After loving The Stillwater Girls, Unmissing, and After Dark by Minka Kent, I was so thrilled to receive an advanced reader copy of Imaginary Strangers.

Kent's writing style is so easy to binge, with short chapters that leave you wanting more and quickly turning the pages. This one was no exception!

Imaginary Strangers follows Camille, who is living in California with her husband and two children. Through flashback chapters of Camille's therapy sessions, we learn about her (hard to read at times) difficult upbringing. Which leads us to today, where Camille is freaked out. Her daughter has started behaving strangely, talking about her new imaginary friend who is teaching her secrets Camille thought she buried in the past- secrets no one knows.

I was trying to untangle this story the whole time and while I was surprised at the end, it felt a little bit too convenient for me and I wish it would have ended a bit differently. I don't want to say too much as not to spoil it. The very end does indicate there is more to come in this story- so I am still eager to check out the next book when it comes!

Check this one out if you like
- short, binge worthy chapters
- past / present timelines
- eerie kid storylines
- a MC with some serious secrets in the past

Imaginary Strangers is out now! And available on Kindle Unlimited!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this one!

What lengths will a mother go to to protect her children?
This is one mother's slow decent into madness trying to do just that. Camille is trying to keep the dangers of her estranged abusive mother away from her daughter but trying to do that is harder that it seems. Is it what it seems?
This is so frustrating and it gets scarier and scarier with each new incident that involves her daughter.

Excellent read!

I rated this book a 3/5 ⭐️. It was very interesting to read about a sociopath’s perspective in a book. I felt bad for the character at times. The reason why I’m giving it a 3 was because I have so many unanswered questions and was wondering what happened in some parts. There were some parts in the story that actually creeped me out, but it kept me entertained to keep reading. It was not my favorite book, but I still enjoy books by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minka Kent for giving me this ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

✨This is a page-turner psychological thriller that’s full of suspense and twists. Whenever I read a thriller, I don’t want to see any twists coming or guess them. And this one took me by surprise. If you’re looking for a thriller that will keep you guessing on the edge of your seat, then I highly recommend this one!

✨We slowly find out Camille’s secrets through her therapy sessions, and through her daughter’s imaginary friend. I was so eager to learn what was true and what wasn’t. Camille is a closed box and every glimpse of her childhood had me shocked. Every time her daughter would act on whatever the imaginary friend had said, it created such an eerie feeling. The ending left me with my jaw on the ground.

✨Imaginary Strangers has:
🤍 Childhood trauma
🤍 Imaginary friend
🤍 A dark past
🤍 FMC with ASPD
🤍 A mother who will do anything for her child

✨Blurb: Camille Prescott has it all. A doting husband and two children. But behind her polished mask lurks a much different Camille—one with a padlocked vault of secrets. Raised by a vindictive and psychotic woman, Camille has gone to great lengths to bury her past and for good reason: if her mother ever finds her, she will kill her. But nothing can prepare Camille for the day her six-year-old daughter, Georgie, has an imaginary new friend who casts a disturbing influence on everything the little girl says and does. Worse than that, Georgie’s imaginary friend knows things about Camille’s childhood, things Camille has never told a soul. Is it a coincidence or is Georgie’s imaginary friend not so fictional after all?

I am truly still reeling from this one.

Pretty sure this is my first Minka Kent book definitely won’t be my last. What a crazy wild read. I’m usually pretty good at figuring thrillers out but man this got me good.. a mother who’s a sociopath a perfect husband and a perfect family from the outside. Camille has it all two kids a doctor for a husband and a traumatic childhood. Has Camille’s mom resurfaced and infiltrated her family thru her daughter. CANNOT wait for the next book about Camille!!!!!

Minka Kent has done it again! She's written a page-turning book that I didn't want to put down! I loved Camille!! She worked so hard to hide her secrets and was fiercely protective of her kids. She was also quite amusing at times! I enjoyed the mystery of how Georgie knew so much about Camille's past, and I never saw the big twist coming at the end!

I believe that this is the first book in a new series, so hopefully, I'll get to visit Camille again one day soon!!

We have to talk about this book. Cam is so relatable that I had to stop for a bit and ask myself "Am I a sociopath?"
She has this fierce crazy love for her kids though. She says she doesn't but she is like manic about them. I loved it. I was not expecting the twists. I loved the ending too.
I was really sad about the childhood parts.
You really have to read this one.

Minka Kent is absolutely extraordinary at concocting intricate and flawed characters. Her books are incredibly riveting, and you won't want to stop once you start reading. I was thrilled to discover that "Imaginary Strangers" is just the beginning of a series, even though I normally don't gravitate toward series.

