Well I’m a little bit speechless. What an absolutely brilliant book from the beginning, right up to the end!

Dark Mode by Ashleigh Kalagian Blunt is an eye opening novel. To talk about the plot is to give away the story but it is a twisty , dark story about modern relationships and dark personalities. Although I’m a bit late with this review a massive thanks to Netgalley and Ultimo Press for a digital copy to read and review . Highly recommend this one !

First of all, I must make mention to the staking cover for this book and as for the book itself it was a fantastic read. A psychological thriller with twists and turns that are cleverly written into the plot that has the reader engaged in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and if you enjoy reading psychological thrillers then I recommend you read you grab a copy of this book.

Firstly how stunning is this front cover. This is a twisty and claustrophobic read that left me on the edge of my seat and paranoid someone was watching me. I loved it

Dark secrets simmer beneath the surface of this gripping thriller, ensuring that every twist and turn is more shocking than the last.

I love books that relate to true crime. It even mentions cold cases. What a great book. Talking about social media and the internet and how scary it can actually be. I more scared than I was before.

Great book, creepy at times but I just kept wanting to read it!

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Provocative and chilling, Kalagian Blunt plunges into the depths of the dark web, unearthing the hidden underbelly of suburban Sydney.

Prepare for an unsettling journey, as gory details intertwine with powerful prose, exposing relatable fears. Witness Raegan Carsen's gradual descent into the web's sinister realm, breaking free from her self-imposed internet exile. This gripping narrative explores the complexities of relationships, from the good to the bad and everything in between, shedding light on real-world issues.

As Raegan's traumatic past unravels and her intricate dynamics with her mother and evolving friendship with Min take center stage, solving the killer's puzzle becomes merely a backdrop. With its well-paced plot, artful conception, and clever execution, "Dark Mode" is an exceptional read that leaves a lasting impact.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

📚Dark Mode - Ashley Kalagian Blunt📚

This book left me completely freaked out, ready to close all of my social media and bank accounts, pack up the essentials, move to a secluded place far away, tell absolutely no one and basically go completely off grid 🙈😂 it was an absolute wild ride which I just ate right up. The scariest part was how eerily realistic it felt.

It was intense, atmospheric and completely disturbing, in the best kind of way. Beautifully written, so easy to read, addictive and powerful in its message - absolutely worth the hype!

What you can expect:
👩🏼‍💻Creepy creep creep vibes
👩🏼‍💻Nail-bitingly scary
👩🏼‍💻Crazy twists and turns
👩🏼‍💻Disturbing reality of The Dark Web

Honestly, the best psychological thriller I’ve read in quite some time - an absolute page-turner which will leave you needing a trip to the nail salon and questioning everything in your own life! Proceed with caution 😬😂

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Available to purchase now 😍🥳

Thank you so much to @netgalley @ultimopress and @akalagianblunt for sending me this to review 🙏🏻

Reagan Carsen leads a low profile life, deliberately eschewing any online presence and trying to avoid exposure, for a very good reason tied to her past. Then suddenly women start being murdered who bear a striking resemblance to her. She fears she has been found .... This is chilling, tense and thought-provoking, definitely not your run of the mill thriller.

Wow, what a fantastic read!
I started off really empathetic with Reagan, the main character. Strong willed and fiercely independent after what she had been through. Througout the story she became really frustrating, I wanted to reach into the book and scream at her, but that's the sign of good writing! Her character development was extremely well done. The sprinkling of various shady characters mentioned were all written well enough to keep you guessing.
Lots of twists and turns, fast paced and highly addictive. I can definitely recommend this!

I can’t even explain how much I LOVED THIS! It was intriguing from the first page, the first sentence and I could not put it down. I flew through this so fast and I’m actually sad that I’ve finished it because I was enjoying it so much!

I’ve actually never read a thriller involving the dark web before so this was really interesting to me and super creepy at times. It really showed me you never truly know who you can trust and it’s just a really scary concept.
Also the main character is a bit of a plant expert so I learned a bit about plants reading this, which was an unexpected bonus but cool! Overall this was a fantastic book I’d highly recommend.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Ultimo press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a page turner!
Loved this and devoured it in two sittings.
The start is amazing with the first body reveal - warning it is detailed and gruesome. From then on I started recommending this book and I think that was only a few chapters in.
Overall terrifying and I good exploration of the dark web and the damage people can inflict on others.
The florist details were also enjoyable too.

3.5 Stars ~

Would you be able to keep yourself off of the internet in this day and age? No social media, no smart phone. Keep yourself hidden?

Reagan had to do exactly that to ensure her stalker couldn't find her. Or so she thought.
Reagan goes for her regular morning run, and is shocked when she stumbles upon a dead women, who looks EXACTLY like her. Is he back? Is he taunting her?

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in the return of an honest review.

