The book's description intrigued me, and I looked forward to reading it. Although it was a detailed and 'heavy' read, I enjoyed the technical details of Cate's research to help cure Alzheimer’s. Cate's past and time spent at an institution for troubled kids hides a deep secret. As an adult, she decides to track down an old classmate who became successful like her. It turns out he holds a dark secret as well. Reflecting on the whole story, I realized that it really made me question nature vs nurture and the consequences of one's actions throughout life. Is our 'destiny' written in our DNA or is it learnt behaviour?

I really really wanted to like this book but just could not get into it. The different stories were confusing.

The Outlier is a deliciously twisty psychological thriller that pits psychopath against psychopath in the race for the truth.

@elisabetheaves weaves a diabolical chase of cat and mouse, with a layer of environmental mystery pulsing just below the surface. Give me all the stories with a psychopath as the lead character, I freaking loved Cate and her beautifully flat and totally rational approach to finding answers and finding the missing outlier from her childhood program. I could read a hundred stories of Cate truth be told.

The moving POV was so well done, and I genuinely had no idea what all the moving parts had to do with one another in the beginning. But the further you go and the more diabolical the motives become, every single thread ultimately all tied together so perfectly.

No spoilers, this book is just pure, satisfying entertainment that lives as one of my favourite reads this fall. Definitely a solid add to your tbr if you want something unique and very intense.

Many thanks to @penguinrandomca for the copy and @elisabetheaves I am so so excited to see what you cook up next.

Multi-mystery story. Cate is a neuroscientist focused in the area of memory care. She has had a breakthrough invention and is on the verge of settling when she becomes worried about her name being so public due to her past. She comes from a dark place and everyone she left behind has not faired well. She is worried about being in the spotlight and a target.

A good story about mental illness, morality, and suspense.

This is great! The story is original and well written. The ending ties up the story perfectly and shocked me. This is one of my favorite thrillers of the year! Special Thank You to Elizabeth Eaves,Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Outlier is a deliciously twisty psychological thriller that pits psychopath against psychopath in the race for the truth.

@elisabetheaves weaves a diabolical chase of cat and mouse, with a layer of environmental mystery pulsing just below the surface. Give me all the stories with a psychopath as the lead character, I freaking loved Cate and her beautifully flat and totally rational approach to finding answers and finding the missing outlier from her childhood program. I could read a hundred stories of Cate truth be told.

The moving POV was so well done, and I genuinely had no idea what all the moving parts had to do with one another in the beginning. But the further you go and the more diabolical the motives become, every single thread ultimately all tied together so perfectly.

No spoilers, this book is just pure, satisfying entertainment that lives as one of my favourite reads this fall. Definitely a solid add to your tbr if you want something unique and very intense.

Many thanks to @penguinrandomca for the copy and @elisabetheaves I am so so excited to see what you cook up next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of this novel. I highly enjoyed it and will be recommending it. Unique plot And just straight out you wanna finish it as soon as you start it. You can't put it down!

Psychological thriller that was easy to read, perfect for a weekend binge. I did find that some of the writing felt a little dry and matter of fact, finding it hard to completely dive into the story line, but overall a solid thriller.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Fast paced and kept me wanting more! Totally different from anything I've read before. I thought the story line of the Cleckley Institute was really interesting, especially as the acceptance and acknowledgement of mental health in our country rise.

Nature vs Nurture in this twisted psychological thriller. Well-developed characters and wonderful writing style, full of twists and turns, will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page, trying to anticipate where this story would go.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this novel for review purposes.

This is the first novel by Elisabeth Eaves that I have read. I did not realize I was in for such a good read.

Eaves digs into the world of psychopathic children and the treatment of this condition. I do love reading an interesting novel that also teaches me about a new subject. This is exactly what this novel was.

The thriller/mystery part of the novel was also spell binding. A well written, captivating story that kept me turning pages well past bed time.

The Outlier is an psychological thriller which focuses on neuroscientist Cate Winter who discovers a cure for Alzheimer's while carrying a secret from her past that continues to haunt her. Cate was once a patient at the Cleckley Institute, a facility for rehabilitating psychopathic children. She is haunted by the idea that her success as a scientist might be a fluke. Her discovery of another outlier like herself drives her to locate Hunter and learn about him. Hunter's backstory was interesting to read. I appreciated both Cate's and Hunter's flashback scenes. I found parts of the eco thriller dragged on but I appreciated how the story came together at the end.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled to fully get into The Outlier. Although the synopsis intrigued me, I found that the story was unable to hold my attention. I would be open to reading another book from this author, as what I did read of this novel was well written.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC!

