A Thriller That Forgot to Thrill.

Oh snap! I decided to dive into Jennifer Hillier's latest book, "Things We Do in the Dark," expecting some mind-blowing thriller goodness. But what I got was more predictable than my daily morning coffee order.

So, the book started with a bang! A woman tangled up in the murder of her celebrity husband, arrested, and all that jazz. But then, out of the blue, around 11 chapters in, we hit a bumpy POV shift. And to top it off, the book ALSO tried to jump between Then" and Now" timelines, with 80% of the Then and 20% of the Now. And literally nothing happens in the Now until the Climax. Speaking of Climax, Yawnsville ... I could see it coming right from the start. This book decided to ditch the typical thriller beats, but not in a good way.

Why did I even bother finishing this snoozefest? Well, because of all those glowing reviews about the author's other books, of course. I kept hoping for an epic "I-did-not-see-this-coming" moment, but nope.

TRIGGER WARNING. SA and pedophilia descriptions in abundance! Seriously, it was like they sprinkled it all over the book like confetti at a party. I get it, tackling sensitive topics is important, but this was just excessive and uncomfortable.

As a devoted bookworm with a penchant for giving authors the benefit of the doubt, I've decided to try "Jar of Hearts" and "Little Secrets." My curiosity is piqued. Hopefully, I will be more thrilled with these thrillers than with "Things We Do in the Dark".

I received an ARC from St Martin's Press and Minotaur Books, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my honest opinion.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. My reviews can be read on my GoodReads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly

Of course I love this one… it’s Jennifer freaking Hillier!

If you’re like me, and it’s a book by one of your faves, the less you know about the plot, the better. So all I’ll say is Things We Do in the Dark explores themes of love, identity, trauma, betrayal and of course… murder! Oh, and it’s a great read!

This one is definitely in the running for one of my fave reads of 2023!

Really enjoyed this one. This book felt unique because it was like twists were being revealed throughout the book instead of all at once in the end. That made it hold my attention for sure, because I couldn’t wait to get to the final reveal. But, at some point I found myself more interested in Paris and her backstory and didn’t care so much about what had happened to Jimmy, even though that was the premise of the book from the beginning. This made the final reveal a little anticlimactic for me, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book as a whole.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me advance access to this title. I really enjoyed reading this story and look forward to reading more from this author. As a reader, I am really motivated by character driven stories and I found myself quickly becoming immersed in these characters’ lives. Full review to come.

Jennifer Hillier early on has become and auto buy author for me. When I seen Things We Do in the Dark written by yours truly, you already know, I couldn’t hit request from NetGalley fast enough. Many BIG thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for my gift copies of this stunningly amazing read. Jennifer did it again, y’all. Knocked it our the park!!! Wowza, 5 Glowing STARS!! Her writing style never disappoints for me and this new book didn’t either.

Jennifer has a natural talent when it comes to character and plot development. She pulls you in and doesn’t let you go. The plot unfolded masterfully and made this book so binge worthy. I just couldn’t stop listening once I started it. I had the pleasure of receiving a physical Glow in the Dark edition of this book and I enjoyed listening along to the audiobook so much while reading along with the physical book. What a reading experience it was.

Jennifer gave us a fantastic thriller about an abusive mother and her relationship with her daughter. I was invested. If I said it wasn’t a little predictable, I’d be lying. But did I still love the book, YES, I did. I highly recommend. Happy Reading!!

I loved it ! Felt like I was really the criminal ! It's wrote well with a little bit of vulgarity and I love it !

This was a fresh, new, riveting thriller from Jennifer Hillier, making her an auto-buy author for me now.

What a great book! This Hillier is such a great author! She pulls you in so that you get hooked. I loved her modern day references too. The twist of this book was something else! Highly recommend this author!

This book was EVERYTHING I never knew I needed to read. Such good writing and story line. I have recommended this book to all my reading friends in a few different Facebook groups, when they ask for a really good book!! I can't wait to read more by this author.

I loved this book and am disappointed my initial review did not get saved here. Engaging, well written and makes the reader long for her next book!

Really enjoyed this book and very easy to read and a great page turner. Loved this book. I really enjoyed her other books.

