Thanks Netgalley and Robin House for the arc of this book. This book is very different from her previous works which we know just based on the cover. That being said I thought I was prepared for the depth of crazy but I was not!

There are literally no likable characters in this book and that’s what brought it down. I can stand the mean, the manipulative, the alcohol is, the cheaters & adulterers but only if there is one character we can root for and there isn’t! If all of these characters died I would be happy except Witte but I don’t really root for him either he’s just the least degenerate. I just couldn’t connect to the story. Amy and her MIL are abysmal characters who use and manipulate other people in the worst ways. At one point I started skimming their chapters because it was way too much.

Kane is super obsessed with his wife Lily, they have chemistry but when she comes back it’s fine but also it seems like manipulative and hateful sex and I just don’t like to read that. There are a million lies between them so maybe the second book will be better when they come out but at this point I’m not sure I would read it.

Sylvia Day is one of the few authors that I will read anything with her name on, and she did not disappoint with So Close. I was absolutely captivated. A beautifully detailed story filled with mystery, seduction, and drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I honestly love the plot line and story, but the different perspectives kind of got a little too much for me. I would be okay if it was maybe three people or less? I didn't expect this book to have a murder mystery vibe and I dig it with the romance. For sure would recommend to my friends who like a combo of both!

I wasn't sure what I was reading at first, getting 4, yes you read that right, FOUR povs was jarring. I hated Kane's manipulative Mom and his obsessive sister-in-law Amy, they were miserable and horrible characters and I didn't really care for their chapters. Witte was adorable and I didn't mind reading his, you can tell he cares for Kane and Lily and wants the best for both of them.

But I only started to gain interest when Lily's chapters picked up and even then I was missing a crucial part and that is Kane's pov so I do hope that will be coming in the next one. I want to know how he feels about his scheming family and what his marriage with Lily means to him.

I did go in a little blind with not much expectations but I have to say what I got was not what I could have predicted, I'm not disappointed in the direction it went. I did like the premise and trying to piece who was lying and who was telling the truth. Kane and Lily have great chemistry and I'd like to see them work together as a team against all those who are out to get them.
I am interested in the next book to see how everything ties together, hopefully with Kane's pov this time! I'd like to see and feel more connection between Kane and Lily, that their love is all consuming despite all the lies and six years spent away from each other.

Thank you NetGalley, Sylvia Day and Ronin House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw that Sylvia Day was releasing a new book, I was so excited. I read her Crossfire series in my early twenties and they were so addictive.
Her new book focuses on Kane black, his wife, and others that are close in his orbit. Lily has been missing for six years and enters back into his life under some mysterious circumstances. Shakespearen shenanigans ensue.
This outline had great potential. One of my favorite dark romances features the amnesia trope and it’s superb. Lily’s pov is vague to the point of completely disengaging her from the story. Witte’s character thinks so floridly that I wanted to “accidentally” press my finger down and skip to the end. Amy by far is the most nuanced character. She’s mired in character flaws and her rapid demise is just unhinged. The intimate scenes are clinical and just Awful. Has Sylvia’s writing style changed or do I just remember the crossfire series differently? The action itself de idea to appear in the last 10/5% of the book. It’s interesting and I’d probably read the sequel if the writing style fell somewhere between the crossfire series and the overwrought punishment of this book. I’m not sure I’d recommend this book to anyone who wasn’t a massive Day fan. I’m sure they’ll show her more grace.
Thanks to NetGalley and Smith Publicity for the ARC.

I really enjoyed reading the crossfire series by Sylvia Day and was excited to try another one of her books. I tried- very hard- but could not get into this book. I enjoyed the cameos from Eva and Gideon but just didn’t enjoy the story at all.

While I understand that the point of the book was to be suspenseful and mysterious, I felt it was unnecessarily confusing. I never had a grasp on what was going on in order to really feel shocked about the ending. This just did not work for me. If not for the need to review, I would not have completed the book.

