Wow! Entertaining from the beginning all the way to the end! This was such an unusual plot in such a great way. It definitely gave me Squid Games/Alice In Borderland vibes and I am here for it!

Look In the Mirror was an interesting read for me. The pacing was good, the premise was unique, and there were some twists and turns I enjoyed in the end. I loved The Family Game by this author, so I was excited to read this one! As mentioned before, the idea was quite unique. In some ways, it reminded me of the short story by Bradbury called The Veldt where you have this system in a house that is not quite what it seems and a bit sinister. Catherine Steadman did a great job of making the setting feel very claustrophobic in some scenes which is what I think she was going for. It did get very repetitive especially towards the end, and some of the plot lines were rushed to the point of it starting to seem far fetched and unrealistic. Still, it was a fun read and I enjoyed it! Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

An interesting and different concept for a suspense novel it was well written and engaging. I sped read it quickly and wanted to like it. When I was finished, I felt it missed my criteria for a masterful mystery. Yes, it was suspenseful, yes it was clever, yes there were unexpected twists but no they did not come together to create a winner. If such a perverted game depicted in the book exists, I am appalled. The world is filled with depravity and perversion but I could not imagine one such as this author created. Maybe that was the problem. It was so out of the ordinary I could not suspend enough disbelief to like it. The characters just did not have enough development and the romantic element was far fetched.

This was a book full of surprises. You start off thinking one thing and wondering who the other woman was (Maria) in the house Nina suprisedly inherited when her father passed. Around the middle of the book everything changes and there are some huge surprises. It definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. This was a very good book and I love it when a book has an ending that doesn’t leave you with a bunch of questions This was only my second book by Catherine Steadman but I definitely will read more! Great read!

This book started out so strong for me, I was hooked, but the looming basement and constant reminders about it felt redundant. It felt like a lot of talking/thinking about something but not a lot of action. The addition of the third pov threw me off as well. The middle was slow for me and I wish there had been more action in alot of those moments. The end was okay, kind of expected.

This book is for you if you love thrillers that take place from different points of view. I loved how each character's perspective drove this novel and the different ways their stories interweaved with each other. The ending will leave you saying out loud "What???"

Dual POV with present Nina and past Maria really drew me in as I tried to figure out if/when/how their stories were going to overlap--and that in and of itself kept me motivated to keep reading.

The covert identities of several characters really keeps the reader on their toes and adds to the thriller element of the story. There are so many turns that this one could take, and it's tough to try to find the right path. Are some items a bit far fetched? Yes, but they definitely can fit in the world of possible. The pacing was a bit off in spots, but still the story kept moving and I never felt that it became a chore to continue reading.

My personal gripe with the story would be a spoiler, so I can't express it, but I'll leave it as "How wasn't a warning OF SOME KIND given?!?!"

Overall: 4 stars (I really liked it)

I'll tell my students about: language, violence/gore/murder, alcohol, trauma

**Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Ballantine Books for my ARC.

In a single word—WOW! This is a definite page turner that kept me guessing and riveted right to the end. The plot is refreshing and unique. So unique it makes the story difficult to review without giving away spoilers (this review contains zero).

Nina’s father has just died. A brilliant man who built wind turbines, he was also an academic who loved puzzles of the mind, strategy, and games of chess. Nina grew up in his world of academics and is a professor herself. After his death, she receives notice that her father owned property in the British Virgin Islands, which she has now inherited. More than a little confused by the discovery, she books the next available flight to meet with the solicitor handling her father’s estate.

After some discussion, Nina is given keys to a house, overlooking a private beach. Built on a cliffside with pool, terrace, and state-of-the-art security plus in-home technology, the home is not obscenely large but luxurious in a minimalist fashion. The views are breathtaking, the setting is pristine.

Still reeling from the shock of this estate her father never told her about, Nina tries to settle in. There is, however, a strange, locked door on the lower level, and in time she learns a lot of stone was removed from the cliffside during the construction of the house. The emphasis on this had my mind spinning in numerous directions.

Nina’s story is narrated in third person POV (present tense), but hers isn’t the only tale taking place. Running parallel is the third person POV (present tense) account of Maria, a nanny who has been hired to look after two small children of a client in the British Virgin Islands.

She arrives at the cliffside house to find it empty but is assured the client (a single father) and his children will be there shortly. Maria is given a tour of the property, and told she has free reign of the house—with the exception of a locked door on the lower level. Sound familiar? After several days, Maria’s client still hasn’t shown, but a brief power failure has caused the lock on the lower-level room to disengage.

This is the point where it’s difficult to say more without giving away spoilers. There are a few other third person narrators (all present tense) in the book, but Nina and Maria get the most attention and both had me mentally gnawing my fingernails as the plot played out. At one point, I thought I’d guessed the direction the story was headed, only to be proved wrong. There’s also a surprise tucked at the end, which while not jaw-dropping, is clever and slickly done. The author gets a bravo from me.

