YOUR LIFE IS MINE is a great suspense novel. Nathan Ripley does a great job a character and plot development. Worth the read for sure.

I was so excited going into this book, the premise is so different than any other mystery/thriller I have read but unfortunately, this book did not do it for me.

I'm going to start off with some positives:
- As I said, the premise of this book was so interesting! I loved the idea of a cult being the main focus of a thriller book and I haven't read any other books that focus on cults previously.
- I think there was a lot of realism of how the cult and violent acts throughout operated. I liked reading about how Chuck Varner recruited people and the philosophies he had.
- I love books with strong female friendships, which this one had! Even though it was an extremely complicated relationship throughout the novel, I loved that the main character and her female friend were there for each other even when things got difficult.

And here are the negatives:
- First and foremost, I think that the dialogue throughout the whole book was awkward and forced. A lot of the time the dialogue even felt completely unnecessary to what was going on. Also, a lot of the dialogue really took me out of the story as it didn't feel real. I found myself saying a lot of the time, "nobody would actually talk like this in this situation right?!"
- I think this book brought up a lot of really serious and intense topics such as cult followings, mass shootings, and emotional child abuse. However, by the end of the story, it felt like there was no discussion on the seriousness of these acts and how it affected the characters involved. I was hoping for some resolution but didn't receive it.
- Additionally, I feel like there was so conversation from the main character about growing up in this cult environment and how it <i>really</i> affected her. Everything that she talked about felt very one-dimensional and surface level which was unfortunate as I feel like there could be a lot to say from that perspective.
- There was many twists and turns throughout this book, and while I can't say I predicted any of them, they also weren't exciting or shocking when they did happen. Everything that happened did feel very predictable and unoriginal and I was hoping for something new and exciting to happen especially since the premise of the story was so interesting to me.
- I also didn't like how this book ended. I really wanted some discussion about the events that happened but instead, we had the climax and then 1-2 chapters of the aftermath which felt very rushed.

Overall, I didn't love this book even though I really wanted too.

I gave Ripley's début novel, Find You In the Dark, 3 stars. It was pretty good, but the pace was sluggish and I found the characters a little stale. Neither is the case for his second novel, Your Life Is Mine. I LOVED this book so much, and Ripley has solidified his spot on my auto-read list.

I love Ripley's writing style, in particular the way Blanche's childhood trauma is told in flashbacks throughout the story.

• The morally gray characters are complicated, baffling, riveting and realistic. No person is simply good or evil, we all make our choices in that moment, for that situation.

LGBT rep? I'm not 100% sure, but did anyone else get the feeling that Jaya and Blanche have had, or could have a romantic relationship?

Your Life Is Mine drives home the value of information, and how that knowledge can be used to dig up the truth. This is a story about a young girl who overcame the odds to become a successful woman, but who isn't done growing until she can deal with her guilt and trauma.

When I learned what this book was about I was incredibly worried that it would glorify mass murderers, but I'm glad to report it does not do that. Instead, this story shows the impact that a shooting spree has, not just on the victims and their families, but also the lasting negative impact on the family of the shooter.

› Final Thoughts
• Your Life Is Mine is an engaging, intense, creepy novel that is one of the best thrillers I've ever read.

This was definately a slow burn for me i found it a little predictable and had a hard time connecting with the characters however the presimse of the story was an interesting.

Blanche is the daughter of Chuck Varner the shooter of the Harlow Mall Mass shooting. Blanche had done everything to put Chuck and the shooting in her past. Until she finds out about the death of her mother, Crissy. Blanche knows this wasn't an accidental robbery shooting that it has something to do with her Father. Blanche then goes on to discover skiing with the police what actually happened to her mother.

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster Canada, Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


You can also find my review on Instagram as of Tuesday may 28th

Nathan Ripley just keeps getting better. I loved his best selling first novel, so I knew I was in a treat when I received a review copy of this second one. I was NOT disappointed.
Ripley has a talent for making really creepy people seem almost normal. In this one, the daughter of a shopping mall mass shooter who thought she'd left his weird cult following behind when she changed her name and walked away from her mother at 16, suddenly finds herself pulled back into his madness as she investigates the murder of her mother years later.
Through Blanche, her best friend, the local police, a reporter and a cast of supporting characters, Ripley relentlessly pokes at the madness and motivations of the now dead Chuck Varney and his wife Chrissy while spinning out a murder story that will keep you riveted to the page, while making you cringe every time you walk into a busy mall or down a crowed street.
A great story, destined to be another best seller.

3 stars for me ! It is not that I didn't like the book overall but I found it slow to get into but once I did then it kept my attention and once Blanche went home when she learned her mother died, the pages started to turn quickly.

Perhaps it was just that I am not a fan of cults but I did love Nathan Ripley's thriller Find You in the Dark.

Having said all that Your Life is Mine is definitely worth the read.

I dont even know where to start with this book. It's so different from any other book I have read but I loved every second of it ! It was super creepy, and weird but in an awesome way ! What a great book and I recommend for sure! Well if you're into cults and weirdness but in a good way !

The first chapter had me hooked! The middle was slow, and it was hard to stay interested. Then the end came and i couldn't put the book down again. Some good twists.

I found that this book was difficult to get into. The blurb promised an interesting story line, with some interesting characters. However, I found the story to be dull and dragged out. The characters were one dimensional and none were really that likable. It was a quick read, although I did skim through some of it as I neared the end and things were being repeated for the third or fourth time.