This book was not for me. It was chaotic mess of a story full of despicable people. Even the main heroine Holly is not very likeable and I was not able to find a connection to her or the story. The pace is slow and it almost was a DNF. But somehow I pushed through and it got a little bit better but the end ruined it again. It was so unrealistic and over the top and it failed to get me interested.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Cara Reinard for an ARC of this book!**

It starts with a phone call. "Come get me...There's somebody coming." Holly fears the worst for sister Vivian and heads to the Sound, where they spent much of their childhood during a deadly storm. Holly doesn't know what to expect, but goes against her better judgment and goes after her sibling, falling into a pattern they began in childhood. However, this time is different. Vivian is nowhere to be found, and Holly takes it upon herself to roll up her sleeves and find out the reasons behind her disappearance and whether all of this is connected to Vivian's husband...or her parents and an odd childhood...or to a mysterious colleague of her professor parents...before it's too late to save Vivian.

I hate to say this, but reading that synopsis is probably more thrilling than reading this entire book. The opening phone call is about the only suspenseful event that occurs until about 85% (I think). I can't remember the last time I read a suspense book that made me laugh so much...but I was laughing AT the corny dialogue, the over-the-top-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink plot, and of course, a bunch of really odd metaphors and similes, such as "Her small ass fluttered like a butterfly."

...what?

The suspension of disbelief required to enjoy this on any level was lost on me. I didn't like any of the characters, there was a ton of time spent on backstory but even that couldn't get me interested, and it usually does in almost any scenario. We were also told that Holly USED to be a journalist....over and over and over, as if you could forget after the first few times. Add in the requisite 'main female lead has an alcohol problem' and cuckoo-for-Cocoa-puffs parents, and a touch of the mob, and I was just baffled. I was hoping for some sort of exciting and redemptive ending, but what I got was a lot of Hallmark-y weirdness.

I'm sure there will be some sort of audience for this book, but I wasn't it. I have heard much better things about this author's previous work, however, so I may check that out someday, but I can't say I'd personally recommend this one.

2.5 stars

2.5 Stars

I liked this book but it didn't wow me. It was very character driven and Holly is a very strong character to have on your side. During a bad storm Holly gets a frantic phone call from her sister, Vivian. But when she gets to Vivians house, she isn't there, the only thing she finds is her abandoned car. Holly finds Vivian's journals and uses them as a means to investigate her sisters disappearance. This book sucked me in right away but then I found it started to have way too many things happening all at once because of a lot of backstory and there were other points of view added. I did like the many plot twists, even if some of them were ridiculous but the ending itself was just Meh.

This book grabs you from the begining. Then the Author builds the characters and the atmosphere. The story line didn't do it for me but I can see alot of my co workers loving this book.

Wow, what an intense, chilling, and emotional thrill ride! Very well written, with amazing character development! Kept me reading, with its fast paced, captivating, intense storyline! A must for those whom love darker themed psychological thrillers! Starts off with a bang, but does slow down a bit, still definitely worth reading! Highly recommend!

In the midst of a hurricane, Holly receives a panicked call from her sister, Vivian, asking her to come get her at the marina. She says someone is coming right before the call ends. When she arrives her sister is missing, her car abandoned, and her tennis bracelet broken on the ground. Holly must piece together clues to discover what really happened to her sister...a dangerous game of hide and seek.

Into the Sound is a fast paced mystery/thriller involving two sisters who must rely on each other’s knowledge of one another to find the truth. As children they played an intricate game of hide and seek where their ability to follow the clues left for them comes into play when Vivian disappears. I enjoy when publishers send me books based on my reading preferences as it's a good way to find new authors or read books I wouldn't normally request. Unfortunately, as with this novel, they aren't always a good fit for me. As intriguing as the premise of this novel sounded, I just couldn't get into the book. I found most of the characters unappealing and was a bit surprised at how the female characters, in particular, were portrayed. Just because this wasn't a good fit for me doesn't mean other readers won't enjoy it. The novel is a fast paced mystery/thriller with lots of twists and turns throughout.

I’m truly not sure how two women, who come from an abusive family decide that they should marry the same thing. Mark was awful. If I could have reached into the book and chin checked him , perhaps I would have given one extra star. 😜. It was a little too predictable for me. But still a great plot

I stayed up into the early morning hours to finish this book because I HAD TO KNOW what happened!

This is a dynamic thriller that hits the ground running. During a hurricane, Holly Boswell receives a panicked phone call from her sister Vivian whose life is in danger. Her sister vanishes leaving behind a few encrypted clues that Holly struggles to unravel. As time ticks away, Holly must come face-to-face with her abusive past in order to dig deeper into the mystery of Vivian's disappearance. What follows is a quick-paced dramatic sequence of events that turns Holly's world upside down.

Holly and Vivian share a deep rooted bond forged by their shared childhood trauma. Their relationship takes center-stage to the unfolding mystery, carrying the reader backwards in time to their experiences under the watchful eye of their malevolent mother and complacent father. The scenes centered in the past are filled with heart-aching moments that weave together the sympathetic lead characters with flawless precision. Readers will quickly champion for Holly, who struggles with self-esteem as an adult, as she stumbles from one clue to the next. Several delightful twists keep readers on their toes all leading up to an unforgettable climax.

Reinard nails the ominous tone present from start to finish. The balance between action and reflection gives the reader enough time to reflect and try to put the pieces together (good luck!) before jumping back into the conflict. Supporting characters breathe extra life into the already pulse pounding pace. Readers looking for a quick thriller with a powerful punch will stay up late to finish this one!

This was not for me. The main character just seemed whiney and a little paranoid. The rest of them just seemed like vutts. I couldn't get I to this one at all. Story idea wasn't bad but I didn't connect with the characters.

In the midst of a hurricane, Holly receives a desperate call from her sister, Vivian, pleading for help. When Holly arrives at the scene, she finds Vivian’s abandoned car at a marina, but no sign of her sister. Into The Sound starts off strong, with plenty of suspects in Vivian’s disappearance and several engrossing back stories that hook you in. The book gets a little bogged down halfway through, but there’s still enough going on to keep you interested, and a few plot twists to keep you guessing. There’s a few too many plot threads that have to be tied together which slows things down, and a rushed ending, but overall a decent read. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is HARD to rate i will admit. I was hooked from the get go and it kept getting better that I HAD to stay up to finish it.. which to me.. was not a good end to this. I felt this book could have ended so much bettter than the super quick wrap up that happened. It could have stayed with the same mystery vibe.

Mommie Dearest who? Into The Sound is an interesting psychological thriller that often goes years back so we can understand the main sisters’ background. Both of them grew up through the abuse from afar from ethical psychologist mother, that pretty much used them as rat labs for her studies.
Did it guide Vivian to suicide? Or was she murdered? The only thing we know at the beginning is that Holly gets a call from her sister asking for help during a superstorm, and then she’s gone.
Throughout the book, we’re sent into this search with Holly, alternating between finding new clues on the present and flashbacks, which makes the reading more dynamic. But by the middle to the end, it starts to feel a bit chock-full, with too many ideas going on (yes, 100% talking about Clay’s part of the story). Also, the female characters are complex and emotionally layered, but the husbands? Just awful, tho understandable considering the context.

This book was not the one for me. I put it down at about 40% because it was just so ridiculous, and I literally hated every single character. The way the men in this book treat the women is just.... I'm surprised it was written by a woman honestly.

Holly and her sister, Vivian, grew up in an unconventional household where her their psychology professor-parents thought it was just fine to use their daughters as study cases for their random studies. With both women grown up and trying to manage within their own dysfunctional families, everything comes to a head during a horrible storm and Vivian goes missing. While Holly pushes to understand what happened to her sister, she also begins to understand that their parents were actually even worse than she realized. I thought this was a good premise, although a bit repetitive at times, with an ending that really only comes into play in the 4th quarter.

NOTE: Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay.. so. Where to start..

The beginning started off strong. Holly gets a phone call from her scared and hysterical sister. Holly goes to pick her up and she’s not there, but her car is there. At this point, I’m into it. Holly starts investigating. I’m alongside her asking questions trying to figured out what happened to her sister, Vivian.

The middle is where it started petering off for me. There was just too much happening and not enough happening. We get Clay, Vivian’s husband’s POV. I did like that because I felt that we needed it to get the whole story. Clay is also a complete jackass and we find out some of his secrets and the bad decisions he’s made that brought us to this point.

The ending.. I could’ve given this book 3.5 ⭐️ if the ending was better. It was anticlimactic and happened too easily and quickly. I just wanted more.

The author tried to cram in too many things to this story and I think that ultimately ended up hurting it. There were too many plot twists, and some did not make sense while others did, but.. idk. It needed more focus.

None of the characters were likeable. The husbands were awful. Mark, Holly’s husband, needed to get throat punched. The way he talked to her.. oh honey. No no nooo. Clay wasn’t much better. But I can understand how both sisters ended up marrying total jerks. Their parents were abusive. The dad, not so much, but he didn’t stand up to their mom enough to actually help these girls. Their mom was awful and I couldn’t imagine having a mother like that and not growing up to be screwed up. Holly wasn’t so bad, but she was annoying and I really questioned some of her decisions and actions. I did like Vivian, but there wasn’t enough of her.

Overall, this was just an okay read for me. Do I recommend it? Hmm, not really. It doesn’t bring anything he’s to the genre and it was too all over the place. If a certain element wasn’t brought into this, it may have been more believable.

