Wow! First of all, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ecopy of this ARC. I have heard great things about Mary Kubica and now I know why. I will definitely be picking up more of her books. She's Not Sorry is the story of a nurse who has to take care of a woman who is in a coma. The more and more she takes care of her, the more and more our nurse, Meghan, gets to know the family and gets entangled in this woman's life. But one question remains, what happened to her to put her in this hospital bed.

I loved this book. The author was able to give subtle clues to the undercurrent of what was going on so that you guess things RIGHT before they are revealed in the book, and as a reader, I love that!! It's so satisfying. The storyline was great too, kept me on my toes. I can't wait to read more books from Mary Kubica!

First, a thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an Advanced Reader Copy of one of my most anticipated books of the year!!

I have loved Mary Kubica's writing in the past and in this book it's no different. I love her storytelling and her characters. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Local Woman Missing.

I'm giving this book a 4.5/5 stars as I feel there were a couple of questions I have that weren't answered or hoped they would be answered more clearly, but overall really enjoyed this one and plan to purchase a finished copy upon release! Will absolutely read anything this author publishes.

TW: suicide, sexual assault, kidnapping

This book started off a little too slow. I kept reading and so glad I did. The story just went in an exciting, unputdownable thriller. The twist and turns kept you wondering who did what. The ending was totally unexpected. I would highly recommend this book.
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Park Row for the ARC.

This book started off a little bit slowly for me, but quickly turned into a spinning thriller that I couldn’t put down. It did take me a bit to read because I only read it in the evenings when I’m in bed, but overall this book was excellent. I give it a four star rating, the author does a really great job telling the story and also the twist in the end I did not see coming. To be completely honest, I thought it was someone totally different in the story than the perpetrator ended up being.

This book draws you in and leaves you wanting more until the very end. Excellent character building and story line/plot. I definitely recommend.

The chilling suspense, holding my breath, mouth going dry… damn this is a good one!

SHE’S NOT SORRY by MARY KUBICA

Rating: 4.5 🌟
Thrill level: 4/5🔪
Genre: thriller

Top Quotes:

💫 “What happens to her is entirely up to you.”

💫 “I realize that I may never know how much he knows.”

💫 “I never see her, but I think she’s out there somewhere, watching me. I feel it all the time, this overwhelming, paralyzing feeling of being followed, pursued.”

This is what I would describe as a slow, building thriller that is binge worthy and just as delicious if you take your time and savour it. At least until the last hundred or so pages where you just CANT put it down!

I can’t say that much about this novel without spoiling things. The writing was smooth despite taking on 3 mysteries in one story. Kubica’s words flowed easily and the structure was perfectly thought out, keeping it dynamic and thought provoking.

While there wasn’t seemingly a lot of depth to our characters, you come to learn how many lies they’re living in that makes their lives more complex than they seem. Some of the plot is not totally unpredictable yet there were repeated, shocking twists. Or actually, throwing you a twist and making you think one thing just to twist the twist later on. It’s getting too twisty here. Anyway, Kubica manages all this without getting too messy. It was exciting and suspenseful without being too much or confusing.

Unrelated to the actual story but I really wanted to note how much I appreciated the words Kubica said about nursing. She describes it as an “already hemorrhaging profession” and mentioned burnout and maintaining compassion yet being detached. You may or may not believe me when I say not everyone sympathizes with nurses and others in healthcare. I recently had a 62 year old woman say that an RN is not a real or worthy career 🙃🤷🏼‍♀️ can’t change everyone’s mind but honestly, Kubicas acknowledgement, no matter how simple, was lovely.

I highly suggest going into this one blind. I had no idea what I was in store for aside from it being a thriller and was so genuinely impressed. It is GOOD.

Thank you kindly @netgalley for this ARC!

This review contains spoilers...

There have been many books trying to replicate the wow factor of Gone Girl over the years. It seems the new trend lately (or upcoming) is to use a dual timeline without labeling the chapters as a dual timeline until the big "reveal." This, in my opinion, is not clever. It is simply a trick. This story is such a one, but there are only one or two minor hints that this is the case since each chapter seems to seamlessly follow the one before. Unless this main character is having a major groundhog day year, I find this a bit hard to swallow. And I also find the use of this trick/deception by the author disingenuous and annoying. If this is the way thrillers are headed, I might need to take a break...

I usually like Mary Kubica, but this one was a bit of a miss for me. There were some elements I found really compelling and interesting, but many more that fell short. Let me explain:
Pros - the creepy setting - the ICU at a hospital, a lonely apartment that shakes and is very loud when the L train goes by right outside the window, a city where anonymity and blending into the crowd is easier than one might think. All this lends itself well to the atmosphere of the story. I also enjoyed all the red herring characters. I was second guessing my guesses throughout, which is a good thing! I also enjoy Kubica's writing style. It flows well. The dialogue is believable. I could FEEL the underlying tension the entire way through. It kept me turning pages even if I was rolling my eyes occasionally. I also enjoyed the play on the title - could have many meanings. And the theme of who is a victim and the redeemability, or not, of characters.

