I loved The Overnight Guest so I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately I found myself struggling to get into this book. Maybe it was the whole game show storyline. I'm not a fan of reality shows and I guess I don't like that storyline in my books either. I tried to push through but I i couldn't do it. I ended up DNFing this book. I'm rating it 3 stars because while it wasn't the book for me it might be the perfect book for someone else.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the E-ARC.

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

One of my favorite types of thriller- not quite a locked room mystery, but a group of people thrown together in a secluded place, and it turns out nothing is what it seems. Well done!

I think the concept of this novel was better than the execusion, but it didn't completely flop! I'm not a reality tv person whatsoever but the idea people watching a Squid Games/Big Brother type show wouldn't surprise me. I think my biggest complaint is that I wanted more people to die, which is probably not the general feeling of this book. I also didn't love that all of the players were interconnected but they never really talked about it until it was a super suspenseful scene and it was a "big reveal". But overall, I do enjoy this author's writing and I still had fun, especially during the games the characters had to play! This was a fun and fast paced thriller but I wish it leaned more horror, which is definitely a me-thing and not a true issue with the book.

A nice spin on a locked room mystery. I always enjoy Heather Gudenkauf's books and this one was definitely entertaining. Will be good for a weekend at the beach!

This was a fun read, especially with my book buddies! We discussed all the way through, with all our theories. Some of it didn't surprise me as much as I would have wanted, but still a solid 4 on entertaining.

If you like a little thriller themed survivor meets big brother drama, then this is your next read.

I will definitely continue to read more by this author!

I really got into this one quickly, I love Heather Gudenkauf's writing. I really liked the plot of the story, but I feel that it all came together too quickly and easily in the end. I give it four stars.

Everyone Is Watching is a fun thriller where five contestants who compete on a reality show for a chance to win ten million dollars. There are challenges and game changer clues along the way, each one more dangerous than the last. Going through a maze in the middle of the night and tazing someone to get ahead is just a small taste of the challenges that unfold. Each of the contestants has something in their past they are trying to hide, but who will do anything to keep that secret?

This was a quick read, and I enjoyed the multiple points of view. The backgrounds of each contestant were woven in such a way that I found myself rooting for a few of them. If you are looking for a quick mysterious read, this is definitely the book for you!


Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC!

Since finishing this book I have gone back and read Heather Gudenkauf's entire catalog. What a TALENT. Will be recommending to many friends.

Heather Gudenkauf is a mastermind genius!!!!!!!!! This is a fast paced thriller that will keep you glued to the pages until the very end.

A brilliantly crafted thriller that intertwines suspense and deep emotional resonance, keeping me utterly captivated and on edge throughout the entire riveting narrative.

If you are a reality show fan, you will probably like this one.

Five contestants are chosen to appear on a game show called One Lucky Winner. The person who wins will take home 10 million dollars. All of them are assigned a game name - The Best Friend (Maire), The Confidant (Camille), The Senator (himself), The Boyfriend (Samuel), and the Executive (Ned) - want desperately to win the money. Things are not exactly as advertised, however, once they all gather at the secluded winery estate in Northern California. As the rules are explained and the game begins, live streamed all over the world, the stakes become clear. Long held secrets are revealed and each of the players wonders if they will make it out alive.

I wish I had liked this more. It was difficult because the characters were so hideous that I couldn't find a single one to root for. Maire especially got on my last nerve with all her whining. I did not find any of the scenarios believable and given what the reader finds out about each of them, none should win anything. I wanted all their bad deeds to come to light! Yeah, I'm probably an outlier, and I don't watch reality television, so this plot and the story was not the one for me. The narrative has a then and now format as we learn some of the backstories of the contestants. Regardless, the whole concept of that show and how it was run strained credulity, and the ending was the biggest disappointment of all. Not because of what happened to the game show host, Fern, but because of something she did. No Spoilers.

I listened to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. I didn't care for the voice of the narrator and the way different characters sounded. This production would really have benefitted from a larger cast to speak the various roles.

I thought the premise of this one was very unique.

Five contestants are competing for 10 million dollars on a reality show being live streamed. What could possibly go wrong?

I thought the cast of characters were fantastic. There were some I loved and was rooting for, some I hated and some that I just loved to hate. The book was very fast paced. I was able to finish it in just a couple of sittings because I did not want to put it down.

I was able to predict the plot twist, but that didn't keep me from wanting to see how the ending played out.

I would recommend this to those who love fast paced thrillers.

When my book club chose this as our May read, I was very excited. Five contestants battling it out for $10 million on a new reality show? Sign me up! As a lover of locked room thrillers I was immediately intrigued when I saw the premise of this book.

