Thank you NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, Yasmine Angoe for this E-ARC! I’d rate this book a 3.5/5.. for me I didn’t love it but I also didn’t hate it! It was hard for me to relate to the main character “Jac” and made me dislike this character every page I read. Overall, this book had a lot of twist to it and I enjoyed the ending..which made me round up a half a star!

3.5 rounded up. I liked the mystery surrounding Jac’s past and didn’t mind the slow burn because there were other mysteries intertwined in it. My favorite parts were Jac trying to piece together the cold cases that her grandfather was working on and the group they were apart of. At times it seemed a little too obvious who the villain was but I wasn’t sure if that’s because who I chose to believe for the truth. Even though it was only a small part I loved getting the villain’s backstory once everything was revealed. I was still surprised at some of the details that were unsurfaced. The pace really picked up towards the end and was where a lot of the thrilling moments happened.

Thank you @author_yasminangoe @otrpr @amazonpublishing for the #gifted copy.

Jacinda "Jac" is reeling from the betrayal of a bad boyfriend who had the nerve to steal one of Jac's real life traumas for his novel. No doormat, Jac breaks into his house and steals all his notes.

When her beloved grandfather then suffers a heart attack, she heads to her hometown to be at his hospital bed but immediately suspects that his diagnosis is wrong: someone tried to kill him.

Jac is a strong and entertaining main character. My only criticism of Not What She Seems is that it is not really a true mystery. Jac is pretty sure right away who is responsible for her grandfather's condition and just needs to prove it. That said, the book has plenty of action and betrayal and kept me on the edge of my seat until the end!

Small towns like to label people in specific roles and leave them there. Jacinda was a murderess, and Faye was the town’s new savior. What if people no longer fit in their molds?

The way the author introduces us to Jacinda, she is definitely not an example of responsibility or good choices. She’s in the process of changing her entire future while getting well-deserved revenge on an ex. If these are the impulsive sort of decisions she acts on, it’s easy to imagine her doing something similar to make her unwelcome in her hometown.

When Jac returns to her hometown after so long, she expects to still not be welcomed or accepted. The townspeople have long memories and still think she’s responsible for her father’s death. People are polite, as she’s there grieving the loss of her granddad. Jac and her granddad liked to try and solve old crimes together with some of his online friends, and she’s suspicious when she sees the scene of his heart attack. She wonders if it could actually be the scene of a crime.

While a lot of what Jac does is not well thought-out, her history makes it hard for others to believe that she is usually trying to do the right thing. As a sort of underdog, she isn’t very likable, although the title of the book felt like it was more about the unknown Faye, who moved into town after Jac left and is marrying the mayor. Faye has done good things for the community and everyone wants the mayor to be happy, so most people aren’t looking for anything to be less than perfect.

The story was engaging and earned 3 out of 5 stars. It would be an enjoyable book for those who enjoy contemporary mysteries, small town stories, and characters with surprising pasts.

Not What She Seems is a deliciously twisty, atmospheric, slow burn of a thriller that keeps you hooked and leaves you guessing till the very end.

Give me a small town, southern setting, a pool of mysteries and a cast of flawed characters any day. I live for these types of plots where everyone is a little suspicious and everyone is keeping secrets.

@author_yasminangoe has created a fantastically flawed and often frustrating lead character in Jac, who is fascinating to read if only because she makes terrible decisions. I loved following Jac on her journey of trying to figure out the secrets behind the suspicious nature of her grandfathers death while simultaneously trying to navigate being back in her hometown and balancing her reputation that always precedes her.

No spoilers, but while the first two thirds of this book are a simmering slow build, the last third becomes an all out wildfire of drama. I read well into the night finishing this one, just to see how it played out. Totally worth it.

This one is out now, so don’t wait on getting yourself a copy and getting cozied in with all the sultry mystery.

Many thanks to @amazonpublishing for the copy, @otrpr for inviting me to join the tour and Yasmin for sending such a fabulous story into the world. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read an early copy of this book and for inviting me to be a part of the tour for this book. I will be posting my review on my bookstagram page @readingmama_reviews on my scheduled tour date, which is Monday, August 12. This rwas a very interesting story. I will say that there are several storylines going on here, so you may have to pay close attention so that you don't miss anything. Our main character is a woman named Jacinda Brodie, who returns to her small hometown after the death of her grandfather. Her grandfather, Montavius, is a retired copy who still investigates cold cases and is part of an online group called the Armchair Detectives. Jacinda, or Jac, doesn't believe that her grandfather just had a random heart attack; she believes that it may have been intentionally triggered. By whom you may ask? There is a new woman in town, Faye Arden, who seems to be quite the socialite, but Jacinda sees right through her. This is a bit of a cat and mouse back and forth as Jac tries to catch Faye in her lies and expose her to the town for who she really is. As I mentioned earlier, there are quite a few storylines going on, which was a little confusing at times, but overall, did work to make the plot more exciting. There are also some other topics that are dealt with, such as racism and sexism in the workplace.

