Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of The Other People!!

I'm sorry, but I deeply disliked this. I thought the premise was super interesting when requesting this ARC, but the execution fell incredibly flat for me. Everything felt very one-dimensional and I did not enjoy the depictions of mental health. I had such high hopes going into this, but it was just not for me.

This one was enjoyable until it wasn't. It had too much going on, too many characters. Even though I found the end somewhat interesting, it wasn't enough to redeem the rest of the book for me.

Ooooo I have so many good things to say about this book. I am shocked that so many people didn't enjoy it as much as I did, to each their own I suppose. First, I loved the Agatha Christie references and the overall premise behind it. I still thought it was very different from her book, and would love to give more detail regarding the use of it, but I'm afraid that would be a spoiler. I absolutely loved the whitty, sarcastic, beast in the cellar character. It brought some good humor into the story. I will say it was a bit of a slow burner for a while, but totally worth it. That ending though!!!!! I never would have guessed. The entire time I was like ok let's figure this out, if it's like And Then There Were None, I should be able to guess what is happening. NOPE, I could never have guessed that ending. It was done so well and the explanation pieced together perfectly. I loved it!

Thank you Atria Books publishing for providing me an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my review.

The idea of this was really intriguing but the execution just missed, for me. The narrative voice of the beast was cool and I thought that was a unique story element, but unfortunately the pacing and the characters just dragged this story down. I saw someone say that this could have been a good novella and I definitely agree--the Beast was such a compelling voice, but the length of the story didn't do itself any justice. I just didn't like the characters and ultimately ended up not liking the book very much. I can see why people will like this, it had its moments, but this just really wasn't for me.

The Other People: 🧍🧍‍♀️🧍‍♂️⁣
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Thank you @atriabooks and @simon.audio #AtriaPartner #SimonAudio for my gifted copies. ⁣
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“They say that if you want to see what someone’s really like, give them what they want. It’ll accentuate their real character. Especially if you give them money. And power. That’s why so many famous people behave like arseholes. Because they can.”⁣
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This was a miss for me. I had the highest of hopes and the premise was amazing but the execution just didn’t hit for me. My favorite character was the beast in the cellar. I liked their banter and snarkiness to break up the tension and provide some insight on the characters. But that was about it.⁣
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Now even audio was a miss for me and that’s rare. Ramona is from Texas. Let me tell y’all, no she ain’t. 😂 Her accent would slip into some European country accent, but it definitely wasn’t hitting Texas. Also, why?? Why was she from Texas? What was the reason??⁣
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My husband read this one before me and he said “who you think is bad is bad” and he was right. It was very obvious, but I still enjoyed the majority of the jury. I’m such a fan of lock room mysteries, but this was not for me.

Ten Strangers wake up inside a locked house, unsure of how they even got there. They are told that if they want to escape alive, they must solve the disappearance and save a young woman. But as the time to solve the mystery ticks down, they are slowly being murdered. Can they figure out why they are all here before the time runs out? Or before they are all picked off?

My high review of this book comes from the ending. At the start and middle, I was a bit confused where the book was going and was thrown off by some odd events and character interactions. But once I made it to the end, everything kind of came into focus. I will warn, that at the beginning of the store, it does take some time to meet all of the characters and get a vague idea of what is going on. I honestly had no guess about the twist at the end, but that is why I enjoyed it so much. The potential confusion at the beginning was ignored for the thrill of the end. A very interesting and different take on a closed door mystery.

Thank you to Atria Books, NetGalley, and C.B. Everett for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a fun read! I still think about how clever this book was - how creepy this book was. It was a great representation on mental illness all while diving into a new reality of thriller. I read this quickly and enjoyed my time immensely.

I really liked the plot of this book! It kept me on my feet trying to figure out who the killer was. I didn't see the plot twist coming and really enjoyed how the whole book pulled together and wrapped up! Super fun read, especially if you enjoy Agatha Christie!

Ten strangers from different walks of life wake in a house with something chained to their wrist are told they must find Claire or risk their own life. Shades of other locked room mysteries but this one has more characters, an omniscient narrator, and a fair amount of gore. I'm usually a fan of the genre but this one had both too much and not enough going on. And it felt too derivative. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. No spoilers from me because I'm sure there are readers who will enjoy it.

