An amazing twist on your typical dystopian story, ‘With Regrets’ has a really unique and interesting set of characters that you’d usually think would die first: the rich, suburban, couples. However they all have secrets yet they all felt realistic and there’s so much suspense and tension. The dystopian part was also really unique with glimmering clouds and mass death creating an amazing thriller/suburban drama with a satisfying ending.

Oh I really loved this story! This was wonderfully written and I cannot wait to read more from this author! I received this eARC from NetGalley for my unbiased opinion. Thank you!

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for an ARC of With Regrets! This doesn't quite fit into my typical reading category but I'm a sucker for judging books by the cover and this one drew me in! I felt like a hand was squeezing my chest the entire book and I stayed up way too late because I had to see how it would end! A mother's love knows no bounds and this book was the perfect representation of that. 5 enthusiast stars and one of my favorite books of the year so far!

OH MY GOSH I love this book! It is really a mashup of Pineapple Street and Crazy Rich Asian with any dystopian story. The story is set when you meet multiple wealthy spoiled couples with the secrets that the rich normally hide. All of them see to be dreading attending a dinner at “lifestyle guru” Britta Harris-Che, Britta is vacuous and obnoxious and Liz and others already regret attending and leaving their children home with sitters.

THEN, a red alert cuts the novel in half !
Glimmering Clouds have descended upon the world and mass deaths are reported. Liz will stop at nothing to get home to her children. Thus starts an amazing, larger than life thriller that will keep you up all night! If you love soapy gossipy stories, dystopian sci-fi adventures, or just want a whole new type of novel, With Regrets is for you! #WithRegrets #LeeKelly #CrookedLaneBooks

If you enjoyed the movie Coherence, then this is for you with its suburbia dinner party going to hell because of world-changing occurrences.
This speculative novel has amazing characterisation, and I love the ultra focus on one very specific set of people, right on the shoulder of each protagonist, to understand and observe a phenomenon affecting the many. It's super personal, it's very precise and you really wonder how it will all turn out. not that the people are very likable, but they are sooo very real.
I don't want to reveal anything, so I won't say much more, but I highly recommend to people who like mundane speculative fiction and character-driven narrative. A great book.

With Regrets by Lee Kelly is a tense slow burn of the best kind, with an underlying feeling of dread that just keeps creeping up your spine until it’s almost unbearable.
Full of secrets and suburban drama this story grabbed me from the very beginning and continued to suck me in with every turn of the page.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Overall I liked the story, though I didn't like any of the characters. I'm really glad there was an extended epilogue because I wanted to know what the future looked like after the glimmer.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Liz Brinkley really doesn't want to go to a neighbor's house for a fancy dinner party. But, she and her husband do just that, leaving their kids at home with a teen babysitter. And these are not just any neighbors but the town's perfect couple. Britta is an Instagram-influencer and she's planned an epic, perfect dinner. And then the "glimmer" comes and traps all of the guests down in the wine cellar, where they hope it's safe. Aside from the danger and death from the outside air, inside there's revealed secrets and suburban neighborly drama.

With Regrets is a fun, engaging read with well-rounded characters and a fast pace. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel.

I absolutely loved reading this book. I was completely drawn into the topic and could not stop reading it.

I really enjoyed reading this, it did everything that I was looking for from this type of book. Lee Kelly has a great writing style that I hooked when reading this. It had a great concept in a world ending story, I enjoyed how good everything was connected and how it was written. The characters were what I was hoping for and I was invested in what was going on with their story.

"Liz pauses, disoriented for a moment by why Britta would possibly care about “which room” she found the masks in. Liz mentally reconstructs the space where she found them. That shadowy mess of men’s belongings. The tangle of workout equipment. Rumpled clothes, personal items . . ."

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of With Regrets.

I love post-apocalyptic novels featuring aliens, zombies, monsters, whatever, I'm pretty open-minded. I just want a good story with compelling characters.

Sadly, I didn't enjoy With Regrets as much as I hoped.

The premise is straightforward; a dinner party with ingratiating people falls into chaos and fear when a strange environmental threat is detected in the air and causes lockdown across the world.

Tensions mount, nerves are frayed, and secrets are revealed while at the same time, the female guests are desperate to figure out a way to return to their children.

I didn't like any of the characters; most of them were unlikable, especially the men.

The suspense and drama was okay, but nothing I didn't expect as the characters turn against each other, wondering who to trust, and figuring out next steps.

Britta is insufferable; I quickly grew tired of her Insta-obsession, reading about her scrolling and texting and posting photos even though she was unable to get online, and oh yeah, people are dying and the world is ending.

Readers don't know much about Liz, Padma, and Mabel, either.

The women are cookie cutout cliches; stifled by their spouses, suffering in silence when their husbands are unfaithful and/or social climbing, pretending the marriage is picture perfect when it's anything but.

The worldwide threat and lockdown does force the women to take control of their lives and the somewhat happy ending is a hopeful one, for the world and the families.

With Regrets by Lee Kelly is a thrilling and intense read that combines suburban drama with a post-apocalyptic survival story. The novel centers around Liz Brinkley and her husband, who attend an exclusive soiree hosted by their neighbor, Britta Harris-Che. However, their evening takes a sudden turn when a "red alert" announces that strange atmospheric masses have been spreading through major U.S. cities and killing anyone they touch. The group, including Liz and her husband, take shelter in the hosts' wine cellar, and tensions begin to rise as they try to survive while waiting for rescue.

The story unfolds over 24 hours, with each course of the dinner party representing a different stage of their survival. The plot is well-paced, with a steady build-up of tension and suspense that keeps readers engaged until the very end. The characters are complex, with their own secrets and motivations, and their interactions with one another add an extra layer of intrigue to the story.

With Regrets is a unique and gripping novel that will appeal to fans of Big Little Lies and Bird Box. Lee Kelly has done an excellent job of combining different genres to create a story that is both exciting and thought-provoking. The novel's themes of survival, trust, and sacrifice make it a captivating and memorable read that will stay with readers long after they finish the book.

This is like a modern War of the Worlds, minus the war but still mysterious UFO/Unexplained event that is rocking the suburbs. When Liz and her husband Tom attend a dinner party at influencer Britta's house, they end up biting off more than they can chew. What happens when you are stuck with a crew of fake suburbanites in a massive emergency? I enjoyed this, it made me think a lot about how influencers impact our current culture and what that is doing to mental health.