I found myself very disappointed in When the Lights Go Out. On one hand, the dual storyline was interesting and kept me involved, but Eden's storyline was much more engrossing and I often found myself skimming through Jessie's storyline because after a point it bored me. After so many hallucinations and other ill effects from lack of sleep, there's nothing new to say....

Then the ending. No. Just no. It was a cheap way to end this book and felt like the author got to the end and didn't know how to wrap up the story.

I'm sorry to leave a review like this because I'm very careful to only request books from Netgalley that I'm pretty certain I'll enjoy. This one just did not do it for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am shaking my head at this one. I was really enjoying this book, flying through it at a good pace. I liked the alternating points of view, getting the current day from Jessie, who is questioning her identity after finding out her social security number belongs to a dead child, and Eden who was longing to have a baby around 20 years ago. I thought I had it figured out a bunch of times only to find out I was wrong. And I like being wrong because I want to be surprised by an ending. I was surprised, alright, but not in a good way. This was going to be about a 4.5 star review, but the way this ended made me feel like the bulk of what I read was a waste of time.

This kept me up at night!!! This story is my favourite of hers to date! Nothing is more scared than a mother/daughter relationship. It also shows what lengths a woman will go to be a mom. Such a page-turner!

I first requested this book on Netgalley and never heard back from them... then I entered a contest that [author:Mary Kubica|7392948] was having on Twitter and I ended up winning an ARC - thank you, Mary! I'm a huge fan so I was thrilled. Then, about two weeks later, I unexpectedly heard from Netgalley that I had access to read this book. I had to read it right away.

There's no doubt that I love [author:Mary Kubica|7392948] and once again, she did not let me down.

After Jessie's mother, Eden, passes away, she begins to build a life of her own trying to fulfill her mother's last wishes to find herself by applying to college and renting a new apartment. It's not until she gets a call from the college (and subsequently, an online search for answers) that sends her in a tail spin not knowing what to think causing many sleepless nights in a row. Constantly wondering who her dad is, she tries to find him, she needs to know but as her body wears down from lack of sleep, Jessie can't tell what real or just figments of her imagination leaving the reader just as vulnerable.

The story is told in alternating POV between then and now, between Jessie and Eden. It's one that I think you'll enjoy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ms. Kubica for the chance to read this one early!

Expected publication: September 4th 2018

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I have been trying to think of what to say about this book, I was really drawn in and enjoyed most of the book. The two perspective were great and it was easy to see they would come together at the end but just what the end would be was difficult to figure out. I love it when I have a hard time guessing what the end might hold.

Jessie’s perspective was hard to read at times because her lack of sleep was so easy for me to feel that it really gave me the creeps. Towards the very end her increased confusion and strange behavior may have been a little to drawn out for my taste.

Eden’s perspective was also strong she and I appreciated how she changed and grew more frenzied in her focus to start a family. Once again it was towards the end that I was a little put off by the path she took.

And this brings us to the end, it was unexpected and that was good but I also felt a little let down. Not sure why that was but think it was just sort of an oh oh…okay. Not oh oh, holy cow kind of thing.

I so loved The Good Girl by Mary Kubica that I think I have been a little disappointed by all her follow up books. The new books by her that I have read have been good but just not quite as delicious so think I might be unfairly disappointed not to get the same 5 star enjoyment.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Harlequin for the ARC of When the Lights Go Out.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is Mary Kubica's fifth book that she has written. It is very different than her other four books, but just as amazing. I like that Mary writes from points of view of more than one character and each chapter switches to a new person.

This book focuses on Jessie Sloane. Jessie is forced to deal with the impending death of her mother. But, when her mother dies, she doesn't know who she is anymore. She starts to wonder if her whole life is a lie and has to also deal with the fact that she is left totally alone. No friends, no family, nothing! It starts when Jessie goes to apply to college and realizes her social security number belongs to a dead girl. Has there been a mistake or is nothing as it seems.

Kubica's writing really digs deep into your emotions. When I was reading this book I felt myself being thrust into the life of Jessie Sloane. I felt desperation and a need for her wanting her mother back and to make a friend to help her get through her rough time.

