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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
4 out of 5 stars
I have seen this book all over Booktube and I figured that I would try it out. I have heard mixed reviews but most people have really enjoyed this book. I did enjoy this book as well. I enjoyed the build-up factor that the author put into the book. I found myself questioning who was the sane one in the house and what were they hiding. I had a few guesses and one of the turned out to be right but it didn’t ruin the book for me. I did not enjoy the ending though and felt that it could have been done differently. Overall, it was a really good thriller that has the dark feel as well as the family secrets. I would recommend if you enjoy books with those features in it.
Synopsis: Emily Proudman lost everything she had worked so hard for in one day; her acting agent, her job, and her apartment. Sounds like fate is just hitting her hard but her old boss Scott might have had something to do with that. He offers Emily the perfect summer job at his remote estate in France. She is to essentially be the housekeeper and the live-in personal assistant of his wife, Nina and his six-year-old daughter, Aurelia. Emily is completely head over heels with the estate and the company of Nina and Aurelia. Weeks go by and Emily starts to feel as though something is not right between the couple. She realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets and if she doesn’t play along, she will end up dead.
I have seen this book all over Booktube and I figured that I would try it out. I have heard mixed reviews but most people have really enjoyed this book. I did enjoy this book as well. I enjoyed the build-up factor that the author put into the book. I found myself questioning who was the sane one in the house and what were they hiding. I had a few guesses and one of the turned out to be right but it didn’t ruin the book for me. I did not enjoy the ending though and felt that it could have been done differently. Overall, it was a really good thriller that has the dark feel as well as the family secrets. I would recommend if you enjoy books with those features in it.
Synopsis: Emily Proudman lost everything she had worked so hard for in one day; her acting agent, her job, and her apartment. Sounds like fate is just hitting her hard but her old boss Scott might have had something to do with that. He offers Emily the perfect summer job at his remote estate in France. She is to essentially be the housekeeper and the live-in personal assistant of his wife, Nina and his six-year-old daughter, Aurelia. Emily is completely head over heels with the estate and the company of Nina and Aurelia. Weeks go by and Emily starts to feel as though something is not right between the couple. She realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets and if she doesn’t play along, she will end up dead.
How far would you go to make someone happy?
Emily luck had run out, she was struggling to get an acting job, she’d been fired from her real job, her card declined, she missed rent and was going to be evicted. To top it off called her mum to borrow money forgetting it was her birthday, she’d officially hit rock bottom.
That’s when Scott Denny interjects himself into her life. Multi millionaire who wants to offer Emily a job at his home in France living with his wife and daughter to help out around the house and be somewhat of a PA. It doesn’t take Emily long to agree and she’s handed keys and a credit card. She is then asked to sign an NDA and is told that his daughter isn’t well and needs extra care.
She fly’s to France and meets Nina and their daughter Aurelia. She looks normal until things start happening and she begins acting out. Emily isn’t allowed in the main house. She’s confined to the guest wing and outside areas.
Pretty quickly Emily begins to question the way they live. Off the grid and with no communication or access to the normal world. Nothing is as it seems. Emily pieces together the missing puzzle pieces and uncovers their big secret! But to what consequence.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book. I was on the edge of my seat towards the end and like how this played out!
Emily luck had run out, she was struggling to get an acting job, she’d been fired from her real job, her card declined, she missed rent and was going to be evicted. To top it off called her mum to borrow money forgetting it was her birthday, she’d officially hit rock bottom.
That’s when Scott Denny interjects himself into her life. Multi millionaire who wants to offer Emily a job at his home in France living with his wife and daughter to help out around the house and be somewhat of a PA. It doesn’t take Emily long to agree and she’s handed keys and a credit card. She is then asked to sign an NDA and is told that his daughter isn’t well and needs extra care.
She fly’s to France and meets Nina and their daughter Aurelia. She looks normal until things start happening and she begins acting out. Emily isn’t allowed in the main house. She’s confined to the guest wing and outside areas.
Pretty quickly Emily begins to question the way they live. Off the grid and with no communication or access to the normal world. Nothing is as it seems. Emily pieces together the missing puzzle pieces and uncovers their big secret! But to what consequence.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book. I was on the edge of my seat towards the end and like how this played out!
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This story is is one of your ominous, suspenseful "Is this going where I think it's going?" thrillers. The main character Emily, is a reliable narrator, but also one of those people that you throughout the plot think "What are you doing!?" Although, to be fair, her initial situation in the book is pretty dumpy in terms of her physical living situation and her mental state as well. It's fair to believe that it's easier to see the silver lining in such an oddly golden but vague opportunity to solve the immediate problems in her life. Her former boss, Scott, employs her to be a kind of nanny to his daughter/property caretaker/companion to his wife, Nina, in a picture perfect house in middle of nowhere France. Not many details, not much cell service, a lot of odd behavior by Nina and her daughter, Aurelia, that is just normal enough for Emily to brush off.
The plot slinks along at a good, steady pace with enough Easter eggs here and there to give the reader a solid guess at what's going on but still let you enjoy the suspense. The characters were at a nice in-between for a suspense where you don't love them, don't hate them, just understand the actions and consequences that got them to where they are in this merry-go-round that we call life. The actions were of their own making, but the author does a better job than other books I've read of giving the reader a backlight of understanding for some of the darker characters in this story. You don't like their actions or believe they were justified in them, but you can see why they ultimately did what they did. Solid enough ending. Suspenseful read for a good getaway from life. Three out of 5 stars. Not stellar, but as the title states, a good safe read.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.
