The whole idea of a cult just creeps me out. So, here I sat, curled up in my chair, and reading about Wisewood had the little hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. The story seems confusing at first. Between moving from past to present and back again, and getting three points of view, it's a lot to keep up with. Looking back on it now, I feel like that was intentional, and Wrobel does bring it all together. The story has a steadily rising tension, particularly what's happening at Wisewood, and there's the secret Natalie is worried about. Speaking of what's happening at Wisewood, I have to hand it to Stephanie Wrobel - the more I read, the more I was telling Kit to get out of there. Of course, it would've been a short book if she'd listened. Does she eventually get out? Well, that would be a big ol' spoiler, so I'll just say the ending was not what I saw coming, but it was exactly right for this story. To me, a psychological thriller should mess with your mind, and this one certainly did that.

I typically don't love cult books and I'm not sure why I picked this up, but I enjoyed Darling Rose Gold and wanted to read her next one. The story is told in multiple timelines and perspectives from two sets of sisters, Kit, Natalie, and an unknown woman. I think the big reveal of the other set of sisters wasn't the wow that it was meant to be and fairly underwhelming for me. I listened to the audiobook of this and the narrator didn't change her voice for any of the characters which made the audio a bit confusing to follow. I may have enjoyed this more in non audio form but I really just don't think the story was for me overall. I liked the magician vibes at the beginning but that quickly went downhill and continued to be a miss for me.

The chapters around the unknown woman were both interesting and not great - the father is abusive and controlling. He makes her earn points throughout the day, even to be able to go to sleep and takes points away if she shows emotion. To call her father 'Sir' the entire time was also off putting. 

This is reminiscent to Janelle Brown's upcoming "I'll Be You" - which I preferred much more to this.

3⭐️ I seemed out this book after seeing a couple 5 star reviews, but unfortunately this one fell flat for me. I usually love a cultish vibe in books and when there is sister drama, but I got bored at about 40%. I still liked the story and thought it had a unique dark plot, but it won’t be one that sticks with me. I would try this author again in the future.

This was a hard book to read. I could sympathize with Natalie and the problems she had dealing with her sister.
Living with people who are mentally is difficult. I sympathize with them, and it hurt to see someone immersed in a cult when proper therapy, and maybe medicine, could have helped her. I was not happy with the ending.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 336 / Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers

After Kit’s mother passes away, she finds herself drowning in guilt and depression until she finds out about a place called Wisewood, a weird cult-like self-improvement retreat that will help you find your “maximized self.” After six months of not hearing from Kit, her sister Natalie receives an ominous email to come to Wisewood and come clean to Kit about a dark secret she’s been keeping from her.

Woven in with the storyline about the two sisters is another storyline about another set of sisters and their abusive father. But while the Kit and Natalie chapters are titled with their names and dates, the other storyline has no heading at all. And while I think that when you finally figure out that the other set of sisters are not Kit and Nat, which is supposed to be some kind of big wow moment, I just found it confusing. Now the storylines you’ve been building in your head are all mixed up. To make things worse, I listened to the audiobook on this one, which is read by the author, who did a fine job narrating but she doesn’t change her voice at all for any of the female characters so it’s even more confusing. The wow moment was definitely not worth the confusion and based on the other reviews I’ve read, I’m not the only one who feels this way.

So four stars for the story but minus one big star for the execution.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟💫 (3.5/5 stars)

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for my eARC!

SHORT SYNOP:
It has been a year+ since Natalie has heard from her sister. After their mother’s passing, Kit sent out to Wisewood, where residents check-in to stay, & check-out from the outside world. Six months after Kit's arrival, Natalie receives an email threatening to reveal Natalie's darkest secret. Terrified, Natalie sets out to Wisewood.

MY THOUGHTS:
I really enjoyed this one! I’m stuck between a 3.5 & 4 star rating. I LOVED the premise of it. When I read the synop, I got total Waco vibes (still upset Tim Riggins played David Koresh, but I guess it does kind of follow “Texas Forever"), & knew I had to read it.

