Leave the Lights on by Liv Andersson
Crooked Lane Books
Publication: 17 October 2023
3 stars

Synopsis:
"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."



A secret past, a secret family, kidnapping, and a former asylum. These were some great interest points for the plot throughout the story, but it didn’t help to do much for the story. They kind of fell flat. As if someone was in the middle of explaining something to you or telling you a story and they just stopped in the middle of it, and then jumped into a new topic.

The secret past. One thing I enjoyed about this book are the dual timelines. It is always interesting to see how a character is in their past compared to their present. The book is told from Beatrice's POV both in the present and past. It was interesting to learn about her past, but it had an abrupt ending and then there was nothing after that. The rest of the story remained in the present. While we do learn a bit more of what happened during present time, the information kind of seems like a throw away since she learned it second-hand.
The secret family. Beatrice's husband, Josh, has another family. She has known for years that he was seeing someone else and then had a baby. This plot element fell flat to me. While reading about the moments between Beatrice and Josh, she kept saying in her head that she knows. Knows about the other woman and the baby, but never says anything because it's better for her to be in this façade of a marriage then let her past be known. Yet, when Josh finds out that she knows, that moment is anticlimactic. I feel like that should have been the moment the story takes a turn, but it just didn’t rise to that.
Kidnapping. With the kidnapping included in the synopsis, I thought this would have had a bigger role in the story, but it seemed to be more of a passing thought rather than part of the plot.
Former asylum. Beatrice is working on taking this former asylum/Ross house, and is turning it into an artists' retreat. This wasn’t relevant to the story in any way other than giving the story the creepy vibe it needed or wanted.

If these plot points were more rounded out, it would have been a better story. It also may have given way to a better ending too. The ending itself was abrupt, it seemed unfinished. Overall, this was a great story.

Thank you, Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books, for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Leave The Lights On is the latest mystery by Liv Anderson and focuses on Beatrice Wicker, who seems to have it all - rich architect and community leader husband Josh and a beautiful waterfront home in upscale Cape Morgan Maine. She fills her day with her passion project of creating an artist retreat on the grounds of a former asylum complete with cabins and a former stately home, which is funded by her husband’s non profit foundation. However, her picture perfect life quickly shatters when a bomb is set off at a local elementary school playground and its chaotic aftermath of the disappearance of a young child. This leads to the revelation that the Wicker’s marriage isn’t as idyllic as it seems: Josh has been having an affair and has a love child. Another child goes missing and Beatrice knows it is because of her dangerous past, one that she has tried to escape and erase from her memory.

What I liked about the book:
-Anderson created a descriptive setting of the former asylum/Ross house that gave me creepy vibes as well as the upscale Cape Morgan seaside town
-could feel the tension and suspense in the writing especially when the creepy dolls and dress form appeared
-seeing how the wealthy live and that they too have problems
-dual timelines
-twists and turns with some red herrings

What I disliked about the book:
-some of the dialog was stilted
-Beatrice frustrated me and I didn’t find her very likeable
-started off really strong then wavered at the end, in fact I was disappointed with the abrupt open ending

My rating: 3 out of 5

My final takeaway: although this started off strong and had me intrigued it fell flat at the end. It was still a decent read but you need to suspend belief while reading it, it felt like a lifetime movie at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this eARC that will be released October 17 2023.

"The only way to deal with what happened is to leave again. Find somewhere truly remote, and just blend in. Stop trying to form relationships or have a meaningful job. You can't have what normal people have. Normal is not for you. Stop looking for it."

Beatrice and Josh live the perfect life in an upscale town in Maine. Perfect, except for the fact the Josh is having an affair, has a baby with another woman, and Beatrice has a past that is mind blowingly complicated. Why are children getting kidnapped in this small town, why are the kids both connected to Beatrice and Josh, and who is targeting them?

" "We've seen the changes- to the people and the landscape. Sometimes, though, the more things change, the more you realize nothing changes.""Are we still talking about the island and psychiatry, Professor?"Hanes winked at me. "We're talking about life, my dear. Just life." "

After reading this and Little Red House, this author will be an auto-buy from me. I enjoyed the psychological suspense of this book and couldn't wait to find out what happens. This book was all single POV but did have "then" and "now" chapters. I really enjoyed the storyline of the "then" chapters and that is what really kept me invested in the story. I was all about the culty/Stockholm Syndrome vibes we get in the "then" chapters. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I would have liked more "then" chapters and I would also like some more answers at the end. Like more closure about Seth and who he really is. Also, when we find out who the real antagonist is, it isn't made clear whether or not that was the person following Beatrice for all those years. I have to add that I absolutely LOVE the cover of this book.

Some other thoughts:
"You've known for months, years maybe. You don't get to act like the victim now." Eww. Why is Josh mad at Beatrice for not telling him that she knew he was having an affair? "...I want to punch Josh in the face.
" "Her car's gone. She hasn't returned my calls." "Then she went on a trip, Beatrice She's an adult. She's allowed to move about freely. You're letting your imagination get the best of you." "...Anger provoking response to a perceived hysterical woman reporting a missing person. Sadly, I read and hear on podcasts all the time that this is a frequent law enforcement response to a missing person inquiry.

Thank you to Crooked Lane and NetGalley for this ARC. Publication date is October 17th, 2023!
#LeaveTheLightsOn #NetGalley

This book was...fine. Just fine. The main character was not awesome and made some seriously silly choices. I found the temporarily missing kids to be a weird move on the part of the antagonist. It was a pretty quick read but lacked something for me.

Want a book that starts off fast and keeps you turning pages?

This is it.

Sure there are some things I wish the author had fleshed out a bit more for us, but isn’t there always. Otherwise this was a great thriller and for sure worth the time to read.