3.5 Stars ⭐️
I would like to thank NetGalley, Sylvia Day, and Rōnin House for graciously sending me this ARC to review.
I’m not sure what to think of this book. I HATED Aaliyah and Amy. They were both weirdly obsessive and manipulative. I understand that it was intentional and we probably aren’t meant to like them, but I hated reading their chapters and felt the urge to skip them every time. I felt like having 4 differing POVs was a little much, especially when they all have their own agendas. It made the story harder for me to connect with, so it didn’t really start to grab my attention until almost halfway when the Lily chapters picked up.

I did like the premise of the story. I never knew who was telling the truth, or what was going to happen next. The steam was pretty good and I loved Lily and Kane together. Witte was so wholesome and likable.

I’m excited for the release of the second book, and I can’t wait to see how it’s all tied up. I really hope we get a Kane Black POV and less of Amy and Aaliyah🤞🏻

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ronin House for an advance copy of this book.

I am sorry to say, this book was a disappointment. Loving everything about Day's Crossfire series, I was so excited to read a new novel set in that world. The premise sounds amazing: a mysterious beautiful woman comes back from the dead? Her powerful, long suffering husband will do anything for her? A mystery mixed with a love story? I was so on board with it! The cover art is also absolutely gorgeous.

It started off rocky with me right for the bat. Context clues have this book set back in like, 2016? It feels old for a new book. Also, the husband, Kane Black, is a misogynistic jackhole who purposely uses women for sex, then cruelly discards and demeans them afterward. Somehow this doesn't become common knowledge among his elite and selective social circle over several years, and there's a never ending supply of women who fit his exacting looks and taste being fed to him. Women don't learn to avoid him. Then we're supposed to give him a pass because he's broken over his dead wife? Nope.

Lilly is some kind of super clever, psychologist badass with amnesia who successfully navigated NYC for 6 years and never was seen or heard by anyone associated with her all knowing powerful husband?

People are stuck in crawling downtown NYC traffic and yet the second they get out of their vehicle they are hit by a car that just speeds away, without getting caught or seen on traffic cams?

Amy is a super hard working, brilliant marketing person with an ultra successful company, but one night of sex turns her into a broken, alcoholic who doesn't remember anything from day to day for years?

Don't even get me started on the internalized misogyny displayed by the Mother, Aliyah. All of these women think the most horrible thoughts about each other's looks. Everyone is described as rail thin, small chested, lithe, tall, willowy, etc. Then one has "curves" and she's fat and fake?

Then there's one of the characters being described as "mixed race but still somehow conventionally attractive". That line needs to go.

The plot is slow, meandering, contradictory and doesn't wrap up well in the end.

I wish I had better things to say about this one, I think the premise is excellent but the execution just isn't here.

This starts off very mysteriously and instantly had me intrigued. I didn't know what I had gotten into but you can't stop reading because I had to see how this was going to play out. It weirded me out how Kane used this penthouse as like a shrine for Lily. I loved the POV's we got from Witte, Lily, Aliyah, and Amy. Lily had my mind reeling, like who is this and it made me feel lost because again, you have no clue what is going on. The further we get along in the book, the whole family dynamic is crooked. Amy is a trainwreck, they treat her like crap and you feel awful with how Aliyah really done Amy. Aliyah is controlling and a snake in the grass, absolutely loathe her. But that ending!! My goodness, I'm so ready for the next book. The last chapters tie in some key players that I never expected to be in on this plan with Lily. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I am pleasantly satisfied until the next book comes.

Kane Black has been reeling over the loss of his wife Lily, who died years ago. He's never gotten over it and looks for her in every woman he sees. One day, Kane swears that he sees Lily on a busy New York street. When he calls out to her, instead of running to him, she runs away from him. How is it possible that Lily is back from the dead? Or is this new Lily some insanely close lookalike? Will this Lily stay by Kane's side or leave him devastated all over again?

