4.5 stars rounded up!

You're invited: Seeking women aged 18 to 32 to partcipate in a study on ethics and morality conducted by a preeminent NYC psychiatrist. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed. Call for more details.


Jessica is a woman in her late twenties trying to make it in NYC. She loves to do makeup and that's what she does for a living. She is employed by a company that does on demand, at home, makeup application. She dreams of doing makeup for broadway and different shows one day. For now, she's just making it as much as she can. She also has a sister who has a disability and she secretly helps support her parents with her sister's medical costs. Basically, Jessica is just scraping by.

One day she is doing a college girl's makeup and the client is talking about doing a study - that's worth $500. This interests Jessica and she secretly takes the info when the girl is not looking and plans on posing to be her at the study. Jess ends up going to the study only to tell them who she really is but ends up being a very interesting subject - Subject 52 to be exact, for Dr. Shield's and her team. Dr. Sheild's can't get enough. She asks Jessica back for more and has her answer some really deep questions. She makes her dig deep and if she thinks the answer is not deep enough she says "try again."

Eventually this evolves into a 1-on-1 study in Dr. Shield's house. Dr. Shield tells Jessica she will pay her a ton of money but things are about to go even deeper. Jess has bills to pay and family guilt to take care of so she agrees. What transpires in the rest of the book is insane. Love, lust, guilt, adultery, lies, etc. You name it, it's probably in here. Is all comes down to the question: "Is it worth it?"

I read this book in under 24 hours. If I didn't have to go to work today, I would have easily stayed up and read this all night and finished it in a few hours. I was so excited for the Wife Between Us by Greer and Sarah early last year but this one, in my opinion, is even better! I loved the short and fast paced chapters. They are not named with Jessica or Dr. Shield's names but you get a general gist of who's chapters are who's when you dive in.

I think what really won me over in this book was the overall complexity of each character. Just when I thought I had them figured out they really turned another way. Were there some parts that were predictable and maybe not as shocking as the anticipation in the beginning of the chapter made it out to be? Sure. But the weaving of the character's throughout each chapter and how many turns there were kept me engaged and hooked in for the ride.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my ARC of this book. This comes out, tomorrow, January 8th, 2019 and I highly recommend you pick it up!

Well, this book was definitely unique. After having read Greer Hendricks’ and Sarah Pekkanen’s debut novel The Wife Between Us, I was really excited to read their next collaboration. And this book did not disappoint. This was a fascinating psychological, cat-and-mouse with a great story-line and excellent characters. The chapters alternate between Jessica (Subject 52) and Dr. Shields (the person conducting the morality and ethics research project). It was fast-paced, full of suspense and drama right up to the end. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of Greer Hendricks' "An Anonymous Girl" in exchange of an honest review.

When Jessica Farris decides to sneak her way into a psychological study, she thinks the extra money will be good to help out her family and her own struggling finances. Dr. Shields seems like a caring doctor who while going through the study seems to be helping Jess with her own issues. But she's in for more than she bargained for. When the Q&A portion of the study is over, Dr. Shields sends Jess on different tasks throughout the city some of which turn out to be dangerous. Will she be able to get herself out of this situation before it takes a turn she can't undo?

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I have been looking forward to this book ever since I found out it was coming out at the end of last summer. Now it is finally here for everyone to enjoy.

This book is unlike any other book I have ever read. It kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. Just when you think you know what is going to happen, there is a twist and you're like What the ... ?

Jess Farris is a makeup artist in New York City. She has a few close friends, but she works just to live and to help her parents pay for her sister's medical bills. Jess could be any young woman in America. Trying to find her place in the world. When an opportunity presents itself, to earn a few extra dollars, who wouldn't jump on that? While reading this book, I could really feel myself in the characters shoes. I don't know that I would have been brave enough to do some of the things that Jess did, but trying unconventional things to earn money I can totally see myself doing.

What a great way to start 2019 with this amazing book. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did. I can't wait to discuss it with you. My first book and first 5 star. I hope the rest of my reading year goes as great as this first book does.