The first half of this book was slow and a little bit boring if I'm honest, Rae just kept being paranoid about her stalker and nothing much was happening. The second half took off hard and fast and didn't stop even until the last page.
I did have my suspicions on who could be the killer and stalker, and I was right on that, But that didn't take away from my enjoyment.
The ending seemed very rushed though, and I feel like there should have been more time put into that and less into the beginning of the story.

Anyone else want to disown Cynthia too? What a witch.

Dark Mode is a contemporary crime thriller set in Sydney. Plant shop owner Reagan whose life is already overshadowed by a terrible stalking incident when she was younger, fears for her safety when a woman with a similar resemblance is found murdered near her home. Although the novel is quite slow it picks up pace towards the end. A chilling and twisted story and an excellent debut for its author. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the rc.

This is a good book. It started off slow and took me a while to get into but I was soon gripped. The plot was intensely interesting. The characters were colourful and I loved the relationship between Min and Rae. A high-paced thriller!

Following a terrifying experience with a stalker as a teenager, Reagan Carsen keeps her life offline so her stalker can't trace her. She owns a plant shop 'Voodoo Lily Garden Centre' which is struggling due to the minimal promotion & zero online presence. One morning on her daily run, she finds the mutilated dead body of a young woman who looks exactly like her. Terrified that this is a message from her stalker, she goes home & doesn't report the murder, but unfortunately her image has been captured by a cyclist who was also in the area.

Reagan can't get the dead woman out of her mind, so she calls her BFF, Min, who is well-meaning but interfering but who, as a journalist & writer of a true crime book, has an inside man at the local police department. It seems that the case has similarities to the Elizabeth Short murder, known as the 'Black Dahlia' killing, & the similarities are too obvious to be a coincidence. In the midst of all this, she has a small car accident & meets Bryce, a man who as luck would have it, has experience in online marketing. The two hit it off (pun intended) & start seeing each other, but as more bodies appear, all with similar looks to Reagan, & strange things begin to happen sabotaging her business & her private life, she can't help but be afraid that her stalker has found her again.

Did you know that grass emits a high-frequency 'scream' out of the range of human hearing when we mow it? And that lovely freshly mown grass smell - that's a distress signal to other plants that they could be under attack & it also signals to insects to come help repair the damage! When I read this in this book I was sceptical so I looked it up & apparently it's true. I always knew there was something dodgy about people who spend all their time pruning plants & mowing the lawn - obviously psychopaths, the lot of them lol.

Onto the book itself, it was a slow start & it took a while to kick into gear, but when it did, it turned out to be a a very good read. It veered from your standard crime thriller into the nasty side of the dark web & online misogyny. I wasn't sure at first but I grew to like the main character, Reagan & her affinity with plants. There's nothing really surprising about most of the plot, in fact you wonder why it takes Reagan so long to catch on, but it's very readable & it keeps your attention well. It also makes you think about just how much personal information we put out there online & how vulnerable it makes us. Overall, this is a great read & I would definitely read more from this author.

TW: stalking, misogyny, death/crime scene details

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Ultimo Press, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This book gets a full 5 stars from me!! Amazing!

The suspense got going from the very beginning because there was a posed dead body found by the main character who did not report the finding, so you knew from the get go that something was up.

And the suspense continued because the author only let truths be known bit by bit, such as the striking resemblance of the protagonist to the dead body.

The protagonist seeks the help of her true crime buff friend as more terrible murders take place. We gradually get to the bottom of why she never went to the cops. There's also a romantic subplot.

Just about every chapter ends in either a cliff hanger or a startling revelation and it's compelling reading.

I wasn't prepared for what was found out when the protagonist stole the suspect's laptop, but that wasn't the only shock...

Towards the end, the reader is in doubt about everyone and you can't quite tell who's friend or foe.

Highly recommended!

The cover design caught my eye, and I was intrigued by the title and the description.

This was a gripping and pretty chilling read. The characters interested me, and I was invested in the story. The imagery was a little bit gruesome in places, and in some cases, that can affect my enjoyment of a book, if I feel it's overdone or distasteful, but that wasn't the case here. There were definitely some twists that I hadn't anticipated, which is what I hope for when reading a thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

Jaw-Dropping, Tense and Terrifying are my top three words to describe Dark Mode. This book had me on edge throughout, which doesn't do wonders for anxiety. It follows the story of Reagan, whose haunted by her past and lives life off the grid. The consequences of her choices result in her business almost failing and little to no social connections. Things look up once she meets Bryce, who is proving to be an exception to her chronic doubt and reservations. Bryce slowly becomes her anchor as the murder of three women occurs, identical to the unsolved case of the Black Dahlia. Without giving too much away, Ashley Kalagian Blunt delivers a well-researched, immersive read with shocking twists and turns which make you wonder how well you truly know people. The psyche of human nature is briefly tapped and delivers a jaw-dropping ending.
I look forward to reading more of the author's work.

Thank you, NetGalley & Ultimo Press, for allowing me to read the ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.