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A review by shelf_inspiration
In Her Shadow by Kristin Miller
4.0
3.5 Stars
"Desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death."- In Her Shadow.
SYNOPSIS: Once his secretary, Colleen is now pregnant with Michael's baby. When he brings her to his opulent estate, Ravenwood, she is abruptly thrust into a life of luxury she's never known. But Colleen finds the immense house suffused with the memory of Michael's beautiful wife, Joanna, who left months ago and who haunts her imagination. It quickly becomes apparent that there is little room for a new mistress of this house: The staff greets her with hostility, and there are entire wings and corridors from which she is prohibited to enter.
Then bones are unearthed in the grove across the street.
When Michael falls under the suspicion of the detectives investigating the case, the soon-to-be mother of his child finds herself hurled deeper into her boyfriend's dark past--a past that threatens to upend all her dreams. But the terrifying secrets lurking in the shadows of Ravenwood pale in comparison to the drastic measures Colleen will take to stake a claim to her new life. - In Her Shadow
REVIEW: Thank you so much to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and Kristin Miller for providing me an advanced reader copy of the book in order for an honest review. Overall, I rated this book 3.5 stars but decided to round the rating up to four stars for review purposes. I am such a fan of domestic thrillers and found this book to be right up my alley. I enjoyed reading this book, found it to be thrilling, and it did keep me guessing throughout the entire book, which is something I enjoy. However, I felt that the plot had some holes which affected the ending for me. For example, the detectives in the story don't seem to catch on to some similar findings (keeping this vague so I don't spoil the story). I also think that there was so much that they missed just out of pure convenience for the plot. One of the characters also seemed to conveniently know some knowledge about another character's whereabouts, and I have no idea how they found this out as it was not present in the book.
I did love the ending of the book and felt that the final twist was great. However, I am not sure I like how it was all revealed. There were great lead-ups to the final reveal, but the last part of the book tells the reader what all happened in a couple of pages or so. I would have rather had more hints or seen the development of this more throughout the book. It felt like a lot at once, and I would have rather had the suspense more drawn out. As I mentioned, the book did keep me guessing the entire time and I was not able to figure out what happened on my own, so this was a good ending.
The characters in this book were all unlikeable people in one way or another, but I think that's what makes this book so good. You are trying to figure out the mystery, but are led in so many directions because everyone is hiding secrets or participating in some shady behavior. I think the characters were all unique and I had no problem telling them apart when parts of the story were told from their perspective (I believe there were four perspectives overall). I think that part of the reason why this story was so interesting to me was because of the characters and the situations that they are all in.
Overall, I enjoyed my time reading this book and would recommend it to people who are fans of thriller books, and especially those who are fans of domestic thrillers. From what I understand from other reviews, it seems like this is the first (or one of the first) thrillers that Kristin Miller has written, and I hope that she keeps writing more. I would be excited to see what she comes up with next, and I also plan to check out her previous titles.
RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2020
"Desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death."- In Her Shadow.
SYNOPSIS: Once his secretary, Colleen is now pregnant with Michael's baby. When he brings her to his opulent estate, Ravenwood, she is abruptly thrust into a life of luxury she's never known. But Colleen finds the immense house suffused with the memory of Michael's beautiful wife, Joanna, who left months ago and who haunts her imagination. It quickly becomes apparent that there is little room for a new mistress of this house: The staff greets her with hostility, and there are entire wings and corridors from which she is prohibited to enter.
Then bones are unearthed in the grove across the street.
When Michael falls under the suspicion of the detectives investigating the case, the soon-to-be mother of his child finds herself hurled deeper into her boyfriend's dark past--a past that threatens to upend all her dreams. But the terrifying secrets lurking in the shadows of Ravenwood pale in comparison to the drastic measures Colleen will take to stake a claim to her new life. - In Her Shadow
REVIEW: Thank you so much to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and Kristin Miller for providing me an advanced reader copy of the book in order for an honest review. Overall, I rated this book 3.5 stars but decided to round the rating up to four stars for review purposes. I am such a fan of domestic thrillers and found this book to be right up my alley. I enjoyed reading this book, found it to be thrilling, and it did keep me guessing throughout the entire book, which is something I enjoy. However, I felt that the plot had some holes which affected the ending for me. For example, the detectives in the story don't seem to catch on to some similar findings (keeping this vague so I don't spoil the story). I also think that there was so much that they missed just out of pure convenience for the plot. One of the characters also seemed to conveniently know some knowledge about another character's whereabouts, and I have no idea how they found this out as it was not present in the book.
I did love the ending of the book and felt that the final twist was great. However, I am not sure I like how it was all revealed. There were great lead-ups to the final reveal, but the last part of the book tells the reader what all happened in a couple of pages or so. I would have rather had more hints or seen the development of this more throughout the book. It felt like a lot at once, and I would have rather had the suspense more drawn out. As I mentioned, the book did keep me guessing the entire time and I was not able to figure out what happened on my own, so this was a good ending.
The characters in this book were all unlikeable people in one way or another, but I think that's what makes this book so good. You are trying to figure out the mystery, but are led in so many directions because everyone is hiding secrets or participating in some shady behavior. I think the characters were all unique and I had no problem telling them apart when parts of the story were told from their perspective (I believe there were four perspectives overall). I think that part of the reason why this story was so interesting to me was because of the characters and the situations that they are all in.
Overall, I enjoyed my time reading this book and would recommend it to people who are fans of thriller books, and especially those who are fans of domestic thrillers. From what I understand from other reviews, it seems like this is the first (or one of the first) thrillers that Kristin Miller has written, and I hope that she keeps writing more. I would be excited to see what she comes up with next, and I also plan to check out her previous titles.
RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2020