This book was absolutely wild and I loved every minute! I didn’t see the twist coming and there were a lot of them. It was done very well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying the reason this book took me so long was the format that came across my NetGalley and my kindle, I had to physically read the book. I do a lot of my reading during the day by listening to the book through the NetGalley app.

With that being said, I loved this book. While it took me a little while to get into in and understand the writing, I was hooked. The multiple POVs and the revenge...not to mention to twists. Ugh it was so good. I kind of want to read it again when it comes out and I have a normal format so I can really enjoy it in one sitting because it was so good. I will be adding Katie Garner to my author list because I enjoyed this one a lot.

If it sounds too good to be true...........it probably it is. Iris, I wish you would have just said no. This book had me rolling my eyes and then just skipping around to the end. I am sorry that I cannot give this book a good review. Thank you to NetGalley and Mira Books for the complementary ARC. This review is my own opinion.

Thank you Netgalley & HTP Books/MIRA for an eARC of The Family Inside by Katie Garner! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Interesting plot - I found myself confused throughout a lot of this book but I know that was the point of the writing looking back on it. Cleverly written, I flew through this one while alternating between audiobook and eBook, but couldn't help but feel like I've read so many thrillers with a similar trope in the past few years. I loved the clever ending and am looking forward to seeing what Katie Garner comes up with next!

The Family Inside by Katie Garner is a fast paced domestic thriller that kept surprising me with twists.

this was my first katie garner book, and i absolutely devoured it! this book plays with your mind in the best way. just when i thought i had it all figured out, she slaps this insane bomb on me and my brain went into overdrive piecing everything together. i will definitely be adding this author to my list of books to look out for!

Thank you for the opportunity to read The Family Inside. I went into reading excited about the synopsis. Who doesn’t love a twisty thriller? Unfortunately, although I gave it more time than I normally do, I chose to DNF about halfway through. There was just too much going on, and I felt that the author was going more for constant shock value than taking one thread and developing into a well-constructed story. I will however be interested in reading the author’s next book, which is hopefully less chaotic. Having said all that, I do feel like this book has an audience with those who enjoy multiple-twist popcorn thrillers.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book. I was interested at first, but as I continued reading the writing was really bothering me. The dialogue was clunky and sort of melodramatic, and I just couldn’t get past it.

Thank you to NetGalley and HTP (Mira) for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was very difficult to follow and I feel like I read the plots for 3-4 different books at the same time. I’m willing to suspend disbelief to an extent but the way everything was connected was confusing, inconsistent and frustrating to keep up with. I also have trouble reading books where there’s no reason to root for the main character. Iris spends the entire book whining and being fearful and yet is willingly putting herself in these positions. And when her daughter is missing, somehow that’s less important to her than dealing with what she thinks people in the house are hiding. A final thing that I feel like was an issue is the dual timeline with no dates to split them up. I understand that it’s for the shock factor and to provide that plot twist but when lumped in with the rest of this book, the inconsistencies made it too difficult to work. I did like Sloane, she was honestly the best and most reasonable character in this entire book.

This was everything I want in a thriller. It takes a lot the shock me with how many thrillers I read but I was kept guessing throughout this one!

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you love:
✨ Twisty thrillers
✨ Dual POVs
✨ Layered storylines
✨Revenge plots

Three years after her husband's murder, Iris finds herself in a dire situation. She turns to her new boyfriend, Hugh who offers to take her and her daughter in. Only, they won't be along. Hugh's mother, brother, sister-in-law, and sister will also be living with them in the under renovation family home.

This was such a twisty one. It took me awhile to get into it but after about halfway through I was flipping pages fast.

Here's what I liked:

Iris: I connected with her right away. She has such a tragic past that keeps coming back to haunt her. I was rooting for her and her daughter as they navigated this new low in life. She had me in a panic at times as she gets wrapped up in the mystery of what is really going on with Hugh and his family.

The house: I loved the setting of this. The house, especially since it was under construction, has this super creepy feeling to it. There are noises and things being moved around. It has this locked door feel to it that I loved.

The structure: there is a dual POV in this with Iris and runaway Ellory. Both stories keep you wanting to know what is going on and what is going to happen to both women. This book is really well laid out and I applaud Garner for how she organized this layered story.

All in all, this was a creepy and twisty thriller!

Thank you to @netgalley, the author and publisher for an eArc of this book!

#bookreview #bookstagram #thriller #newreleases #suspense #fivestarread

This was almost a DNF for me - I started a month ago and put it down because the premise started out so over the top. However, I came back to it and realized that the beginning had to be absurd in order for the coming twists and turns to work. And man, did those twist and turns fly at you! Iris and Hugh have only been dating for a short time when Hugh asks Iris and her daughter Ellory to move in with him. But the caveat - it’s with his family in their crumbling mansion. As Iris has few options left, she agrees. But upon arrival, she realizes there is a lot more to this family and the house than it seems.

As I said, the twists and turns that come in the final few chapters might give you whiplash, but they were ultimately propulsive.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this title!

HOLY S*#! What did I just read?!?!?! I haven’t read a GOOD book like that in forever!!!! Okay without giving too much away, it’s dual perspectives (but with a crazy twist). Once I got to the end, every other page was:
“Oh my god!!”
“Wait, what?!?!”
“Wait, HUH??? Are you SERIOUS?!?!”

