Dark Circle
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/10/22
Author: Caite Dolan-Leach
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 384
Goodreads Rating: 3.60

TW ⚠️: Cult

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Olivia Reed doesn't want to think about her name plastered on tabloids or be reminded of her recent meltdown on a Manhattan street. Her micromanaging publicist has just the thing in mind: a remote retreat in Upstate New York--the House of Light. But Liv will soon find that the House of Light is filled with darkness. There have been a series of mysterious suicides committed by women caught in the Light's web. To get the truth out and put her celebrity to good use, Liv starts a podcast, seeking to connect the dots and expose the Light's true intentions. Because beneath the glowing skin of the Light's inhabitants lie rotten souls, and Liv starts to wonder if anything--even her own life--is how it appears.

My Thoughts: The story is narrated by Liv, from her perspective. There are also the podcast interviews mixed into the narration of the story. The first part of this story is character driven, learning about Liv and goes a little slow, but once Liv starts digging into this mystery, the chapters start to go faster and draws you in. The commercial adds interweaved into the podcasts were humorous. The characters were developed well with a sense of depth, complexity, and there was a love to hate going on with Liv. The author’s writing was twisty, creative, engaging, and the story flowed well.

"Dark Circles" by Caite Dolan-Leach is a wonderful drama-mystery about a self-absorbed actress who finds herself entangled in a cult with hidden deaths history. While seeking detox and a little mental rest, this actress becomes a pod-cast detective sensation for unsolved mysteries, as she's trying to figure out her own personal life mystery. Fun and fascinating. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

Unfortunately this was just a little too outlandish for me, but I think people that like books that deal with cults a lot, this is still worth checking out!

This was a unique read for me. The characters were interesting and I never really knew what to expect. It’s hard for me to put into words a review to fit this read. All I can say is that you should pick this up because it does not disappoint

If there’s one thing I know a little something about, it’s finding myself.

Or—and this is definitely a more accurate way to put it—“being on an endless journey of continually trying to find myself”.

No one goes through life unscathed. There are bumps in the road, myriad traumas (both major and minor), and Oh, So. Much. baggage that each of us totes along, wherever we go.

But, how do we attack that journey… that is the question. From flat-out denying there even is any learning to be done [in other words, flying the bird at the idea of any and all navel-gazing], to moderate [and essentially solitary] forms of self-exploration—books, online seminars, etc., to time [and boatloads of $] spent on professional therapists, to [once again, time, and boatloads of $] spent on/in/with in-person retreats, courses, programs [and really, whatever else they elect to brand themselves as]… the options are seemingly endless.

Basically, though, it all boils down to something pretty basic: wherever you’re at—in your head, via your bank account, and/or reflective of your innate level of willingness to forge your own path, versus flocking to a group thing [because, #comfortinnumbers, yo!]—there’s something, someone, who claims to want to help. To help you.

And… yeah. The nearer you live to a hub of such “help”—hello, L.A.!!!1!—the more of those sources you’re gonna find. [No joke, I know several people who have done—and are still neck-deep in—these über-cultish, pyramid scheme-y, “self-help” things… and it is downright terrifying, how many of them have drunk those particular blends of kool-aid... many of whom still espouse all of the jargon. I wish I didn’t know about this stuff for a fact, but… well, there you are; I do.]

There could hardly be a more-perfect candidate for… all of that… than the undeniably louche, past-her-starlet period, B-actress, Olivia Reed, in Caite Dolan-Leach’s unputdownable new suspense, Dark Circles.
_______________

Olivia (Liv) Reed is pretty much at the end of her tether. Recently part of a successful TV series [which sounds like something you’d most likely find on, oh, the WB or possibly AMC] about a young woman haunted by ghosts from her past, she’s now reached a point where—said series having run its course—she has more time than any sort of work on her hands, and—in the way of too many people who don’t necessarily like themselves much, at all (but do enjoy the perks of other people admiring them)—she has maybe, finally, gone just a bit too far with her off-screen antics. [To wit, she’s crashed and burned in what is surely one of the worst ways possible—hugely-ingloriously, undies down for a wee piss on a public street, all while yelling, for a sizable chunk of Manhattan to hear, up at the window of her on-again, off-again (and now, famously-cuckholded) ex-boyfriend’s building… every single bit of which was caught on multiple iPhones and videocams.] In short, Ms. Reed needs a time-out… from everything.

