Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the digital ARC!

Someone Is Always Watching by Kelly Armstrong is a fun, YA mystery/thriller. The story follows Blythe and her friends who discover that their memories are not to be trusted. The beginning hooked me right away, but then I started to get lost. Overall, it was an interesting storyline, a bit of dystopian elements; however, I found myself confused throughout. A book just not for me.

This was actually so much fun. It was a YA Thriller that had a little Dystopian elements that I just loved! This was fast paced, engaging from the get to go and it kept me enthralled from beginning to end.

I went into this blind, and I'm honestly so glad I did. I think it worked really well because I didn't have any expectations, instead I got to unravel the mystery with the gang themselves.

My only issue with this book was when we had the grand reveal there wasn't much information on how stuff like that happened. What was the science behind it? How did they achieve it? I really wish we would've gotten so more information on that instead of just a sentence or two.

I really enjoyed this story and the characters. The story was fast paced and kept my interest the entire time. It was the perfect amount of twisty, engaging, and secretive. This is definitely a book you want to go into blindly and I'm happy I did. I couldn't believe any of the reveals and loved the slow burn romance that was included. The story was unique and I would love to have another involving this same world. The book is told from multiple POVs and really makes you wonder...can you trust everyone you know, including your parents.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I had really high hopes for this book, but ultimately I found a lot of the situations and relationships to be strange. The dynamics among Blythe and her friends were really weird, like when Gabrielle is holding a box cutter to her throat and Blythe sees Tucker and starts thinking about how much she misses him. Despite several other characters from the friend group having occasional POV chapters, none of them were developed enough to make their voices distinguishable from any other character. While the big reveal of what CMT was doing was interesting, there was very little resolution or details given about it. It was never explained how the teens' memories were replaced or how their fake memories were implanted, and there was very little conversation between each character and their respective parents about what their parents had done. Or what the characters had done - Blythe vomits when she learns that she accidentally killed her sister, but after that, she seems to come to terms with it almost immediately. Even though the point is that since their memories were removed and replaced, none of them are the same person anymore, but Blythe learning what she did is still something that needs extensive time to process.
For the whole of the book, these characters are sneaking around behind their parents' backs, convinced that their parents are doing something bad. Especially given what Gabrielle was saying during her breakdown at the beginning of the book, everything seemed to be setting up for the parents/company to be malicious figures. And while that was certainly the case with Tanya and Tucker's father, most of the other parents, like Blythe's, wanted the best for their children, even if they were a little misguided at times.

I’m a little conflicted on my feelings for this story. Overall it was interesting and set at a good pace but I found myself confused more often than not.

Getting into the story we know Gabi is acting weird suddenly with no hint of what’s going on. The night the principal died was the first thing that threw me for a loop.. I felt the way Blythe’s memory loss was handled was confusing. I had to read the blurb I the back to understand what happened.

Then shortly after I noticed I didn’t know what the characters looked like. There’s no further mention of their looks besides tucker being called a white boy and them stating Tanya has blonde hair. Nothing. I was puzzled trying to picture these characters.

We go back and forth between characters povs occasionally but going into a chapter I noticed things felt off. It took me a while to realize it was because the POV changes from first person to third with different characters. That felt odd to me and would take me out of the story adjusting to the new POV.

There were genuinely parts of this story I enjoyed. I liked the characters and piecing together what happened with them. The concept of the story with the memory issues and the cause behind it was interesting. It had me paranoid and not wanting to trust any of the characters. The connection between Tucker and Blythe was sweet and I enjoyed the addition of it. The only thing I was disappointed with the characters was not getting more of Chloe and Sydney. I felt there was more to explore there and the characters were a little forgotten.

The ending felt a little underwhelming considering what happened. I felt like there should have been more and bigger lead up. We knew what was happening with CMT and just had the one reveal and it felt a little lack luster.

*4 stars out of 5 stars*

I went into this book anticipating a typical YA thriller and was pleasantly surprised! Someone Is Always Watching is a gripping book with a horrifying concept. It was full of twists and turns and left me questioning what is morally correct. I was hooked from the first chapter and read it in one sitting. I definitely recommend going into this book relatively blind as it will add to the mystery and enjoyment.

