. I really didn’t understand what one of the points of views was until I was bored with it and that’s not something I’m a fan of. Overall, this was a great spooky thriller that will keep you guessing. I felt the pacing was too slow for most of the book for me and I am giving this one a 3.5 out of 5.

I want to extend my thanks to @NetGalley and the publisher, @CrookedLandBooks, for my advanced e-ARC of this one. This one comes out April 18, but if you can snag an ARC I recommend as its perfect for spooky season! The opinions expressed are my own, despite receiving a free copy.

A slowly unfolding, intricate story following 2 young girls, Charlie and Emily, who are on a beach holiday with their families in 1988. They spend a summer together attempting to summon a local legend named Stitch Faced Sue. It begins as a fun game but someone is taking the game more seriously, soon sending things into dark territory. We also follow one of the girls as an adult in present time as she returns to the coastal community where the tragic events unfolded. The third timeline involves a seemingly unrelated character whose storyline eventually crosses with Charlie and Emily's story.

I found the timelines easy to follow. The chapters alternate between the three storylines and are marked to indicate which timeline a chapter covers.

I really enjoyed the seaside town setting and thought the location was vividly described, giving the story a well established sense of place and atmosphere.

Some patience is required for the first half of the story, as the story progresses at a slow, more character driven pace until the final third of the book. At that point, surprises, twists, and turns start being thrown the reader's way and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, though things took a very dark, unexpected turn toward the end. The story was riveting and well constructed, the characters nicely developed, and the tension gradually built to a creepy, shocking ending. Readers who enjoy a slow burn mystery with thriller and horror elements will find a lot to enjoy with this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me a copy to read and review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Crooked Lane Books and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

A bit of a slow start. The characters are well written as is the story.