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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
I’m a sucker for a good kidnapping story and this was no exception. Some of the twists were a smidge unbelievable, but sort of in the way that horrible things always seem to be beyond the realm of possibility. I was hooked from the first page to the last. And the descriptions of anxiety? Spot on. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #netgalley
I completely devoured this book. Incredibly twisted but compulsive read
When Fern Douglas sees the news about a missing woman named Astrid Sullivan she is sure she knows her, but has no idea how. Fern’s husband, Eric, explains to her that it is probably because of Astrid’s famous kidnapping twenty years ago. But Fern doesn’t remember this at all and insists it has to be something else. Fern is also traveling back home to New Hampshire to help her retired father pack up his house and move to Florida. While she's there she picks up Astrid’s memoir and begins to read and search for Astrid herself.
I enjoyed Megan Collins’ first book, The Winter Sister, but I loved this one so much more! I couldn’t put this down when I started reading it. It gripped me from the beginning and I needed to know what was going to happen.
Fern grew up in a home where both of her parents were constantly engrossed in their work and had no time for her. Her mother was an artist and her father studied psychology. The work and fear experiments her father has done to her are intense, it’s no wonder she has so much anxiety in life now.
There were a lot of twists in this book and although I did guess the main twist it was a while before I was sure that’s what it was because other things kept happening that made me second guess it. I really enjoyed the reveal and everything else that came with it. This was a great thriller and I can’t wait to see what else Megan Collins writes!
Thank you Atria Books for my gifted copy of this book.
I enjoyed Megan Collins’ first book, The Winter Sister, but I loved this one so much more! I couldn’t put this down when I started reading it. It gripped me from the beginning and I needed to know what was going to happen.
Fern grew up in a home where both of her parents were constantly engrossed in their work and had no time for her. Her mother was an artist and her father studied psychology. The work and fear experiments her father has done to her are intense, it’s no wonder she has so much anxiety in life now.
There were a lot of twists in this book and although I did guess the main twist it was a while before I was sure that’s what it was because other things kept happening that made me second guess it. I really enjoyed the reveal and everything else that came with it. This was a great thriller and I can’t wait to see what else Megan Collins writes!
Thank you Atria Books for my gifted copy of this book.
You guys. This book is SO MESSED UP (in the best way possible)!!!! Thank you so much @atriabooks for the gifted copy of Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins.
Fern sees a picture of Astrid on the news and thinks she knows her. Her husband thinks it’s because Astrid was kidnapped years ago and Fern must remember it - but Fern has no recollection of it at all. She heads home to help her psychologist father pack up her childhood home, and starts reading Astrid’s memoir. She starts remembering things about her childhood and as she remembers, the pieces start falling into place. Astrid has disappeared again - will Fern be the key to finding her?
This book was so twisty and the end is crazy. I did figure some of it out, but it didn’t take away from the creepiness of the book. There were definitely a few OMG moments and I finished thinking ‘what did I just read?!’ FYI - I stayed up WAY too late finishing this book last night! Totally worth it though!
I definitely recommend this to thriller readers!
Fern sees a picture of Astrid on the news and thinks she knows her. Her husband thinks it’s because Astrid was kidnapped years ago and Fern must remember it - but Fern has no recollection of it at all. She heads home to help her psychologist father pack up her childhood home, and starts reading Astrid’s memoir. She starts remembering things about her childhood and as she remembers, the pieces start falling into place. Astrid has disappeared again - will Fern be the key to finding her?
This book was so twisty and the end is crazy. I did figure some of it out, but it didn’t take away from the creepiness of the book. There were definitely a few OMG moments and I finished thinking ‘what did I just read?!’ FYI - I stayed up WAY too late finishing this book last night! Totally worth it though!
I definitely recommend this to thriller readers!
Thank you Atria for a gifted copy of the book!
This wasn’t a ground breaking thriller but it was very entertaining! I guessed the twists besides one so it didn’t blow me away but I would recommend it to people who are new to the genre!
This wasn’t a ground breaking thriller but it was very entertaining! I guessed the twists besides one so it didn’t blow me away but I would recommend it to people who are new to the genre!
Wow. I was not expecting this book to be as good as it was. This is the best book I’ve read so far this year!!! Absolutely incredible writing, incredible character development. I can’t express enough how absolutely genius this book is. There is no way you can predict this book. I thought that I had it figured out so many times and was completely shocked. If this book isn’t on your TBR as soon as it is published, you’re going to miss out!! Once again, I literally can’t express enough how amazing this book was. It was such a breath of fresh air in the mystery/thriller genre. I can 100% say this plot is so original and definitely unlike any thriller you’ve ever read before.
Fern knows that face on the news, but how? Has she ever met Astrid Sullivan? She can’t remember, but that face feels so familiar, in fact, that might be the face from her nightmares. While helping her father Ted pack up for his move to Florida, Fern starts reading the book Astrid wrote about when she was abducted and held in a basement with a red door. All the sudden Fern is feeling like this story sounds all to familiar, was she the other girl Astrid mentions in her book? Why can’t she remember?
Oh man, poor Fern had some messed up parents. Her dad ran “experiments” to test fear in his hopes of someday being known for his psychological work. He was awful from page one. This book kept me waiting to figure out when Fern’s memories would come back and what has actually happened. Who had taken Astrid, and where is she now? I did figure out who had taken Astrid as a child daily early, and I also figured out what had happened to Astrid today, but even though I had a good gut feeling, this book still kept me riveted until the last page.
