Thank you NetGalley and The Book Folks for this eCopy to review

"The Things We Hide" is a gripping domestic thriller that delves into the dark secrets and hidden truths of its characters. The story revolves around Nadia, who is struggling to make ends meet when she meets Jace, a kind and considerate real estate agent. She lands a job with him, and things seem to be looking up. However, Jace’s job involves dealing with the rich and powerful, and Nadia soon finds herself in a dangerous situation. As she tries to keep her new job a secret from Matt, the tension builds, and Nadia realizes that her financial salvation comes at a heavy price. The plot twists and turns, revealing shocking secrets and put Nadia and her family in danger.

The Things We Hide explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the consequences of hiding the truth. The psychological tension is palpable, and the suspense keeps you guessing until the very end. Garbin’s take on the domestic thriller genre is fresh and engaging, adding layers of meaning to the story.

Book Title: The Things We Hide
Author: Vanessa Garbin
Publisher: The Book Folks
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC copy.

Overview:
Would you keep a secret from your partner? This one you might…

Nadia is desperate. Her husband, Matt, has been off work with a back injury for six months, and if she doesn’t find another job soon, they’ll be out on the street. So, she can’t believe her luck when a chance encounter leads to an interview with Jace, a successful real estate agent. More so when she lands the job.

Not only is Jace kind and considerate, but Nadia can’t quite help feeling an attraction when she looks into his gorgeous brown eyes. And when Jace offers her a share of the commission on a luxury house sale, Nadia thinks her financial woes might be over.

Unfortunately, they have only just begun. Dealing with the rich and powerful, her financial salvation is going to come at a heavy price. And Nadia can ill afford the consequences if her husband discovers what she does to earn it…

My Thoughts:
This book is a short and solid thriller. The storyline is strong, and the characters are well-written. The ending twist caught me off guard and was quite satisfying. Honestly, I truly disliked the protagonist – people like him exist in real life too, which made it even more frustrating. From the beginning, I saw all the red flags, but Nadia seemed either too naïve or too blinded by love to notice. It was aggravating to read, knowing where things were headed and who was playing the villain.

It’s definitely a domestic thriller with a fresh story. However, I felt it needed more gripping moments and a bit of extra punch to really capture hearts. The story lacked something, and I found myself getting bored at times. But, overall, it’s a good domestic thriller you can finish in one sitting.

This is pretty good. I was not a fan of being shady and secretive around a significant other, but I get why the book had to do that. It was a thrilling book with lots of twists and turns, and it did keep me engaged from the very beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and The Book Folks for providing this book, with my honest review below.

The Things We Hide was suspenseful and definitely stoked a lot of anger in me but it wasn’t quite to my tastes as a thriller. As I read I was constantly scrutinizing each event and new character to see if they’d be part of any emerging mysteries in this domestic thriller, which was fun until I got to the point where there seemed to be a lot of potential mysteries but nothing that seemed to be fully formed enough to go anywhere.

The plot focuses around Nadia ,who is struggling to make ends meet as she searches for a job while her husband Matt develops alcoholism as he hopes for a back surgery the couple can’t afford. And Nadia has a stalker who sends her lingerie as a little side plot. When Nadia gets a hot tip she starts at a real estate agency where she is invited to help sell a house that would prevent her eviction for missed rent and pay for Matt’s surgery. FYI throughout this portion of the book Matt is evasive about some online buddies he maybe drinks with and has hidden the eviction notice from Nadia. The unthinkable happens for Nadia and she and Matt move away, money in hand. When we next find Nadia out in the country we find her under the controlling thumb of Matt, struggling with PTSD from the events around the real estate deal and in general creeping herself out. Without giving too much away, Nadia’s stalker appears to come back and she is being warned by a mystery person that someone is out to get her.

No spoiler here - Matt sucks. Matt is absolute trash. The rest is just a bit forced as plot twists that didn’t quite land for me. And while I applaud the author for leaving me with still fairly intense anger at deadbeat Matt, I don’t think that a solid thriller makes, though the suspense at what mystery would emerge was fun for a while.

This was a spooky atmosphere going on and enjoyed the psychological thriller element that I was looking for and enjoyed the concept. Vanessa Garbin has a great writing style and the characters were everything that I was looking for. It had that twist that I was looking for and was glad I got to read more.

