After really enjoying the author's previous book Darling Rose Gold, I was expecting to love this one; unfortunately, that was not the case. I found This MIght Hurt boring, there was nothing about it that intrigued me, and the twists/reveals were predictable.

The characters had no personality. It was hard to distinguish who's P.O.V. we were reading from, the only way it became clear was that Nat's was told in present-tense and the others were past-tense. Rebecca could have been an interesting character, but she was underutilized, and ultimately a dull character.

This Might Hurt has 3 narrators: sisters Natalie and Kit, and an unknown one. Out of the 3, the unknown narrator intrigued me the most. It told the story of a girl whose dad constantly bullied her and her sister into doing “challenging” tasks (i.e. stay afloat in a lake for 1 hour or keep an heirloom plate on the head for 45 mins) for points!!! If you can’t reach 15 points per day, no sleeping for you! Wth?!?! This girl eventually grew up to be a magician/performer of fearless acts.

Although interesting because of the multiple POVs with the author ending each chapter in cliffhangers, it also confused me a bit. For the first half, I thought the unknown narrator’s story was that of Natalie and Kit’s past. It also eclipsed the sisters’ story and made me want to just focus on unknown narrator’s POV. When the identity was revealed, it wasn’t too surprising. I think the suspense was held off for too long that the excitement of the reveal just fizzled out for me. Still, the overall story was very gripping, especially the cult part — so dark and twisty, with a lot of cringe-worthy moments on how to conquer fear. Can you imagine eating live spiders? Or swallowing shards of glass? Or even living off the grid for 6 months?!?! 🤯😬😱

If you’ve read Darling Rose Gold, you know that the author has a knack for sucking you right into the story despite disturbing scenarios. It’s not a thriller for me but it was totally bingeable. I think the plot is very unique and it is a good cultish story that takes a closer look on how people can be manipulated and brainwashed into doing impossible things. The ending was unexpected but was a fitting conclusion to the whole story. If you like Nine Perfect Strangers and other cultish stories, you’ll probably like this one as well.

Thanks to @berkleypub @netgalley for my complimentary e-copy of this book.

2.5 stars, rounded up

Like many other people, I adored the darkness of Darling Rose Gold. It was twisty in the best possible way for me. This one, unfortunately, doesn't even come close to that.

In trying to figure out what didn't work for me, I came to the conclusion that there was just too much build up and not enough payoff.

We have three points of view: Natalie, the responsible older sibling, Kit, her younger sister who has left for a wellness retreat on a remote island for six months, and an unknown (at first) female who we are introduced to as a child being abused by her domineering father. It soon becomes apparent as to who this child is, and although those sections were the most difficult to read, they were the most compelling of the story. I found Kit and Natalie to be rather one-dimensional.

However even with the slow, slow build, the payoff in the end isn't what it could have been. I was expecting an ending like Darling Rose Gold with everything clicking together, but it didn't turn out that way, and the ending is a bit ambiguous (ugh).

It wasn't a bad book, but just not as good as I was hoping it would be. I will still read more by this author because she definitely crafts unique tales.

I usually love dark and twisty books, but this one wasn't for me. I was confused at the time hops. It took me a bit to get used to what was going on. I thought I had misread parts and was so confused. By that time I figured out what was what, I figured out some of the twists. I also struggled with the characters. I didn't love any of them. I think the only one I actually like was Jeremiah. One thing I did like about that book is it showed that it is human nature to be scared of things. Everyone is afraid of something.

However, I thought the writing was great. The author did a great job at setting the atmosphere and getting to know the characters. I did like the short chapters it made the book go by a lot faster. I will check out more books of hers.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing the book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a slog. I am a fan of cults, and the way they shape people, brainwash them, make them do things they wouldn't otherwise do, And this had some elements of it, but what I disliked the most? The jumping back and forth between people and timelines, without any logical sense.

In the end the story makes sense, and there's logic to it all, but to get there, ugh. I kept having to stop myself and figure out who it is we're seeing now. Each person in the POVs had their voices, but also they were similar. They were interchangeable almost, especially as we got deeper into the story, I guess when I think about it, it makes sense, as that's the point of the story (?), or I'm just reaching here?

It was very slow. But dark. In theory. Not creepy enough for me to be a fan of this one. I like the despicable characters, but I think this had a lot of big goals, that were never reached for me.