This book didn’t really do it for me. When I can’t really understand at least half of why a character makes the decisions they make it’s not going to end well for me. Maybe I will try reading this book again at a later date but for now it’s a no for me.

the suspense!! so thick you could cut it with a knife. im not a big thriller reader so i dont have the highest of expectations. all i care about is if the story grips my attention and i dont guess the plot twist. this one did just that! could not put this down

Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe is an amazing story about women overcoming their backgrounds.

Will Jac find her way out of this current mess?

Jacinda Brodie
Jac is our main character and point of view. Although she seems like a villain or maybe a victim, she is really a strong woman. Jac has lost so much in her life, but she is resilient and will move forward. Returning home is powerful and helps her get over her grief, although the town and her more recent past keep rearing up to interrupt her healing.

I like Jac. She had me rooting for her from the beginning. I knew she was strong, but she exceeded my expectations. Her growth throughout the book is fantastic.

The Mystery
Jac's Grandfather taught her to investigate, but I think both of them underestimated their opponent, and it cost them so much. Jac and her grandfather had a group or forum online to help them called the armchair detectives. I thought that was a marvelous idea and a great way for her grandad to keep his wits about him.

The author creates a ton of thrilling events that keep moving us toward the multiple plot twists and side cases that Jac deals with during her plight to find her grandfather's killer. I couldn't put it down, and when I did, Jac and her investigation kept returning to my mind without fail.

Five Stars
My rating for Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe is five stars. This story reminds us that everyone has secrets and that we don't know even the closest people to us like we think we do. I truly enjoyed this thriller and highly recommend it.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe.

Until the next time,
~Jen

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out Baroness Book Trove.

On the surface, Not What She Seems should be an amazing, thrilling read—a haunted house in the South near the sea, a mystery to unravel—but it falls short. The main character, Jac, is hopelessly unrelatable, constantly making bad decisions without learning from them. Her endless guilt, feelings of being ostracized, and strained relationship with her mother quickly became tiresome.

Jac's actions were frustratingly foolish, like breaking into the Manor for evidence that couldn't even be used against the murderer. And when the murder unfolded right before her eyes, she simply stood by, doing nothing to intervene. The happy ending in the epilogue felt too convenient, given the trauma she supposedly endured.

The slow start, combined with Jac’s persistent self-doubt and obsession with others' opinions, made it difficult to stay engaged. Despite its potential, this book was a disappointment, and I’ll likely avoid this author in the future.

3.5/5
Loving that I have gotten the chance to read another new to me author! I did enjoy this fast paced suspenseful book. There are some unlikable characters in this one that I’d say are pretty flawed and have a lot of trauma. In fact, the main character was one of them. 👀 I think if you go into this one knowing you likely won’t like her it makes the book even better. At times, the plot got wild and crazy and a bit unhinged which I think makes for the perfect summer thriller.

She left home as the local pariah at twenty-two, but when a family tragedy brings her back, she must confront her tortured past and a new danger in town that no one seems to understand but her! Wow this book had some really crazy twists and turns! It had suspense, intriguing, murder, mystery, and a decent storyline! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was worth reading! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for the ARC!

I read this entire book in one day and it's a long one, so that alone is quite a compliment to it!

My biggest problem with this book that started well and ended even better was that there was so much unnecessary fluff in the middle. This book could have been more effective had it been half the length. I feel like the plot of the beginning of the story that lured me in was lost in the woods of the nothingness in the middle of the book.

I did like the main character and was rooting for her!

This is out now!

Yasmine Angoe is not talked about enough! This book was so good. Thrilling and mysterious, the characters were interesting and I loved the ride this book took me on. I was unsure about how the different cases would pull together but in the end it all made sense. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. My only complaint would be that at times it was a little too wordy but, paired with the audiobook, it was easy to get past.

Engrossing mystery with relatable main character. I love this author's writing. It's well-paced. Read this if you enjoy well-developed characters and suspense.

Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe is an action-packed thriller that was truly intriguing. As usual the story was well written and I really enjoyed it.

Oh this book kept me on the edge of my seat!! It was so intense. I was so happy with how this ended. I loved the characters and the setting.

This book was so much longer than it needed to be. I found myself skimming over paragraphs because there were just so many unnecessary details and I just wanted to get to the point. That's a whole other thing, what exactly was the point? There were so many different plotlines going on at one time that I was getting kind of confused.

Jac was a realllly unlikable main character and it made it hard for me to care about anything that

I knew who was behind everything the moment the character was introduced; the whole book was such a let down.

Thank you to NetGalley, Yasmin Angoe and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC of this novel. I was intrigued by both the title and description of the book: however, I found it incredible slow paced and somewhat dull. I managed to read through ~30% of the book before I had to call to quits. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me.

Not What She Seems by new to me author Y. Angoe is a book I'm torn about. I read the blurb and was intrigued.
I started reading and Jacinda was not easy to connect with. She returns home after years away, starts investigating/digging into not her business, becomes annoying, no, this story wasn't for me. This book is what the title promises.