Murder, secrets, lies and retribution all converge on campus during a college reunion where formerly close friends reconnect .An intense, atmospheric, dark and intrigue book. The author masterfully unravels the story alternating between present and past, this adds to the intrigue and confusion. Great character development with the numerous main characters (8 in all), and lots of plot twists.

**I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

Fascinating and mysterious. It contains all the elements I love about this genre.

It was intense. Smart. Wicked. Dark.

Who is trying to coerce a confession? Half the fun is guessing.

The ending is mind blowing.

This book was all kinds of twisty and filled with some very unlikable characters. It is hard to believe that this is a debut! I think we will be seeing some great things from this author in the future, she will be one to watch!

This book is told in dual timelines with the past quickly catching up to the present. The timeline was nicely done, giving us just enough information from the past to help us figure out who the murderer was right along with the characters. Most of the story is told from Jessica’s point of view, but we see parts of the story from almost all of the characters involved.

Jessica is a really hard character to like. She is so insecure, but she tries so hard to project a self confident person. She makes so many really bad decisions throughout her college years, and even to some extent the present. She wants so much to be successful and to be liked that she doesn’t care who she hurts to get there. Because of these issues, she was sort of an unreliable narrator. I do really think that she did honestly care about her friends from school, but her need to be better than them kind of makes her a mean girl too.

None of the other characters were very likable either. They were the elite of the school, and they all knew it. They were kind of jerks to each other and to people outside of their circle too. The only one who I think was honest and really tried to be good was Cooper, who had his faults as well.

The thing that really sets this whole story apart is the twisty story line. There were times where almost everyone was a suspect and everyone was holding onto secrets. I really thought that at one point that everyone had committed the murder, and in some respect they all did contribute to poor Heather’s demise. It really kept you turning those pages trying to figure it all out, and then when the real murderer is revealed, you are surprised by it. It was all very well done.

The ending though, kind of irked me. Not who ultimately did the murder or even how the big reveal happened, but what happened in the aftermath of the whole thing. Some of it just didn’t jibe with me, especially with the choices that Jessica made. But it really did cement what an awful person she could be.

A wonderfully done twisty thriller that will keep you turning those pages.

Ten years ago, a college student was murdered, supposedly, by her then-boyfriend. Jessica, part of their friend group, had her doubts, and she's not the only one. During a college reunion, someone brings the group together to identify the murderer.

Jessica is not a nice person, and I loved that regarding the main character. There are interludes into the other people of the group who are revealed to be complex and self-serving people. And it makes for a suspenseful, quick read. The story is told by switching between their college years and their reunion. This made things interesting but also annoying. The reunion chapters always were left on a cliffhanger. But reading about their college years was important, so I had to hold myself back from skipping to the reunion chapter. This book also demystified the idea of a clique. The group was together because of circumstances, but they didn't care for each other deeply and made other friends as years went by.

Review based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

This was SCARY and tense, and not my usual type of book at all. Winstead gripped me with her characterization though.

As a Jessica, I especially can relate to Jessica Miller's worries that she's nothing special. "....I was as ordinary and unoriginal as my name promised: Jessica, the most common girl's name the year I was born" (Ch 1).

A stellar debut, this is the binge read of the summer. This campus novel is filled with secrets and lies and I gobbled it up. It reminded of many of my favorite collegiate page turners but this one has characters are that so well developed, you find yourself thinking of who they reminded of you in real life. Although the protagonist is a hot mess you can’t help but be intrigued by her and her ultimate fate. I’ll definitely be recommending this but more as a campus drama than a thriller.

"in My Dreams I Hold a Knife" is a very well-done mystery/thriller with plenty of twists that kept me guessing until the end.

I really liked the way the book was set up, alternating between Jessica in present-day, and her time in college 10 years before. Jessica is a complex character, with self-doubt, self-sabotage, and a desperate need to fit in and be well-liked. The other characters, mostly Jessica's group of friends from college, are also well-developed and complex characters.

I enjoyed the parts of the book set in present-day more, as I had a harder time relating to the college experiences in the book. My college years are far behind me now, but even when I was in my twenties I was never part of a sorority, never joined a frat party, never maxed out a credit card to buy the right clothes to fit in. Since Jessica is obsessed with all of that throughout college, my interest in the storyline lagged at times.

Despite those aspects of the book, I still enjoyed it over all and would recommend it to lovers of a good mystery and thriller.

First, I want to thank Netgalley, Sourcebooks, and Ashley Winstead for allowing me to read and review this exciting book before it’s pub date. Lately, I feel like a lot of the thrillers I’ve been reading are just not doing it for me, but as soon as I started reading this one I knew I was going to really enjoy it.

Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her return to Duquette University, making sure that all of the attention is on her, unlike her college years before Heather Shelby’s death shattered everything, including the tight bond she had with 6 friends. But not everyone is ready to move on from Heather’s death and they’re willing to play a game of cat & mouse to find it what really happened that night and who killed Heather Shelby.

This one was a lot of fun and an instant page turner. I blew through this one in a little over a day because I just couldn’t put it down. For whatever reason, it reminded me a lot of a late 90s early 00s thriller movie and I loved that. I was truly stumped on who the killer actually was and I love when books shock me. I’m extremely impressed that this was Winstead’s debut and will definitely be picking up whatever she writes in the future. I really enjoyed it a lot!