An Anonymous Girl, by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Short Take: I am never doing one of those surveys for money again. Like, EVER.

(*Note: I received an advance copy of this book for review.*)

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m always up for making a few extra bucks, and one of the easier ways to do so (if you have lots of free time & a high tolerance for being asked the same question 50 different ways) are those online survey sites. What’s good/bad about those things is how mundane and standardized they are - no matter how you answer a question, the next question is the same for everyone. I’d venture to say that most in-person research surveys function the same way (I haven’t done those, it’s too people-y out there). But the most important aspect of research surveys of either flavor is that they don’t impact your “real” life at all.

Enter Jessica Farris. A struggling makeup artist in New York City, she rushes from job to job, scrambling to make enough to cover her bills, and to send money back home to help care for her disabled sister, Becky. So it’s obviously Too Good To Be True when she is admitted (read: scams her way) into a lucrative gig. Take a survey on ethics and morality, with a few follow up sessions, and make several hundred dollars per session.

What Jessica doesn’t know is that Dr. Shields, the psychiatrist running the study, has an agenda that goes far beyond academic research, and it doesn’t take long for the tasks to move from a computerized survey to real-world “experiments”. Go to this hotel bar. Wear a black dress. Flirt with this man.

Jessica (of course) becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the entire process, but she has already confessed her Darkest Secret to Dr. Shields and is now unable to extricate herself without risking her relationships with everyone she cares about. As she desperately tries to find a way out, the doctor is just as determined to keep the experiment going, using every type of manipulation in a psychiatrist’s toolbox (and WHOA, there are a WHOLE LOT).

I’m just gonna stop with the plot description right here. If you’re reading this review, chances are, you’ve read a lot of psychological thrillers, and you already have a handle on the whole cat-and-grossly-outmatched-mouse thing. So I’m just going to say that Ms. Hendricks & Ms. Pekkanen knocked that one out of the park. Dr. Shields is brilliant, obsessive, and ice-cold, and Jessica’s anguish and confusion as she dives, headfirst and unprepared, into a thorny tangle of relationships, betrayals and lies is palpable.

As far as villains go, Dr. Shields is a really, really good one. I’ve spent a lot of words in the past about the obnoxious “criminal mastermind” cliche, and although the not-so-good doctor is scarily smart and observant, her genius runs in one compulsive direction. There’s no “psychiatrist who is great at studying and manipulating people who’s also a master hacker, bomb maker, and bazillionaire who has a torture palace the size of a city block that nobody knows about” here.

I have to add, also, that the chapters from Dr. Shields’ point of view maintain an unnervingly clinical, detached tone. It’s chilling, and maybe does more for the story than the actions and plot itself.

In the end though, An Anonymous Girl suffers from, well, the end. It’s not terrible, but kind of predictable and handled in an abrupt way that focuses on one character and leaves several plot threads involving others hanging. I would’ve liked some kind of epilogue, an update on [spoiler]’s life after the climactic final confrontation.

In the end though, An Anonymous Girl is a fun, twisty little thriller, and the research/experiments angle is something new & different.

The Nerd’s Rating: FOUR HAPPY NEURONS (and some grapes and brie - the snack of champion psychos!)

This is a pretty fascinating thriller from the authors of The Wife Between Us. Jessica Farris is a young woman living in NYC who is barely able to make ends meet working as a make-up artist, when she hears about an easy way to earn a quick $500--by taking part in a study on ethics and morality. But there is more going on here than meets the eye and Jess finds herself drawn into increasing questionable situations. Moral dilemmas are examined here--what would YOU do for money? When do you draw the line?

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley for my honest review. Many thanks!

Thank you St Martin’s Press for a copy of An Anonymous Girl for an honest review. Out tomorrow (January 8/19), this one finally satisfied my itch to read something really fast paced.
I could not put this one down. It was such an odd concept with such weird and unreliable narrators. Definitely not realistic or serious but fun and crazy.
Jessica signs up to be a part of a morality study for Dr Shields for the money. When she is selected for more sessions and the tests start getting more invasive, Jess realizes the study may be more personal for Dr Shields that she ever expected.

