Netgalley gifted me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. This was very hard to get through and did not leave any positive lasting impression. The characters were highly unbelievable with hyperbolic dialogue that was just jaw-dropping. The plot was slow and sloppy, with pacing that left me confused. Unfortunately, this wasn't a good time for me, and I would not recommend.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review*

A great thriller - I would recommend it!

While this novel was well written, I found certain plot points to be predictable. One of my biggest reading pet peeves is when I figure out twists before they are meant to be revealed, which happened more than once in this story. If you are a fan of atmospheric thrillers, you will enjoy Leave The Lights On. Andersson’s descriptions of Cape Morgan, Maine were so fantastic that I had to Google to see if it was a real place (it is not) and truly elevated this title.

A slow burn but what an interesting story! I needed to know what was happening and read it so quickly. I am becoming a huge fan of Liv Andersson!

The plot of this book leaves a lot to be desired, especially when compared to the synopsis. Beatrice knows her husband is cheating but won't say anything because years ago she was brainwashed into doing something awful and doesn't want anyone to know. If you are intrigued, don't be. It's more of a wild experience of herding cats than following anything tangible.

Beatrice and Josh are married. Josh has a second family that he sneaks off to visit, thinking Beatrice doesn’t know. Beatrice is willing to deal with it because she thinks her life is worth it by living in a mansion and being wealthy. She also doesn’t want to confront Josh for fear he will find out her own secrets.

Then a 2 year old boy goes missing from the local elementary school. Beatrice realizes that it’s Josh’s secret son. The clues lead back to Beatrice’s past.

The story is told in dual timelines: Beatrice’s past and present. Some parts were slow and quite a few times you had to suspend some amount of disbelief at the story. But I enjoyed the suspense enough to finish the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. Leave the Lights On is out now.

This was such a great, suspenseful thriller! I couldn't put this book down and I would love to read more by this author. You'll never guess the twist at the end!

There was a lot going on in this book. The premise was good but it was easy to get dtstracted from the main plot. This woman ignored the fact that her husband had a second family, and then we learn more about her secrets.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Liv Andersson has a way of building suspense with her words. When Beatrice was searching the old house for a ghost, the suspense was palpable. My heart was beating fast and I was jumpy. This is what you want in a thriller. The book shifts back and forth between Beatrice in the present in Maine and Emma twenty years ago in West Virginia. There was a little confusion in the audiobook as to which character was speaking that I don't think would be a problem in the written book. It wasn't too much of a hinderance as it soon became apparent who was speaking. The plot was interesting and tied together the dual timelines because at first the book seemed a little bland. The characters were good, if unreliable, and developed as the story went on, most in very surprising ways. The twists definitely added to the story. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy. I was happy to leave this honest review because I truly enjoyed the book. Since I can't leave half stars I gave it a 4 but it was almost a 5.

Beatrice and Josh’s marriage is not all is cracked up to be. Josh has a secret, one that Beatrice knows, but she’s afraid to confront him. After all she has some pretty dark secrets from her past that she hasn’t shared with anyone. Secrets that would ruin her life. When a couple small boys go missing, there is a connection to Beatrice and Josh. As time goes by, Beatrice realizes everything revolves around her and her past, but will she be able to escape before it’s too late. Set in a small town in Maine, this book started intriguing, but somewhere there was a disconnect. There was much that was completely implausible, especially when the unbelievable side throughout and the ending was reached. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books, Liv Andersson, and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for an honest opinion.

The synopsis of this book drew me in. Beatrice Wicker lives the Ideal life with her multi-million dollar home and her architect husband. Her life is so perfect that she’s not too worried that her husband sneaks off to see his second family now and then. That is until there’s an explosion at a nearby elementary school and a 2 year old boy is abducted. It doesn’t take long for Beatrice to realize the 2 year old boy is her husband’s child from the other woman. Now her perfect life will be destroyed when everyone realizes her life isn’t so perfect and all her past secrets will be revealed.

The story sounded good, but it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. It goes off in a different direction and is kind of confusing at times. Liv is definitely unlikable and all over the place. I struggled to finish one. 2.5/5 stars.

