An original story structure is something I always appreciate. I love my thrillers, but it's just a fact that if you read them all the time, they can start to feel quite formulaic. So, the timeline device in Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard was very interesting to me. It did come across as clunky and confusing at times, but I enjoyed the book as a whole. The voyeuristic aspect was fun and freaky. You really never know when you're being watched these days. 3 stars

*I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley.*

Going into this, I was so excited, but in the end, I just felt a little letdown and confused. 

The book opens up with a well-known online celebrity who is off to a very secluded resort. From the start, this book gives off super creepy vibes..., and we begin to realize that she is in danger. We eventually witness Natalie being murdered in her cabin - this murder is witnessed by "resort" owner Andrew who has camera's in all the units. With all the five-star reviews that were coming in, I had really high hopes and even started to question if I was missing something. I have no problem with the style of writing; the ending just left me puzzled. 

This book is told via multiple timelines, and I think it just didn't work for me; I often found myself confused and having to go back to read plot points. I found the who slightly obvious, but I needed to keep reading if some big twist were thrown that would have me second guessing everything. Also the why - was a little lacklustered 

Just because I wasn't a fan of this book, doesn't mean that you won't be! It's a really creepy story - I just think the alternate timeline's didn't work for me. 
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I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This premise sounds like something that could happen or has happened. And it makes me nervous!

Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard has us at a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Someone is watching a private room via a secret camera. And then a murder occurs. Caught on film. So finding the killer should be easy. Wrong!

The book is like a puzzle with pieces your mind needs to put together as you read past and present.

Take a look:

Andrew, the manager of Shanamore Holiday Cottages, watches his only guest via a hidden camera in her room. One night the unthinkable happens: a shadowy figure emerges on-screen, kills her, and destroys the camera. But who is the murderer? How did they know about the camera? And how will Andrew live with himself?

Natalie wishes she’d stayed at home as soon as she arrives in the wintry isolation of Shanamore. There’s something creepy about the manager. She wants to leave, but she can’t—not until she’s found what she’s looking for …

Psycho meets Fatal Attraction in this explosive story about a murder caught on camera. You’ve already missed the start. To get the full picture you must rewind the tape and play it through to the end, no matter how shocking …

The writing is good, the story was solid (and creepy), and I enjoyed reading this one!

It’s only $1.99 which is a bargain for a story like this! Grab a copy for your kindle here.

Thank you for the chance to review this galley prior to publication. Please refer to my goodreads profile for a full review.

It’s a murder mystery with a voyeuristic twist: a woman staying at an off-season irish holiday cottage is murdered in her bed, and the whole splattery thing is caught on the hidden camera in her room; a murder witnessed after the fact by creepy manager andrew, placer of hidden cameras, who is not only shocked to see his guest attacked, but also shocked that the killer is absolutely aware of the hidden camera.

what will happen now?

well, now you have to wait—the novelty of this book is in its structure, and after the opening-scene bloodbath, we are zipped away to the before:

I liked the concept of play, pause, rewind, fast forward. But to me the whole story just seemed to jump around and with that I wasn't as invested as I had hoped, it was just confusing. It was slow going and large chunks of the book seemed to go absolutely nowhere for me. I was interested in the mystery enough to read this the whole way through, but the ending was nothing special. I did like the setting and I liked the fact that Natalie was a big star on Instagram.

QUICK TAKE: very enjoyable thriller with a unique narrative structure. A hotel manager and peeping tom watches a woman murdered in one of the hotel rooms he's secretly videotaping and must figure out who the killer is before it's too late. At the same time, a local reporter tries to unravel the mysterious disappearance of a social media influencer...I was invested in both mysteries and found the book to have enough twists and turns to keep me engaged thru the end. Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre.

I received an advance digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

An awesome whodunit with a broken timeline? Yes and yes. Gripping, pulse quickening at a fast clip. Excellent read to check out from reality with.

5 out of 5 stars. Recommended reading.

