In exchange for an honest review, I received an advance copy from NetGalley
Ok this is the exact kind of book I like. Suspenseful, quick read. Emily is a bit flighty and nothing seems to be working I her life. Her boss, Scott, offers her a job as a dogs’ body in the South of France for Nina, Scott’s wife and daughter Aurelia. I read this book during the quarantine and it took me to the South of France which was delightful. READ THIS BOOK

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

Emily was a struggle actress. She finally hit her rock bottom when her agent dropped her at the same moment she realized she was likely going to be evicted from her apartment. On top of that, she just got fired with no new job prospects lined up. Her old boss takes notice of her and offers her an odd but idyllic job as his housekeeper for his French estate. Emily moves quickly and soon realizes that perhaps she should have asked for a few more details before agreeing. As shocking secrets come to life, Emily finds herself running from deadly consequences and wishing she had her old life back.

Based on the book description, I was hoping for more of a page turner. The book started strong, but when Emily finally arrived at the French estate things slowed down a bit. There was still a lot of mystery, but it didn't have my heart racing. The twist was a bit predictable, but did not ruin the rest of the story. The chapters switched perspectives so we could get glimpses of all the characters involved. At times, the chapter change would also include a small jump back so you could see events that happened simultaneously.

I found the book to lack character depth which resulted in a bit of a weak plot. I was hoping for more motivation and explanation instead of objectively reading a series of events that resulted in dark secrets. It took away from the mystery and at times, felt like character subplots and descriptions were only there to try and throw the reader off from predicting the ending.

Lastly, as an adopted person, I appreciated the passages that described the feeling of being other and unwanted. While more realistic than many other plots I've read, I was a bit confused how any of it fit into the story. It felt like an easy excuse as to why someone would have zero strong family or friend connections.

This was a mystery/thriller with a solid plot but really needed more depth to enthrall me. Overall, it was a quick read and audiences who want a mystery without much scare will enjoy this.

This book was great. It was enjoyable from the first page to the last. I had never read anything by this author before. I really loved her writing style. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I appreciate NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I really enjoyed reading about Emily. Emily with her issues and her messy life. She doesn't seem to be living the life she wants and even gets fired from her job when she attracts the attention of her boss. He offers her a new start at the estate his wife and daughter are living on in France. Emily decides to take a chance and goes to France where she finds a paradise. She meets Nina, Scott's wife, and Aurelia, his daughter who suffers from a multitude of health issues. Emily senses life at Quarencia is less perfect than it seems. There is an underlying smell. As she gets closer to the family the layers of their lives begin to fall away until she realizes the shocking reality of their family dysfunction. Will it be too late?

Thank you to Minotaur and Netgalley for letting me read this thriller ahead of its July publication date.

Nothing is going right for Emily. She’s fired from her temp job, her acting agent lets her go, she’s evicted from her apartment and has no money. Then seemingly out of nowhere, her old boss shows up and offers her a job as a live-in housekeeper for his wife and child at their home on the French coast. She has no other options so she jumps at the chance.

The place or should I say compound is beautiful and has everything a girl could want, pool, outdoor kitchen, her own room, and it’s all provided plus a salary.

But something is amiss. Why isn’t she allowed in the family house and what is wrong with the child, Aurelia?

I loved Downes debut book. It allowed me to escape from my home’s four walls for a couple of nights into an idyllic setting in coastal France. Other reviewers found the story line predictable. I did not. I thought Downes dropped just the right amount of clues and I had no idea what the issue even was until it was revealed in the book. The story is tense, you have to yell at Emily for being stupid a couple of times, but that had to be.

I did some research and found the story was inspired by a time when the author was a live-in housekeeper at a remote estate in France.

So she translated her real experience into a must-read thriller and I thank her for that. I recommend this title to any thriller reader.

The Safe Place is a slow and deliberate read, which sets the pace for a suspenseful novel.

There are three main characters and all are well developed in the book. First there is Emily, the painfully naive girl Friday that is beset with a series of unfortunate events, Then, there is Scott, the "GQish" investment executive that seems too good to be true. Lastly, you have Nina, Scott's wife who is the perfect wife and mother. But are Scott and Nina really the perfect couple when they connect with Emily? It seems that way until Nina's erratic behavior begins to cast some doubt in Emily's mind.

An excellent edgy read that will leave you wondering till the end. Four stars -- I really like it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Minotaur for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

5 Stars!

The Safe Place is a terrific book! Very well written and unique, with plot twists I didn't see coming. The pacing is written like a slow burn that flares at just the right times. The unusual characters add both quirkiness and a dark undertone to the story, which is hard for an author to do. Kudos to Anna Downes for writing such an unusual, interesting story. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an ARC of the book for an honest review.

Emily is flat out broke and in the same day has just lost her temp job as a receptionist and her acting agent. Emily has always been the odd one out in her family. Being adopted, she never really felt like she truly fit and was unlike many of her classmates from school. She moved away, pursued acting, and quickly realized, that wasn't working. When Emily lost her temp job, her former boss, Scott, approaches her to pursue a different kind of job. She agrees to become the in home carer for an isolated home in France where Scott's wife and daughter live. Desperate for money, Emily agrees. As she forms a bond with Scott's wife, she realizes something is very strange about the house and the entire situation.

This is a debut novel for Anna Downes. The plot reminded me somewhat of Lock Every Door by Riley Sager in the sense of a girl needing money, going to a house with a strange story, and finding herself in trouble. It did take me a few chapters to get into the book. While overall I enjoyed the plot and there were some shocking moments, I would definitely consider this a slow burn.

One thing I really liked is right from the beginning, the author set it up to where I had a lot of questions. I enjoy that out of a thriller because then the entire time I want to solve it and see if my predictions are correct. I didn't see the twist coming. The twist also came a bit before I was expecting, which then gave the author time to tie up all the unanswered questions and find out what happens to the characters after she revealed the twist.

Overall a good book for a debut novel.

I loved The Safe Place by Anna Downes!
This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 and it did not disappoint!

The story centers on Emily, a failed actress, who is struggling to meet ends meet, and has just been given the amazing opportunity of a housekeeper/nanny at a beautiful and remote French estate.

Anna Downes did an amazing job of grabbing my attention in the beginning and maintaining tension and unease through out. This was a book that while reading, I wasn’t always sure what was going on or what was going to happen next, but I was loving my time spent with this book. I received this on a Monday and every day I would just be counting down my work time until I could pick up the book again.

This was a fun thriller and will make a perfect summer read or a perfect read for someone looking for an escape.

Please do yourself a favor and pick up this awesome book! Available on July 14, 2020.

Huge thanks to Anna Downes and MacMillan / Minotaur Books, for allowing me the opportunity to read and share my thoughts on this one. I have to say, it wasn’t one of my most favorite reads, however it was a wonderful escape from reality and the day to day topics that we are inundated with during our current state of affairs.

Emily is in need of a change, a job, someone who “gets” her. While I can’t fully understand anyone simply moving away to an isolated area, to live with people they do not know, folks that is what we call a “story”. It doesn’t have to be plausible. It doesn’t have to be something YOU would never find yourself doing. You read a book, or at least I do, in order to escape. Heck, if you find yourself saying things like “unbelievable” or “I wouldn’t ever”, then maybe you should think about writing your own book or only read non-fiction. Point being, while we read along, following Scott and Emily and Nina down this dark road, shaking our heads, sighing out loud, this story kept me reading and it took me away. Qualifies as a decent read to me.

Would I recommend it, most likely not as it really had no meat to it. I felt like I was simply being told a story by a long winded friend, and didn’t want to interrupt as I just knew the end was near or that perhaps he would finally get to the point. That is what happened with this book. I continued reading, hopeful that at least the little girl in the story would be a vampire or the basement of the family home would hold dead bodies and maybe be a torture chamber, but overall it was fast paced, ended well and I didn’t bail mid-way thru.

Wow, what a perfect book for summer! Emily’s life is falling apart quickly and not what she expected for herself when her old boss offers her a job at his French home. It seems like the perfect solution to her current troubles.

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

4.5 stars

Minotaur is one of my favorite publishers, and The Safe Place, with its alluring blue cover and interesting summary, caught my attention immediately. There's something inherently ominous about a thriller with the word "safe" in the title, isn't there?

Emily is struggling: with her job, her goals, with her life in general. Adopted at a young age, she feels like an outsider in her family and has no clear grasp on what her place in the world is going to be. She's broke, she's fired from her temp job, her acting agent drops her from her client list, and she has two weeks to vacate her apartment. With no other options, it seems too good to be true when her old boss reaches out with an amazing opportunity. If Emily is willing, she can take a new job within the company, move to a remote mansion in France to be a jack-of-all-trades with his wife, Nina, and daughter Aurelia. Things are idyllic, until they're not. Emily beings to suspect that there's something off about this family, and she's determined to find out what it is--no matter the consequence.

I have to say, going into this, I had no idea where this would end up, and, like Emily's time at Querencia, the twists were subtle, until they weren't. When we first meet her boss, Scott seems like he's going to be a Christian Gray figure. Charismatic, charming, dangerously handsome, and with a secret desire for pain, when I first read his offer (complete with NDA), I thought, oh, yeah. Definitely a weird sex dungeon in France. To save from revealing any spoilers, I'll just say that I was pleasantly surprised at how his character arc played out, even if it was miles from where I expected it to go.

Emily, too, is not your typical suspense MC. She's in a strange situation, she has no purpose or goals, and she has no clear idea of what she wants for herself. She's ambivalent about being a caregiver for Aurelia, but eventually comes to adore the child. She's not pitted against Nina, but instead enjoys her company and develops a sort of friendship with her that fills a hole in her heart from her own traumatic childhood. With this, the series of events is quiet and jarring. We never really know what's happening at Querencia until the final section of the book.

In a good way, though. There's no shortage of oddities and implied danger. Right off the bat, Nina makes the main house a no-go zone. You know it's only a matter of time until Emily's going to break that rule, but what happens when she does is the real intrigue.

While this might not be a heart-in-you-throat suspense, it is certainly a slow-burn with a satisfying conclusion, and I appreciated Anna Downes' handling of the character arcs and conflicts. If you like your suspense novels with exposition and buildup, characters with off-putting energy or questionable morals, this is the book for you. Overall, The Safe Place will leave you feeling anything but safe.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes is her debut novel! I was fortunate enough to receive a advanced copy from Netgalley.
Emily is a young, 20 something girl who’s down on her luck. A wanna be actress, who can’t get a break and has now recently lost her job at a temp agency. Her roommate kicked her out because she can’t make the rent, has no money to her name, and the last people she can turn to are her own parents.
Emily’s former boss offers her a job working at his family home in France where his wife and daughter live. Here she would be doing all kinds of odd jobs. What could be better than a job in paradise? She quickly accepts the job and is whisked away to their very secluded home.
Emily quickly learns that Nina and her daughter are not picture perfect. Odd things start happening and Emily just can’t piece together exactly what is going on here. Why isn’t she allowed in the main house? Nina says her daughter has some serious medical problems, but does she? Why isn’t there any WiFi or cell phone reception for miles?
Overall, this was an exciting book that certainly kept me guessing. I did, however, think the writing was a little choppy. It often switched from past to present and also between character points of view without much warning. It would often take me a few sentences or even a paragraph to figure out what was happening.
This book releases on July 14!
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I struggled to finish this book. It seemed to drag on with nothing really happening. The. Story was boring too. It just fell flat for me.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes was a fun page turner that had the added bonus of being set in the south of France. Emily is a young girl whose life is falling apart, she lost her job and she can´t get any acting roles. Just at the right moment, her old boss of hers gives her the opportunity to be a housekeeper at his house in the south of France. This is a fun, fast read.