While I found this book entertaining and enjoyed reading it, it was not at all what I was expecting. There were a lot of subplots that I found slightly disorganized and distracting. I wish one or two plots were more developed, such as the kidnapping and Beatrice's past coming back for her. The side story with Josh was a little underwhelming. I'm not sure "leave the lights on" was the best title, but overall, the book was a fun, quick read.

Anything set in Maine and I will read. Such a beautiful place! 5 stars for the atmosphere alone!!! I was transported to Maine. 4 for the story. This is a really good book, don't get me wrong! I read this author's previous book, Little Red House and this one was not quite as good, but still pretty stellar in it's own right. We meet childless Beatrice and Josh Wicker, Josh's mistress, Josh's kid with said mistress.....yeah, pretty good stuff. Well, the kid is kidnapped and clues are found that go back to Beatrice's past. Maybe her past is why she is so willing to look the other way at her hubby's transgressions? Now, my issues are trouble connecting with Beatrice. I had a hard time feeling sympathetic to her. The plot also requires suspension of belief in a few instances in order for the plot to work. Overall, a suspenseful, juicy read and I recommend it!

Coastal Maine, with its scenic vistas and impressive homes that line the shoreline. Meet the Wickers. Beatrice Wicker has been married to Josh for a decade. They are childless and very wealthy. Both Beatrice and Josh have a secret...

When an explosion at a nearby school serves as cover for the abduction of a toddler, the lives of the Wickers are impacted in a devastating way. For the toddler is the son of Josh and his mistress... Beatrice knows this, yet does not confront him about it, for she too holds a weighty secret close to her chest. On the surface she is a community leader, the driving force behind a foundation who is striving to create an island retreat for artists out of an old abandoned asylum. Beneath the surface, she is a different woman altogether.

"It was hard to build an honest life on a platform of lies."

When further abductions and unsettling occurrences take place in Beatrice's world, she realizes that she must seek closure. She is under treat. Her long held secrets are under threat. Beatrice must see this to its conclusion.

Told via dual timelines, we meet both iterations of Beatrice. Her younger self became embroiled in a dire situation which left her running from the authorities. The present timeline is suspenseful and fraught with the added atmosphere of a secluded, and reportedly haunted old asylum that is under renovation.

"Leave the Lights On" is a good choice if you are seeking an atmospheric and suspense filled novel for this spooky season. It begs the question "Do we ever really know anyone else?" - especially if that other person actively keeps their innermost thoughts and feelings locked behind a facade. With plot twists and red herrings, this novel will be appreciated by many thriller lovers, yet for me it was not wholly satisfying. A good read though.

3.5 stars rounded up for Amazon and NetGalley

I loved Liv's previous book and was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately this book was not for me. I found it to slow to really really capture my attention.

We are now 2 months away from the end of 2023 and I’m here to talk about a contender for this year’s “book of the year”

Leave the Lights On

Liv Andersson, has done it again and I am at a complete loss of words.

Last year I was given the opportunity to read Little Red House and I was completely blown away. I appreciated Andersson’s writing style and I was eager to see what would come.

What a naive little soul I was.

I never could have anticipated a book like this,

Dark, twisted and down right mind blowing.

You need this book.

Check out this teaser :

Cape Morgan, Maine, is the utopian ideal for a charmed life, and Beatrice Wicker knows it. The multi-million-dollar house on the sea coast. The joint bank accounts. The safety and security that go along with being married to an esteemed architect and community leader. The scenic coastline, perfect for her ambitious plan to turn an abandoned asylum into an artists’ retreat. So what if her husband sneaks off to see his second family now and again? Beatrice is willing to look the other way. It’s simply the price she must pay to keep their life together.

Josh doesn’t realize that Beatrice knows about his other life. That’s just one of Beatrice’s secrets. And now, that truth—along with a deadly host of other secrets from the past—is about to upend their false paradise.

When there’s an explosion at the local elementary school playground, and a two-year-old boy is abducted, it doesn’t take Beatrice long to make the connection between the missing boy and her husband. It was the son from Josh’s other life who was kidnapped, and Josh can’t do anything about it without revealing the truth.

Helping Josh find his son would destroy the façade of her perfect marriage and could put more children’s lives in danger. But that’s not all. It would reveal her deeper secret: Beatrice Wicker is not who she claims to be.