Camille appears to have the perfect life with a loving husband who's a doctor and two wonderful children. Even her mother-in-law is supportive and always there to help out. However, Camille harbors a massive secret from her family. Despite all the support, she has been hiding the fact that she grapples with sociopathic tendencies stemming from a traumatic childhood, which she also hides from her family. Can you imagine living in constant fear of your true self being revealed?

This book is a real page-turner, and I found myself yearning for more with each turn of the page. The twists at the end were shocking, taking me completely by surprise! I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the next book in the series to see where the story goes next.

I highly recommend this book and it's even on Kindle Unlimited!!

Sincere thanks to Minka Kent and Thomas & Mercer for providing this ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

#ImaginaryStrangers #MinkaKent #ThomasMercer #AmazonPublishing #KindleUnlimited

Thank you @netgalley and @amazonpublishing for my ADC!

I really enjoyed this one!

The story delves deep into the seemingly perfect life of Camilla, married to a doctor, Will, and mother to two small children. But as the story unfolds through haunting flashbacks, the reader is pulled into the darkness of Camilla's past. Raised by an abusive and neglectful mother, Lucinda, Camilla’s childhood was a nightmare. These traumatic experiences have shaped her into a sociopath, a truth we uncover through her sessions with a therapist.

I loved how Kent masterfully contrasted Camilla's outwardly flawless life with the tumultuous inner world she was hiding!

Camilla is determined to protect her children from the horrors she once faced. But when her six-year-old daughter begins talking about an imaginary friend, the narrative takes a spine-tingling twist.

This supposed friend morphs into a real woman at her daughter’s school, someone who inexplicably knows intimate details about Camilla’s traumatic past—secrets she has never divulged to anyone.

Kent’s narrative is gripping, creating a psychological thriller that keeps readers on edge. The interplay between past and present, the unraveling of Camilla’s psyche, and the eerie knowledge of the imaginary friend all build a sense of foreboding that is hard to shake off.

Loved the unexpected twists. I was constantly on edge, wondering if Camilla's sociopathic tendencies would take over or if she would manage to overcome her darker instincts.

This novel deals with the life of a sociopathic mother who will do almost anything to protect her marriage and the lives of her children. She wants to be perceived as the perfect wife and mother.
Who is Camille Prescott? From outward appearances, she is attractive, has a loving husband, two adorable children, and lives in an upper-class neighborhood. While her husband is employed at the local hospital as a doctor, Camille tasks herself with running the household and managing the children and the everyday life of her family. She appears cool and collected… until she is not. Camille is hiding a huge secret from everyone, including her husband. Her mother-in-law provides her much needed support since she is estranged from her own mother.
Camille was raised by an extremely abusive mother. She has tried to put it all behind her- even claiming that her mother is deceased.
Camille’s life begins to fall apart when her young daughter begins kindergarten. While Camille is a helicopter parent, worrying about every little thing, she encounters some challenging factors at her daughter Georgie’s school. Georgie begins to talk about an “imaginary friend” who has befriended her. Camille signs up to be a class parent to find out more about this person. Georgie has made friends with ‘a gray-haired woman’ and opens up to Camille things this woman has shared with her- secrets that Camille has told no one.
This story is told in numerous time lines which were easy to follow. Part of the story includes her therapy sessions and what she is willing to admit to her therapist
This is an intense psychological thriller, one filled with suspense and tension. There is a major twist at the end, one that I did not see coming. I am hoping to enjoy more of Minka Kent’s novels.

Many thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on July 23, 2024.

I found this fascinating. And frightening. Camille’s life, what goes on in her head, her “condition”. Her life growing up was horrible. She manages to persevere & get a lovely life, 2 kids & a husband. Everything was great until one day her daughter says something that chills her to the bone. And from then on, not so lovely anymore. It’s chilling, psychologically nerve wracking, and suspenseful. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

IMAGINARY STRANGERS was a great read, with quick pacing and an interesting back story. There were a number of twists and turns that kept me moving forward and love the setup at the end for another book in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read IMAGINARY STRANGERS.

What a great book! This one hooked me from the start. Wonderfully portrayed characters; a quirky daughter and her “imaginary friend”, an overly protective mom, a hard-working but quite absent at times dad and little boy (who’s just kind of there) … it’s a typical family, from the outside. What the world doesn’t see is a flawed mother, with a sad and hidden past. She’s running from the dysfunctional family she grew up in, to make a better life for herself and her created family. What happens though, when a 2nd imaginary friend shows up, but seems to be feeding your child information as though they are quite real? Is mom being too protective? Is her past finally catching up to her? Is her family safe? What a fantastically twisty tale.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer & Minka Kent for this read!

