Andrea Mara is the queen of crafting a thriller with the perfect amount of tension. I was locked into this read from the first line in the prologue and ready to know what events could have possibly led to it. This was a quick read that was just the fix I needed - a wild story where all the characters had motive and I couldn't figure out who was guilty. I was a bit disturbed by something that happened at the end, so I took away a quarter of a star. Not enough to stop me from wanting more from this author!

4.75 stars

We've all done it- sent a text to someone we shouldn't have on accident. You're bashing Jane to your friend Mary, but mistakenly send it to Jane. Rarely does it have deadly consequences. But in this book, it does.

Susan is the mother to a four month old daughter, and is stuck in the newborn exhaustion phase. In a neighborhood text thread, there's drama, so she decides to send her take on it to her sisters. Unfortunately, she sends her remarks to the neighborhood group instead. In less than two weeks, four people will die and more will be injured as a result.

Susan didn't mean to cause such a cataclysmic event- she just wanted to vent for a minute. And now she might be next to lose her life.

Gripping, told from multiple POVs and a timeline that jumps, this book is a must-read from author Andrea Mara.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Wow. This book was absolutely unputdownable! I read it in one day, i had to know what was happening every step of the way. Addictive, my favorite kind of dramatic thriller with rich people drama vibes. I have my eye on this author now, I need more!

It Should Have Been You


I just recently listened to the audiobook of another Andrea Mara book, Someone in the Attic and I loved it!!! I was so excited to get this one as an ARC🤩
This did not disappoint me! There’s a lot of characters, but they all have their own secrets and stories that intersect seamlessly. Andrea Mara really writes in all the small details to really make the story pop, and tying everything together really puts her thrillers over the edge. I ate this book UP!! I need more of her books immediately🤩🤩🤩

4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you @netgalley for the chance to read and review this ahead of time!

Mark your calendars for January 13, 2026 ✏️ 🗓️

What a ride! We all know the feeling: we hit send on a text message, and it doesn’t land where it’s supposed to. That sinking stomach feeling is not one we want to experience! Susan does, though, when she sends a message to her sister, but instead, it goes to her entire local community. Oof! And then the fallout begins. This was such a great read! Fast-paced, anxiety-provoking, and suspenseful! Well-defined characters, a great storyline, and a twisty ending! A great read! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5

Synopsis:
Susan sees a snarky message on her neighborhood WhatsApp group and decides to screenshot it and send a group message to her sisters about that person... except she posts it back on the neighborhood group.

Opps! I mean, we've all been there, right? The only difference is, Susan blasted some damaging gossip, then later received a death threat, and then there's a murder at the home on another side of town of a woman living at her address, but on a different side of town!
Like, what? Was the murderer at the wrong house?

I received acess to read this through NetGalley - so thankful!

So... This was a very twisty book. I swear, I made a map in my notebook to connect all of the characters and notes about them like I normally do, but this was insane. Around 3/4 of the way in, it got even more insane. There was a LOT of things that were very conveniently laid out in the story that made it less than believable, but still enjoyable. I really appreciated that one piece was left open-ended and everyone can come up with their own theory. Not every story has to have everything tied into a pretty bow at the end!

Every character in this novel is unhinged, and I'm here for it. I enjoyed the short POV chapters from secondary characters, which added to the plot rather than detracting from the main story.

It should have been you. ARC review. Thank you NG & Andrea Mara!

*Ate this up in 5 hours*

We have all sent a text to the wrong person and have felt our stomach drop from our ass. I couldn’t imagine sending it to the entire community you live in. Quite literally no lying your way out of that one yikes

Fast paced from the jump.

“I’m the monster outside watching”

Creepy texts start coming & it gave me anxiety putting myself in her shoes.

The cryptic texts and mysteries each chapter builds is an eerie pressure builder for what’s to come. I’m page. Turner. Each chapter also leads into different POVS which I love. One leaves you on a cliff hanger then another

And every single person is truly not what you think.

I couldn’t put this book down. This is great work, pulse pumping, jagged breath, work.

The twist at the end? Slapped me in the face.

Great fast read with turns and twists on every single page. Literally. Careful who you send a text to

Good reads -https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7622509801

The domestic thriller It Should Have Been You begins with a digital error that develops into a dangerous murder investigation. Susan O'Donnell sends an unintentional private gossip message to her neighborhood WhatsApp group which sets off a series of disturbing occurrences. A woman discovers murder at an address which matches Susan's residence yet exists in a different neighborhood. Did the killer duplicate the same error?

