This book started out slow for me. The main character, Olivia, was not very likeable at first but she became a strong character later. She stopped centering on herself and began to notice others. Her interest in the young women who had mysteriously died became a focus for her. The more that Olivia delved into the deaths of these ladies, the stories that surrounded the House of Light, and the strange rituals the darker the secrets became. Olivia knew that with her experience that she could help expose the people behind this and tell the world. Intriguing twists and turns await Olivia as she enters the darker side of the House of Light.

Out May 10, 2022! [Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

When aging starlet Liv Reed heads to a meditation retreat in upstate New York to “recenter” herself, she quickly finds that all is not what it seems, and the House of Light may be hiding some very dark secrets. Determined to expose the truth, she launches a true crime podcast and begins an investigation into the mysterious deaths of young women connected to the retreat.

DARK CIRCLES is a book that has a super interesting premise with a lot to enjoy—it’s extremely well-written, and Liv is a lovable main character. I’m also loving the trend of true crime and/or podcasting as a frame/trope in thrillers, and this executes that really well, including sections written as podcast episodes and even the inclusion of short “ads” for random products.

I was a bit confused by the pacing/structure in the beginning—the podcast episodes are interspersed with the chapters and I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening when—but it’s fast-moving enough that it kept me engaged. The plot takes a bit of an unexpected turn towards the end, which is what ultimately kept this from being a 4 or even 5 star review—I felt like there wasn’t enough foreshadowing and I didn’t get the opportunity to work out the mystery for myself as a result, plus I felt like there were a few too many threads and a lot left hanging in the final chapter—but overall this is a solid thriller, especially if you love cult and true crime vibes!

Recommended if you like: cult-based thrillers; rural settings; the dark side of fame.

CW: Suicide; mental illness; addiction.

A twisty, dark mystery with a celebrity looking for answers. Who can she really trust? Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

Dolan-Leach keeps you reading compulsively.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Olivia Reed, an actress who has just suffered through a breakup and a significant scandal, is essentially ordered by her publicist to attend a retreat. When Olivia arrives at the House of Light, everything is as she expected-fasts, group time, yoga, and sunrise hikes. But then a local woman, Ava, who has spent many sessions at the House of Light, starts telling Olivia about the women who have committed suicide after spending time there. Olivia begins investigating, even starting a podcast as she dives deeper into what is truly going on at the House of Light.

Olivia is a complicated character trying her best in the world she has been thrust into. The House of Light is just mysterious enough to make it ominous, and the podcast parts are very cool. The ending of this surprised me so much in the best possible way. I was truly shocked, but everything made sense looking back. I definitely recommend picking up this book.

This book had a slow start and a fairly unlikeable main character. Usually that’s enough to make me stop reading. But in this case I plowed through and the story became more and more interesting and a lot more intriguing. By the end of the book I was wishing there were about 100 more pages! I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the characters. Even though they were all basically self involved and I heartily disliked all of them, they were worth reading about. Probably because the mystery was so entangled I needed a little more time to absorb it fully. A good read overall. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Olivia Reed is an actress with issues to put it mildly. She finds herself at The House of Light in upstate New York for what she thinks is going to be a sort of rehab experience, then slowly realizes something more nefarious is going on. She starts a podcast based on information she receives from a fellow Light attendee, and her investigation into mysterious deaths surrounding this cult like group begins.
I was unsure what to expect but this book came highly recommended by my best friend, so I knew it had to be good. I only wish I had the time to just devour this book all at once, because it was that good. While the story itself takes a little bit of time to build up, it is very attention grabbing. Especially the way the podcast pieces are interspersed throughout the story with a few small flash backs to the past of Olivia’s history.
I will absolutely be putting this author’s other works on my to read list.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is an interesting concept and there are all the elements of a good mystery. A creepy locale with creepy people running it, vulnerable people, and a self-absorbed main character (who wasn't very likeable imo). The story moved slowly, though, and there seemed to be a lot of filler before any real mystery or action occurred. For me, it was good, not great.

This book had everything that I needed right when I needed it: actress that’s beyond the term “eccentric”, coastal backdrop, cultish group with oddball guru leader, podcast play-by-play narrated by said actress…I loved it! I needed more! This was definitely what I was looking for from the blurb!

What do you get when you throw one slightly unstable actress into a cult-like spirituality retreat center, and present her with a conspiracy theory surrounding a bunch of dead girls and a reclusive guru? If your answer was a true-crime podcast hosted by the actress while she chases wild leads and her own dark history, you'd be right.

