I went into this book completely blind. Catherine Steadman’s new novel Look in the Mirror was my selection for the 52 Book Club’s 2024 Reading Challenge prompt “Picked Without Reading the Blurb.” Catherine Steadman is always a five star read for me, so I figured her latest novel would be a safe choice for me to go into without any preconceived notions.

Wow, I could not have picked a better book for this prompt! I had no idea where it was going, and found it to be so completely strange and out of left field. At first I thought that it was because I had no background knowledge on the plot, but I soon realized that no, the storyline is just completely unexpected and surprising. It worked perfectly as a blind pick, and I 100% enjoyed the wild ride through this harrowing story!

Because I want others to have a similar experience to mine, I will not be detailing the plot of this story. Rather, I’ll share that despite a slow burn start, this novel quickly picks up the pace, quite literally putting me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I read this story, not wanting to trust my instincts that what I suspected was happening was actually happening. This novel is tense and gripping, and not for the faint of heart. Catherine Steadman has delivered again, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this cinematic novel adapted for the big screen!

Another wild ride by Catherine Steadman! Nina’s father has passed away and she finds out that he has left her a house in the British Virgin Islands. This is a huge surprise to Nina. She arrives at the house and is told not to go in the basement. Curiosity gets the better of Nina and she begins to question everything she thought she knew about her father.
The action and suspense in this book reminded me of Steadman’s previous novel, The Family Game, which I really enjoyed! This book is fast-paced and I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed Nina’s character and, in certain ways, found her relatable. I was rooting for her and hoping she could solve the mystery of the house and determine who her father really was. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an action-packed thriller! Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this ARC!

I absolutely devoured this book at the speed of light. It turned out to be an edge of the seat, page turner for me. The tropes were brand new to me so I was positively surprised and invested in the story. I have read books from the author before and I liked this one the best. I did not see the twist and turns coming!

It would have been a full 4 stars for me if not for the writing being in third person POV which is fine but the author shifts between thoughts from two different people and it is not clear who is thinking what.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC ebook. When you look in the mirror, one's reflection is what we see. What if there are others watching your every move from behind that mirror and time was of the essence. Playing with others' lives is a thrill only money can buy, but what if it's to their death? Can anyone beat the clock? Check this book out and see.

This book was literally nothing like I thought it would be, in the very best way. Thank you so much to Catherine Steadman and Random House for my copy of this book. It was about Nina, a woman who has just lost her father. Still grieving, she finds out that she has inherited a house in the British Virgin Islands that she had no idea existed. Nina has so many questions about how her father had money for this property and what the purpose of it really was.

Then there's Maria, a nanny to the super rich. She takes a job that will have a huge payout, but the family never shows. Maria starts to enjoy herself, waiting for the family and enjoying their beautiful house. There is just one rule- don’t go into the basement. But why? And how long can she really stay away?

It takes a lot to surprise me these days because I’ve read A LOT of thrillers, but this one had me hanging by the edge of my seat and I couldn’t look away. I won’t say much about the plot because I feel like this is the kind of book that you need to go into blind.

This is one of those perfect summer thrillers. You have a tropical paradise, two curious women, secrets galore, twists all over and of course, dead bodies. This story is told from multiple points of view and the overall story slowly unrolls itself. After Nina’s father has passed, she finds out that she has inherited a tropical mansion in the British Virgin Islands that she never knew existed. She decides to visit the house before selling hoping to get to know her father better and to find out what other kinds of secrets he was keeping from her. Maria is a former medical student who works as an au pair to make money to be able to afford a return to her studies. Her new gig has her staying in a state-of-the-art island house with only one rule, don’t go in the basement. Will curiosity be the downfall of them both? The tension is high, so you want to keep turning the pages, but I was still able to set the book down to get a decent night’s rest (well, for the most part). The characters are amazing, smart and both are reliable narrators worth rooting for. The setting is what sells this book. The tropical island’s isolation and amazing views hide the darkness that drives the overall story perfectly. Thriller fans should definitely pick up a copy of this book, but I also think this will be a hit with horror fans.

