I didn't love this book, I had a hard time getting into it. I DNF'd it I think around 30% it just wasn't grabbing my attention

I just finished ARC reading The Body Next Door by Maia Chance! Honestly, this one was a little tough to follow at first. There are several different POVs and dual timelines, but once it picked up (around halfway in for me), I had to see what happened! And it didn't disappoint... the plot twist at the end was pretty crazy!

For the most part, the story follows Hannah and her husband, Allan, in a beautiful PNW setting. There were some aspects in the story, especially with Allan's POV, that were very American Pyscho-esque, and I loved it!

Overall, this was a good story! I loved recognizing places in Washington throughout the book, and it set up the story very nicely. The multiple unreliable narrators and dual timelines were a little difficult, but once you figure out who everyone is, it gets easier!

This book gets released on August 6th and is available for pre-order right now!

A huge thank you to @maiaschance, @netgalley, and @htp_hive for the opportunity to read this ARC! There are my honest thoughts and opinions.

Hannah plays the role of perfect wife, mother, neighbor, and friend well—very well, thank you; she’s done her research—but she’s hiding a dark past that has just been unearthed.

In this story, we have multiple different points of view and two separate timelines: past and present. All in all, readers end up following along with five different storylines that all come crashing together in the end. I’ll admit… Having five storylines, with secondary characters being introduced in each one, and not always knowing how they all intertwine could be confusing at times but it definitely kept me guessing. Each time one of the primary characters entered in to another’s timeline I was excited that another piece of the puzzle was clicking in to place. And while we’re on the topic of these characters, some of their relationships with one another were just so… strange. Strange in a good way though, a way that made me want to get to the root of it all.

I would be very, very surprised to learn that this book didn’t gain inspiration from Ruby Ridge and the life of Randy Weaver as there were so many pieces of this story that were reminiscent of Ruby Ridge. The author even mentions it once in the narrative, so there's that. And no, that’s not a spoiler.

Between strange adult relationships; an island home surrounded by dense woods; whispers of a witch; a creepy, violent kid; a “community” with questionable practices; and more… this book packs a lot in to a little. It is a wildly unique story that became slightly too convoluted and drawn-out for me. Because of the convolution, I don’t think this will be a book that I remember a lot about a few months down the road but it was an enjoyable reading experience overall. I also would have liked to see more in-depth backstory in the past timeline which dealt exclusively with life in the cult.

I would recommend this to thriller readers who love multiple POV, intricately woven plots, cults, storylines where the past crashes with the present, twists that are hard to guess, and stories with touches of magical realism.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review! Available 08/06/2024! 3.5 stars rounded up for publishing purposes. Review posted on Goodreads

WOWZERS!! Easily ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I LOVED this twisty thriller. I’m constantly on the lookout for the next Gone Girl, or Behind Her Eyes. Nothing ever quite hits the mark. But, BOY. DID. THIS. EVER!! It kept me guessing the whole time, and that twist at the end?? Pure. Gold. I don’t know what I was expecting, it definitely wasn’t this, but in the BEST possible ways! I know some found the multiple POVs confusing, but I didn’t have a hard time with it, and actually found it added to the suspense for me. This one was superbly delicious, and I devoured it in a single day!! It was just SO well done, I couldn’t put it down! Definitely will make my top 10 of 2024! Thriller. ✔️ Cult. ✔️ Shocking Twist. ✔️ YES. PLEASE. You won’t be disappointed picking this one up!

Super big thank you to Maia Chance, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

An unearthed body of a young woman at a construction site on Orcas Island, starts a downward spiral for many characters in this book. Told from the perspective of multiple characters from then to now, it was confusing until you realized how these characters were connected.
Starting out slowly, the book eventually picked up and the secrets, deception and evil became more apparent. I was a little disappointed with the woo woo ending, but over all the author provided a satisfying book. Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing MIRA for an early copy. This review is my honest opinion.

Allan and Hannah…man. I think the best thrillers are when the husband and wife keep their secrets close to their chests, and then something happens that forces them to release them.

Rating : 4 stars

Hannah and Allan look like they have the perfect life. Loads of money, successful, multiple homes, designer clothing.. they have it all. But what you don’t see is the secrets that they both have been hiding.

Hannah has perfected the art of behaving as if she has the perfect life— until a body of a young girl is dug up near their island home.

Hannah’s childhood and past come back to haunt her in this slow-burn, spooky thriller. The story is told from multiple points of view leaving just enough suspense and questions making you ask yourself who really killed the girl? What secrets do Hannah and Allan have?

This was a great read and I am so thankful to NetGalley and the published for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Available to read on its publish date: 8/6/24



To the publisher:
*** in this file/template file some of the chapters and pages seem to have been switched or moved around. It is during the time of the book when Allan is in Caroline’s car heading to the ferry.

Decent but kinda boring. I felt like it was missing some humanity. It needs more personal touch but overall good book.