This Might Hurt, the second novel from Stephanie Wrobel was a chilling tale. Sisters, grown apart thanks to a traumatic childhood and their adult clashes come to a head. The book was perhaps a bit confusing in the beginning with the parallel stories about childhood and adulthood converging, however the twists leading to the end were interesting.

This book tells two parallel stories. The first is about how a child can be conditioned through a controlling and disturbed parent. The scenes of father and daughter, incorporating a point system of punishments and rewards for achieving or not fulfilling tasks, was hard to read.

The other half of the story, follows Kit as she winds up being manipulated into a cult thinly disguised as a "retreat". Her sister Rebecca who has bad vibes about the place called Wisewood who goes searching for Kit after not hearing from her for 6 months.

The story reminded me of the TV series Nine Perfect Strangers. Take one charismatic leader, one overbearing sister and one bossy one, an isolated island, and a winter storm coming, and you have a recipe for disaster. The happenings on the island were very creative, and very creepy.

While the book did keep me guessing, and I thought I would love this book about a cult, it was a much slower read than Wrobel's Darling Rose Gold, which I loved.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing group for the chance to review This Might Hurt.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the sophomore book by Stephanie Wroebel. 3.5 stars.

Nat and Kit are two sisters, estranged after a difficult childhood and the death of their mother. Kit is searching for peace and discovers Wisewood, a private island off the Maine coast. where guests must commit to a 6-month stay away from technology and the rest of the world in the search for becoming their Maximized Selves. When Nat receives a threatening email sent from Wisewood, that states the sender knows the secret Nat has been keeping from Kit. Nat rushes to Maine to talk to her sister before the author can reveal the secret.

Darling Rose Gold, her debut, was beyond fabulous and maybe I went into this one with too high of hopes. It might have been me, but the multiple POV and timelines were a bit confusing. It just wasn't as gripping as I had hoped, although points for very creepy island cult vibes! I love Wroebel's writing and will be anxiously awaiting her next book!

I am always a sucker for a good cult story. Wisewood has an intriguing concept of not letting fear run your life. It dives into the reasons why someone is afraid and essentially makes you work through it through varies “challenges” in order to overcome them. I was immediately drawn in from the first page (if you have read it-you know) and couldn’t wait to see where this novel took me. I always am fond of stories revolving around sisters as my sister and I are so close so I was excited to see that one of the themes running through this novel was sister bonds/relationships.

Unfortunately for me, this did not hit home as I was expecting. I felt like the characters were flat. I just kept thinking of Nine Perfect Strangers and couldn’t get past it. So many things were similar. Our villain wasn’t very “villainous” just sad and in need of major therapy. There wasn’t very much development and the flipping back and forth of POVs and timeframes made things really confusing without an explanation. My one last gripe was that our main character wants to be a magician her whole life (Houdini, cards, pulling of scarves) and then all of a sudden becomes a Mentalist (focusing on controlling one’s mind) and there was no real explanation of why the change here either? I know that’s a small detail but that combined with the ending didn’t do it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for my advance copy in exchange for my review!

Stephanie Wrobel's first book "Darling Rose Gold" was a big success. "This Might Hurt", her second, is getting listed as a most anticipated book in 2022. The fact that most of the story is set on an island off the coast of Maine caught my attention first. The opening quote from Charles Manson was second.

FIRST SENTENCE: "The Gallery is the size of a high school gym."

THE STORY: Natalie has always taken care of her little sister Kit, but it's not an arrangement both enjoy. When Kit decides to spent six secluded months at Wisewood trying to find herself, Natalie is not pleased. When the six months pass and there is still no word from Kit, Natalie decides it is her duty to find her sister. What she finds is the puzzle that is Wisewood. Is it what it purports to be or is it a cult?

Interspersed throughout the book are flashbacks and the story of an unnamed young girl who has a miserable childhood and an unusual goal. How these two stories intertwine will keep the reader engaged and trying to guess the next twist in the plot.

WHAT I THOUGHT: A fascinating read about overcoming fear and pain, lies and secrets, and how families form us. Characters are well-drawn although not always likeable. The writing is engaging with descriptions that draw the reader further into the story. The last part of the book seemed rushed but the ending will elicit further thought.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for those who enjoy something a little different.

DISCLAIMER: Thank you to NetGalley / Berkley Publishing Group, and the author for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was a big fan of Darling Rose Gold, but this one fell slightly short of the mark for me. I generally love cult stories, but something about the abruptness of this ending didn’t sit well with me. I wanted a bit more from the storyline, especially at the end. I flew through the book, but felt like it just sort of hit a wall at the end.

This Might Hurt was not for me. While I love a good dark, twisty, crazy book - every now and then it ventures down a path that I would rather not take or read about. I did finish this one, but almost stopped a few times. It is a fairly quick read and is well written despite that it didn't click for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for the advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This Might Hurt will be released on 2/22/22.

This Might Hurt starts with a gory bang, as an unnamed artist performs a gruesome act of self-mutilation in defiance of fear:

QUOTE
“Fear is not real,” she says, unless we make it so.”

She sits down.

Picks up the shears.

Extends her tongue.

Cuts.

Gasps but does not cry.

The camera catches it all. On the screens the audience watches a tongue split in half. Someone faints. Others wail. Not the artist. She remains steady.

Blood pours from her mouth.
END QUOTE

This ongoing struggle to master fear, and to inspire others to do the same, forms the backbone of this complex psychological thriller. Told from multiple perspectives, Stephanie Wrobel’s sophomore novel is a dazzling feat of sleight of hand. Delving deep into the subject of trauma and how it warps people, it examines the lengths some people will go to in order to overcome the phobias born of their pasts, no matter what the cost.

Natalie Collins is a hard-charging marketing executive whose underlying guilt at not being a good enough caretaker for her younger sister comes to a head when she receives a cryptic e-mail. Kit has apparently gone on a long sabbatical to an exclusive island resort in Maine called Wildwood. It’s the kind of place where you surrender your cellphone at the gate, and commit yourself to cutting yourself off from the outside world for the duration of your stay. For most guests, that means six months, which is about the amount of time Kit’s been away when Nat gets the alarming missive, warning her that the sender will tell Kit what she’s done unless she comes to Wildwood to confess in person.

Spurred into action, Nat immediately takes a leave of absence from work and heads north to find her sister. Most of the guests at Wildwood seem ordinary enough, with many being Type A personalities like herself, who have just burned out and need respite from their overachieving lives back home. But the staff strikes Nat as being deeply weird, with cultish overtones that further convince her that she needs to rescue her sister and bring Kit home:

QUOTE
The Kit I know is trusting but has a bullshit detector. She assumes the best in a person until they give her a reason not to. She’ll let you use her, but only to a point. How could she think this place is the answer? Throughout our lives I’ve tried to teach her to be more skeptical, even heartless when necessary. She won’t have it; she wants to believe in the inherent goodness of humanity. Which is how I find myself in places like this, dragging my sister back to reality. She loses sight of it more than anyone I’ve ever met.
END QUOTE

But Kit isn’t the same damaged young woman who first came to Wildwood almost half a year ago. She’s changed, and will stop at nothing to protect this place she’s come to love like no other. Will the sisters be able to bridge the gulf between them, or will sinister forces tear them apart for good?

Despite the many clues Ms Wrobel lays out for the reader throughout the course of this suspenseful novel, it’s hard not to be surprised by the audacious twists the plot takes as it navigates two disparate interior lives that are hopelessly and tragically intertwined. I do enjoy books that use the question of whether or not something is a cult as one of their main plot points, and I thoroughly enjoyed how this novel not only invoked that but turned it inside out to dramatic and moving effect. Whether offered by a cult or otherwise, it’s hard not to be seduced by any practical plan to conquer fear, to fully embrace life and one’s own potential. But limits exist for a reason, as Ms Wrobel so masterfully shows in this wildly original, haunting novel of sisters and sacrifices.

Just like I did when I read Stephanie Wrobel’s first novel, Darling Rose Gold, I couldn’t help asking myself “What on earth is happening?” while reading her latest, This Might Hurt.
⠀
Wrobel’s imagination is wild. I do not know how she goes where she does, but it is a crazy ride getting there. I enjoyed the narrators taking turns, telling us what was happening currently, on a private island in the midst of a very cult like retreat, and what had happened in the past that led them all there.
⠀
Creepy, dark psychological twists and concern for these sisters’ well being kept me up way too late reading this and I can’t imagine the dreams I will have as a result.
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I don’t often write a review immediately after finishing a book, but I am hoping this will help me make sense of parts of the book that had me asking all the “whats?”. I mean that in a good way. Read this so we can talk about it. Unlike anything else I have been reading, this one will stick in my mind a while

What It's About: Natalie Collins receives an unexpected email from Wisewood Wellness and Therapy Center - a place where her sister, Kit, whom she has not seen for 6 months is at now - threatening to expose Natalie's secret to Kit. Panicked, Natalie heads off to Wisewood, a private island off the coast of Maine, hoping to explain the situation to Kit. Unbeknownst to Natalie, Wisewood is not what it seems to be.

My thoughts: I enjoyed the author's debut Darling Rose Gold so much and was really excited to read this one! This story begins with a rather odd, intense scene and I was definitely intrigued. I had no idea what Wisewood was really about until we see the story unraveled slowly through the POVs of Natalie and Kit in a non-linear timeline (which I think you really have to pay attention to). There is also another unidentified POV in another timeline. So to be honest, it took me some time to wrap my head around all these.

To avoid spoilers, I won't say much about the plot but it is definitely a plot that will appeal to many mystery/thriller readers. While the writing was engaging and breezy, with a good plot, this book left me feeling ambivalent in the end. There were many parts I liked yet there were also parts that did not work for me either. I needed more story depth.

Please do not let my review deters you from picking up this book! This is just my personal thoughts on this book and I am pretty sure I am the outlier here. If you're looking for a quick, entertaining read, this may be the book for you!

Pub. Date: Feb 22nd, 2022

***Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this gifted review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

I really enjoyed this book. There is so much going on in this book that at times I got confused by who this POV was about and then it gets cleared up for me in the next chapter. I loved the build-up, I thought it was amazing, I couldn’t put the book down, I felt there was more and more into the story. I love thrillers that keep me on my toes and keep me guessing, and this book did just that. In the beginning I was waiting for the mystery aspect of the book until Nat, who is a character and the sister of Kit, who is at this “retreat”, comes in and blows the lid off of everything, NOW THAT’S when the book starts to give me some action. The twists left me with my mouth open, characters that I didn’t suspect are sussy, and the end left me gasping, in a good way, lol.

I love a good twisty psychological thriller, multiple POV/timeline stories, and atmospheric slow-burn creeping suspense - and this book delivers all of the above. Layered throughout, and what gives this story more depth and pathos, is an exploration of childhood trauma and how it can drive very different outcomes for survivors of a shared lived experience. It has been said that there are fundamentally two emotions that drive our choices - love and fear, and Wrobel leverages that theme here with good effect. There's a lot to unpack here psychologically, as well as an interesting mystery at the center that will keep readers turning pages.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me an e-copy of THIS MIGHT HURT by Stephanie Wrobel.

I loved Stephanie's first book, Darling Rose Gold, so I was excited to be able to review her second book, THIS MIGHT HURT.

The story revolves around hard-worker Nat who is forced to find her estranged younger sister, Kit, at a program meant to help attendees improve their lives - in the fiction world, that's code for a "cult."

THIS MIGHT HURT provides a deep delve into the main characters' pasts - which is needed, but becomes confusing right away. We get two backstories of two different sets of sisters. Once you figure out who means what to the plot, then all is well.

What I loved about the book is one of the sisters grows up wanting to be a ... magician. This was such a unique career for a female character. She worked very hard at life, mostly due to her rigid, cold, father who naturally does not want her to be a magician. She loves Houdini, tricks, stunts, immunity to pain so much her hard work eventually does pay off. She becomes somewhat popular in the magician world.

This story deals with grief, familial guilt, loyalty to past relationships and devotion to new ones. There were several scenes which were a bit hard to read. However, I think everything in the story was necessary to make the plot work.

While the story wasn't a mystery, it's certainly a psychological thriller. There are head games at every twist and turn.

This is a good story for fans of Stephanie's first book, cults and characters doing extreme things to make their lives right.

I rate THIS MIGHT HURT four out of five stars.

This was a good psychological thriller to read right after the non-fiction book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. While trying to recover from the death of her mother, Kit moves to a remote island off the coast of Maine to attend a retreat/therapy-type center called Wisewood. Guests commit to six months of no-contact with the outside world, no internet, no phontes, no touching. Kit's older sister Natalie doesn't approve, but after six months she receives a strange email prompting her to find her sister and bring her home. A story about our fears, family, and sisterhood while secrets about including those of the mysterious leader of Wisewood.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the electronic advanced copy.

This is an interesting book. It's a mystery, but you don't even find out what the mystery is until near the end. There are a lot of things going on in this book and more than one timeline. But it is done in such a way that this is not confusing other than not necessarily seeing how the different parts relate to each other. I did like this a lot more than her other book, which I also liked a great deal (even if it was in a mostly rubbernecking car crash sort of way).

If you enjoy a good, complex, mystery, I definitely recommend this one.