Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC of this audiobook for my honest review

Incredibly written thriller. The writing was probably my favorite part of this book. However the plot itself just wasn’t perfect for me. I’m sure so many people would like it but weird vibes horror/thriller tends to just make me feel off and I don’t like that. I know that’s just because of how well it’s done but yeah if you like a good weird vibes , what’s going on in this small town mystery thriller this is the book for you. I also didn’t feel super attached to the characters except for a few but not the mother and daughter main duo. It did a really good job at twists and I’d recommend it just wasn’t for me!

I'll be publishing my review on Goodreads and StoryGraph 26th September and on Tik tok most likely will add to a monthly wrap up post with review the beginning of October.

Newlywed Sam moves to Camillia Island to care for her sick mother-in-law, hoping for a happy family life. But strange occurrences, including ghosts trying to warn her daughter Emma, suggest dark secrets on the island. As the messages become more urgent, Sam must confront the island's mysteries and decide whether to protect her new family or uncover the truth.

This dark gothic horror story will transport you to a secluded, creepy environment reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby. The eerie island setting, complete with cult-like vibes, sets the stage for a chilling tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The audiobook was incredibly captivating, making it difficult to press pause. The narrator's voice was perfect, exuding an upbeat tone that complemented the story well.

The characters were provided with a wealth of background information, which greatly contributed to the development of the story. I particularly appreciated the detailed historical context that supported the mysteries of the islands.

If you have a penchant for spine-tingling horror stories set in isolated locales, this is the perfect choice for you. Just remember, whatever you do, don't eat the pie!

Thank you, Dreamscape Media for digital ARC copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you Dreamscape Media, Netgalley and Monique Asher for the audio Arc of Don't Eat the Pie.
Narrated by Cady Zuckerman; Stephanie Willing.

Being someone who loves my food, Don't Eat the Pie intrigued me from the title alone! How can you NOT eat a nice pie?
This narrative is se on a n idilic Camilla island. Sam, a newlywed, comes home to look after her poorly Mother-in law with her husband and her daughter, Emma. Things seem great, until it isn't. There's history in the house, creepy atmosphere and Emma, starts seeing things. Messages from the grave. Don't Eat the Pie...

Monique really knows how to set up a book for some creepy atmospheric story telling, ghosts and some good old witchcraft! The beginning of the book is a slow burn, building not only in the creepiness, the character building but the general plot line. You know where it's going and it's a great ride! The speed of the book picks up and just keeps rolling. I really warmed to both Sam and her daughter Emma. The characters in general are varied and 3D with some unlikeable/likeable characteristics.

Both narrators did a great job in keeping the characters feeling separated and individual.

4.5 stars for Storygraph. 4 stars for Amazon, Netgalley, Goodreads

Monique Asher's debut novel has all the key elements for a gripping horror/thriller: unsettling elderly characters, strange smoothies, an infamous pie, eerie rituals, and a pregnant woman at the center of it all. These ingredients come together to create an atmosphere of suspense and unease, making for an unforgettable reading experience.

Asher delivers a strong first novel, building tension and mystery that kept me engaged throughout. The blend of horror and thriller elements felt fresh and intriguing, showing great promise for future works from this author.

I'd like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was a fantastic debut that I highly recommend to fans of the genre.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

Uhhh I really didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would. I really wanted to like it. I’ll try reading it again some other time.

Sam and Ben have recently married but Ben’s mother has become ill. They decide to move with Sam’s daughter Emma care for her. The house is next to Ben’s home that he previously shared with his former wife who has since passed away. Emma starts to notice bizarre things happening but Sam doesn’t want to cause problems with their new family.

This book was a wild ride! I really enjoyed how bizarre and creepy the story was. There was so much happening and just when I thought things couldn’t get any more weird, they did! This was a fun creepy read perfect for this time of year!

This audiobook was narrated by Cady Zuckerman and Stephanie Willing. They put on a great performance!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Monique Asher, and Dreamscape Media for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review. This publishes on September 23rd.

I have posted my review on Goodreads, my Facebook book club, and will make a TikTok to post before the pub date raving about this book!

I spent the first part of this book confusing the characters and not really knowing what was going on, I spent the rest of it being a little creeped out, but also semi bored? I seem to be truly in the minority here. But while I did enjoy it a little, i felt like it just didn't connect with me.