Mara masterfully creates suspense while revealing the hidden secrets that exist within the seemingly normal suburban communities. The story addresses modern issues about online privacy alongside community monitoring and the unstable nature of safe environments.

The large number of characters presented throughout the story represents a major weakness of the book. Mara creates detailed portraits of each character yet the continuous stream of new neighbors and acquaintances and suspects creates confusion. The numerous character introductions throughout the story sometimes made it challenging to remember who was who which affected the reading experience and reduced some suspenseful moments, especially when reading multiple books simultaneously.

The story moves at a fast pace while the plot twists are well done and the central mystery stays interesting. The plot structure of Mara's writing maintains continuous page-turning interest until the surprising yet somewhat foreseeable conclusion.

I really enjoyed this book!!! It is full of surprises, twists and turns. The characters are well developed,, and complex. There were several times, when I was reading this book, that I thought I had things figured out, I was close, but the way this this story is told, you get little robots of information. This is ultimately a book about actions and consequences. I highly recommend this book!!!

This was a book that was hard to put down, page after page the plot just kept twisting. Just when I felt I knew what was coming next, I was surprised yet again. I was delighted that I did catch one plot twist. The author has done a great job wrapping up all loose ends. The character building was amazing and we got to hear the story from many character’s perspective but unlike other books I have read, the shorter chapters made it easy to follow what everyone was collectively feeling and thinking. If you love a page turning thriller, dont pass on this one!!

A suspenseful, page turning thriller.

A great retrospect on social media and the monsters it creates. Some likeable characters and some unbelievably awful. I had a hard time putting this book down and figuring out the plot.

Who hasn’t accidentally sent a message to the wrong person? I’ve done it, but my mistaken messages never unleashed death and secrets better left buried, as in this gripping novel by Andrea Mara.

This book was an absolute delight to read. It consists of 101 chapters over the course of 385 pages written from a number of POVs over the course of 2 weeks (before and after the message was sent). I find multiple POVs can be difficult to read sometimes, but this author did a fantastic job at clearly defining each character and their role in the story. By the last 1/3 of the book, I literally couldn't put it down and loved how more and more secrets were revealed until literally the last chapter of the book.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers and mystery, as I wasn't able to pick out many of the twists and turns.

Easy read that kept me turning the page, but the characters lacked depth and the ending didn’t leave me as satisfied as I’d hoped. A good read for those just looking for a mystery.

WOW! I could not put this book down! Andrea Mara expertly weaves a cast of characters with ease.

This book focuses on Susan managing her new role as a new mom. In a tired moment, Susan accidentally posts to her neighborhood app thinking it was a private message to her sisters. The drama that spirals from the accidental post, which she takes down, takes you on a wild trip.

I found myself deeply invested in every character. The shifting perspectives are handled brilliantly, each one adding a new layer of tension and doubt. Just when I thought I had it figured out, the rug was pulled from under me—in the best way.

This book explores guilt and grief, PPD, betrayal, strength, love, and sisterhood.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Penguin/Pamela Dorman Books for the ARC.

This one was good. I called one of the twists but it got me with a couple others. Def a wild ride. I'm not sure what to say without giving it away. I'm almost speechless.

This was a fun thriller! There was a whole lot going on and the way everything connected was a little far-fetched, but it was fun to read. This would be a good book for a beach day or a cozy rainy day in for sure.

Twisty! Each time one piece of the plot is wrapped up, there's a plot twist or a perspective that says "it doesn't stop there actually, there is more". At the end of the book I forgot that one major plot point had not been addressed becuase there were so many reveals. I would recommend this for someone looking for a page-turner thriller--the chapters are short, about 2-5 pages each, which keeps you reading, with multiple perspectives and timelines. A good fit for fans of Taylor Adams and J.T. Ellison.

When Susan accidentally sends a complaining text to the neighborhood group instead of her sisters, she sets in motion an unpredictable chain of events leading to multiple deaths and ruined lives. I don’t want to spoil anything, because I really enjoyed the suspense. There are nosy neighbors, suspicious spouses, and a couple of self-indulgent crazies - but who is really responsible?

Thanks to the publisher for the arc!

Obsessed is an understatement. This is one book I didn’t want to put down. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen next, you’re wrong. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, biting my nails and waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’ve all done it, sent a text to the wrong person, but never could I have imagined this happening. A must read!