Read this book because I need someone else to get on this rollercoaster of emotions I’m on.

Iris is down on her luck. She lost her job, her home, not to mention her husband. She and her teenage daughter are grieving. She does have an amazing boyfriend Hugh. And when she confesses to Hugh of her bad luck, he, like the best boyfriend ever, asks her to move in... to his mother's house. With his siblings too! But what choice does she have? And that was so nice of him to offer her and her daughter a place to live, right? Maybe not...

This book gave me creepy vibes throughout but it gripped me in from the beginning. And once the characters got to the house I was completely engrossed! I'm a sucker for a creepy house story, especially one with a creepy family to go along with it! And the twists! The number of twists kept me wanting more! I didn't know what would happen next but it kept me on edge! This was probably one of the most twisted stories I've ever read. And I loved every minute of it! It makes me want to read it again now that I know just so I can go back and see how one could miss all of the little details.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I really enjoyed it!!

This book was crazy pants in the best way possible! The author did an amazing job fitting all of the pieces together and forging some truly amazing twists. The plot was faced paced, creepy, and tense and had me yelling at the characters in my head. I LOVED this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for access to this arc.

Although this had so many good elements for an engaging and twisty thriller, I couldn’t get into this one. I really enjoy Garner’s writing style and loved the creepy mansion setting, suspicious characters and dark secrets. However, I think my biggest issue was that there were so many things going on throughout the story, making it difficult to keep track of character connections and multiple plot twists. Although I’m a huge fan of alternating timelines, I feel it didn’t flow with this story. This one got so many great reviews so if you like a dark, family mystery- try it out!

Iris finally finds love after her husband is murdered right about the time her house is foreclosed on and she loses her job. Her new boyfriend, Hugh, asks her and her 18 year old daughter, Ellory, to move in with them and she agrees because she doesn't have many other options. He is living with his Mom and siblings to help her do some repairs to their family home which is all out creepy. Quickly she realizes that this family is weird and strange things start happening and Ellory runs away as she has done before. Iris' world starts to crumble and she is not sure who to trust as another person in her circle is murdered. This one is a little choppy because there are so many characters, angles and questions but Katie Garner puts a big red bow on the knot when she ties it all together and there is no way I would have ever predicted this one!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Family Inside by Katie Garner is a spine-tingling psychological thriller that keeps readers on edge from start to finish. Iris Blodgett, grappling with the unsolved murder of her husband, is living in the shadows of grief and financial ruin. When she faces eviction, her new boyfriend, architect Hugh Smoll, offers her a way out—by inviting her and her teenage daughter, Ellory, to stay in his family’s historic mansion while he works on its renovation.

At first, the move seems like the perfect solution to Iris’s mounting problems, but Ravencliff House, with its centuries-old walls, harbors more than just drafts and broken fixtures. Iris soon discovers that Hugh's family is far from what she expected. Instead of a welcoming haven, the mansion is a claustrophobic, tense environment where secrets run deep and unsettling occurrences unfold. As Iris digs into the house's history, she uncovers a chilling truth that connects her to the dark past of the Smoll family and begins to understand the terrifying reason she and Ellory were invited to stay.

Garner’s atmospheric writing heightens the suspense, as she masterfully weaves tension between family dynamics, long-buried secrets, and a house with its own sinister energy. The psychological unraveling of the characters, combined with the house's eerie, haunting presence, makes for an intense and unpredictable read.

The novel is an excellent blend of mystery and suspense, with plenty of twists and turns that leave you questioning who to trust. If you're a fan of family dramas laced with dark secrets and chilling suspense, The Family Inside is a book you won't be able to put down.

Wow, I'm not even sure that I know what to say about this book, other than "wow"! The Family Inside is one heck of a story, and with so many twists and turns, I think I might have whiplash! You just can't help but feel pulled into this story and hang on to every word as it all unfolds.

Iris is a widow, her husband, Jack, was murdered three years ago. Iris and their eighteen-year-old daughter have been living alone with their grief ever since. But now that Iris has lost her job, she can no longer afford the mortgage on the house that she brought Ellory up in. They have been evicted and Ellory is so angry at this and the world in general.

Iris has been dating a man that Ellory has not been supportive of and this man, Hugh, has invited them to stay in his mom's home as they make repairs and renovations to the estate. When they move in, they are introduced to Hugh's siblings and that is when things begin to feel out of place for Iris because she was not even aware that Hugh had siblings...

This was a very well-thought-out plot with lots of twists and turns to keep us on our toes. I really enjoyed reading this storyline and trying to figure out what was going on before it was told to us. I'm happy to say, that this author managed to shock me at every turn!


Thank you to the author, Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA, and #NetGalley for allowing me to read #TheFamilyInside and offer my honest opinion.

I struggled with this novel initially due to its unrealistic elements and major red flags that the characters just seemed to ignore. The story centers around Iris, who, after the tragic loss of her husband, she meets Hugo, a charming stranger at her best friend's coffee house, and their connection grows quickly. Within a couple of months, Iris, facing tough times, decides to move in with Hugo, accompanied by her teenage daughter.

As the story unfolds, Iris soon discovers that Hugo has been keeping secrets. Iris finds out that Hugo has an entire family living with him, including his adult siblings and elderly mother.

The book was interesting, although it isn’t one of my favourites. The novel improves toward the end, with several plot twists that shed light on Iris's behaviour and provide a deeper understanding of her character.