Her long-time (and, obviously, long-suffering) handler, Jess, has a solution: enroll Liv in a few-weeks’ stay at a retreat, a place where the staff have actually dealt with some/any/all of those kinds of issues. [And, notably, in this case, a place that isn’t SoCal, where Liv has already done a number of popular retreats/seminars/cleanses; this time, Jess has chosen the relatively off-the-radar House of Light, in upstate New York.]

As with any struggling person—addict or no—Liv is initially less than thrilled with this plan, but, given the repercussions if/when the news of her latest drugs-alcohol-and-sadness-fueled escapades hit the tabloids (and the internet), she acquiesces begrudgingly to her friend’s solution. [Selling it so that the “overworked actress”, clearly in need of a long-overdue break, was seeking to better herself by taking some time off, to do the necessary things? Only the harshest critics wouldn’t want to give her a chance to do that.]

And so, she enters the House of Light (HOL)… and is promptly met with reality. Namely, that all contact with the outside world is immediately stripped from her, and that she will abide by the rules and practices of the HOL (including mandatory attendance and participation at all workshops, sessions, and crunchy-granola group activities… as well as be in bed by 8:30pm).

It goes… about as well as you’d expect. [Seriously, being so regulated would kill me, so I get it.] One—well, not bright spot, but at least interesting one—is Ava, the woman in the next room over, who likes to chat in whispers on the balcony after lights out.

And oh, does Ava have a story to tell.

According to Ava—a local, who has been periodically visiting the HOL for the past few years, to briefly dry out/find herself—there’s a deadly conspiracy afoot… involving young women—each of whom has been connected to the HOL, as a client or as an employee—dying, in questionable circumstances, in the vicinity of the retreat.

Initially pooh-poohing it, Liv begins to wonder if her new friend might actually be onto something, when another young woman is found dead, just off the retreat's property. When she gets the opportunity to read some of the historical data that Ava has been quietly collecting, she even begins taking the outlandish story more seriously.

The only things Liv has going for her, really, are that she didn’t want to be there in the first place (so, not a willing participant, eager to fall for everything, hook-line-and-sinker), and that she’s been “in the biz” for more than a decade, so she also sees potential in the scandal-adjacent tale that Ava is telling her.

And, after a successful (temporary) escape attempt, Liv hatches a viable plan: using a couple of old contacts—with the bones of the idea, and some urging, provided by Ava—she figures out how to do a podcast, wherein she will report on the unbelievable happenings, make her own conjectures, and get audience participation. [And really, as something to take the public’s attention off her own personal debacle, it’s pretty ingenious.]

It’s no great surprise that the podcast takes off like wildfire. [Seriously, who hasn’t watched or listened to some true crime something or other… especially when it’s particularly salacious? We crave the unexplained, the mystery which—perhaps, who knows?!—only we can solve.]

But, as with any successful business [and don’t ever fool yourself into thinking that any of these self-help schemes, programs, retreats, or whatever they choose to call themselves, aren’t all about the business (money) end of things; their bottom lines are deadly-serious to them], the naysaying of one lone participant [no matter how modestly-famous] isn’t apt to be tolerated benignly. In short, the HOL won’t go down without one helluva fight.

In this case, though, neither will one minor actress… who has suddenly, finally, found her own voice… her own questions… and her own power.
_____________

Dark Circles was an instantaneous must-read, for me, once I’d discovered what it was about. It hits way too close to home—to my second-hand experiences of this stuff—for it not to resonate strongly.

