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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
You know, this book came across as creepy to me right from the get go. Scott was too neurotic and seemed a little obsessed with Emily from the start. And that worked perfectly for this book! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
Emily is what I call a "dumpy" character. She's broke, has no friends or boyfriend, on the outs with her family, no ambitions or hobbies, and just got fired from her job. She literally has nothing going for her. This is what made her the perfect candidate for Scott.
Scott was her boss. He paved the way for her to get fired, get dropped from her casting agency, etc just so she would be desperate enough to accept his new job offer. He wanted her to sort of nanny his daughter and be a companion for his wife while he worked his life away. She accepted almost immediately.
She shows up to his huge property on the French coast. It's like a fortress with a security gate, cameras everywhere, etc. Aside from that, it's a gorgeous property and she is absolutely stunned to even be there. She makes friends with his wife and tries to get the little girl to warm up to her but the kid is practically feral and completely mute.
Little tidbits throughout the book make her realize that things are not what they seem. But with no access to the outside world and the gleaming opportunity right in front of her, she bats away her insecurities with the situation. Right up until she can no longer deny that things just aren't right.
It was suspenseful and just the right amount of creepy. Definitely a page turner! I finished it in a day. I definitely recommend it!
Emily is what I call a "dumpy" character. She's broke, has no friends or boyfriend, on the outs with her family, no ambitions or hobbies, and just got fired from her job. She literally has nothing going for her. This is what made her the perfect candidate for Scott.
Scott was her boss. He paved the way for her to get fired, get dropped from her casting agency, etc just so she would be desperate enough to accept his new job offer. He wanted her to sort of nanny his daughter and be a companion for his wife while he worked his life away. She accepted almost immediately.
She shows up to his huge property on the French coast. It's like a fortress with a security gate, cameras everywhere, etc. Aside from that, it's a gorgeous property and she is absolutely stunned to even be there. She makes friends with his wife and tries to get the little girl to warm up to her but the kid is practically feral and completely mute.
Little tidbits throughout the book make her realize that things are not what they seem. But with no access to the outside world and the gleaming opportunity right in front of her, she bats away her insecurities with the situation. Right up until she can no longer deny that things just aren't right.
It was suspenseful and just the right amount of creepy. Definitely a page turner! I finished it in a day. I definitely recommend it!
This is a good book that starts off strong but doesn't really follow through. Emily's character is well developed during the course of the book, but the other main characters, Scott and Nina, are somewhat sketched in with a lot of missing parts to be filled in by assumption of the reader. Even more so with Yves and Verity. There were some great possibilities with those characters! And, while I am a huge proponent of not telling the reader every single darn thing, there is a point where the gap becomes a bit too large. This book does not breach the gap. And, I wanted more because what we did get was good! A very intriguing plot, interesting characters, and the possibility of one of those books that hits home with the reader if not for those little bits that didn't quite get fully looped in to the storyline. I needed that little more. This is Ms. Downes' first book and I will definitely be looking for her next one.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.
What a page turner! An engrossing read throughout which the reader knows something weird and underhand is going on, but just cannot put their finger on exactly what it is. Highly recommended. Thanks to the author and Pigeonhole for the ARC.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Kidnapping
“The Safe Place” by Anna Downes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was given this ARC by @netgalley for a honest review!
What would you do if you were broke, unemployed, and feeling lost? Would you accept an unconventional job to get a fresh start?
This is a debut novel by Anna Downes. I found this very well written and enjoyable. The characters are relatable as mental illness is real. Everyone probably knows someone that suffers from it, but everyone deals with it differently.
“Emily lost her job, apartment, and acting agent in one day.” She calls her mum for the hundredth time asking for money to get her by until the next job comes around. If she can’t be an actress she doesn’t know what she wants to do. When her mum says no she starts feeling desperate.
Scott Denny is the CEO of a successful business and is looking for the perfect person to work for his family. His estranged wife and daughter live hours away in France while he works in London. His desire to go “home” and see them becomes less and less. His wife is lonely, but unwell and needs help around the property.
Emily is the perfect person for his family. When she accepts the unconventional job offer he calls Nina (wife) and tells her he’s sending someone.
Emily arrives at Querencia and is estonished at how beautiful it is. An Oceanside property with two homes and farmland. She can’t shake the feeling something odd is happening here. It is so remote there are no phones, no internet, and no outsiders. There is Nina and her six year old daughter Aurelia plus a groundskeeper Yves.
