Heather Gudenkauf has been one of my favorite authors for years now. I will read anything she publishes. Everyone Is Watching is another homerun from her. It's a page turner, will keep you guessing, and totally bingeable.

The premise of the book where five contestants are brought to a beautiful villa where they will be competing in various challenges for the chance to win $10 million dollars was great. I really liked that the show would be live streamed via the web, as opposed to television, since that's happening all the time now.

The characters, as always, we were well-developed and brought the story to life. I thought the twists and mystery elements she wove through the story were fantastic.

What can I say, another Gudenkauf book that is easily a 5-star read for me.
Thank you, Park Row and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an E-ARC of Everyone is Watching. This is the perfect twisty mystery to keep you on your toes.

Everyone is watching is an interesting take on a group of supposed strangers being lured together in a fancy house. Almost everything that happens is being streamed online for the world to comment on. The reader must make the connections between the over-the-top players of One Lucky Winner. A lot of the book was predictable, but I still blazed through the final third trying to find out how everything was connected.. Gudenkauf highlights the worst in the characters, how people view reality television, and the ills of social media.

This is my first book of Heather Gudenkauf. I was drawn in by the cover, title, and book description.

There are five contestants: the Best Friend, the Boyfriend, the Confidante, the Executive, and the Senator. All we chosen/invited to play a game for 10 million dollars! Think of Survivor (the challenges) but American Idol (the voters chose who goes home).

The build up was great. I was on the edge of my seat once the game started. Kept wanting more. But then the ending was very rushed. It was like "this is the person that is responsible and the end". I was kinda let down.

I look forward to reading more of this author and she admitted that this story is different than anything she has written before.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgally for letting me read an advanced copy. I appreciate it so much!

Heather Gudenkauf is an excellent author and if you see No One Is Watching, get it immediately. I think Heather is one of those writers who gets better and better with each novel she writes. I started this one evening and finished it first thing in the morning. I loved it.

Yes reality show tropes are on trend right now with so many books weaving reality tv elements into the plot, but this was different and so creepy. I can see this one being a movie or series.

Synopsis:

The Best Friend. The Confidant. The Senator. The Boyfriend. The Executive.

Five contestants have been chosen to compete for ten million dollars on the game show One Lucky Winner. The catch? None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be live-streamed all over the world. Completely secluded in an estate in Northern California, with strict instructions not to leave the property and zero contact with the outside world, the competitors start to feel a little too isolated.

When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show—someone is out for blood. And the game can’t end until the world knows who the contestants really are…

Out on March 26

This was such a wild ride! I loved the setting and premise of a game show. The characters were well developed and felt real. The thrills were never ending and I love the multiple timelines and POVs!

Title : Everyone is watching

Genre: Mystery/thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️(3/5)
Publication date: 26th March 2024

Thanks to @netgallery and @harlequinbooks for this advanced readers copy ☺️

Thoughts: How far will anyone go to win ten million dollars? This was an Ok read for me. 5 contestants were selected to compete with each other for the prize of 10 million dollars, the story sounds intriguing but when the story unravels I was quite disappointed

There were a lot happening at the same time, the story highlighted the backstory of each contestant and seeing how it led to them being selected for the show

The end was very predictable. This is my first book from the author, looking to read more

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I have been a fan of Gudenkauf’s work since the early days, so I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, it was just too unbelievable. It was an interesting premise, but it felt rushed and completely implausible. In the acknowledgments, Gudenkauf says this book was a big departure from her usual work and it shows.

3.5/5
This book kept me interested and wanting to know what happened. I was able to figure out some of the connects before the big reveals later (also, there was a typo in my arc haha) However, I don’t feel like the revenge justified MOST of the actions by the main characters,which made the book I little more difficult for me to buy into. It felt petty to go after them for their “crimes” After that, the ending kinda fell flat for me, but I do see the satisfaction in it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ARC to me in exchange for my honest review!

I’ve really enjoyed all the books from this author. The books are easy to read and keep me entertained.

A mix of big brother with a chance of death? Sounds like must see tv and something I wanted to read about!

Five strangers are selected to co.pete on a reality show to win $10 million dollars. They all have a secret. Clues and advantages are earned by winning each day's game. As the connections between the conteatants come to light, accusations fly. Who will be the winner? 4 stars

This was such a fun read! A little bit hunger games, a little bit I know what you did last summer. Reality show drama, people keeping secrets drama, and a touch of murder make this book a riveting read. I was on the edge of my seat frequently. Honestly, I had to use my hand to cover the bottom of certain pages so I wouldn’t sneak to the conclusion because I was so eager!
Sexual assault references for those who prefer to avoid that topic.

