Jessica Sloane loses her mother to cancer and finds herself suffering from relentless insomnia on top of grief over her mother’s death. She finds out that she may not be who she thinks she is when a financial aid office tells her that, yes her social security card belongs to Jessica Sloane but that Jessica Sloane is dead. Grief combined with insomnia cause Jessie to mistrust her own senses as she hears and see things that may or may not be real. Is she really Jessica Sloane? Is Eden her real mother? Who is her father?

This novel was plenty suspenseful and it was this that kept me reading to the very end. I really did want to find out the answers to all of Jessie’s questions. I found Jessie’s narrative strange and it was a chore to get through at times. Eden’s narrative was mostly well done, a bit dramatic at times but I could get behind it … you need some drama in fiction to make it interesting anyway. When I got to the end and my questions were finally answered, the book turned into something entirely different from what I was convinced it was for the first 80%. This book was marketed as a mystery/thriller but the ending made it something else entirely. I guess I’m confused as to why it ended the way it did. If Mary Kubica would have just stuck to the storyline that she was seemingly aiming for from the beginning it would have been the book that its marketing promised.

I would have to recommend a pass on this one though if Mary Kubica decides to write something in the contemporary fiction/chic lit genre next, I may just give it try.

Sleep. It’s a necessity. We all need it. We HAVE to have it. Without it, our minds start playing tricks on us and it’s hard to distinguish between real and fantasy.
The book opens with Jessie in the hospital with her terminally ill mother. As her mother’s illness worsens, Jessie feels like her life is unraveling before her. Everything she thought she knew about herself is turning out to be false. Her whole life seems to be male believe. On top of everything, she hasn’t slept in days. It’s a race against time as her mind is racing against her body’s lack of sleep trying to figure out her past. Who she is. Where she’s from. What’s her name.
This book is full of twists and turns while keeping you on the edge of you seat.

The twist in this books threw me for a LOOP. Which I guess twists are supposed to make you go ‘huh’...but I’m not sure this one did it in the way we needed. It took me a minute to get into this one, but once I got into it I was really intrigued and couldn’t wait for what the twist was gonna be. We got hot outta nowhere with that one, and then we’re just expected to move in so quickly from it. I needed some time to process and then felt like o had wasted my time on this slow, slow burning book. I think the twist needed a twist. I was still expecting more after the reveal and was never really satisfied. 3/5 for me, it was just good, I just could’ve done with a better/different ending.

Mary Kubica has amazing potential for a great ending. The Good Girl is my favorite of hers, that ending caught me so off guard. So I know she can really wow me with a book!

I could hardly wait to start reading this new Mary Kubica book.. This is very well written, like all of her other books. I was intrigued by the story line. How would an individual react in the situation of never knowing anyone in their family but their mother. Jessie Sloan is in the position of asking her mother, Eden, the question "who is my father?" I had a hard time staying with this story. After reading 158 pages, I just started skimming through until I came to Jessie's story. I didn't care for Eden or her reasons and I especially did't care for the ending.
Thank you Netgalley, Harlequin, and Mary Kubica for the free ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher-Harlequin Trade Publishing-for providing an e-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is my first book by Mary Kunbica. It will not be my last. I really like her writing style.

The story alternates between Jessie in present time and Eden in 1996. Jessie’s mom recently dies from cancer. After her mom’s death, Jessie receives a call from an college admittance office claiming her social security number belongs to someone who has died. This leaves Jessie to question everything she ever knew. Did her Mom kidnap her? Was she adopted? Was there a mixup with social security numbers? So many questions.

There are many terrifying moments in the book where I feared for Jessie. She was becoming very unstable trying to find the answers she needed.

I had so many different scenarios going through my head and all of them were wrong. I was very surprised and shocked with the ending. I was not expecting that at all. I did not hate the ending. I think it was actually a good twist that made you rethink what you read.

I couldn’t finish this book. I stopped reading halfway through because the plot was not only slow but also quite depressing. I have read other books by Mary Kubica that I liked but I just couldn’t read this one.

Kubica, I love you. I will read anything you publish. The ending if this felt like a cop out, but my still my girl, boo.

Mary Kubica is one of my favourite authors, since reading The Good Girl a couple of years ago. Naturally, I requested an ARC the minute I heard Kubica was releasing When The Lights Go Out. In her classic style, Kubica has you jumping to conclusions and then proving your theories wrong.