The plot slinks along at a good, steady pace with enough Easter eggs here and there to give the reader a solid guess at what's going on but still let you enjoy the suspense. The characters were at a nice in-between for a suspense where you don't love them, don't hate them, just understand the actions and consequences that got them to where they are in this merry-go-round that we call life. The actions were of their own making, but the author does a better job than other books I've read of giving the reader a backlight of understanding for some of the darker characters in this story. You don't like their actions or believe they were justified in them, but you can see why they ultimately did what they did. Solid enough ending. Suspenseful read for a good getaway from life. Three out of 5 stars. Not stellar, but as the title states, a good safe read.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.
This is one of those storylines where the shock realisation of a twist hits you, and you flick back through the pages to find how you didn’t see it coming. Were there signs?! The Safe Place is an addictive thriller about Emily Proudman, who is offered the job of a lifetime to work on her ex-bosses’ family home in France. Although, the picture-perfect mansion is not at all what it seems. I wish I could tell you all about it, but it would ruin the twist.. Find out what dark secret is being kept in ‘paradise’.. one that is worth killing for. Haunting, shocking and addictive, this is one of my new favourite thriller books of the year.
What a slow burn, I was invested in Emily’s character at the start, but found her irritating at the beginning of the novel. I found her character to be selfish and uninterested, I began to enjoy reading her POV about 100 pages in.
As I was reading i was waiting for something to happen for the ‘twist’. I felt the build up was a lot & then it happened.
The last third of the book held me captivated and I needed to know what was going to happen.
A few things I didn’t like: I felt like the ending was rushed, there were questions left unanswered and It felt underwhelming. I definitely wish there was more backstory to Scott and Nina, we got a glimpse but definitely could have been further explored as characters
Not a love, not a hate
A solid 3 star
This book was just OK, kind of disappointing as far as thrillers go. I oftentimes felt like the writing was too verbose in places (let us learn about Emily/Scott through the plot vs a wordy backstory that read like an extended bookjacket) and too handwaving in others (i.e. Emily's past). None of the characters are particularly likeable, which only tends to work when the writing is impressive and unfortunately, I don't think this book achieved that.
Emily accepts a job full of white flags and continues to collect them at Querencia before the real suspense begins, but it never really takes off. There was no big 'WOW' factor that I expected from this plot line, as unrealistic as it is: down-on-her-luck girl with sad family history accepts too-good-to-be-true job for ex-boss (whose wife has an unaddressed mental illness) at their remote, secret compound in France with their severely ill, mute daughter and also, they both kind of maybe have feelings for each other.
The storyline, for all its meandering, just kinds of petered out as a watered down thriller - the ending was predictable and underwhelming.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Emily accepts a job full of white flags and continues to collect them at Querencia before the real suspense begins, but it never really takes off. There was no big 'WOW' factor that I expected from this plot line, as unrealistic as it is: down-on-her-luck girl with sad family history accepts too-good-to-be-true job for ex-boss (whose wife has an unaddressed mental illness) at their remote, secret compound in France with their severely ill, mute daughter and also, they both kind of maybe have feelings for each other.
The storyline, for all its meandering, just kinds of petered out as a watered down thriller - the ending was predictable and underwhelming.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
This was an interesting book. It was different from other thrillers which was definitely nice. I know most reviews said it was predictable; however, I didn't predict it. I knew something was up but I didn't think what it was.
I do feel like there were some unanswered questions left floating around. Like what was the smell?! Maybe I missed that part I don't know.
But overall, it kept me engaged and interested throughout.
I think if it is already on your radar then you should definitely read it.
This was an interesting book. It was different from other thrillers which was definitely nice. I know most reviews said it was predictable; however, I didn't predict it. I knew something was up but I didn't think what it was.
I do feel like there were some unanswered questions left floating around. Like what was the smell?! Maybe I missed that part I don't know.
But overall, it kept me engaged and interested throughout.
I think if it is already on your radar then you should definitely read it.
A very enjoyable and formulaic beach read. I devoured this fairly quickly but suspect I will forget it rapidly as well.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Woo! What a ride! Let me start off by saying that Downes’ writing style lent perfectly to the creepy, unsettling, and uncomfortable feeling throughout this story. There are so many small instances of foreshadowing that make you slap your forehead at the ending. You know you should have seen it coming, but there wasn’t quite enough there to put it all together.
Each character was completely their own person and had some form of development as the story progressed. Emily’s past comes to us in pieces as she tries to figure out her present. Nina seems to be the perfect wife and mother, but the sense that something is not quite right with her become stronger throughout. Scott has some habits at the beginning of the story that we begin to see the reasoning behind much later. Aurelia is just… strange and unsettling, but she has her reasons as well.
Reading through, I really couldn’t have guessed where this story would end up. Yes, it’s abundantly clear from the beginning that there is something sinister happening in this beautiful home by the sea, but the ending reveal is far from what I was expecting. This story is unsettling and gripping. I didn’t want to put it down.
Each character was completely their own person and had some form of development as the story progressed. Emily’s past comes to us in pieces as she tries to figure out her present. Nina seems to be the perfect wife and mother, but the sense that something is not quite right with her become stronger throughout. Scott has some habits at the beginning of the story that we begin to see the reasoning behind much later. Aurelia is just… strange and unsettling, but she has her reasons as well.
Reading through, I really couldn’t have guessed where this story would end up. Yes, it’s abundantly clear from the beginning that there is something sinister happening in this beautiful home by the sea, but the ending reveal is far from what I was expecting. This story is unsettling and gripping. I didn’t want to put it down.