As the book develops, Jessie is faced with trying to discover who her father is and also a blooming new friendship. There are many twists and turns in this book. Is what is happen to Jessie real, are there ghosts, or is she just so tired she cannot focus on what is actually in front of her.

This is another amazing book and I would definitely recommend it. I have a two year old i'm always chasing around and still managed to "sneak read" from her and get it done in a few days! This is a book I will be buying when it comes out because I have to add it to my bookshelf. Now i'm desperately left waiting till the next Kubica book comes out!

This is hard to rate. Great premise, with some really creepy, twisty surprises. Unfortunately, the twist ending did not completely satisfy the premise....felt a little like a cop-out. With that said, the better writing and treatment of the spookier aspects made this my favorite by this author.

I don't feel like this was Kubica's best work, nor should it be categorized as a thriller. There was nothing suspenseful about it. Instead, it was an emotional story about a daughter caring for her mother who is dying from cancer. Nothing wrong with that, as that part was told very well. I was expecting a higher octane and suspenseful read. I'm torn as to what I should rate this, because the relationship between Jessie and Eden was beautiful. I felt the emotions Jessie did watching her mother in the hospital bed. It was a slower read than Kubica's last book (Every Last Lie), and not at all the story I was expecting it to be. I also found the ending kinda disappointing. 😕

This was unlike any of Kubica's other books- in both good and bad ways. I am a huge fan and own all of her other books so I was THRILLED to check out her latest book- When the Lights Go Out.

After reading and digesting, I'm a little bummed. Certain paragraphs were repetitive- almost word for word repetitive- to the point that I thought maybe I had accidentally paged back on my Kindle. That seemed VERY unlike Kubica. Short of spoilers, my favorite story line of the book ended up being disappointingly NOT my favorite by the end. It was ANOTHER back and forth (present and past) between mother / daughter and I enjoyed the mother's POV significantly more than her daughter's. Jessie's chapters had me dizzy and skimming through to quickly get back to Eden. I felt like I invested time and heart into the wrong parts of the story when it was all said and done, the effort felt wasted.

Hoping for a 5 star review for her next book.

Huge thanks to Mary Kubica, Harlequin, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can't say TOO much without giving spoilers, but let me just say that as a person who detests "how Dallas ended" storylines, this was a bitter pill to swallow. It had a great setup, the wind up and the pitch were great, but the ball sort of went into the outfield and rolled into a bush and nobody felt like running after it to pick it up. I absolutely loved and adored The Good Girl, and I was hoping for another home run here - kind of bummed. :(

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT by Mary Kubica in exchange for my honest review.***

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT, a departure from Mary Kubica’s previous thrillers, shows the range of her storytelling abilities. The less you know going into the story, the more you’ll enjoy it.

As Jessie awaits her by her dying mother’s bedside unable to sleep, her mind struggles to focus. Twenty years earlier, Eden longs for a baby.

Anyone who’s been exhausted, whether from lack of sleep for a night or two or full fledged insomnia, knows functioning at peak level is nearly impossible. Thinking coherently becomes more difficult as fatigue increases. I questioned reliability of Jessie’s narration at times throughout her sections of the story. For Eden’s chapters, I wondered whether her longing for a baby made her more than a nice woman who wanted to be a mom. Did it make her a criminal?

Kubica weaves together these separate and probably overlapping stories in creative and surprising ways. While I didn’t see the ending coming, WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT wrap-up felt more like a crawl to the finish line than an explosion of excitement that left me speechless.

Kubica’s fans should expect a different kind of story told with her usual skill and heart.

Interesting exploration of the effects of grief, insomnia, and losing the ability to know what's real and what's not. This may be triggering for someone who has lost someone to cancer, or sat with someone who was dying. Very spot-on. Not a feel-good story, but well-written, suspenseful and compassionate.

As a warning, this review reveals a major storyline. The book was interesting but slow. It did not involve the suspense of the author's previous writings.. My main disappointment in this book was that the primary content of the story was a dream. Then all of a sudden in the last few pages there was a 'story'. The ending itself was satisfying. Sorry I could not say that about the rest of the book.

Mary Kubica is one of my all-time favorite authors and I actually have one of her books in our staff picks section of the library where I work. I was thrilled to receive this as an ARC through Netgalley.

