The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent is an amazing story about family and love and doubt. It starts of with seemingly unrelated perspectives of Nicoletta and Wren in a vastly different settings but captures the mind from the first page itself. They both go through their struggles and their problems resiliently in their own way and then together..
Nicoletta is married to a world renowned photographer and had a beautiful marriage, completely and irrevocably in love until she found the photo of a child in her husband's possession. And then everything came crashing around her because all she ever wanted in her seemingly perfect life is something she couldn't have. A child.

Wren, a nineteen year old girl, has only known the world around her family, her mother and two sisters in their single room cabin surrounded by the woods. When her mother goes missing with the youngest sister for a couple of months, she knows something is very wrong. But Wren can only do what she has been instructed, keep safe and NOT go into the woods. Low on supplies, scared and missing their mother Wren and her sister sage are faced with an incomprehensible dilemma when an inevitable knock on their door brings a stranger into their lives. What do they do to survive?
A fast paced thriller with relatable characters and breezy narrative, The Stillwater Girls is a novel anyone can enjoy.

3.25 stars Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Publishes April 9, 2019.

Minka Kent is a new author for me. I find her to be easy reading, expansive and imaginative. She writes with the expressiveness of an old soul. One who has seen way more than would be normal. I believe she captured the pure essence of her characters and set them on the best path for telling this story.

The novel starts out in two distinctly different ways. You think you are reading separate stories, stories happening decades apart. But that could not be further from the truth. One branch a primitive cabin lost in the woods, completely off the grid. The other an up-to-date failing marriage of a rich little spoiled girl. Midway in the book, the story starts to meld together and begins to make more sense.

There is a spot or two that pushes your sensibilities. You find the authors reasoning a bit hard to believe. At that point I let it go and remembering that I was reading fiction, took it in stride. Overall, this book was entertaining and worth the time for an afternoons read.

I loved this book! I went in with high expectations & this story did not disappoint.
The Stillwater Girls follows 2 storylines. The first being about 2 teens, Wren & Sage who are left to fend for themselves when their mother leaves their cabin to find help for their sick little sister. They’ve been raised in this secluded cabin, never knowing what was outside. With winter quickly approaching, low supplies, no sign of their mother returninging & a strange man lurking around, they have no choice but to flee the only world they’ve ever known.
The second storyline follows Nicolette. She’s married to Brant, an artist. They’ve decided to foster children after not being able to have children of their own. However Nicolette suspects her husband’s hiding something after finding suspicious bank transactions, a phone number he calls every week on the same day at the same time when Nicolette’s not around & his insistence she go to Florida to spend the cold, dreary winter months with her best friend.
I went in expecting a story with twist, turns & The Village like vibes. That’s exactly what I got.

Unfortunately, The Stillwater Girls turned out to be a bit too unrealistic for my liking.
That being said, it didn't stop me from enjoying it and sitting there wondering how on earth two completely different stories, those of Wren (who i loved) and Nicolette, could be related !

After an emergency hysterectomy, Nicolette is unable to have children. Blaming herself, she is struggling to hold her marriage together and suspects her husband Brant, a professionnel photographer, is having an affair.

Wren and Sage, two sisters, are living in a secluded cabin. Their mother left more than 2 months ago with their younger sister who fell ill. She left strict instructions with her 2 daughters to never enter the surrounding forest, nor to open the door to anyone until she returns. Is she coming back? The sisters are losing hope. Then comes the inevitable late-night knock on their door !

I loved Minka Kent's writing. It's fast-paced, addictive, intriguing and mysterious. This was the first book I have read of hers, but having read other reviews, I have recently added "The Memory Watcher" to my TBR.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Minka Kent for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This book was a wild card for me. I did not know what to expect, and while the premise was intriguing, I was still hesitant when I dove into it. The storylines were intriguing, but confusing. I felt like I was getting a grasp on the themes and the point of the story, until all of a sudden there was a wrong turn that left me feeling so lost and disappointed. The ending was unrealistic and such a veering from the original story that it was just hard to digest. The beginning had my attention but then I struggled to finish the book in the end.

Minka Kent has done it again. This is my third mystery thriller by her and I’ve enjoyed every single one. Now to decide which is my favorite.

