Author: Kate Alice Marshall
Year published: 2025
Category: Adult fiction (thriller)
Pages: 304 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): USA
Summary: A woman invited to her wealthy fiance’s family retreat realizes they are hiding a terrible secret―and that she’s been there before, by the bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods.
A whirlwind romance.
When Theodora Scott met Connor―wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family―she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives.
Stay away from Connor Dalton.
Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood.
I’ve been here before.
Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.
Review: It was time for a thriller and this one sounded good. The main characer's life is a mystery of its own, she doesn't remember her early childhood, but has vague nightmares and her adoptive family was less than stellar. Mix that in with an uber-wealthy boyfriend's creepy family and this novel works.
Theo isn't a character that I felt bad for even though she's had it rough. She seems like she can take care of herself, is fairly savvy, and though she wants to be accepted by Connor's family, she also won't compromise on what she believes to be true. Yes, she's a bit trusting sometimes, but overall she sees through the family's lies.
There was definitely tension in this novel with the wintry setting, the isolation, the lies, the secrets, and the power the Daltons wield. I was rooting for Theo to escape and to figure out what's going on. And I wanted someone to be on her side. I also didn't see the "truth" coming so that's always good.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Alphabet (Title)--K
No comments
Post a Comment