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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book was incredibly entertaining and fun. Yes a bit predictable but I still really enjoyed it. A quick read. Thanks to Minotaur books for the advanced copy.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Emily Proudman wants nothing more than to be an actress, but with her acting career going nowhere, she is forced to work temp jobs to pay the bills. Unfortunately Emily is about as successful at her temp jobs as she is at acting, and in one unfortunate day Emily loses her job, her agent, and she gets evicted from her apartment. Her luck seems to change, however, when she is offered a dream job, one that almost seems too good to be true, by Scott Denny, a very successful, not to mention very rich, CEO. Soon Emily is flying off to Scott’s estate in France to work for his wife, Nina, as a type of personal assistant, and to help care for his daughter, Aurelia. Soon Emily begins to see past the beauty and serenity she finds in her new job, and discovers that there are secrets hiding within the walls, secrets that, if discovered, could be dangerous and life-altering.
As I have said in many of my reviews, I like novels in which the narrative is told from the perspectives of multiple characters; I like experiencing the action and emotions from a variety of viewpoints, giving me a bigger picture of the events and people’s motivations. The great thing about The Safe Place is that I was able to experience events from Emily and Scott’s viewpoints, but there were also other little random sections within the novel, narrated by third, that added to the mystery of the novel. The characters are quite complex and well developed. There were many times while reading it that I wanted to yell at Emily, to tell her to get her head out of the clouds and open her eyes, but in the end I think she did the right thing. Nina, on the other hand, is quite the tragic character; I almost felt sorry for her at the end, even with her decisions and desires. I do wish that there was more in the novel about her past however. I also wish there was more in the novel, specifically at the end, about Emily and her story; I felt a little jipped and was hoping to get some answers about her past, the same answers that she craves.
The Safe Place was a novel that I could not put down and really enjoyed. It is a page-turner that kept me guessing right until the end. I would highly recommend it to anyone who would enjoy a little mystery with their paradise. Thank you to BookishFirst, Minotaur Books, and Anna Downes for sending me an advanced readers’ copy of The Safe Place, given in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
As I have said in many of my reviews, I like novels in which the narrative is told from the perspectives of multiple characters; I like experiencing the action and emotions from a variety of viewpoints, giving me a bigger picture of the events and people’s motivations. The great thing about The Safe Place is that I was able to experience events from Emily and Scott’s viewpoints, but there were also other little random sections within the novel, narrated by third, that added to the mystery of the novel. The characters are quite complex and well developed. There were many times while reading it that I wanted to yell at Emily, to tell her to get her head out of the clouds and open her eyes, but in the end I think she did the right thing. Nina, on the other hand, is quite the tragic character; I almost felt sorry for her at the end, even with her decisions and desires. I do wish that there was more in the novel about her past however. I also wish there was more in the novel, specifically at the end, about Emily and her story; I felt a little jipped and was hoping to get some answers about her past, the same answers that she craves.
The Safe Place was a novel that I could not put down and really enjoyed. It is a page-turner that kept me guessing right until the end. I would highly recommend it to anyone who would enjoy a little mystery with their paradise. Thank you to BookishFirst, Minotaur Books, and Anna Downes for sending me an advanced readers’ copy of The Safe Place, given in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Emily, adopted as a small child just cannot seem to catch a break or get ahead in life. It feels as if things are always against her. She lost her job, got home and saw that she only has a month left in her apartment, and her acting agent is moving and no other agent is picking her up. She doesn't think she can call Juliet, her adopted mother and ask for money once again. They must regret adopting her, all she does is screws up.
She is breaking down, not sure where to go next. She doesn't want to crawl back to her parents but that might be her only option at this point. The failure, once again. They were never thrilled she was trying to get into the acting scene. After her agent had broken the news, Emily took off upset and on the verge of a panic attack.
Someone is calling her name. Who is that person? How does he know her name? She steps into the street and quickly gets yanked back. She almost was hit, if it wasn't for this man who had been calling her name saving her. Scott, is his name and he says he has a job offer for her. That's if she wants it.
She will be sort of a live in nanny, helping his wife with their child, as well as helping with any other needs around the house. Cooking, cleaning, painting, re-modeling. Whatever is asked of her, but it is very isolated and off the grid. There is a good chance there will be no internet or working phone. But she will have a roof over her head, food and not want for any necessities.
This offer sounds strange, but how can she turn it down. Helping with a child and any other needs doesn't sound that hard. Emily gets there, and fits right in with his wife Nina, however their daughter is a little strange but she has lots of medical issues. According to Nina; allergy to the sun, tantrums, outbursts, doesn't like to be touched and it takes a long time for her to warm up to anyone new.
The three settle in together and Emily proves to be a great help around the place. Helping paint and re-model and it seems that Aurelia even slowly takes a liking to her. Nina and her seem to become good friends as well. It is almost too good to be true, but as the weeks go by and Emily is able to get a little closer to Aurelia, she starts to question her true medical issues.