I enjoyed this title, though I found the end kind of petered out, I felt there were more questions to be answered and more ways the story could develop.

I contemplated DNFing this several times, but curiosity won out. The first 50-60% percent was confusing- a lot of POV switching, timeline switching. I felt like I had no idea what was going on. Once things were made more clear, I did enjoy it more. Enough to bump it to two stars.

I really have nothing else to say because I was completely lost for over half of the book.

I admittedly am not a big horror reader- I enjoy branching out into the genre on occasion. So I am also not really the target audience. So that could be part of the reason I didn't enjoy it very much.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rosemary’s Baby vibes, told from the perspective of a mother / daughter duo. This was interesting to watch the story unfold, both characters slowly discovering the horrors surrounding them, redefining their relationship with each twist. The story was interesting, but hard to stay engaged with at times. I can’t put my finger on what didn’t quite hit for me except, perhaps, the cover art had me expecting something more quirky and campy— which this book is not.

I received an ARC audiobook of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. And to be honest, I started not to request the book. Let's be honest. The book's title and that cover are super cheesy. I honestly looked right past it without even bothering to see what it was about the first few times I saw it. Then the word "horror" in the description caught my eye, so I read the description just to see what it could POSSIBLY be about.

For some reason -- and without much hope of enjoying it -- I requested the book.

And I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

It's very Rosemary's Baby-esque, except set in modern day North Carolina. And yes, that plays a HUGE role in the story, as manners, hospitality, and Southern Gentility are at the core of everything that eventually happens.

It's such an odd and interesting story that I couldn't help but enjoy it.

It had its flaws, for sure. I have no knowledge of the author, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if she was a first-time author. The book was weak and predictable in a few places. But the sheer .... ridiculousness (in a good way!) ... of the book made those weak places not seem so bad.

I don't know. I finished the book about a week ago. And now that I've had time to digest it, I think I'd probably give it 3 stars instead of the 4 that I originally gave it. But straight off of finishing it, four stars was where my mind was, so four stars is where it's going to stay -- at least on Netgalley. I may drop it down to three on Goodreads.

I can't go into the plot without fear of giving things away. But if you enjoy horror and weird, random books, give it a try.

This is the perfect creepy fall read. I was drawn in by the pie, and the complex weave of interpersonal, witchy, and historical elements kept me on the edge of my seat.

Sam is a newly wed, who has been through some hard times but is now trying to embrace life with her seemingly perfect new husband, Ben. Emma is her daughter, who is nearly grown but for now is just along for the ride while life happens to her. Kristen was Ben's first wife, who died a sudden tragic death in child birth.

After Ben's mom has a fall during their honeymoon, this new family is back on the little island where he grew up to help care for his mom, with the ghost of his first wife living next door... At first things seem pretty picture perfect, but as the days and weeks go on, things seem to get progressively more bizarre and unexplainable. This one gets more and more wild as you read it, and the ending actually left my heart in my throat. WTF in the very best way.

The audio narrator managed to embody each of the three POVs really well. Jumping from an anxious but trying to hold it together mother, to an even more anxious teen, to the skeptical first wife, all without breaking any of the characters.

Not going to lie I went into this almost completely blind. I saw a few reviews saying it gave Rosemary’s Baby vibes so I knew I had to get my hands on it. This felt like early seasons of American Horror Story in the best ways, it was creepy and gross but at the same time heartbreaking in spots. I was able to get access to the audiobook thanks to NetGally and the publishers and I’m so thankful I did. The narrator did an amazing job bringing our mother and daughter to life, this has to be one of my favorite audio experiences of the year! This is definitely one I’ll be picking up on release date!! Thank you again NetGally and the publishers for the ARC for my honest review.

Thank you Dreamscape Media, Netgalley and Monique Asher for the audio Arc of Don't Eat the Pie.
Narrated by Cady Zuckerman; Stephanie Willing.

Being someone who loves my food, Don't Eat the Pie intrigued me from the title alone! How can you NOT eat a nice pie?
This narrative is se on a n idilic Camilla island. Sam, a newlywed, comes home to look after her poorly Mother-in law with her husband and her daughter, Emma. Things seem great, until it isn't. There's history in the house, creepy atmosphere and Emma, starts seeing things. Messages from the grave. Don't Eat the Pie...

