I loved Darling Rose Gold and was ecstatic to get an early copy of This Might Hurt.

Kit and Natalie are sisters... both living very different lives. Natalie finds out that her sister is having a hard time and decides to go to a private retreat called Wisewood. Wisewood is located on a private island in Maine... where Kit has zero contact with the outside world. This sounds a little strange eh?

I'm definitely such a fan of cult books... and Wisewood definitely takes on a strange turn into the cult vibe.

Dark, disturbing, and some unexpected twists along the way. I felt the storyline dragged a little bit at times and was left confused.

I have to say that I didn't love this one as much as Rose Gold but I'm still a huge fan of Wrobel and can't wait to see what she has up her sleeve next!

3.5/5 stars

Thank you so much to Berkley and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I've been really interested in cults lately and was so excited for this book! I listened on audio and it was a little hard to follow that way because there are multiple perspectives and multiple timelines.

Unfortunately I just could not finish this book. The premise sounded really good but I couldn't get into the characters and the story lagged for me. Thank you for an ARC- NetGalley and the Publisher.

Having loved Wrobel's debut, Darling Rose Gold, I was incredibly excited to dive in to This Might Hurt. Unfortunately, this one did not quite click for me. I will chalk this up to a one off and keep my eyes peeled for her next book!

Natalie has not heard from her sister, Kit, in over six months. Kit took off to a remote retreat, and cut off contact with the outside world. After receiving a cryptic email, Natalie goes to the retreat in search of her sister.

This Might Hurt is told using multiple points of view and timelines. This was somewhat confusing at first, but eventually came together well. The characters were intriguing and unique. The story was complex and engaging.

This Might Hurt is a psychological thriller about sisters, cults, childhood trauma, and therapy. A creepy and atmospheric novel.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 24%

I could not get into the writing style at all, and I couldn't connect with the main character. Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me!

After loving Darling Rose Gold I was so excited for this one but overall I found it quite boring. The unnamed POV is the only thing that kept me reading because I needed to know how it overlapped with Natalie and Kit, but even that reveal felt lackluster.

I sampled this one and it was okay - I didn't feel inclined to pick it back up. It just wasn't grabbing me at the time, so I did not finish... I appreciate the consideration!

This didn’t work for me at all. It was reminiscent of Nine Perfect Strangers where you’re waiting for more more more and something to happen. Nothing happens. Huge letdown.

After reading Stephanie Wrobel's breakout novel Darling Rose Gold, I was excited to grab a copy of her new book This Might Hurt. The book is about two sets of sisters. The first pair of sisters, Natalie and Kit are very different in terms of lifestyle; Natalie is a corporate icon and Kit is more of a salt-of-the-Earth kind of girl. Kit checks herself into a self-improvement resort in Maine and Natalie doesn't understand how her sister can drop everything to go away for several months. She ends up receiving a cryptic e-mail and decides to go find out what her sister is really up to. Then there is the story of a girl told in the first person. Her sister is nicknamed "Jack" and their father is extremely strict to the point of being abusive. Characters at the resort are taught to practice pushing away fear and finding the strength to overcome it through "Teacher"'s methods.

This book starts off with a fantastic storyline and interesting, intricate characters but then gets messy once Natalie reaches Maine. There are several unexpected reveals that happened but the ending falls flat and the last half of the book seems to lose focus.

I went in to THIS MIGHT HURT expecting a typical cult horror - which is great, because I love cult horror! - and was pleasantly surprised by what turned out to be more of an evil cult origin story. Because aside from a few weird quirks and questionable risk-taking incidents, the cult at the center of the book is fairly benign when we first encounter it. More of an edgy pyramid scheme than anything else. But that's under current management. Under new management, so to speak, where we find ourselves at the end of the book, you can almost sense the ground shift as something new and potentially far more dangerous emerges. If Wrobel meant this as a standalone then it stands pretty well on its own - but I'd love to know what happens next!

I was so excited to read this one, because I was a HUGE fan of the author's previous book-Darling Rose Gold. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit flat for me and I was left feeling overall pretty disappointed.

