Convergence is my first book by Ginny T Ytrrup. Convergence is a psychological thriller that goes back and forth in time and back and for the between Denilyn and Adelia. Admittedly this was confusing for me and I would have to go back and see who and what year it was.

Deni is an author, divorcee and Professor of psychology. However she is also still paralyzed by fear. The author was able to throw in some plot twists that surprised me. I struggled with this book a little and started speed reading which may have caused me to not be as engaged with Deni and her outcome.

I think you will like the book if you enjoy a psychological thriller with Christian undertones. I don’t think you will be shocked by the stalker but Ginny will still catch you with some surprises.

I will definitely read other books by Ginny.

Sexual content – any physical activity was behind closed doors with a married couple
Violence – Deni had a stalker and thinks she may have another one.

I received this book from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review.
You can see my full review at More Than a Review dot com where I rate the level of sex, violence, language and drug/alcohol use in books.

This story is tough for me to review... Rounding up to 3 stars.

It started great - interesting characters and plot. Although this is becoming quite common, I always enjoy reading about psychologists. They have a unique inner dialog and I usually wonder what they are hiding from themselves.

I found the combination of three different timelines confusing. Although I was surprised by the conclusion and appreciated some of the mystery hidden until then, I thought that it could have been revealed in a more succinct manner.

*Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was an alright read but it was weird how religion randomly became this huge part of the story and the plot revealed itself so slowly. Parts were so unnecessary and I found myself skimming just to get through to the parts where something actually occurred, especially at the end. Plus the culprit was pretty easy to figure out, and that is always frustrating. I don't think I'd recommend this book.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Convergence by Ginny L. Yttrup
Not a bad storyline, psychologist being stalked not once but twice but did the right guy get put away the 1st time? Her friend also got stalked and ended up missing presumed dead.....this story is told by both women in flashbacks and as happening now...this left me confused and constantly having to go back and figure out the time frame and the teller...like I said not a bad story just confusing to me. Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for allowing me to read this and leave my honest opinion.

The story follows two people, Denilyn and Adelia. Both have had traumatic experiences and are trying to build new lives while constantly looking over their shoulders and feeling like they are being followed. Slowly we find the connection and learn many things about their past.
This book was rather confusing for me. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be inspirational or a mystery. I kept reading as the storyline was rather good, but at the end I felt rather deflated and had a lot of unanswered questions.
I do thank the publisher and author for giving me an ARC through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Maritza Velazquez's review 

May 01, 2019  ·  edit


liked it

bookshelves: netgalley, 2019, mystery 


A psychologist paralyzed by fear.
A mother propelled by love.
A stalker bent on destruction.
This is the blurb that had me requesting a copy of this book from NetGalley. Whom I thank for gifting me a copy of this book to read and review. Billed as a Christian mystery I did not know what to expect and am not sure if I liked it ad much as I should. Told through flashbacks and differing viewpoints the book progressed at a good pace. About 2/3s of the way through the story and mystery finally clicked into place for me. I was having a funny finally about one of the characters from the beginning and it turns out I was right. It was a fine read. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the chance to discover a new author.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Ginny Yttrup book and her previous books were all straight women’s fiction, so it was a surprise to pick up Convergence and find it’s suspense. A good surprise, mind you!

Convergence opens with an unnamed woman taking her first tandem skydive. Except someone is watching …
The story then flips to January 2017, as Denilyn Rossi is heading to work—she’s the department chair of psychology at Pacific Covenant University in California. Deni is also a published author, although the success of her first book destroyed her marriage. She’s now been asked to write a second book

It’s not clear whether Chapter One is before or after the Prologue, which is kind of the point—the timeline skips forward and back, back and forward, until it all converges in the present (hence the title). We then skip eight years back in time, to 2009. We don’t know why, but we already know this is significant. The we’re back in 2017, but in the head of another character—Adelia Sanchez. And on it goes.