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead tells about a group of seven college friends known as the East House Seven, named after their dorm. They went to a prestigious college in North Carolina.called Duquette. They have been invited back for the 10th anniversary of their graduation and homecoming. However, not all of them will return. It seems that one of them, Heather, was murdered their senior year of college. One of their group was accused of being the murderer but it was never proven. The group fell apart after that and has not had any contact since 10 years ago. Jessica is the main character. She was a middle-class girl wanting to be “in”with wealthy people and most of this group of friends were wealthy. She always felt like she was second-best. Now she can’t wait to come back for the 10th anniversary and homecoming because she has a very successful career and can’t wait for everyone to see how great she is now. When the friends gather again old wounds and loves surface and Heather’s brother is determined to figure out who the murderer was out of their group.
The story is told in flashbacks from Jessica‘s point of view when they were in college, present day, and then also the other characters point of view in a few chapters.
I had a hard time getting into this book at first because there were so many characters and descriptions of them and their lives. It was kind of confusing. Once I got through that though the book moved swiftly and was very exciting and thrilling. In fact I couldn’t wait every day to get out of work so I could read it. This is a story that made me long for the “old days” of college. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, unreliable narrators, and dual timeline stories. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

10 years after their college graduation, a formerly tight knit group of friends reunite on campus, but instead of a celebration, it turns into an investigation into the unsolved murder of their friend a decade ago. Everyone has shameful secrets and they will all be uncovered no matter how well they are hidden.
This addicting thriller shifts between the petty, dark, and hyperbolic antics of the friends in college, and the current countdown to truth. It's a tightly paced blast of a book!

I just finished this book a few minutes ago and don't even know where to begin describing how much I LOVED IT. At first, it felt much like a commercial fiction novel about Jessica and her college friends. Jessica struggling to be noticed and to feel like she belongs against a backdrop of a serious inferiority complex stemming from a seriously messed up father. The snippets about Jessica's past struck a chord and had me sympathizing for her...pulling for her...even as I found her untrustworthy. And then the suspense built, at first slowly and meticulously, and then BOOM. I couldn't put it down. Each member of the East House Seven was so well fleshed out and fascinating. It didn't matter whose POV I was reading, although it was mostly Jessica, I was riveted. Not a word was wasted and not a line was skimmed while reading. The twists kept on coming and once I thought it was all wrapped up, Winstead threw us another curve ball. Honestly, if this masterpiece is Winstead's debut, I can only imagine what she will bring us next. And I cannot wait to get my grabby hands on it.

A true nail biter. I couldn't put this down. I never saw the ending coming. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is a quick pace, character driven delight. I would recommend this book to my patrons.

Eight people meet freshman year of college and become fast friends. When one of them is murdered and one accused of the murder, the group splinters and stays apart until their ten year reunion. After ten years they are all challenged and all their lies and secrets start to unravel. Twisty, full of red herrings, and a whole lot of "who really did it??"

This book was SO GOOD! Ate it up in less than 2 days - truly one of those books that is physically hard to put down because I was dying to know what happened.

The story centers around a group of best friends from college, their 10-year college reunion "Homecoming" party, and the murder of one of their friends that happened during their senior year. It's dark, intriguing, gritty, and real, and I was so pulled in by the secrets that they have all been keeping from each other for the past 10 years. Like Pretty Little Liars, but for adults, and 100x better (sorry).

The narrator isn't a likable character, but I still found myself pulling for her, and the ending was so perfect, I CAN'T!!!!

Can't recommend this one enough for fans of thrillers, murder mysteries, and just good ass books in general.

Ashley Winstead’s first novel is a psychological thriller that kept me guessing until the end! Seven college friends return for Homecoming ten years after graduation, with a tragedy from their senior year looming over their memories. The perfectly crafted veneer each friend wears is cracked open as truth is made clear. Just when you are sure you know the guilty party, relax—you don’t. Winstead crafts the perfect storyline that kept me surprised throughout the novel.

This debut is hopefully the first of many. I look forward to every book by Ashley Winstead!

Though I read this one to the end, I unfortunately lost interest pretty early on in the book. Even though I have only recently started reading adult thrillers, the main plot points in this book are ones I seem to keep seeing in thrillers. This one definitely didn't reinvent the wheel in any way, and ended up not being that memorable for me.

4.5⭐! What a binge worthy debut Mystery/Thriller. The story is about 6 college friends who are tore apart by a murder amongst one of their own. The murder is unsolved because the police cannot find enough evidence, and they all move on with their lives….or so they think. Jessica Miller, and the others, are returning for the 10 year reunion from college. When they get together, someone is determined to get to the bottom of the murder that they can't forget about. Secrets that have been hidden for all these years resurface and juicy details come to light. Told in dual timelines which I loved!

What a fun, entertaining, dark summer thriller! You will definitely need to add this one to your list.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own

Unfortunately, this did not work for me. I couldn't get into it. How is this group of almost 30 year-olds this emotionally immature? Why are people coddling the protagonist about her college boyfriend's marriage? The dialogue is a bit juvenile, there is little subtext with the interactions and I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to keep going.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this one as much as I did!

A 10-year college reunion with a bit of a “Clue”-esque whodunnit vibe.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Duquette University.....Homecoming......10 years after graduation. A group of assembles after 10 years away......all except Heather. She was murdered her senior year of college. But......Jessica Miller is back . Jessica relives her childhood and her years at Duquette University. This book is told in alternating timelines and each chapter is told from the perspective of each of the students who has come back for Homecoming. Heather's brother has also come back to Duquette to seek justice for the murder of his sister Heather. and according to him each of these six friends has a motive. By the end of the story, secrets will be revealed about all of these people. Does anybody really know who the other is? And just who exactly killed Heather?

This one was full of twists and flawed characters making this a real page turner. If you crave thrillers, this one is a must read!