This has taken the usual in law relationship to a new level and added darkness, danger and hostility that made it an intense read.

When Dev meets her soon to be family, things take a harsh turn. It sounds good in theory but wasn’t executed well. Some parts were to unreal and the characters were not great. I wished I would’ve liked it more. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc.

*ೃ༄*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Impassioned artist endures almost complete mental collapse -- or does she?

“𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎—𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎—𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚂𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 ‘𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚎,’ 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚗.”

Opposites attract. She's a right-brained loner starving-artist pursuing her passion. He's gregarious, charming, in finance, and from a wealthy family.

Devon and Richard seems to have the perfect life: newly engaged and about to meet his parents for the first time. Then everything goes downhill, in a very sinister and creep-inducing way.

Fast paced as expected from a psychological thriller, but what a surprise to find beautiful writing as well.

I spent so much of this book wondering who was actually sane. Things felt deranged from the jump, and I suspected almost everyone at some point.

I know some people found the ending ambiguous, which is interesting as I loved the ending and felt I knew exactly what happened! (So if you read this -- let's chat!)

I do suggest going in blind. I enjoyed wondering if all of the characters were suffering from some kind of multiple personality disorder or whether everyone is just a lying liar who lies. Although you have to suspend disbelief about some aspects, I found this highly addictive and loved the twists and turns.

A short but good little story. Kept me engaged, did feel like some things inside the book could’ve been more elaborated on and/or given more to the story- but I really liked it!

If you enjoy the visiting your fiance's wealthy parents trope, this is a twisty one for you. There's some unlikable and annoying characters in this one. I liked the sessions with the therapist. I found the relationship very odd but it made sense in the end

A book that made me upset but that I couldn't put down.
Name not taken has a good pace, pretty descriptions of art and interesting characters which I could've preferred to be explored in depth.
The strongest element of this book is how every twist makes you guess whats really going on.

Name Not Taken made me stop reading to think about what I was reading. The story can be seen as just another mystery/suspense novel or as an in depth portrait of maladjusted families and couples with deep personality problems. There's the question of alcohol addiction and all its consequences, also some characters are strong and manipulative and prompt others to act in totally different ways than their normal, they are deceitful and will do anything to achieve their goals not caring for the consequences of their actions. Being raised in a loving environment Name Not Taken was not an easy read but it certainly has provided food for thought.
I thank Ms. Henry, her publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley & Little A for an eARC ❤️

The book is about Devon, a young woman who's engaged to Richard, and she's desperate to fit in with his super wealthy and super dysfunctional family.
But things take a dark turn when Devon starts to realize that Richard's family is playing some serious mind games with her. They're making her doubt her own sanity, and I'm like, "Girl, get out of there!"🤯
I loved how the author, Madeleine Henry, wove together this complex web of psychological suspense. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering what was real and what was just Devon's paranoia.
This was my first book by Madeleine Henry, and I'm obsessed! Her writing is so captivating, and I love how she explores the darker corners of human psychology. I'll definitely be reading more of her books in the future!👍🏽

Devon thought her life was going to get better after she got engaged to Richard but that's not what happens. This slow burn sometimes silly novel about a toxic family sees Dev spin out as the result of hostility from Richard's family but mostly from his mother Vanessa. Dev doesn't have a great relationship with her own mother but this is a whole new level. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I've liked Henry's work in the past but this was a miss for me.

1 star

I didn't like this one. I felt like I was getting gaslight along with our main character. The characters were awful, like not the way they were written but the characters themselves (especially Richard). I didn't like the ending either, so... i like psychological thrillers, but this one was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

"On closer inspection, a sliver of a mirror shines in the mess of hair, like a lustrous needle snapped in half. Its bloody tip makes the painting seem even more sinister."




Unreliable narrator trope. Gone girl and Rebecca inspired. We follow mc Dev and her fiancée Richard. Vanessa, Richard's mother, is obviously not in favor of their relationship from the start and things started to get messy when Vanessa just disappeared one day putting even further strain on her relationship with Richard.
This was ok. I was interested to keep on reading and wanted to know more about the strange disappearance of Vanessa. The second half of the book and the ending was a bit perplexing and just did not wow me.

3.45✨

Big thanks to the publisher, Netgalley for the arc. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Expected release date: March 1, 2025

They say that when you marry your spouse, you also marry their family. But what if that family was a nightmare? In this book, we meet the Belmonts, an old money, family who are introduced to Devon, their son Richard’s new fiancé, and while things on the surface seem to go well, Devon immediately notices that they start putting ideas in Richard’s head. Soon their “concerns” about Devon begin to resemble an-all out campaign against her, or is it? Are they correct in their concerns? After all, Devon has never been very conventional. Hopefully Devon can find out before she loses what is left of her sanity.

