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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
If you are a fan of Lifetime movies then this low-stakes thriller will probably be your cup of tea. I thought it was a little too predictable. A bumbling doesn't-have-her-life-together heroine is at once too familiar and too grating. The pacing is good though and you uncover enough clues as the story moves forward to figure out the "mystery".
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was okay! The concept was very interesting. I’m not sure how realistic this book is. The main character has a lot of flaws, some of which are unrealistic. It is shocking to me that she simply goes along with everything at the beginning, she does not care they she can’t use her phone, internet, or call anyone??
I really liked the concept. I feel like this left me wanting more character development with the main character
I really liked the concept. I feel like this left me wanting more character development with the main character
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
I got this book as an ARC. I was excited to dive right in. The cover is fantastic, and the book caught me up in minutes. Great book and I am looking forward to more from this author.
Anna Downes’ “The Safe Place” is a brooding, deep, emotional slow-burner, that builds to dizzying conclusion. An exercise in paranoia and adept at keeping readers guessing, this is a solid debut thriller.
Down on her luck aspiring actress and office temp Emily is having a string of bad luck. She’s not getting any call backs, she’s just been fired from her receptionist temp job and she’s about to be evicted. When the CEO of the company she’s just been let go from saves her from falling into the path of an oncoming bus, things start to take a turn for the better. Scott Denny offers Emily another job, but this isn’t any old job. This job will change Emily’s life. Flown off to the Denny family estate - Querencia - in France by private jet, Emily is thrust into the beautiful, luxurious, isolated world of Scott’s wife Nina and daughter Aurelia. But the Denny’s aren’t all they seem and Emily is about to find out that whilst this job is going to change her life forever, it’s not in ways she expected...
Anna Downes has written a very sophisticatedly chilling novel in “The Safe Place”. The tension builds gradually and mystery meanders throughout the novel, building to a shocking conclusion that you won’t see coming. Downes expertly plants seeds of doubt throughout the narrative and I found myself continually trying to work out exactly what was going on at Querencia and with the Denny’s. I formed all manner of ideas, from the pragmatic to the absurd, but I still didn’t contemplate the truth until exactly when Downes wanted me to. This is testament to her skills as a writer, as the dark revelations are really quite logical, but there are so many other subtleties at play that expertly conceal the final reality. I found this made “The Safe Place” a very thought-provoking read, replacing breakneck pace with a more deliberate, gradual build of suspense. The pace then quickens in the final few chapters and I found myself flying through the events to find out how things end.
The characters are equally complex and mysterious. Emily has overcome a traumatic childhood and we often wonder what exactly she went through and how it might have affected her adult life. She starts of as one of life’s lovable losers, who can’t quite catch a break, but is charming in her own gawky way. However, as events progress she proves herself an admirable heroine as well and the narrative is just as much about her journey and growth as it is the dark secrets hidden behind the fences of Querencia. Scott is a well-written character who is not at all who I thought he was by the end of the novel. Downes depicts him in a very clever way, using smoke and mirrors to disguise exactly who this tortured and deep man is. I enjoyed the fact that I was completely wrong about the role Scott would play in the narrative, as it kept the story fresh and from being predictable. Nina and Aurelia are equally puzzling and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether they were characters to trust or be wary of. They perfectly help heighten the sense of paranoia that Downes so precisely fosters throughout. However, for me, the most enthralling character is Querencia itself. The French estate becomes larger than life - a place of exquisite beauty and enviable luxury, which is all but a facade barely covering a decaying, dilapidated core and a heart of dark secrets. I was reminded of Manderlay in Daphne DuMarier’s “Rebecca”. Similarly, Querencia has a life of its own and is a major contributor to the taut mystery unfolding in front of us. The estate leads us to probe in a similar way that Emily does when she sneaks around - why is she forbidden from entering the family house, what is causing the putrid smell that comes from it, why is the bath stained that concerning rusty colour and what exactly is in the secret basement room? As Emily slowly pieces together the truth, it becomes clear Querencia is both a safety net and a prison, keeping Nina and Aurelia from the outside world - but will it claim Emily? Ultimately, we find that sometimes our Safe Place is actually our jailer.