Emily decides to finally take a day off, after weeks of work and heads into town. She finds a coffee shop and decides to do some research about the few things that Nina claims Aurelia has. What Emily stumbles across, stuns her but all the pieces of the puzzle now make sense. She's torn. She did sign a non-discloser agreement, but this potentially breaks that. How can she go back and act knowing the truth, now? Is this the reason Scott chose her....
This novel had a slow start to me, but it did pick up and then I could not put it down. The author really did well, with not giving away any clues ahead of time and you really had no idea where the story was going to go. Thank you to Minotaur Books for the arc!
She is breaking down, not sure where to go next. She doesn't want to crawl back to her parents but that might be her only option at this point. The failure, once again. They were never thrilled she was trying to get into the acting scene. After her agent had broken the news, Emily took off upset and on the verge of a panic attack.
Someone is calling her name. Who is that person? How does he know her name? She steps into the street and quickly gets yanked back. She almost was hit, if it wasn't for this man who had been calling her name saving her. Scott, is his name and he says he has a job offer for her. That's if she wants it.
She will be sort of a live in nanny, helping his wife with their child, as well as helping with any other needs around the house. Cooking, cleaning, painting, re-modeling. Whatever is asked of her, but it is very isolated and off the grid. There is a good chance there will be no internet or working phone. But she will have a roof over her head, food and not want for any necessities.
This offer sounds strange, but how can she turn it down. Helping with a child and any other needs doesn't sound that hard. Emily gets there, and fits right in with his wife Nina, however their daughter is a little strange but she has lots of medical issues. According to Nina; allergy to the sun, tantrums, outbursts, doesn't like to be touched and it takes a long time for her to warm up to anyone new.
The three settle in together and Emily proves to be a great help around the place. Helping paint and re-model and it seems that Aurelia even slowly takes a liking to her. Nina and her seem to become good friends as well. It is almost too good to be true, but as the weeks go by and Emily is able to get a little closer to Aurelia, she starts to question her true medical issues.
Emily decides to finally take a day off, after weeks of work and heads into town. She finds a coffee shop and decides to do some research about the few things that Nina claims Aurelia has. What Emily stumbles across, stuns her but all the pieces of the puzzle now make sense. She's torn. She did sign a non-discloser agreement, but this potentially breaks that. How can she go back and act knowing the truth, now? Is this the reason Scott chose her....
This novel had a slow start to me, but it did pick up and then I could not put it down. The author really did well, with not giving away any clues ahead of time and you really had no idea where the story was going to go. Thank you to Minotaur Books for the arc!
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thanks to the publisher and BookishFirst for an advance copy for honest review.
This debut has down on her luck Emily taking a job as a house assistant at a luxurious, remote beachside home in France. Obviously that's going to be pure bliss and nothing weird at all is going to happen, right? There is a great sense all along that something isn't right, but it's not clear what exactly is off about the family. The juxtaposition of the gorgeous setting and the "something's off" feeling made for a great story. My assumptions about where the story would go were consistently challenged as the story went in different directions. Is it supernatural? Is there something going on with the adult's relationships? What exactly is going on with daughter Aurelia? I'm hoping that Anna Downes has more stories to come!
This debut has down on her luck Emily taking a job as a house assistant at a luxurious, remote beachside home in France. Obviously that's going to be pure bliss and nothing weird at all is going to happen, right? There is a great sense all along that something isn't right, but it's not clear what exactly is off about the family. The juxtaposition of the gorgeous setting and the "something's off" feeling made for a great story. My assumptions about where the story would go were consistently challenged as the story went in different directions. Is it supernatural? Is there something going on with the adult's relationships? What exactly is going on with daughter Aurelia? I'm hoping that Anna Downes has more stories to come!
Incredibly written! The book goes back and forth between Emily’s and Scott’s point of view. Emily is in a rough spot in her life and her former boss, Scott, gives her the chance of a lifetime. A job as a housekeeper/babysitter/anything his wife needs at their private estate in France. As Emily gets to Querencia, strange things begin happening. Nina, Scott’s wife, seems friendly sometimes but cold others. And one rule is clear - Anna is not to enter the family house. Throughout the book the mystery of Nina, Scott, and their daughter, Aurelia, grows. The ending is shocking, and I hope there’s a sequel so we can see if Emily ever get the truth to her own past.
I received an ARC of this book.
I received an ARC of this book.
This book was kindly sent to me via the publishers and netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wow. Just wow.
Ok, I love a book with a really creepy setting and this was exactly that. Not only did the setting give me goosebumps, It was the perfect juxtaposition between what the main character thought was idyllic mixed with those isolated vibes. I read a lot of thrillers and so although I worked out some of the plot before it happened, knowing didn't make me enjoy this any less and so I have to give it 5 stars!
Looking forward to more from Anna Downes!
Wow. Just wow.
Ok, I love a book with a really creepy setting and this was exactly that. Not only did the setting give me goosebumps, It was the perfect juxtaposition between what the main character thought was idyllic mixed with those isolated vibes. I read a lot of thrillers and so although I worked out some of the plot before it happened, knowing didn't make me enjoy this any less and so I have to give it 5 stars!
Looking forward to more from Anna Downes!