I loved this quick-paced thriller! I loved how the story unfolded and the twists and turns. It went back-and-forth between different people and I also liked that.

I would definitely recommend!

3.5 stars!

I didn't like this as much as I liked The Family Game, but as always, a solid thriller from Catherine Steadman.

Nina's father dies and she is left a vacation home on the small island of Gorda, in the BVI. As Nina stays in the house and tries to come to terms with her father's death, she realizes that things in the house are not what they seem, and that she shouldn't go in the basement...

There were definitely parts of this book I thought were confusing. Sometimes the two timelines got mixed up in my brain, and I wasn't sure how they were intersecting.

I didn't love Nina as a character, but I did root for her at the end. She had a lot of fight in her that I didn't see coming.

What. Just. Happened. 🤯

This book was totally not what I expected and it kept just getting weirder and crazier…in a good way! 🤣

When Nina’s father dies, she learns he left her a beautiful vacation home in paradise in the British Virgin Islands. She has no idea he ever had this home and it’s a shock because he was totally not the kind of guy to be able to afford or want this extravagant place. Then we meet Maria, a medical student / nanny for the rich who is off to the final gig of her nanny days at a beautiful BVI home. The only catch? Don’t go in the basement. 🏖️ 🏠

The book alternates between these two ladies - and I won’t say more for fear of spoilers - but holy cow!! This book is a page turner, with action packed scenes that have you biting your nails and staying up way past bedtime. 👀

This was a way wilder ride than I thought I signed up for, but it was a good one! This is definitely a unique plot and I think will be a big hit - releases on July 30th! 💗

Thank you to @netgalley, @randomhouse, and @catsteadman for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. ✨

This one is a tough review to write without any spoilers. I will say that if you loved Catherine Steadman's last book, The Family Game, chances are you'll like this one. This book is cryptic, and I think it will appeal to people who like cryptic books. But, if you go into this expected the usual domestic thriller you might get more than you bargained for. It's genre-bending but that's tough to explain without spoilers, too. Sigh. I'm trying to write a review, I promise. I'll just say that this was exciting and interesting and I was left with the need to sit with my thoughts at the end and puzzle things out.

Look in the Mirror follows a few different POVs, but the main two being Nina and Maria. Maria is a medical student who nannys for wealthy families to make ends meet. Nina just inherited a house from her late father, one she knew nothing about. This book had me on edge at times and I was entertained. However, I have read others by this author and it wasn't the same wow factor to me. I thought the story was good, you will have to suspend a lot of belief while reading this though. All in all I gave it 3 stars!

I enjoyed this but wasn’t blown away like I thought I was going to be when I first started it.
It started out strong and continued that way until about three quarters of the way, then it just lost steam and sputtered to the end. I thought the ending lacked the punch I was looking for. I enjoyed the locked room aspect but felt a little confused overall.
The characters were a little lackluster except for Maria. The story kept me reading but just disappointed me at the end.
3⭐️

Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman

Thank you to @randomhouse and @catsteadman for the opportunity to read this thriller in exchange for my #honestbookreview! Thoughts and review are all my own. This is available now.

Whewww, this one made my hands clammy and a little bead of perspiration spring up! While I am a glutton for any and all puzzle and mystery books, I have never read anything quite like this. It has the code cracking, the hidden message games reminiscent of The Inheritance Games, it also has the messy hidden agenda and family secrets of The Family Games (see my review for both of these on my boosta and GR!)! This also had just a splash of spy thriller and romance to round it out nicely. I highly recommend this for those looking for a fast-paced game-packed thriller!

TWs: entr*pment, loss of a loved one, g*lighting, st*lking, k*dnapping, more

🪞🪞🪞🪞🕳️ - 4.5/5

♟️♟️♟️♟️ / 5

LOOK IN THE MIRROR by Catherine Steadman

thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

quick thoughts:
🏝️ woman inherits her father’s vacation home with a basement full of secrets
👀 suspense thriller, dark and a little creepy
✍🏼 multiple POVs, short chapters
🧩 features puzzles, riddles, and games
👍🏼 would recommend to thriller lovers!

ahhh, i love this cover so much! the collage and the colors are too good! i’ve been super excited to read this one because i enjoyed THE FAMILY GAME, and i was even more excited when i realized that this one also featured a kind of game 😎

this one hooked me from the beginning! this one was kinda creepy at times, and you can’t trust anyone throughout the story. i had no idea where it was going, which kept me turning the pages. this was a super interesting concept, and i was thoroughly entertained!

3.5 stars

If it seems too good to be true it usually is.

Look in the Mirror had me hooked from the very beginning. When Nina inherits an island estate from her father, she doesn’t know what to expect. The house is on an isolated island and she’s soon questioning what kind of double life her father may have led.

I would recommend going into it as blind as possible as that will make for a more engaging experience. While I was able to guess what was going on pretty quickly, this book still had me trying to figure out what would happen next the whole way through. I loved all of the different characters and how the storylines moved - definitely added to the ambiguous nature of what was happening

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for a review copy. This is my second thriller by Catherine Steadman and I’ll definitely read more.

DNF @ 25%

I was really intrigued by this book, but I really did not vibe with the main plot twist.

This book was marketed as a thriller, but it feels more like horror, which is not my genre at all. I'm sure this book would be perfect for people who love a little bit of closed-door horror, but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this earc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up

Another great thriller from Catherine Steadman! She has rightfully earned herself as an auto buy author, especially after The Family Game.