This started off so strong for me. Around the middle, it got a bit slow & confusing. The story is mainly told from 3 perspectives. One of them is not labeled (the other's start with "Natalie" or "Kit.") This, intentionally, leaves readers guessing on who the 3rd narrator is. When I figured it out, I felt like I was too far in to go back & piece everything together in my brain. I did read this during a very busy week & was mentally exhausted, so I don't consider this a flaw of the book- just wanted to point out that it could confuse others, too.

The biggest reason for my 3.5-4 star rating, was that it felt eerily similar to the show Nine Perfect Strangers (haven’t read the book). I think I would have rated it higher, had I not seen it. I was mentally picturing Nicole Kidman as the "leader" throughout the book, because the storyline was so comparative. I’ve spoken to some friends who rated this book 4+ stars, & none of them had seen the show/read the book. So, if you haven’t, & think this synopsis sounds intriguing, I really think you’ll enjoy it! ☺️

The ending was a bit ambiguous; sometimes I enjoy endings that allow you to make your own interpretation, but I do wish this one had a bit more closure.

There have been SUCH mixed reviews on this one, but I am so glad that I gave it a chance. So much so that Darling Rose Gold will be arriving today. 😜

READ IF YOU LIKE:
💚 Cult-y vibes
💚 Magicians
💚 Psychological books

Twisty, dark and disturbing!

If you like books about cults this book is for you. I loved Darling Rose Gold and I was prepared for a wild ride. I felt it was a bit confusing with the timelines, but overall it was a story I enjoyed and can’t wait for the next book from this author.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel released February 22, 2022.

Read if you like: Thrillers, Mystery, Suspense, Cult stories.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

I was so very much looking forward to this book. I was immediately hooked based on the synopsis. Unfortunately it fell flat and didn’t hold my interest. The pacing was too slow for me and as such I struggled to stay interested. Thank you for access to an early copy however I will not be sharing a review outside of NetGalley as it was a miss for me.

I skipped Darling Rose Gold due to the subject matter, but I saw so many glowing reviews of it so I was so excited when I heard @stephaniewrobel had a new book coming out this year!

I really enjoyed this book! I thought there were lots of little reveals throughout and I loved how the author delved into why and how some people act the way they do. Some of these parts were heart breaking and had me wanting to reach out to my dad and give him a hug. This one kept my attention through out and I definitely look forward to seeing what @stephaniewrobel comes out with next!

If you like cult stories and reveals through out check this one out! Another winner released this week!

This is the story of two sisters going in very different directions. The older sister, Natalie, has a demanding career while her younger sister, Kit, seems to be floundering. Both sisters are dealing with the grief of their mother’s death, but are handling things very differently.

As Natalie throws herself into her work, Kit takes a complete break from life. Kit heads to a private island in Maine called Wisewood. The guests have no contact with the rest of the world and it gives Kit a chance to clear her head.

After six months, Natalie receives an anonymous threatening email. Whoever sent this email, threatens to reveal a secret Natalie has been keeping from Kit. Natalie takes matters into her own hands and heads to Wisewood. She plans on telling Kit everything, but when she gets there she hardly even recognizes her sister. Her head is shaved and she is devoted to what Natalie believes to be a cult.

Natalie is determined to save her sister, but it’s not as easy as she thought it would be.

The premise of this book is quite intriguing to me. I never read this author before, but she did a great job of building tension and making you wonder what is going on. I did find the book to be slow in some spots, but it did pick up and I was fascinated.

The story is told from three POVs. Natalie and Kit each have their own POV, but the reader didn’t find out the third POV until later in the book. I found this to be really confusing. I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone with spoilers, so all I will say is that I found the unknown POV added to my confusion.

By the end of the book, I was sitting on the edge of my seat wondering how the pieces were all going to fit together and how it would all end up. The ending surprised me. It’s a good suspense novel.






FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest reviews.

Usually I'm a fan of mulitple POVs but with there being on POV that we never quite know who it is until the end, sort of threw me off a little and I think prevented me from enjoying the book as much as I really could have.
The premise of the story, I like it. I don't know why I find stories about cults so interesting.