And, it didn’t disappoint. If Dolan-Leach hasn’t personally spent time in a couple-few “programs”, then she has absolutely spoken with plenty of people who have, because she can talk the talk (and the experience). [That’s really important, in a story such as this; as the reader, you really need to understand how people not only wind up participating in such retreats, events, or seminars… but more importantly, in how a sizable number of them are inclined—whether pre-programmed or hard-wired—to fall, hard, for the rhetoric.]

Another thing I really enjoyed was Olivia’s character. She’s… well, really close to the truth of an awful lot of actors, without much of an internal guidepost or any external ones, to moderate her behaviors and actions. Getting to experience everything from her point of view—and feeling her new (and often, to her, surprising, reactions)—was a great way to understand someone else on a very real level... even if she wasn't always entirely likable.

There’s a fascinating mystery at the center of Dark Circles, as well as plenty of ripped-from-the-headlines [that would be the tabloid headlines] plotting, to earn it a hearty thumbs up for aficionados of psychological suspense yarns and for social media mavens, alike. Dark Circles is modern, it’s real, and it’s a really good read.
~GlamKitty

#FirstLine ~ Hello listeners!

What a read. I though the premise was clever and the story engaging. I blew through this book and loved the twists and turns! It was not a story that you can easily figure out. It a bit of thriller, a bit a creepy and lots of fun! A must read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest mystery by Caite Dolan-Leach - 4 stars!

Liv is an actress and has made kind of a mess of her life. Her somewhat-controlling manager, Jess, convinces her to go to the House of Light, a retreat center in upstate New York. But Liv soon discovers, with the help of Ava, another resident, that there is darkness lurking at the retreat center - young women are mysteriously dying by suicide. Liv uses her celebrity to start a podcast into investigating the center.

This story was told out through Liv's point of view as well as from her podcast transcripts. I always like an interesting cult story and this one definitely filled the bill. Plus, I loved the setting and the writing - kept me intrigued to the end with plenty of twists.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

Wow, so I ended up reading this book while at Seneca Lake (not even planned!). Great read - haunting, especially while reading it overlooking the lake.

Enjoyed the storyline and loved the podcast, seemed very realistic. The strange cult aspect was interesting and addicting.

When actress Olivia Reed hits bottom, her manager talks her into going into “rehab” at the retreat center of House of Light. While there, she meets another guest, Ava. Ava is a repeat client at House of Light, but has an ulterior motive. There have been four young women connected with HOL that have died, all considered suicides, but mysterious nonetheless. Soon Liv is investigating these deaths herself, delving into Ava’s findings and taking it a step further and creating a podcast. What’s really going on at House of Light? Is someone there a murderer? When asked to stop, Liv just digs in deeper, soon HOL is no longer asking. Is Liv putting herself in danger? This book is well written, but the spa plot line is a bit on the tired side. There have been too many recent books that have used it in one form or another. It did help to intermix the podcast, but it didn’t save the book for me. While some parts were interesting others were tedious to get through and overall it just lacked the suspense needed to carry off the plot.

Compared to her debut Dead Letters which was a five star read this weighed me down and was just okay. There were too many ancillary characters and plotlines for me to fully enjoy the book. I liked the premise, but felt the book overall didn't deliver.

Podcasts, true crime, and cults- Caite Dolan-Leach did a great job capturing some of the biggest media trends into one book with Dark Circles. Add in a fallen, tabloid fodder celebrity as the main character and it's a recipe for a juicy, page turning story. It's well balanced between the podcast bits and the telling of the story from Olivia's unscripted perspective, and the tangential bits she discovers along the way add substance to the plot.

Shadows of Nine Perfect Strangers, Dark Circles begins with protagonist, Olivia, a hot-mess actress heading off to a "retreat" Oliva's gotten herself into a mess and into the tabloids thanks to substance abuse and an affair with a director. Her assistant, Jess, has the solution. She talks Olivia into going to a retreat to get herself together and out of the limelight. The retreat is located in a beautiful setting in the Finger Lake region of NY and is called the House of Light.

