The Mirror House Girls by Faith Gardner was a compelling read that follows Winona’s new life at the Mirror House. Within the house is a group of women and one guy who is the leader of the house, they treat the house like their own modern age hippie community. While there, Winona starts to work with Simon on overcoming her fears and past traumas. Simon hosts one on one sessions with each woman in the house to help them all overcome their traumas and fears. As time moves on we see how much Winona ignores and how much Simon preyed on all of their vulnerability. It’s very tense to see how they transform from small community to full fledged cult. There were times where I had to put this down and take a few deep breaths. My heart hurt for all the women at the Mirror House. You see how desperate they are for love, acceptance, companionship.
This almost read as a true crime novel. This was such a different type of thriller. It’s a nice change from the cheating husbands and all the silly little secrets that follow people around the whole book. Highly, highly recommended. I look forward to more reads from Faith Gardner.
Thank you NetGalley and Mirror House Press for this great read.

This was a quick read—I tore through it in one sitting—but it left a mark. The Mirror House Girls is one of those quietly unsettling stories that creeps up on you and doesn't let go.

The story follows Winona, who, after a deep personal loss, finds herself renting a room in the strange and idyllic Mirror House. At first, it seems like a fresh start. A group of girls, a charismatic leader, a so-called path to healing. But the deeper she gets, the more off it all feels—until it’s clear this isn’t just a self-improvement community. It’s a cult.

Faith Gardner does an incredible job exploring cult dynamics—not with big dramatic flourishes, but through slow, believable shifts. The portrayal of the girls’ gradual acceptance of the cult’s rules and language is both disturbing and heartbreakingly real. You can see exactly how it happens. The longing for belonging. The craving for structure. The manipulation wrapped in kindness. It’s all there, and it’s done with care.

Simon Spellmeyer, the group’s leader, is quietly terrifying in the way many real-world cult figures are: calm, controlled, charismatic. And the house itself—Mirror House—is both cozy and suffocating at once, which adds to the creeping sense of dread.

It’s brutal at times, emotionally heavy, and very hard to put down. A powerful, unsettling look at the psychology of coercion and what it means to be vulnerable.

This one will stick with me.

This book was a wild ride! I always wondered how people got 'sucked' into cults and this book definitely gave a good insight to how it could occur.
I love how the author set up the story from the FMC pov and from other main character in the setting of a documentary interview. I feel like I could picture it all in my head.
The end was a bit anticlimactic, but nonetheless a 'happy' ending. Would absolutely recommend this book!
Overall rating 4 / 5

THE MIRROR HOUSE GIRLS - A Psychological Thriller – by Faith Gardner

‘When Winona rents a room at the eccentric Mirror House, she hopes to make new friends. What she gets instead is a “family” led by the charismatic psychologist Simon Spellmeyer.’

‘But if she wants to stay at Mirror House, Winona must join in following Simon’s strange protocols for self-improvement. Warning bells chime inside her, yet the allure of transformation keeps her there.’

That was heartbreakingly creepy good. The Ending—My Heart!

You can’t help but empathize with these women who—in seeking love and acceptance—find themselves manipulated through mind games by a madman.

Highly Recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley and Mirror House Press, for providing me with an eBook of THE MIRROR HOUSE GIRLS at the request of an honest review.

Oh how I love a good cult thriller. In this one was one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Maybe because we get to see how a true believer gets sucked in the whole time knowing that this is going to end badly. Like really badly.

Winona is still getting over the death of her grandmother when she meets another girl at a grief support group. What begins as an innocent meeting, leads to dinner at the girls house, the infamous mirror house. A house decorated on the outside, completely with mirrors, a local landmark. But instead of “weirdos” living inside, Winona finds a group of people who truly love each other and seem to understand her like no one else. Their unofficial leader is the mysterious Simon, who gives them free “sessions.” I think you can see where this is going.

As the book proceeds, Winona developed deeper bonds with the others living in the house and become any with Simon, but she also question some things. But she never questions quite enough to break from the group. As the book goes on, we can really see how things are going to play out, but we’re not able to stop them from hurdling toward their inevitable conclusion. It’s really fascinating and the author does such a good job of setting up the suspenseful atmosphere and intense storyline.

