I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.

Still grieving the death of her father, Nina is stunned to find out she has inherited a home in the British Virgin Islands. The glass and marble spectacle is nothing like the sensible father and certainly not something she was aware he could afford. She arrives at the home determined to find out what else her father may have been hiding.

Maria is an intelligent, ex-med school student working as a nanny to the super rich. She loves the money and the exotic locales where she gets to stay. After a few days, the family still hasn't shown up, but the woman who hired Maria tells her to relax and enjoy herself, just don't go through the one door that is off limits.

I loved the way this story was told back and forth between different narrators. It wasn't immediately clear how the stories intersected and that kept the suspense up from the very beginning. Well-written and so, so creepy. And the ending!

I am a fan of Steadman and try to read everything that she releases, so I requested this one without even knowing the plot. I knew I would like it.

Nina’s father recently passed away and left her his house in the Great British Islands. Nina had no idea he even owned this house and is intrigued to check it out. It’s a sophisticated house, with CCTV, high end security, and control panels on the doors. The door in the basement is the only one that won’t open. Meanwhile, readers are also following Maria, a contract short-term nanny who was asked to come to the same house for two weeks. When the client and kids never show, Maria gets to have a little vacation. Until the door to the basement unlocks because of a technical glitch and changes everything.

This one took me a little bit to get into. I was enjoying Maria’s story more than Nina’s until about the halfway point, and then I binged the rest of the book in one sitting.

I liked the dual POV, and later in the book, readers get more POVs to fill in some holes. I really liked Maria as a character and was rooting for her throughout the story.

The idea of the house and what goes on in there is insane, but in the best way. I really liked the concept and reading about the women’s experiences in the house.

Overall a solid thriller, as expected from Steadman! If you liked thrillers where the house is a character, this would be a good one for you.

I DNFed halfway through. It was dragging on so much. There were too much repetitions about Nina's father. It was boring.

These rooms are brutal. Two women caught in a house at two different times. Brought by different circumstances. What do they have in common? More than you’d think. I loved the unflinching terror of the situations the people found them in and the lengths people were willing to go to to help others who are almost total strangers.

Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
•
Look in the Mirror is a claustrophobia inducing thriller about an escape room of all escape rooms.
•
Told in sort of a dual timeline and in multiple POV, though mostly between Maria and Nina, stories eventually merging. I loved reading both of the perspectives, each one bringing little bits of information leading to the big reveal.
•
I found this to be pretty fast paced as I was panting through my claustophpbia, while super intrigued by the different riddles that needed to be figured out and ultimately the entire backstory. I was so interested in figuring out what exactly was going on with these two women and the mysterious house. The characters are great, and there were some pretty shocking twists thrown in there!!
•
I really enjoyed the ending of this one! I flew through this one in just a day! Highly recommending this to my thriller friends this one is going to be a huge hit. Another absolute banger from Steadman!!
•
Look in the Mirror was released on 7/30. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Catherine Steadman and Ballentine Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Truly enjoyed this story--it reminded me a lot of Cat Steadman's first novel. A little creepy, a lot of suspense--loved it. More of this please!

This was another wild time and I was sucked into this instantly.

The author immediately grabbed me with this novel and didn't let me go until the end. I truly didn't know where the story was going. It was steadily becoming more and more intense as I was trying to figure out what was happened with this house and these characters.

I cannot believe how this kept my attention for so long. It was intriguing, thrilling and I was so, so invested following Maria and Nina. While some parts were a little to unbelievable even for me I had such a good time reading this.

Thank you you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

4.5 stars, rounded up
Catherine Steadman’s latest novel is a smart, fast-paced psychological thriller that will have you riveted by the action and intrigue!
The early chapters present 37 year-old Nina, who is mourning the death of her super-smart, academic father. A call from lawyers in the British Virgin Islands informs her that she has inherited a home on a remote island, Virgin Gordo. She is puzzled yet intrigued, so she plans to visit her new property. In a subplot and alternate timeline, Maria is a smart, independent young woman who is hired to nanny children at that same house.
The stage is well set, as the action and dramatic scenes play out with intensity and sophisticated plotting. The prose is expressive, written with beautiful imagery and emotional sensitivity.
The propensity for Nina’s father to reference literature, like T S Eliot’s The Wasteland, and classic chess moves, adds to the fun for avid readers and chess players!
I enthusiastically recommend this riveting thriller with edge-of-your-seat action and strong smart female protagonists.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

If Hostel was set inside a remote escape-the-room.

I went into this book blind, having never read the author’s work before and was pleasantly surprised.

When Nina learns her late father left her a large inheritance she never knew existed—a property in the British Virgin Islands—she’s surprised. He wasn’t a rich man, so how could he afford it? To find out the truth, Nina travels there in person to sign some paperwork, and decide if she wants to keep it or sell the property. But what she uncovers is darker than she could ever have predicted.