The shifting of perspective worked for a bit, but there suddenly became too many things that you need to be aware of that it threw me off. I'm usually good at keeping track of things and yet this book was hard to digest.

The premise is amazing, and honestly, the writing is pretty suspenseful. I think the always changing perspective is just what I didn't like. Maybe if it didn't change all the time? Other than that, it was a pretty good read.

This is a really unique story, though I found it a little hard to follow at times. It centers on Cate, who is a successful entrepreneur, despite having grown up in a program for psychopathic children. When she finds that there is another potential success story from her childhood, she breaks protocol in order to track him down, and ends up stumbling into a sinister plot.

I thought the concept of the story was really cool, but I got lost a bit when Cate becomes involved in this whole other situation that she came across when on a mission to track down the other outlier. While it did all come together for me by the end, there was just a lot going on that I wasn’t expecting and I wasn’t as invested in the other plotline.

Overall, this was definitely a unique story but went in a different direction than I anticipated. I thought it was a decent read but not entirely up my alley. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Outlier immediately intrigued me with its psychological depth—an antiheroine who grew up in a treatment facility for the rehabilitation of psychopathic children, now grappling with her boundaries and sense of self as an adult. The strong character development in this complex narrative is a compelling draw for readers seeking a thought-provoking read.

I really enjoyed the first part of the book, especially the plotlines that followed Cate's quest to identify the other 'successful' graduate of their program, a character who is as complex and intriguing as Cate herself. And let's not forget a little bit of a sexy bad boy. The dynamics of their relationship when they finally meet are a fascinating exploration of trust, manipulation, and the blurred lines between good and evil.
But then there is another plotline centred around global warming, eco-terrorism, and natural conversation. The two plots didn't mesh for me. This is also based on my reading interests.

Elisabeth Eaves's writing is strong throughout the book, and her ability to create exciting, multi-layered characters shines through. I look forward to reading her next book.

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the gifted copy of the book.

3.5 - I enjoyed it!

I didn’t realize this was the authors debut until I finished the book, which I quite enjoyed. Well paced with the exception of the last 10% which felt rushed and like I missed something.

Cate, a successful entrepreneur, is about to sell her start up. She’s the epitome of success but also has a secret—she grew up and participated in an institute’s rehabilitation program/study for psychopathic children. She believes she’s a fluke as she’s the only success story, until she discovers there was a second outlier. She tracks him down because she wants to compare her life to his and determine what made them different than their peers. While there she learns some hard truths and discovers that he may be tied to more than one mysterious death.

I enjoyed this novel. It took me a while to engage with the story because of its complicated plot line. A lot of stuff happens and it was hard to keep track of how it all fit together. This in turn, caused the plot to drag a little at times. I pleased to discover the disparate plot lines link, become more cohesive and tie up nicely as the plot progressed. One of elements I really enjoyed was the underlying theme related to nature vs nurture vs choice as told through Cate’s eyes.

I rated this novel as 4, as there was no option for 3.5.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for providing me with an ARC of this novel. All of the opinions offered in this review are my own and do not include AI generated content.

There was simply way too much going on in this book! So many elements had good potential, but because there was so much happening, they all fell flat for me.

I did enjoy how everything came together at the end, but I wasn’t invested throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Canada for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I must say I started this one off pretty confused. The first half and the second half seemed like two different parts. During the first half of the book there are two different storylines happening that don’t connect until way later, maybe 75% through, but the author did manage to connect them in a very cohesive way. I think I had a hard time really getting into because there were so many POVs that I didn’t connect to one character directly.

That being said, once I liked Cate I was into it! All the characters are actually really well developed and well rounded. The main story line follows Cate in two timelines and how she is dealing with labels she has been given. With some medical terms, the language used was still reader friendly to the point it wasn’t too intellectual that it would cause the reader to pause, but the amount of research that would have gone into this book is impressive.

The Outlier is a compelling read that explores the complex make up of the mind and the decisions humans make on a daily basis. Overall this book is witty, and shape, and really well written, it just takes some time to get immersed in the story.