Nina's father dies and leaves her a house she never knew about. She flies to see the house but is eventually entangled in an awful "game". In an alternating POV, Maria arrives to a luxury island home as a temp nanny to the very rich, but after a few days she realizes the family will not be arriving. As she gets more comfortable in the house, she is drawn to a door in the basement she was told to keep out of.

The book had a lot going on, but I loved the pacing and the POVs. It was also one of the first books in awhile where I did not immediately guess the ending. This is my second book by this author and I will absolutely read more.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

When Nina’s father dies, she finds out he had a secret home in the Virgin Islands. It’s modern; all glass and marble. Why did her sensible father have this home?

I liked the beginning and was expecting a haunted house or spooky home story. I got something completely different, which for me wasn’t of my taste. I had a hard time following. If you like complex puzzles and games, you may enjoy this one. I personally like my entertainment easy to read and understand. I’m not much of a chess player.

“The cat cannot be shooed back into the bag and Pandora’s Box cannot be repacked.”

Look in the Mirror comes out 7/30.

I feel like I don’t have the words to adequately review Look in the Mirror, given how absolutely insane it was, but I’m going to give it a shot. This book had me absolutely riveted.

Right from the jump you’re drawn in with the multitude of questions and the mystery that is this strange house, trying to fit characters together like puzzle pieces and make connections as you go. Personally, I couldn’t successfully figure out what was going on as things quickly got dark and scary.

Once things got going I couldn’t put this book down. I read the last 70% in one sitting staying up until 5am just to see what happened. This was such a unique and chilling thriller that reminded me of a few horror movies I’ll refrain from naming as I don’t want to spoil any twists. My heart was pounding throughout with the sheer anxiety of the situations the characters were put into.
I will say that some scenes were a bit far fetched but I feel like suspending disbelief isn’t a horrible requirement in order to truly enjoy a thriller/horror piece of media.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a twisty, crazy, heart pounding wild ride and although I’ve already had Steadman’s other novels on my TBR, I’m even more eager to get to them now.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books, and the author for this ARC.
Publication date 7/30/24

I haven’t inhaled a book this quickly in a long time!

“Look in the Mirror” is an absolutely riveting, smart, puzzling, and heart pounding thriller. Although it starts a little slow as it sets the scene, it quickly picks up and doesn’t stop until the last possible moment.

Set on a remote tropical island, featuring a little too high tech of a villa and a locked basement door, I’ve never felt so claustrophobic reading a book. If I was a nail biter, I definitely would’ve been biting my nails reading the story. I couldn’t put it down, and it kept me up late into the night driven by the need to uncover the mystery.

This is definitely my new favorite Catherine Steadman book!

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This is a good psychological thriller. I enjoyed the different points of view and the suspense that built throughout the book. Don't want to give anything away, so I will just say this is worth the read.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

I don't often read thrillers but when I do they are Catherine Steadman's. While the premise of her books are sometimes a bit outrageous, I cannot put them down. She knows how to build tension and suspense in just the right way and Look In the Mirror is no exception.

The book starts with two points of view. In one, Maria has been hired to nanny at a secluded mansion with a forbidden basement door. But when the family never shows up she finds the door more and more tempting. In the other, Nina's father has recently passed and she inherits a property on an island in the middle of nowhere. As you may have guessed, Maria and Nina's house are one in the same at different points in time. Nina knows about the mysterious door and the rooms hidden within the property. Entering the forbidden room comes at a high price for both.

For the majority of the book the reader is left wondering what the heck is going on with this house, and why? I couldn't put the book down because I had to know the answer! As the book continues we are introduced to a few more points of view from side characters. At times they were necessary but for the most part this could have been done without. I personally also kept wondering if the basement was a "Chamber of Secret's" of sorts, but don't want to give too much away,

In the end I wanted a little bit more from the "reveal" of the book and still had a few questions left unanswered. That being said I ultimately enjoyed binging this book over the course of a weekend and was absolutely along for the ride! If you're looking for unique, twisty, suspenseful, and a bit violent this could just be the thriller for you.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC of this book. This was a great, psychological thriller. Not like all those other books that tell you they are a thriller, this one really is. Nina inherits a house from her father in the BVI. She is a loner, has been given time off from her lectures to process her father’s death and decides to head out to see what the house is like. Maria has been tasked with being a nanny for a nameless family in a beautiful house in the BVI. Just one caveat, don’t go in the room in the basement. Of course, that is too much of a temptation. Soon Maria wonders what she has gotten herself into, especially when no family shows up. Meanwhile, Nina keeps being told to “go home” and “leave”. This book will keep you guessing. This would be perfect for book club, how much of what we want should we not have? Summer won’t be done before this is published, so put a copy in your beach bag. Thank me later!

