Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Well, that was.....weird. Basically a whole-house escape room "game" gone horribly wrong. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I wasn't expecting it to be so boring. It was too far-fetched for me, even if I did figure it out early on. There was no suspense, and I couldn't connect with any of the characters. This is an author I usually enjoy but this one didn't do anything for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Look in the Mirror. I like Catherine Streadmans books. She is a writer who keeps you interested from start to finish. A young womanNina, who has just lost her father is grieving. She misses him a great deal. He has left a small fortune but suddenly she is surprised to learn he has left her a mansion on an island. She never knew about this home but is convinced she must go see it.
A parallel story is told about another young woman Maria, who is contracted to be a nanny on an island. And soon she learns the people who hires here are not coming. She’s been told she can have the run of the house. Except one room. She is not to enter it.
As Nina finds her way she too is taken to a big mansion. She is also told about a mysterious room she cannot enter.
Two worlds collide in this car and mouse thriller. Good mystery and suspense.

Nina, adrift in grief after her father's passing, inherits a stunning vacation home in the balmy Caribbean. But this windfall comes shrouded in mystery. The house itself, a gleaming glass and marble marvel, whispers secrets of her father's hidden life. Meanwhile, Maria, a world-trotting nanny lured by the allure of wealth, takes a new position caring for a child in this very same paradise. As Nina delves deeper into her father's past, and Maria encounters unsettling peculiarities in the opulent home, both women find themselves entangled in a web of deception that blurs the lines between reality and something far more sinister. Is this tropical paradise truly a refuge, or something wicked lurking beneath the surface?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to inherit a very expensive, exclusive house on on an island paradise from your father? Even if you didn't even know that house existed? How could that be? You and your father were very close or at least you thought you were. Maybe he had some secrets of his own. Or maybe nothing is as it appears to be at all. And maybe you will go through some pretty frightening times to try to figure it all out. Definitely a page turner.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

Look In The Mirror by Catherine Steadman

WOAH. As soon as this one comes out, add it to your beach bag!!! It is the perfect summer thriller and it completely surprised me in the best way. I definitely recommend going in blind and buckle UP 😎

I love when a book marketed as a thriller is ACTUALLY THRILLING and I mean it when I say this one had my heart rate rocketing. Once you get to about 45%, you literally can’t put it down. It was an “I’m holding my kindle with one hand and making dinner with the other” kinda situation until I finished. The first half of the book sets everything up so well.

What to expect:
🏝️ addicting page-turner
🏝️ multiple POV
🏝️ clever puzzles
🏝️ father/daughter relationship
🏝️ the rich & elite

This is my first by this author so I can’t tell how it ranks among her others but I definitely recommend picking this one up! It was so unique and clever and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time 👏🏼

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you so much @netgalley & @randomhouse Ballantine Books for the early copy. All thoughts are my own. OUT JULY 30th!!! 🖤

This book was not what I expected, but still really good!! It follows two women in the same house at different times, one who was supposed to be nannying, the other who just lost her dad and found out he left her a secret house in the British Virgin Islands. The twist at the very end was so good!

A quick, overall engaging read with an interesting premise.
I wish the characters had more depth to them; I didn’t particularly “feel” anything for them while they were in the house.

This book was amazing! I was in a book slump but this sure got me back into reading.

Character development is well done. While reading the book I felt like yelling at the characters "stop!!!". You know how you feel when watching a horror movie and the character makes a dumb decision in your mind?

The author kept me guessing the whole time. Everytime I had an idea I would continue reading and find I was incorrect. Haha

If you like a fast read and a thriller you won't be disappointed!

Nope. This wasn't it.

My hopes were up after liking The Family Game but this book had the most up and down pacing I could not believe this was hot off the press from an editor. Interesting idea, but yikes- needed some cleaning up.

This is premature (obviously) as I'm only about 20% through, but WOW. I'm already so invested and impressed; what a cool set-up. Steadman toys with old tropes in new and exciting ways. I can't wait to finish this! And see what she comes up with next.

OMG this book!!! I read it ONE afternoon, it was that good and I couldn't put it down! I didn't know what was going to happen next, I was invested!! This story is told in alternating views from Nina and Maria. How do they know each other? How are their stories related?
Maria comes to a secluded island home to nanny for a couple of children but when she gets there, no one is home. So she waits. And then wow! Meanwhile Nina is dealing with the death of her father when she learns he has left her a beautiful island home she never knew anything about. Curious as to how and why he has this place, she travels to see it for herself. And then wow!!
Do yourself a favor and read this!

This book kept me invested from the beginning. Arriving at a secluded location to care for a families children, but soon to find out there are no children or anyone else!
What transpires next is a maze between horror and reality. Will she risk going into the off limits basement to gain her freedom?
Engrossing read.