The biggest problem I had was just a style choice that did not work for me. There are multiple POVs and they are all told in third person instead of first person. I found myself getting confused about where I was in the story. However, it did not take away from my enjoyment of the novel.

Someone Is Always Watching is out April 11th!

Thank you Netgalley for providing the ARC ebook! All opinions are my own and are given voluntarily.

Great story! This is exactly the kind of book I like, intrigue, good characters, spooky element. Lots of questions at the beginning, fun trying to figure out what's going on.

This was a really enjoyable read. It's easy to fall into the story quickly, and Blythe is an excellent narrator who it is easy to care about. And what a situation she has found herself in. It's clear pretty early on that someone or something is tampering with her memory, and as pieces of the truth are slowly revealed, there's just enough unsaid each time to keep you on the edge of your seat for more. I will say, this isn't the kind of book that has a big, completely unexpected and surprising twist at the end. Rather, it reveals small twists little by little, and the culmination of everything leaves you with this eerie, unsettling truth of what's happened to these kids.

What I really love is the type of questions that the book and this kind of mystery thriller leaves you with. Who is the bad guy in this story? In some ways there may seem to be a clear one, but at a slightly different angle, it's not so black and white. Can an action that seems cruel be justified by a good motive? And where do we draw the line between who gets a second chance and who doesn't? This book poses all of these questions in a way that is thrilling and entertaining. It'll definitely get you thinking for a little while afterward.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is the first time I've read a book by Kelley Armstrong. I'm a big fan of books like One of Us is Lying and when I read the synopsis for this one, I felt like it totally gave off that vibe. I was in the mood for a good, quick YA thriller and this one hit the spot. I think the premise of the story is really interesting and not something I've come across before. At times, I felt like the plot got a little convoluted with the characters and there were so many different players in the game, I had a hard time connecting much with any of them. The beginning really hooks you in and then towards the middle it kind of gets lost but by then, you're already so deep in, you just have to finish to at least get an explanation for WHY and HOW all of this is happening. Which I guess in a sense, is the hallmark of a good YA thriller. All in all, a fast and easy read. Nothing that changed my life but it definitely got my thriller fix in.

I love Kelley Armstrong's writing and will always read everything she writes. Unfortuantely, this wasn't my favourite KLA book. One thing is that I really dislike the name chosen for the MMC, so that just kept pulling me out of the story. I was disappointed that cameras didn't play a larger role in the story as a whole. To me it was a bit anti-climactic to learn that they really only affected the one character. There were a couple of other similar red herrings and I was disappointed when they didn't come up again. The main reason I don't rate this story any higher, though, is how quickly the solve and resolution went. I felt like the story raced through the third act and ended too soon, but not in a good way. There certainly is also a lot of positive things to say about this story. I really liked how morally grey so many of the characters are. I enjoyed the casual inclusion of queer characters. The teens all had very distinct voices, and I liked being able to spend a bit of time in all of their heads. Overall, I'd rate this book 3.5 stars.

A friend-group finds out that what they remember may not actually be true. This book was really good, I had pretty mild expectations because while the synopsis was wildly intriguing, it felt like a lot to bite off. The author executed it wonderfully, though! I liked getting to unravel what is going on with the kids' memories and why they have nightmares and flashes of things that didn't happen to them. I thought that the romantic aspects of this story worked well and fit in well with the story. Twisty and turny, this one is going to be a hit with the teens at my library!

I really liked this one. It was such a fascinating and horrifying concept. I do think the end was a little bit rushed and maybe could have gone on a bit more to wrap things up, but maybe that also leaves it open enough for a sequel. I felt like this straddled the line between YA and NA and did that really well. The characters actually felt like teenagers who were reacting to a really terrible situation in appropriate ways. One character even reminded me of someone I know in real life so that’s fun. Overall, a solid read that I’d recommend to people who love Karen M McManus.

A group of friends find out that their memories may not actually be their own. What if your parents took away your actual memories and replaced them? These teens discover the truth of why they have flashes of memories they don't recall or nightmares. In this psychological thriller you are immersed in finding the truth for these characters as well as a slow burn romance. You may think you've figured out thr truth, but won't know for sure until the very end.

YA mystery/thriller- what if your memories weren't even real?

