I read this immediately after Imaginary Strangers and while I am glad I didn't have to wait to see what happened next for Will and Camille, I am now impatiently waiting for book 3. Circle of Strangers starts out immediately engaging with a dead body in the garage. Then the book presses rewind and catches us up on everything that lead up to that evening. While I did figure all but one of the twists, I still really enjoyed the story and the twist I didn't figure out left me gasping out loud "NO WAY" and my jaw literally dropped. There wasn't a single character I liked but that's part of the fun of this one, rooting for the least unlikable person , which kept switching for me. I read this almost completely in one sitting and stayed up late to finish it, once I got hooked I was fully committed. I actually enjoyed this one more than the first, I think because it focused more on adults' and less on the kids this time around. This was a pretty short and easy read and like I said it does end us on a massive cliffhanger. Usually, I am not a fan of that but I am just so excited for the next one, I didn't mind it.

Thank to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was not able to get into this one unfortunately. I did not know also that it was part of a series and that it was a second book. It was very slow to start off and it didn't hold my attention so I had to DNF.

Minka Kent does it for me again!

From page one to the very end I was absolutely hooked. I was left wanting more. The cliffhanger at the end has me absolutely dying for more.

Such a quick, easy, enjoyable read.

Minka Kent has always been a favorite of mine and I loved this one just as much as her others. She knows how to write fast-paced books that keep the reader interested.

Quick entertaining thriller. Minka Kent is good at these. I will continue to pick up her books on KU when they come up.

Quick, fun read! The cliffhangers are brutal, but I’m hooked, I have to know what happens next, so I’ll definitely be picking up the next book.

Very much enjoyed this one!! The whole time reading I kept thinking is everyone here crazy? Who's lying? Who's telling the truth? It was such a fun read and had great characters.

Camille and Will move to a gated community for a new start but instead find themselves embroiled in secrets and lies. I love this trope and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Delicious secrets, suspense, characters to root for....or not? Minka Kent is becoming an auto buy for me.

Just finished Circle of Strangers by Minka Kent — 4 and fully untrusting of my neighbors now.

Fast-paced and packed with twists, this one had me second-guessing everyone. I did not see the ending coming.
If I wasn’t already suspicious of the people living around me… I definitely am now.

But here’s the real warning: don’t get so caught up in other people’s flaws that you miss your own—because that’s how you become the suspect. 👀

The only downside of reading early? Now I have to wait who knows how long to find out if there’s a follow-up… because I am INVESTED.

I didn't realize this was part of a series, i was able to follow it but it did seem like a lot was thrown in at once to catch people up. I think my students will enjoy this, it reads like a tv show and is entertaining in that kind of way.

So excited to get my hands on the second book in this series.
Camille is not one to mess with and I CANNOT wait for the third installment.

Color me shocked at the way this story played out. I was so convinced I was right about so many things and it'd be another predictable tale, but I was truly hooked either way, and pleasantly surprised.
Begging someone gets what's coming to them in the next book, but I will twiddle my thumbs and find another Minka Kent to dig into while I wait.
4/5 Stars!

Such a intriguing read . Loved how tge circle of friends interacted.. dud not see that ending coming..Great, crazy, wonderful. Such great characters. I loved reading this book.

Thank to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an early release of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC.

This book is actually a sequel to Imaginary Strangers, so it would be good to read the other book before diving into this one, and it does start with a dead bhody showing up in Camille's garage after Camille and her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

It was a good book, just sometimes a little slow for my taste. It had still a lot of twists throughout, and got more unhinged while progressing. I also enjoyed the rather short chapters. The ending makes me wonder if we are getting another book in the series. I do hope so. It would be a little unsatisfying otherwise.

Camille and Will Prescott relocated from San Diego to Phoenix for a fresh start in a quiet gated community. She meets neighbors with their own drama. Sozi is the gossipy neighbor whos in other neighbor’s business. Mara and Oscar are a troubled marriage with rumors about them. Camille becomes involved in all drama of the neighbors. One day she finds a dead body in her garage lying in a pool of blood.

This was the second book in the series. I wish I read the first book to get a better understanding of what Wills mother did even though the author does reiterate briefly what she did . I would have also gotten to know what Camille’s mother did for her to hate her mother. The neighbor drama was interesting. It had me guessing which neighbor to believe or watch out for. The twist in the end was surprising. The ending leaves it open for a third book in the series

Thank you Netgalley for the free ARC! In my opinion, the cast of characters involved themselves in miscellaneous scenarios where instead of simply asking a direct question; they made mountains out of molehills. I believe most of their dilemmas could have been nipped in the bud by communicating instead of letting things spiral out of control. I was very interested in reading this book because the predecessor was so good. This book wasn’t as easy to get into, but I did, and now I’m exuberant for the third installment.

Have you read Imaginary Strangers by Minka Kent? If you have – then don’t walk, run. Run and pre-order this little gem here. This is part two – the story of Imaginary Strangers continues here. It unfolds, unravels, goes wild. It takes some crazy turns and brings in some literal crazies.

If you haven’t read Imaginary Strangers, then take this as your cue to run, not walk, also. Run to get the first book and then run to preorder the second book. If psychopaths and sociopaths in books are your jam, if book crazies are your trope, if lies and manipulation are what you enjoy in books, and if you love it all laced and spiced up with perfectly developed, deep characters, then you will love this. Oh, and also, this one was a way more emotional read than the first book in the series.

This book was an absolute chef’s kiss perfection. And, the best part? I feel like there might even be book three, if the author decides to delve even deeper into the world of those characters she has already crafted so meticulously.



The book’s pub date is set to August. It’s a long wait, I know. Yet that is also good news, there’s more time to read Imaginary Strangers for those who haven’t read it yet. I’m not entirely sure this would work as a good standalone book though, yet as a book two in series it’s absolutely perfect.

A sequel to Imaginary Strangers, Circle of Strangers is a continuation of Camille’s story. She and her family move to Phoenix, to an exclusive, secure gated community. Even though her mother in law is in jail, the security of their new neighborhood gives a sense of security she’s been searching for for years.

Little does she know, there is an undercurrent under all of that quiet safety that will threaten everything she’s been running and hiding from for over a decade.

This book started slower than the first in the series, but the short chapters and excellent writing kept me enthralled until the story picked up quickly in the back half. Like Imaginary Strangers, I could feel the twist coming but didn’t know exactly what was coming. And then the epilogue happened and my jaw was hanging open. Assuming there is a third book in this series, I’m so excited to see what happens next.

This pair of books is quick and so well written, I’ll be recommending to anyone I know who loves thrillers.

This is a fun series. We are once again left with a cliffhanger and need to wait for the next installment to find out what happens with Camille and her family. The story may be far fetched, but it’s very entertaining. I’ve read many books by this author and I appreciate her snarky sense of humor. I’m looking forward to book three!

What a wild ride. I have read several books by Minka Kent and have enjoyed them all. This book was no exception! Just when you think you know the direction where the story is headed...you suddenly find out you don't. Well written, it left me gasping out loud several times. I hope there will be a follow up. Definitely recommend.

After the twists and turns of book one, I was ready for book two. This one still had all the suspense we love and has you constantly questioning what is real and what isn’t. But 75% of the book was lead up and the last 25% felt like a totally different book. And, after everything she did for her kids in the first, they were barely in it or mentioned in this one which seemed odd. The twist was definitely interesting, but it took the characters in such a strange direction that it truly did feel like I was suddenly reading about different people.

If you enjoyed book one, I think it’s worth the read, but this one just has a different feeling.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for this arc.