With a grab your attention prologue and a great narrator for the audio book we were off to a great start. However with steady pacing and a kind of obvious twist I was left feeling underwhelmed.

This was the first book I’ve read of Heather’s and while it wasn’t a stand out read, it also wasn’t a bad read. I’m definitely going to try another book from this author.

Thank you Park Row and Netgalley for my review copy in exchange for an honest review. (And to my local library for the audiobook!)

This was a great thriller. My first book by this author and I have to say I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of things that happened that I didn't see coming. I would rate this 4 stars and I'd recommend reading this.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a little different than other books that I've read by this author, but not in a bad way. I liked the premise of a reality TV show. I also liked the the different competitors had different secrets that came together in an interesting way. While this read a little slower, I still enjoyed the storyline. I also like the character development. You really felt a certain way about each of them.

3.5

This book wasn’t what I expected it to be, so I was slightly let down. I did enjoy the fast paced writing style, but the overall execution of the plot wasn’t my favorite.

This one took me SO LONG to get through. The premise was so good but the execution lacked suspense to keep me reading. The characters also lacked depth and the only one I could connect to was Marie. I definitely think k this one could have been better.

4.5⭐️

This one was so good! It was super thrilling and fast paced. It kept me on the edge of my seat and definitely had a ton of twists and turns. 5 people are invited to compete in a reality TV show and the prize is 10 million dollars. Each contestant has a reason for wanting the money, so tensions are high. What they don’t know is that this game has a way of revealing their deepest, darkest secrets…so is the prize money worth the possibility of those secrets being revealed on live TV?

The twists and reveals were quite shocking and everything came together quite nicely in the end. Overall, a thrilling, fast-paced, twisty, edge of your seat read!

Five people are invited to a game/reality show where the winner will leave with 10 million dollars! Each of the five NEED this money for different reasons. It quickly becomes apparent that none of the five have been randomly chosen. A quick read that at times got bogged down, but overall entertaining.

Everyone is Watching is the 2024-release for popular author, Heather Gudenkauf. I've read two previous novels from her, This Is How I Lied and The Overnight Guest, and really enjoyed both, so I was anticipating diving into this one. Happily, I had a blast with it. It was so wickedly-wild and OTT, I feel like I just orbited the Earth and returned, noshing popcorn all the while. It was so much fun!

This story features five contestants selected to participate in an all-new reality game show; think Squid Game, or Big Brother. The grand prize of which is $10,000,000. None of the participants know quite what to expect, but with a potential prize that large, they're willing to risk it. As they arrive at the secluded-California property at which the show will be filmed, an immediate sense of unease sets in.

It's isolated and they're stripped of their phones, and told in no uncertain terms they're not to leave the grounds, or communicate with anyone on the outside. The show is being live-streamed to the world, there are cameras everywhere, and involves a series of different challenges; some physical, some not. The viewing public will be voting contestants out one-by-one, until only one remains; the $10,000,000-winner.

As the challenges begin, it becomes clear that whoever organized this show knows a lot more about these contestants than was originally let on. This starts to seem less like a game show and more like a revenge show. The further the show progresses, the more the contestants deeply-held secrets begin to be exposed. Soon, you're spotting connections and low-key judging everyone.

Is anyone going to make it out of this thing with their reputations, or yeah, their lives intact?

This was so entertaining. I loved the concept of the show and the way the contestants all ended up there. I feel like this book doesn't take itself too seriously, and it succeeded because of that. This story is the epitome of a good-time Popcorn Thriller. I flew through it and was impressed with the rapid pace of the reveals and the thoughtful connections throughout.

After the initial set-up, you can feel that there is something much larger going on under the surface. I thought the way Gudenkauf built-out that suspense was really well done. There aren't a ton of likable characters in this, but I still loved learning about each and every one of them. You get dirt on all of them, and I'm always down for that. Some of them were more despicable than others though, and I know who I would have been voting for had it been real. I also loved the concept of this live-stream, and we do get a mixed media element, with comments from viewers.

I would say, this one probably won't work for Readers who can't suspend belief for a bit, but luckily, I love suspending belief. If you read for fun, for escape, to forget about life for a while, I would def recommend this. It absolutely gets wild and there are things that would realistically never happen IRL, but who cares!?

Overall, I appreciated Gudenkauf doing something completely out of the box here. This didn't really feel like the two previous books that I have read from her. It felt more fast-paced and punchy, as opposed to the darker, moodier vibes that I have read from her in the past.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Park Row, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'll pick up anything Gudenkauf writes. This definitely entertained me!