I loved the pacing and format of this book. Told In dual perspective and I enjoyed both characters points of view. I knew that at some point the storylines would merge and they did at just the right moment.
I feel like the book was precisely the right length. It was so good I couldn’t tell whether as the story progressed if the chapters got shorter or if I was just turning pages faster lol.

The plot twists were great but I did predict some minor things and that is why I’ve deducted one star. I will continue to read and Recommend Kent’s novels to friends.

Loved this book!

It starts out by telling two different stories, and goes back and forth between chapters. Usually when this happens I prefer one story over the other, and rush through one. In this case, I loved both stories.

This is one of those books that are hard to put down. You keep telling yourself one more chapter. I was fully engrossed in both stories. I kept trying to guess how they were going to fit together. I was right, and I was wrong. I won't give anything away.....you need to read it for yourself!

The Stillwater Girls is the first book I’ve read by Minka Kent. I very much enjoyed it. Wren and Sage, ages 19 and 18, live in a cabin in the woods in upstate New York. They are cut off from society and have been raised by their Mama along with their 9 year old sister Evie. They have no electricity, no running water, they raise their own goats, chickens, and grow their own food. Their Mama has to leave because EV is sick and needs help. It’s been a month and she is not back. Winter is coming soon and they’re almost out of food. Where is there mama? How will they survive?
Meanwhile, Nicolette is married to Brant. They seem to have a perfect marriage except they have no children. Nicolette longs to be a mother but her husband does not seem too into it. Their marriage is not as perfect as it seems. Little by little, Nicolette start to suspect her husband is up to something.
Believe it or not, these two worlds will collide in the most unexpected way. I thought I had this one figured out but there is a twist near the end that proved me wrong. This is a very fast read. I liked the alternating chapters between Wren’s point of view and Nicolette’s point of view. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Holy Moly...I never saw it coming! This story was so unexpected. I got sucked in from the start and was definitely invested.

Wren and Sage have been raised off the grid. Two sisters left behind in their cabin, when their mother took off with their youngest sister one night to get her medical treatment. They never came back.

Forced to survive on their own, until they feel threatened by a man who came looking for their family and they flee the only life they have ever known. Luckily they land on the doorstep of Nicolette, a woman who was kind and wanted to help them.

This story was a tangled web. Told from alternating points of view, the story was suspenseful and kept me interested. I was invested in these characters and had to keep reading until I found out their fates. I definitely enjoyed this twisted tale and will seek out more from this author in the future.

I love a good mystery and the allure of trying to see if I can figure out what's happening before the author unravels the story they have created! Minka's newest suspense was excellent! I've read nearly all of her romance books (under another name) and love her style for lighter romantic stories, but was very pleasantly pleased in the way she writes and creates scenes and characters as Minka Kent. This was a very satisfying story.

I had ideas and theories about what was happening with the storyline and characters, but sadly/wonderfully I couldn't figure it all out :). That's the best! I feel ever-s0-clever when I can solve a mystery before all is revealed, but it's even better when I can say "I did not see that coming!!" I loved how she kept me on my toes - trying to determine who was "good" or "bad" in the story, and if things were truly as they seemed. I sympathized with the main characters and tried to imagine if I would have the strength and bravery that Wren and her sister did to face an unknown world in search of answers. I found all of her characters easy to relate to - I loved some of them, and loathed others - and appreciated how Minka was able to interweave their stories. I would highly recommend this book, and look forward to reading more of what Minka Kent creates!

+I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I really enjoyed this story. I was sucked into Wren and Sage's saga, and I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to know how their story intersected with Nic and Brant's. I thought the characters were well developed. The ending was a let down, though. It just seemed like everything wrapped up too neatly for my taste. I was expecting something more I guess. Still it was a good story and I'll read this author again.

