I really have mixed feelings about The Eden Test. I was gifted the audio by MacMillan and while this story had so much potential and really there is a good storyline, some things just nagged at me and fell flat.

I loved the scenery and the seclusion. I feel like this could've been a great snow seclusion book, but was set in late summer.

The narration was also very well done. Very easy to listen to!

Honestly I wish there was a dog in this book just so I could say the only likable character was the dog, but there wasn't, so no likable characters for this book.

I can empathize with Daisy and her past traumas, but I still couldn't find myself rooting for her, despite trying. Craig on the other hand had no chance of me liking him from the beginning of the book.

I like the idea of the retreat and trying to work on things, but was lost part way through the book when things started getting more twisted and just insane.

Was it entertaining? Yes! But just insane and made me irrationally angry at times.

The Eden Test
Adam Sternbergh
Daisy knows her 2 year marriage is in trouble, just not how bad it is. She turns to The Eden Test in hopes of saving their marriage. The Eden Test is a mix of a romantic week long get away and marriage counseling. The concept is to answer a question a day to get to the center of their relationship. She leaves Craig a note asking him to meet her at a certain address. It’s a two-hour drive through the woods. Craig has his speech ready. He plans to leave Daisy. His bags are packed, and he plane ticket to Cabo San Lucas . Lilith his mistress, will meet him there. Daisy is excited to see him and begins talking about their weeklong retreat. Each day they will answer one question. They will spend their time canoeing, hiking, skinny dipping in the lake and eating pancakes at the diner and struggling to stay alive. The Eden Foundation is run by two retired counselors.
There were a few things concerning the plot that did not make sense to me. The Eden’s Test “seven days, seven questions, forever changed.” “Would you fight for me?” “Would you change for me?” are just two of the questions. We see or hear the questions, but we don’t see or hear Daisy and Craig struggle with the answers. Both Craig and Daisy have secrets and soon they come to light.
This book had great potential but fell short of my expectations. It moved too slowly. While I liked Daisy, I didn’t like Craig.

"Seven Days. Seven Questions. Forever Changed" The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh is a domestic thriller about Daisy and her husband of 3 years, Craig. The story immediately starts off with two bodies found, and then jumps back a week in time when Daisy is setting up dinner for her and Craig at a remote cabin to start a week-long couples retreat to help save their marriage. Craig is in the middle of an affair and ready to end his marriage. Will the Eden Test be just what the couple needs to stay together, or will it tear them apart forever? I found this to be a rather run of the mill domestic suspense story, though it did get a bit more wild than some. Sternbergh did a great job executing the story and tying everything together, and though it was a bit outlandish, it all worked!

Whatever you think you're about to read, you're wrong. It is SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT.

Our story starts with a husband, Craig, receiving a note from his wife, Daisy, with an address on it on their anniversary weekend. Craig begrudgingly begins his 3 hour drive, knowing that his trunk is packed with luggage for a different trip he should be taking: he has plans to leave his wife and run away with his mistress.

Upon arriving at his mystery destination, Daisy informs him they'll be spending the week in this beautiful secluded cabin and taking part in The Eden Test: 7 days. 7 questions. Forever changed. The plans they had, both individually and together, quickly change, and thus begins one of the wildest plot twists I've come across in a book.

As received an ALC, I have to commend Carlotta Brentan's narration. It was simply spectacular. From scene setting to dialogue, I never felt my mind wandering away from the story.

This is my first time reading anything by Sternbergh but wow, he knows how to write a great one. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this one, and I want to send an extra few stars to how he incorporated back story. Sometimes learning about a character's past can feel forced. Like, "oh readers need to know this so I'm just gonna write about that here." But with Sternbergh, the past molded organically into the present.

Fans of domestic thrillers, do NOT sleep on this one.

5 stars through and through! Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

I absolutely love domestic thrillers and The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh was one wild ride!! A married couple on the brink of divorce attend a couples retreat where they have to answer one intimate question per day for seven days. I also enjoyed the tension between the locals in town and the visitors/staff of the resort. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Carlotta Brentan, did a fantastic job.

This book had me hooked from the beginning! I initially thought it was going to be very predictable, but then there were multiple big moments that kept me guessing up until the very end. I listened to the audiobook, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I finished pretty quickly. This book is good for somebody who is looking for a good quick psychological thriller.

The false information regarding miscarriage and infertility is extremely disappointing and harmful. I would advise the editor and author revisit this section and fact-check it before hitting shelves.

4 stars

This is an engaging and well-paced thriller that will keep readers wondering what the heck is going to happen next all while reminding them of a central tenet of most domestic thrillers: cis/het marriage is an adventure for only the most daring.

Craig and Daisy are experiencing what some might call a rough patch in their marriage (though IMO being married to either would constitute a rough state vs. rough patch, but to each their own), and they decide to see just how strong their connection is by spending their anniversary...testing their relationship. *How* they do this is even weirder than it seems on the surface (which is pretty weird - The Eden Test - seven days/seven questions. No, thanks!).

As a person to whom marriage has always seemed frightening even under the best of circumstances, I need little convincing that all parties are probably hiding creepy info and that the best choice is to split. The most thrilling element of this piece is not only the intriguing twists but also that readers - even this one - are forced to wonder if some people really can rise to the challenge together. I won't say whether Craig and Daisy do, but I will say that it's a lot of fun finding out.

I recommend this thriller in any format, but folks who are able to access the audio version will appreciate what the narration brings, too.

Dramatic Daisy and Creepy Craig are “celebrating” their third wedding anniversary. Daisy has planned a weeks vacation at a retreat that claims to have excellent results saving marriages. Craig is planning on leaving Daisy and running off to Cabo with his mistress.

