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.

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 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Look in the Mirror is a claustrophobia inducing thriller about an escape room of all escape rooms.
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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.
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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!!
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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!!
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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.