Olivia's first impression of the House of Light (HOL) doesn't bode well. First, she's stripped of her phone, her lifeline, and then locked into her room. Apparently, the rules of the retreat include shutting off all electricity just after sunset and not turning it on until dawn. To complete the cult vibe, the people who work at the retreat have names like Rain and Devotion, and they wear that loose linen clothing that cults seem to favor. Olivia's first day is spent in forced isolation in her room. By evening, she's plotting an escape over the balcony, but she's stopped by an unseen woman in the room next door. Her name is Ava, and she tells Liv that she's a local who checks herself into the HOL periodically to dry out. The next day isn't any better. On the plus side, she gets to connect with Ava more; however, on the negative side, the police show up at the lake on the property because a woman's body has surfaced. It appears to be a suicide, but Ava has other ideas. Ava is convinced that HOL is somehow involved in several suspicious deaths that occur in cycles. Ava wants to investigate, and she wants Liv to get involved too. She and Ava escape one night, and Ava takes Liv to her home where she lives with her husband and baby. She's been collecting evidence, and she'd like Olivia to get involved because her fame could bring some attention to the deaths. Olivia is kicked out of the HOL before her first week is up (because of her negativity and rule infractions), but Ava has hooked her. She decides she's going to do the podcast. The rest of the novel focuses on this podcast and Olivia's investigation into the suicides.

Dark Circles had me riveted at first. I'm drawn to books about true-crime podcasts, but I found this one to be a bit slow and the mysterious deaths didn't capture my interest. It's a good book, just not great.

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me an eGalley.

Olivia, an actress, has recently had a major meltdown on a NYC street. On top of everything else that has been going on in her life, she needs a break from the tabloids and all the other things that come from being a celebrity. Her best friend and manager Jess, finds a retreat in upstate New York where she can go to rest and reflect on her life. Ava, one of the other women at the retreat tells her that there are suspicious things that have gone on there, along with suicides of women who related to the House of Light. Ava’s family has somewhat of a reputation in the area, and no one believes her version of what may have gone on there. When Liv sees some troubling things going on, she takes over Ava’s investigation when she is thrown of the retreat. She decides to begin a podcast of her investigation. While Liv is determined to see this through, her manager is completely against the podcast, trying to convince her that it’s not a good career move. Liv perseveres and her investigation is quite captivating, and the ending blew me away!

Also posted at B&N under 1IrishEyes430 and Kobo under IrishEyes430

Brief Synopsis: Olivia “Liv” Reed is an actress. She seems to be tumbling out of control and with the help of her publicist has decided to go to a retreat in Upstate New York to calm down and recenter herself. Not long after arrival, she finds herself consumed with researching a string of strange deaths that seem to be connected to the retreat. She uses her public platform to begin a True Crime podcast in hopes of solving the mystery in real time with listeners.

Thoughts: This was a medium to fast-paced read. The writing style was easy to follow, though at times advance wording is used which threw the readability off a bit. I was engaged into the mystery fairly early on. The characters felt realistic and the plot was believable. The suspense held through to the end. I liked how the podcasts were woven into the narrative. It was done in a way that didn’t feel overly repetitive (which I appreciate). Overall this was a unique, suspenseful, and mysterious read.

Thank you to Caite Dolan-Leach, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for access to this. I think an audio version of this book would be a huge hit!

I felt like this was topical and had a lot of promise. It took awhile for me to really get into the story and frankly it was a little confusing between the names, the sort of removed way the main character talked and mimicked other people and the mysterious rehab/cult. I felt like a lot of what happened was really abrupt, including the ending. The mystery of her mother made sense. I also wonder if we might see Reed again in another book. I feel like Ava was in her first book but it’s been years. Wasn’t she the main character in that?

I didn’t think the twist was very good. Who else would it have been? But I enjoyed the book over all.