One tool, the author uses is letting us know in the beginning, how the story turns out to create a lot of tension within the book as we look forward to see how everything plays out and how it gets to that inevitable conclusion. It’s like we’re sprinting to the end, knowing that there’s a disaster there, but hoping that it will turn out differently. There are some twists in there, and I did kind of guess one of them, but it’s still a great ending because there are enough surprises to keep anyone guessing.

Like I said, there are a ton of mystery/thriller stories with colt things out there, but this one is probably the best I’ve read in a long time or a number of reasons, but most of all the writing and the way the author sets the story up. If you were a fan of this genre you definitely wanna pick this one up.

It sets a new standard to be met.

Twentysomething Winona took care of her dying grandmother in Escondido, California, and is lonely and mourning now that Grandma Jane has passed. At a support group, Winona meets a fellow mourner called Dakota, and agrees to go foraging with Dakota and her housemates. The foraging is agreeable, and Dakota and her housemates are friendly. Winona is invited over to eat the foraging feast, and it turns out the housemates live in the weird 'mirror house' - a house covered in mirrors - that's the talk of Escondido, with some people saying a religious group lives there.

The housemates are Maude, Kristen, Dakota, Scarlett, and a man called Simon Spellmeyer. The atmosphere in the house is laid-back, with cooking aromas, guitar playing, vaping, and drinking......lots and lots of drinking. Winona feels so comfortable that, when she's told there's a spare room in the mirror house, she quickly agrees to move in. Winona transfers her few belongings to the mirror house, and continues to work at her bookstore job.

It soon becomes obvious that Simon is the 'leader' at the mirror house. Simon is a psychologist, but his practice is 'on pause' and he's consulting about 'software engineering stuff.' Nevertheless, Simon is functioning as a therapist for the women in the house, to help them get over their 'fears.' For instance, Kristin needs to stay on the wagon; Scarlett needs to conquer claustrophobia; Winona gets queasy at the sight of blood; and so on. Simon schedules private sessions with the gals for therapy.

Anyone looking in from the outside would KNOW this is a cult, but Winona just thinks she's surrounded by a new loving 'family'. Since alcohol flows freely all day long, Winona's perhaps not thinking clearly, but she's drawn in, day by day, to accept more and more control over her life.

As the story unfolds, Simon attracts more followers and things take a very ominous turn.

The book is told from Winona's point of view with excerpts from Scarlett being interviewed by a journalist. It's not a spoiler to say that Scarlett is speaking one year after Simon's 'girls' committed mass suicide.

This is a typical cult story, and as always when one is an 'outside observer', it seems unbelievable that the women are too blinded (or stupid‽‽) to see what's going on.

It you're interested in seeing how someone is drawn into a cult, inch by inch, you might like this book. However, the novel doesn't cover any new ground, being a standard cult indoctrination scenario.

Thanks to Netgalley, Faith Gardner, and Mirror House Press for a copy of the book.

This book got me out a two month long reading slump, it was definitely a 5 star for me.

I have a mixed history with cult books, but this one did it so well. You really understand why Winona gets sucked into the cult, and how what Simon and the other girls say affect her so much. I loved the irony of Winona being the only one to actually overcome her issue, while the other girls who all claimed to be fixed all had the same issues they came into the house with - Kristen was still an alcoholic, Maude was still scared of snakes, and Scarlett was still claustrophobic.

I hated Maude. I don't think I'm meant to like her, but she is actually evil in my opinion, just as evil as Simon. That woman looks for any opportunity to hurt someone or something physically. You could feel her salivating at the opportunity to become a prison ward for all the new girls joining Mirror House. Her need for control allowed Simon to keep his hands clean, and have someone else surveilling the house for him and keep the other girls in line.

I wish we had a little more insight to the other girls who joined the Mirror House later in the book. They are a monolith, and it was really difficult to keep them straight. They just had names, no other defining characteristics. I would've also loved to see Simon unraveling a bit more - it feels like he looses his grip really quickly towards the end. He goes from being very manipulative but smart and somewhat rational, to an outright murderer in a chapter or two. It all happens very quickly, and it would've been nice to see that change happen, even if Winona isn't noticing the pattern herself.