The Things We Hide by Vanessa Garbin was a real page turner that really grabbed me tight and didn't let go.
The suspense kept building throughout the novel leading to an exciting reveal at the end. It was fast-paced, twisty, and entertaining.
Well thought out, with clever writing and it has great characters.
Vanessa Garbin, delivered an addictive and heart-pounding psychological thriller.

Thank you to the publisher for this book and having me on the blog tour! I loved this short read which kept me on my toes! Full of secrets and twists! A great thriller.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

It was a quick and fast paced read! I was able to read this in an hour. The plot had a lot of potential but there was lacking character development. Because of this, the twist was predictable.

Excited to see what else this author has to offer in the future!

After Nadia's husband hurts his back she finds she has to find employment in order to keep a roff over their heads.

She finds a job with with Jace selling houses and soon finds herself with a dilemma.. does she go through with it in order to keep her house ...and does she keep it secret from her husband...

This was a good read. i do wish the characters were a bit more fleshed out but that said I enjoyed the OMG twist and what Nadia did next. I almost screamed out loud with the final turn ..this is a book I will be recommending..

₊‧ ୨୧ 4.25 stars ◞♡
⤷ arc via netgalley!!

tysm to netgalley and the book folks for approving my request for the arc <3

wow. just… wow 😭✋🏻

this book was truly a hidden gem!! the pacing was amazing and the characters all had a lot of depth and personality to them.
some of the plot twists were a bit predictable, but a few of the other ones had me jaw-dropped 🤧🫂
the writing was super simple and easy to read as well.

i defs recommend reading this when it comes out if u want a quick mystery/thriller!! 💌

A quick read, finished in just a few hours.

Nadia is offered a new job that seems to be too good to be true, but hopes that it will be a turning point for her and her husband, Matt, who is unable to work since injuring his back. When her boss, Jace, makes Nadia an offer that she can't say no to financially, it changes her life in many ways.

Very suspenseful but I also found it very predictable. The story also felt very rushed. The character development was lacking and fell flat in my opinion. Still, it was a good, entertaining read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Vanessa Garbin and The Book Folks for an ARC in return for an honest review

An interesting storyline but lacking in character development.
The further i got into the book the more ridiculous i found it.
In my opinion not one of the best from this author.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
Sorry for the negative review.

I'm not really sure where to start with this one. To start, I really liked the writing style - I was gripped from page one and ended up finishing this one in a single sitting! It had an interesting premise, but then things got a little crazy...in a weird way. The proposition from Jace to Nadia was unexpected, but I figured it would play a bigger role later in the story. Things did come full circle, but it wasn't developed enough to keep it from feeling random and used as more of a shock factor than a deeper plot point. Overall, my biggest issue with this book was that everything felt very brief and rushed - without the deeper character development and backgrounds, the ending felt out of place and just a bunch of shocking "twists" and inauthentic character interactions that didn't really fit the rest of the storyline. While this one wasn't for me, Garbin has a great writing style and I'd love to see more from her. Thanks for the ARC!

Vanessa Garbin, can we meet for coffee to talk about how you wrote this phenomenal book?!? This was just incredible. I am waiting for the Netflix series that needs to come with this. I loved the intensity, the secrets, the honesty, the realness, the characters, the plot. It was just so good! Loved it!

A quick read and an absolute page turner!

Nadia is delighted to be offered a new job and hopes that it will be a turning point for her and her husband, Matt, who is unable to work since injuring his back. When her boss, Jace, makes Nadia an offer that will solve all of their financial woes, Nadia doesn’t feel she can say no, but the repercussions will be life changing in ways she could never have imagined.

Sinister and twisty, with loads of suspense!

4.5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Vanessa Garbin and The Book Folks for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a short, quick read. There is a story with a subplot and the ending ties both together. However, it was lacking in some character development which affected my ability to be fully engrossed in the story.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved this book it was a real page turner I was gripped as I delved deeper to find out how things would play out between Jace and Nadia.

The Port Coogee setting was captivating and somewhere I’d love to live! At times throughout the book I was rooting for Nadia.

There was many twists and mind-blown turns throughout at one stage I had to read it twice as couldn’t believe it! I’d highly recommend this book, I was engrossed; it was so good I read it in 24 hours!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟stars