I liked the mystery elements and trying to piece together what happened, but this was too slow of a pace for me to stay interested in it to the end.

I hate doing this but it was a DNF for me. I tried to push through but I was too bored. Too much of a slow burn for me. Nothing to keep me engaged!
Thank you to the Penguin Group - DUTTON and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It seems so mundane at the start of it all. A family relocating to Los Angeles. They come from Australia. They have a daughter and a son. Nothing unusual about that, really. Well, yes, it’s all very normal. Until it isn’t. Until Liv, the daughter, is covered in bruises and locked in her bedroom, and her parents see nothing wrong with that. Each member of the family has something to hide and something they need. But none of them is as eager as Casper, the son, whose need for answers will prompt him to find the loose threads and pull at them until everything comes apart, until nothing remains but darkness. There’s a continuous tension pulling us from start to end. Granted, a few sections of the book feel slow, but the overall balance is good, and what feels slow for me, may give others a chance to catch their breath before the next race. A good thriller, one of those that slowly but relentlessly gets under your skin, stealing hours of your day as you keep reading, page after page, because you need to know what’s going to happen next. This was a good read. I would definitely recommend to those who enjoy those psychological thrillers. Thanks to NetGalley for the ebook to preview.

Honestly, this was one confusing book. The first half was extremely slow, and I wondered if anything would happen. Finally, things began to move, but did they make sense? Only marginally. I’m still left with questions about Olivia and her problems. Her parents are also a mystery to me. In fact, the only family member who might be somewhat normal is Casper, Olivia’s younger brother. What happened at the beginning of the book is revealed to the reader, but are we to believe that no one else ever found out? Shaking my head. I agree with another reviewer: too many twists!

This one is a three star read for me.

I received a copy of the digital ARC via the publisher and NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

DNF @ 49% and skimmed the rest to see what happened. Intriguing domestic thriller but too much of a slow-burn for my liking. I found all of the characters irritating and was internally screaming "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER" in my head for the first half of the book. If you like leisurely paced domestic thrillers with lots of characters jumping to conclusions that are, without fail, wrong then you'll love this one.

ARC from NetGalley.

This was intriguing and kept me guessing until the end. The different points of view were well done and I enjoyed all of the characters. Would definitely suggest this!

This one was twisted in so many ways! At times the pacing was a little slow for me which is why I subtracted a star. This is one of those books where everyone has a secret and you are left not knowing if you love or hate the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was fine 🤷‍♀️ Just riveting enough to keep me reading but also slow and weirdly paced enough for me to find it a struggle to get through bits. There were also a few continuity and word choice issues that didn’t make sense and made me flip back pages to make sure I wasn’t crazy. After consulting with a published version, these things did make it past the ARC copy.

Thank you to Dutton/Penguin Group and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a slow-burn mystery told from multiple perspectives of a dysfunctional family full of secrets. I felt like the pace of the story could have been swifter, adding more interest from the reader. The twist, however, is what kept me going and took me by surprise. After that, the story did take off, and I found myself really invested in the outcome. There was solid development from some characters, and others not so much. The ending I both liked and disliked. Overall, this was an enjoyable read for a lazy afternoon. Three stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton, for this ARC.

This was a good read! It was fast and cute honestly lol. I love a good quick read!! Recommend for sure!!

This book starts out a bit slow. I was a bit confused at first as to who this family was and what was going on with them, but momentum quickly picks up and we are in for a ride. That first chapter ends with a bang and just gets better and better.
Snoekstra does a fantastic job revealing the story to us, just as Casper investigates and finds out. I'm also enthralled at how she creates twists in the story, makes it seem like yes, that's it, that's the real, complete story, and then twisting again. Finally, she captures the chaos of the tragic scenes extremely well, so that the reader feels like they are also there in the moment.
This was an extremely fast read. I would recommend it for any reader who likes to solve the mystery along with the characters in the book.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

A good thriller, one of those that slowly but relentlessly gets under your skin, stealing hours of your day as you keep reading, page after page, because you need to know what’s going to happen next.

It seems so mundane at the start of it all. A family relocating to Los Angeles. They come from Australia. They have a daughter and a son. Nothing unusual about that, really. Well, yes, it’s all very normal. Until it isn’t. Until Liv, the daughter, is covered in bruises and locked in her bedroom, and her parents see nothing wrong with that.

Each member of the family has something to hide and something they need. But none of them is as eager as Casper, the son, who’s need for answers will prompt him to find the loose threads and pull at them until everything comes apart, until nothing remains but darkness.

There’s a continuous tension pulling us from start to end. The tension may slack at times, but it’s just misdirection, so we feel safe. A trick play, so that we follow the wrong player. And falling for the trick is both inevitable and necessary, for it makes the experience of reading this book all the best.

Granted, a few sections of the book feel slow, but the overall balance is good, and what feels slow for me, may give others a chance to catch their breath before the next race.

A good summer read.

This was an unsettling slow burn, I did enjoy it as it got really good at about 70%, it did peter off again towards the end. Overall I didn't mind it!!

The Ones We Love by Anna Snoekstra is a psychological thriller that unfolds at a slow, deliberate pace. Unfortunately, the buildup felt a bit too sluggish for my taste. While the characters are all hiding something, I found it difficult to connect with any of them or feel invested in their outcomes.

Thank you to NetGalley & PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for letting me read this ARC.

Thank you Net Galley for this early copy. This book was good and a very slow burn for me. It did take me a little longer to get through as it didn't hold my attention in several parts of the story.

At first, the plot of this story seemed pretty transparent from the description. I thought it was pretty obvious what would be revealed to be going on behind closed doors, but this author threw several curveballs that kept me on my toes. I enjoyed hearing the story unfold from the different perspectives of all of the family members. Every character was in the dark on some elements, so putting the pieces together from their limited points of view was fun. However, the characters were hard to connect with and fairly unlikeable in some cases. I found myself not really rooting for them, even though the story was about this family unit.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Unfortunately this book did not keep me engaged and I had to DNF. I will definitely give the author another try in the future. Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you for the eARC! This book has a great premise but in my opinion relied too heavily on the locked door gimmick. While the characters had some development and there was a seemingly compelling central mystery, I found it very difficult to stay engaged. This was just okay, I was hoping for more.

I didn't really enjoy this book. I felt like things happened throughout the story but nothing mattered. And there were absolutely no consequences for anyone's actions. People were killed and the ending of the book just felt like no one cared. It was a fast read but that about all I can give that made this book worth reading.

wonderfully written characters!! I love books that keep you guessing about what is true. the character development and interactions were so deep and fascinating. I cannot wait to read more from this author!