Minka Kent NEVER ceases to grab my attention. This book was shocking and uncomfortable, it was tense and highly addictive!

Lovers of unreliable narrators will eat this one up. It'll have you questioning who you can trust and what is going on. And trust me the truth is much more shocking than you think!

Highly recommend this one to all my thriller lovers but be sure to check trigger warnings!

This is the first of the Dangerous Strangers stories. Told from a single point of view, Camille’s world is filtered through her lens of Antisocial Personality Disorder and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. A few of the chapters take place in the past, so we meet characters from across her fascinating, disturbing life. Current events trigger Camille’s trauma response, leading her to do whatever it takes to protect her family. Once I started this book, I had to keep reading until the end. As a reader, the single POV kept me wondering if the narrator was reliable. Those years of therapy helped Camille fit into society, despite her deficits, and I found myself empathising with a protective character who doesn’t feel. The ending was pretty satisfying, unexpected and ironic—this conflict was just the practice run for the main event.

✮🔪Just Imaginary. Really❓️💀✮

Holy crap on a cracker, what have I just read???? IMAGINARY STRANGERS from one of my favourite psych-thriller writers, Author Minka Kent was an awesome unputdownable read. She puts together more twists than a cheap garden hose so read carefully or you risk missing some pretty important pieces.

Written entirely from Camille’s POV, I soon loved and admired her. Her childhood was horrendously abusive and the only person who knew the most of the depth of it was her therapist. I say most, because she didn’t share the absolute truth of it with anyone. OMG, I was horrified and heart-broken for the young Camille yet she owned the inherited personality traits and worked hard to overcome them. In my mind, that takes guts and determination, and by crikey, she was doing it. Her husband had absolutely no idea of her internal battles, seeing only the loving wife and mother facade that she had perfected. Yep, I admired her.

And Will, Camille’s husband. All I will say is that he is the epitome of unconditional love.

BUT, what is a protective mother to do when she believes the safety of her family is in doubt??? Fight fire with fire and let those protective-psycho-tendencies run free!!!

I thought I knew the direction the plot might have been taking, and I was sitting and reading with my heart, my mind and my body all under a huge tension. Hell’s teeth, I almost gave myself a stress migraine, especially when Ms Kent ripped that assumption to pieces and put together one hell of a shock/horror moment. I can’t even begin to comment because it was so out of the park, and I’m giving nothing away!!

That whole element was perfectly executed. Absolutely.

I will say here though, that when I read the author notes at the end, I then realised it’s only book one. I’m all agog! What next? And, I can’t wait!

As always, I highly recommend anything written by Author Minka Kent, and IMAGINARY STRANGERS is no different. So, if psych-thrillers are up your alley, then this should be your next read🔪💀✮

Wow! What just happened? This is one of those books in which not everything is as it seems. Loved every single minute of it! Again….wow!

This is a 4.5 for me. I loved the unique main character and how likable she is even though she is deeply troubled and would usually be seen as a villain. Her backstory is a little hard to read but it’s not dwelled on too much. I loved the twist at the end. I did think, “hmm what if?” on that character but it caught me by surprise at the end. I think a second book is coming out, if it does I will RUN to go and read it. This is my favorite by this author so far.

Minka Kent knows how to write psychological thrillers. Add another to the list with this one. She’s become an auto-buy author for me. Imaginary strangers is fast-paced and suspenseful start to finish. Add it to your TBR, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Imaginary Strangers
by Minka Kent
Pub Date: Jul 23 2024

I absolutely loved the suspense, the tension, and the plot of "Imaginary Strangers" by author: Minka Kent. This book kept me on the edge of my seat, I was addicted from the first page until the final page trying to figure out what was going to happen next. I really enjoyed reading about the therapy sessions, hearing all of Camille's secrets from her past that she only told her therapist. What an interesting character Camille was, I became attached to her and could feel the struggles she went through in her past and was currently going through to hide them from her current life. I can't tell you how excited I am to hear there is a book 2 coming out in the future! I highly recommend this 5 star thriller!

Synopsis: A woman must keep her family―and her terrifying secrets―safe in a twisting thriller. Raised by a vindictive and psychotic woman, Camille has gone to great lengths to bury her past and for good reason: if her mother ever finds her, she will kill her.

Many thanks to #ImaginaryStrangers #NetGalley #Thomas&MercerPublishing and such a talented author: Minka Kent for providing me with an E-ARC of this book!