At the start of this book, the reader is introduced to a character named Amy, and I wanted to know more about Amy and how she came to be in her situation. As I read on though, the story didn't really hold my interest, and I didn't really warm to any of the characters or connect with them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

Holy Hell Batman, what was that?

I have feverishly obsessed over She Left, since I read the short teaser on NetGalley.

My obsession grew with each and every review I read.

But

And there is a big BUT....

Then came my approval, and my world literally flipped upside down.

How will I ever find a book that will ignite my soul as this one had?

This book sucked on my soul…

I will now start out on a search to find a book that will compare to what I have just read. Stacie Grey, set the bar with this one !

This book rains down one heck of an ending and it’s left me grappling with my thoughts in a ball on my floor. I have so many questions and I demand answers!!! I’m shrieking through my tears.

Check on me, I’m not ok.

Teaser :

Twenty years ago, she survived. This time she may not be so lucky.

On the night that changed everything, Amy Brewer walked out of a house party, trudging angrily away from the friends who made her feel like she didn't belong. Within the next hour, all five of those friends would be dead.

The Memorial Day Massacre, as it came to be called, rocked their small California community and Amy―the girl who had walked away just in time―couldn't escape the media circus...or the guilt.

Twenty years later, ten people with connections to the crime have been invited to a remote cliffside house by a journalist looking to do a story on the murders. But the group quickly learns the event is not what it seems. As a storm closes in and guests begin to die, Amy realizes there is someone in the house who knows more than they admit about what happened that night long ago… and they will stop at nothing to protect their secrets.

This was an engaging read but the characters could have been better-developed. Pace picked up considerably at the end but was very slow for the first part of the novel.

Thank you to NeGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"She Left" by Stacie Grey: A Mystery with Untapped Potential

Firstly, a heartfelt thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Poisoned Pen Press for generously providing me with an advance copy of "She Left" for review.

Let's rewind twenty years: Amy Brewer, amidst a Memorial Day weekend celebration with her high school crew, abruptly leaves after a heated argument. Later that fateful night, tragedy strikes, claiming the lives of five of Amy's friends in what becomes known as the Memorial Day Massacre. Amy, the sole survivor, grapples with the weight of survivor's guilt and the relentless media scrutiny.

Now, fast forward to the present day: A varied group of individuals, each with ties to the long-ago murders, receives invitations to a secluded Cliffside retreat. The aim? An investigative piece by a renowned journalist seeking to unearth the truth behind the killings. However, as the storm clouds gather and tensions escalate, it becomes evident that danger lurks within the confines of the isolated house.

Grey's narrative grips you from the outset, particularly with its vivid portrayal of the Memorial Day weekend. The anticipation builds as you're drawn deeper into the mystery. However, the momentum falters in the middle, primarily due to the sheer number of characters vying for attention. With ten individuals navigating the labyrinthine web of connections, it becomes a challenge to fully invest in each character's backstory and motivations.

While Grey's descriptive prose effectively captures the atmospheric setting and sustains the tension, the characterization suffers from a lack of depth. The absence of flashbacks to the ill-fated weekend and insights from the murdered teens leaves certain aspects of the narrative feeling underdeveloped. Furthermore, some character motivations feel contrived, detracting from the authenticity of the plot twists.

Despite these shortcomings, Grey's writing style remains engaging, hinting at her potential as a storyteller. While "She Left" falls short of its promise, it is not without merit. There's a compelling foundation here, albeit one that could benefit from tighter execution and more nuanced character development.

In conclusion, "She Left" offers a tantalizing glimpse into Grey's talent, but ultimately falls short of its lofty ambitions. With a few tweaks and refinements, Grey's future works hold the promise of delivering a truly captivating reading experience. Therefore, I award this novel a respectable rating of 3.5 stars.

Thanks to @netgalley & Poisoned pen Press for this eArc.

I was really excited for this as the premise sounded so good.
20 years ago, Amy leaves a party and walks through the woods home, meanwhile everyone she left at the party, dies.