Convergence is a story that unwinds and reveals layers and secrets as you read. It breaks several of the rules of writing (don’t start with a prologue is just the first). But the whole plot—and the secrets—are unravelled in such a way they pulled me right in. What is the significance of January 9th? What happened eight years ago? How did Deni get that scar on her head? Why is her friend and colleague, Ryan, so worried about her?

I don’t want to say too much more because *spoilers*. Just believe me when I say this is an excellent novel, one with unexpected twists and turns and surprises (and it’s hard to surprise me). The plot is complex without being convoluted, the characters are believable, and the writing is top notch. All in all, it’s a great suspense read.

You know how sometimes when you finish a novel it’s so good that you want to muse on it for a few days rather than starting another book? This is one of those novels. Recommended.

Thanks to Shiloh Run Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Yes. This was a psychological thriller! My first read from Ginny Yttrup but won't be my last.

The story involves a psychologist, a stalker & a mother. What could go wrong?

I highly recommend this book. Its an intriguing read full of plot twists, fast paced, complex, page-turner you won't want to put down. Thank you Net Galley for this complimentary book to review. My review is my own opinion.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

Convergence starts with mysterious and confusing instances surrounding Dr. Denilyn Rossi and her reaction to them. She is a woman of science who cannot explain why confusing and paralyzing events keep happening to her. The book bounces back and forth between her past and her present. This serves to let us know the events from before and the events from the present are converging together to create the terrifying events she is about to embark upon.

The author does a good job leading up to the final climax of the book with the way she bounces around in Denilyn’s story and Adelia’s story. It flows quite well and was a lot of fun to read, up until the first “big reveal.”
That made no sense.

**WARNING: SPOILERS**

With Denilyn being a psychology professor, I thought that her taking on Adelia’s name was rather stupid. It seemed to make the ending very forced and not effective. I think Yttrup had opened up a great possibility that Denilyn could have thought that she was Adelia or that she really was Adelia this whole time and she had split personality disorder and her friends just helped her through it until she became just Denilyn. Then when Ryan went a bit nuts, Adelia “came back” to protect Denilyn. That would have been cool. But just to say she was Adelia and have the chapters named that was a huge letdown. Maybe she wanted to take on some of Adelia’s more interesting characteristics, which was fine, but to set it up as if Adelia was “real” in a sense, well, the author could have done so much more with that. I think she missed a major opportunity with this one.

The book does end well and it is a fun story. But I feel that such a huge opportunity was wasted on this that I can’t quite get over my disappointment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy to read. All opinions are my own.

An impressive novel that combines imagination, mystery, and a rock-hard edge — and never fails in its duty to maintain the building tension of a first-rate thriller

Psychologist Denilyn Rossi wrote a successful book on bullying, and soon after realized she was being stalked. Her counseling practice fell apart, her marriage disintegrated, and Deni ended up hiding out at her mother’s house, with her best friends rallying around her. Soon Deni rebuilds her life, begins teaching at a Sacramento area college with her best friend Ryan, and is thinking about writing once again. It just takes one strange occurrence, one feeling of distrust, and Deni is once again being stalked.

In their younger years, Deni, Ryan, and Adelia were rafting guides in Three Rivers. Much of this book centers on the convergence of the rivers, and on the three lives entwined with them. I was intrigued by the setting, but couldn’t really get into the story. It read, to me, a lot like a series of diary entries following Deni’s stalker and her determination to overcome and reclaim her life.

Ok, Wow!

I'm still in awe. I spent most of this book on the edge of my seat. Through Denilyn's reactions, I felt everything. It seemed unreal, and totally believable at the same time.

The shifting from past to present brings just the right level of confusion and helpfulness. That takes some definite skill.

Dealing with fear is a big part of the story, and God is with us, so we need not face it alone. I loved the lessons in awareness and coping. Trusting your instincts. Trusting God's got your back!

📌 I received an advance copy of the book from @NetGalley and chose to review it here. All thoughts are my own.

