This one is another one that just didn't resonate with me. I kept pushing on, hoping it would get better, but it just wasn't a book for me. It moved extremely slow. I lost interest almost immediately. The suspense and engaging plot just wasn't there.

Absolutely loved this book! Fantastic character development and story building. Descriptive scene setting, made me feel like I was there. I would highly recommend this book!

So I’ve just finished The Safe Place and I’m trying to figure out exactly what I’m feeling, which is always a good sign that I’ve read a book that will have me thinking for awhile.
Scott, Emily, Nina, and Aurelia were written by Anna Downes with such depth that I could feel them in the room with me as I read.
There are a couple of questions I still have but I think there was definitely a solid resolution at the end. I’m just sitting here still thinking about so much that happened in the middle...
I definitely recommend The Safe Space to anyone wanting to read raw emotion that will keep you wanting to know more and more and more.
Thank you so much to Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC.

Emily abruptly finds herself in dire straits after suddenly losing her job. Running into former employer Scott at just the right time for both of them, he offers an opportunity that seems too good to be real. Grasping at whatever straws life is willing to hand her, Emily fudges about her nannying experience, not questioning until much later why he would hire someone he barely knows to live with his wife and child in remote France.
When Emily arrives at the picture-perfect setting, little things immediately alert her that all is not well. Aurelia, the daughter, has been diagnosed with a bevy of rare disorders and does not speak. Emily senses there is more going on than what she is being told and bonds to the little girl, who warms up in return. However, some of the plot twists surrounding Aurelia that are revealed near the end come off as incredibly unbelievable, to the point that it tosses the reader out of the story.
This is a good book that could have been excellent if it had been finer tuned or had some added depth. As other reviewers have pointed out, Emily is surrounded by red flags and yet none of them deter her from taking or staying at the job. She is essentially cut off from the world, yet she does not seem to be bothered by this. She often has to walk on eggshells around the mother and there are many instances where she seems to be carefully planning what to say/do in order to avoid an eruption of rage from her. Again, she focuses on the promised money and overlooks what should be a glaring notice it’s time to leave.
I did enjoy this story despite these flaws and could connect to Emily’s feelings of heightening desperation. For anyone who has ever been young and unemployed with no safety net or support network, this will resonate in a way that is almost visceral. Surely many of us placed in similar positions made decisions we later regretted or were shockingly unsafe, all in the same of survival.
As mentioned above, a few of the plot points were nearly ridiculous, which dampened any mounting tension as the story reached its end. If these had been reworked or toned down, it would have been a great improvement.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary advance copy. This did not impact my review.

To be completely honest, I’m not sure how to feel about The Safe Place. Initially, the story was a little slow for me, but it picked up quickly and probably from the 20% mark until about the 80% mark, I enjoyed it, and then I feel it kind of went off the rails at the end.

From the synopsis of the book and the clues planted along the way, I thought it was going to be a really creepy story, and as someone who hates anything scary, I guess I’m glad it really wasn’t, but I thought it was going to be a very different story than what I read. I think I was hoping I would really be shocked by the twists in the story, but I just found them to be strange and rushed when you got to them. I think the best word to summarize this book is strange, strange characters, strange house, and strange storyline!

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes was a fun read. The book was a bit predictable but it kept my attention until the end. The book is about Emily, her boss Scott, his wife Nina, and their little girl. Emily is gullible, a bit naïve, and an out of work actress that takes on temp jobs to make ends meet. Scott thinks Emily would be a good companion for his wife Nina and their daughter. Scott offers her a job on a perfect farm in the country side of France and the story develops further from there. I do not want to say too much because I do not want to give anything away.

This was an enjoyable read. It will be a good book to read over the summer when you are looking for something with a bit of suspense but a pretty light reading. I was given an advanced readers copy of this book by #NetGalley for an honest review. #TheSafePlace #AnnaDownes

Emily has lost her job and is down and out. When Scott, a very successful businessman, offers her a job, her life seems to take a turn for the better. Living in France in the lap of luxury, being a au pair Scott's 6 year old daughter and an assistant to Nina, Scott's wife what could possibly go wrong?

This twisted suspense will keep you guessing.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Anna Downes for the ARC.