Cons - besides the dual timeline plot as stated above - Along with this trend, there seems to be a lean in to the ambiguous endings - Verity style. I don't think it worked here. In fact, I think there were TOO MANY loose ends that were either tied up waaaayyy too quickly and unsatisfactorily or not tied up at all. I'm thinking of the motivations of the villain which were never really explained. Milo - there one minute, forgotten the next. Caitlin's love interest not knowing about her fate? No way. Too much media coverage for him not to know and not to ever mention it. Ten thousand dollars just goes missing and we are okay with that? Even after we know who took it? I also don't understand the point of the prologue when it really turns out to be nothing. It wasn't necessary and the EXACT same scene was played out (like word for word) later in the book. None of the characters were really likable. Like at all. Which is fine, but also, I kind of like at least one person to root for.

Overall, I'm not mad that I read it. It was entertaining and a fast read. I liked the reveal of the "bad guy" at the end, but wish he had a clearer motivation. I think other thriller readers and fans of Kubica will enjoy this book. I just don't think it is very memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to review an ARC of this novel.

This book? You're going to want to read it.

Mary Kubica has some great books, but she also has some meh books. This book? Is definitely a great one.

First of all, I was absolutely hooked from the very first page. You know that feeling you get sometimes when you know you're in for a good story? I got that feeling immediately. It's one of those books where you just want to stay up a little later, just one more chapter, because you're biting your nails, anxious to know what happens next.

The end? Jaw dropping. It was a near perfect book. I found myself shocked, completely not expecting the twist that seemingly came out of the blue. I found myself wanting to go back through the book to look for clues, to figure out if the answer was sitting there all along, because I found myself so shocked.

The only thing keeping this book from a 5 star rating is that I didn't feel like all the storylines were wrapped up, and I was left with questions at the end. I hate that! But otherwise? Totally worth the read!

3.5 Rounded Up to 4 stars!

There was a lotttt of story building in the first 60% of the book that at times felt repetitive. It definitely kept me questioning all of the characters and storylines, but when the first big twist came it seemed nonchalant. Then, the remaining 40% of the book picked up rapid speed and left you deciding who to trust in the end. Definitely still enjoyed this one and would recommend it! Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC!

SHE’S NOT SORRY was my first foray into the world of Mary Kubica, and let me say it did NOT disappoint!

Meghan is a recently divorced ICU nurse with a teenage daughter. There is a rapist on the loose assaulting women, and a comatose woman in the hospital who recently jumped from a bridge.

This book left my head reeling from the sheer number of twists and turns. Every time I thought I had it figured out the author laughed. “Haha, think again.”

I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys twisty thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat! You never see that ending coming.

*Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read this advance copy.*

⭐️: 3/5

Newly single mom Meghan is trying to find a balance in her life between her job as a nurse and raising her teenage daughter, when a patient named Caitlin arrives at the hospital she works at in a coma, having jumped from a bridge. She finds herself being drawn closer to Caitlin and her family, and when it comes out that there are more details to Caitlin’s fall than were previously assumed, it may be too late for Meghan and her daughter to avoid being the next victims.

I have to start out by admitting that Mary Kubica has been wildly inconsistent as an author for me. I read Local Woman Missing and enjoyed it, but had to DNF The Good Girl because I got too bored. She’s Not Sorry is another that I was considering DNFing, and probably would have were this not an ARC. First off, I don’t love the ~type~ of this main character, which is the overdone annoying one of the socially awkward, neurotic middle aged woman who just neeeeeds to help everyone, trying to connect to the world around her starting with her bratty teenage daughter. It’s just so…passé. Then, the dialogue of the book reads a lot like those bad sensitivity training videos that you have to watch yearly from HR, or from health class back in school. Add in that Meghan is almost painfully naïve, and her daughter is a one-dimensional caricature of a teenage “brat”, written with almost no nuance or grounding in what teenagers are actually like, and it’s just overall a mess. That’s before I mention that there is arguably no plot or cohesive mystery for a lot of the book. I like my thrillers a lot more gripping from the start, and there was nothing to hold on to for a lot of this one. The big twist was smart, and did a bit to redeem the book as a whole though, so I’ll give it that, and it made me glad I ultimately pushed through to finish it, even if the rest of the twists were admittedly a bit random.

Thank you to @netgalley and @parkrowbooks for this free eARC!!

“She’s not sorry” starts off with a bang, an opening scene that will increase your heart rate as you witness a phone call made between our FMC Meghan, and an unknown assailant who is seemingly holding her teenage daughter ransom for unknown reasons.

We are then pulled back to a time prior to this incident as we watch events leading up to the kidnapping unfold.

Although the book starts out fast and hard hitting, it then diminishes back into very much a slow burn thriller where the tension takes a minute to climb back up to its extreme. I’m not typically a fan of slow burns, however it helped knowing that something dramatic would be coming to pass.