This is a locked room fast paced thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire read wondering what is going to happen next. I will say, a couple of the twists were rather predictable, but others definitely caught me by surprise. It was super twisty and honestly I haven't read anything like it before, which I found very refreshing.

The only reason this wasn't a 5 star book, or hell, even a 4 star book for me was the ending. It was rather far fetched and just overall underwhelming. The first probably 80% of the book was easily 5 stars, but once it started wrapping up, Steadman tried to wrap it up with a pretty bow which lead to some far fetched plot points, and some plot holes. With that said though, I still thoroughly enjoyed this action packed thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A heady, twisty mind game of a book in a sultry setting. Loved the main character and her quest to figure out her deceased father

That was really good and easy to follow. It is also very chilling. I really couldn't put the book down and was annoyed at interruptions like work and sleep. To know this could be so real. Like you know there are people out there who do assist and could easily create situations like this. I was able to get the audio from the library and the narrator, the author was good with English and American accents. Do not skip the epilogue!! Thank You Netgalley, Catherine Steadman, and Random House for the ARC digital copy.

I really enjoyed this book! The escape rooms were interesting and I loved how it all came together. Highly recommend! 4 stars.

Nina, single, academic, is close to her father and is devastated when he passes. Having never known her mother, this is natural, so nobody is more surprised than Nina to find out that her father has a home in the Virgin Islands and not just any home but a beautiful state of the art mansion.

Completely shocked and befuddled, she decides to go and check it out for clues as to why her father would keep it a secret.
I’m really glad I went into this one blind; it is twisty and unique with a premise that is staggering! It reminds me a bit of a movie series I’ve seen but I’m hesitant to say which because it would be spoilerish and not entirely accurate because the book, while a bit like the movies, took a different turn that I loved.

This is a suspenseful, tense story and I loved the varying POV which gave a unique insight and increased the tension.
Catherine Steadman will remain on my top favorite author list!

My thanks to Random House for this gifted DRC.

Catherine Steadman became a must read author for me as soon as I finished her debut novel, Something in the Water. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read Look on the Mirror in advance! If you e read Steadman’s previous novels, I’d say this one is closest to The Family Game in terms of what type of story it is, while still managing to be completely unique and fresh. If you’re new to Steadman, this is a must read if you love well written mysteries or psychological thrillers!

After her beloved father dies, Nina finds out he owned an extremely valuable house she never knew existed in the British Virgin Islands. The house was left to Nina along with the rest of her father’s estate, so she travels to see this mysterious secret vacation home and to decide whether to sell it. As soon as she arrives, strange things start happening and she receives mysterious messages warning her away. Nina is focused on trying to understand what this house meant to her father and why he left it to her but kept it from her when he was alive, and had no idea how much danger she’s in. The chapters shifts between Nina’s story and the story of another young woman, Maria, who has arrived in the islands for a new job nannying for a wealthy family. Soon after she arrives, Maria senses that something isn’t right, but the reader soon learns that, like Nina, Maria makes a huge mistake by not following her intuition and leaving immediately. These women are both highly intelligent, but neither could never have imagined the reality of what’s really going on in these beautiful, expensive houses- despite the scenery, paradise couldn’t be further away. The mystery here was fantastic- creative and well plotted, I was shocked again and again as the book took more and more shocking turns, but it never became outlandish or unbelievable. I was also invested in these woman- Steadman develops their characters so the reader relates to and cares about them. This is a must read!!!!

Catherine Steadman has written some of my favorite mystery/thrillers and appreciate that she always has unique premises. The mystery/thriller genre can feel so oversaturated with the same storylines, but I can always count on Catherine Steadman to have something unique and intriguing. Look in the Mirror started out so strong, but unfortunately it lost some momentum for me after the halfway point. I didn't love some of the reveals of what was *really* going on and a certain death really shocked me in a negative way for the trajectory of the story. The ending felt a little lackluster as well. It was still engaging and easy to read, but ultimately not my favorite. However, I will continue to pick up everything this author writes!

This might be the end of the road for me and Catherine Steadman unfortunately. It really saddens me to say that, because I loved the idea and initial setup of this book. In the aftermath of her father’s death, Nina learns that she has inherited a luxury property in the British Virgin Island. It comes as a shock to Nina, as she never knew that this property existed. She begins to wonder what other secrets her father has kept from her over the years...

My main issue with this book was that I felt like the synopsis hinted at one type of story but we ended up getting something completely different (if that makes sense). Things took a very odd and unexpected (to me at least) twist fairly early on. I just ended up not really enjoying the type of story we got in the end. And that's not the authors fault, since no author will ever write a book where 100% of readers agree with the creative direction. but maybe I'm just not the correct audience for a book like this.

This isn’t any fault of the author per say (no author will ever write a book where every reader is 100% in agreement with the creative direction), but I just ended up not really enjoying the type of story we got in the end.

Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Thank you for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.
Wow what a Rollercoaster and thrill ride. I have loved this author's other books but this one was so original and over the top, I absolutely loved it.. I could not put it down and kept on reading.
The storyline is original and I never would have guessed the outcome/ending. At first I was a little confused how the 2 main characters fit together but it soon came clear. It was so well laid out and unpredictable imo..
The main characters were likeable and made you feel for them on what they were going through. They descriptions were vivid and made you feel like you were there seeing with your own eyes.
Amazing book and a 5 🌟 for sure!