When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…
As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.
Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…
The multimillion-copy New York Times bestselling author B.A. Paris returns to her heartland of gripping psychological suspense in The Therapist–a powerful tale of a house that holds a shocking secret
The Therapist
B.A. Paris
This is B.A. Paris’s fifth book and the fifth one I’ve read. BRING ME BACK was a disaster as far as I was concerned, so I was curious where Paris would go with this one. Psychological thrillers are my absolute favorite books to read. When the storyline involves an actual mental health professional, it piques my curiosity even more. There are so many dark avenues to navigate when talking about characters who explore other people’s minds.
In This book, however, there was a bit of mirror play. Overall, I believe Paris was really expressing the narrative of boundaries and that came through in different plot lines and in several of the dynamics of the characters. I found this book to be extremely consumable, with enough going on that I was continuously interested and relatively satisfied with the book as a whole.
The biggest problem that I have with the writing is that I really felt Paris was again over-explaining, re-hashing too much, Internal dialogue mimicking external dialogue. It creates unnecessary lulls and times where I’m rolling my eyes screaming, “get on with it already.”
Paranoia is often an annoying personality trait to play out with a character while reading a book. And on the opposite side of the spectrum, avoidance of red flags and general apathetic regard for the truth and obvious signs are even more annoying. Paris possibly pushed it to the limit from time to time during this book.
Overall, super entertaining!
Four Stars
So glad I was able to get my hands on an early copy thanks to @netgalley and #macmillanaudio
Check out #netgalley for your advanced copy; request today!
THE OTHER HALF
Charlotte Vassell
This is the first time I have picked up a book by Charlotte Vassell and it will not be my last.
Black-tie, photography is strictly prohibited, and BYOC…sounds like a party.
Are you going?
You are officially invited to Rupert’s 30th birthday party. A private “Midsummer Nights” themed evening gathering in northern London. By the end of the night, someone will be dead. Detective Caius (cool name) (cool spelling) is on the case, and it will be solved in no time.
THE OTHER HALF is a uniquely luxurious way to pass the time. Even when it’s bad it’s good, and even when it’s good it’s bad. I loved the modern details from the start. A swanky private party, a millennial detective, and a bookstagrammer/book reviewer as one of the main characters.
Even though I ended THE OTHER HALF with three stars I would read what Vassell writes next. I consider my reading experience to be a success and I think it would be fun to follow Caius in his next case.
Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Audio, Vintage Anchor, and Anchor for the advanced copies!
THE OTHER HALF…⭐️⭐️⭐️
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
P.J. Tracy
Botox, earthquakes, and caviar for breakfast are just a few of the things that make her latest novel, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, so very L. A.
After a celebratory party an esteemed actor, Evan Hobbes, careens over the side of a cliff to his untimely death. Evan hasn’t been having the best of times lately. A damaging video has been circulating that implies his participation. Which is the last thing he needed.
Now he’s dead and on the case is LAPD detective Margaret Nolan.
We catch up with Nolan and follow along as she unravels the mystery of Evan’s death.
This is the first book I’ve read by P.J. Tracy. I did not feel that the writing or the story offered me much as a reader. There were no characters to connect with which is fine. I love a great unlikeable character. However, there is no one to root for in the book. Including Nolan, which is unfortunate.
Outside of those things, I did not feel there was anything to take away from the novel. I did not feel inspired to continue in the series and I feel that I will soon forget most things about the book. I do not recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy and the opportunity to provide feedback!
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW…⭐️⭐️