I recommend “The Safe Place” for thriller fans that enjoy a complex, slow-burning mystery that will keep you guessing until the final page!
Down on her luck aspiring actress and office temp Emily is having a string of bad luck. She’s not getting any call backs, she’s just been fired from her receptionist temp job and she’s about to be evicted. When the CEO of the company she’s just been let go from saves her from falling into the path of an oncoming bus, things start to take a turn for the better. Scott Denny offers Emily another job, but this isn’t any old job. This job will change Emily’s life. Flown off to the Denny family estate - Querencia - in France by private jet, Emily is thrust into the beautiful, luxurious, isolated world of Scott’s wife Nina and daughter Aurelia. But the Denny’s aren’t all they seem and Emily is about to find out that whilst this job is going to change her life forever, it’s not in ways she expected...
Anna Downes has written a very sophisticatedly chilling novel in “The Safe Place”. The tension builds gradually and mystery meanders throughout the novel, building to a shocking conclusion that you won’t see coming. Downes expertly plants seeds of doubt throughout the narrative and I found myself continually trying to work out exactly what was going on at Querencia and with the Denny’s. I formed all manner of ideas, from the pragmatic to the absurd, but I still didn’t contemplate the truth until exactly when Downes wanted me to. This is testament to her skills as a writer, as the dark revelations are really quite logical, but there are so many other subtleties at play that expertly conceal the final reality. I found this made “The Safe Place” a very thought-provoking read, replacing breakneck pace with a more deliberate, gradual build of suspense. The pace then quickens in the final few chapters and I found myself flying through the events to find out how things end.
The characters are equally complex and mysterious. Emily has overcome a traumatic childhood and we often wonder what exactly she went through and how it might have affected her adult life. She starts of as one of life’s lovable losers, who can’t quite catch a break, but is charming in her own gawky way. However, as events progress she proves herself an admirable heroine as well and the narrative is just as much about her journey and growth as it is the dark secrets hidden behind the fences of Querencia. Scott is a well-written character who is not at all who I thought he was by the end of the novel. Downes depicts him in a very clever way, using smoke and mirrors to disguise exactly who this tortured and deep man is. I enjoyed the fact that I was completely wrong about the role Scott would play in the narrative, as it kept the story fresh and from being predictable. Nina and Aurelia are equally puzzling and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether they were characters to trust or be wary of. They perfectly help heighten the sense of paranoia that Downes so precisely fosters throughout. However, for me, the most enthralling character is Querencia itself. The French estate becomes larger than life - a place of exquisite beauty and enviable luxury, which is all but a facade barely covering a decaying, dilapidated core and a heart of dark secrets. I was reminded of Manderlay in Daphne DuMarier’s “Rebecca”. Similarly, Querencia has a life of its own and is a major contributor to the taut mystery unfolding in front of us. The estate leads us to probe in a similar way that Emily does when she sneaks around - why is she forbidden from entering the family house, what is causing the putrid smell that comes from it, why is the bath stained that concerning rusty colour and what exactly is in the secret basement room? As Emily slowly pieces together the truth, it becomes clear Querencia is both a safety net and a prison, keeping Nina and Aurelia from the outside world - but will it claim Emily? Ultimately, we find that sometimes our Safe Place is actually our jailer.
I recommend “The Safe Place” for thriller fans that enjoy a complex, slow-burning mystery that will keep you guessing until the final page!
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
medium-paced
I was so excited in August 2020 when I was notified I had won this in a Goodreads Giveaway. Well, it's February 2021 and the book has still not arrived so I checked it out from my local library. Definitely a suspenseful storyline with little breadcrumbs of clues popping up throughout. The ending felt rushed and not totally fleshed out, almost like a sequel might be planned. Moral of the story-if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
"Emily is a mess. Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day. Emily is desperate. Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily. Emily is perfect. Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly."
"Emily is a mess. Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day. Emily is desperate. Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily. Emily is perfect. Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly."
This isn't a book that I would pick up on my own but I gave it a chance because I won it in a giveaway. It was an interesting experience but it wasn't for me. The writing style was too simplistic, I disliked all of the characters (especially the main character, Emily), and the entire plot felt pointless because Emily was just too dumb and gullible to notice the hundreds of red flags. The story should have ended right where it started.
