Why would your father keep an entire home on a tropical island hidden from you? Why would he wait until he was dead to let you in on this secret? Why would he build a white room in the basement that you aren't supposed to go into? And just how deep into the rock of the island does that basement go? Nina is about to find out all this and more. Maria, a different visitor to the house, has her own questions that need answered. When you read this book, make sure by the time you reach ~30% of the way through, that you have no plans. The whiplash POV switches, the crazy twists and turns, and the completely unhinged pace will glue the book to your eyeballs. I LOVED this crazy book.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Nina and her widowed father are extremely close, so when he passes away Nina is overwhelmed. But she is caught off guard when a letter appears sharing that he has a property on an island that she never knew about. Nina quickly goes to the island in hopes to learn more about her father but instead she quickly realizes something is not right. She identifies clues of what it could be, but she has no idea what she is in for. This novel also switches points of view of others who have visited the island home and the unfortunate events that occur.

While "Look in the Mirror," by Catherine Steadman was fast-paced and mysterious, it was ultimately a little too "odd" for my personal taste.

The story follows two POVs - Nina, who has inherited a mysterious, luxurious vacation home from her father. And Maria, who accepts a job as a nanny for a super-rich family. But when she gets to the home, and the family never show up, she decides to break the one rule she was given: Don't go in the basement.

I love a good mystery/thriller. But "Look in the Mirror" was very different from the typical thrillers I gravitate toward. Rather than guessing who the "bad guy" was, I was simply trying to guess what the heck was going on the whole book. I don't mean that in a negative way necessarily.

It was well-written, and the story was engaging. I genuinely did want to know how everything was going to come together. There were a couple of twists that I saw coming, but there was still an element of surprise throughout the book. The problem for me is that the lead-up felt a little too outlandish (it almost felt like science fiction) and the resolution fell flat.

The story felt more like "Squid Games" than a typical mystery, and in general, that is not my style. If you are a fan of Steadman, please be advised that this is very different from her previous work.

If you like psychological thrillers filled with action and mystery, you may very well like this book. But if you are looking for a classic murder mystery, or thriller, you may want to skip this one.

The book has 2 main narrators. The first is Nina (told in the first person). Nina's father recently passed away and she finds out that he has a secret house in the British Virgin Islands that he left to her. With nothing really going on in her life in England, she sets out for BVI and to learn about him. While she's there, she starts to get odd notes left on her front door - "leave now" and "don't go into the basement". Oh, yeah, and the basement has a locked door that no one can get it to open and no one has any idea what's behind it.

The other main narrator is Maria (told in the third person). She's a nanny who's waiting for a family to arrive. They don't but while she's waiting, she gets to enjoy their vacation home which has a mysterious locked door in the basement which she is told to not go into under any circumstances. And, would you know it, a power surge happens and the door is unlocked.

There are a few other characters who narrate chapters but they're fewer and far between. I appreciate how the author only used first person POV for one character. I struggle when there are multiple narrators all in first person (especially when the voices all sound the same).

The first half of the book was interesting and I was curious what the reveals were. However, when we finally find out what's going on, it felt like a ripoff of <spoiler> Squid Game </spoiler>. I know they're not the first to come up with that plot but this book felt like some fan fic of it. I wanted to care about the characters and puzzles but my mind kept wandering back to <spoiler> Squid Game and how I hope season 2 will be good but it'll probably be terrible, not that it'll stop me from watching. And how do you actually play squid game? I'm still confused by that. And.... </spoiler> and then I realize that I wasn't paying attention for multiple paragraphs of the book and need to reread.

It wasn't a bad book but not great or memorable or original. This is my first book by Steadman and I don't feel super impressed.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

Page Turner for much of this book. I enjoyed the guessing and the stories.
Character development was good. A locked room book is always a good thing, although I refused to read it at night.

Look In The Mirror

3.5

I started this book thinking a trip to the British Virgin Islands might be nice; now I’m not so sure 😅

Nina is mourning her father’s death when she finds out she’s been left a house in the British Virgin Islands. When she arrives, the house is much more than she imagined.

This started out really slow, even with the multiple POV and it took me a while to get into it. The game like components were interesting, but the ending felt really rushed. Maybe not my favorite thriller by her, but check this one out in July if it sounds like it might be for you!

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!

Wow - this Catherine Steadman book kept me so engaged. I have been sucked back into mysteries, and I absolutely devoured this one. The author does a great job at weaving the characters together. Based on the table of contents, I was turned off by the POV included 4 different people, but I was absolutely impressed with how seamless it felt.

I wish the ending was a little less sudden. I felt like there was more room for detail before we hopped 2 years ahead -- but the flip side is that I really enjoyed the ending.

Definitely would recommend to a friend!

Another thriller from Catherine Steadman! I loved The Family Game and I wasn't sure if she could match that energy, but she totally did! This book was a wild ride that keeps you guessing the whole time. The ending was just the way I like it: closure with a side eye. Can't wait for more from this author!

Name of Book: Look in the Mirror
Author: Catherine Steadman
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group ~ Ballantine
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: July 30, 2024
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 304

Story features two women Nina and Maria
Nina is a 34-year-old Cambridge professor who unexpectedly inherits wealth from her father’s estate. She is now the owner of a3-bedroom, Beachfront Estate in Pond Bay, Gorda British Virgin Island. Nina is shocked as she has no knowledge of this vacation home and actually thought her father had never been to the Caribbean. It appears her father had another life.