This is my first book by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen and I liked the style. If you want something just a little off centre, full of twists that after a while they don’t even shock you because there are so many. I honestly just stopped trying to guess what was going on and read the story. I would love to see this one made into a 12 part limited series!

An Anonymous Girl has it all here to make it a fun and entertaining read with a few gasp-worthy moments. It’s pleasingly creepy in a psychological way. It has those fascinating elements to it like unreliable narrators, obsession, morality, secrets, danger and betrayal. It’s mildly dark, intriguing and suspenseful. Do I have you hooked or agreeing with me already?

The tension raises with each chapter as we see our main character Jessica’s POV and Dr. Lydia Shields second person narrative who is conducting an interesting and intriguing psychological study that explores ethics and morals. I was so fascinated by this study and secretly I would love to know the results of a real study similar to this but that is probably best left in books. I am so fascinated by moral and ethics and human behavior when it comes to that. So this one was right up my alley and it left me really thinking and pondering a few things in this story.

I really thought our writing duo here did a great job creating realistic and unique characters. I was a bit worried that Jessica might become a frustrating weak character but I found her to be strong and interesting.

Now on to the ending. I was a bit conflicted here with the end and even though there was some gasping going on from me I thought one part of the ending wasn’t so unique and I wish the authors would have wrapped that up differently. Anyways it doesn’t change my excitement for this one. I highly recommend.

First, I am not going to be the one to give anything away... it would spoil everything! This is an extremely well-crafted book. I was taken by these authors from the start.

Tale a medical professional with a study that needs participants...and a woman who is at the end of her rope...desperate for a way to have the money she needs. This is your set up and the way it progresses will take you on a ride you will not exist until the very end.

“One of them is lying. But who?”

Well HELLO! What an inventive story! One of my favorite writing duos has written another absolutely thrilling book that is filled with mystery, passion and intrigue. And one of the most memorable main characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading! This MUST be made into a movie and no one other than Nicole Kidman can play the role of Dr. Shields. Also I love when New Yorkers write about New York. The city is almost another character in the book.

I read and loved 'The Wife Between Us' which I still continue to recommend to all. And 'An Anonymous Girl' was just as enthralling from the very beginning. The clever plot intrigued me and stunned me until the very end.

Jessica is a struggling make-up artist who takes part in a test at a local university. The paid morality study is administered by the mysterious Dr. Shields and it soon becomes clear that there are many forces at play here.

"Sometimes a test is so small and quiet you don't even notice it's a test."

Everyone has secrets to hide and they will all pay a dear price to keep those secrets hidden. Each character here is nuanced and multi-faceted. This is an incredibly smart and witty thriller that was simply unputdownable. I am being intentionally vague on the plot because this book is best read without knowing too much about the story.

“We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can’t recognize them ourselves.”

'An Anonymous Girl' is a highly original and smart psychological thriller about lies, relationships and ethics. I highly recommend this story and it is definitely one of my top favorite books of 2019. All the praise to Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen!

I had high expectations for Anonymous Girl after Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen’s first novel, The Wife Between Us, but unfortunately this one did not satisfy my thriller craving.

Jess is a makeup artist in New York City who is struggling to provide for her family back home when an opportunity presents itself for her to make some extra money by participating in a psychological study. The study is routine at first. She is asked to answer questions on a computer, but as they become more personal, she answers something right (or wrong) and Dr. Shields asks her to become a subject in a special individual study. Jess is suddenly asked to perform mysterious tasks and interact with various strangers. Dr. Shields is a stranger herself, and there is a lot of mystery surrounding her marriage and her research.

Though my description is vague, the goal of Dr. Shields’ study is clear early on. And for me, everything was clear early on. Between the characters, it’s all about who knows what, and who knows what whom else knows…this is giving me a flashback to a particular “friends” episode! There was one thing I didn’t see coming, but because it seems so implausible that it didn’t resonate with me.