It had such a strong opening chapter and then it is ‘20 years later’ where Amy, now known as Therese & others related to the ‘Memorial Day Massacre’ victims are invited to a remote location by a journalist.

For me, there were too many characters to keep track of and I felt my concentrate twindle towards the middle & end.

The level of suspense was there though as I did want to know what was happening but it wasn’t a shock when it is revealed.

Recommend for those that like-
-Locked room thrillers
-Lots of POV

I have to be honest , I struggled with this one. I did like the isolated setting. I struggled to connect to the characters.

It was a good one. Everything I like: murders, old mystery, locket-room story.
The character is well drawn. The story was intriguing and I wanted to find out who the killer was and why. I liked how the book got exciting near the end, but some of the characters' actions were very illogical
Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the copy of She Left by Stacie Grey.

This was fast paced and an easy read but not overly thrilling unfortunately. While it moved along at an engaging pace, there were too many characters that were underdeveloped and a bit tricky to keep track of as a result. I appreciated the brief PoVs from all the different characters but it wasn't enough to really connect with them - and sadly, I didn't really like any of them so didn't really care "who dun it" at the end. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book Net Galley!

She Left by Stacie Grey follows Amy/Therese as she is the only survivior of a bombing that left her friends dead. Twenty years later Therese must face the past when she is invited to a secluded house in the mountains for an interview from a journalist that is writting a story about it. Wven though Therese is septical about the whole thing she shows up and finds that the people who were also invinted had a connection to her dead freinds. Everyone of them had a reason to want the friends dead. Now as one by one they are being killed off they must work together to survive the days since they are trapped there. This book was a little bit slow in the begining but did pick up about half way through. I liked the concept and the setting of the book. Thank you to both NetGalley and Poisioned Pen Press for letting me read an advanced copy of this book.

A Sharp Edge..
The Memorial Day Massacre and the girl who survived consumed the media in California and beyond. Twenty years later ten people with connections to that appalling crime are invited to a cliff side house by a journalist making a story. Nothing, however, is what it seems and when a storm comes in things are about to go badly awry. Immersive, atmospheric and compelling suspense with a pacy plot populated with twists and turns aplenty, scattered with red herrings and a deftly drawn cast of characters. A locked room mystery with a sharp and lethal edge.

I really had a hard time getting thru the book.
It reminded me of Clue! A whodunnit story.
Ten people who all have some sort of connection to a massacre that happened 20 years before. They all have motives as to why they chose to go. But they need to figure out who the one killing them now is to survive.
I found it very boring. The characters were all sort of bland
Normally I enjoy a good mystery but this one failed to capture my attention.
But if you enjoy a mystery this might be up your alley. I have seen a lot of people who did enjoy it.
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to review this

The Memorial Day Massacre resulted in the deaths of five teens, it remains an unsolved case. Twenty years later a reporter invites a group of people, all connected in some way to the event or victims, to gather for an article for the anniversary. It will become a locked room mystery as the reporter never arrives and these strangers are trapped by a raging storm. Isolated up in the Sierra mountains it’s a creepy and sinister house as people begin to die. Therese was the only massacre survivor because she left the party early. She’s lived with the stigma and suspicion for twenty years. Is someone seeking revenge? What really happened all those years ago and how many more people need to die for the truth to be revealed? The tension remains high and I suspected everyone as the plot unfolded. I haven’t read this author before and will watch for her future novels.
An advance reader copy of “She Left” by Stacie Grey, Published by Poisoned Pen Press, anticipated publication 05/14/2024, was provided by NetGalley. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without any compensation.

Talk about a page-turning mystery!!! Believable characters including Amy, a woman with tragedy in her past who has to deal with revisiting things that have haunted her.

"She Left" by Stacie Grey is a chilling and heart-pounding thriller that grabs hold of readers from the very first page. Grey expertly weaves together a gripping narrative that revolves around the haunting aftermath of the Memorial Day Massacre, a tragedy that shook a small California community to its core.

