A review by ariana3
The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I kinda liked this! A murder-mystery thriller that seemed kinda stupid but I was determined to finish it.
A girl's best friend was supposedly murdered right in front of her when they were teens, by her maybe boyfriend. It was always a mystery and she was plagued by it, with family and professionals calling her crazy. Turns out the maybe-boyfriend had used hypnosis to trick/manipulate her and found a way to use it to kill her friend and others. She obviously forgets the tactics (because he hypnotizes her to), but she eventually remembers. The "house in the pines" was never a real place like he said, just him putting the image (along with smells, feels, and tastes) into her brain to lull her into his hypnosis trap. She's justified in the end, so she can move on, though it doesn't have much closure in the way it deals with him (just that an arrest should be coming soon...)
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