An interesting dive into a strange cult! Olivia is a smart main character who is thrown into a weird world that gets more dangerous the more she questions strange happenings.

An intriguing take on the thriller, Dark Circles blends together the mysterious workings of a spiritual group with the a true crime podcast. I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read that kept me interested throughout. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy.

Olivia Reed is an actress. With some success. Enough that the paparazzi follow her every move and are more than happy to splash all of her erratic behavior all over the tabloids. After hitting rock bottom, her friend and manager, Jess, gets her into a retreat. The House of Light. Not a rehab, a retreat. Only it’s not.

Everyone is odd and Liv can see something is off. Getting close to Ava, a local woman who is trying to find who killed her twin sister. If that ever happened. She pushes Liv to use her celebrity to do a podcast to find out what happened to other women there and why everyone is afraid to speak about it.

We also have the disappearance of Liv’s mother when she was a teen. And the father, who is a real piece of work.

I really struggled with this one. Mainly because the characters were so shallow and unfinished I thought. I could have cared less if any of them had up and died. Liv is clueless and just self-absorbed, Jess is controlling and suspicious, the dad is a cliched character of a Brit.

I couldn’t find one redeeming character here. And there were so many questions left in the end.

NetGalley/April 19th, 2022 by Ballantine Books

A new thriller by the author of Dead Letters, Dark Circles is about Liv Reed, a celebrity who has had a recent meltdown and is being sent to a wellness retreat. When she gets there, it is weirder than she expected. Things become even weirder when her room neighbor tells her about women that have ended up mysteriously dead after being associated with the retreat. She and her new friend Ava decide that Liv should start a podcast to investigate these deaths. Even after she gets kicked out of the retreat, Liv decides to keep digging to get to the bottom of this mystery.

I liked this book a lot! Interspersed among the chapters were "podcast" snippets - interviews, monologues by Liv, etc. - which was a cool format. My one negative of this book is I feel it wrapped up too quickly. When I was 90% done, I felt like there was still a lot to be unraveled. However, it was still enjoyable!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read an ARC of Dark Circles.

This is, in my opinion, a not very well-written book about a fascinating subject.
Cults posing as religious/spiritual communities.
What happens when the crazies take over the asylum.
Who gets caught up and who gets out.

Ms. Dolan-Leach took the focus of having a burned-out TV actress go to a "Wellness" place to heal and rest for a month. She has a room next to a woman who immediately catches her up on four different women/bodies that have been found close to the center and probably connected to the center in some way. Ever curious, our TV actress goes on the hunt for information and starts a podcast so that the world can walk with her as she attempts to unravel the mystery.

This is a mystery/thriller. Ms. Dolan-Leach does not philosophize about any of this. But she does make some points about certain people's vulnerabilities that make them more likely to be cult targets. And she certainly ends the book with what I consider happens when an idealistic thought or belief gets taken to an extreme, and power gives one the entitlement to "take care of business."

As I said, fascinating. I read the whole book because of the topic, I did hold my breath a couple of times wondering if our heroine would make it to finish her podcast. But oh how many times, I wished the writing were better, more interesting, more thoughtful. The characters were just too black and white and too obvious for me. This subject is not obvious. Part of the dangers of cults is that they often seem in the beginning so harmless.

So I would say that if you want a fast read mystery, you will probably enjoy this.
If you are looking for some literature about a fascinating and current subject. look elsewhere.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. I'm not sure how I felt about this book. It kept me going until the end, but I just wasn't drawn to the characters. From the beginning, I could partially tell where this was going, and I kept reading, thinking I'd be wrong, but I wasn't. I'd have liked it more if I'd been able to care about the dead girls. I was pleased to have read it, but it won't stand out as a 2022 favorite.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this thriller.

This was a fast read with a few twists. I think it will find an audience and enjoyed the read.

I tried but I couldn't finish this one! The characters felt repetitive and superficial. I really wanted to give this one a chance, especially since I got an advanced copy from Netgalley but sorry, DNF.

Is it not fun when you discover new things about yourself that you didn't know before?

Recently, I discovered my love for podcasts. I never thought I would be able to focus but these murder podcasts really are entertaining! Now, along with my love for podcasts I have read a few books recently that hook me right in and the subject matter circles around podcasts! TWO FOR ONE! woohoooo!!! .

Dark Circles, is narration perfection. This is an easy page turner that pulls your right in early on. This is a suspenseful thriller with characters you will love to hate. Actually, let me refrain, not necessarily hate but you will not be able to trust them.