Amy Brewer, the sole survivor of that fateful night, has spent the past two decades grappling with survivor's guilt and the relentless media scrutiny that followed. When a group of individuals connected to the crime are invited to a remote cliffside house by a journalist seeking to uncover the truth, Amy finds herself drawn back into the darkness of her past.

What follows is a tense and suspenseful tale as the stormy weather mirrors the escalating tension within the house. As guests begin to meet untimely ends, Amy realizes that someone among them harbors dangerous secrets about the events of that tragic night. Grey masterfully builds suspense with each twist and turn, keeping readers on the edge of their seats until the shocking conclusion.

"She Left" is not just a thriller—it's a masterclass in psychological suspense. Grey's vivid prose and skillful character development breathe life into the story, making each twist and revelation all the more electrifying. With its gripping plot and memorable characters, "She Left" is a must-read for fans of the genre, delivering thrills and chills that will linger long after the final page is turned.

I was hooked from the beginning of this locked-in thriller about a teenage girl who survived a Memorial Day Massacre. Amy Brewer angrily left a house party in the middle of the night after being made to feel like she didn't belong. But her leaving looks suspicious when her friends turn up dead, and the people in town don't believe her and think that she killed them in an act of revenge. Though they couldn't prove she was involved, Amy's life is turned upside down and she is forced to leave town, change her name and started over. But twenty years later when she and ten others are invited to a remote house by a journalist wanting to do a story. Amy decides it is time to get to the truth and clear her name . However, things aren't as they seem and as the guest start dying, she realizes someone here is more involved then they are letting on.
I was so excited about the story line, with lots of characters and plenty of culprits to choose from. Unfortunately I didn't find any of the characters all that likeable, which made it harder to root for any of them. All in all it was a fun book and worth the read.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
3.5 ⭐'s rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and poisoned pen press for an eARC She Left. I thought this was a decent book, just not for me. I usually love a whodunit book. I think with experience Stacy Grey has great potential.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Poisened Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A locked room mystery with great atmosphere and interesting untrustworthy characters, She Left focuses on Amy Brewer who was the only survivor of a massacre that killed her friends. 20 years later, she now goes by the name Therese and is an FBI agent when she receives an invitation by a journalist looking to do a follow up on the murders. The Cliffside house is rather remote and when she gets there she realizes that all the guests are somehow related to or tied to the victims in some way.

Things quickly go haywire and Therese has to figure out what really happened to her friends that night before she ends up as a victim as well. Therese was a great character, brave and analytical.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was a slow moving but good read. Some rather odd characters that were a bit hard to keep up with and keep track of.
Overall I enjoyed the story and it was well written. I would say it was a long read for me. It isn’t a book you can just blow through. The only character I ended up really liking was Therese. Though Lorelei was an interesting one as well.

Thank you to Netgallery for an early release copy of She Left by Stacie Grey, This book will be available for purchase on May Fourteenth of 2024.

Unfortunately,She Left wasn’t a read meant for me, the story progresses really slowly, there are quite a few characters and their motives are hard to keep track of. None of the characters or the book in general stuck out to me, the reveals/thriller bits were rather lacking, the reveals didn’t surprise me, overall I was just disappointed.

Even towards the end when things were wrapping up it didn’t really feel like anything exciting was happening (It also didn’t really help that I wasn’t a fan of this writing style)

This was a clue like mystery. Trying to solve a cold case with a bunch of strangers in a mansion. Until guests start to die as well. The focus moves through a couple key characters, dipping a few times into the past and the original crime. There are an abundance of suspects and everyone has their reasons they could be the killer. It was a fun read with a wide variety of characters that kept suspicion bouncing until the very end. I really appreciated how honest the main character was with her own flaws and suspicious behaviors. She wasn't trying to save herself constantly but instead was trying to be fair across the board of these are the facts.