4.5⭐ I just love this author's books. This was so good. It's a locked room mystery that's a cross between the reality show Big Brother (which I used to be a huge fan of, but not the last 2 years 🤣), and the game Clue. Exactly what the synopsis described it as. I personally loved this book. A group of 5 strangers go on a TV game show to compete for 10 million dollars. They are secluded, have no contact with the outside world, and it will be Livestreamed. Each contestant has secrets that will be exposed. This was such a unique premise for a book. I thought it was highly entertaining. I liked how you get the backstory of each character. It kept me totally engrossed throughout!

Out March 26.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. My review will be posted on Instagram, Bookbub, Goodreads, and Amazon once it publishes.

Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf was so entertaining! I loved the premise of a reality tv game show gone wrong. I was fully invested in every character which is rare for a larger cast thriller! My favorite part was the livestream reactions of the viewers, it pulled me right into the excitement of the challenges. The pacing was excellent and the tension between contestants kept me turning pages until the end! I would highly recommend Everyone Is Watching.

Sincerest thank you to HTP Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

5 contestants are chosen to compete on a new reality show. None of them know what to expect and the show will be live streamed all over the world. They are secluded in a mansion with zero contact with the outside world for the duration of the show.

The Best Friend, The Confidant, The Boyfriend, The Senator and The Executive begin to compete in crazy competitions, with some showing no mercy for their other competitors and their main focus on winning. But it’s a competition for $10 million dollars who wouldn’t be cutthroat?! Secrets start emerging about the contestants and they quickly realize that there may be more to this game than they realize. Someone is out for blood..

Having read other books by Heather Gudenkauf I was excited to read this one, and it did not disappoint. I enjoyed all the different POVs of the contestants and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. Chapters from the contestants pasts are sprinkled through the current timeline and really help to drive the story and create excitement to the want to know what is coming next.

Thank you to Netgally, Heather Gudenkauf and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced copy in return for my honest review.

I love Heather Gudenkauf's writing style with alternating points of view. They all have their own mystery but weave together as one cohesive story. This one is a great example of how crazy "reality" TV is, what people are willing to do for money, and the lack of empathy that comes with internet voyeurism. I saw a couple of the twists coming, but there was more than enough to keep me reading and having to know what happened!

This was a good twist on a reality show thriller. I enjoyed this fast paced thriller. It all came together quite neatly in the end. It was entertaining while reading but will probably not stick with me much beyond that. But it did it's job!

✨𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀✨
• reality TV competition
• dual timeline
• brief mentions of SA
• revenge

✨ 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 ✨
Five people with dark pasts compete on a live stream reality TV competition for $10 million while the world watches them unravel, showing who they really are.

✨ 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 ✨
I was sucked in from the jump! Heather Gudenkauf got me hooked with her last book and has me in a chokehold now. I loved every second of this thriller, but did feel a little underwhelmed and rushed with the ending.

What really had me absorbed with a live stream reality TV aspect of the book. Even getting to see comments from viewers reminds us that people we see on TV are real humans and we tend to get so vicious online when separated by a computer.

Highly recommend this book to anyone interested in topical storytelling, and watching a mystery slowly revealed through flashbacks with a dose of revenge.

3.5 stars! I had never heard of this author but the synopsis of this book (think Big Brother meets Survivor) drew me in. I had a little bit of a tough time keeping all the contestants straight but the entertaining storyline kept me hooked. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review - pub day is 3/26/24!

Oh my goodness but was this a trip! Let me start by saying right off the bat that I HATE reality TV, particularly the iterations that pit people against one another. I was invited to read this ARC and almost said no thank you purely because of that - but Gudenkauf's books keep popping up and I hadn't read her yet, so decided to give it a go anyway. Let me start by saying that everything that irks me about reality television is present here: the exaggerated personalities, the melodrama, the aggression and lowest-common-denominator mentality of viewers gleefully watching people fall apart. And yet despite that, I found the story to draw me in right from the start, even knowing I would be cringing and rolling my eyes throughout (and rest assured, I did - this isn't a Road to Damascus story, and I still really hate the concept of reality shows). Gudenkauf has a very engaging and easy-going writing style that draws you in even if you resist, and that combined with the fast pace and non-stop conflict really made the pages turn. It's a dark twisty read - nothing terribly surprising, but still it kept me flipping pages from start to finish, which is definitely down to her ability to spin a tale out of whole cloth!