Look In the Mirror is a story that revolves around two seemingly unrelated women. Nina, a 34-year-old Cambridge professor who unexpectedly inherits a mysterious house in the British Virgin Islands following her father's passing. The house is a modern marvel, shrouded in mystery and secrets that kept me guessing with each turn of the page. We also meet Maria, a medical student working as a nanny with ambitions and a fondness for adventure, who finds herself embroiled in this situation, when her latest gig takes an unexpected turn.

This book has a complexity of multiple narrators and timelines, leaving me utterly enthralled. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was another twist that left me gasping for breath. The house itself that is a state of the art “Smart Home” was a creepy character in its self. However, I couldn't help but feel that some of the plot points relied a bit too heavily on implausible backstories, but I dove into it and let the fiction take me away.

Look in the mirror is a fast-paced thriller filled with an intriguing game of cat and mouse. The secrets, lies and the distorted lines between illusion and their reality is intense. I completely recommend this book.

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

Y'all. Catherine Steadman is THE SHIT. I love her books and she is quite possibly one of my most anticipated authors of the year. And boy did this one not disappoint.

Nina and Maria. One has just lost her beloved father and is feeling adrift. The other has just accepted a very lucrative gig as a live-in nanny for the super-rich for 2 weeks. Two very different woman, with one thing in common. Keep reading to find out what that thing is.

This was like nothing I've read before and I stayed up late into the night, turning pages until I finally hit the ending. And it was good. Ohhhhhh it was good. Bravo, Ms. Steadman. Keep up the fantastic work.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

In the aftermath of her father’s death Nina is surprised with an inheritance. A house in BVI. After spending her entire life closely knit with his, she is determined to understand how he kept this secret from her. Believing the house will reveal his secret to her, she finds more than she bargained for.
Fraught with tension and fear and mysterious reasoning this was a great read.

If you love super fast paced thrillers that make you sweat, feel claustrophobic, and constantly wonder what will happen next, pick this one up!

Nina inherits a fancy house in the British Virgin Islands from her late father. There is one rule, however, and that is DON’T go in the basement. Of course she’ll go into the basement! And when she does, danger ensues. This book is almost more horror than thriller. Reading this book felt like riding a rollercoaster as the author kept me guessing, revealing layer after layer of twists.

If ever there were a book that illustrated the proverb, “Curiosity killed the cat,” this is it!!
Go in blind and enjoy this dark and wild ride!

Wow, this one actually gave me nightmares. I couldn't stop thinking about it. The first part of the book was more psych thriller, but the second part was just straight thriller. If you're looking for a good scare that keeps you wondering what is happening next and when the stories will collide, this one is for you. Next time I read a Steadman novel it will be during the day and with lights on. Great read.

This thriller is twisted and shocking in all the right ways. I could definitely see the story play out on Netflix. I enjoyed the different POVs and how they cleverly came together in an unexpected way. Over-the-top, original, with many nail-biting moments describe this engaging page-turner. It's fast-paced, entertaining and intense. Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my copy.

Wow. Just wow. Look in the Mirror was a heart-pounding page turner that kept me guessing the whole time.

Maria is a nanny to the ultra-wealthy, but her latest job might isn’t adding up - it’s very suspicious. When her client never shows up with his children, it gets more and more eerie. There’s a locked room she was forbid to enter, and suddenly it’s unlocked… with a blinking button. Should Maria push it?

Meanwhile, Nina’s father just passed away, and she receives an interesting letter about a property he owned in the BVI (one that she never knew about). When Nina gets there, it gets weirder and weirder. Especially when she finds out there’s a locked room downstairs that no one can open. DUN DUN DUN!

I loved the dueling timelines between Maria and Nina, and the epilogue was just brilliant. I am a big fan of Steadman, but she outdid herself with this one! One of my favorite reads of 2024!

This is the third Catherine Steadman book I’ve read and it doesn’t disappoint.

Her plots are always kind of outlandish and this one might be the most so. But yet.. it works. The characters help ground the story and keep you invested. It balances out the unusual premise perfectly. I really got sucked into it. First to see where it was going and then of course to see how it would end up.

The end happened quickly but it was fitting.

Nina is adrift after her father passes away. She's not quite sure what to do with herself when she gets notice that her father left her a house in the British Virgin Islands. This intrigues and confuses her as she has no idea when or where her father has even been to the British Virgin Islands or how he could have afforded a house there, especially after she sees how grand it is.