The characters were all completely unlikable, but I will say that I enjoyed the way the author wrote and develop each character. The stories is told from multiple POVs which got confusing for me a bit.

The twists were great, and the plot worked well---but other than that this was pretty disappointing overall.

I did not enjoy the cult centered plot---I LOVE a good cult themed book, but this one did not work for me.

It is a slow paced read, with no excitement, lack of thrills and suspense, and rather dull.

The ending felt rushed and left me wanting more and feeling even more disappointed than I had already been feeling while reading the book.

I really wanted to love this book. I think it had a lot of good things going for it that interested me, but ultimately it fell a little flat. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I really enjoyed the cult plot point in the book. I’m obsessed with all things cults and love learning about why people join and why they stay. I felt like the multiple POVs and changing timelines was a bit choppy and hard to follow at times. There were some chapters that were clearly labeled with a time and POV, but then the next chapter would change to a different time and person without warning. I also felt like it dragged at times, and I kept waiting for a twist or ”AHA” moment that never came. Maybe this book was too deep for me and I couldn’t appreciate the topic or writing style. I would recommend it to others, but ultimately it wasn’t my favorite.

"𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘰𝘰𝘭-𝘈𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘴." – Stephanie Wrobel

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 (Swipe->> to read the synopsis)
⭐️Career-driven Natalie has always looked out for her sister Kit, but they have not been in touch for over six months after their mother died and Kit checked into a retreat center.
⭐️Kit has been staying at Wisewood, a highly secretive organization that claims to help clients find their "Maximized Selves" and where cell phones, internet access, or any outside contact is prohibited for clients.
⭐️Natalie receives a threatening email from an unknown sender at Wisewood prompting her to travel to the center and rescue Kit before a devastating secret is exposed that could forever sever their sisterly bond.

𝗜 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁
This Might Hurt is a slow-burn psychological drama told from the points of view of an unknown narrator and the sisters, Natalie and Kit. From the gruesome prologue through the first few chapters, the story appears deliberately confusing, but once the pieces fall into place, the suspense builds as Natalie races to find her sister before it's too late.

This is the first book I've read by this author, and I enjoyed her writing style. Although the book spends some time looking at the inner workings of a cult, I felt the focus was more about sister relationships, dysfunctional families, and the permanent psychological damage of a traumatic childhood. Reading about physical pain always pushes my discomfort level, but it wasn't something that was a timid reader like me could handle.

Oh dang, that was a bit of a letdown. I absolutely loved the author’s previous book, Darling Rose Gold; so my expectations were quite high. This one was super slow, and pretty boring. A bit of a snooze fest, really. It gave me Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty vibes, and I wasn’t a big fan of that one either. I ended up listening to this one, and kept getting the characters mixed up which confused me, and had me scratching my head at the conclusion. Overall, This Might Hurt was a little meh. I’d skip this one if I were you. There’s far better thrillers out there.

I was excited to read this but was ultimately let down. I like cult plots, but it was too slow and not suspenseful.

BOOK REVIEW - THIS MIGHT HURT

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this authors other book, Darling Rose Gold, and couldn’t wait to pick up her newest release! However, this one just didn’t work out for me how I’d hoped.

With two different plot lines, I was wondering how they’d come together but as I was listening to the audiobook, I felt like the pacing just wasn’t fast enough for me. This book was kind of odd with the magician and cultish elements, and while I was intrigued I felt like parts of it dragged on for me.

Pick this one up if you’re looking for:
⏳A slow burn
🥴Unlikeable characters
🏚Secluded island setting
🔮Culty vibes

This Might Hurt” actually really did hurt.
I did not enjoy this book and probably would have given it less stars if I wasn’t so nice!!! I really wanted to DNF it but I decided to struggle through it anyway.
First off, I didn’t realize there were three narrators in the story until the very end. Also I was thrown off with All the various timelines happening throughout the plot.
Next, I did not enjoy the plot!!! One of my triggers is cruelty towards children which was a focus in this story.
With that said … I do believe authors are amazing!!! They are able to publish an entire book which is more than I can ever imagine doing!!!! I’m sure others would love this story, however it’s just not for me.

