Wow was this book a page turner. It’s definitely not what I thought and you want to go in blindly so you don’t have any spoilers. I highly recommend this book!

Catherine Steadman books are always a good mixture of a little fucked up and creepy but this was really not for me. If you like more high stakes action thrillers or have a thing for escape rooms, this book is for you. If not, then I think you’ll feel about this book the way that I do, that it’s just GOOFY. I felt like the bones of a good story were there but as we got closer and closer to the ending the more my eyeballs rolled in the back of my head. Nothing really made sense or connected and there was not a single *gasp* *aha!* shocking twist moment. I felt like I just kept going “….. okay?….”

Overall, this is a skip for me! Overall it just felt like a story that wasn’t fully flushed out and it left me wanting more!

Look in the Mirror tells the alternating story of two women. Nina’s father dies and leaves her a beautiful home in a tropical paradise. He wasn’t well off so Nina wonders where he got the money. Maria, a nanny, has acquired a job in a luxurious home with one rule – don’t go in the basement.
The book goes back and forth between the two women, and I sincerely wondered how in the world these two women were remotely connected. It was interesting but confusing. About halfway through it all comes together and takes off from there.
It keeps building, with a few more characters built in, to an exciting finish that I did not see coming.
This is a good one for psychological suspense!

I did not love this one.

This is a concept we’ve seen before. And while this is an overall entertaining concept, it was just wasn’t all that different from things we’ve seen before.

I found this story to be a bit difficult to follow. There were kind of a lot of characters and the focus bounced around quite a bit.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad book but it wasn’t my favorite.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Ballentine for the opportunity to read the advance copy of this book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Look in the Mirror is an outstanding psychological thriller, that will have you on the edge of your seat as you read about the main character who is stuck in a reality show with nightmarishly high stakes.

After reading this sensationally imaginative book, from the talented author Catherine Steadman, you will never view locked room mysteries in quite the same way again.

Steadman, is an impressive author both in writing skills and her ability to tie the subject matter of her books to today's current obsessions, while racheting up the tension a slight notch past the boiling point.

After loving The Family Game last year, I was ready for another dip into the Steadman world. It was a fast-paced thriller that kept me dipping in and out to see where we were headed, but it maybe went a little too far off the rails for me to fully get onboard. I think many will still enjoy this for what it is - a gripping read that will have you turning the pages as quickly as you can!

Look in the Mirror, the new thriller from Catherine Steadman, is absolutely bonkers.

"Nina is reeling from the loss of her father, especially after she finds out he left her a house in the Virgin Islands. She didn't know anything about a house. Where did the money come from to pay for this multi-million dollar estate? Why did he keep it from her? What else was he hiding?

Maria shows up to her new temp nanny job. The family is delayed so Maria is told to make herself comfortable - but under no circumstance is she to go into the basement room. Can she really stay out?"

This is more of an action thriller and Steadman keeps you guessing. Everything centers around the house and the basement room. There's plenty of tension with Nina and Maria because nothing works the way they expect things to.
I could not put this down. Steadman writes with incredible pace in this book. If you're looking for an escape this is a great option.

There's still time to take it to the beach! Great read from Steadman!

I really expected to love this one, but I found it felt like it was lagging in the middle. I am more and more becoming a fan of super fast paced thrillers, though, so if you like a slow burn with a touch of horror, this one might still be for you!

Look in the Mirror is a fast-paced, gripping mystery thriller that keeps you frantically turning the pages until you reach the end.

Still reeling from the loss of her father, Nina finds herself with the keys to a vacation home tucked away in the British Virgin Islands. Eager to uncover the secrets of the property, Nina sets off for the mysterious abode, which has an equally mysterious locked basement door.   

Another plotline follows a nanny named Maria. When Maria arrives at an empty house with no children and a mysterious locked door, she finds herself drawn into the house's mystery. Warned away from the locked basement door, Maria dares to break the rule...and faces what's on the other side.

Steadman has a gift for plot. She knows how to pace her writing to pump the reader's adrenaline without giving too much away. Clues are tucked into corners, making the reader feel like a detective along for the ride. Steadman's twists and turns feel fresh and never predictable. 

The book has multiple POVs, which gives the readers different perspectives about the unfolding events. Each point of view was short, which added to the quick pace of the novel overall. At times, I wished each chapter was a bit longer, so I could settle into the characters' perspectives more fully.

The book had a puzzle/escape room/horror vibe, which made it feel original. Steadman found an interesting way to tie Nina and Maria's arcs together. I was surprised at the soapy end reveal. While suspension of disbelief is a necessity at the end, it adds to the shock value.

If you are looking for a quick, twisty, well-plotted mystery, pick up a copy of Look in the Mirror. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sending this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 ✨ rounded up

This book has so much that I know a lot of readers will enjoy, but I just didn't love how some of the characters played out in the end.

There are multiple POVs in the book and I feel like some of these perspectives did not really add anything to the overall storyline. It could have gone deeper into other characters' roles in the book that got them where they were. That being said, make sure to read the epilogue. I wish the character POV in this section was mentioned more.

Overall, I liked the house situation in the story line, BUT I wanted more.

Thanks to Ballentine and NetGalley for the chance to read this eArc for an unbiased review.
I was excited to pick up Look in the Mirror as I was a fan of Something in the Water.
I was definitely not expecting this plot line or the book to have so many twists. This was enjoyable the whole way through and I read it in one sitting without putting it down.