This was a confusing, unique, wild ride! Some parts of the story could’ve been told a little better. However, I found myself not wanting to put it down. This is an easy book to binge read with lots of “WTF” moments.

This was an odd one for me, for a good portion I was very into it and really enjoyed wondering what exactly was going on. Initially you hear from Nina as she travels to this property she never knew her father owned until he passed and Maria a nanny to the super rich as she waits for her next assignment to start. I liked both women’s viewpoints but Maria’s a bit more as her situation brought more tension and suspense. Somewhere along the way things lost me though, especially the last quarter or so. Once things start getting revealed I found it to be silly and outlandish and I just didn’t buy into the explanations behind most of it. I’m not usually too judgey when it comes to things being too over the top but I found the motivations beyond ridiculous. I seem to be in the minority here though.

Thank you to Random House Publishing -Ballantine and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Catherine Steadman has created another gripping suspense in Look in the Mirror! Nina is struggling after the death of her father with no family left as her mother died when she was very little. He has thoughtfully planned everything for his passing and left her a sizeable estate. However, when an attorney calls and tells her she has also inherited a home in the British Virgin Islands she is in shock. How well did she know her Dad and why would he keep a house on an island hidden from her. She travels to see it and try to eat closer to understanding her Dad only to find a beautiful house with more and more secrets and even danger. Is her Dad behind this and what is he trying to tell her?

Fast paced, clever and suspenseful from the very beginning — I read it in one sitting and loved it!

This is the best ARC I’ve read in awhile! Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman is a wild ride! Told from alternating viewpoints, we are transported to a luxury home on a small island in the British Virgin Islands. Nina’s father has died and she is contacted by a lawyer who tells her that she has inherited a property in the BVI. She can’t believe her super academic father had a secret life, but she agrees to travel to the island to see the home. We also meet Maria, who quit medical school to make money as a live in nanny for rich families. Her current job takes her to the BVI but after several days, her family still has not arrived. Both stories immediately feel tense and make you think that something is definitely off.

It took me awhile into the story to figure out how the parallel stories were connected but both stories were interesting in their build up. This was a quick, twisty read and not a story I’ve ever read before. I would recommend this one to fans of suspense!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballentine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up.

As a fan of escape rooms and puzzles in general, this one was fun for me. I thought the idea was creative and the action scenes were intense and fast paced. The writing was decent and I was rooting for the two main characters.

However the first 40 percent or so was pretty slow moving and I didn't need several of the other character POV's. I also have a feeling that after a few days I will completely forget what this was about.

Overall pretty good and I will likely read others from her.

Oh. My. God. A delicious mix of Steadman’s last book, A Family Game and the crazy train feel of Everyone Is Watching, Look in the Mirror was the epitome of fast-paced. Well, aside from the slow burn start, that is. Even it, however, added to the plot as it built a depth to this novel with poignancy and breathtaking character development. Together with deft plotting, mind-boggling twists, and a wild, twisted premise, I fell in love with this novel hook, line, and sinker. But then, given that Catherine Steadman wrote it, was there ever any doubt?

Speaking of the plotting, with an ever ratcheting level of suspense and palpable tension, the chess-like vibe brought a definite smile to my face. With multiple POVs and two gripping timelines, their ordeals easily kept me firmly in the dark until the biggest of the big jaw-dropping reveals. But the characters easily matched the storyline step for step all things considered. After all, the two central narrators of Maria and Nina were smart, strong, ferocious women who grabbed my attention right from the start. And while the plot was hardly true-to-life (only in the best possible way) every persona in the cast felt utterly genuine—even the villains.