Definitely interested in other books by this author!!

i knew this book was going to end badly, but i still held out hope. “the mirror house girls” was an engaging story that really showed the progression of what a cult might look and be like. it was interesting to read about simon’s “methods” and how he believed that everything in life either steams from fear or love. i grew to care about the main character, winona, but i also wanted to shake her by the shoulders sometimes. it was astounding to see what she was willing to do to remain feeling accepted. thank you the author and netgalley for this ARC!

The Mirror House Girls by Faith Gardner is a gripping psychological thriller with an eerie atmosphere and plenty of twists. While the premise is intriguing and the suspense keeps you turning pages, some plot points feel predictable, and the character development falls a bit flat. It’s an entertaining read, but it doesn’t quite reach its full potential.

Review of The Mirror House Girls by Faith Gardner

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

Faith Gardner delivers a chilling and atmospheric thriller in The Mirror House Girls, a novel that blends psychological tension with an eerie, almost gothic undercurrent. I had the opportunity to read an ARC, and while it wasn’t perfect, it kept me hooked from start to finish with its unsettling mystery and complex characters.

The story follows a group of young women who arrive at the enigmatic Mirror House, each with their own troubled pasts. What starts as an opportunity for reinvention quickly takes a sinister turn as the house’s secrets begin to unravel. Gardner masterfully builds suspense, weaving in themes of identity, trauma, and the fine line between perception and reality. The setting is a character in itself—claustrophobic, beautiful, and unnervingly deceptive.

While the novel’s slow-burn approach works well to build tension, there were moments where the pacing lagged, particularly in the middle. Some plot points felt slightly predictable, but the execution was strong enough to keep me engaged. The character dynamics were compelling, though I wished for a bit more development in some of their backstories to fully flesh out their motivations.

Overall, The Mirror House Girls is a gripping and unsettling read that fans of psychological thrillers and gothic suspense will enjoy. Faith Gardner’s writing is immersive and atmospheric, making this a story that lingers in your mind long after you turn the last page. Looking forward to seeing more from her!

The Mirror House Girls is a gripping psychological thriller that dives deep into the unsettling dynamics of a cult. I couldn’t stop turning the pages as I followed Winona’s journey through the strange, manipulative world of Simon Spellmeyer and his “family.”

The novel is eerily atmospheric and full of tension from the start. Winona, as the outsider looking to find belonging, feels real and relatable as she navigates her growing unease while trying to fit in with her new housemates. The slow descent into chaos and the sense of isolation was vividly portrayed, and I loved how the story made me question what was truly happening within the walls of the compound.

Simon is the perfect charismatic yet terrifying leader. His psychological manipulation and the gradual shifts in his methods felt chilling and believable. As the story progresses, you can almost feel Winona's sense of being trapped tightening around her. The unraveling of her relationships with her housemates adds another layer of complexity, as trust erodes and paranoia sets in. The stakes kept rising, and I was genuinely invested in whether she could escape before it was too late. I was a little bit annoyed with Simon and the rest of the housemates by the end of the novel, although that's probably the expected reaction. It was hard to watch Winona put up with they way they treated her at the end. My heart was pounding in anger several times!

Overall, I really enjoyed this dark and thought-provoking novel about manipulation, trust, and the dangers of idealism taken to extremes. I will definitely by checking out the author's other books. She's a phenomenal writer and storyteller!

This book was seriously one I couldn't put down. Every chapter left you at a cliffhanger and the plot was just innocent at first. But then it turned more intriguing and I had to find out what was going to happen. It left me disgusted, freaked out, heartbroken, but also so happy for the ending. This book was just all around fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mirror House Press and author Faith Gardner for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the concept of the story, and Faith did a fantastic job creating a visual representation of her book. I find the story to be a bit slow at times though. Slow paced or not, I am eager to read the next part and see what happens next!