I found When the Lights Go Out to be different from Kubica’s other books in that there was an atypical major plot twist. Also, there definitely was suspense and many questions throughout the book that needed answering, but it was not a typical psychological thriller. Along the same lines, there was no real villain. This was more of an extremely well-written character study of a woman grappling with who she is and the mystery that surrounds her past, while dealing with crippling insomnia. Kubica portrays main character Jessica Sloan in such a way that I actually felt like I was inside her suffering head. Kubica fans will be delighted by this refreshing new domestic drama.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing me with a complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jessica Slone’s mother is dying. Her last words to Jessica were “find yourself “. She sets out to do just that. She applies for college and is told her Social Security number is that of a 3 year old girl who is dead. She finds herself in a mystery that makes her doubt everything she knows. Insomnia causes Jessica to have delusions and she’s having a difficult time discerning between that and reality. A woman 20 miles away might unlock the secrets of her past.

I absolutely love Mary Kubica’s books. I had a little trouble with this one. I caught myself skimming thru some of it.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Square Press for allowing me to read the ARC

I love me a good thriller, and especially a thriller that explores thoughtful themes and raises good questions. Mary Kubica’s book When The Lights Go Out does exactly this. An intricately plotted thriller with likeable characters warring with their individual obsessions and their interior needs, this was an easy book to read that I finished in just one day because I couldn’t put it down.

After Jessie’s mother dies from cancer she enrols in college in an attempt to start rebuilding her life. But when the college tells her that her social security number has raised a red flag, she discovers something that causes her to doubt everything she’s ever known. Unable to sleep since her mother’s death, Jessie feels like she’s going mad. As her insomnia worsens, Jesse begins to question what’s real and what’s only imagined.

I loved how the story explored how a desire taken to the extreme becomes an obsession, and how obsessions can drive you mad, as well as that sometimes you get what you want, but you’ve made so many compromises along the way your happiness can never be complete.

Going between Jessie’s present to her mother, Eden’s, past, this story adeptly explores the pain of infertility, identity, trust and grief. It’s a great roller coaster of a book with a nonlinear structure to create suspense that will give you your own brand of insomnia as you try to find out what’s really going on.

I really liked The Good Girl and was really looking forward to reading Ms. Kubica’s new novel. The plot kept me interested and involved and then there was a final twist and… I’m very sorry to say this but I hated it. Out of the entire overused, unimaginative plot devices ever created, this one is the most clichéd. There are two storylines. Jessie’s is set in the present. Her Mom just died, her life is falling apart and, on top of it, she can’t sleep. Eden’s is set in the past and tells her obsession and inability to have a baby. I thought I knew where it was going, but I was still invested in the story. I didn’t really like the characters all that much but, to the author’s credit, I still cared about them. But then the twist happened and it made me mad. Seriously. I love to be surprised and to have to revisit the story from a new perspective but sometimes it’s just better to have a good solid plot with competent character development and let the readers enjoy that.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/HARLEQUIN - Hanover Square Press (U.S. & Canada) Park Row!

Thank you so much for this ARC!

I am so sad that I cannot give this book 5 stars! I love Mary Kubica and have always enjoyed her past novels, but this just wasn't up to par.

I enjoyed the beginning and middle of this story, the back and forth between mother and daughter in different periods of time. It really described the pain of losing a loved one, the sadness of being unable to conceive and the heartbreak of a lost relationship, beautifully. However, the end was a total let down. Not only do I feel confused (did anything really happen?) but I feel like I wasted time investing in the missing birth certificate and the real Jessie Sloane.

Hoping for a 5 star review on the next book!

The story was well told but the ending wasn't for me. I feel like I wasted my time trying to figure out something that was just stalling till the book was long enough.

On the bedside of her dying mother, Jessie Sloan struggles to get meaningful sleep. After being given medication to help her sleep, Jessie sleeps through her mother's death. Upon waking she goes down a long winding path of questioning who she is and who her mother is. Through many longs days of no sleep, we watch Jessie unravel trying to make sense of a life that doesn't seem to make sense.
Told through the perspective of Jessie and another character set 20 years earlier we race to discover the mysteries that these women carry.
This book kept me on my toes until the very end! Highly recommended!

*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review