I found this an original story with believable, well-written characters, and the kind of pacing that made it hard to set my Kindle down. I finished the novel in two days, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a suspenseful read with original twists. I would most definitely read this author again. Five glowing review stars!

Great suspenseful read with a twisted plot. The story caught me right away with the 2 main characters and it just kept rolling. Another winner by this author.

I'm a fan of Catherine Steadman. She writes unusual storylines and Look in the Mirror is easily my favorite. This story follows two women: Nina, who discovers her dead father left her a house in The British Virgin Islands, and Nina, a nanny who gets a job at the same house at a different time awaiting the arrival of a father and his children. Mysterious things happen to both woman: warnings through notes to leave the house, security features acting on their own like they're alive, and an ominous overall feel of danger.
This secluded state-of-the-art house is a mansion on a cliff; full of cameras and a top-notch security system. There is one room that is not accessible to either woman, a locked room that they both must decide if they want to enter even though they're told not to.
This novel turns freaky fast. Dual narrators and timelines add to the fast-paced puzzle mystery. Tons of action and fatal risks are around every corner. Terrifying and crazy, though hopefully totally unrealistic, this novel will have you biting your nails with anxiety.
Can anyone survive the house?
Well-crafted, original, and thrilling.
Thanks to NetGalley and PenguinRandomhouse for a digital review copy

I really enjoyed this locked-room thriller set on a tropical island. The beginning of the book drew me in with two different points of view. The ending was action-packed and satisfying.

Another inventive suspense novel by Catherine Steadman! After Nina's beloved father dies, she discovers he built an amazing home in the British Virgin Islands that she knew nothing about. Once she arrives, she discovers there are more questions than answers about the house--and can she trust anyone who she turns to for help? Nina's story is interspersed with that of Maria, a nanny for the super-rich who has secrets of her own.

This was truly a page-turner--I read it in one sitting because I just had to find out what was going to happen next. The connection between Nina and Maria becomes clear fairly quickly, but there are lots of twists and turns to follow. It may be because I read so quickly, but it seemed like there were a couple of plot holes that have solid answers, but overall, this was a very enjoyable read.

This is a locked room type thriller that introduces us to Nina, who just lost her father and found out that she inherited a home in the BVI that she didn't know he owned. We then learn about Maria who is hired to nanny for a wealthy family, and when she arrives at the home the client doesn't show up.
The premise of the story is unique, and I did enjoy the fast pace, as well as the alternating POVs and trying to figure out how the characters were going to connect, but I did find that the twists did get a little too far fetched for me.
Overall the story was enjoyable and I would recommend.
Thanks you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Wow. This was a bit of a crazy ride. The first half had me a little confused trying to figure out the timelines going on with Maria and Nina. Then the electrician Joon was thrown in as well. Eventually they do all make sense and you are able to follow them along in this bizarre and twisted thriller where nothing is as it seems.
I felt the last 1/4 of the book was where I really couldn’t put it down and had to see how things ended for each of the characters.
A very bizarre book that would have left me a bit frustrated if it wasn’t for the ending.

I could not put this book down! I read it in one sitting as I tried to figure out where the twists and turns were leading me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to enjoy this book.

Upon the death of her father, Nina inherits a vacation home in the British Virgin Islands, a home she never knew existed. How did her father afford this modern home, and how didn’t she know about it? She may not like the answers she finds. Look In The Mirror is quite a book. with a totally unique and unexpected plot, a dual story to keep you off-balance, and enough suspense to have you furiously flipping the pages. Revealing too much of the story would ruin the fun, but suffice to say the plot goes where you least expect, and the claustrophobic atmosphere only adds to the uneasiness. This was a good one! I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Random House and Net Galley for the digital ARC of this 5 star book! Fast paced and intense thriller that takes place in a gorgeous setting. My favorite book of Catherine Steadman’s so far.

One of my favorite books of the past few years was the family game so I had very high hopes for this book. Although I didn't like it as much as the Family game the mystery and twists were all there and kept me on my toes. I just didn't want the story to end. I can't wait to get a copy of this book because the cover is beautiful

Not my favorite from this author but all in all a decent mystery here. Stalled a little in the middle but was enjoyable still. Thank you NetGalley for this arc

This is a tough one to review without spoilers, but I was thoroughly entertained and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good thriller. The author of "The Family Game" brings us another tale of twisted rich people shenanigans and this one is a doozy!

After Nina loses her caring, cerebral father to cancer, she receives a message that she's inherited a home in the Virgin Islands, a place she's never even heard her father mention. Her journey to find out exactly how and why he would have built a second home and left it to her drops her into the middle of something much darker and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

I enjoyed the alternating perspectives throughout the novel and the pacing was consistently compelling. I thought the storyline came together seamlessly and my jaw dropped multiple times while I was flying through the pages.