Nina is grieving the loss of her father, a well known professor, when she find that he has left her a house in the British Virgin Islands. Nina is confused, as she's never heard of this house. She flies to the islands to clear things up, and finds that the house has many secrets, including a mysterious empty room in the basement.

This book was pretty crazy! It's mildly on the "i like to solve puzzles" scale of books because of the nature of the house, but I wish that Steadman had explored that aspect a bit more. We don't get to see Maria solve any of her puzzles, and only a couple of Nina's. It would have been super neat to see their thought processes, and to have the puzzles be a little harder. I have loved books I've read in the puzzle sub-genre of thrillers, they really just seem to up the stakes when you have to think fast under pressure.

This one kept me guessing for a long time!

Wow this book was not what I was expecting at all!!
It gave me whip lash in a good way! it was not super twisty, but the suspense was what kept me turning the page long after I should have been asleep. The plot was good and it all wrapped up in the end, but the main characters started to annoy me a little bit in some parts. I also felt like some parts were a little bit over the top, but then it all evened out in the end. I did love that the dual time lines and POV helped add to the story and give it the extra turns and suspense that it needed. In the beginning I was a little skeptical because I thought "oh this will be some haunted house that will be a bust," but boy was I wrong!! If you like dual POV and suspense thrillers, this is a book for you.

Some awkward moments with the flow, but overall very engaging thriller.

The premise of this book is great--Nina Hepworth's beloved father has recently passed away. She finds out that he owned a house in the British Virgin Islands that she knew nothing about and she has inherited it. When she gets there she is astounded but knows that her father must have designed it for a reason. There's a locked door that no one seems to be able to breach--until it opens. In an alternate timeline, Maria is hired to be a nanny to two children. When she arrives at the house, there is no one else there. As the days pass, she too finds a door that is locked and then opens. How are these connected?

Although I really liked the premise, I found the dual timelines to be more confusing than helpful to further the plot. I get where the author was going with it, and ultimately I did like how everything came together, but there were some awkward parts in the middle and at the end that felt forced.

I loved the escape room feel to the book and those parts were my favorite, but I wanted more about the reasons and person/people behind it than I got. The whole thing got weirder and stranger and more cuckoo the longer it went on. If you liked this author's book The Family Game, this is along those same whacko outlandish lines.

If you can take your disbelief and throw it right out the window, you will probably like this one. I just went with it and had an enjoyable time, although I would have liked it more had it made a bit more sense.

This book really worked for me. I was so sucked in to this book that I flew through it at breakneck speed. I was gathering clues and doing puzzles in my head like some sort of video game detective. Even though some of the reveal is a bit....unbelievable, and you have so really suspend your belief at times, I still loved this. The escape rooms, the twists, the mystery the clues, it was all so well done and even though I didn't necessarily connect to the characters on a deep level, I was so compelled by the story at large that I didn't even mind at all.

When Nina inherits a beach house from her father after he passes away, she is shocked at this unexpected gift since her father never mentioned the house. However, all is not what it seems when Nina arrives at the house. Between a mysterious and locked room and threatening notes, Nina isn’t sure if this house is her saving grace or her worst nightmare.
This book started out a bit slow and jumped perspectives at the beginning and I almost stopped reading a couple times. I’m glad I didn’t though because if you can make it over the first hurdle the books comes together in a satisfying way.

I really wanted to pick up this book as The Family Game was a hit for me and I had high hopes for her latest release. Unfortunately, I was a bit let down by this book. It took 65% for anything to even happen and then when the plot unfolded it felt extremely lackluster. I would have liked to feel more engrossed in the final scenes but found myself skimming the pages to get to the end. It also took me almost two months to complete this read.

I do not want to give too much away as this book is thriller and I feel it's best to go in with very little expectations. If you like slow burn thrillers then you may really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an early copy.

Thank you to the publishing team and PRH audio for free review copies of Look in the Mirror. I really liked the premise of this book, a creepy house, a sense of unease and dread about what was in the house/what was awaiting the protagonists but the story went a little flat for me. I was here for something really creepy/unsettling but the book became an amalgam of plot tropes, a puzzle/locked room story, at times it felt cat and mouse, the idea of a double life... it never quite came together for me even though the atmospheric writing was well done. I couldn't find myself quite cheering for Maria though I was intrigued by her character and Nina felt as though she was taking steps that went against what an almost 40 year old might do,
The pieces never quite came together for me despite hints at a strong set up and intensely engaging plot, though for me some interesting themes on why two women ended up in this position perhaps at the expense of male behavior... that would be worth probing more in depth.

I'm a fan of Catherine Steadman's mysteries, and although nothing for me beats Somethings in the Water, Look in the Mirror was a mystery that kept me guessing. The two person point of view and different timelines added depth to the mystery. Good character development and an interesting plot. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this fun thriller. 3.5/5 ⭐️

Twisty puzzler of locked room thriller that dips a toe into horror territory. Without spoiling the surprises, the book follows two primary narratives Nina, whose father passed and left her an unexpected beach house inheritance and Maria a nanny to the wealthy clients that haven’t arrived yet. Action packed chapters and jump scares abound. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this eARC.