The plot is interested, Meghan is a recent divorcee who works as an intensive care nurse at hospital. In the evenings she attends a divorce support group where she runs into someone from her past. In her present she is assigned to care for a young woman in a coma following an attempted suicide. She can’t help but sympathize with the girls parents and finds herself becoming a little to attached and twisted up in their lives.

There is a lot going on in the book. There are around 4 main storylines flowing at once and they all have a way of connecting together by the time we reach the end. There is twist after twist, some I saw coming, others I was too late to take notice of until it hit me right in the face 🤣 The only thing missing was the heavy presence the patients family seemed to entirely disappear at the end of the book without mention, I thought there would have been more of a point of their involvement and some kind of plot twist there.

Overall I enjoyed this book, I felt for the FMC and rooted for her family, even though she makes some unethical decisions I can’t bring myself to hold it against her.

I enjoy Mary Kubicas writing style, my only notes would be that I wished it was a little less slow burn in parts and that the pacing was kept consistently engaging throughout.

Thank you to Mary Kubica, Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the arc!

Publish date; April 2nd 2024

This story literally had me on the edge of my seat with so many twists and turns. The author did a great job making you believe one situation and then totally switching the plot. I absolutely loved how every character you met had a connection to the story one way or another.

Being a RN myself, I loved the medical part of the story and connections with families and ICU patients along with the care required for these patients. This book was definitely worth the read!

Meghan Michaels is a single mother and full time nurse. She's just trying to make it through the day and to make sure her teenage daughter is still talking to her at the end of the night. Chicago women are being attacked by an unknown man, and the areas of attack are moving closer and closer to Meghan's apartment.

At the hospital, a patient named Caitlin has arrived after an apparent suicide attempt. She has survived, somehow, and is in a coma with a traumatic brain injury. Caitlin's family takes a liking to Meghan and requested her for Caitlin's care. Every family has secrets, but Caitlin's family seems to have more than usual.
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Welllllll damn. Mary Kubica can write a damn thriller. It's cliche to even say this is full of twists and turns because nothing is as it seems.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

HOLY CRAP! The twists and turns in this one were INTENSE! I audibly gasped several times (my poor dog jumps everytime I do it, lol), and it was all so unpredictable! I loved how intertwined all of the characters were, it just blew me away! The beginning was a little slow, but otherwise my mind is BLOWN!

She’s Not Sorry is Mary Kubica’s latest action-packed book. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy. .I enjoyed the story. It has many unexpected twists throughout the book. Meghan is an ICU nurse taking care of a patient named Caitlyn. Caitlyn is in a coma after reportedly jumping off of a pedestrian bridge. As Meghan takes care of Caitlyn and the story unwinds we find out there is more than meets the eye to both the nurse and the patient.

Excellent! Ms. Kubica is a master of mystery and suspense and she once again knocks it out of the park with “She’s Not Sorry”.

I love Mary Kubica so I was so excited when I saw this book was available to read. This story kept me on my toes the entire time and honestly took me by surprise. I was spooked at a few points and felt remorse and fear for the characters, which had me invested in what was happening to them.

I'll read anything Mary puts out!

I've really enjoyed Kubica's books in the past, so I was really looking forward to reading her newest thriller. The pace of this one was a little different, because roughly the first three quarters were a bit of a slow burn. It felt like all the suspense of a thriller without any reveal. The last quarter of this book, however, is INSANE. My palms were literally sweating because I was so stressed for the main characters. In my opinion, there was a little too much going on in the end. I feel like one of the storylines/reveals could have been eliminated and it would have been a perfect thriller. However, the characters were super interesting and complex, and the book keeps you guessing until the last minute. The twists were revealed perfectly.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mary Kubica, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica


Meghan Michaels is a single mother and an ICU nurse. She has a wonderful relationship with her daughter, as she enters her teenage years.

Meghan loves her job. She is an excellent nurse. One day, a patient named Caitlin arrives at the ICU after having suffered a fall from a local bridge. Her injuries are severe, and she remains in a coma.

Meghan has always maintained a professional relationship with her patients, until Caitlin. Questioning why Caitlin would jump off a bridge. What was so terrible in her life that she chose to end it?

Later, the police begin an investigation into whether or not Caitlin was pushed off the bridge by someone else. A killer begins to appear as more and more women are assaulted in their home. Are the two situations related?

This is an excellent and fast-paced novel. Ms. Kubica dives into a twisting, psychological thriller. I challenge anyone to figure out the events in this story prior to reading them. This novel is one of my favorites so far this year.

What a twisty, fun thriller! After reading local woman missing how could I not dive into another Mary Kubica book!

Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom to a teenage daughter and working as a full time nurse. While on duty at the hospital one day, a patient named Caitlin arrives in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, having jumped from a bridge and plunging over twenty feet to the train tracks below. But when a witness comes forward with shocking details about the fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin pushed and if so, by whom and why?

I struggled with the brain injury aspect in this one due to family matters beginning of this year but I did push through and am glad I did because the second half of this one was non stop twists and everything you want a thriller to be.

Thank you so very much htpbooks, Mary Kubica and netgalley for the gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Release date: April 2nd, 2024