To be honest, the story in itself is interesting, but I kept hoping for more or for a twist that never came. I am really undecided about the rating on this, because despite the lack of suspense, I did enjoy reading it. It is well written and I think the story had potential. If aspects such as Jess’ home life or abusive relationship were explored more, it could have had more value. As a thriller, it is just not that thrilling. I read this novel fairly quickly and there were some moments when I was routing for the main character, especially in her love life, so for that I am giving it three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a psychological thriller by the authors of The Wife Between Us and holy cow was it a thriller. The story takes place in New York City and there are 2 narrators, Jessica Farris and Dr. Shields. Sometimes when there are more than 1 narrator, it can become confusing, but not in this novel. The writers did an excellent job of making major changes between the characters tones to really set them apart. Without too many spoilers, Dr. Shields is conducting a psychological study and Jessica volunteers.

I was drawn in immediately by Jessica, who seemed a bit flighty and probably pretty unreliable. She honestly reminded me of a party girl on Sex In The City. Once Jessica started in the study, oh I could not put the book down. I found myself reading faster and faster trying to see how everything was going to play out. I DID NOT see that coming wow. This book was a fantastic start for 2019 and I can only hope their next novel is just as great!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review this book.

This was just a dull and uninteresting book. I got no enjoyment from it at all. I was happy to be finished with it.

It took me about 100 pages to really get into the book but after that I couldn’t put it down. The twists and turns, the question I kept trying to answer while reading before they were answered. The anticipation of what would come next. It was exciting, suspenseful and left me in awe until the very end.

An Anonymous Girl, by co-authors Greer Hendricks, and Sarah Pekkanen, is their follow up to 2018's The Wife Between Us which has apparently been picked up as a possible movie by Amblin Entertainers. 28-year old Jessica Farris is a Beauty Buzz Cosmetics specialist who struggles to pay her bills. Jess moved to NYC dreaming of a career in the theater. After a visit to a client, Jessica discovers that a professor named Dr. Shields is offering $500 for a ethics and morality study.

You're Invited: Seeking women aged 18-32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality conducted by a preeminent NYC psychiatrist. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed. Call for more details.

Finding extra money to send home to her parents and special needs sister, who she supports, sounds like a fantastic opportunity. The questions start out innocent enough but get darker and deeper as she continues. They range from questions like can you tell a lie without feeling guilt? Have you ever kept a secret from someone you loved to avoid upsetting them? After the first part of the questions are over, Jessica meets the mysterious Dr. Shields.

As the study goes on, Jessica finds herself in a quagmire of her own doing, really. She opens up about secrets that she has never told anyone, but is the money really worth the emotional toll? Readers will ask ourselves just how far and how deep would we get involved What motivates us in our own lives to make the moral choices that we do? Is there ever a line drawn and set in concrete or is it a moveable barrier depending on odd circumstances? Is bartering an option?

As the sessions continue, and the payoff increases, Jess can't help but wonder what the study really is all about. Dr. Shields starts to tell Jess where to go, how to dress, and whom to meet—and in some cases, that entails striking up a conversation with a specific man. Dr. Shields watches from behind the scenes and snares Jessica into a web of deceit and trickery to expose her own husbands infidelity. Jessica ends up so deeply trapped in the study, that she can't get out of, even once she learns how dangerous it is and how far Dr. Shields will go.

This is a cleverly written psychological thriller full of deceit, obsession, twists and unreliable narrators. I haven't read the Wife Between Us yet, but I might just as well since I now have some understanding at how well these writers actually work together. It's also nice to have new authors churning out entertaining books, instead of the same repetitiveness that leaves us with Hollywood making the same movies over and over again.

WOW! What a ride. Absolutely fantastic. Couldn't put it down. Oh I know we shouldn't use such a pat phrase when reviewing, but some books just can't be put down.

I love a mystery that keeps me on my toes and this did. Highly recommend.

I have never read this author before but I will read them again for sure! This is a very intriguing suspenseful book! Just as soon as you think you have something figured out, forget that thought because you are going to turn the page and things will change again! Great book! Thanks!

