There are very few mysteries that genuinely surprise me so the best I can hope for is one that is satisfying and The Note fitted that bill perfectly.

May, Lauren, and Kelsey are on a girls weekend in The Hamptons. After a couple steal a parking spot from them, they payback with a silly prank. But that opens a whole can of worms that pulls in three deaths and a Russian doll’s worth of secrets.

The three women first met at a summer camp and when they were counselors there, a young women accidentally drowned. (Or did she? I think you know the answer). Years later, the three women call themselves the Cancel Crew as they have all committed offenses that have caused them to be canceled on social media. Their close knit friendship is, however, shadowed by all the secrets they are each carrying.

The women are nicely drawn characters and their relationships with all their stresses and coverups make sense of a neatly jigsawed plot. The supporting male cast does what it needs to do without getting too much in the way.

A highly recommended mystery for those who like a good twist, whether or not you can see it coming, and mostly I didn’t.

Thanks to Knopf and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Three friends reunite to repair a fragile, and at times toxic, friendship during a long weekend getaway in the Hamptons. They have a few drinks, and then a few more, and play a childish prank on an unsuspecting tourist that had offended them earlier in the day. From there, chaos ensues. More secrets come out. Accusations are made. Relationships unravel.

I'm rating this 3.5 stars and rounding up. I enjoyed it. It was a slower burn, but held my interest. I loved the idea of a prank gone wrong and all of the consequence that followed. I struggled with not liking many of the characters, but not hating them either. I felt sort of indifferent to all of them. Overall, it's still a book I would recommend.

Publication date: January 7, 2025

*Many thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader's copy.

Thank you for the e-arc NetGalley.

Three best friends get themselves into trouble after leaving a snarky note on a car during their trip.
Turns out the guy who owns the car goes missing.
Great characters and loved the strength of the women who moved past mistakes they had made.

thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review!

oh this book was a mess. but it was kind of a FUN mess with a lot of spirit! like I'm not going to lie. when the original motivation for the original event that sets everything off in this story was revealed, I burst out laughing, and not in a good way. it was just so stupid. I almost stopped reading right there, tbh. but I kept reading and I feel like this silliness actually worked in the book's favor in the end? like things just kept spiraling and spiraling and so much was revealed and to see it all started with like the world's stupidest impetus was kind of impressive, actually.

what I think was less impressive was how this book tried to incorporate like, Every Issue. I feel like I bring this up so much in books, but this one was so unfocused. like so many issues and buzzwords were thrown on the page; there is a multi-paragraph explanation of milkshake ducking ffs. I feel like it fit the book's vibe overall - there are a bunch of plot things that just kind of get thrown out there and don't really get the attention they deserve in any meaningful way. I think the biggest one was that at the end of the book, I don't feel like many of the flaws in the main characters were actually addressed, especially May as she's basically the main character and the one where we spend the most time in her POV so I felt like I knew the most about her. brought up a bunch yes, but not addressed.

all this said, the book had a sort of... weird energy to it that I loved. I feel like the author just needed to like take a break and edit some stuff down. maybe a bunch of stuff.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher and PRH Audio for the ARC and ALC.

I really enjoyed this fast paced thriller. This was my first book by Alafair Burke and I don't believe it will be my last. This book kept me guessing and the ending left me in chills. This book may very well be one of the best thrillers of 2025 (and yes I know it is early to say this).

I thought the audiobook version of this book was also amazing and I thought that Catherine Ho was the perfect person to narrate this book. Therefore, I highly recommend the audiobook.


Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher and PRH Audio for the audiobook and ALC.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my review.

I’m a huge fan of Burke’s writing and this novel was no exception for me. Three old friends get together for some lighthearted fun and an innocent prank goes terribly wrong. But was it really an innocent prank? The story gets deeper the more you dig. Who is telling the truth and what actually is the truth? Everyone has secrets and half lies An excellent story that unravels piece by piece.

My thanks to Net Galley, Knoff, Pantheon, etc for allowing me to review this arc.

3.5 stars!! 3 childhood friends gather for a trip.. An issue over a parking spot leads to a prank note on the car. When a person from the car goes missing and was found dead, the 3 friends find themselves in some deep water.

The first part of the book was very slow establishing May, Lauren, and Kelsie. I found the characters very immature and not likeable. Once the person goes missing from the car it starts to pick up till the final twist.

An ok read

A great mystery read! Three friends with a history of scandalous pasts reunite for a weekend in the Hamptons. A little prank takes a wrong turn, pushing the women into the middle of a murder investigation. With lots of little twists and turns, the woman get quickly pulled into the center of the police investigation.
Burke does a great job keeping the reading guessing, forcing the whodunit question on the reader until the very end. I knew it was a character introduced throughout the book, but I was not expecting the final twist until almost the very end!
This book provided a good mix on the importance of female friendships, as well as a good mystery read.
Thanks to NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, & Anchor for the early read!

Three friends are looking forward to a weekend together after years apart. Having first connect as children and young adults at a music camp, they bonded even more after a shared tragedy and then various scandals pushed them unwillingly into public criticism.

More recently, they have come together over a shared love of solving the NYT game “spelling bee” together each day to earn the title of “Queen Bee”.