Blurb (by Goodreads):

On a private island off the coast of Maine, Wisewood’s guests commit to six-month stays. During this time, they're prohibited from contact with the rest of the world--no Internet, no phones, no exceptions. But the rules are for a good reason: to keep guests focused on achieving true fearlessness so they can become their Maximize Selves. Natalie thinks it's a bad idea, but Kit has had enough of her sister's cynicism and voluntarily disappears off the grid. Six months later Natalie receives a menacing
e-mail from a Wisewood account threatening to reveal the secret she's been keeping from Kit. Panicked, Natalie hurries north to come clean to her sister and bring her home. But she's about to learn that Wisewood won't let either of them go without a fight.

Can we just take a minute to talk about this cover? This Might Hurt, written by Stephanie Wrobel, has an incredibly evocative cover. You can immediately tell that it's suspense, quite possibly domestic suspense, before ever laying hands on the book.

Natalie and Kit are sisters, but they don't always act like it. For one thing, they haven't spoken in six months. To be fair, the no-contact for six months was planned. For Kit had found a place called Wisewood, which offered six months retreats (of a sort). During this time, no outside contact was allowed.

That time is up, but it isn't her sister that reaches out first, but Wisewood itself. They're threatening to tell Kit the truth that Natalie has been hiding. In a desperate hope to cut the situation off before it gets worse, Natalie intends to head to Wisewood to tell her sister the truth before somebody else can.

"Nobody cared about the pawns. They were too busy watching the queen."

Certain books simply draw the readers in, making it look easy. I thought that This Might Hurt would be one of those books. The title, cover, and description certainly made it seem like it would be the case.

Unfortunately, while I did enjoy This Might Hurt, it wasn't quite the story I was hoping for. Sure, it hits hard (cults and child abuse would automatically do that for most readers), but it almost felt like something was missing? I can't quite put my finger on it.

To me, it seemed like This Might Hurt was trying to make two different points. Or perhaps it would be better to say it was trying to tell two stories? There's the story of a child surviving an abusive family. Then there's the story of a woman getting manipulated into a world of abuse and control (read: cult).

Actually, I'm confident this was the intent, laid out like that. The two stories connect, and that connection is a strong one for the most part. I wish there had been more overlap between the two (courtesy of some creative storytelling methods), but I can't complain too much.

Overall, I would say that This Might Hurt is worth the read, especially for those who love delving into darker personal pasts and the horrors of cults and controlling people.

Book Review: This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel

This Might Hurt is an adult suspense novel about childhood trauma, siblings and cults.
When Natalie receives an odd email from her sister Kit she takes a leave of absence from her fast paced marketing job to track her down. Kit has been living at a wellness clinic (Wisewood) on an isolated island off the coast of Maine under the leadership of a mysterious woman called “the teacher”. The book switches between the POV’s Natalie, Kit and a third narrator that is slowly revealed. As the three POV’s flip back and forth in time a complicated story of secrets, ambition and unresolved grief are revealed.
This is a difficult book to review. The characterizations (despite not being particularly fond of any one character) are top notch and there is a lot of food for thought about how childhood trauma and toxic parenting can manifest in adulthood. The early years of our third narrator are searing and for me, the best part of the entire book (in particular the scene that inspired the book cover). Less intriguing is the day to day life on the island and the influence of “the teacher” has on her students. This was all typical control tactics that we’ve seen in many novels (and news reports) and I didn’t feel like the author brought anything new to the table. The pacing felt slow in these chapters and the entire plot lost momentum. The last ten percent had some interesting developments but it couldn’t quite make up for the slower sections.
Overall, this book had some really interesting ideas and I liked the coming of age story of the third narrator. But it felt like a separate (and better) book from the one that Natalie and Kit were featured in and I would have liked to see less of them. I recommend this one to readers that like complicated family dynamics and thrillers with less action and more tension.
3.5 stars