Emily falls into a routine and is loving the simple life. She starts questioning things that are going on around the property. One minute Nina will be sweet and motherly and the next she will rage out. She thought she finally found the family of her dreams. When Emily starts to investigate the Denny family she is shocked at what she finds. If there is no escape from Querencia how will she survive?
Thrillers make you work for that heart stopping, throat gripping feeling.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was given this ARC by @netgalley for a honest review!
What would you do if you were broke, unemployed, and feeling lost? Would you accept an unconventional job to get a fresh start?
This is a debut novel by Anna Downes. I found this very well written and enjoyable. The characters are relatable as mental illness is real. Everyone probably knows someone that suffers from it, but everyone deals with it differently.
“Emily lost her job, apartment, and acting agent in one day.” She calls her mum for the hundredth time asking for money to get her by until the next job comes around. If she can’t be an actress she doesn’t know what she wants to do. When her mum says no she starts feeling desperate.
Scott Denny is the CEO of a successful business and is looking for the perfect person to work for his family. His estranged wife and daughter live hours away in France while he works in London. His desire to go “home” and see them becomes less and less. His wife is lonely, but unwell and needs help around the property.
Emily is the perfect person for his family. When she accepts the unconventional job offer he calls Nina (wife) and tells her he’s sending someone.
Emily arrives at Querencia and is estonished at how beautiful it is. An Oceanside property with two homes and farmland. She can’t shake the feeling something odd is happening here. It is so remote there are no phones, no internet, and no outsiders. There is Nina and her six year old daughter Aurelia plus a groundskeeper Yves.
Emily falls into a routine and is loving the simple life. She starts questioning things that are going on around the property. One minute Nina will be sweet and motherly and the next she will rage out. She thought she finally found the family of her dreams. When Emily starts to investigate the Denny family she is shocked at what she finds. If there is no escape from Querencia how will she survive?
Thrillers make you work for that heart stopping, throat gripping feeling.
A good read but entirely predictable. The Safe Place managed to keep my attention the entire time but there was always only one way it was going to end and you know it within the first quarter of the book.
The story follows Emily who has lost her job, her agent and her apartment in one miserable day but she is offered a new opportunity by her ex boss to go to France and be a personal assistant to his wife and kid. With nothing to lose she goes off and finds herself in a fairytale location with a kind boss and a quiet child to take care of. However as you can expect, there are plenty of secrets locked up in this place and as Emily starts to unravel them she finds that people are willing to kill to keep them quiet.
A fast read but nothing spectacular
The story follows Emily who has lost her job, her agent and her apartment in one miserable day but she is offered a new opportunity by her ex boss to go to France and be a personal assistant to his wife and kid. With nothing to lose she goes off and finds herself in a fairytale location with a kind boss and a quiet child to take care of. However as you can expect, there are plenty of secrets locked up in this place and as Emily starts to unravel them she finds that people are willing to kill to keep them quiet.
A fast read but nothing spectacular
Was expecting a bit more from the ending. Overall okay book
I received this as an ARC from Minotaur Publishers. I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately it fell kind of short. I felt the book was very drawn out until the last few chapters. Plot twist was expected. And boom the book was over. The ending seemed very rushed. But I did enjoy the overall writing. The author knows how to provide detail and vivid imagery So we can picture every scene in our minds. I would read her books in the future
Original Post: http://www.nerdprobs.com/books/book-review-the-safe-place-by-anna-downes/
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this book. While the description gave me an idea it was going to be some form of mystery, I still didn’t know exactly what kind. I was surprised by this story.
This story played out in a typical drama movie sense. It bothered me a little that it took some time for it to get to the “good part” of the movie. When it did I was thoroughly creeped out. Some of the characters acted very suspect and I found it was hard for me to read at night in the dark. Every creak and noise I heard had me looking over my shoulder. Downes definitely knows how to up the creep factor!
My only complaint about this story is that there were times it was high intensity and suspense, and others where it was really slow and just seemed to drag out for chapters on end. I wish the whole book was as good as the last 25%-35% of it. I would be able to give it five stars. But unfortunately those slow moments made me struggle reading at times and knocked it down a star for me.