A friend compared Olivia (Liv) to Lindsay Lohan and as soon as I was introduced to her I could not get that image out of my head. Now, Lindsay Lohan is a hot mess but she is one hell of an actress, so I was all about this. The book goes back and forth from present time to podcast episodes and I absolutely loved this.

This is a book that once you start you will easily become addicted. I had big plans for the evening but ended up canceling because I was so engrossed within this book that I needed to know what was going to happen next. Caite Dolan-Leach, is an author to keep an eye on. Dark Circles, does not disappoint and I am eager to see what she will come out with next!

I really enjoyed this book! Podcasts and true crime are huge right now! Well developed characters drive the story of a down on her luck actress, no longer an ingenue, thirty something, Liv Reed. At the insistence of her manager, Liv enters a rehab of sorts, to recenter and recharge her career. She meets a patient who has some concerns of foul play happening at the center. She draws Liv in with plans for a podcast to expose the wrong doing, including the apparent suicides of 4 young women. The beginning was slow, but it kept me reading. I loved Liv, the main character! She finds fame in a TV series as a teen and is now struggling with “what comes next”. Themes of cult activity, suicide, mental illness and abandonment. The ending was a bit abrupt, but satisfying. It left the door open for a sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. It was a mix of Nine Perfect Strangers and The Silent Patient. Unfortunately, I could barely even make it to half way. It just was not grabbing my attention and the main character was not helping.

I rate this book 3.5 stars. The premise was good. The first 60% was slow for me. It had the possibility of being a thriller but never reaches the point of the storyline being scary. In fact at times it seemed to be a satire. I found it very difficult to like Olivia. She’s also supposed to be in rehab and shows no signs of withdrawals. The book is overly done in some details and not enough in other areas. The latter part of the book did pickup and get interesting and even had a surprise. Overall it wasn’t a bad book I just think I wasn’t as invested in the storyline as I could have been. Thank you @randomhouse for the free book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and RandomHouse for allowing me to read this book before publication date.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the storyline of this book. I did find myself not connecting with the main character, so I didn't LOVE the book. I did find myself wanting to know how the story was going to end, so the lack of connection with the main character did not discourage me from continuing.

For anyone who loved podcasts about true crime, or simply reading true crime stories, this novel is for you.

I have mixed feelings about Dark Circles. On the plus side, the set-up was compelling, and the desire to find out what was going on at the HOL kept me reading to the end. However, I felt the book was too long and in need of judicious editing. The podcast “commercials,” for example, I found to be a complete waste of pages and skimmed them. Other parts of the story dragged and were somewhat repetitive, as well. I also felt that the reveals of both mysteries (the Light/Liv’s mother’s disappearance) were letdowns, and the “twist” was not a surprise at all. But, I did enjoy the author’s writing style, so, it was a mixed bag for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

My first book by this author. I enjoyed reading this one and the story kept the pages turning well past my bedtime.
I really liked the layout of this book. It is the regular narrative, following celebrity Liv Reed as she bounces from debacle to rehab/retreat, and switches to a podcast that keeps you moving through the inner plot. It successfully jumps back and forth until both Liv’s narrative and her podcast plot conclude.
I got comfy with the characters. They were well developed and true. The story moved at an acceptable pace and we didn’t spend too much time in anyone’s head, which is a good thing. I definitely recommend this one.

I was given a prepub copy for my honest review.

I am a fan of podcasts and was drawn to this book, in which the main character develops a true-crime podcast. Liv Reed is an actress, attending a spiritual-type retreat, House of Light, in upstate NY. There are strange things happening, and Liv tries to uncover what has been going on. The book is well-written and I really liked her style. I definitely will read more from this author.

Dark Circles is by Caite Dolan-Leach. The story is about a TV star, Olivia Reed, who goes to a "retreat' and learns of apparent suicides of young women who had been involved with the retreat. Olivia begins her own investigation and decides to do a podcast about the women and the retreat, looking for listeners to get involved and help solve the mysteries. I want to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an early copy to review.

I'm very meh on this book. I wanted to like this so much more than I did. I was drawn to this book because of the plot- creepy cult where women turn up murdered? Count me in. I liked the character of Liv a lot (except that whole subplot with Wyatt, which was a little icky), and I felt like the book started out really strong and was building to something that... just never happened. The ending felt like it was trying to be too message-y instead of just being a really interesting ending. Super disappointing.
I probably would not recommend this book to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

Interesting but not really my cup of tea. Well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Predictable and honestly it was a struggle to keep my interest. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.