Also, the idealization of wealthy, charming, physically 'perfect' and 'attractive' Scott and Nina felt less like a plot device to signal to the reader that something must be off and more like someone's personal preferences was being forcefully fed to the reader as if we should agree that these characters had some redeeming qualities, such as their physical attractiveness! Yeah, I'm not convinced. I really didn't want to hear over and over how Scott was Emily's 'handsome human shield, a superhero, her white knight' GAG. The misogyny! That icky, weird romance was so unnecessary.
It didn't matter to me if anything bad happened to Emily because consequences happen for bad decisions, in this case, very very bad decisions. It could have been a lot worse for her and I'm almost disappointed it wasn't. In my opinion, Emily had no character development whatsoever. She was back at a standstill at the end of the book just like she was at the beginning. So then you have to wonder what it was all for?
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC! 2.5 stars
Slow burn domestic (light) suspense
Also, the idealization of wealthy, charming, physically 'perfect' and 'attractive' Scott and Nina felt less like a plot device to signal to the reader that something must be off and more like someone's personal preferences was being forcefully fed to the reader as if we should agree that these characters had some redeeming qualities, such as their physical attractiveness! Yeah, I'm not convinced. I really didn't want to hear over and over how Scott was Emily's 'handsome human shield, a superhero, her white knight' GAG. The misogyny! That icky, weird romance was so unnecessary.
It didn't matter to me if anything bad happened to Emily because consequences happen for bad decisions, in this case, very very bad decisions. It could have been a lot worse for her and I'm almost disappointed it wasn't. In my opinion, Emily had no character development whatsoever. She was back at a standstill at the end of the book just like she was at the beginning. So then you have to wonder what it was all for?
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC! 2.5 stars
Slow burn domestic (light) suspense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Poor Emily is having trouble in all areas of her life - her relationships, her pseudo acting career, and now her job. She arrives at work late, which is the last straw and she is unceremoniously let go but decides to do her best sticking it out for the rest of the day. All the while, the CEO (Scott) observes her behavior.
When Scott tracks her down and offers her a job as housekeeper/fixer upper/companion to his wife at their remote French estate, she doesn't understand how or why she has been chosen, but she's desperate for a job. She doesn't even take time to read the non-disclosure agreement as she signs her name.
When Emily arrives at Querencia, she is taken with the houses, the land and Scott's beautiful and elegant wife, Nina. Even though she's good with kids, Emily's encounter with 6-year-old Aurelia gets off to a rocky start and Emily starts to wonder what the real root of Aurelia's "sickness" is.
Emily does so much work - redoing the paint, scraping dead rodents out of the walls, gardening, feeding the animals, taking care of Aurelia, and learning how to cook - that it wore me out. But Emily is content, and feels accepted by Nina and Aurelia, even though she's not welcome in the main house. Then she starts to wonder - why isn't she allowed in the main house? And boy does she find more than she bargained for.
After a slow start, this book took off and I found myself holding my breath and hoping that bad things did not happen (which, come on reader, you know they do!).
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader's copy for review.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy for review.
When Scott tracks her down and offers her a job as housekeeper/fixer upper/companion to his wife at their remote French estate, she doesn't understand how or why she has been chosen, but she's desperate for a job. She doesn't even take time to read the non-disclosure agreement as she signs her name.
When Emily arrives at Querencia, she is taken with the houses, the land and Scott's beautiful and elegant wife, Nina. Even though she's good with kids, Emily's encounter with 6-year-old Aurelia gets off to a rocky start and Emily starts to wonder what the real root of Aurelia's "sickness" is.
Emily does so much work - redoing the paint, scraping dead rodents out of the walls, gardening, feeding the animals, taking care of Aurelia, and learning how to cook - that it wore me out. But Emily is content, and feels accepted by Nina and Aurelia, even though she's not welcome in the main house. Then she starts to wonder - why isn't she allowed in the main house? And boy does she find more than she bargained for.
After a slow start, this book took off and I found myself holding my breath and hoping that bad things did not happen (which, come on reader, you know they do!).
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader's copy for review.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy for review.