This is one of those stories where I'm pretty sure what's going on isn't what we're being led to believe by the protagonist. However, while I'm reading it, I can't figure out what the actual alternative is, so it ends up being a pretty gripping mystery.

Oh this book kept me on the edge of my seat! I read it over a month ago and I still can't stop thinking about it. I did not see the end coming and the twists and turns were done wonderfully. I also loved how the author shed some light on Borderline Personality Disorder and how someone can learn to live with this diagnosis. Great read and fast paced!

Must Read!
What an incredible book! Minka has you on the edge through the entire story wondering who or what next. The twist at the end I did not see coming.

Another great thriller from Minka! Had me captivated and curious the whole read with such an unexpected twist!

Camille is happily married to a doctor (Will), has 2 children (boy and girl) and lives in a wealthy neighborhood. Her daughter Georgina (Georgie) attends a great school and she has a loving mother in law Jacqueline. Georgie tells Camille she made a new friend, an imaginary friend. Then she tells her she made another friend called Imaginary who Camille finds out is a real adult. Imaginary tells Georgie inappropriate things and secrets that reference Camille’s traumatic childhood with her abusive mother. Now Camille is afraid her mother Lucinda is after Georgie.
The story has flashbacks of Camille’s sessions with a therapist. These sessions give insight to Camille’s traumatic upbringing and diagnosis as a sociopath.

Minka Kent explained the mind of a sociopath. It showed how sociopaths are made . We get a look at mental illness, childhood trauma/abuse and PTSD. Readers see why Camille is a sociopath based on her upbringing. The author connects mental illness to a Venus flytrap which I found interesting.

The only negatives was I feel like the ending lacked excitement and the story dragged a lot. The ending was also left open for a series

Thank you #netgalley and #thomasandmercer

Publication date: July 23, 2024

Imaginary Strangers by Minka Kent

This is only the second work I’ve read by Minka Kent (the first was an excellent Amazon Original story) and I will be looking for more.

Our MC is a diagnosed sociopath – she has a few other mental health issues, but although she bases all of her views and behavioral characteristics on her mental health, she is high performing and controls her reactions almost to a fault…except when she (rarely) loses control. She is married to an adoring husband, a surgeon who works long hours in the hospital. She devotes 100% of her time to her husband and their two small childrens’ welfare. You might believe, while monitoring her behavior that she is more obsessive compulsive than sociopathic, but we are given hints of her sociopathy from the very beginning and throughout the novel.

She was raised by a horrific mother whose cruel abuse might or might not have been the cause of MCs mental health issues. After trying to murder her mother, the latter threw MC out of the house. As a teen MC learned to survive and thrive, but always carried the scars of the abuse within.

The title of the book refers to the imaginary friends that her first-grade daughter plays with. When her daughter comes home from school and begins to describe her new imaginary friend, whose description and behavior fits her estranged mother to a T, things start spiraling out of control and our MC completely loses it as she begins stalking her mother’s doppelganger taking control over her daughter’s affections and behavior. As MC begins cracking, her beloved mother-in-law comes to help out with the house and the kids. Her mother-in-law affords her the only motherly love she has ever known…..

I can’t really do justice to this book. It has, as they say, a jaw-dropping twist at the end. I absolutely loved it…There is a venus flytrap in this book (double entendre intended). I will ever remember this book each time I see a photo or hear the name of the plant mentioned.

This was a truly absorbing read. 5 stars and many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Mercer for an ARC of the book and for the welcome introduction to this author.

this was a really gripping thriller that i actually devoured. camille was such an interesting protagonist, and even though she herself was supposed to have no sympathy she came across as someone i was desperately rooting for, and desperately rooting for literally anyone to listen to her and to take her concerns seriously. this was such a fast-paced read - i literally flew through it to find out what was going to happen and who was behind what was going on.

the only thing was that i though the epilogue was a bit shoved in there to set up for a sequel, which could just as easily work without the epilogue.

A masterfully written psychological thriller.

