I went into this book blindly and after realizing what it was about, I was not expecting to enjoy this book because of the plot. There are 5 contestants that are invited to participate in an exclusive new reality game for the chance to win 10 million dollars. Each player has their own reason for needing the money and once they start the game, they realize that it’s a lot more dangerous than they anticipated. While participating in the game, the contestants find clues that could reveal secrets that each player has, leaving everyone in a constant frenzy. Once realizing this is not a reality game, but a revenge plan, the contestants have to try to figure out who is out to get them and why. The biggest twist is that this show is live streamed and the viewers are watching every second of it. The viewers also have an input on who stays and who gets eliminated.

This book has a lot of predictable twists, but it was still a great read. I enjoyed the plot more than I expected. It was a quick read that held my attention and kept me reading to find out why they were all part of this revenge plan.

I want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Park Row for allowing me to read an arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is set to release on March 26th 2024.

Great decent thriller read, sadistic game show where a winner gets to take home 10 million dollars.

Somewhat thinly veiled characters that interweave together to create an interesting combination of stories.

Wow, what a thriller! If you're a fan of competition reality shows (I'll admit they are one of my guilty pleasures), this book will be a fantastic read for you. Heavily plot driven and fast-paced, I raced through this novel along with the characters who signed up for a competitive show to win 10 million dollars. But of course there is more to the story, and as we learn the backstories of the contestants, we get an inkling that something is more complicated than it initially appeared. The ending twist was very guessable, but that didn't ruin the story for me at all.

Review will be published Jan 11th on Instagram and goodreads.

Wow this was crazy, suspenseful, and thrilling. Game show with reality TV? Yes please. Fast paced and kept me sucked in.

Everyone Is Watching is like watching that TV show that is slightly vulgar and a bit tasteless, but you can't look away. You even peak through your fingers because it is that addictive, but after finishing the last page you feel relief to have finally finished it.

This story is about five contestants who have been selected to to compete with each other for the prize of 10 million dollars. These five contestants all have different motives to attend, but mostly you follow the contestants: Maire - a single mother with a sick child - and Camille - a therapist with a few secrets - and the host of the show: Fern. After arriving they discover that some of them know each other, but can that be a coincidence? The games they play are also far more dangerous than what they had expected.

Sounds intriguing? Well, you will be disappointed by the way the story unravels.
So much is happening at the same time - the games, the many perspectives, the past and the present - but at the same time it remains a flat story with two dimensional characters and debilitating back stories. I liked Camille's story the most - the therapist - and I think if the author really stuck with that story and gave it more depth it would have been stronger than this.

There isn't a grand reveal at the end or something that will get the story to a climax. It ends abruptly and after finishing you are left to feel unsatisfied.
I really enjoyed the author's previous bestseller, An Unwanted Guest, but this book was not of that calibre.

ARC received by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this read. I was captivated from the beginning, knowing that these people were all intertwined - but trying to work out how. I had a lot of theories, but definitely didn’t expect the ending. Great read! I can’t wait until it’s published so I can recommend it to my book friends!

This was my first by Heather Gufenkauf. It was a very fast and thrilling read. It kept me engaged and wanting to know more. Very enjoyable and enjoyed the author’s writhing style!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc for Everyone is Watching.
While I didn’t hate it and it was a quick read, I’m not sure that I liked it either. The whole thing was so unrealistic that I had a hard time buying in. The twist at the end was predictable and the ending it self felt like a letdown.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Absolutely thrilling book! I couldn’t put it down and I was shocked at the end!
5 people are offered a slot on a new reality show
The best friend
The boyfriend
The senator
The executive
The confidante
How far would they go to win $10 Million dollars?
As the Challenges get harder and the clues get more personal they need to figure out who is behind this new show and how are they all connected!

I loved this book! I loved that it went from past to present and you got to see a little bit of perspective from each character. This is a book you won’t be able to put down! I definitely recommend it!

Thanks so much Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley.

Five people are chosen to compete in a reality show to win ten million. Somehow there’s a link between them and secrets come out.

This was a clever story and I was intrigued by the all the puzzles involved in the story. It’s told in the present as well as glimpses into the past that explain why each contestant is there. There are some messy moments but they all make sense. Good read!

A highly enjoyable on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller. Another solid entry to suspense genre from Gudenkauf.

This one is fun.

I realize there’s nothing new about the plot. People invited to a mysterious location for a chance to win big money. Oops there’s a devious plot afoot! Oops again – everyone has SECRETS!

But despite the done-before plot, the book is entertaining, some of the secrets are scorching, and I was completely invested in the characters. As for the reasons behind everything and the who in the whodunnit? Completely surprised.

A blast of a popcorn read!

• ARC via Publisher

Eooooo what a suspenseful rocky road of a ride!!!! Definitely keeps you interested and the end wow did not see that coming.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an early release of this book.