This is a twisty tale, a lot of backstory makes up a good portion of the story. Holly and Vivian are sisters who were raised by two professors of psychology, their mother used them as lab rats, running experiments on them and detailing the results as part of her job. Some of the things their mom did was quite disturbing and likely caused development issues. Late one night Holly receives a call from her sister Vivian asking her to come get her, by the time Holly arrives Vivian is gone, only her car remains. Holly was a journalist and uses those skills to investigate the disappearance on her own, she feels the police are not taking it seriously. She uncovers some information about Vivian's husband Clay, that makes him a suspect in her eyes. She also discovers her sister was having an emotional affair with someone online. The story moves along though I found the pace slow at times, there were a lot of twists, Holly being the main character can be unreliable at times, though that's more a result of her running off chasing any clue without thought to the consequences. The ending wrapped up nicely all the threads and I would recommend this read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a decent read I give a solid 3 stars. I felt it was just a little more fluffed than I would have liked but it was a solid plot with a full circle ending.

Holly and Vivian are two sisters raised by a super crazy analytical and not very ethical psychiatrist mother. She performed studies and emotional abuse and it is the ground we are given to build up the crazy that happens. One day Holly gets a call from her sister frantic that she needs her to come get her and that she’s being followed. Click. Line goes dead and that’s the last she hears from her sister. The hunt for what happened begins with back story of their childhood thrown in. Obviously what you see isn’t what you’re going to get as any typical suspense thriller read. Overall with some skimming done to get through some mumbo jumbo it was enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this exciting new ebook!

Into the Sound by Cara was full of mystery. With a plot you won't see coming.
The characters are scarred, raw and honestly they are messed up a bit.
The writing was great. Cara knows how to grab the readers attention and not let go.
This book was great. I did find at times it was a bit slow. But nonetheless it was a great book.

Thank you again for the opportunity to read and review this book

This is a character driven suspense novel. Holly and Vivian are sisters with a horrible childhood. There are many twists in this one. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This book wasn't on my radar at all. But I always enjoy a good thriller so I was happy when I was offered the arc of "Into the Sound", especially because the blurb makes it sound very intriguing. Sadly, this was just not the book for me at all.
I actually don't even have many good things to say about this if at all, which is why this review will come off as very negative. I apologize for that because I am sure the authot put a lot of work into this book, I, personally, simply couldn't appreciate it.
The writing was okay, nothing special. It didn't manage to draw me into the story nor build up any suspense for me. It's also very simple, reading more like a debut, and the book definitely needs some more editing because it's way too convoluted.

The characters are terribly bland and I wasn't at any point interested in their fate. I just didn't care. The backstory of Holly and her missing sister really intrigued me at first but then fell flat because it was just... really unrealistic in a way that kept me from emotionally engaging with it even a little bit. The mother was a one-note kind of character, just like every side character, really. The men in this story are honestly just laughably bad caricatures, written only to be hated by the (female) readers, devoid of any kind of depth or complexity. Women are supposed to hate them, and that is really all the reason for them to be in this book. And the revealed "main villain" in the end? I'm honestly surprised a woman wrote this character the way they were written, because damn if that doesn't hit many sexist, even misogynist tropes.

Holly, the protagonist, is all over the place really. Reinard gives her a multitude of character traits, yet doesn't flesh her out at all, making her more of a caricature than an actual character. The alcoholism angle is especially bad because it fits the good old thriller trope of the alcoholic/unreliable female narrator without actually using the strengths of this trope. It's just there, it has no impact on the plot, the narration, the character at all. At some point during the later parts of the story, I think around the 60 or 70% mark, Holly tells us that she always wanted to be a detective actually and always wanted to triumph over the police, which made me go what??? Since WHEN??? It's another information about the character that is just thrown in there willy-nilly and has no basis in anything we've learned about Holly up to this point. She's basically a blank slate that the author keeps throwing random character traits at and none of them really stick.

The plot is a convoluted mess, but I do admit that I rarely like thrillers that involve the mob. It's just not my thing. Still, if the story is good enough I enjoy it nonetheless. Here though, the story simply didn't make sense too many times and some of the decisions the characters (Clay, for example) make are based on in-universe rules that make no sense when you look at them just a little more closely. And there is just. So Much Unnecessary Information. It often felt like the author was just trying to fill the pages. A lot of this book is just Holly telling us every single thought she ever has, repeating plot points we already know about, having conversations that contribute to absolutely nothing.
There are too many side-plots, too, that add nothing of worth to the story but keep detracting attention from the actual plot. This ruins the pacing of said plot and just accentuates how very thin it is in the first place. The aforementioned backstory of the sisters could have been so interesting, but in the end, it had no impact on anything beyond some superficial details that wouldn't be missed otherwise. And the whole part about Holly's father? Why was this even in here? What did it add to the story other than reminding us that Holly cannot possibly be an actual human being, considering the way she reacts to seemingly life-altering revelations? It's just. I don't even know, guys...

I don't doubt at all that "Into the Sound" will be enjoyable to other readers, but I personally feel more like I wasted a few hours of my life on this book. I would have dnf'ed it after just a few pages if this hadn't been an arc and I have this personal policy of not dnf'ing arcs, but honestly, this wasn't worth it. It might even make me reconsider said policy.