We also get the Pov of Maria, a nanny who arrives before the family and is told to enjoy herself before the family gets there, but she is not allowed to go into the basement. So of course after that pronouncement, that's all she can think about, although she does do an admirable job of ignoring it... until she doesn't. I enjoyed Marias Pov's more than Nina's. Maria is strong, independent, and a survivor, which she repeatedly proves after she goes into the forbidden basement. Nina spent a lot of time trying to figure out the mystery of her father and this house, and why he never told her about it.

I felt like the lead-up to getting in the basement was somewhat slow, especially in Nina's Pov, but once we get there the action and suspense pick up. The ending did feel a bit rushed, we are in the thick of a dangerous situation, and all of a sudden a few months later we are seeing what happened to the people we met along the way.

This is the first book I've read by this author and would be interested in seeing what she comes out with next.

Thank you, Ballantine Books and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of Look in the Mirror.

Anytime I pick up a Catherine Steadman novel, I know I'm in for a wild ride. This locked-room thriller did not disappoint. The twists and turns kept my heart pounding and the pages turning! I would dare to say that this novel walked the line of the horror genre.

Look in the Mirror is a multi-POV novel mainly alternating between Maria, a nanny hired by a wealthy family for a vacation house on a tropical island, and Nina, a grieving daughter who just found out her father left her a house on an island about which she knew nothing. Maria thinks that she has just hit payday without lifting a finger since the family never arrives. She spends her days hanging by the pool and having the whole huge house to herself with only one rule: don't go in the basement. Nina arrives at an extraordinary mansion which makes absolutely no sense. There is no way her father could have afforded a house this magnificent, and even so, why would he have kept it from her? As Nina delves into what is happening, she is pushed into an idea of maybe her father wasn't exactly who she thought he was.

Locked room thriller on steroids! This is heart pounding and suspenseful read, I definitely read through this in one sitting. The different POVs were easy to tell apart and actually made sense for the story! I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ok, this one lived up to the hype!! I have been a fan of Steadman’s for years and feel like her last two releases have really been hits for me! This one was a wild ride that I didn’t want to end! I would say this one is more in the realm of The Family Game, than her others.. if that makes sense! I’m trying to be vague, because I really think going in blind is the best method for this book! It is crazy and out of control in the best way! It was literally not at all what I thought from the beginning! I listened to this in one day, it’s so fast paced! I would love to watch this on the big screen, I think it would make a fantastic movie! I had to snag a trophy copy for my shelf! So excited to see what Steadman has coming next!

"Look in the Mirror" is like a locked-room mystery on steroids! You definitely need to brace yourself for this thrilling journey.

QOTD: Have you ever been in a high-tech house?

As a dedicated fan of Catherine Steadman's work, I eagerly await her latest ARC. Her debut thriller, "Something in the Water," was one of the first books I reviewed on NetGalley and remains one of my all-time favorites. The five-star thriller completely blew me away, and I feel a bit of a personal connection to Ms. Steadman as we both embarked on a type of literary journey together.

When I first encountered the premise of 'Look in the Mirror,' I was immediately drawn in. The story captivated me and left me pleasantly perplexed – in the best way possible. It's one of the most enthralling and original mysteries I've come across!

Nina and Marie take turns narrating most of the book. You know these women are connected somehow, yet it's not immediately obvious. This intense and twisted tale features a high-tech house in the Caribbean, locked rooms with ominous warnings, hidden family secrets, and more!

Thanks to Ballantine/Random House Publishing for providing this ARC VIA NetGalley. As always, all opinions are my own and left voluntarily.

#LookintheMirror #CatherineSteadman #BallantineBooks #RandomHouseBooks #NetGalley

Maria is a nanny to the super-rich. Her current assignment is in the British Virgin Islands. But when she arrives, there is no family there.

Nina is grieving her father's death when she learns that he left her an estate in the British Virgin Islands. How did he have the money for that? And she's never heard of it? Nina has to go see for herself.

These two disparate stories, of course, interconnect, and with Steadman's usual twists, make for a compelling story.