This book was a crazy rollercoaster! The authors roped me in right from the first chapter. This was definitely a fast-paced, fun read. I thought that the characters were well-developed and the storyline flowed well. I don’t want to give away too much from the review, as I think that the reader should just go in knowing as little as possible to get the most enjoyment from the story. All I can say is that it won’t disappoint. Looking forward to their next novel. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

"Forgiveness is not always possible; forgetting is unrealistic."
A psychological thriller that truly had me guessing until the last chapter.
What a young girl will do for money to pay her bills and help her parents is how this all starts.
Jess needs money, but at what price?
Secrets she has hidden from her family, begin to come out when she participates in a study that states "Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed." Simple and easy? OH NO IT IS NOT!
The plot begins to thicken as you will soon see.
This is the second novel I have read by the two authors and it left nothing unturned! It will keep you guessing and definitely on your toes until the last page!
Well done!

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen centers on makeup artist Jessica. She receives word about a well-paid study on ethics and morality and enters the study. Approached a few sessions in about the study moving to a real-world setting, Jessica agrees to participate. She trusts Dr. Shields but soon finds herself in some uncomfortable scenarios.

The book made me sensitive to personal ethics and morality. Becoming so focused on this made me a bit emotional. At one point, Jessica had a moment of realization that brought me to tears.

Subtle nuances would adjust whose point of view I trusted. Just when I figured things out, the reveal of more deceit changed my perception. I spent a good deal of the book trying to anticipate how Jessica would come out of the book unscathed. I never did figure it out beforehand.

When the plot progresses, and Jessica understands the threats surrounding her, it was so tense I never could quite relax while reading. I consider any book that can draw those responses from me well above average.

A strong theme here is how secrets can condemn in the end. By the book's climax, every character pays in some way for the truths they did not share. Although, ironically, a lie helps one of them in the end.

There is a logic behind the character's reactions. However, the worst offender of them didn't receive the right type of justice. A part of me feels sorry for the way things turned out. The manipulation perpetrated by one individual wasn't well punished in my eyes.

An Anonymous Girl is one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever read. Not only does it immerse you in an intense web of manipulation, but it also makes you evaluate on a personal level. St. Martin's Press, through NetGalley, gave me a copy of this book for my honest opinion. I suggest all readers come to their own conclusions.

I have to say that despite the hype surrounding the release of this novel, I can only give it two stars. The description drew me in, but the book failed to fully deliver on its promises.

It begins in first person POV with the heroine, Jessica, narrating in present tense. It takes a while to get much information about her other than her profession and the fact that she’s strapped for cash. There’s a lot of “showing”, but, you know what? Sometimes you’ve just got to “tell” to get certain info out there and it is slow to come. Sure, I guess they wanted her to be anonymous even to the reader, but it meant that I personally struggled to care about Jessica at all.

The book also alternates narrators every chapter with the other half of them being told by Dr. Shields in second person, present tense, with a passive voice. If you don’t know what passive voice means, it’s, “The drink was set on the table. The chair was pulled out.” It was annoying in my opinion rather than giving me whatever kind of experience the authors intended. I simply didn’t care about Dr. Shields. The antagonist could have just as easily have been a sentient rock.

Of course, I won’t be letting any spoilers slip, but I will say this: The premise itself was intriguing: Can you really trust anyone? And, as the story got going, I enjoyed the plot. The twists were heavily telegraphed, so there were no real surprises for me, but it held my interest enough to finish. Jessica was a TSTL archetype right up until the very end and earned quite a few eyerolls. I felt that her naïveté would have been more believable if she’d been written as much younger than twenty-eight (age gathered from context).

All in all, the unnatural narration style didn’t add anything to the story. In fact, I feel that it would have been a much better novel with Lydia Shields’ POV chapters eliminated entirely. It would have allowed me to connect with Jessica without the antagonist’s interruptions and it would have let all those promised twists and turns actually take me by surprise.