For me, this book had too many points of view and felt scattered. I love a locked room mystery, but I feel the key to the success of one is attention to the setting (claustrophobic) and characters. If you don't mind a book with many POVs, give this a try!

The Other People started off strong, with an intriguing premise and a compelling narrative voice from the Beast, whose direct address to the reader added an engaging, almost playful menace. That aspect alone made me feel like this could have been an excellent short story.

Unfortunately, as a full-length novel, it overstayed its welcome. The pacing dragged, and the multiple POVs often blurred together, making it difficult to track who was narrating at times. The only truly distinct voice belonged to the Beast, while the rest of the characters felt too similar. Additionally, there was a lot of filler—sections that didn’t add to the plot or deepen the story, making it feel unnecessarily long. Some characters could have been cut entirely to streamline the narrative.

The twist at the end did redeem it slightly, but overall, I struggled to stay engaged. Two stars, and that feels generous.

This one was just not very good, I really hated all of the characters. They felt 2 dimensional and unrealistic. It didn’t read as a satire to me to be honest

I don’t really know where to start. I didn’t like any of the characters and the jumps were rough. There were a lot of characters to keep track of because they were all narrating. The twist was good but I’m not sure the journey there was worth it. All in all, just not a fan, and all these characters needed therapy.

This book had such a fun premise. I love a locked room mystery, normally but this fell flat for me. It was a bit of a slog to get through, but I did somewhat enjoy the twist at the end.

The Other People by C. B. Everett puts a different twist on a familiar story.

"Ten strangers wake up in a strange house, not knowing where they are or how they got there. A killer is picking them off one-by-one. A missing girl is running out of time. And then there was one."

You will recognize the alleged plot right away, especially with all of the And Then There Were None references. Everett puts his own spin on it. I can appreciate an author trying to update a story or try something new. But this twist (it's a familiar trope) always feels like a shortcut to me - I am not a fan.
As you go through the story there is a level of surrealism - you're asking yourself "Can that happen? What's really going on"

Good pick if you like to see variations of the And Then There Were None story.

Thank you Atria for my gifted copy!

I am a sucker for ANY And Then There Were None. This held promise, the suspense for a unique twist at the end thick. But if I didn’t pay attention to whose chapter I was reading, I was lost, because all the characters sounded the same. It made it hard to read this book, to truly fall into it, which is such a bummer because it was one of my most anticipated thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book. I thought it had a great storyline and character development. I would definitely recommend this book.

I have so many conflicting feelings about this novel.
I applaud C.B. Everett's thought process and the unique way the story was written.
There are many characters to follow, all giving their own point of view and they are all unreliable. As it turns out, the character I most trusted ended up being the craziest one of the bunch. HA!
While original , the writing felt like two different authors. There were two or three chapters that I recall completely enjoying and the rest felt too contrived/convenient. I picked up on a strong anti-Christian view - whether projection from the author or simply a character written with strong feelings I could not accurately pinpoint.
I did like the big reveal /explanation but I also felt everything that happened prior was a huge stretch. However, it did make me ponder the mindset of those who may identify with Charles Boyd and the way his mind works.
In the end, I was left wondering if the mind can truly deceive to such a remarkable degree.

3 1/2 rounding up to 4
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the ARC!

The Other People by CB Everett ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Woah buddy, did I have an up and down journey reading this one. The premise was everything I wanted - locked room trope, creepy house, strangers (and their different POVs). And I thought they were well done. The characters themselves were distinct and wholly unlikable (in the best way).

Somewhere along the middle the pacing slowed down for me. And I’m not sure when it happened, but I became lost with what was happening. Like genuinely had no clue - I lost all the threads.

Once things started heading toward the ending, I had a whole time with it. At first I was disappointed, but then I settled into it and felt like it might be ok, and then the actual very end had me clapping with the full circle moment.

Fans of locked room mysteries, gory reads, and unlikable characters will enjoy this one.

Closed door mystery where the guests keep getting killed and they need to find a missing girl before time runs out. I enjoyed the premise of this book and was intrigued to start it. It was a decent story with some good twists definitely different from the books I usually read would recommend to give this one a try. I want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.