Imaginary Strangers explores Camille's past and present experience of family. The stories shared during Camille's therapy sessions paint a harrowing picture of her childhood, as well as a complex portrait of Camille's psyche. When a seemingly imaginary force threatens the family Camille has created with her husband and two children, we learn even more about Camille - traumatized daughter, perfect wife, and dangerously protective mother.

I knew before finishing the second chapter that this would be a five star read! As a psychotherapist myself, I was captivated by how Minka Kent portrayed sociopathy. I appreciated her nuanced understanding of how individuals and families relate to this diagnosis. Profession aside, I was just plain hooked on this book! Completely hanging on tension and suspense leading up to major plot twists. Raises the bar on what is considered a psychological thriller.

Thank you to Net Galley, Thomas & Mercer, and Minka Kent for the opportunity to enjoy and review a digital advanced copy.

2.5 rounded up
I wanted to like it, I tried to like it. I just didn’t like it. However – you may like it! I’d file this as YMMV.

Energy: Distressed. Remiss. Twitchy.
Scene: 🇺🇸 An upper middle-class neighbourhood in San Diego, California.
Perspective: We follow a stay-at-home spouse and parent diagnosed with a psychological condition resulting from a traumatic childhood at the hands of an evil mother. As they manage that trauma, their six-year-old daughter starts bringing up things she should have no knowledge of.

🐺 Growls: The execution of the story through spoon-feeding, over-reminding, and psych textbook info-dumping. Weak dialogue (why did everyone speak like they were at a work conference?). An unnecessary villain monologue that conflicts with the villains own rationale.
🐕 Howls: Too ‘loud’ pointing out clues. Contradictory reactions and outcomes (even with suspended disbelief on). Unsatisfying, convenient ending. Subplots ending abruptly or disappearing entirely.
🐩 Tail Wags: The concept of the story. The mystery.

🤔 Random Thoughts Rants:
-This book felt like me in creative writing classes. Even when the teacher loves the idea, they'll go through two red pens marking me 😳. It was randomly switching directions, taking a firm stance then backing off. We start with a deep dive exploration of how Camille is determined to avoid becoming a stereotype after her diagnosis. Suddenly we switch to everyone is an over-the-top stereotype.
-The ending was cartoony. For it to work there had to be a sudden flip in other characters' personalities, and our ‘big bad’ had to be psychic with the ability to control outcomes they’d have no influence over. It was so silly and ‘scheme-y’ when it didn’t have to be.
-Camille didn’t experience her condition convincingly, she just kept telling us what the criteria are and that she has them.
There’s some romanticization of personality disorders and normalizing of toxic parenting traits, both in the story and in the metaphors used.
-I wish we could have gotten an outside perspective from the ‘villain’, or read the therapists notes directly. It would give us relevant insight for the rest of the story and replace being in Camille’s head for her therapy sessions followed by her reminding us of what she learned (we were just there, we remember!),
-If you want a simple, dark, campy unhinged domestic thriller mom trope that starts off as a literary suspense character study, and are ready to suspend disbelief and go-with-the-flow-no-analyzing-allowed, I can see enjoying this. I think if I went in knowing that, it would have been less frustrating.

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🎬 Tale-Telling: Simple, direct, a little cheesy, hand-holding to highlight the plot and character traits.
👥 Characters: Flawed but inconsistent and one-dimensional. If you want to believe a character is unhinged and unreliable, then it’s true. Misdiagnosed and mistreated? Also true. Evil and abusive? That works too.
🤓 Reader Role: Deep in Camille’s head (first-person POV) with lots of reflecting, introspection, and inner monologue ranting.
🗺️ World-Building: Sparse, but not really that important for the story. The reader can fill in the blanks.
🔥 Fuel: Cliff-hangers, twists, and escalating stakes. How is the daughter finding out snippets of her mom’s childhood? Who or what is this imaginary friend? Is the family in danger? Will Camille have to reveal all? It was intriguing but stalled out a little near the end and ultimately fizzled out.
📖 Cred: Suspension of disbelief, head-empty-no-thoughts, with moments of idealization
🚙 Journey: Needs repairs. A friend hypes up their fireworks and bonfire party. Stand by while they set it up, describing how spectacular it will be. A few sparks and puffs of smoke later I’m cold and disappointed. And find out they forgot to bring enough wood for a fire. Also, no snacks.