Oh man, what a gripping read! From the very beginning, Someone is Always Watching had me totally hooked. It chucks you right into the action, which I appreciated, and the mystery grows more and more complex from there. I liked the characters and the relationships between them, and the story leaves you a lot to contemplate as events unfold.

One side character felt oddly unnecessary and I don't understand why that person was included in the story. The romance subplot also felt kinda unnecessary to me, but that kind of thing is to be expected in YA. There was also an aspect of the plot that I felt lacked foreshadowing, but maybe I missed some things?

By the way...in my opinion, the official synopsis gives WAY too much away and I'm glad I didn't read it. So that's why I put that one sentence up top. I literally don't know what else to say about the plot without spoiling things (but I am someone who hates spoilers and likes to go into books completely blind, so my idea of what constitutes a spoiler is probably really rigid. Lol).

I definitely recommend that YA thriller fans check this one out when it publishes!

Many thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and Kelley Armstrong for the ARC, which I received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Someone Is Always Watching
Coming out April 11 2023

Thank you to NetGalley, Tundra Books, and Penguin Random House CA for the ARC of this book to review!

Blythe or “Bliss” as her best friend affectionately calls her is a teenager at a private school for kids of CMT’s employees. When one of her best friends has a mental break down in school Blythe discovers that things may not be as the seem. Are the people she loves actually who she thinks they are?

Kelley Armstrong does a great job of writing a mystery with psychological elements that will make you want to keep turning the pages. If you are a fan of books like One Of Us is Lying or A Good Girls Guide to Murder you will like this this twisted YA Thriller. It also managed to spook me and keep me on my toes while reading. All the characters are interesting and have secrets to figure out. Every character introduced was important to the main storyline.

The only thing that was difficult for me while reading this book is that the POV and tense changed a lot between chapters and sometimes I would forget whose POV I was reading. But I liked seeing all the characters plots develop and tie up.

Check this book out in April for a fast paced, fun read!

My review will be posted today Wednesday 3/29/23 on @readitwithtay on instagram. I will also share the review today on goodreads (Taylor Crowell). I will repost the review on my instagram on the publish date as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada/Tundra Books for the eARC of Someone is Always Watching in exchange for my honest review.

I am a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong’s books, I grew up reading her Darkest Powers series and have loved reading the Rockton series in my adulthood. This book is just as well written as the others, it carries itself well and is a solid mystery. I do think it was a bit young for me and I’d have definitely liked it more when I was younger, but that’s not to say that it wasn’t a quick and enjoyable read!

It focused heavily on the psychology and the interactions of the characters, but it didn’t feel bogged down by those features. I will say I recommend going in blind for this one as the synopsis gives away a lot!

This was a fun read! Fast paced, kept me guessing. The last chapters got a little confusing- a lot of information and plot resolution at once, but overall it was a good read.

Such a great read. I had no idea where this book was going to take me. I had such a great time reading this book, I will be looking into this author in the future!

Blythe and her friends have been close for a long time, although ever since an incident months before, things haven't been quite the same. Things become even weirder when one of the friends, Gabi, starts acting erratically and is found bloody in front of the dead principal. This leads to them starting to question their memories.

The suspense early on was missing for me. It also started shifting perspectives/narrators after a while of just being Blythe, so that felt a bit weird.

Someone is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong is a gripping young adult psychological thriller that will leave readers on edge until the very end. Blythe and her friends Tucker, Tanya, and Gabrielle have always been close, but a violent incident has caused a rift between Blythe and Tucker. Strange events begin to occur, and disturbing nightmares plague them. When Gabrielle is found covered in blood with no memory of what happened, the group's friendship starts to unravel, and long-forgotten secrets come to light.

Armstrong masterfully weaves together a tale of memory, friendship, and the blurred lines between reality and imagination. The characters are well-developed and realistic, each with their own flaws and secrets that make them both relatable and intriguing. The plot twists and turns, keeping readers guessing until the very end.

Overall, Someone is Always Watching is a thrilling and thought-provoking read that will leave readers questioning their own memories and relationships. Armstrong's writing is engaging, and the story is sure to leave a lasting impression on readers. This is a must-read for fans of young adult psychological thrillers.