Aside from the ups and down of how I felt it flowed, I think the story was overall really exciting to read. The ending was crazy, twisty, and suspenseful. I read the last 1/3 of the book in less than two hours because of how good it was. I really liked the main character, Emily. Reading her story was like cheering for the underdog, but also really watching someone grow as an individual. I felt like she went from being really insecure and selfish to a well developed, responsible adult. I really enjoyed reading her growth throughout this story and feel Downes portrayed it very well. My favorite part of this book was the ending. Packed full of suspense and twists, I was constantly on my toes on how it was going to end. Downes left me guessing until the very end.
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this book. While the description gave me an idea it was going to be some form of mystery, I still didn’t know exactly what kind. I was surprised by this story.
This story played out in a typical drama movie sense. It bothered me a little that it took some time for it to get to the “good part” of the movie. When it did I was thoroughly creeped out. Some of the characters acted very suspect and I found it was hard for me to read at night in the dark. Every creak and noise I heard had me looking over my shoulder. Downes definitely knows how to up the creep factor!
My only complaint about this story is that there were times it was high intensity and suspense, and others where it was really slow and just seemed to drag out for chapters on end. I wish the whole book was as good as the last 25%-35% of it. I would be able to give it five stars. But unfortunately those slow moments made me struggle reading at times and knocked it down a star for me.
Aside from the ups and down of how I felt it flowed, I think the story was overall really exciting to read. The ending was crazy, twisty, and suspenseful. I read the last 1/3 of the book in less than two hours because of how good it was. I really liked the main character, Emily. Reading her story was like cheering for the underdog, but also really watching someone grow as an individual. I felt like she went from being really insecure and selfish to a well developed, responsible adult. I really enjoyed reading her growth throughout this story and feel Downes portrayed it very well. My favorite part of this book was the ending. Packed full of suspense and twists, I was constantly on my toes on how it was going to end. Downes left me guessing until the very end.
You know that picture of a gorgeous mansion tagged: Would you give up your phone/FB for a year to live in this place? That's immediately what I thought of when I started this book-- and although the situation is different in this book, if you're answer is 'yes,' you will probably enjoy this book ;)
Emily is down on her luck- her acting career that never started has tanked, she can't keep a job and the temp agency she goes to won't be of much help, and she doesn't have anyone left to turn to. So when her (former) boss offers her a job as an assistant to his wife and daughter at a secluded mansion in France, she doesn't hesitate to say 'yes.'
I found myself relating a bit too much to Emily. Too talkative at times, too trusting, too absent-minded... so I think that as a reader, reading about Emily's experience can be relatable to many people who feel down on their luck lately-- "a perfect beach read," for lack of a better phrase.
The format of this book is a bit strange. We get the story from two points of view: Scott (Emily's former/current boss) and Emily. Scott's perspective is frustrating: he reiterates how everything always falls perfectly into his lap again and again. As for Emily, she is written in third-person, with the narrator revealing the 'suspenseful' tidbits when Emily isn't looking. For example, Emily 'feels' something is off as she goes inside a building... and then we're told the camera outside has started blinking. Dun Dun Dun. It happened a few times in the story, and each time I rolled my eyes a bit.
'The Safe Place' is a quick read. It is predictable, but it has its fun "what if" moments to consider. Not a favorite of mine, but a good one!
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Emily is down on her luck- her acting career that never started has tanked, she can't keep a job and the temp agency she goes to won't be of much help, and she doesn't have anyone left to turn to. So when her (former) boss offers her a job as an assistant to his wife and daughter at a secluded mansion in France, she doesn't hesitate to say 'yes.'
I found myself relating a bit too much to Emily. Too talkative at times, too trusting, too absent-minded... so I think that as a reader, reading about Emily's experience can be relatable to many people who feel down on their luck lately-- "a perfect beach read," for lack of a better phrase.
The format of this book is a bit strange. We get the story from two points of view: Scott (Emily's former/current boss) and Emily. Scott's perspective is frustrating: he reiterates how everything always falls perfectly into his lap again and again. As for Emily, she is written in third-person, with the narrator revealing the 'suspenseful' tidbits when Emily isn't looking. For example, Emily 'feels' something is off as she goes inside a building... and then we're told the camera outside has started blinking. Dun Dun Dun. It happened a few times in the story, and each time I rolled my eyes a bit.
'The Safe Place' is a quick read. It is predictable, but it has its fun "what if" moments to consider. Not a favorite of mine, but a good one!
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.