Mood Reading Match-Up:
-Idling cars. School bell ringing. Children playing. Carpeted footsteps. Sunny days. Shopping carts. Washing dishes.
-Psychological duels, manipulations and lies, traitor among us mystery
-Simplistic, morally grey antihero monologues

Content Heads-Up: Suicide (recall, graphic; brief). Abusive parent (physical, emotional, mental; descriptive recall). Stalking. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Personality disorder. Drugging. Threats (veiled; implied). Forced institutionalization (brief, discussed).

Rep: Cisgender. Heterosexual. White, ambiguous, and undescribed Americans. C-PTSD.

👀 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Minka Kent has created another must read book with her newest page turning thriller. Camille , a mother of two, is a survivor of a traumatic childhood. She has gone onto have a picture perfect life to hide behind with her secrets. Her life turns upside down when her six-year old daughter comes home with stories from her imaginary friend that relate to Camille’s childhood. The Venus fly trap was a clever use of symbolism in the book,
Camille is a complicated character, shaped by her trauma. A fast moving plot combined with engaging characters, Imaginary Strangers is an intriguing read. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

After surviving a childhood full of abuse at the hands of her sadistic mother, Camille Prescott is determined to be the perfect parent. And she’s pretty much succeeding, until her kindergartener comes home talking about her new friend “Imaginary,” whose “silly” stories and songs point directly to Camille’s traumatic past. Worried her mother has found her at last, Camille will go to any lengths to protect her children…before it’s too late.

I absolutely loved this book and will definitely be keeping up with this series. I’m a Minka Kent fan already, but this is my favourite of her novels by far. I was so convinced I knew where this one was going until a surprise twist left me gobsmacked. Camille is a deeply flawed heroine, but her all-consuming desire to protect the people she loves is something most people will find very relatable. I would highly recommend this one to any thriller fan.

I always love anything by Minka Kent. However, Imaginary Strangers, I didn't really care for. I admit that I was drawn in for the first 15% of the book, but then things fell apart for me. At times, there was just too much talking going on, and I found myself a bit bored. I did enjoy the character, Camille, though. 3 stars.

Ok that story started kind of scary, like the whole story felt. You never know what to expect, who is messing with her. It was a psychology war to get into the story, to really get into it. I was questioning everything, is it her imagination, who can it be and so on. It was a total surprise to learn who it was, I so did not expect that outcome. All in all a psychology story with a lot of baggage for the heroine.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for the advanced digital copy to read and review! #imaginarystrangers

This is my first book from this author and it won't be my last! The apprehension about what could happen next, and the urge to know every agonizing detail are all well balanced in this book Imaginary Strangers.

The protagonist, Camille, is a sociopath and has many secrets of her past. It was interesting to read a character that is not normal. I felt every part of her troubled history as a reader since it seemed to be seething beneath the surface and affecting her present. It never turned off, which maintained the suspense in this intricate and intensely dramatic tale. I couldn't put this book down! If there is a second book, I'm all for it!

WOOOWW… My mind is absolutely still spinning and I can’t stop thinking about this book and all the layers of it brings. I have read Minka Kent books before but this one blows them out of the water for so many reasons.
Camille is a wife to a loving, caring, supportive husband and Father and a Mother to two children. She has a life that even she wonders how she ended up with herself. She is always waiting for the bottom to drop out…. And for good reason. She is hiding A LOT of secrets not only about her past, but also about her everyday life. She is waiting for the day to unravel or have someone else uncover major secrets. When her young daughter, Georgie, starts revealing really twisted dark details about her past claiming her imaginary friend told her about Camille whole world is spinning.