This was a fun read! The premise is one I’ve never read in the genre so I was immediately pulled in. I loved the alternating POVs and cliff-hanger chapters. The pace was fast, and the suspense breadcrumbed perfectly throughout. This is definitely more of a plot driven book, but the author does a great job giving the reader just enough to root for the characters. So many of the scenes stuck with me, detailed and terrifying. I won’t include any major spoilers but one in particular, involving water and some pretty difficult questions, had me on the edge of my seat.

4/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For readers who enjoy nail biting suspense, multiple POVs, and strong female protagonists.

Steadman's Look in the Mirror is a compelling dive into mystery and suspense, perfect for those who love a good psychological thriller. The novel expertly weaves together the lives of Nina, who inherits a mysterious vacation home, and Maria, a nanny enticed by forbidden secrets. Steadman builds tension masterfully, keeping readers guessing with each twist and turn. If you enjoy stories that combine lush settings with dark, hidden truths, this book is a must-read.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: thriller/mystery 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
Such a suspenseful and wild ride! I didn’t want to put this one down

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Suspenseful reads
Locked room mysteries
Multiple POVs
Twisty puzzles
Fast paced and entertaining thrillers
British Virgin Island setting
Psychological thrillers

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Kind of gave me Saw vibes

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I still had a few questions at the end

Just finished *Look in the Mirror* by Catherine Steadman, and wow, what a ride! Imagine escape rooms meeting *Squid Game*—full of mystery and suspense! I couldn't put it down. The twists kept me hooked, especially the mystery of why Nina's father left her a house she never knew about. If you're into mysterious houses and tropical getaways, this one's for you!

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed most aspects of this book! It’s about a girl whose father passes away and she inherits a house she didn’t know he had on a remote island. Everything is definitely not as it seems and she soon finds out there’s much more to the story. I loved the setup and multiple female characters points of view, I only wish I had gotten a little more backstory of Nina’s relationship with her father, even if it was through flashbacks. If you like psychological thrillers and mysteries, you should try this book out!

If you enjoyed The Family Game, you will like this one too!

It is a bit of a slow burn in the beginning. Nina’s father dies and she learns she has inherited a second home he has on an island that she had no clue about. Exciting right? When she gets there, things seem off. Especially the one room in the house that remains locked. What is in there you ask? You will have to read to find out, but let me tell you…. It is a crazy ride with something a WHOLE lot bigger going on than you could ever imagine!

This was such a fun ride! I love a closed door mystery, and I really love when an author finds a way to make that trope fresh and new. In this story, we follow two different story lines and I tried so hard to figure out the connection before the reveal, but I was way off. This book gave me whiplash it was so twisty!

Nina, 34, is a professor who has been busy dealing with the loss of her father. He had been a well-respected engineer and lecturer. The two of them met every week to enjoy dinner together and work on their favorite puzzles and games.

Today, Nina finally opens a letter that she has been remiss in getting to. It turns out that her father left her a house in Virgin Gorda that he had had built. This is news to Nina as her father had never mentioned the house. So, she flies out there to take possession of the house. It’s a glass house high up on the island with outstanding views. It is completely furnished along with expensive paintings and the latest in security.

Maria is currently working as a nanny taking special jobs that pay well. She had been a medical student but she did not have the funds to continue her studies. Therefore, she decides to take on these nanny jobs for a while and save up enough money to then return to her studies.

Her latest job is in a nice home. The rules are that she will be caring for two children who will arrive soon. She is welcome to enjoy the amenities the home has to offer. However, she must not leave the premises on her own and she must not enter a special area of the house. But as a couple days pass and the children do not appear, she decides to snoop around and hopefully not get into trouble.

As I got deeper into this book, I became more and more irked at the entire story. The thought of watching someone being cruelly treated as a viewer might munch popcorn is a huge turn-off to me. I hate violence and cruelty. Had I known I would be reading something like this, I would have given it a huge pass. I cannot apologize for not liking this book. It’s too gross for words.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the eARC.

Dual POV
Multiple timelines
A gripping mystery
A focus on houses
Two storylines that intersect in a wild way.

4/5 stars. What a great read!

What starts out as a slow burn thriller about a daughter mourning her father and a nanny waiting for her mysterious client goes from 0 to 100 in the middle. I loved Maria and her story and the middle of the book was a wild ride.

But while the first half is decent and the middle great, the second half sputters and seems over the top. I wasn't really satisfied with the reveal or the end with its unnecessary misdirections.

I think this would've worked better as a novella. Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine for the e-copy.

2.5/5

I love Catherine Steadman. I have read all of her books, and they never disappoint. This was just as good as the others.

I loved the dual POV/timeline. It kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat the entire time. I kept telling myself just one more chapter but then I couldn't put it down. I read this book in less than 24 hours.

I have really enjoyed Steadman’s previous books, but this one was difficult for me. It’s definitely bordering on horror more than suspense, which is not my favorite. It was well paced until the ending, which seemed rushed. I’ll still read Stradman’s books and recommend them for thriller/suspense fans, but this is not at the top of my list.