This is a really great summer thriller. I liked that this book told the story from 4 different POVs, the short chapters, the friendships and the secrets.

I really liked this book, a real page turner! It’s a slow burn, but in a way that feels intentional, the pacing lets the emotional tension build and by the time the twist lands, it really hits. The characters feel real, and there’s this quiet tension simmering under the surface the whole time.

If you like psychological thrillers with depth, strong character work, and a twist that makes you reflect rather than just react, I’d definitely recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher for letting me read a copy in advance in exchange for an honest review.

I accidentally requested both the ebook and audiobook for The Housewarming by Kristin Offiler on NetGalley and got approved for both. So I decided to an immersive read with both and honestly, it was a great experience.
If you like your thrillers overly explained and action driven then maybe give this one a miss. However, this book offers slow burn reveals that I didn’t always see coming and excellent character development across multiple characters. The way it unfolded was captivating and I really enjoyed how it played with the missing person trope.
Thriller tropes
- missing person mystery
- everyone has a secret
- girlhood/ friendship
- multiple POVs and dual timelines but done a bit different (which i appreciated).
- nosy reporter
- who can you trust?
Overall, a great read.

thank you to NetGalley and this author for an ebook in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 1/5 stars

this book definitely started out good, but unfortunately
i feel like it dragged. it was hard for me to get through it.

This book was just a simple no, thanks. You could skip a lot of it and still not miss anything! There was zero point to this plot and the writing was ridiculous.

The Housewarming by Kristin Offiler is a psychological thriller set on Block Island, where five friends reunite five years after Zoe disappeared. Their reunion is complicated when Patricia Adele, a true crime podcaster, arrives with a book proposal that could expose long-buried secrets.

I enjoyed the beach and island vibes, and the setting was atmospheric, but the story felt slow-paced and draggy, and it didn’t resonate as much as I had hoped. The themes of betrayal and female friendships were present, but I didn’t fully connect with the characters’ dynamics.

Read this if you like:
• Psychological thrillers with a slow-burn mystery
• Stories about betrayal, female friendships, and complex relationships
• Beach or island settings that create a strong sense of place
• Multiple POV chapters that let you get inside each character’s head
• True crime and crime podcast/book elements that add another dimension to the storytelling
• Twists and red herrings that keep you guessing

Rating: 3 out of 5

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this eARC which will be published August 1 2025.

I unfortunately DNF’d this one because the storyline just made no sense to me and I found this book to be very boring and slow. I didn’t find myself caring about the plot or characters at all.

See my full review on www.mysteryandsuspense.com
The Housewarming is a suspenseful summer read, full of secrets, lies, and island vibes!
Five women celebrate their friendship yearly with a “girls’” stay on Block Island, enjoying the sunshine and the joy of being together. But everything changed when, one year, five women embarked and only four friends returned.
For five years, the surviving friends—now estranged—have tried to put everything behind them and move on with their lives. But there are members of the community who claim the women were responsible for the disappearance, and the rising popularity of a podcast helmed by a stranger who was there that night has others pointing fingers. After all that, one of the women decides to return to the island where everything changed and convinces her former friends to join her to talk about their missing friend and reconnect. The community, with the podcaster at its center, hasn’t forgotten, however, and it isn’t long before the secrets they kept about that night are out in the open.
Kirstin Offiler’s debut novel, The Housewarming, is a psychological suspense story about female friendships and how far we will go to protect the ones we love. Each woman—Callie, Meg, Tess, and Lindsay—takes her turn narrating the story as the protagonist, now five years removed from the vacation on Block Island when their friend, Zoe, disappeared. All the women have been changed in different ways, and all are keeping secrets. But is any one of them responsible for Zoe’s disappearance? Offiler keeps readers guessing until the final pages, when the truth is revealed in a delicious and unexpected twist.
The Housewarming is a sharp and well-written novel, with realistic and likable characters and a page-turning plot. There are numerous characters in this locked-room-type mystery, which adds to the subject pool, but what actually happened is not easy to guess. The ending completely took me by surprise, but it was also believable and provided closure to the plot’s suspenseful twists and turns.
Patricia, the podcaster who continues to impede on the women’s lives and privacy, is a character readers will dislike right alongside the protagonists. Pushy, judgmental, and suffering from boundary issues, Patricia becomes the thorn in the women’s side—but she is also the reason they reconnect, bonding over their shared dislike of her. Each of the other protagonists has a charming side, and they are distinct enough that readers will find at least one to root for.
With pages full of suspenseful twists and a smooth, flowing plot, Offiler’s debut is well-developed and engaging, and I look forward to what she brings us next.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I was unable to get past it. What was the storyline? I spent a long time to read this book because it was dull—there were four points of view, but nothing significant happened. I found time to be incredibly slow and drawn out. This novel got off to a great start. However, I was perplexed by the conclusion. Though it isn't proven, I think I know what happened.

I enjoyed this book and finished it in less than a day, though I didn’t think the characters were as developed as they could’ve been. It centers on 4 friends named Callie, Lindsay, Meg, and Tess, who are still trying to pick up the pieces after the disappearance of their friend Zoe 5 years ago. To make things worse, an overeager podcaster named Patricia won’t leave them alone, sold on the idea that one or all are hiding something. The POVs rotate between the 4 friends.

I thought the mystery was sound and the author did a good job alluding to the various secrets each character was keeping in order to create some doubt. She also gave us a terrific villain in Patricia, who I couldn’t stand. I did feel that the characters were somewhat underdeveloped, though. We didn’t even get descriptions on what most of them looked like, how old they were, or any kind of backstory prior to when they met Zoe as teens. While their voices were somewhat distinct, it was more because of their circumstances versus true characterization. That being said, the story was not predictable at all and kept me guessing throughout. I thought the big twist was well done and an interesting surprise. The end (deliberately, I think) didn’t tie up all the loose ends end also left me feeling sad, but I think the story will stick with me.