I received an eARC of The Safe Place by Anna Downes from St, Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
I give this book 5 stars. At first, I was going to give this book 4 stars but decided on 5. It has everything you'd want in this genre. It was the perfect psychological thriller! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

Emily's life is a mess. Her employer offers her an opportunity far too good to be true and things go the way you think they will...

This book was interesting and fun to read but unfortunately suffered from two shortcomings:

1. A mostly predictable plot.

2. An ending that offered resolution but ultimately felt unfinished and left me with more questions than answers.

Thank you to Anna Downes, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Safe Place.

I was pleased when my request was approved because the premise sounded interesting.

Emily Proudman is in trouble. She's lost her job, her talent agent and she's about to get kicked out of her apartment.

Enter Scott Denny, the handsome (naturally) CEO of the company she was just fired from. He needs someone to watch his wife, Nina, and their daughter, Aurelia.

Emily's got no job, no friends, and no close family, so she agrees. How fortunate.

What happens involves your typical cliches and a twist I saw coming a mile away, only because I read so many books like these that I guessed correctly.

Emily is not a root-able character. She's not unlikable, just one dimensional. She was adopted and not close to her adopted parents. She has repressed memories from a bad childhood that are alluded to but never fully fleshed out and never resolved by the end of the book.

Scott's wife, Nina, is a nervous, beautiful (naturally) woman. Her eccentricities are odd and a bit alarming, yet never seem to spur Emily to inquire further as to why Nina is acting in this particular way.

Let's not even get started on Emily and Scott, a typical romance-y flirting going on here between ex-employee and hunky CEO, which is teased about, but dropped by the finale.

The suspense and drama is lacking; some people call it a slow burn. I call it a lack of urgency.

Emily seems not to mind that there is no WiFi, a lack of communicating with the outside world, that Nina's behavior is off (in more ways than one), and Aurelia does not appear to be as ill or differently-abled as Scott told her she was.

I also found it difficult to suspend disbelief that a husband would consent to his wife's felonious actions and go along with her.

Why would he do that? Because she's ill and fragile? Please.

The writing was okay, but like some readers noted, I found it difficult to believe that Emily changed and grew a backbone. Her past was never resolved, she's suddenly chummy with her parents again, and all is well. The ending was not realistic and the resolution felt abrupt.

The Safe Place wasn't for me, but some readers might enjoy it.

Emily is a woman who is somewhat estranged from her adoptive parents. She’s trying to become an actress but moves from temp job to temp job in order to make ends meet. One day she is fired from her job. She is also just about to lose her apartment from failing to pay rent. An opportunity arrises that seems too good to be true. Her former boss hires her as sort of an au-pair/housekeeper to stay with his wife an daughter at a secluded estate. This fixes her money and living arrangement issues all at the same time. Of course she jumps at the chance. At first everything seems perfectly fine. She is told ahead of time that their daughter has some health issues including the fact that she is a mute. Once Aurelia (the daughter) warms up to Emily everything is seemingly well, Emily discovers a bunch of small things that start adding up and she begins to suspect something isn’t right with Aurelia’s treatment by her Mother. Emily doesn’t think Aurelia is sick at all and she realizes that they are also altering the little girl’s appearance for some unknown reason. From there, things take a big turn. Who is Aurelia actually? What is wrong with Nina (the Mother) and her extreme overprotectiveness? Why does Emily have a strong need/want for Scott (her boss/Nina’s husband)? This was a great thrilling story. There were a bunch of turning points and once everything lines up you become fascinated with how everything turns out in the end. I would recommend to anyone looking for a mystery with an unusual twist.

Richly evocative with a dark, atmospheric heart, The Safe Place is seductive, irresistible and suspenseful. I was completely gripped from the first page to the pulse-pounding end!

When Emily finds herself fired from her job, she’s unexpectedly thrown a lifeline by her ex-boss. She agrees to be the housekeeper for Scott, his wife Nina, and their daughter Aurelia at their remote estate on the coast of France. But when the seemingly idyllic setting abruptly turns sinister, Emily realizes Scott and Nina will do anything to protect the façade of a perfect life. And Emily has to play along, or the consequences could be deadly.