Natalie has always been the successful big sister and Kit is the less successful little sister who needs looking after a lot. Kit goes off the grid until Natalie receives a criptic letter and must run to save her sister.

Its quite a ride and I enjoyed it!

3.5 stars.

This is a story about two sisters, Kit and Natalie, and what happens when one of them joins a cult-like group located on a mysterious island. The story is kind of weird and wild, but I also kind of liked it!

In some ways this story reminded me of Nine Perfect Strangers, but this story also kept my attention better than that book did. I was intrigued by the setting and the cult-ish group and trying to figure out what was going on. It's fairly slow paced, but it was interesting enough to keep me reading.

I felt like the characters of Kit and Natalie could have been more developed or more interesting. They didn't jump out to me as intriguing characters, but the third narrator in this story does bring a more compelling narrative and twist to the story.

I thought this was a decent book. Not fully believable and not super action packed, but it was interesting and kept me readng!

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This Might Hurt opens on a shocking, perhaps even horrifying note with what appears to be an extreme piece of performance art. It was pretty cringe-inducing for me, and I’d say skip it if you’re squeamish, but it does serve a purpose to the story.

From there, we follow two sisters, Natalie and Kit, dealing very differently with the death of their mother. Decisive, strong Natalie throws herself into her work. Mild, discontented Kit has taken off for a six-month self-improvement stay at Wisewood, forgoing contact with the outside world so she can try to figure out if there’s more to life. Natalie receives a mysterious email from within Wisewood implying that a long-held secret will be revealed to Kit if Natalie doesn’t tell her first. Will she sort things out with her sister? What is the secret she’s hiding? Can she persuade Kit to leave the clinging embrace of Wisewood? Grab the book and see for yourself.

When I read the blurb, I wanted to read this book. I am a sucker for a good suspense novel, and this one sounded like it fit the bill. It didn’t quite live up to my hopes for it, though.

The story unfolds from three different viewpoints: Natalie’s, an unknown woman’s, and Kit’s (which felt like it took a long time to surface in the book). I first took the unknown woman to be either Natalie or Kit, but then there were references to her sister Jack. That made the unknown woman’s narratives fairly confusing to me, as I couldn’t figure out who she was for a good chunk of the book.

Some of the topics covered in the book, centering around the unknown woman, make for hard reading. Her father is horribly abusive and controlling, making her earn points to pretty much do anything – I mean, she has to earn points to sleep. It is her father’s abuse that pushes her to pursue a life of learning to face and conquer her fears, and to pursue a career in magic, and later mentalism, against his express wishes. The sections describing her interactions with Sir, as she calls her father, are deeply disturbing to read, and the descriptions of the extent to which she takes her performances are also sometimes difficult.

And when we got to the big reveal of the secret, it was a little bit of a letdown. I mean, Natalie says about the secret, “I have no idea what Kit will do when she finds out,” so the reader is expecting something earth-shattering, devastating, shocking. Given the circumstances in which the secret took place, it wasn’t that big of a shock to me. I wasn’t gobsmacked. It seemed like a pretty shallow root to bring forth Natalie’s huge fear of Kit finding out.

Wrobel’s writing style is easy to read, and she does a good job of drawing out compassion for our characters, even though none of them are terribly likeable. The book was good, it just wasn’t what I’d hoped. If you like a story that examines how far people will go to master their fears, that gives off a creepy vibe that has you resisting the urge to look over your shoulder, This Might Hurt may be perfect for you.

This book has a lot of story to it. I wasn't sure if I was going to finish this book after the first few chapters. The mistreatment of children isn't really something I want to read. The book focuses on some less than perfect characters who wind up on the same island with a cult like leader. How they each got where there is chronicled but confusing at times. I'm not sure if all readers had the same problem thinking the narrative of one character was actually that of another but I think that is what makes this book so entertaining.

Dim the lights because the show is about to start...

I couldn't spend 6 months without contact with the outside world, but when you're desperate for change or for starting over, a reset like this might just be something you're willing to do. Some might even call Wisewood a spiritual retreat of sorts... However, after reading this, I'm going to affectionately call it Hell. Kit clearly doesn't agree since she voluntarily signed up for this "adventure".