Nothing is as it seems and Daisy has many secrets of her own. The Eden Test is one question left for the couple each day for seven days. The questions get progressively more interesting. If you love a ton of twists, this has them. The story is pretty far fetched and overly dramatic, but it’s entertaining and clever. The narrator did a good job on the audio.

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio for an early audio copy.

“Citiots.” I like that the locals call the people vacationing in their rural town this. I’m definitely a “citiot.”

Pub date: April 25, 2023
Pages: 336

Full disclosure - this was an audio arc from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio so I did not DNF but continued listening despite my own inner battles with some of the plot points. I am also rounding up because for some reason only known by the Goodreads Gods, we are not allowed to use half stars and this one sits between two and three.

First, the premise as advertised by the publisher was intriguing and the reason I was drawn to the material. A troubled marriage, the wife has deep secrets, and they then move to an isolated cabin for a week as they complete a "program" for troubled marriages. Since I live in an isolated cabin and love small town hidden secrets, this was a no brainer.

A lot unfolds during the 10.5 hour listen, and at times the past/present narration was confusing, and, overall, I disliked both main characters - Daisy and her bleephead husband, Craig. Personally, instead of dragging serial cheater Craig to a cabin, I'd have dragged him to court, but maybe that's just me.

Now, to my personal trigger which I always try to avoid in escapism fiction, and I apologize if it's your trigger too - miscarriage. It is such a sensitive topic and I did not realize it would be an important plot point overdescribed in The Eden Test. Not only used as a plot point - but the male author made a few points which are inaccurate and insensitive - claiming medical staff could pinpoint the exact reason for a miscarriage, which any woman would then carry guilt because she put herself in such a position. And it also set up a further plot point about future infertility, yada yada yada.

Listen, I get that in the whole world there will be triggers which touch someone when reading a novel, but as a woman with her own history, I do regret the use of it here in what could have been a very compelling story.

The tag line reeled me in. 'Seven days. Seven questions. Forever changed.' I listened to this one on audio and I enjoyed the narrator, Carlotta Brentan, but that couldn't save the story for me. It was a little entertaining but I guessed every twist and turn, and I'm not a good guesser. This is a locked room domestic drama more than a thriller in my opinion. Overall I didn't care about any of the characters and felt both MC's lacked depth. Everything is so easily resolved, what's the point of putting someone through this 'rigorous' test to save your marriage if at every question they absolutely and resoundingly give the answer you want with no back and forth at all? This one was a miss for me. Thank you to the publisher for my ARC and to Netgalley for my ALC. 2.5 stars rounded up for the great narration.

OMG, that was a wild ride. Reading The Eden Test makes you wonder how far someone would go to save a failing relationship. I am so thankful to NetGalley, Adam Sternbergh, Macmillan Audio, and Flatiron for granting me advanced audiobook access to this twisty thriller before it publishes on April 25, 2023.

Daisy and Craig are celebrating their second marriage anniversary, and Craig has a wondering pair of eyes; further than that, he's been having a full-fledged affair with a woman named Lilith, and he was planning on ending things with Daisy so he and his mistress could jet off to Cabo San Lucas. But Daisy, the learned actress, has more in store for Craig. This married duo is whisked away to upstate New York for a rehabilitative couples' retreat, and Daisy knows more than Craig does, considering how the next seven days will go.

Soon, Daisy and Craig are transplanted into The Eden Test, which guides couples through a series of questions to help strengthen their relationship. These questions include prompts such as: "Would you fight for me?" "Would you Change for me?" and the list continues. Day after day, Daisy and Craig quickly learn that the locals aren't too keen on their presence and find they might be in danger.

Craig has secrets, but so does Daisy, and it's only a matter of time before this claustrophobic retreat unearths those hidden pasts. Will Daisy and Craig's marriage make it? What lies past the dense woods behind their cabin, and how endangered are these two?

I seriously couldn't stop listening to this audiobook and cannot wait for Pub Day!

In a last ditch effort to save her marriage, Daisy has enrolled herself and her husband Craig, in the Eden Project. Craig has already decided to leave Daisy for another woman, but they embark on the project, which will have them living in a remote location to reconnect to nature and each other. Daisy isn’t about to let Craig ditch her for another woman, she’s got a few surprises of her own. Combined with the Eden test and hostile locals, Daisy and Craig are in for a rough time. While neither character is particularly likeable, the tension and thrills are undeniable. The ultimate beach read

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and Flatiron Books, for the audiobook!

The premise of THE EDEN TEST by Adam Sternbergh intrigued me. I felt like I was super interested, and it was a downhill slide from there. It’s a bummer, but yet again, I think it’s a case of trying to do too much and then having to clean it all up too quickly at the end.

“Seven days. Seven questions. Forever changed.”

That hooked me, and then when I read the entire premise about Daisy and Craig trying to work on their marriage in a remote cabin, but Daisy has a secret personal cell phone with more secrets to hide. I was 100% sold.

I kept listening, wanting more, and expecting more, especially from that premise. But each time something new was revealed or a considerable twist, I felt meh. I just wanted more. More glamour - yes, I know they were in a remote cabin - or more of a reason to say whoa, and I never did.

I did enjoy Sternbergh’s writing style. It was smooth and flowed nicely. I can see myself reading another book by him, hoping I’ll enjoy it more. But this didn’t do it for me as much as I loved the premise and cover!

CW: domestic abuse, emotional abuse, stalking, gun violence, miscarriage, infidelity

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller and I think others will too! There was so much that unfolded for both characters as the story went on, but it was well done and only served to add to the plot rather than overwhelm the reader with needless details to become unbelievable. While Daisy is your typical girl with a secret and Craig is your typical dumbfounded husband, their characters were still easy to relate to and read. However, I really loved the supporting characters! Their roles added a lot to the story and kept it fun! Overall, a well done thriller that may even be worth a reread.