When murders seem to copy a young writer’s story she becomes determined to find out what is happening. Could it be someone from her writer’s group? She finds black hearts and incriminating evidence as she realizes someone is trying to frame her. As she investigates further she questions who might be out to harm her. This book definitely me guessing and I was compelled to finish quickly to see if my guesses were correct.

The Writer kept me on my toes as Becca, a struggling writer, is trying to figure out who has been stalking her and leaving her notes with a little black heart on them for the past ten years - especially now since there’s someone copying crimes written about in her very small writing club.

This book was filled with twists and turns and constantly had you rethinking your suspects. Finding out who the culprit was, although a bit unsatisfying (I wanted it to be someone else, haha) at first, truly caught me completely by surprise. And the absolute end? DID NOT SEE IT COMING. Overall I enjoyed this book and would definitely read another from the author!

tw // stalking, murder, sexual assault

Thank you NetGalley, Miranda Smith, &
Bookouture for my ARC!

4.5/5 ✨

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Miranda Smith for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Miranda Smith book and she has a way of writing that makes you think everyone is guilty in this book and I LOVE when that happens. I can typically pick out the killer in most thrillers so I love it when I am dead wrong (like the name, get it, heh.) I am excited to find another amazing author to add to my thrillers list that are quick and easy reads.

The characters and situations in this book are thought out so well and kept me on my toes.
Highly recommend!

It was a good thriller. The plot was super original and I liked the way the author constructed it. The characters were a little less memorable than the plot, which is why I wasn’t completely invested in it. I still enjoyed the reveals and the last couple of lines were quite delightful.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

My FAVORITE… a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️must-read book!!… just mind-blowing and jaw-dropping. That ending I didn’t see coming. Read this in one sitting! Highly recommend!

This is a suspense novel and you just keep on wondering when will the first blow come, and what is the twist you simply cannot see coming. I like the premises of a group of writers meeting to discuss their current writings. As can be expected, this is not why everyone is in this group, and yes, secrets are being kept from the others.

It starts off a bit slow, but then slowly starts picking up the pace and suspense. I did not really root for anyone of the women in the writing group, and most of them felt quite distant to me throughout the book. Once things started to happen I really enjoyed the flow and twists that kept on coming! 3,5 stars

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝐈 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐖 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤! 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐈’𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧! 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞. 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 (𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡) 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥? 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫!

𝕊𝕪𝕟𝕠𝕡𝕤𝕚𝕤: 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚–𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟑𝟎-𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞–𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬.” 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬’ 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫.

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲, 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝!

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝑀𝒾𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒹𝒶 𝒮𝓂𝒾𝓉𝒽, 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀𝑜𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒-𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

4.5 stars. Great character development. The story was very good, with a nice twist at the end.

I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I'm in the minority with my 3 star rating on this book but I just think it wasn't for me. It took me awhile to start to enjoy this book and there was a lot going on so maybe i Just had a hard time keeping up with everything. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published April 2024.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Writer by Miranda Smith is a totally unputdownable psychological thriller with an unbelievable twist!
I must say I was confused probably the first 30% and could not catch where this story is going but once it pice up, oh well! It was mad! And that ending left me with an open mouth! Whatever I expected, definitely not what actually happened!

Becca dreams of being an author. She attends a writing group for thriller and crime authors and piece by piece develops her stories... but then she notices that her stories become a real-time event... Becca knows this is related to the tragic events in her past but she doesn't have any idea who is behind all this now...

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture for this copy! I absolutely loved it!

Becca is a writer, or at least that's what she tells herself. She's never been published, but can't imagine doing anything else with her life. She's stuck - with her writing, doing a job she doesn't enjoy, in life in general.

Every Monday, Becca joins other writers for their Writers Club to review their recent work, enjoy some wine, and brainstorm new ideas. But something else is going on with the group....the stories that are being discussed in their group are coming to life right before Becca's eyes.

Will anyone believe her? Is this payback for Becca's past? Will the police see her as the attacker or believe that she is an innocent witness who just so happens to be in the right place, at the right time?

The premise of this book locked me in, but the book itself truly underdelivered. I had a hard time connecting with Becca and didn't really like her character. The level of suspense was lacking. The story seemed pretty dull and even after it picked up (about 3/4 of the way in) the suspense was pretty slow and predictable.

Thank you to Negalley & Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for a review.

I was really Intrigued by the premise of this book but actually reading it was a different story. I had to keep reading the blurb to make sure I was reading the right story. The pace of this book was really slow, and the main character was hard to relate with. She was incredibly juvenile at times and I had to keep taking breaks throughout reading.
Without giving spoilers, the “bad guy” came so far out of left field, there was no way to even guess that. That person wasn’t talked about, or brought up, they just appeared at the end. It’s almost like I didn’t have enough information to even play along while reading…

Wow! This story was gripping. When I wasn’t reading it I was looking forward to the opportunity to get back to it. After reading the description I thought it would be a good story to try. I was not disappointed. This book held my attention until the very end. So many twists and turns. It kept me guessing. I’m so glad I took the time to read this one. I highly recommend it.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Smith's writing style is engaging, and she has a knack for creating vivid scenes and believable characters. The main characters life before the events of the book and during were engaging.