Wow ! I could not put this down I just had to know what was going to happen next ! Scott and Nina were hiding something and their daughter ? Something was off the entire time but when the truth was finally revealed I was shocked. a tiny detail in the beginning of the novel would tie this entire book together. Moments throughout I was confused but once I saw the entire picture it all made sense. Honestly one of the best books I’ve read in a long time !

Interesting

This didn't have quite as many twists as I expected, but it was a solid read. I thought it started a little slow and with lots of cliches, but I quickly warmed up to it and read it in two sittings. There were some big holes (why did they stay in France?), but I found it enjoyable and am still thinking about it a few days after finishing.

It was gripping, entertaining, weird, predictable but great choice to spend your time without thinking apocalyptic and horrifying news and getting rid of your daily paranoia by focusing on something crazier.
The story’s told by Emily, her boss Scott and his boss’ dear wife Nina.

Let’s talk about Emily, in mid-twenties, gullible, naïve, talkative, confused, friendly, suffering from her wrong life choices, having problematic relationship with her parents (finally when she decides to call her mother to get a loan she finds out that was her mother’s birthday and her mother dearest normally expected her to call to congratulate her after a long time! Yes Emily, you suck!)

Now she’s sacked from receptionist job and lost her acting agent, her rent check is bounced and she has no income, is so close to get evicted and suffering from starvation. But she has no idea, somebody orchestrated everything about her financial failure and watches her every move like a hunter coming out for his prey. We’re talking about wealthy charismatic CEO Scott, Emily’s ex-boss who decided her termination, coincidentally saved her from crushed by a boss when he was passing by the very same street she walked. He acts like he has no idea about her termination and he wants to compensate his fault by offering her a new job: she’s going to be housekeeper (landscaper, lawnmower, nanny, painter, cook etc.) of his mansion in France. Emily hesitates at first but later she decides she has nothing to lose so she takes the deal.

Scott acts like he’s working on crazy scheme which made me think he may be a cult leader and he sent Emily to be sacrificed at his mansion (It could be more interesting plot but unfortunately the conclusion of the story was easy to predict!)

We get snippets from Scott and Nina’s marriage, having children and we understand that Nina suffers from mental illness and she is over protective mother.

When Emily takes her first step to the grandiose but also eerie mansion, she meets with perfect and ghostly wife Nina, building a friendship with her even though she is a little jealous because she might have a crush of her boss. But she gets a little startled after meeting Aurelia, shy, introvert little girl, suffering from skin disease, keeping her silence all the time, showing awkward reactions when Emily accidentally touches her. Something seems fishy and suspicious about the girl’s condition but Emily didn’t want to dig around more because she adapts in her new life and she gets used to the antics of mother and daughter.

But when Scott decides to visit trio, Emily’s suspicions grow faster and when she visits Nina’s part of the house even though she’s forbidden to go there, the things she finds out confuses the hell of her. And let’s not forget her attraction to her boss makes things more complicated.

Overall: It’s foreseeable but fast, enjoyable reading with weird relationship dynamics between characters. So I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4! Without expecting too much, questioning the characters’ motives deeply, you may entertain your time with its moving and fast pacing.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press for sharing this intriguing ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

Excellent debut novel. Great pacing and world-building—atmospheric. One of my friends would say that her goal wasn't to write the "Great American Novel", it was to write the "Great American Beach Read". I feel like novels like this do their job perfectly, they entertain us and hold our attention with solid writing and well-developed characters. A solid selection for anyone looking for escape and entertainment, without having to sacrifice quality.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I was captivated by the story and I had a hard time putting it down. It was very atmospheric and I literally lost track of time reading it. The characters were well developed and they kept me engaged. I am thrilled that I got a chance to read the advanced copy through NetGalley.