I absolutely devoured this novel, staying up way later than I should have because I simply could not put it down. It just captivated me as I was desperate to know what was going to happen and how everything was going to turn out. The plot of the book resembles a car crash that you can see coming. You can’t stop it and you can’t look away, all you can do is wait to see it happen as you watch in horror and frustration.

The themes of family, trauma and obsession were incredibly well done because it showed how insidious such “innocent-seeming” concepts, like spending time with your family or focused on your nuclear, immediate family, on the surface can become when they are manipulated and taken too far. For anyone that has different relationships with their family it also shows how difficult it can be to explain those relationships to other people. I liked that the author showed that. Not all families or relationships look the same, but each impacts us very deeply and all the characters here showed that.

Speaking of the characters, I really liked Devon and her character had a lot of depth. For a lot of the book, it can be hard to pinpoint her exact motivations or frame of mind which keeps the book exciting, but wants you understand her in greater depth things become clearer, and I saw her in an even more positive light. Of course she had some flaws, but who doesn’t?

I can’t recommend this book enough for people who love a good psychological thriller. It was a wild ride that I’ll be thinking about for quite a while, as it left quite an impression on me! I look forward to reading more from this author.

Devon is newly engaged and finally meeting her future in-laws. As Richard, the fiance, pulls the car into the drive, the house is dark...and looks abandoned. There was a mixup of plans, and the couple must come back another time.

When the time to meet finally comes, Devon is quickly intimidated by the Belmont's. They are all well-dressed, with bright blue eyes and not a hair out of place. Right before the couple leaves to return to New York, Richard mentions that the family is concerned about Devon's eating.

What follows is the dictionary definition of gaslighting. There are comments about Devon's moods and questions about her family and mental health. Devon struggles to stay calm and spend extended time in her art studio, painting her feelings, and those paintings are getting darker and darker. Devon begins to question Richard and his commitment as well as his family and their motives, she also slips further and further into her old habits of meal skipping and not showering. When Richard chooses his family after a strange incident, Devon searches for answers and falls down a dark hole of deceit and psychological torture.

The good:
It is a compelling story with excellent psychological twists.
An unreliable narrator that you aren't sure if you like or hate.
Unexpected twists.

The bad:
"Richard's and I" - SAY WE or OUR.
There are constant references to her khaki pants and braided hair.
Dropped plotlines: The brother and his weirdo behavior. Amber. Grammy and Grandpa. Art sales and the art dealer. The detective. Could you give me more?

Madeleine Henry has written an excellent thriller, but I had to re-read the end twice, and I'm still not sure what happened.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Twisty thriller/suspense with an unreliable narrator. I really enjoyed this book read it pretty quick and was interested to see where it was going. It was well written and definitely kept me guessing. I didn't love how the ending wrapped up it felt a little rushed all in all would recommend 3/3.5 star read for me. I want to thank NetGalley and Little A for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately a DNF for me. I’m not a fan of info-dumps about the characters looks and lives straight off the bat and this book did just that in the first few pages. I just feel like it should come more naturally and it can be a bit cringe-worthy.

This was a little bit bananas, I could not believe the main character put up with some of this. Red flags are flying. Passed the time just fine.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

I'm normally not one to go for thrillers that lean towards domestic, but this one won me over with its stellar character building and eerie building of atmosphere and suspense. The use of an unreliable narrator was done incredibly well and the writing was impeccable.

Devon Ferrell and Richard Belmont are engaged, in love, and from two different worlds. Devon is as eager to please Richard’s elite parents as she is to leave the traumas of her childhood behind. After all, the Belmonts are her family now.

But being brought into the fold is unbalancing her. There are the piercing stares from Richard’s brother, the confounding whispers about Devon’s moods and health. It’s as if the Belmonts are looking for reasons to reject her, to fill her with self-doubt and put her on edge. It’s working. And no one seems to be on Devon’s side. Not even Richard.

Are the Belmonts right to be concerned about Devon? Or are they waging a psychological battle against her? The truth is getting darker. Because the mind games have just begun.

Loved it. Will recommend to others.

The author did a fantastic job really creating a mind bending psychological thriller that pulls you in and makes you second guess every character, as well as their motives. This story lured me in with the description about toxic family dynamics and how fundamentally that can shake relationships, which was well done within this story that is immensely relatable to most. The main character, Devon, was so easy to relate to that you couldn’t help but root for them throughout the whole story. This was a great spooky season thriller, that had engaging characters a story that sucked you immediately.

Name Not Taken is a cleverly written exploration of identity and self-discovery packaged in a thriller. Devon was relatable and her journey felt fresh and authentic. It was fast-paced throughout and I highly recommend!