This novel relies on stereotypes and tropes that harm people with mental illness.

I’m sure many people will enjoy it but it is lazy writing that helps stigma.

Sometimes I wish my husband would die.
Do you ever feel like that?

The Widow of Weeping Pines was my first novel by McKinney, and I can promise you it won’t be the last.

I could not put this down! This was so twisted, and deranged in the best possible way. Alternating between the past and present and told by multiple POVs, this delicious little novella came together perfectly.

Cheating spouses, deadly secrets, and LOTS of wine. 🍷

You don’t even need a blurb for this, just clear your afternoon schedule, grab your favorite snack, err drink… and settle in with this dark thriller.

0.25/5 stars! Ummm...as someone in the mental health field, this book was upsetting, to say the least. The author wrote psychologists as if being morally corrupt, breaking laws, and stalking your patients is normal practice. I hated it so much. There's already a huge stigma against mental health in this country, and the author reinforced every negative stereotype possible. I couldn't even get into the story and found myself not caring about a single character. Besides this, the writing was lazy and uninteresting.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

This might be one of my favorite January reads! Seriously loved it!
A twisty story of – of what, really? No, it is not about one “mad woman”. Everyone is mad there and everyone is a horrible person, as the one who is officially labeled to be the mad one is, well, in fact, not the maddest at all.
Loved every page of it, every twist of it, every insane character. And the ending even looked like a happy ending in its own very weird way.
This is definitely now an author I will be looking for more books coming from!

This is a murder mystery! The main characters are Betty Lou who was called Betts! Jack her husband, Ian her fiancee, Carmen, and Detective Stahl! Betts had an abusive upbringing! She didn't have friends and from early on did evil things! She met and married Jack who was very wealthy. Shortly after they were married , Jack retired and they left New York to move to the estate in Weeping Pines where Jack felt at peace. It was a sleepy town that Betts was never accepted and she hated living there. She pretended to be a Therapist and took patients on! One of them being Carmen. It turned out Carmen and the Detective were intimate! But in Bette's twisted mind she thought her fiance was cheating with Carmen. Bette caught Jack cheating on her so she decided to poison him. She thought he was dead! The story has a lot of unexpected twists! I enjoyed the book and recommend it!

Such a riveting storyline. Talk about a plot twist. I couldn't put it down. Intriguing, suspenseful, definitely a page turner. This book keeps you on the edge of your seats. There's plenty of drama, spice, action and suspense to keep readers guessing through this book. Loved it.

This was a fun book that kept twisting and redirecting you to a shocking ending. We are introduced to the Widow (Betts) who is a therapist living with her fiancé in her dead's husband's (Jack's) house. The book starts off running with a narrative about marriage and murder to draw you in. You get many perspectives on Betts but you still don't really know what she is made of or what to believe. Every character in the book has their unique opinions and motives about how they viewed Jack death and if Betts was plotting or not. Did not see the end coming but it was very fitting.

It was fast paced,lots of plot twists and i was gutted that it only lasted around 200 pages because it was that good.

Wow!! First of all, I'd like to say thank you to NetGalley & HH Tisevich for giving me an e-ARC. of Amanda McKinney's new book. This was a quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Widow of Weeping Pines reminded me a little of Sharp Objects or many V.C. Andrews books. Set in a historic mansion in the woods, the story follows Betty Lou "Betts" Abbot, a widowed therapist who runs a clinic out of her basement. There are many twists and turns that I don't want to give away, so I'll just say that if you're looking for a something fast paced and surprising, definitely give this book a try!

I devoured this book! Could not get enough of the main character named Betts and her unstable mentality.

**3.5 stars**
I really enjoyed the author's writing style and thought the book was fast-paced. This book is under 200 pages and does surprisingly well with character development.

Betty Lou is a therapist in the small town of Whispering Pines, where she ended up because her late husband decided to move back. Now, she is engaged to Ian and living in her inherited mansion. Betts as we call her has a business in her basement under the table and illegally, where she helps others on life issues. One client in particular isn’t there for therapy.

The book has some twists and turns. Overall a good, quick read.

Thank you NetGalley!

A fast paced thriller that kept me engaged throughout! Under 200 pages, I flew through it in no time. This author did a fantastic job with this book, I enjoyed every page, hooked from the start

This was a fun, very quick read. I don’t think there’s a single sane person among the characters, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. In fact, they all deserve each other. There’s Betts, the main character, illegally operating a therapy business in her basement. There’s her late husband Jack, who cheated on her. Ian, her fiancé whom she suspects of cheating. Carmen, whom she suspects is the woman whom Ian is cheating with. And Detective Stahl, who can’t seem to keep his nose out of Betts’ business. A richly portrayed and motley crew; a book well worth investing a little time to read. Fun from start to finish!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Widow of Weeping Pines by Amanda McKinney.

This was not the book for me. I don't know that I've ever gotten to the end of a book and wondered what the point of reading all of those pages was. I will give the author credit, she has a no BS approach to writing. There's little fluff and everything is straight to the point. However, the fluff that was so desperately needed was character development. I didn't give two figs about anyone in this story because I honestly had no clue who anyone WAS by the last page. The ending was rushed and underwhelming. All in all, not the book for me.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

This is a novella, so it’s a quick read! I find thriller novellas challenging to review because I usually find them quite rushed. This one was decent and had a fair amount of background information and character development. While the storyline was slightly predictable, it was still quick and easy to read and was enjoyable!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Is Betty Lou Abbott a bored widow, or a psychopath? I wasn’t sure what to expect of this quick read after I’d read some reviews, it it drew me in right away. When the first sentence is “Sometimes I wish my husband would die”
you wonder if you can like the main character, but somehow the author pulls it off. I didn’t see any of the twists coming as local detective Nicholas Stahl keeps visiting Betts in her old stone mansion, surrounded by forest.
The author packs a lot of twisted plot, character development and atmosphere in this short book, I appreciate the advance copy I received from NetGalley and the publisher. Looking forward to see what she does next!

I received this as a free arc through netgalley

This was a book with a whole lot going on. Constant new information kept it very fast paced. I hated hated the main character, which I think was the point. There were a lot of triggers, suicide, miscarriage, alcoholism.

The Widow of Weeping Pines is a darkly compelling psychological tale.. From the beginning you begin to sense the question that surround each character as you start to wonder what their secrets are.. as the story unfolds secrets are revealed.. just when you think you can predict what is going to happen a very unexpected twist and then a surprising ending.. it caught my attention and I am sure will capture yours….
Great characters good plot. Throughly enjoyed this book!

WOW! This is a first read of this author and it will certainly not be my last! I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read this. This book literally hooked me in the first sentence! And it didn’t disappoint. I could not put it down until I finished it. When I thought I had it figured out, nope! It was fast paced and full of twists and to the point with out unnecessary dragging details of every little thing! I loved the writing style!! If you’ve not read this I highly recommend it. This book now sits at my number 1 for best books I’ve read so far this year!! I can’t wait to get my hands on her next book!

Not normally a book I would like. Small town drama thriller isn’t usually my choice but I liked the characters and they were well written. The detective ended up being my favorite and loved the ending of the book. A good read.