This was a great read! Told through multiple timelines and POV’s, I was flipping pages! My favorite timeline was in the past, learning about everything that leads up to the present. The present was a little slower, but still captured my attention. It definitely has psychological thriller vibes and was a quick read. There was a game of cat and mouse between our main character, Beatrice, and her husband Josh, where they both had secrets they were trying to hide. This is a book you should pick up if you are looking for a quick, popcorn thriller to read!

OUT NOW!

4 1/2 stars

A twisty tale of deceptions and lies. No one is truly who they pretend to be in this book. Not the main character, Beatrice or her husband, Josh. And many of the side characters are hiding secrets as well. Is a giant question mark of who's telling the truth? If any one. So, when a young boy is kidnapped after a pipe bomb explodes, it starts the unraveling of several secrets - - the first one is whose son he is and the second is why he was targeted. The real question is who knows the answers to both of these questions and why are they just now acting on it. Beatrice feels like someone or something is closing in on her but she isn't sure who.

This was a fun whodunnit type of book. Even though you have some of the answers as you go along, you don't have all of them so there are some tricky surprises to keep you on your toes. I definitely enjoyed this fun and surprising read.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Liv Andersson returns following Little Red House with her latest, LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON —a woman with dark dangerous secrets, and when the past and present collide, her idyllic life unravels in this twisty atmospheric psychological suspense thriller.

Set in Cape Morgan, Maine, on Ross Island we meet Beatrice Wicker and her husband, Josh (architect), with a housekeeper, Maya. They live in a multi-million home on the coast on a remote island overlooking the sea surrounded by cottages. The Wicker Foundation had purchased the property. The main building and the cottages will remain, and the old inn to be demolished.

Cape Morgan is a small community, and Josh was a local public figure/hero. His company's non-profit had contributed to the town in many ways.

Miles Ross had lived there for 73 years and passed at the home in the upstairs corner of the main house. Eccentric and reclusive, the family fortune dwindled, and the buildings fell into disrepair. Some say the island is haunted.

Beatrice's goal is to renovate the abandoned asylum into an artist's retreat, and she is willing to overlook that her husband is having an affair and has another family, which he sneaks out to spend time with. He has no clue she knows.

Josh and his money will make her life and projects possible. She looks the other way and keeps quiet.

Now, the truth about Josh and his other family, along with the other past secrets, begin to unravel, and the idyllic, safe facade begins to crumble.

There is an explosion at the local elementary school playground, and a two-year-old boy, Oliver, is abducted. A fire. A missing boy. The little boy is Josh's son. People move here because it is safe. So what is going on?

Beatrice remembers an event from her past that she wants to keep secret. How is this connected to the kidnapping? She must stay quiet to keep from her past and who she is from coming out.

From two timelines, we meet Emma, a young social worker kidnapped and brainwashed by a family who convinces her the government is after them. She tries to help the boy, Luke, doing her job and gets pulled in by the charismatic and manipulative Gabriel.

She manages to escape and reclaim her life, but she is always on the run because they always seem to find her. Nearly 20 years later, she is settled down, married, and living her life under a different name, but once again, this family finds her. She thought she had lost them. Why now?

What is the connection between Emma, Beatrice, and Grace?

LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON is atmospheric, haunting, chilling, and terrifying. Full of mystery, conspiracy, and kidnapping, this domestic suspense will have you glued to the pages to discover how the past and present will connect—topics of kidnapping, mind control, conspiracy, deception, manipulation, and trauma.

Compelling! I read the e-book and listened to the audio narrated by Mia Barron for a chilling listening experience.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for an ALC and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Oct 17, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
Oct 2023 Must-Read Books

Leave the Lights On is a captivating mystery that had a very unexpected plot. The story is narrated by a 40-something Beatrice Wicker, a wife with a secret. She is married to a successful, wealthy architect living in a small seaside town in Maine. Early on, a young child is kidnapped, and the clues lead us to believe it's somehow related to Beatrice.

The story has dual timelines, which teased out and connected what was going on then and now. Beatrice isn't the most compelling character with her questionable behavior, but the action was fast-paced and intriguing. I listened to the audiobook, which was well-narrated by Mia Barron.

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publishers for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.