After putting a call-out to my fellow bookworms for a recommendation, I was treated to a resounding chorus in favour of The Safe Place. I heeded their advice and grabbed an ARC, and boy am I glad I did! This book is yummy, with vivid descriptions just oozing with atmosphere. I was completely captivated, which, let me tell you, is rare these days. I loved the characters, how clearly they were painted, their character quirks, their flaws and strengths, and I blazed through the book, desperate to know what was going to happen.

I recommend reading The Safe Place poolside with a strawberry margarita in hand. It’s the perfect summer suspense!

Thanks again Net Galley for the chance to review but I can only give this three stars. I'll start with what I liked. Book was a very quick and easy read. Down on her luck Emily is offered the perfect job in the perfect place by her boss . An offer to good to be true, but all is not what it seems. I like the way the story shows how Emily matures and grows as as the book evolves from a lost adopted girl who refers to her parents by their first names to a nuturing care giver to her boss s wife and daughter. My problems are too much time establishing Emily s character and the sense of things being awry started to be established far into the book. Lots of breaks with italicized flash backs thru story.....but not too bad of a book.

So glad I requested this! I was thrilled when I got the approval! The whole setting was fabulous and I felt like I was the main character. She was a bit frustrating at times but the twist was so so good. Highly recommend to thriller lovers

I give The Safe Place ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars. Emily is somewhat of a clumsy, young, twenty-something aspiring actress with dead end temp job. She's struggling to make ends meet and soon finds out that she's been fired, has no money to pay the rent, and cannot go to her parents for more money. Scott, the head of the company that Emily worked for, sees something in Emily, something that inspires him to hire her for another position, a position that is somewhat of an experiment that involves his wife, Nina, in the cove of paradise. I found this book to be an intriguing read, and had a hard time putting it down. There were elements of creepiness at times, especially with Scott's behavior. I think, for a debut novel, this was an excellent read. I enjoyed it very much and recommend it to any thriller, family drama, suspense reader.

Wow! What a roller coaster ride. This book kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. Great read!

This book was a great debut novel by Anna Downes. It follows Emily, a down on her luck actress who just got fired from yet another temp job she was trying to hold while searching for her big break. She gets back to work late and gets fired. But when her boss runs into her on the street, he has an option that may end up making her dreams...or nightmares...come true.

I liked this book a lot, but I read a lot of thrillers, so it took me a hair too long to get really invested in this story. To me it felt like almost all the action was crammed into the last third of the book. Which is fine, but I would have liked for it to get interesting a little sooner. However the ending was pretty good, so it gets 4 stars from me. I'll definitely be reading more by this author!

I don’t know how to rate this book. To me, the first half of so is extremely slow. It did a great job building the back story, but it is too much back story. The second half of the book is amazing - a fast paced, edge of your seat thriller. I like the author’s writing style, and the plot of the book is great, I just wish the first part was a bit better.

I started off not liking this one much. I have recently read several books with similar type plotlines and this one didn't seem that different. Immature, ditsy girl is offered ridiculously too good to be true job at an amazing location with NO means of communicating with the outside world. What could possibly go wrong? I found Emily whiny and annoying at first, but then I got totally caught up in the story and she grew on me! This is a fun book that will help you escape from the mundane day to day of quarantine life! The plot is very fast paced and does turn out to be a little different from the usual of this genre. I ended up really liking it and look forward to more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley, Anna Downes and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

Emily Proudman wants to be an actress but has failed pretty miserably so far. She has a temp job at a financial company that she has just lost her job with and she is about to loose her apartment. The owner of the company she just got fired from sees something in Emily that he could use and after doing some research into her life he decides to give her an offer she simply cannot refuse. He offers her a position as a nanny to his daughter an assistant to his estranged wife at there luxurious property in France. With no other options Emily decides she has nothing to loose and take the position.
When Emily arrives at the estate, everything seems too good to be true, the pay, the work, but she ends up loving it. She even becomes close friends with the wife. But soon things seem to be hiding secrets that Emily cannot figure out and leaving is no longer an option.
This was a great thrilling book. Very suspenseful and engaging. Definitely hard to put down even though this is normally not my preferred genre but the synopsis really pulled me in. This would make a great read for the summer for fans of Gillian Flynn.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this great book.