What blows my mind is that when Natalie receives a threatening call from Hell, I mean Wisewood, threatening to expose her secrets to her sister, Natalie rushes up the coast to this private island to expose herself to her sister first... It's not like the island is alive or anything, but the people running the show are definitely pulling the strings.

In a twisty, creepy psychologically thrilling way, I really enjoyed this book. Think summer camp with a sick twist... There was also a book by Emily Carpenter that this reminded me of so if you also enjoy This Might Hurt, look her up as well.

Sadly, this one missed the mark for me. While I enjoyed the plotline and subject matter (loved the magic/mentalist aspect which I found fascinating), I think the way it was told was unnecessarily confusing. I thought it might just be me, but after I had finished I went and checked other reviews and found that quite a few others seemed to have the same issue. There are three points of view - the chapters for Nat and Kit are very clearly pointed out. Then there is a third narrator, but I didn't think it was presented clearly. For the longest time, I thought that third point of view was still attributed to Nat and I kept finding inconsistencies such as "I thought she was the younger sister, but it seems like she's now the older sister". So maybe that was done on purpose as part of the mystery, but I don't like being that confused or having to work that hard to understand a story. I don't mind that "what the hell is going on here" thing, but this was "WHAT the HELL is going on here" - totally different emphasis! No matter, Stephanie Wrobel writes fantastic warped characters , and that's no different here. I'll be sure to tune in for more of her work.

This Might Hurt introduces us to two sisters named Natalie and Kit and we learn that they have drifted apart and that Nat has been keeping secrets from Kit that could damage their relationship. Nat has always been her little sister Kit's savior when it comes to naive choices and all of a sudden she learns that Kit has given up her steady job and life to head to a retreat on a private island called Wisewood. She is supposed to spend 6 months there where she is supposed to spend time away from the rest of the world. Nat of course is concerned for her younger sister and that concern grows when she receives an email threatening to tell Kit the secret that Nat has been keeping from her for years. Obviously, Nat rushes to Wisewood in order to confess to Kit before she hears it from someone else but she discovers that the island far worse than she feared.

This was super creepy and the Wisewood had a lot of cultish feels that had me at the edge of my seat while reading. I was terrified for both sister while reading this and had fun trying to unravel what was going on throughout the book. The author did a great job keeping me in suspense until the end of the book where everything started to make sense. I did enjoy the story and creepy atmosphere, but I was a little confused at times what narrator was talking at certain parts in the book and the timeline with one of the narrator was even more confusing. I thought the story itself was well written and the main female characters were fascinating and once I figured out their pasts and the reasons behind what they had done it all fell into place. After reading this book I definitely will be reading more about cult centric books and I'll be sure not to sign up for any weird retreats.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group/NetGalley for the digital review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I enjoyed this book, though it’s much less of a thriller than the promotional materials make it out to be. Instead, I’d view this book as a deep character study into the backgrounds of these women, all of whom have deep trauma. The alternating viewpoints can be a bit confusing, and to be honest I don’t think the “reveal” of the identity of one of the narrators is worth the confusion—go ahead, look at the spoilers. The conclusion was a total rush and has been sitting with me in the week or so since I finished.

I found this one somewhat hard to follow. There weren’t really any characters that were endearing at all and I felt that it was full of a lot of bad actors. The whole cultish vibe is normally my jam but this one wasn’t my fave. Overall it was still a decent read and kept me engaged mostly but it didn’t blow my skirt up.

This is a hard book for me to review. I enjoyed most of it, but There were some pieces I didn’t care for. I didn’t find the identity of the third perspective very mysterious and overall I didn’t think this book was all that thrilling. It is a story about a cult with cult like behaviors and the family member trying to save someone caught into the cult. It’s a story that’s been told. I will say the story of how the cult leader became what she is was fairly interesting but also disturbing at times. I had a hard time connecting to Natalie and Kit and therefore didn’t care as much about their stories. I was also underwhelmed with the secret that Natalie traveled to Wisewood to confess to Kit before someone else told her. Overall I give it a 3.5 rounded up for star selection because I did like the writing.