3.5 Stars. I loved the middle of this book. The beginning was a bit slow to get into with a lot of character development. Into the middle, it really had me up at night wanting to read more. About 2/3 way through the ending was quite predictable. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. Having read the author's previous novel, Distress Signals, I was very excited to pick this one up! Unfortunately, I found the structure of the novel a bit confusing. It was hard to keep track of whether I was reading the past or the present. That's probably a personal problem, though. The story starts with the murder of a young woman caught on camera and then jumps to present time, following online journalist Natalie as she hunts for a missing woman. There definitely was an underlying creep factor, the feeling of being watched, that I enjoyed. I did feel like the ending fell a little flat, but overall I enjoyed this one, just not quite as much as the last one by this author. I will definitely pick up her next one though!

I love a good murder mystery. I especially liked how the constant jumping back and forth through the timeline added to the intrigue. Definitely not a book you’re going to want to put down.

A twisty thriller that will have you flipping pages to fly through the story.  Fast paced, engaging, twisty.

A little confusing at times especially during the "rewind" bits. By the description, I assumed it was going to be a thriller of some sorts, but that's not really want I got. I liked the general idea of this book but found the plot to be missing some excitment.

Catherine Ryan Howard intrigued me with her concept and synopsis. I love a story that kicks off with a heinous violent crime (a fictional story anyway). Rewind is a classic who-done-it.

The concept and execution may be lost on the younger generation. Rewind read like a cassette tape…fast forward to this…pause here…rewind to get the back details. I’ve never read a book where the author deliberately replicates a different medium. This was a definite success!

In order for any story to hit the next level, the author must create a connection between myself and their characters. Unfortunately, this necessary relationship never fully developed for me. I felt a lack of focus on any one individual…who was I supposed to connect with? I don’t know…was I meant to feel sympathy for the victim? I didn’t.

The story itself was good, the web woven by Howard was new and intriguing, but as the story went on, I was easily able to see around all of the corners. I want a mystery / thriller that maintains the mystery until it thrills me at the climax.

In the end, Rewind was a good story that simply lacked the finer details that I have come to look for in an exciting story. I appreciate Howard’s efforts in concept, it just left me wanting more or perhaps she gave me too much, too soon.

*3.5 Stars

2 stars! ⭐️⭐️

Play. Pause. Rewind. Fast-Forward. NO!

Sigh. Looks like I’m in the minority on this one, my friends. 

This book was all over the place for me. I didn’t like how it constantly jumped around. Normally, I’m a big fan of the alternating POV‘s. This one was just too much. 

I think this book is best read in one sitting because whenever I took a break from it and tried to start it up again I was clueless as to what was going on.  I found myself having to rewind and re-read parts just to keep up. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Maybe that’s the reason behind the title?! LOL 😜

This book is pretty creepy though. The setting is dark and dreary and it is chock-full of unlikable kooks as characters. The storyline was predictable and slow. I was hoping for a shocker of an ending, but the book didn’t deliver. This is my first time reading a Catherine Ryan Howard book and I was super excited when I received my advanced copy. I guess I expected more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing and Catherine Ryan Howard for my copy to read and review.

I tried to read this book and just couldn't get interested in it. Mysteries are my favorite type of books, so I was disappointed that the main character wasn't more interesting and the storyline was vague.

I was really disappointed in this one as I had enjoyed the authors previous books. I don't have much to say and won't be reviewing elsewhere but I really didn't like this one at all.

such an intriguing story! What is Andrew going to do? Put himself in the spotlight that he is doing something illegal or hide what he’s witnessed?? There are a lot of characters so a lot to keep up with. I was interested in the story behind Andrew and what made him who he became. Even tho there were many characters they were well developed and I love how each chapter revealed a little more. Great read.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book in the near future with an honest rating and review.

Rewind is a reliable and interesting murder mystery. 
I tread cautiously around amateur sleuth stories, thinking they can go either way, but I especially appreciated the three things that made this one a unique experience for me. I love multiple perspectives and nonlinear narratives. I also romanticize Ireland and Irish settings and I am happy to see social media influencers portrayed in various types of media. 
I was slightly disappointed that Natalie's Influencer job didn't ultimately affect the plot and would have loved to see the story hinge on that fact about her. I feel similarly to the video feed of Natalie's murder as well. I think it could have had played a bigger role considering the was the inspiration behind the novel's structure.
Rewind was an entertaining read, told in an interesting way.