I do have to make one clarification. While I’ve noticed in quite a few reviews that this book has been characterized as horror, I firmly believe it was no such thing. Was it dark? Most definitely. At the same time, I felt it was instead the definition of a psychological thriller. Not overly graphic or even horror adjacent, if you loved either of the books that I named at the start of this review, you’ll surely love this one as well. Now that I’ve addressed that small annoyance, let me wrap up my glowing assessment.

All said and done, I’m still reveling in how this book managed to keep me off balance from beginning to end. With cliffhanger chapters, crystal clear identities, and a sinister feel, the level of unease was absolutely dialed up to ten as the plot unwound before me. All I know is the nerve-shredding dread was seriously no joke. Neither was the mind-blowing epilogue that shocked me when I thought I could no longer be shocked. So if it wasn’t already obvious, I wholly recommend this novel. Addictive, bingeable, and a masterclass in thrills and chills, you don’t want to miss out on this cracking good time. Rating of 5 stars.

Thank you to Catherine Steadman, Random House, and NetGalley for my complimentary physical and digital copies. All opinions are my own.

If you like:
#️⃣ Multiple POV
🏠 Fancy Houses
🔀 Twists and Turns
🔂 Interconnected Stories

Read this book! I’ve really enjoyed Catherine’s other books and this one was no different,

I spent the first half of the book so confused wondering how our two main POV’s were connected when it seemed like there was nothing connecting the two women’s stories but then when I figured it out, I gasped! And it was not at all what I was expecting!!!

And for a thriller, that’s absolutely a hallmark of when I’ll enjoy a story when I can’t put those pieces together until it’s delivered by the author.

Much like Catherine’s other thrillers this one has depth and interconnected pieces and a shocking ending!

Thanks so much to the publisher for my ARC and to PRHA for my gifted audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this book - it takes the escape room craze to another level. Loved the characters and the thriller aspects and will be highly recommending.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review,

This is a fast paced thriller that checks all of the boxes! suspense, twists, dark and isolated thriller!!!

Nina’s father recently passed away and he left her a vacation villa in the British Virgin Islands. But Nina had no idea he owned the property. So, of course she travels there to check it out and discovers she is the proud owner of a luxurious, state-of-the-art, smart home on a secluded island.

Maria is a nanny for wealthy families. For her latest assignment, she is sent to a coastal estate but the family never shows?! She continues to stay, and she hopes they show up as she wants to be paid. There is only one rule for this assignment: don't go into the basement!

This is such a rollercoaster ride of a read! I cannot tell you more as you need to go into this one blind but know that its fantastic and you wont be able to put it down!!!

This is such a page turner! This story is told in various points of view. The main is Nina. She inherits a property in the British Virgin Islands from her late father. She has never heard of him talk about this and had no idea he had a house there. The second is Maria she is hired as a nanny for a man and his children. She arrived at the house and there is a set of rules for her to follow. How do these two storylines connect? Read to find out! If you love escape rooms, squid games this is a great thriller fast last book!

A story that revolves around two narratives. The first one involves Nina, whose father died and left her a beautiful property in the Virgin Island that she knew nothing about. The second, seemingly non sequitur, narrative is about Maria a nanny for the uber-rich. The only element of the story that combines both is the house that Maria has been hired to work in is the same one that Nina inherits.
I enjoyed this book and read it very quickly but the meaning of the writing got a bit muddled in the end. I don't want to ruin the ending so I won't explain more.
Worth reading, especially if you like dark novels about escape rooms and puzzles. Keep an open mind.

What an absolute trip of a book. I loved it because the twist at the end was not nearly as page-turnery as the actual rest of the book. I love when the actual plotline can surprise you more than any twist they could throw at the end. I love escape rooms, but sometimes they're taken a bit too far...

Official rating is 4.5 stars.

This was very different and it really worked for me. The twists were great and I definitely did not guess all of them. Several parts had me so stressed! My only small issue is that the ending was a bit abrupt and while there was some closure, I just felt that overall it was missing something. With that being said it's still a phenomenal read and I would definitely recommend it.