Everyone Is Watching
by Heather Gudenkauf

Pub Date 26 Mar 2024 by Harlequin Trade Publishing, Park Row

Heather Gudenkauf has been on my radar for a while now, but I’ve never come around to read her previous work. So getting this via NetGalley was like the last push for me to dive in.

I had no idea what to expect and now I can say that I was not disappointed. Some reviewers mentioned the SquidGames which I have never watched, so I can’t comment on that, but I did like the story a lot, I was intrigued very quickly. I do love books and shows that have any kinds of competition. It’s one of my favourite tropes. After all, I am a sucker for reality TV….

I did like that we got to see what the producers do for a good show as well as far as the contestants will go for the win. 10 millions, sounds too good to be true. Especially as all of the contestants have their reasons to compete for the money.

The pacing was fast and there were no dull moments. I am not sure if i completely agree with the ending, but oh well, other than that, I loved every minute of this book. to me, it was unique and close to perfect!

Arc received courtesy of Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing. I was under no obligation to share a review, all opinions are my own

I would have been more prone to bumping this review up a star but it reminded me SO much of “the last one” by Will Dean that I couldn’t see past those similarities. With the proximity in release date, I doubt that it was even possible to have been inspired by it or have had any influence, but it was uncanny!

That being said, I did vastly prefer this one in both plot/ scope/ the eventual conclusion. I did predict a good bit of how it all tied together but the ending was still a surprise and it was a fun, very quick read!

This was so fun! I LOVED Gudenkauf's last book and this did not disappoint as a follow up! This was a really original idea (to me) and was reminiscent of Squid Game a little...
There were a few inconsistencies - I thought that Camille initially saw a dragonfly tattoo but it was referred to as a hummingbird at the end of the book. Also during Nan's second visit to Camille she was referred to as 'Fern' in narration which seemed accidental.
Overall I was totally invested in the story, had no idea who to trust, loved how there were so many secrets to uncover and it kept me hooked til the very end. I remain a Gudenkauf fan!

This is a book that definitely kept me on my toes. Everyone is Watching is a suspenseful thriller about the newest reality TV show competition.
Maire is a single mother of two. One of her daughters have significant medical issues that require more time and money than Maire has. When she gets an invitation to a compete in a new competition she initially thinks it's a scam, but the possibility of winning 10 million dollars is hard to pass up. The competition begins and she soon realizes that it's a lot more intense than any of the competitors had imagined.
This was so twisty and interesting. I binged the whole book because I did not want to put it down. I loved the reality TV element and the slow revealing of what each of the competitors were hiding.

If Unreal met squid games and big brother. This was completely up my alley. I love reality shows and I love the behind the scenes look.

Here we get both the lengths to which a producer will go to make a good show and also the lengths to which contestants will go to win. Add in a lot of secrets and it gets wild.

I love how the secretive pasts were slowly unraveled as the contestants competed in grueling tasks. I winced and even yelled out in shock once or twice.

The ending felt a tad abrupt and a bit of a letdown and that’s my only complaint. The rest of the ride was thoroughly enjoyable.

Everyone is watching follows 5 everyday contestants, seemingly chosen at random, to compete at a remote isolation location for the generous prize of 10million dollars.

Each contestant has a reason for being there and needing the money. They are supposed to be strangers but as it turns out there may be some shady connections to secrets from the past.

When the host hijacks the show the reader knows for sure that this game is no rules on the table, all bets are off.

For the first game the contestants meet with a huge maze and we begin to see exactly how far they’re willing to go and what morals they will drop for the prize. It’s giving Harry Potter and the goblet of fire vibes

This book has so many twists and turns, shocking outlandish games and the contestants are put through some severe testing. With no contact to the outside world permitted, and rules to stay on the grounds, we begin to watch each of them break and lose their cool.

This book is completely different to The Overnight Guest and it shows off how versatile the author can go into the dark twisted genre of thrillers.

The pacing was fast and I couldn’t put down the book, dying to know what happened and who won. I went in to this book not knowing what to expect and it absolutely delivered gold standard reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the chance to read this book, I had an absolute blast with this one!

HTP you are too good to me 🥹

I want to first start out by saying thank you to HTP, Heather Gudenkauf and NetGalley.

Gudenkauf is one of my most favored authors and Everyone Is Watching, was one of my most anticipated reads. I had been pending for so long I was about ready to give up BUT right before Christmas I got the best gift ever in the shape of an emailed approval.

My eyes welled with tears and I was beyond over the moon. As soon as I got a hold of myself I jumped right in.

This book packs a punch right from the prologue. I was left with so many questions, Who was killed? Was someone killed? Was this reality tv or “reality tv” ? I was clueless but ready to find out!!!

Holy Moly!

This book was worth the wait! Absolutely incredible! Mind blowing! Jaw dropping! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

I didn’t have any doubts I wouldn’t like this book but what a naive little soul I was, this book is everything we as readers have been waiting for and I’m literally obsessed .

This is THE book of the year.

Check out this teaser :

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…