Oh man, poor Fern had some messed up parents. Her dad ran “experiments” to test fear in his hopes of someday being known for his psychological work. He was awful from page one. This book kept me waiting to figure out when Fern’s memories would come back and what has actually happened. Who had taken Astrid, and where is she now? I did figure out who had taken Astrid as a child daily early, and I also figured out what had happened to Astrid today, but even though I had a good gut feeling, this book still kept me riveted until the last page.
Not sure what to say about BEHIND THE RED DOOR other than the marketing team deserves a raise. The premise was interesting but it could have been so much more. This book had so many familiar elements - the anxious MC, unnecessary repetition and an ending the was unsatisfying and dare I say ridiculous.
I'm going to be blunt this book didn't work for me. It sounded interesting, a woman goes missing near the anniversary where she was kidnapped years ago. Fern starts to have memories of Astrid, the missing woman, that seem to be from Astrid's original disappearance. No one had a connection between Fern and Astrid prior to her new memories. Are these really memories or is this Fern's anxiety on overdrive.
Although the synopsis for this novel sounded interesting the pieces didn't come together for me. It felt rushed and not as polished as I'd liked. I didn't connect with any of the characters either which didn't help. Although this novel didn't work for me maybe it will work for you.
Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Although the synopsis for this novel sounded interesting the pieces didn't come together for me. It felt rushed and not as polished as I'd liked. I didn't connect with any of the characters either which didn't help. Although this novel didn't work for me maybe it will work for you.
Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
3.5/4
Have you ever had a strange feeling that something happened in your past, but you can’t remember the event? Fern Douglas has learned news of a missing woman whose face she can’t help but find familiar, however, she has no recollection of ever meeting the woman. Astrid Sullivan was abducted when she was young. Twenty years has passed and Astrid has just released a book about her experience. When news that Astrid has been abducted once more reaches Fern, she feels drawn to the woman and a passion to find out the truth of what has happened to Astrid. Does Fern have a connection to Astrid?
BEHIND THE RED DOOR dives into the unique premise of repressed memories. Could someone possibly completely forget about someone or something that happened to them? Has this happened to Fern Douglas? Does she really know Astrid?
Megan Collins does an excellent job of crafting together a tense story revolving around our main character, Fern Douglas. As Collins takes the reader on Fern’s search we are given a glimpse into not only Fern’s childhood, but also snippets of what happened to Astrid through the use of book excerpts. I absolutely love when crime fiction includes a book within a book element as a way to show more than one narrative. I would have enjoyed reading more from Astrid’s perspective via her book, but I can see why Collins shied away from that with the way the story unfolded.
BEHIND THE RED DOOR may limit the number of perspectives it gives the reader, but it does not leave the secondary characters lacking. These characters feel fully realized and some of them play just as important of a role to the story as our main character, Fern, does. Unfortunately, I ended up disliking most of the characters, including Fern. I know they were meant to be flawed, but I just could not handle how Fern is constantly trying to please others and repeatedly talks about wanting to make other people happy. Yes, it plays into her backstory, but dang it if it wasn’t annoying! I will hand it to Collins that despite my dislike of the characters, I was fully invested in finding out where the story would take me.
If you’ve read this one, I would love to discuss the ending! I really enjoyed the first reveal and then the second reveal just annoyed me. I thought it took a character and changed their personality into something completely not what I would have expected. I know that’s vague, but I don’t know how to describe my irritation without spoilers!
Overall, I think BEHIND THE RED DOOR is a strong addition to the crime fiction genre that will keep a lot of readers on the edge of their seat.
A huge thank you to Atria Books for my gifted copy!
Have you ever had a strange feeling that something happened in your past, but you can’t remember the event? Fern Douglas has learned news of a missing woman whose face she can’t help but find familiar, however, she has no recollection of ever meeting the woman. Astrid Sullivan was abducted when she was young. Twenty years has passed and Astrid has just released a book about her experience. When news that Astrid has been abducted once more reaches Fern, she feels drawn to the woman and a passion to find out the truth of what has happened to Astrid. Does Fern have a connection to Astrid?
BEHIND THE RED DOOR dives into the unique premise of repressed memories. Could someone possibly completely forget about someone or something that happened to them? Has this happened to Fern Douglas? Does she really know Astrid?
Megan Collins does an excellent job of crafting together a tense story revolving around our main character, Fern Douglas. As Collins takes the reader on Fern’s search we are given a glimpse into not only Fern’s childhood, but also snippets of what happened to Astrid through the use of book excerpts. I absolutely love when crime fiction includes a book within a book element as a way to show more than one narrative. I would have enjoyed reading more from Astrid’s perspective via her book, but I can see why Collins shied away from that with the way the story unfolded.
BEHIND THE RED DOOR may limit the number of perspectives it gives the reader, but it does not leave the secondary characters lacking. These characters feel fully realized and some of them play just as important of a role to the story as our main character, Fern, does. Unfortunately, I ended up disliking most of the characters, including Fern. I know they were meant to be flawed, but I just could not handle how Fern is constantly trying to please others and repeatedly talks about wanting to make other people happy. Yes, it plays into her backstory, but dang it if it wasn’t annoying! I will hand it to Collins that despite my dislike of the characters, I was fully invested in finding out where the story would take me.
If you’ve read this one, I would love to discuss the ending! I really enjoyed the first reveal and then the second reveal just annoyed me. I thought it took a character and changed their personality into something completely not what I would have expected. I know that’s vague, but I don’t know how to describe my irritation without spoilers!
Overall, I think BEHIND THE RED DOOR is a strong addition to the crime fiction genre that will keep a lot of readers on the edge of their seat.
A huge thank you to Atria Books for my gifted copy!