There is something so fascinating yet insidious when reading books with cults in them. The way that the leader, in this case Simon, can twist a person's thoughts and sense of self, melding them into the image they want for their followers. From the viewpoint of Winona for the before and snippets of Scarlett for after, Faith Gardner weaves a tragic and thrilling story of finding a place where Winona belongs after the death of her grandmother, meeting the magnetic Simon and the other women in a mystical house covered in mirrors. It is a compelling and fast read because it was so hard to put down and the chapters were perfect in getting me to think, just one more chapter.

So, yes, a very well written thriller about a cult and all that leads to the final trust and whether Winona follows them to the end or creates her own ending. That little hope makes this great! Be prepared to read this one about one sitting though!

WHAT A BOOK! The Mirror House Girls is moving, heart-breaking, and utterly unputdownable. The tension builds from the very first page. Reading this book feels like you've been sucked in to the cult alongside the main character. I look forward to reading into this author's backlist.

This was a gripping cult thriller!! I sat on this ARC for a little bit because I was down the fantasy rabbit hole but WOW am I glad I gave this one a chance because I could not put it down. I finished it in 2 days and just could not read fast enough. The need to belong and fear of abandonment hit me right in the feels. I really enjoyed the wild progression of the characters and the cult as they went further and further down the rabbit hole. The way Simon manipulated everyone seemed so believable. I could scarily see this happening in real life. It made me open my eyes to how easily some people really could lose themselves to a group like this.. I also very much loved the short, crisp chapters. A fantastic book all around.

Do you ever read a book that is so anxiety provoking that it literally gives you anxiety and you can’t bear to do anything but read it cover to cover? Well… You’re in luck because this is exactly that kind of book.

Cult thrillers are one of my favorite sub-genres of thriller and this book just kept me reminded why they are. This read like a documentary, but with a fly on the wall scope, which is nice because we truly get to see everything. I liked the jump between past and present and it let me catch my breath with the crazy anticipation. This felt super realistic too, (of course I don’t know cults intimately) but from other media I’ve consumed this felt like an accurate portrayal which made the anxiety better (or worse depending on how you look at it). This is slow burn madness but only validates the realistic portrayal and literally keeps you on the edge till the very end. But once shit goes down it hits hard. There are some very touchy subjects that are talked about, so make sure you’re reading with your mental health in mind.

The main characters were so incredibly well written. I loved and hated them deeply and my heart broke for them entirely. I loved the portrayal of their unique personalities and the different struggles they had. This vibe truly encompassed a slow-moving train crash where you can only watch as a bystander.

What a great book! I absolutely loved how twisty and clever this one was! I was totally engrossed from beginning to end and would definitely read from this author again, So, so, so good!

I have seen quite a few reviews of Faith Gardner books lately on Instagram and so when I had the opportunity to read this one, I jumped. I love cult books, there is something so fascinating about a person or group that can convince people to follow them to the ends of the earth without question and this one did not disappoint. The author did a really good job at slowly setting the scene and introducing us to the characters. The protagonist Winona is in a dark spot in her life and left without connections or friends and she finds this incredible group of people that are loving and accepting, and they bring her into a place that she is yearning for. But it quickly goes sideways and ends in tragedy. This book kept me entertained and locked in. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more by this author.

Very interesting!!

Thank you Faith Gardner and Mirror House Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Eerie and Engaging
Faith Gardner was a new author for me, and I’ll admit—I’ve become pretty picky when it comes to thrillers. That said, The Mirror House Girls was an eerie, gripping read that I’d rate a solid 3.5 stars. It had the unsettling allure of a true crime documentary, with definite Manson family vibes that kept me hooked from start to finish.

What stood out the most was the dual timeline structure, which can sometimes feel overdone, but in this case, it was executed brilliantly. One timeline follows a woman being interviewed for a documentary in the present day, while the other takes us into the past—into the heart of a cult as it tightens its grip on a group of young women. The tension builds steadily, leading to a tragic mass death, leaving only one survivor: the woman now telling her story. The way these two narratives intertwined added depth and intrigue, making the story feel layered and immersive.

This book had an almost cinematic quality, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it adapted into a movie. In fact, thrillers like this seem tailor-made for the screen—full of psychological tension, eerie atmosphere, and twists that linger long after the final page. If you love dark, thought-provoking thrillers with a true crime feel, this one is definitely worth the read.