Thank you Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the e-ARC of the book.

Maya has secret medicine addiction that is getting worse. During one of her sleepless nights she stumbles upon a youtube video of a girl dropping dead in font of a guy in a diner in her hometown. Not only she witnessed something similar seven year ago but she knows the guy from the video - her ex boyfriend Frank. Maya rushes back in her hometown to finally solve Frank’s mystery which has been killing innocent girls.

This was an captivating book that occasionally gave me chills. Some parts of the books really pulled me in and I just needed to read one more page… and one more.

What an interesting read!
This story does so much with regards to diving deep into its main character's psyche.
The story hooks you right from the start and it's paced so well, with traveling between our main character's past and present, that you can't help but keep reading.
You spend so much of the story wondering if the main character is in a bout of psychosis, making you want to keep reading to find out what is actually going on!
There aren't fast car chases, suspicious disappearances, the main character isn't running out of time, but the story feels dire none the less.
If you're interested in a subtle, yet compelling read, this book is for you!

📖 Book Review 📖

🎧📱”The House In The Pines” by Ana Reyes

⭐️⭐️💫
publication January 3, 2023

Unique, captivating and a quick-read- a while ago I gave up on this book but when the audio was available from the library I gave it another shot.

Our memory can put aside the truth to help us survive, and this novel showcased that. Maya as the main character is unreliable and scattered- an insomniac, going through Klonopin withdrawal, and drinking. After years mourning the death of her friend Aubrey during high school, Maya decides to return to her hometown, after seeing a YouTube video of a young woman dying while sitting across a diner table from someone who was pretty monumental in Maya’s past. Frank was
a fast, whirlwind “love” from high school. He was older, a bit odd, and intriguing. Maya bounces between past and present trying to make hazy memories into some answers.

Ever DNF on a book and pick it up later?


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Not sure this one completely worked for me, but it was certainly an intriguing premise. It's propulsive enough and curious enough to keep the pages turning. Will definitely look out for author's next book.

The House in the Pines ~ Ana Reyes

Maya will never forget her best friend Aubrey who died in front of Frank, the man she was dating one summer. Seven years have past, and Maya is moving on with her life - or at least trying to - but when she views a viral video of a girl dying in front of none other than Frank she is brought right back to her memories of Maya.

“In The House in the Pines, Ana Reyes delves into a complex female friendship and the fragile nature of memory to weave together a smart, eerie, and completely addictive story of psychological suspense. Reyes is a debut author to watch.”

I thought this was very predictable and not that mysterious. There’s not a lot to say about it besides it was disappointing.

I mostly enjoyed The House in the Pines, but I did not love it. I felt the ending was a bit flat. However, I did like most of the characters and enjoyed the writing. I look forward to more books by this Latinx writer.

I found this book to be confusing and not that interesting. The different timelines took away my enjoyment of the story. I think it would have been better told from one timeline.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton, Ana Reyes, and Netgalley for an advance readers copy of The House in the Pines in exchange for an honest review. I always love reading Reeses book picks so I was excited to read this one. It started off pretty slow but still interesting in the first half of the book. The ending was interesting and definitely a different type of ending then I usually see in suspense novels so that was a fun difference! I just couldnt connect to many of the characters and just felt like this one fell a little flat for me. I definitely will check out this authors work in the future though because I feel like the writing and writing style was very well done.

3.5 stars rounded up. Interesting and different premise. Ending was a bit unsatisfying, but more realistic. I enjoyed a not common premise regarding the main way the person is able to "control" situations.

Genre: Thriller
Pages: 330
ARC: yes
⭐️: 3/5
Format: ebook

Synopsis: Maya is a girl prone to fanciful thoughts, but that doesn’t mean she’s hallucinating..does it? Did her old boyfriend Frank really kill her best friend without touching her?

7 years, and klonipin withdrawals later, a new viral video arrives on YouTube showing a promising young artist dropping dead at the hands of none other than..you guessed it..Frank. How is he doing it? How will she convince anyone in her life that he is behind these mysterious deaths?

💭my thoughts💭

I found Maya hard to believe as well. She’s a troubled person who seeks out substances to dull what happened so many years ago. And what happened exactly? Well, that’s a good question…I still don’t think I know. The ending was pretty anticlimactic in way of thrillers. I was expecting maybe a bit more oomph to it.

The descriptive writing was good and I like the aspect of Guatemalan heritage in there (guessing the author is Guatemalan?) anyhoo…it didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat like I was hoping.

Solid 3 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I’m exchange for the ARC, I have given my honest and unbiased review of this book.

A twisty edge of the seat thriller that will have you questioning every character and what you thought you knew about them.

The cover of the book makes this look to be a thriller but I didn’t find it that way at all. The first chapter draws you in but then the rest of the story fell flat. Was she crazy or was Frank a killer, by the end of the story I didn’t really care.

This story was engaging and had me guessing all the way through. I really loved the tiny bit about Guatemalan history. The reason I only gave it 3 stars is I did find it a little hard to believe at the end. Although I did appreciate the author's attempt to explain the "science" behind it.

This didn’t do it for me. I was worried it was magic realism, and glad it wasn’t, but I did t quite buy the plot line. Plus I didn’t like the way it went back and forth so abruptly between timelines (maybe that’s fixed in the final version).

Featuring ~ single 3rd POV, debut, dual timeline, addiction ~ drugs and alcohol

Maya is our narrator in the present and we have flashbacks of her friendship with Aubrey and relationship with Frank. Aubrey died 7 years ago and now a woman's death takes place with Frank close by. Could Frank be involved in both or is it just a coincidence?

Overall, this was fine as a debut. I can't say I was overly invested with the story or with how unreliable Maya was, but I'm not mad I read it. I wouldn't put this in the thriller category either, a psychological something, not sure what.

3/5
This book had some good parts and some parts that I thought could definitely have been better.
I liked the main character Maya as she had to go through healing to figure out the missing hours that she would go through from hanging out with her ex boyfriend Frank. I thought the book had a lot of potential but did get a little boring.

Maya is trying to mend her self from a traumatizing event that happened to her when she was a senior in high school. But then she sees a YouTube video of someone dying and all the trauma is back. Maya needs to find out why it's happening again and how. This psychological thriller explores the mind and the concept of consent and reality. Although the premise is promising and intriguing the execution fell slightly short. The journey to of the mystery was not equal to the reveal.

3/5 stars. This was my first book by this author. I wanted to love the story, but I’d say it was a solid 3 for me. It was good but some parts felt unrealistic.

First off thank you to Netgally, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own.

Welp, this one fell short. For a thriller it did not grip me the way I hoped it would, nor were the thrills very...thrilling. DNF at 55%.