Look in the Mirror is such a puzzle of a thriller! Nina's father
dies and leaves her a gorgeous property on a far-away tropical
island. She had no idea he owned such a house and can't
imagine how he afforded it. When she travels there to find out
more information, Nina finds herself in an even bigger mystery
Meanwhile, Maria, a nanny to the uber rich, is stuck in a
beautiful house all alone. Her family for this assignment has
never shown up. And there is that curious locked room she's
sworn to never step foot inside. Both women end up in a live or
die situation, playing a game they never signed up for.
I raced through this one! Yes, the reader must suspend their
disbelief, but I had no issue with that, as I was promptly drawn
into this story and its puzzles. If you're a fan of escape room
type games, this one is for you!

Catherine Steadman always manages to keep me guessing and this book is no exception. A daring thriller; her newest kept me on the edge of my seat!

A twisted game of cat a mouse, for the life of me I couldn't figure out what was going to happen next. Even at the very end I was floored when I heard what was happening! This is a must add to your summer TBR list; fantastic!

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! This book is crazy. Heart bumping, fast moving, never letting up crazy! Wow! Just wow!
The book starts with two very separate characters, Maria and Nina. There is a house that seems similar? Maybe? Maybe not.
This book…I first felt like someone was following me..you knows that creepy feeling you get? When that ended, I literally could not catch my breath and it didn’t let up. To top it all off..I never saw the ending coming.

You are in for a ride! This is a true thriller.

LOOK IN THE MIRROR by Catherine Steadman
⭐️ rating: 5/10

read if you like:
📍British Virgin Islands
🔥 slow burn mysteries
🚻 escape rooms
🏝️ Survivor

summary:
This book is about Nina, whose father has recently died and left her with a three-bedroom estate in the British Virgin Islands. Nina, who was close to her father and is still struggling with his death, had no idea the property existed, and she heads down to the island to understand what he left her and more importantly, why did she never know about it? It also follows Maria, a medical student and nanny, who takes a two week assignment at the house, only to find out the family will never show up. She’s given one rule — not to go into the locked door in the basement. Naturally, she’s curious.

The best way I can describe this book — it is weird. It’s a cross between an escape room and a game of survivor, and at least for me, very hard to follow without some sort of visual of the house. The author does a nice job of explaining it, but it’s challenging going back and forth between Maria and Nina and getting a clear understanding of where they both are in the building. Both of them feel like they’re in a bit of a fever dream, and it drags on for the majority of the book without much progress made. The story is also unrealistic at many moments, which is fine if you aren’t looking for something based in reality.

I wish I could say I got into this, but I really wanted to like it as much as SOMETHING IN THE WATER and just couldn’t. Thanks to Random House Publishing and Net Galley for the advanced copy. This book will be officially released on July 30!

Great plot and storyline I enjoyed it! It was a page-turner and kept you wanting more and wanting to read more from the author! Addictive, thrilling, intoxicating.

I loved this book. The creep factor was sky high and the plot was so original. What was also significant was that there is are also ethical and philosophical questions embedded within the novel. It is a joy to read a novel that not only is super engaging and entertaining, but satisfies your intellectual curiosity as well.

Nina’s father just passed away. It was always just the two of them. Now alone in this world, she’s wrapping up the final stages of settling his estate. After opening a letter, Nina is stunned to learn her father owned a home in the British Virgin Islands. That home is now hers!
And she thought she knew everything about her father. But when did he buy this property? And why didn’t he ever tell her. Now Nina is south bound to lay eyes on this mystery property, hoping to find some answers.

Maria has a rather lucrative enterprise. She takes on short term contracts as a nanny for the ultra-wealthy around the world. Just a few more gigs and she can live comfortably in New City and begin medical school that was previously out of reach.
Her latest assignment is for a father of two small children. But upon arriving at the secluded estate the man and his kids are nowhere to be found.
All she has is a contact phone number and a large list of rules.

So how do these two storylines intersect? Never in a million years could I guess how this storyline was going to play out. And I’ll just bet most readers will also be as shocked as I was!

An extremely fast-paced thriller that I flew through in only a few sittings. I was all but obsessed with discovering how this was going to end.

If you enjoyed the previous book, The Family Game by this talented author then you are in for a treat!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

I love all of Catherine Steadman's books. She is an automatic read for me. I flew through this book in less than 24 hours. It really held my attention. This one was a very unique concept compared to other thrillers I have read recently. It was a very wild twisted ride. The ending was very abrupt and I would have liked more clarification on the games for it to be a 5 star for me like her other books. I enjoyed the alternating chapters between the different characters. Especially, Maria and Joong-Gi. I would recommend this book for sure if you enjoy a fast paced thriller !


Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for my digital