Cover Image: Someone Is Always Watching

Someone Is Always Watching

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Member Reviews

I thought, possibly due to the cover, that this was going to be a standard murder mystery novel, although I was interested to see what the legend Kelley Armstrong would do with the genre. This is actually a little closer to a sci-fi thriller, as Blythe and her friends try and unravel what the organisation CMT has done to them.

Overall this is good, and I liked that it was somewhat of a multi-POV, occasionally giving us insight into what the other characters are thinking and feeling. I did think this could be a little messy at times though, and I was confused when Blythe's sister seemed to disappear from the story at the half way point, only being referenced by the other characters, almost as if she was an actor that had left the show.

The ending was a little too stereotypical after the big reveals for me, I'm not the biggest fan of single culprit reveal endings, where we have to sit through the explanations of why they did what they did while everyone kinda yells at each other. I did like the story overall though, as the rest seemed quite unique.

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“I can be a good and moral person who is also a coward, or I can do something bad in pursuit of something good.”

Blythe and her friends have always been tight-knit until an act of violence last year drove a rift between Blythe and Tucker. The rest of them have drifted apart. Gabrielle, Blythe’s best friend, has been acting strange, which culminates in the vice principal’s office, covered in blood. Gabi doesn’t remember it, and neither does Blythe. As Blythe tries to help her friend, she sort of gets the band back together, but this time, more than friendship is at stake.

This YA psychological thriller is full of intrigue and a little murder. It’s got queer rep (including ace/aro, which is not always common) and neurodivergent rep, which I love to see. It’s a mystery with short chapters that flips between characters. There’s a tiny bit of a love triangle but not enough to detract from the overall story. Do recommend.

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Thanks so much to NetGalley and to Tundra Book Group for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book...this book was a trip. In, like, the best possible way.

Blythe and her friends have grown up together, always sticking close together, and despite her reputation as the goody-two-shoes of the group, they've always had each other's backs--especially Blythe and Tucker. But when things went wrong one night that led to most of the town viewing Tucker as violent and dangerous to be around, including his own father, Blythe's parents tell her to stay away from him. They stay in contact somewhat, but the group begins to drift apart, kind and shy Gabrielle and good girl Blythe sticking close while Tucker and his rebellious sister Tanya carry on as best as they can.

But when strange things start to happen with Gabrielle--paranoid whispers about being watched over lunch and angry rants in class--and everything comes to a head when their vice principal dies in a sudden and violent way and Blythe hits her head and loses her memory of that afternoon. As life seems to get back to normal only to spiral out of control again, Blythe and her friends have to come together to help themselves, their friends, and their families, to solve the mystery of what's going on in their town and with the kids in it.

Without giving anything away, this book presented such an interesting, cool idea and did an amazing job presenting it. Watching the kids all go through the steps of figuring things out and seeing the ways their discoveries sat with them and changed their lives was such a cool way to experience the narrative. And the way Kelley Armstrong wove both psychology and capitalism into the suspense of the story made the pacing and the atmosphere *so much fun*. Honestly, I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, suspenseful read, despite the fact that it turned out to be a lot less scary and 'thriller'-coded than I expected going in. All I can say is check your trigger warnings.

TRIGGER WARNINGS (that I can recall) : mention of sa, child sa, death, mention of suicide, gore, murder, abuse by a parent. neglect by a parent.

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2.5 stars
This one was not for me. The story follows a group of teens who attend a private STEM high school. When one begins to act erratically, killing their principal, the group starts to search for answers. They soon find files on each of them learning secrets of their pasts before their memories had been wiped. This was definitely an over the top, off the wall story line that seemed redundant causing the story to drag.

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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this arc.

3.5 stars/5

Things I loved:
Quick read - easy to devour
Thriller!!!!
Loved how the story explored psychology of mistrust and gaslighting

Things I didn’t love:
Prefer her adult thrillers
A little strange

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Kelly Armstrong delivers an interesting YA thriller. She once again captures your attention with a creepy mystery about of the teens at a private STEM school.

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Kelley Armstrong does it again. Suspenceful and dark, this book showcases how one situation can change a friendship.

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I have been on a nonfiction kick recently and this one stood out for many reasons. I loved the honesty and emotion. I felt like I was in the moment with the author and I felt like the articulation of the circumstances were easy to understand which I appreciated with such a complex issue.