However, I felt that the overall plot lacked depth and was a bit predictable due to that. Additionally, some of the dialogue felt a bit forced, lacking the natural flow that would have added authenticity to the characters' interactions.

Despite these shortcomings, "The Writer" still held my interest until the end. Smith is a great storyteller, and I will continue to read her works.

I enjoyed this book, but I’d say it took awhile to get into it..
There was a lot happening, but I didn’t think it was relevant, however the ending was great, and didn’t expect the twist that came out of it.
Thankyou to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

3.5 stars

The Writer definitely was a gripping, twisty thriller that kept guessing up until the very end.

Becca is in her 30s, stuck in a job she doesn't like, desperately trying to get her novel published and still haunted by a decade old murder. For the past ten years, someone has been messing with her, leaving behind notes with a black heart on the back, but now they are being left on crime scenes reminiscing of her own stories, and the only people who have access to those are the women in her writing group, the Mystery Maidens.

Even though I didn't necessarily connect to Becca on any deeper level, I liked the way she openly acknowledged all the mistakes main characters in these kind of situations usually make and acted to do the opposite. All the things you would usually be screaming at someone to do, she had already thought of and done. I enjoy a smart main character, and it made it so fun to just go along with the story and watch it unfold.

While it might have seemed pretty random as first, there was so much connecting these women that got revealed at a perfect pace to keep you interested, constantly making you question your theories. I did guess who it was, but I didn't see any of the big twists coming up until they were basically right in front of my face, but they made sense and were not too far-fetched, which I appreciated.

I genuinely had so much fun with this and am looking forward to reading more by this author in the future!

Many thanks to Bookouture & Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This kept me on my toes from start to finish. So freaking twisty. And that ending--whoa! I so didn't see it coming and the villain's identity was shocking.

I think this book would be a good for someone wanting to segue into thrillers. The story surrounds an aspiring author,
she is a server by day and a writer by night.

As the story progresses we’re able to read the story she’s working on which is not written that well. However it was interesting to see how it unfolded and intertwined with her past. I resonated with Becca on her journey in her career and feeling overwhelmed by her reality and bearing the weight of people’s expectations of her. But I also found her annoying majority of the book I didn’t understand her resistance in involving the police.

The black hearts in the story could’ve been a lot more impactful than they were. The suffering Becca experienced seeing the black hearts wasn’t executed in a way whereas a reader I understood the impact of them.

I thought the person responsible could’ve been a better twist it’s more of a light hearted mystery book than a psychological thriller. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Becca is thisclose to being a recluse. She doesn’t socialize except for her weekly writers club meeting, her mother wants her to apply herself which causes friction. She works odd jobs and doesn’t really do anything other than work and write. Her boss is on a power trip, and she’s not a fan of the police, even though she’s done nothing wrong. This twisty story is at its best before you find out Becca’s secret. Once you find out, the writer-turned-amateur detective comes out and there’s more disfunction, more guessing whodunit. Then once you think it’s all figured out, have you really? I kept expecting an unreliable narrator due to the trauma of her best friends murder. This wasn’t that. Instead it was a thrilling mystery that kept me guessing at the motives of each person (including the main character). #TheWriter #NetGalley

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

The Writer
By Miranda Smith
Publication Date: April 15, 2024

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚THE SYNOPSIS:

Every Monday, I meet my writing group in a warm, lively bar to drink a glass of wine or two. It’s the highlight of my week. But now something terrible is happening.

At first, it didn’t seem like a big deal. My tires were slashed. A woman was hit by a car outside my apartment. Then, yesterday, someone was murdered. And all the details are copied from the stories we shared.

Am I going mad, or is someone in my group a killer?

I thought they were the only people I could trust, since what happened ten years ago. But now I’m terrified one of them knows the truth that lies buried in all my work—the secret I’ve tried so hard to hide. And they want to make me pay for it.

I have to know who’s bringing my stories to life… but will the answer cost me everything?

📚MY REVIEW:

The Writer was definitely a slower burn for me. While it's described as an unputdownable thriller, I didn't find that to be true - at least not initially. I stopped and started it quite a few times, struggling to get into it. Once I got a little further in, it turned out to be a great read overall. I enjoyed the unreliable narrator theme, which is one of my favorite tropes. There's just something fun about an unstable main character that keeps me captivated.

In my opinion, though, there were too many stories going on all at once, and it often felt as if there were too many synapses firing at the same time. That almost made it difficult to follow along with the story sometimes, because so much was being thrown at me about so many different characters.

I will say, however, I didn't guess who the "bad guy" was or how that person was connected to everything going on, so maybe the rapid-fire information coming at me worked just as it was intended! And just when I thought the storyline was all wrapped up in a pretty red bow, another surprising twist came out of nowhere, which was an unexpectedly fun wrap-up to the book!

There was lots to enjoy in this read and I do recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this advanced reader's copy, in exchange for my honest review.

#TheWriter #MirandaSmith #NetGalley #Bookouture #bookreviews
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