The trip was supposed to be a relaxing way to reconnect, but as it goes on, more tragedy seems to find them and secrets are revealed that make everyone question what the truth is and who to trust.

This story pulled me in pretty quickly, and I was trying to figure out some of the connections up until the very end when all was revealed!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a very riveting story. I started reading and couldn’t put it down and go to sleep until I read the last word. May, Kelsey, and Lauren are three friends who find themselves in a difficult situation. The plot twists are intriguing and intense. Tension runs high as the friendship is tested and difficult decisions have to be made. The author did an excellent job of building the characters and allowing the reader to understand who they are. The dialogue is easy to understand and the characters are very relatable. This is a book that I definitely recommend.

Whew! What a fast-paced, thrilling read! This was definitely a book I didn't want to put down. Each of these friends have been through something and have been made into something online. But they've also been there for each other. Just when you think you may have figured things out, I promise, you haven't lol This book had good twists and held my attention. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Alafair Burke, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, and NetGalley for an arc of this novel, in exchange for my honest review, publishing January 7, 2025.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer....

The story surrounds May, Lauren, and Kelsey; three friends who decide on a weekend away in the Hamptons. The problem is that these three women all have complicated pasts and dark secrets, mix in a little alcohol and debauchery and what could go wrong....everything lol. There are always consequences to our actions. Overall I thought it was a pretty good story. I didn't love it, but also didn't hate it either. My first issue was the pacing of the book. It starts off very slow and then, out of nowhere, you're flying towards an ending at a reckless speed. The ending was very rushed and I had so many unanswered questions, leaving me slightly dissatisfied. Also, for the title of this book to be called "The Note", I was disappointed in how little of a role the note actually played. I did enjoy that there are plenty of red herrings, which keep me on my toes, and with the narrator being slightly unreliable, I didn't know who I could trust. Overall it was a solid, middle of the road book.

Im honestly not sure how I found this so engaging when I called the twist from the beginning once the crime occurs. There’s also big jumps that leave out moments where pieces are shown to click. It’s like we see someone died then jump to a few days later when some case events have already occurred. So we don’t get a play by play of everything unfolding even though the story and pacing itself is slow and fairly contained.

All that said, I found myself getting super absorbed in the story, almost like listening to a podcast. I enjoyed the FMC because she felt very different than most thriller FMCs. She’s messy yes, and tightly wound for sure, but also her background and barely simmering rage made her intriguing yet also relatable. The friend side characters were also compelling and I enjoyed the way they were included in providing depth into the friendship arc and the FMC background.

Overall, an enjoyable read, about 3.75 stars.

The Note by Alafair Burke is a thrilling psychological novel that keeps readers hooked from start to finish. The story centers around Megan, who finds a mysterious note on her doorstep that is connected to a traumatic event from her past. As she unravels the mystery, the novel explores themes of trust, betrayal, and secrets.

Burke excels at creating complex characters, and Megan is a relatable, flawed protagonist whose emotional journey drives the plot. The suspense builds steadily, with unexpected twists and alternating perspectives that keep you questioning who to trust. The writing is sharp and engaging, making the tension feel real without relying on action-packed scenes.

While the ending may be a bit predictable for some readers, the overall experience of following Megan's search for the truth is satisfying. The Note is a strong psychological thriller with emotional depth and suspense, perfect for fans of character-driven mysteries.

Whoa! I loved this thriller. May and her friends go away for a long weekend in the Hamptons, but when a drunken prank results in a police investigation, years-old secrets come to light. I really can’t say more about the plot without spoiling, but I’d highly recommend reading it yourself. It was an absolute roller coaster start to finish. The characters had great depth, and it was a literal page-turner that I couldn’t put down! I’ll definitely be adding some more books by the author to my TBR. The book releases January 7, 2025 so be sure to pick up a copy in the new year!
I received an ARC copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Felt like a very basic, cookie-cutter thriller to me. I just couldn't get into it or connect with the characters. Disappointing as the blurb sounded great. I think plenty of readers will like it, but if you're looking for something fresh in the genre, look elsewhere.

I've been a fan of this author for so many years, but unfortunately, this book was just not for me. I didn't connect to or really care about any of the characters, and I had a hard time getting into the story. Some of the characters' back stories were a little confusing to me as well. It did pick up a lot around the 80% mark, and I really enjoyed the ending.

2.5 rounded up

I know I am always in for a twisty tale when reading Ms. Burke's books and this was no exception. The book ha some pacing issues and honestly I feel like we didn't get to know two of the main characters, Kelsey and Lauren, very well. I would have liked more from them. Despite all that, I couldn't put it down. I knew things wouldn't be as they seemed and I got the surprises I knew would be coming. Well crafted plot and twists. And, yes, I guessed early who it was but it wasn't obvious until well into the ending. But even thinking I knew who it was, I couldn't relax until I knew for sure!

This book was pretty decent. It wasn't quite what I expected but the twist was pretty good. Overall, I would recommend to a friend.

I won't be posting my review on this book because it didn't work for me. The cover is great and the social commentary was powerful, but the plot was extremely silly and unbelievable. The writing was good, but it didn't save the story.