When she arrives at the secluded beach house in the British Virgin Islands she explores and finds it has a locked door-once she entered she finds malfunctioning, high-end technology.

The other woman in this story is ~ Maria
Who is a Cornell medical student, however due to the expense involved she finds she can make more money as a Nanny. So is now a highly educated child-minder to the super-rich.

She interviews for a Nanny position to care for children of a single father who live in a secluded mansion. She is told she will have many amenities to use, only one restriction that is she is forbidden to go to the basement which is locked.
When she arrives at the mansion no one is there and while waiting for the family arrive an electrical malfunction results and the basement room’ is unlocked. She soon realizes she’s not in this house to mind children but it seems there is something more sinister awaiting her.

Curious if locked rooms just might be the connection of these two women.
Are they pawns in a dangerous game?
I love a good thriller however; as I read on I was getting a strong vibe of the resemblance of several ‘reality show’ stories that have been circulating.

Want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group ~ Ballantine for granting ‘my wish’ with this early eGalley. Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 30, 2024.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

WOW this was an addictive book! A perfect summer thriller for a beach read for sure. Loved the characters and only wish we got to know them even more. This kept me guessing until the end and I was fully on the edge of my seat!

Catherine is a queen. Her last 3 books have been incredible. Not your average thrillers that’s for dang sure. I loved loved this book and flew through it. I did feel like the ending kinda fell flat but idc I was obsessed!!! More please!!

This book was different but I feel like it had some holes. Makes a girl question her dead father the way no one should ever have to do. I was surprised at the very end when the owner was finally revealed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Well, that was.....weird. Basically a whole-house escape room "game" gone horribly wrong. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I wasn't expecting it to be so boring. It was too far-fetched for me, even if I did figure it out early on. There was no suspense, and I couldn't connect with any of the characters. This is an author I usually enjoy but this one didn't do anything for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Look in the Mirror. I like Catherine Streadmans books. She is a writer who keeps you interested from start to finish. A young womanNina, who has just lost her father is grieving. She misses him a great deal. He has left a small fortune but suddenly she is surprised to learn he has left her a mansion on an island. She never knew about this home but is convinced she must go see it.
A parallel story is told about another young woman Maria, who is contracted to be a nanny on an island. And soon she learns the people who hires here are not coming. She’s been told she can have the run of the house. Except one room. She is not to enter it.
As Nina finds her way she too is taken to a big mansion. She is also told about a mysterious room she cannot enter.
Two worlds collide in this car and mouse thriller. Good mystery and suspense.

Nina, adrift in grief after her father's passing, inherits a stunning vacation home in the balmy Caribbean. But this windfall comes shrouded in mystery. The house itself, a gleaming glass and marble marvel, whispers secrets of her father's hidden life. Meanwhile, Maria, a world-trotting nanny lured by the allure of wealth, takes a new position caring for a child in this very same paradise. As Nina delves deeper into her father's past, and Maria encounters unsettling peculiarities in the opulent home, both women find themselves entangled in a web of deception that blurs the lines between reality and something far more sinister. Is this tropical paradise truly a refuge, or something wicked lurking beneath the surface?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to inherit a very expensive, exclusive house on on an island paradise from your father? Even if you didn't even know that house existed? How could that be? You and your father were very close or at least you thought you were. Maybe he had some secrets of his own. Or maybe nothing is as it appears to be at all. And maybe you will go through some pretty frightening times to try to figure it all out. Definitely a page turner.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

Look In The Mirror by Catherine Steadman

WOAH. As soon as this one comes out, add it to your beach bag!!! It is the perfect summer thriller and it completely surprised me in the best way. I definitely recommend going in blind and buckle UP 😎

I love when a book marketed as a thriller is ACTUALLY THRILLING and I mean it when I say this one had my heart rate rocketing. Once you get to about 45%, you literally can’t put it down. It was an “I’m holding my kindle with one hand and making dinner with the other” kinda situation until I finished. The first half of the book sets everything up so well.

What to expect:
🏝️ addicting page-turner
🏝️ multiple POV
🏝️ clever puzzles
🏝️ father/daughter relationship
🏝️ the rich & elite

This is my first by this author so I can’t tell how it ranks among her others but I definitely recommend picking this one up! It was so unique and clever and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time 👏🏼

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you so much @netgalley & @randomhouse Ballantine Books for the early copy. All thoughts are my own. OUT JULY 30th!!! 🖤

This book was not what I expected, but still really good!! It follows two women in the same house at different times, one who was supposed to be nannying, the other who just lost her dad and found out he left her a secret house in the British Virgin Islands. The twist at the very end was so good!

A quick, overall engaging read with an interesting premise.
I wish the characters had more depth to them; I didn’t particularly “feel” anything for them while they were in the house.

This book was amazing! I was in a book slump but this sure got me back into reading.

Character development is well done. While reading the book I felt like yelling at the characters "stop!!!". You know how you feel when watching a horror movie and the character makes a dumb decision in your mind?

The author kept me guessing the whole time. Everytime I had an idea I would continue reading and find I was incorrect. Haha

If you like a fast read and a thriller you won't be disappointed!