So Close has a lot going on - damaged and flawed characters, unlikable characters, mystery, suspense, serious spice. It's told from multiple points of view - Lily, Kane's butler, Kane's mother, and Kane's sister-in-law. I love stories told from different perspectives. I was a fan of Day's Crossfire series, so I definitely wanted to check this one out (we even get a few mentions of Eva and Gideon). I'm looking forward to the next book in this series!

𝕊𝕠 ℂ𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖
𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘋𝘢𝘺

"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜; 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚒𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When I saw Sylvia Day’s book on NetGalley, I immediately pressed submit to request a copy to review. After the Crossfire series, I was captivated by her writing style! I assumed this would be spicy and sexy too, but it really wasn’t too risqué.

I struggled to keep up through the first couple chapters, and quickly read my way past, waiting for the juicy scenes that Sylvia usually delivers. Around Chapter 3 or so, I started getting into the storyline a bit more.

The characters are a bit confusing to follow in the beginning as there are quite a few and the narration switches between them. I did however love that Gideon Cross makes his cameo in this story. He will always be a favorite **swoon**. The main character Kane in this book, reminds me of Cross, and exudes that sexy dominance that we all fell in love with.

The basis of this story was really good and unique, I just think it took a bit to get to the good parts. The last couple chapters really sucked me in, and I couldn’t put the book down. It completely caught me off guard and kept me wanting more! However... the ending left me hanging... So now I must wait until the next book comes out to find out what happens!!

You got me Sylvia… I’m intrigued!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

I really liked this book. It was not my usual choice of book but I found that the story kept me engaged and interested. The love between super rich, hot guy and beautiful, bombshell is a little cliche but I still quite enjoyed the story and romance. Will recommend.

I wanted to like it but it just wasn’t fully fleshed out for me. It’s also more a mystery than a romance, which may take some readers by surprise.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sylvia Day for the ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 5 Stars

Wowwwww. This book was a long time coming, but definitely worth the wait. I was hooked. The writing was so beautiful and I enjoyed it so much!

I haven’t read a Sylvia Day book in FOREVER. I forgot how much I enjoy her writing. I was a bit confused because are we supposed to like the hero?? He didn’t get his own POV, but literally everyone else did lol. Looking forward to the conclusion in October.

Ranganathan's 3rd law is "every book its reader".

I don't think I am the reader for this book anymore. I was a big Sylvia Day fan back in the day, and I was excited to see little glimpses of Gideon and Eva being in this world as well - beyond that, I had a very hard time with this book. Some of the different narrations seemed like a better fit for the author than others (like Amy was somewhat believable, but Aliyah was not at all). I found the writing to be very dramatic and overdone and found it hard not only to connect with a character, but also maintain interest.

That being said, it could just be that I have outgrown the author and her writing style.

Sylvia Day is a favorite author of mine and I was so happy to read this! I just really sat back and enjoyed the story! I think people should read trigger warnings before diving in, but I enjoyed it!

I have been a fan of author Sylvia Day for years and was excited to start a new series by her.

So Close is mystery thriller that had me on edge! I read the book in one sitting because I was so invested in the story and I needed answers.
I can't wait to read the 2nd book in the series and of course more from this author. She never fails to disappoint!

Crossfire series is one of my all time favorite series. I was excited and terrified to be reading So Close for an honest review through Netgalley's advanced reader copy. I was terrified in that there was a bar that Sylvia Day set so high that it would be hard to surpass. Then she proved she wasn't a one-trick pony.

Blacklist series is going to be a horse of a different color. It was hard to follow at first just because I am not used to 4 people "talking" at once (in the different chapters).

I do wish this book gave us more of Kane's inner monologue but it Is still great. Intense. I couldn't put it down. Pretty sure I dropped the ball on some of life because I was wrapped up in finishing this book. It is interesting to try to decipher the layers of the book. There are so many "unknowns" and "assumed" and yet not nearly enough questioning in my opinion.
Is it true love? Is it denial? Is it hope? Is any of it true?
The worst part of this book......is waiting for the next one to come out in 10 months! Alright, Sylvia....we are anxiously awaiting. I may have to reread the Crossfire series to tide me over while I wait.