POV alternates between Jessie’s perspective in the present and her mother’s perspective prior to Jessie’s birth. Jessie is sleep deprived and guilt ridden from caring for her mother in last few days of life; she can no longer distinguish reality from hallucinations (and neither can you!). Kubica will have you curious and invested in Jessie’s story – who is she and where did she come from?

This book had me hooked from beginning to end and did not disappoint anywhere in between.

No identity, no birth certificate, no social security card, no mention on her mother’s income tax forms.

Jessie found out she was non-existent, but how could that be possible? Was she really born in Illinois? Was Sloan really her last name? Was what her mother told her not the truth? If not the truth, why?

We follow Jessie after her mother passed away with no questions answered about her life and her identity. She never thought to ask her mother because the need never came up to wonder why she was an unknown person.

Meanwhile Eden’s story is being told along with Jessie’s. What is the connection? Does Eden have the answers to the questions of her missing identity?

The book had a slow start, but once it got going, I didn’t want to put it down. The slow start was because I was a bit confused, but I knew that would not continue and the book would get tense and interesting.

I, of course, was correct. WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT was a thriller with odd characters. Jessie was totally off-the-wall and Eden was strange as well.

As usual Ms. Kubica has created another spinning tale that keeps you guessing and wondering along with Jessie about her life and her mother’s parting words about finding herself.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT has a unique, creative story line with some upsetting situations, but the ending will have you saying: Ah ha as well as have you scratching your head.

ENJOY if you read Ms. Kubica’s newest. 4/5

This book was given to me as an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Wow! I think this is the first book I’ve read by this author. I look forward to reading her again. 3.5 Stars.

Story is told in two voices. Eden, the Mom. Happily married to Aaron and looking forward to starting a family. But, it does not go as planned. Jesse, the daughter. Dealing with her mother’s cancer and finding out her life could be a lie.

What happens next is heartbreaking on so many levels. Tough subjects are tackled. Infertility, emotional issues, divorce, insomnia. Ms. Kubica’s writing is very powerful, leading you down a certain path, only to be brought in a different direction. I needed one more chapter for the ending to have been complete. Left me with too many questions.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone!


Reviewed also posted on BookBub. Amazon review will be posted on pub date.

When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica is a very depressing yet intense novel. Inside, I followed a young woman's journey through nightmares. She has been in the hospital at her mom's side and won't sleep until her mom gets better or passes away. The doctor tried to tell Jessie to get some sleep, but she won't listen. I felt her pain and her tiredness. Her confusion and pain about finding her father and her mom's cancer was horrifying. Jessie could not tell apart reality from nightmare. I could not tell the difference until the ending...that's when all became clear.

Grief, loss, and secrets are explored in this novel. I cried a lot when I read this story. Jessie did want her mom to die from cancer. She kept hoping she would get better. Then, there was the fact that Jessie never knew her own father. Mary Kubica never revealed that secret. But the man that should have been her father became one to her while her mom was passing away from her cancer. The death was slow...and when the last moment came, it sped by quickly. My heart broke. Overall, this was intriguing, dark, and heartbreaking.

I am sorry to say that I am highly disappointed in this book. I have read all of Mary Kubica's books and this one is NOT even in the same category as the others. It is really slow to get through. Throughout the whole book it is very slow and prefictable. Not a fast paced thriller with twists and turns like her others at all. Jessica Sloan's mother dies of cancer and Jessie decides to go back to college but the administer calls and tells her that her social security number does not exist. Jessie is plagued with insomnia and runs around in circles trying to find put who she is. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for the oppurtunity to read this book.

I was torn writing this review as I have really loved the work of Mary Kubica in the past so I had high expectations. I thought the premise of the story was incredible and the use of flashbacks and connection between the two main characters in the flashbacks - in the past, Eden and in the present, her daughter Jess, was brilliant.
The story was one of suspense, but not a thriller like I expected. I liked the storyline over all but I honestly found the last 1/4 of the book confusing and when it ended I actually went back to re-read the last 2 chapters because I was so lost. The ending left me hanging but not in a good way...more like a "what just happened" confused way. I am sure that fans of hers will enjoy it and perhaps understand the writing more than I did. Will look for more from Kubica in the future as she is one of the great storytellers in our time.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for an ARC of this book.

I just can't...the "twist" in this book made me hate it with a fiery passion.