Sisters, raised in isolation in a cabin in the woods, taught never to leave the safety of their home. When the youngest falls deathly ill, their mother leaves with her, in order to seek medical attention. After months of being gone, with no word, the two remaining sisters are close to starvation. Their livestock are dying, they have no way to obtain more supplies, and it's the dead of winter.
A stranger arrives, and tells the girls he's looking for their mother. They've been cautioned against any outsiders, and this man seems to explain why. He refuses to leave without the girls, and demands to know everything about their mother.
In the dead of night, the girls sneak away, heading into the forest. They've never left their homestead and don't know what to expect.
They come upon a stately home on the other side of the trees, and that's when their lives change forever.
This fantastic thriller has an exciting and intriguing plot, with characters you'll want to know more about. Well written and thought out, I highly recommend it to anyone.

This is a new author to me and a totally different genre than I usually prefer, but I must say that I am glad that I gave this one a go. Wren and her sisters Sage and Evie as well as their mom live in an isolated cabin, and grew up knowing that they can never leave the forest. When Evie is ill her mom has no choice but to try and get her help, problem being they never came back. No spoilers; this is a must read, you will not be disappointed. This is a unique and intriguing story, which has suspense, twists, mystery and heartbreak, which all lead to an all round entertaining read. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This was a good quick read. I liked the dual narrators. The plot also kept me guessing which doesn’t seem to happen much anymore. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

"We're not going to die. Not here. Not like this."

Wren and Sage were left to fend for themselves in a secluded cabin when their mom left them together with their youngest sister Evie. They haven't returned and the food supplies are getting low. Wren is worried when it's all really gone. Will she be brave enough to go to the outside world?

"All I know is I have to try... because I'm losing him."

Nicolette is desperate to have a child. And her husband is not keen to the idea of adoption. His reluctance led Nic to think of the thing she found in her husband's drawer.

The Stillwater Girls is an engaging book that will give your mind a workout for guessing. A mind-fuck, I tell you. The story was told from two alternating POV of Wren and Nicolette, both women are smart, strong and compelling. The plot is suspenseful, riveting and vividly well-written. Minka Kent didn't disappoint in writing another thriller that got me hooked right from the start. I thoroughly enjoyed and I highly recommend this one if you're into this kind of story. Happy reading!

Great story! I was sucked in from the beginning, trying to figure out how the two different stories were going to weave themselves together and it did not disappoint!!

This book grabs you right from the beginning and doesn't let go. And just as you think you have it figured out it throws you a curve ball and keeps you guessing. This book is amazing and I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a thriller, adventure, or just a good read.


I voluntarily reviewed this book in exchange for ARC!

The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent

This is the story of three girls who are being raised off-the-grid, by their mom in a cabin in the woods. They don’t have electricity or any other modern conveniences, but they don’t know anything different. The reader is given clues that things may not be exactly as they seem, but the clues don’t add up until later in the story. There is a couple involved in a parallel story line. Nicolette is convinced that her husband, Brandt, is having an affair and that he had a child with someone else, since she has had a hysterectomy, and can no longer have children. She found a photograph of a young girl in her husband’s sock drawer, and money is missing from one of their accounts. Nicolette assumes he is paying for the upkeep for his child with the missing money; she is convinced it is his child in this photo, because the girl’s eyes are remarkably similar to Brandt’s.

This book was hard to put down. Ms. Kent draws the reader in by deliberately revealing pertinent facts unexpectedly. The pacing is just right, and the action level is perfect for this story. There is a twist toward the end that will delight some readers and frustrate others. It was a slight surprise for this reader, but not wholly unexpected. The characters are distinctly rendered, and the girls are especially unique. Their struggles to understand the modern world were intriguing in many ways, giving this story an original feel to it. The world-building was well-done, and most questions are answered sufficiently; however, the fate of the girls’ animals was left open-ended. The element of suspense was present throughout the book, ratcheting up dramatically at certain times. This book evokes a range of emotion in the reader: there will be tears, laughter, heartache, joy, and acceptance. The reader wants both parallel story lines to find their happy endings!

WOW!! I was hooked right from the beginning to both of the separate stories of Nicolette and Wren and even more so when the two stories collided. This book is not what I expected and way surpassed my expectations. I do not want to say any more that so I don't spoil the book. Would definitely recommend.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this early copy.

I went into this thriller blind, just knowing the title and was pleasantly surprised by how well-crafted and interesting it was. I found the ending unique and liked the twists throughout it. I will be reading more from this up and coming author.

I recommend this quick but addictive thriller to anyone who enjoys the genre.