Monique really knows how to set up a book for some creepy atmospheric story telling, ghosts and some good old witchcraft! The beginning of the book is a slow burn, building not only in the creepiness, the character building but the general plot line. You know where it's going and it's a great ride! The speed of the book picks up and just keeps rolling. I really warmed to both Sam and her daughter Emma. The characters in general are varied and 3D with some unlikeable/likeable characteristics.

Both narrators did a great job in keeping the characters feeling separated and individual.

4.5 stars for Storygraph. 4 stars for Amazon, Netgalley, Goodreads

The audio for this book was top notch and so well done. It was such an entertaining listen. I felt all the emotion from the narrators and they brought this story to life. They brought the dread to life. Highly recommend

I really wanted to like this more, but the nonstop terror events happening back to back to back was just too much. It would be different if they were fewer and farther between, or if there was a hint of subtlety to them, but as it stands, it's just not doing it for me... ESPECIALLY when the premise is "daughter tries to convince mother to leave messed up creepy island but mom doesn't want to rock the boat". Like, that would make more sense if the events occurring were subtle enough to explain away, but they're Halloween haunted house attraction-level of drama, and every event happens like two hours MAX from the last. As in, without exaggeration, it would not be shocking if the grim reaper himself waltzed into the house and started sawing away at this woman's neck and she'd find a way to stay in old witch hell isle.

This book also reads fairly young. For example, there's a child in her late teens whose chapters sound like they're written in the POV of a kid closer to 7-9. I found myself checking more than once to make sure this wasn't YA. And to be honest, it's unfortunate that it's not, because tagging this as YA would have made a lot of my issues with it evaporate.

OK WHAT DID I JUST READ!

This was such an unexpectedly good read! This is the book you want a read that throws together multiple tropes and makes you squirm as all the suspense builds. The characters will frustrate you and have you yelling like you're watching a horror movie and can just SEE all the bad things unfolding.

Weird small island vibes with even stranger occurrences!

I was lucky enough to recieve both the ebook and audiobook and I loved both formats. The narrator was amazing and hooked me from the start. Great pace, enjoyable narration and was the hook that snagged me into the whole read!

OMG, y'all! I just finished Don't Eat the Pie and it was giving Stepford Wives with a full-on Southern charm makeover meets Rosemary's Baby with a side of The Craft! Like, bless your heart, but this audiobook had me craving pie, and not in a cute, Betty Crocker way. Seriously though, the pie in this story? Cursed, y'all—like, evil-witch-spell kind of cursed. So, note to self: NO PIE! EVER!

The twist? Honey, I did not see that coming! I love how they wove all these supernatural elements into the perfect mix of spooky and sassy. I mean, there’s witchy magic, suspiciously perfect southern housewives, and secrets everywhere! It’s like one big spellbinding mystery, and I am HERE for it. I’ll definitely be coming back for seconds (of the book, not the pie, duh). Five stars for making a little Southern hospitality seriously sinister!

This was an absolutely amazing ride of a book. Set near Roanoke on a small island, Emma's mom Sam just remarried, and they move to Edenic Camillia Island. Emma feels there is something strange, especially with the people on the island, and she doesn't want her mother to get caught up in it. There were great twists and turns in this novel, and I loved the narrators. I loved that this was based in folklore and history. Great book just in time for spooky season!
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Don’t Eat The Pie by Monique Asher

Don’t Eat The Pie is an interesting gothic style horror set in current times. When Sam’s new mother in law falls ill, they move back to an island that has more secrets and danger than they could have anticipated. With crazy parties and mysterious warnings, this strange book will have you up all night, unable to put it down. The book had a decent amount of scare and horror, especially if you want to set the mood for the fall. No one is as they seem.

Secrets have a tendency to come out, This book gave the classic Rosemarys Baby feel, but at the same time even darker. This book kept me engaged and wanting more, and while I feel the ending was good, it left you hanging. Not everything is answered, but is that the authors way of going into the next book. This will definitely make you question that slice of pie.

I loved the Audiobook version. The narrators Cady Zuckerman and Stephanie Willing did a fantastic job setting the mood. I loved listening.