Free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another hit from Mary Kubica - but this is very different than her other works. I found this to be more of a mystery than a thriller - it doesn't have that edge of your seat tension like a thriller. The story is told in two time periods. One story is Jessie's, in current time, whose mother is in the hospital dying of cancer. jessie and her mother have always been extremely close and she doesn't know what she will do without her. Jessie has no idea who her father is or any family other than her mother. The other story is Eden's, in the 1990s. Eden is married to Aaron and they love each other deeply and are trying to have a child. Unfortunately, due to various issues, Eden is unable to conceive and it is driving her to do things she wouldn't normally even think of doing.

The book kept my interest and the writing is wonderful. At the very end there is a twist that changes all you have imagined throughout the book. Definitely not the ending I suspected! Although not my favorite of Mary Kubica's, it is definitely worth reading and is a really good mystery. I would read anything Mary Kubica writes - she's a very good storyteller!

Thanks to Mary Kubica and HARLEQUIN - Hanover Square Press through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC in order to provide an unbiased review. More than once, I thought I had it all figured out and was repeatedly caught off gaurd, right until the very last word. A compelling read that unfolds in the alternating voices of a mother and daughter at different periods in time. It begins in the present with the daughter's quest to learn the identity of her father as her mother is hospitalized with terminal cancer and is interwoven with the mother's story about how her all consuming desire for a child irrecoverably changed her life.

I love this author so much and would love to be able to give this book five stars. But unfortunately the twist pretty much ruined what could have been a great book. On the plus side, I couldn’t put this book down. I was fully engrossed in the story. But the ending seemed rushed and nothing was tied up that way it could have been.

2.5 stars

I’ve read The Good Girl and Every Last Lie by Kubica before and I really thought this one would be a little different, but sadly I was wrong.

Kubica knows how to write a story, that’s for sure. She also knows how to hook you in the middle of it and right towards the end. But for me, Kubica fails to end her novels with a great twist. It’s never really shocking, or sometimes the twist isn’t there at all. But I do enjoy reading her novels. The plot is always very intriguing and a lot usually happens through the book. It’s never bland.

I was expecting a lot more from this novel but that doesn’t mean I didn’t love some parts of it. Reading about Jessie’s insomnia and how it drove her to paranoia. It’s very interesting to see what situations she gets herself in and if what she is seeing is real or not. I did like how it shifts from past to present. The story shifts from the early 20th century, Eden is a young woman who is having trouble conceiving a child and it goes back to Jessie, who insomnia is driving her to see things that might or might not be real. Are those two stories connected?

I really wish I enjoyed this one a little more than I did, but it was still a great read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Park Row for providing me with a digital copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I couldn't put this one down, but, of course, I am a fan of all of Mary Kubica's books. A bit of a slower start, but still wonderful as always. Thanks for another great read.

I first want to thank the publisher Harlequin/Hanover Square Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

Within the last year I have read all of Mary Kubica's novels. Sometimes I really like them but sometimes not as much. This book is my favorite Kubica book that have read thus far.

With Chicago as the backdrop like most of Kubica's novels we follow Jessie Sloane whose Mother passed away while Jessie fell asleep in the hospital bed next to her. Her Mother's last words to her were "Find yourself" and so Jessie sets out on a journey to find herself. The problem is that at every turn Jessie is hit with one obstacle after the next as she finds that she has been declared dead many years ago. It must be a mistake, right? On top of that she is not sleeping. Jessie has not been able to sleep since her Mother died as she is wracked with the guilt of not being awake when her Mother passed away. As her lack of sleep begins to turn her days and nights into waking nightmares her world begins to fall apart more and more. She begins to question everything she thought she knew of her life.

We also hear from another woman named Eden in Wisconsin as we read her diary and see how her life and marriage begins to fall apart because of her desperate need for a child that she seems to not be able to have.

Both Jessie and Eden are likeable and interesting characters and my heart broke for Jessie almost constantly. As someone who has lost my Mom I identified with her sorrow and grief as it was just her and I our whole life. I felt the pain that Jessie was going through.

The novel is well written with a dreamy quality that pulls you in and keeps you interested until the end. Now, for the end. I will be including a spoiler of sorts down below if you don't want to be spoiled please don't not go below the ***!




*****************************************************************Spoilers Sorta*************************************************************************



I did enjoy the ending a lot. I did figure out the twist about three chapters away from the end and am kind of surprised that it took me so long. Though, as I said I really .enjoyed the ending I can imagine that there will be a lot of people very upset with the twist. Let's just say that there will be readers that may be tossing the book across the room.