A twisted story of a woman’s life of abuse and cruelty is upturned when her mother is about to get out of prison. Paris Peralta is found covered in blood in her bathroom. She was holding a razor and the body of her celebrity husband was in the tub. Paris knows that she will be charged with murder. Her bigger concern is the media publicity the charges will bring. As the story continues there are links slowly surfacing that bind Paris to Ruby Reyes. Ruby, know as the Ice Queen, was convicted of a similar murder 25 years before. Ruby knows the truth about Paris's past, and when Ruby is released early from prison, she threatens to expose all the skeleton's in Paris's closet. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

Mind completely blown! This was my first Jennifer Hiller and I can see why everyone loves her so much.
I'm very into female thriller authors right now and Ms. Hiller is now a new favorite. Will edit this review when I can articulate better!

4.5 stars

Everyone knows I love a good thriller. When I get in the mood to read a thriller, I devour them left and right. Things We Do in the Dark was a book I devoured during my last thriller mood. And it did not disappoint.

From the moment, I read the synopsis, I could not get this book out of my head. I set aside my current read to pick this one up. And boy did it live up to the expectations. Not once have I ever been so invested in a thriller before. I suddenly needed to know the who, how, and why. I needed answers and I tuned the world out and finished this in a day.

It was truly that good. Jennifer Hillier has always been my go to for thriller reads. I have yet to be disappointed in one of her books. She knows how to keep me guessing. Most of the times I can predict how a thriller will end and I love that. I don't mind them being a little predicable. But one of my favorite things about Jennifer Hillier's writing is while it can get a bit complicated, she always manages to bring the entire story full circle. And when it hits you, it hits you good.

Hands down I think this is my new favorite book of the author. I cannot wait to see what she comes out with next. How will anything top this? I would gladly recommend this book and all the others by her to anyone who enjoys a good thriller,

This was another fantastic novel by Jennifer Hillier. I had a hard time putting this down but highly recommend if you are looking for a good book.

📖 BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: Things We Do in the Dark
AUTHOR: Jennifer Hillier
FORMAT: Audiobook
GENRE: Thriller
DID I CRY: No
PUB DATE: 7/19/22
RATING: 7/10
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you @minotaurbooks for my #gifted advanced copy of #ThingsWeDoInTheDark

MY THOUGHTS

Jennifer Hillier is a widely known, well-loved thriller author & it’s no secret as to why! She writes suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat thrillers perfect for those new to the genre or seasoned vets!

This one wasn’t my favorite by her, but is a bookstagram favorite for a lot of reasons! I was definitely gripped by the plot and on audio, it translated very well. I liked the dual timelines and how they were woven together to create a full picture of the present plot line. Some of the characters I felt really added a solid layer to the story, and others I didn’t quite care for. I always love when a thriller entwines a criminal trial in the story — it makes it feel more realistic to me with a clever strategy for slowly revealing details relating to the case.

I am starting to feel that the true crime podcast element to thrillers is getting a little overdone and I could’ve done without it here. I also felt that the plot wasn’t original — im not at all saying it was a rip off of other books, more so that I’ve read similar stories or books with similar plot lines and it didn’t wow me as much as I would’ve liked for a thriller.

It’s a Killer of a Thriller

Physically and sexually abused throughout her childhood, the daughter of a beautiful, but vicious, conniving and promiscuous mother, little Joelle, learns the hard way how to survive by her wits and stamina—even though others may not be so fortunate.

TheBookMaven graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Jennifer Hillier, and Publisher Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this Advance Readers’ Copy (ARC).

Jennifer Hillier is the reigning queen of the really dark and twisty psychological thriller. She isn't afraid to get her characters really down and dirty. In this book, Paris Peralta is arrested in her own bathroom, covered in blood, holding a straight razor, with the body of her celebrity husband in the tub behind her. She knows she'll be charged with murder, but her bigger concern is the media attention those charges will bring. As the story unfolds, the links slowly emerge that bind Paris to Ruby Reyes, the Ice Queen, who was convicted of a similar murder 25 years earlier. Ruby knows the truth about Paris's past, and when Ruby is released early from prison, she threatens to expose all the skeleton's in Paris's closet. This is just how I like my thrillers - intense, extra dark and spicy. I couldn't put it down until I had turned the last page and uncovered all of it's secret's and twists. If you like your thrillers on the dark side, this one is for you. And I can't wait to see what comes next from Jennifer Hillier! Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book had me hooked. I love the procedural it went into during Paris’ arrest and how we get bits of pieces of the story. A great mystery..