Beatrice Wicker seems to have it all - an idyllic home in Maine, and married to a multi millionaire architect and community leader Josh. She is just about to get started on a new project renovating a an abandoned house and asylum on a small island into an artist retreat.

Then there is a bomb at a childcare facility and the abduction of a young child - and Beatrice knows that it is her husband’s child from his other life - but she can’t let on that she knows, and Josh can’t tell without admitting his infidelity.

Beatrice thinks she knows what’s happening, but she can’t let on - she is not who everyone thinks she is…she has a few secrets!

A good read - thanks to #NetGalley for the advance copy.

Beatrice Wicker is a rich white woman doing rich white woman things. Her rich white husband is aloof and distant.....because he has a 2nd family in their small Maine town. He doesn't know that Beatrice knows. When his 'secret' child is kidnapped AFTER A BOMB goes off at the school, Beatrice realizes something else is going on beyond her husband's secrets. She's got secrets of her own.
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This had some potential.....but then went off the rails, talking about government interference, bombs, Haint Blue (that could have been something good....but was dead in the water), and an art retreat. There were hints of larger issues (prep mentality, the healthcare and it's treatment of women....) but....nah, there were just little....highlights.
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I wanted this to be good and it ended up being about a rich white woman who had a secret. That's it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I wanted so bad to love this book. To even like it. But that is not what happened. This one fell way short for me. To many time warps going on and I didn't like the characters. I have to say it's a DNF but I did read over half. I gave up when it just seemed a chore not a pleasure to read.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.
3 stars

This is my second Liv Andersson and it might be time to break it off… the time jumps, the story line, the dialog… it was all a little off for me. I wanted to love this but unfortunately it just isn’t a match for my reading style.

The math wasn't mathing on this particular thriller. I couldn't figure out what in the heck Beatrice was doing!

This book is a page turner. I could not put it down. Twists and turns and I couldn’t figure out who did it until the very end. Excellent descriptions and plot twists. The reverting back in time to build the back story was masterful. I’ll definitely be looking for more books by Liv Anderson!

The synopsis of this book immediately grabbed my attention. I think this book definitely had me interested but the timeline confused me at times but that didn’t prevent me from enjoying the book. This shows that you never really know someone and I love unreliable characters. I would still recommend and I’m excited to read more from this author.

Beatrice lives what appears to be the perfect life. She is wealthy and lives in a lovely home with her husband Josh. But underneath it all they both are hiding secrets from each other. Beatrice is aware of but decides to ignore that Josh has a girlfriend and a secret son. They are no longer able to ignore this when Josh's son goes missing. Beatrice is afraid her past has come back to haunt them both.

I really enjoyed this book. I did have a difficult time getting started with it but once I did the story flowed. It is difficult to go into much without spoilers. The book is well written. I would rate it 3.5 out of 4 stars if Goodreads allowed for half stars. I look forward to reading some other titles from the author.

A slow build with a few twists and turns. Character development was decent overall. Once it picked up I was intrigued, but it took awhile to get to that point. It was a good read overall, and I would probably give it closer to 3.5 stars if I could.

Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane & Liv Andersson for the opportunity to read early!

I read this book because the summary hooked me. A well to do wife knows her husband has a second family. He does NOT know she knows. Secrets and lies. An explosion! However, this book was wordy and the time jumps were confusing. Unfortunately this book wasn't a hit for me.

This is my first book by this Author and I will be looking for more! I was initially finding it hard to follow, but once I got on track - this book was impossible to put down! The story woven was intricate, dipping into the past to explain the present! The main character was complex and flawed, but able to stand her ground which will resonate with a lot of readers! Thank you again for the advanced copy - I will be seeking more from this author!

This was a little bit difficult to get into as there wasn’t much background up front but about 15-20% in it picks up.

I’m still not 100% sure about the ending, the last chapter was a bit chaos and there were some ends that weren’t fully tied up but overall it comes off as a newer writers book

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my opinion.
This book was just not a hit for me. It was extremely wordy and I found the jumps in the timeframe to be so confusing. I really struggled. . The time jumps were too much to follow. I didn’t really enjoy this book.

Thank you to Net Galley and crooked Lane books for this ARC to review.

Beatrice Walker lives in a beautiful multi-million-dollar coastal mansion with her husband Josh. She is wealthy, safe and secure in her life of luxury. However, both Beatrice and Josh are hiding secrets.

When there is an explosion at a school and a two-year-old boy goes missing, Josh cannot admit the truth-It is his son from his secret life.

This book tells a story of the secrets, choices, lies that can lay beneath the surface of a marriage.
I found this story a little hard to get into. The characters were hard to like and act very differently than I or anyone I know would in these situations. The differing POV's and timelines are not my favorite way of learning about a relationship, and to be honest I just became very irritated with the characters. I think the writer did a decent job describing the scenes and environment with the insane asylum and the coast, however the story itself just didn't work for me.

Life on the coast of Maine may appear picture perfect but this town is really a scene of hidden pasts, infidelities and now revenge.
   The life she ran away from years ago comes back to haunt Beatrice. She has had many iterations of a life since she escaped from a situation that could have landed her in jail.  The past years she has settled into a safe haven, or so she thinks. Her days revolve around restoring an island from a former sanitarium for women to an artists colony but it seems her days of safety are over.
   The relationship with her husband has waned and a dalliance has produced a son. He, too, becomes a victim involved in her returning nightmare along with bombshell reminders of her past that crop up. How did they find her?
   Bit by bit we uncover the pieces of what happened to her captors since she escaped and who is reminding her of those days.
   Some scenes were hard to image a real person not reacting with fear and instead heading headfirst into the fray but that’s what makes us keep reading.
   Lots of twists to keep you involved….