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This was a fun and quick read. I did find it to be predictable at times. I was interested in seeing how things progressed but wish there had been more development on characters so I could feel attached! I really did not care too much for any of the characters. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

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Firstly, I want to say thank you to Kelley Armstrong and her team for sending me this ARC. I feel very grateful! I was super excited to read this YA thriller. The story follows Blythe & her friends. Her and her friends were always close, but when an conflict occurs with Blythe and Tucker, random flashes of thoughts and nightmares start happening. These cracks in their thoughts open up a whole can of worms. And if they can't trust their own memories, how can they trust each other?
The plot of this book had a lot of potential. Right off the bat, I feel like they rushed through a lot of important parts of the story, but they also added extra plot points that weren't necessary. I really liked the friend group, with their different personalities and memories. This reminded me a bit of the book, "This is Not the Jess Show". It's not exactly the same, but felt similar.
While I've never read anything by Kelley Armstrong before, I look forward to seeing her other work. She has a great writing style, so that was not the problem with the book at all. I love psychological thrillers, and if the plot went a little differently, I would have LOVED it. Overall, 3 stars.

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Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book.

Just began getting into reading thrillers and this one did not disappoint! The plot was not what I was expecting but it did not disappoint.

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This could have been a good idea for a story. Unfortunately as it evolved it became a little unreal. I was not able to identify with or care about the characters, and the ending seemed a bit contrived. There are lots of great reads out there. Try something else. I received this as an arc from NetGalley and am under no pressure for a positive review.

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I finally decided to stop reading at 60%. I really should’ve stopped at like 15 or 20%. I wasn’t taking in anything and when I stopped reading I basically forgot about everything that was in the book – names, whatever the plot was. What I do remember is a very, very confusing plot – that even after looking at spoilery reviews – I don’t understand.

The cover and the synopsis made me see it as a simple YA mystery/thriller book. I got something very more confusing and because I wasn’t interested in any of it I didn’t want to take the time to properly try to understand the book. I don’t remember any of the characters? None were memorable at all – I only remember some names because I looked at the synopsis when I started this review.

Further on than not just remembering anything, I didn’t want to know more about them or read their dialogue with each other. That also made me decide to stop reading it because you shouldn’t really try to force yourself to care about characters, you know?

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This is a solid psychological thriller with engaging characters. I always favor books where the characters survive perilous situations or adversity because they have a close-knit friendships. This is one of those books. Blythe is so disciplined that even camp counselors find her boring. Her best friend Tucker is her opposite—people are both drawn to him and a apprehensive of his volatility. Their relationship is much more complicated than anyone knows. So are their family lives, not to mention the creepy lab their parents work for and gated community where they live. They make discoveries about themselves and their community from which they can never go back.

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This was a fun read, despite being predictable at times. I was interested in seeing how things progressed but wish there had been more development on characters so I could feel attached!

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Thank you Tundra Books, NetGalley, and Libro FM for the ARC and ALC of Someone is Always Watching! All opinions in this review are my own.

I found this to be a mix between Don't Worry Darling and Divergent. While the concept is what drew me to the book, there are times when it fell flat. I was expecting a fast-paced book with a lot of twists. There are some but this wasn't as consuming as I thought it would be and I struggled to get through the audiobook.

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I thought this was really predictable in a lot of places. However, it was a pretty compelling read and I think teens will really enjoy it.

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This is a young adult novel of kids whose memories of bad things are being erased and they’re trying to figure out why. I didn’t really like it, too much round about way of getting to the gist of it, and the idea of one of them being undercover was very far fetched. Not enjoyed at all.

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Whether it’s young adult or adult, mystery or paranormal, Kelley Armstrong can do no wrong. I was immediately sucked into Someone is Always Watching. I genuinely had the creeps, several times. Armstrong’s strongest asset is her characterization and how her characters always feel so real.

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Creepy and full of mystery; another great novel from Kelley Armstrong. Blythe and her friends are a group of typical teens, dealing with relationship drama and high school stress... Until the day when one member of the group, Gabrielle, experiences a breakdown in class and begins ranting about the security cameras and how "they are always watching". Cue suspenseful music. This kicks off a series of mysterious events centered around memory loss and unexplained flashbacks. This school is full of secrets, and it seems that their parents are involved. Hopefully Blythe and the others can find the truth before it's too late.

I've loved every book I've read from Kelley Armstrong, and this was no exception. The friends and their relationships were compelling. The mystery was highly engaging. I'm a sucker for novels with psychological elements, and this one easily kept my interest. In some ways, the plot is over the top, but I could see some elements of this happening in the real world. Scary to think about. Would recommend to fans of YA mysteries.

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