Olivia Reed is an actress who gained popularity from a dark-noir teen tv series as much as from her public debacles. After one particular episode, her longtime friend and manager suggests she check into an exclusive spiritual retreat to recharge and reset. While there, she meets another guest, Ava, who is a local and has some suspicions about a series of deaths that have occurs with past guests and staff. After a few days of poking around and asking too many questions, Olivia is asked to leave, but not before she's accidently given up some personal information during a session that she'd rather keep quiet. Once out of the center, she's unable to walk away from the theory that these deaths are all tied together and lead back to the center, so she sticks around town instead of heading back to the city. When she begins to believe that she's on to something, she starts a podcast, despite the insistence of her manager that she drop it, to report on her suspicions and research. Once the first episode drops, she starts to receive tips and threats, as well as some comments that relate back to her own dark past. As she faces mounting pressure from the clamoring public, her irate friend/manager, her estranged but riding-her-coattails father, and the people associated with the center using her secrets as collateral, she's forced to decide between pursing the truth and her own safety and reputation.

Dark Circles is a nuanced novel of suspense as much as it is a commentary on society's obsession of true-crime and the lengths that we'll go to in pursuit of the truth and justice. We have an slightly unstable main character that has a dark past and secrets she'd like to keep hidden. A spiritual center that behaves like a cult and that has some murky connections and staff that have drunk too much of the kool-aid. And a whole host of supporting characters that all have their own motivations, which may or may not be have it in their interest to help Olivia solve these crimes. Ava in particular is suspect (unless you read Dead Letters - then you understand why she's doing what she's doing in pursuit of the story). This book had me guessing until the very end (especially with that ambiguous ending, which asks more questions than it answered)!

This story is written by an author new to me set in the Finger Lakes area. It is an adult mystery novel which delves into trust, manipulation, perception, friendship and the dangers of extremists beliefs.
Twentyish TV actress Olivia Reed has had some very public meltdowns, boyfriend breakups, and needs a reset. Jessica, her longtime bestfriend/manager, thinks she needs a stay at the House of Light as a sort of spiritual retreat, not a rehab. During her stay she becomes friendly with Ava.
Ava is not new at the House of Light (HOL), she and her family actually live in the nearby town. She's had several stints at HOL and suggests to Olivia that there have been questionable supposed suicidal deaths of other previous clients.
Olivia has never really done much for herself, she's very dependent and easily influenced by Jessica. Olivia is intrigued by the deaths and it leads to a very popular podcast. She takes considerable risks to find out if the suicides were in fact murder.
As much as the story is a mystery, it was also a sort of a coming of age drama as Olivia discovers herself.
There are very interesting, well described, almost creepy characters that founded and ran the HOL. It's scary to think these types of places and people probably exist and are so influential over vulnerable lost souls just looking for hope.
It was an interesting read which I both enjoyed and recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley, Caite Dolan-Leach and to Random House Publishing, Ballentine for the advance digital copy of "Dark Circles". These are my honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily.

Dark Places by Caite Dolan-Leach was intriguing, atmospheric and suspenseful. The element of the podcast and hearing the story told by Liv created a creepy atmosphere and made the stakes feel much higher. I found toward the middle, the action slowed down a bit but it picked back up and at that point, I had to know what was going to happen. Any book that has a cult is going to draw me right in and this was no exception. Cults, true crime podcasts and rebellious celebrities are all the rage right now and I’m here for it.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this book.

This book had a very interesting tale. A cult in the woods, an actress redeeming herself and starting a podcast, a murder mystery connected to the cult and perhaps to the actress themselves.

I made it 75% into this book before I had to DNF. This book had to be one of the most longest and boring thrillers I've read in a while.

While the main character is an unlike-able person, I just could not find any redeeming qualities while she is trying to redeem herself. She is nasty to her assistant, nasty to the people in her life, oh... and has strange kink thoughts over a married woman's husband. (She keeps fantasizing on being with him and raising this woman's kid between the two of them.)

The mystery was so dragged out and I felt there was WAY too much filler and not a lot of scary or intriguing information to make me care about her solving the mystery.

Tread with caution regarding this read.