I did think the timeline was off for some of the pop culture references. True Detective came out over 2 years after the TV show she was on was written about so it wouldn’t have been called “The OC meets True Detective” in 2011. The references to Lili Reinholt seemed a little premature and odd too.

Thank you to Random House for sending me an advance copy of Dark Circles!

After a fairly public and very humiliating public “situation,” Olivia’s best friend and publicist suggests that she takes a break to unwind and center herself at the House of Light, a remote retreat in the Finger Lakes of New York. While reluctant, Liv agrees to give it a shot since it’s not *rehab* it’s just a little break from the stressors of everyday life. Not long after arrival there is a mysterious suicide from a former visitor to the House, and she starts to believe that something strange is going on behind the scenes. Liv meets another member who shares her worries and after some prompting decides to start an investigative podcast that brings the darkness of the House of Light to light (puns fully intended).

This is the second Caite Dolan-Leach book that I’ve read and I have to say that I greatly enjoyed the callbacks to a prior book. This book was clever, it combined a few popular topics for books these days – podcasting/social media; high profile MC; and culty activities. While it seems like a lot, I don’t think it was too much, everything flowed and fit together very nicely. The book is slow-medium pacing but did hold my attention the entire way through. I also really enjoyed snippets of the podcast and message board convos added into the book.

The characters just left me wanting something. I think they were well-developed, but I didn’t really care about any of them. Ultimately I would say this was a character-driven book, so to walk away with no real feelings one way or the other feels strange. I would love to have learned more about the House of Light and some of the characters from there (a prequel, maybe??)

Now that I’ve read two books by Caite, I’m confident in saying that I would reach for any of her past books that I have not ready yet and will continue to check out future releases.

After a very public and messy break up episode with her co-star boyfriend, Liv's manager, Jess, finds her a place to get out of the public spotlight for a bit and get pulled together. Liv's life is always turbulent and self-destructive, so she is no stranger to similar retreats. Except from her first incounter with a fellow client at the House of Light, she is pulled into something strange. She begins to dig into the belief system and members of HOL and doesn't like what she finds. There are young women who have died, seemingly by suicide, but Liv thinks there is a little more to it. She embarks on a mission to discover answers and expose the House of Light's darker side, in real time through a true crime podcast.
This is a fast paced story and I liked the podcast episodes mixed in with the storyline. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House / Ballantine for the opportunity to enjoy this e-ARC.

I really thought I would like this more. Very early on I became so annoyed by the character and the writing style that I almost hate read it for the rest of the first half. It did pick up, but it is really hard to get past a shallow main character that you just don’t like.

Read this if you like stories about:
•cults
•upstate NY
•true crime podcast
•slow burn

I enjoyed this slow burn mystery about an actress who begins to suspect that the wellness retreat she signed up for is actually a pagan cult responsible for a string of mysterious deaths. After a very public incident, Liv Reed’s manager convinces her that a monthlong stay at the House of Light will be good for both her mental well-being and her reputation. At first the retreat is filled with the usual: meditation, nature walks, macrobiotic diets, and self help mantras. Then Liv meets fellow patient(?) Ava, who tells her that every solstice or equinox in recent years, a woman has turned up dead of apparent suicide in the area. Almost every woman has a connection to the House of Light. So Liv decides to start a true crime podcast instead of seeing out her monthlong stay at the Light, investigating the very people she’s just met.

This book has some overlap with Dolan-Leach’s previous DEAD LETTERS, but I don’t think it is necessary to read that book first. I actually enjoyed this story more. Liv is a great narrator and even though she could be annoying and self centered, I really enjoyed her as a POV character. The podcast snippets were enjoyable and the mystery Liv is trying to solve kept me interested. It’s definitely a slow burn story and more character-driven at times. I look forward to reading whatever the author writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for an early copy in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed this thriller. The cult-like storyline was very engaging and kept me hooked the whole way through. The ending gets a little messy but overall a good read. Thank you to the author, publisher, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy enjoy it and looking forward to more from this author.