Now there are so many reasons I love this book. I work in the mental health field so this type of psychological thriller is perfect for me. I love the way Minka develops Camille’s character with chapters from her past childhood trauma, her present day, but my favorite her therapy sessions thrown in. The author truly takes a deep and brutally honest look into mental illness, childhood trauma, and PTSD. I will however say my favorite part of this book would have to be the Author’s afterword. She writes so poetically about the mental illness that is everywhere even though most of us don’t see it. And another of the smallest details she writes about in connection is the Venus flytrap which is on the cover and in the book. I know you all might think I sound crazy raving about a Venus flytrap, but after you read the book and afterword it will make sense.

I couldn’t put this book down. I read it in less than a day and when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it and/or waiting impatiently until I could pick it back up. It is full of unreal, mind blowing realizations, hard to hear experiences, and an ending I didn’t exactly see coming. In a way that can’t be explained I grew to love Camille’s character and dare I say… please let there be a sequel!!

Of course there are a few minor flaws to me, but the overall message and the way this book grabbed me made me overlook those. I am going to be thinking about this one for awhile!!
Thank you to Minka Kent, Netgalley, and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC!!!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

I am always thrilled to have a chance to enter the unusual and captivating imagination of Minka Kent.

Although the cover (and associated housewarming gift) caught my eye, I love how Minka wove together this intricate domestic thriller..

I am an ardent fan of this author's domestic and psychological thrillers.

In this novel, Kent masterfully navigates between the past and current timeframe as she tells the story of an upper middle-class family. The family matriarch's history is rife with past (and on-going) abuse from the hands and mind of her brutal mother.

The main character's fear comes to fruition as her past threatens her present. A past she has managed to keep a secret. Stay tuned as those secrets come to light and read what happens when they do!

If you haven't read Minka Kent's novels, you should. I predict you will be as impressed (and addicted) as I am.

I'm always a big fan of Minka Kent's psychological thrillers. They're multilayered, smart, and always leave me guessing. Imaginary Strangers was no exception.

Camille is a sociopath. She's living what looks like a perfect life with an attractive doctor husband, two beautiful children, in a rich neighborhood in San Diego. No one in her life knows she's a sociopath, except for the therapist she saw years ago in Chicago to help her deal with her childhood trauma and her condition. Why, then, do things keep happening with her daughter that make Camille believe someone with intimate knowledge of her childhood is infiltrating their family?

One of my favorite things to consider in this genre of novel is whether the narrator is unreliable. It adds an element to the story that makes the twist often harder to figure out. That was definitely the case here -- I wasn't sure where the plot was going until I got there. The ending was also ambiguous, making me hope for a second installment about Camille but also again calling into question her reliability as a narrator.

This was a great thriller that left me guessing. It was also one that left me thinking about mental health in a new way, which added to my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you net galley and publisher for this ARC. Wow, I couldn’t put this book down once I started reading it. I didn’t see some of the twists either.

Camille Prescott seems to have it all - two beautiful children, a loving husband, living in a sort-after neighborhood of San Diego. No one knows she fights a demon on a daily basis inside her head. Her traumatic past seems to have caught up with her and is overtaking her carefully crafted present and it's all she can do not to succumb to the insanity she knows lives in her head.

This is a definite mind-bender, something that really makes you think - not only about the characters in the book, but also about those around you in your every day. I really liked the delving into the mind of a diagnosed sociopath and watching Camille's struggle with her past and her present.

It was my first book written by this author and i was certainly not disappointed. It was everything a psychological thriller is about. A real page turner with believable characters, most of which you don’t know who to trust. As the story developed i really couldn’t see the twist at the end coming. A mother’s love isn’t always as it seems. A very exciting and chilling read. I loved it, definitely want to read more by Minka Kent!!

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me an advanced copy to read in exchange for my open and honest review. As always, my reviews will also be posted on Amazon, Goodreads and Waterstones and interaction on Facebook and instagram where possible.