When actress Olivia Reed goes viral for all the wrong reasons, her friend and manager, Jess, insists she takes some time away and head to the hippy-esque House of Light retreat in the New York Finger Lakes region to recuperate. The rules are fairly strict and he people a bit weird, but Olivia thins she can handle it, that is until a body washes up along the lake and a fellow retreat-goer, Ava, tells her about the mysterious deaths of girls similarly connected to the House of Light. Olivia and Ava decide to do a podcast about the deaths to see what they can uncover, but the House of Light - or someone - is determined to keep its secrets buried.

First of all Caite Dolan-Leach is one of my favorite authors, because I live near the Finger Lakes, and I love that she sets her novels there as a native to the area, and her detailed descriptions of the region and the people are just do spot on (well, duh!). I love it.

Now getting past that, this book was another winner for me from her. I was immediately drawn into the storyline, as someone who is a fan of cult-based stories. And this book really starts right from the beginning, diving right into the House of Light story, introducing us to this strange group and setting up the mystery perfectly with the way it's introduced, and Ava comes into the picture. I don't want to give too much away, but there's a lot of questions about what's happening, whether there even is a conspiracy, then who's a part of it, etc., etc. I loved trying to figure it all out.

And wow, the ending was a great reveal. I certainly did not have it all figured out, and loved how it all went down. Most questions are answered, but there's some nice twisty ambiguity in there to leave you guessing a little bit. A little wink to the reader, in the creepiest way. Very cool.

Overall, if you're into unique books from really talented writers, this is a great book for you. It's a great mystery/thriller from a writer I look forward to reading more from!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of Dark Circles to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion. Interesting book and as I read this I could see the Kardashian family in my mind for some reason. I enjoyed the book and found myself enjoying it from page one until the very last page. Great read and I absolutely will recommend this to my friends and family.

After a meltdown on the streets of New York, actress Olivia Reed agrees to a stay at the House of Light (HOL). It is not rehab, but a wellness retreat arranged by her manager Jessica. With no cell phone or tablet to communicate with the outside world, Olivia finds it hard to commit to the required routine. While contemplating a way to escape she meets Ava, the resident in the next room. Ava has been to the retreat a number of times and fills Olivia in on several deaths that have occurred around the HOL. Each death was ruled a suicide, but Ava has her suspicions and has piqued Olivia’s curiosity. On a nighttime escape Ava takes Olivia to her home to show her the files that she has kept on each case. Against her manager’s advice, Olivia decides to create a podcast to reveal the suspicions and hopefully discover what is really happening at the retreat.

Olivia’s podcasts reveal her own background as well as her investigation. Her mother disappeared from her life years earlier. At one point she begins to wonder if the disappearance was associated with the HOL. Vultures, the podcast, takes off and the responses offer a variety of suggestions and offbeat ideas about the reported events. It also brings threats of retaliation from HOL. Despite the threats and her manager’s warnings, Olivia is determined to speak her mind. When HOL was first formed it was a group of like-minded people who lived simply. Over time it changed and became a cult that was dominated by the son of the founder. Collateral was collected from each of the members to guarantee their loyalty. It isn’t until Olivia makes contact and interviews a member of HOL who managed to break away that she finally finds answers, but not before a surprising betrayal. While the beginning was fairly slow, the story did pick up once Olivia started her podcasts. The story kept my interest to the end and I enjoyed Dark Circles. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for providing this book for my review.

This is a very involved, expertly crafted tale of dependency, love, mystery and celebrity. #darkcircles kept me interested and excited to see what happened next. I felt the ending was satisfactory and found it to have a little twist with the title.
I received a copy of this from #netgalley and the publisher, the review is my own.

Overall I really liked this. The plot was interesting and I grew up close to the finger lakes, so it was fun to see some references I understood. The ending was a bit of a letdown in that it wasn't very exciting or hard to guess, but other than that I really enjoyed it.

Dark Circles had all the elements of crime fiction that I enjoy; a cult, missing persons, unsolved mysteries, drama, and a true crime podcast. Overall, it was a wild, fun read. My only complaint is that it was a tad too long in my opinion. I felt that it could have been wrapped up a bit sooner as the story did drag a bit towards the end. I didn't find the ending to be surprising but I do feel that the outcome was highly believable which is something that is lacking many times in crime fiction and thrillers. I would love to see this played out as a tv show. I just find the whole premise fascinating.

Honestly, I found this underwhelming. The premise is right up my alley-- crime podcasts, cults, actresses, oh my!-- but the unraveling of the story was clunky and our main protagonist unlikeable. I've read better novels that feature podcast plotlines; this isn't one of 'em.