Denilyn Rossi is a psychology professor who became the victim of a stalker. And it may be happening again . . . or is it? I spent a good part of the book trying to figure out what I knew and what I didn’t know. I found some of the shifts in time confusing, but no doubt that was the goal. Yttrup has written a very intense, very twisty, very suspenseful story. Don’t read any spoilers because you don’t need to know what happens until you read it, and you need to read it! You will be holding your breath right along with Deni, and probably saying “Don’t do that!” like I did. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down until I finished it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Shiloh Run Press for an arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was not at all what I was expecting a book from Ginny Yttrup to be like. I've read many of her books and loved each one. With Convergence Ginny has stepped into a new genre and it is my hope that she'll continue writing in this new genre.

Convergence is a psychological thriller that just doesn't stop. I know we all say a book was hard to put down but I really mean it with this one. Usually you can put a book down at the end of a chapter but with the cliff hangers involved it is hard. I just needed to know what was coming next.

If you like a fast-paced, heart-pounding storyline this book should be put on your list.

I received an advanced copy of this book. This is an interesting book, it’s a bit slow in some parts, it definitely worth the read. This is the story of Deilyn Rossi. She was stalked and attacked. She wrote a book about it and became a professor of psychology. There is some debate about who actually attacked her, so the book is about her faith in God and how she goes about finding the actual person who attacked her and her true faith.

Ginny Yttrup is fast becoming one of my favorite authors! The first book that I read by her was Words, and I was hooked. Convergence is quite different from Words, but both are psychological dramas. Convergence focus on the victim of a stalker attack and her healing process. The alternating view points adds a unique twist, and frightening series of events the main character experiences leads to a satisfying internal journey toward faith and subsequent strength.

First time reading this author and not sure if this is her normal writing style but it just didn't work for me. The constant back and forth on the timeline and different 'voices' without revealing much plot until well into the book was quite tiresome. Had the information been presented differently and with more storyline early on, it may have been more palatable. Peeling away the presentation and after more information was provided, it was more readable and obviously had a lot of thought and research put into the book. The Christian content was nice but the main character seemed to invoke her faith only in times of stress, not as a part of her daily life,both past and present. If you have an interest in stress, stalkers and coping mechanisms, you will enjoy the book.
Thanks to the author and publishers for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

I have read several books by Ginny in the past, so was excited she had written a new one! This book drew me in. From the start, I was hooked to the story. I am usually not a big fan of psychological thrillers, they tend to creep me out a bit, but I could hardly put this down.
I felt Deni's emotions as she lived in fear. I felt her anger and disappointment as her marriage fell apart and her husband was not able to connect with her. This book will definitely draw out your emotions, as you feel with the characters, especially if any of it is something you can relate to. I think it's also a book about growth, learning to place our faith in God instead of ourselves and our abilities. It's about reaching the end of us, and reaching out to Him.

I enjoyed the twists to the plot, however, from the start, I kind of had this feeling about how the book would end. It wasn't clear .... and she certainly kept me guessing for a while, but I did hit the nail on the head.

The one thing that I struggled with, was the timeline. The chapters jumped back and forth, roughly spanning a decade and also in the same year kind of back and forth between the months. As it all wrapped up in the end, it made sense, but it seemed a little hard for me to follow. However, that being said, I am not sure how the author could have written it any differently and still come to the same conclusion in the same way.

I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy mystery, suspense and psychological thrillers.
I received this book from Celebrate Lit, and the publisher, but was not asked or required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Convergence is the gripping story of Denilyn's journey to overcoming the fear in her life. Deni is a young professional woman working with a couple of her grad school friends in an academic setting. The story takes us back and forth in time, and informs us of a traumatic event which essentially changed the course of Deni's life. Her faith in God, and the counsel of her friends gave her the power to confront her fear directly, but to do that her very life was at risk.

The first portion of the book seemed to move a little slowly, and I almost abandoned my reading. But I was glad I persevered, because Convergence did not disappoint! The ending was quite satisfying.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy suspenseful stories, and for those who find joy in reading about characters who trust God even when doing that doesn't seem to make much sense.