Overall, despite a lack of connection with the characters, I thought this was a good book with a unique twist. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"There was nothing here for them anymore. It was a place lost to the past, the camp as gone as the summers they'd spent sleeping in its cabins, creating art, finding a pack of girls to call their own. They'd taken what they needed from this place - each other - and lost some of it along the way."

—---

I was intrigued from the start of The Housewarming. We start from the perspective of Patricia, an up and coming true crime blogger, who has come to Block Island to join the search for Zoe Gilbert, now missing following her annual trip with her friends. She is immediately suspicious of Zoe’s four friends, who she is convinced are hiding something. Five years in the future, we catch up with the now estranged friend group - influencer Callie, literary Meg, wayward Lindsey, and new mother Tess. Callie has just bought a house on Block Island, and is desperate to memorialize Zoe on the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, and reunite her friends. Meanwhile, Patricia makes her return, haunting the group just as she had five years prior.

While described as a psychological thriller, I actually appreciated that to me it felt more like a psychological character exploration against the backdrop of a tragic mystery. The most present mystery is not why or how Zoe went missing, but rather how the four friends have coped in their own lives, and how they could possibly reunite after such a tragedy, especially when they are constantly haunted by Patricia and her relentless pursuit and investment in the case. I also enjoyed having several perspectives, and watching the puzzle piece itself together. Callie’s perspective, and her overarching story, were both a nice red herring and a good vehicle for the plot and the final resolution. In order, I would say that my favorite perspectives were Callie and Meg for a tie, then Lindsey, then Tess. All the characters show realistic development, and much to my enjoyment retain enough of their human flaws. The twist I was also partial to, as it played well into dynamics and histories previously established, and felt quite plausible.

I do wish that Tess’ storyline had been absorbed by one of the other friends to allow more space for Patricia’s perspective. The ground covered in Tess’ storyline could have been covered in other ways, possibly by Lindsey or Meg, and freed up some room to engage more with Patricia’s point of view and possibly give her a fleshed out storyline. I feel that the conflict with Patricia ended not with a bang, but with a whimper, and that could have had a lot more punch to it. I feel it would have had more impact if it was more direct, and played out. Additionally, with Patricia I feel that she could have had more immediate teeth, as it seems to me that the power she had was just handed to her. The story could have benefited more from playing out the actual disintegration of the friend group. We hear about a lot, and don’t see much of the worst. I also struggled with suspending my disbelief around Patricia’s role from the outset, as we started strong with her introduction, but what she was able to do and get away with felt… unrealistic.

Overall, I enjoyed The Housewarming. Certain tropes and stereotypes were upended nicely, and the twist was just surprising enough that I could comfortably accept it as the outcome. I wish that Patricia had been more of an immediate threat, rather than only really harming one of the group, and more just haunting the rest. Most things that I feel could be improved are details, as opposed to major plot points or key aspects. I think this is a great debut, and I’ll keep an eye out for more!

I’m currently rating this a 3.75, so I’ve rounded up to four stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was an easy read and it was an intriguing book. At the end of vacation, one of the friends goes missing and it seems like a mystery until the end of the book. Every other friend has a secret and something to hide, and I kept wondering if they have anything to do with their friend’s disappearance. I also had an idea what’s going to happen during the housewarming party, but I was completely wrong.

I have many thoughts about this book. I did enjoy it and it kept me hooked for the most part however, when it came to the pace of the book, it was quite slow.

It took a long time for things to happen in this book and when it did it was quite anti climatic.

I would’ve liked to see more of an ending, I think it was kind of left up to interpretation what happened which in some ways is good but it also seemed like the book lacked an ending.

Such a great book. I read this in one weekend because I couldn’t put it down (but still had responsibilities lol!). I cannot wait to see what is next in store from this author. On my auto buy list for sure!!!

Had some good twists. I don't think the ending was as wrapped up as what it could have been though, there were still quite a few loose ends and I would have preferred a stronger ending that tied those up a bit more neatly instead of leaving me to guess what may have happened next to a few people

I hate giving such a bad review, but the central conflict in this novel could literally have been resolved with a restraining order and no one can tell me otherwise. A young woman disappears with no trace from an island while on vacation with her friends. The police quickly realize there's not much to go off of. An intrepid true crime podcaster begins to investigate, focusing primarily on the disappeared woman's 4 closest friends. She begins LITERALLY STALKING THEM. To the extent that one of them is fired from her job BECAUSE THE PODCASTER KEEPS APPEARING. And no one calls the police on this person? Absolutely not. Zero buy-in on this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was disappointing. I skipped from the 25% mark to 80% and felt like I missed nothing. The characters were uninteresting, a main plot thread involving an investigative reporter was annoying, and the ending twist was both vague and unexciting

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNxueIgWqCB/

Another quick and engaging thriller here! Better writing than typically expected and I didn’t fully get the answer before the end which was good. There are enough plot twists and murky areas that it’s hard to know what’s happening until it’s laid out. I will say that there are some questions at the end but in general, this was a solid, suspenseful read!

Thanks to @netgalley for the copy!


Note to published:
I liked the multiple perspectives a lot and the modern stories that countered the looks back. I did get slightly muddled in the times. It felt like more than 5 years had passed and their ages weren't fully clear.

This was a good suspenseful novel. This book had me hooked from the start and I could not put it down. There was plenty of twist to keep things interesting and well developed characters. The story is intriguing and twisty from the beginning. The plot is well developed and brilliantly wrote by Kristin Offiler.

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed reading it and didn’t want to put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!