This book definitely reeled me in from pretty much the beginning. As others have stated it might be a bit confusing with all the different pov’s at first but it does all come together nicely. There were plenty of twists and turns throughout the story and it had me guessing the whole time. It has a bit of a magical/enchanting storyline which I thought was pretty unique and I really enjoyed. There were a few characters that I just didn’t fully understand or get a good feel for and would’ve liked a little more background on. The story was well written but I thought the ending, in particular, was too rushed, frenzied and abrupt. I would’ve liked to have gotten a better sense of how things turned out in an epilogue. Overall, though, still an enjoyable read and I would recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is written in multiple POVs (my favorite), switching between THEN and NOW and takes a while to really figure out everyone's connection.

It's a bit of a slow start through the first half of the book, but the second half had so much suspense that I didn't want to put it down. I definitely would've read it all in one or two sittings if I had the time.

It's marketed as a thriller, but also has cult aspects and a little bit of paranormal/supernatural instances as well.

Overall, The Body Next Door was a solid and spooky read that I would definitely recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to review this ARC.

Wow...!!!! This one was a slow burn but worth it! It starts off slow with multiple points of view and it takes a while to start figuring things out.... but, then BOOM..... I could not put it down! Mouth open, jaw dropping! A thriller with a little mix of magic mixed in. I will be looking for more by Maia Chance.

Thank you to Maia Chance, Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the EARC!

#netgalley #bookish

I read this book because it takes place near where I grew up in WA and it sounded like an interesting mystery.
Well it was a weird book that jumped back and forth between the past and current and was from many different perspectives. While one point of view was in each chapter which made it easy to which persons pov it was. The jumping times made for some confusion. The magic being thrown in kept it interesting . There were a bunch of secrets and deaths that kept it interesting ending with a big one. While this book wasn’t for me, I can see a lot of people enjoying it, especially if you like magical things.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I enjoyed this psychological thriller/mystery. There was so much going on, and it definitely held my interest until the end. I didn’t see most of the twists coming. The beginning is a bit difficult with so many different characters and scenarios being introduced, but stick with it because the author does a great job of pulling it all together.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to read in advance!

I am so grateful to be given a chance to read this early. Unfortunately, it just isn't working for me. I'm having a hard time with the multiple views and remembering who people are.

This was my first from Maia and I wasn't disappointed. This book had everything you could want; a good plot, characters full of secrets, twists you don't see coming and a cult aspect (which I find truly fascinating). I truly had no idea where things were going to go and I found myself struggling to put it down because I just had to know what happened. I felt everything was wrapped up nicely by the end, which is always a plus. I can't wait to read more from Maia.

This book had me addicted by it's spooky vibes and energetic characters. I do enjoy reading books that involve cults and this one definitely touched on this subject with some of its characters. What I found challenging was the amount of different characters and their identities. At one point, I thought about writing them all down as I read. Despite that challenge, there was enough excitement and juice to this book to keep me sucked in.

If you can keep the characters straight, you're going to love this!

When I first started this book, I was overwhelmed and confused, but I promise you, keep reading!

This book has so much going on, but the author made everything make sense the further in you read.

This book follows 5 characters in two different time lines. You have Hannah, the picture perfect wife with two kids and everything she could ever want. But she has a dark past, and when a body is found on Orcas Island, things unfold.

The amount of plot twists in this book was absolutely crazy. Just when I thought I had things figured out, another one came at me and completely upended my thought process. I loved every crazy second of it!

There was also a bit of a magical element throughout the book. Didn’t really like it at first, but it really grew on me.

This book really opened my eyes on the craziness of cult life. The things that were just justified because of the way they live and the “leader” said so was nuts. I felt so bad for those kids.

This book is definitely worth the read! Once I got past the confusion, I had so much fun with this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for the early access to this arc. I’m always thankful!

This novel had one of the most satisfying endings that I could have ever hoped for. At first, I found myself too put off by a certain character in the book (who you're supposed to dislike/hate anyway) and I'd considered giving up on it a time or two for this reason, however, I found skimming that particular character's storyline and focusing more on the other characters helped me as a reader. The book is truly masterfully written, and while it's darker than many books I've read before, I definitely recommend it to those who enjoy books revolving around secrets that are sometimes better left buried, and getting to know the characters' backstories to see why they turn out the way they do.

Woww!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have been intrigued by one of the main topic areas of this book recently and so that really had me engrossed in the story. Maia Chance did an awesome job of weaving together each POV and it came together masterfully in the end. As you first begin reading, it may be a little confusing as to who is who and why we are getting their POV - however, by the end, it all makes so much sense, and the ending really packs a punch! My only critique is that I was left wanting a bit more from one of the characters POV - by the end, it felt like their connection to the story didn’t make as much sense compared to the rest of the cast but that definitely did not take away from the enjoyable reading experience! I would for sure recommend this one and I would look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This cover is absolutely beautiful! I was so intrigued by this book that I read it in one day. I was a little confused in the beginning with the multiple POVs, but the characters quickly become identifiable and things started to come together. The story was woven together masterfully with just the right amount of suspense and twists. The ending did not disappoint. This is one I can highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.