I enjoyed this book. Loved the FMC. Captivating and Interesting. This book is more of a mystery than a thriller. Short read.
This is a slow burn. The ending was good.
9/11 was heavily mentioned. 9/11 is such a huge part of our history. I felt like the 9/11 mention and story line could have been a separate book. Didn’t fit in with the main plot. At the end of the book there were several new characters that were introduced. That was not important in the story line. Over all I did enjoy this book. This was my first book I’ve read of Kate Belli. I would be opened to read more of her books in the future.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced and suspenseful mystery. The characters were well-drawn, the storyline was engaging, and I looked forward to reading it every night before bed!! I will say that, at times, I thought the protagonist was a bit ditzy and gullible, but overall, I liked her character, and it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.

Chloe Harlow wakes up in her own bed after an all-night party, not remembering how she got home or what happened that evening. Chloe was a survivor of 9/11 and because of that, she drinks way too much and has blackouts. An up-and-coming artist was murdered that night at the party. Chloe woks at a gallery and she now has to discover what happened. She doesn’t know who was involved or who she can trust. A suspenseful who done it book.
Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books, and Kate Belli for the ARC for my review.

Did not read. Have way too many books on my shelf - need to cut back. Hoping to get to it in the future though.

This is the first time reading this author
I really enjoyed it
It was a suspenseful murder who done it mystery
I will be putting this author on my list of further reads

A good read, it took me awhile to figure out the story. It seemed to get darker as the story went on.

This book follows Chloe in the months following 9/11 as she furthers her career at an art gallery all whilst getting tied up in a murder and the subsequent investigation. This is the first book I've read that includes 9/11, and my initial thought was "oh no, this is too soon" (knowing full well it's been 24 years). I appreciate the author telling the story of someone making her way through trauma in the midst of normal, every day stressors like work and relationships. Chloe clearly has PTSD and the author represents that well, from the range of emotions and other symptoms, to substance abuse. There were a lot of people in her friend group and it was hard to keep them straight for awhile, and I wished she hadn't left her cat alone for so long in her apartment when she was away! But overall, this book kept me engaged until the reveal, and I didn't suspect who it was, and am happy Chloe got through it all!

Im not sure if authors are deciding now is a good time to introduce themes referencing the 9/11 attacks in their books but this is the second arc I’ve read this yes that features the events.. and I don’t know how I feel about that, maybe it is a good thing to give readers a safe space to process some old emotions but im personally just not a fan and it kind of leaves me with an uncomfortable sensation that distracts from the rest of the plot.

If I remove this aspect from the rest of the plot, the plot itself was pretty enjoyable. We have a confused main character and pieces of a mystery we are trying to puzzle together, strange messages. Memory loss, people acting weirdly makes for lots of questions to get answers for.

I’d say this was mid for me, without the Terroism plot thrown in it would have been 4⭐️

I can't recommend it enough! I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down, I finished it in a couple of days!

The Gallery Assistant follows Chloe, a woman dealing with almost dying during the Sept. 11 attacks in NYC. She wakes up hungover after attending a party thrown by a newly acquired artist, Inga. She cannot remember most of what happened that night and is shocked when she is questioned by the police about Inga's murder.

This story had a good premise, but I feel like it could have been tightened up a bit. It was too slow for a murder mystery/thriller. Also, Chloe is an unreliable narrator and gets blackout drunk almost every night to cope with PTSD. Her friends are slowly turning on her since she will not get therapy, but it's been a month since the attacks happened. I felt that their deference to her suffering and cries for help was bordering sociopathic. I could understand if it has been months or years, but one month later? Geez, with friends like that who needs enemies?

Read this if you like:
-NYC after 9/11
-art history

Do not read if you do not like:
-Unreliable narrators
-Bad friends
-Focusing on clues that are not clues

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Atria books and Netgalley for this Advance Readers Copy ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this mystery. It depicted the trauma & PTSD of 9/11 while the MC works to uncover a murder centered around an art gallery. It starts up as a slow build but quickly picks up momentum at the 1/2 way mark. As short as this book was, I don’t feel that it was rushed. It had great pacing. And the plot had dimension.

This book pulls you in and has you guessing the entire time. I could not figure out the why and who the entire time! Every time I thought it was someone, I was thrown in a different direction!

**Thank you to Atria Books-Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for this ARC!!!**

Wow! Kate Belli blew me away with this one! As an avid murder mystery lover, I thoroughly enjoyed this, It kept me guessing all the way till the very end. I loved the inconsistent memory component, I think it added to the mysteriousness of the plot. I would highly recommend this one for anyone looking to read something that keeps you on your toes!!

Chloe is a gallery assistant in New York who experienced first hand the trauma of 9/11, and it seems like her life is one bad event after the next. One of the gallery artists, dies at a party Chloe was at, and now the police are questioning Chloe herself. She has no idea what happened that night. She had blacked out as she drinks often and in large quantities to cope with her past. Chloes takes it upon herself to uncover how this murder took place and who all is responsible.
First book by this author for me. It was very descriptive, but I appreciated that aspect. The beginning was a bit slow. Then I was kept on the edge of my seat, especially toward the end—the closer we got to the truth, the more suspenseful this story was. Interesting resolution—decent twist. Interesting journey inside of the NY art world, something I am not familiar with but intrigued by. Chloe’s stupidity really annoyed me at some parts..how she wanted to do the cop’s job and risked her life just to find her own answers first. I did get a bit confused on who played what role since the explanation at the end was slightly rushed, and there were a LOT of characters in the story.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Kate Belli and Atria Books for this advanced digital copy!

I rode the struggle bus on this one. While it's short, it did not feel that way at all. I had no sympathy for Chloe and overall she just annoyed me. I couldn't tell if her PTSD was real or if it was just alcohol induced. I think this was a valiant effort as the storyline had promise, but for me, I just found myself not caring who did what and for why. It felt repetitive and drawn out.

Expected publication on October 14, 2025

Rating: ⭐⭐

I wanted to like this but ultimately ended up not enjoying it. It was giving more mystery than thriller and seemed to drag out. I can appreciate a slow burn, but this wasn’t executed well enough for me. A sad miss.

Thriller set in the months following 9/11 in NYC. Chloe wakes up from a night out to learn an artist she was with the night before is missing. Every one is trying to find out what happened at the party and she can’t remember, but she may have been the last person to see her alive. The mystery part was ok, but the author really captured the anxiety of living in NYC during that time. Her description was so vivid and realistic I wouldn’t be supposed to learn she lived there then.

Chloe Harlow, a gallery assistant at an exclusive Upper East Side art gallery, attends a party for the gallery's newest rising artist. Waking up the next day, hazy and unclear of the events of that night, Chloe finds out the artist was found murdered. Unable to corroborate her story from that evening, Chloe is suspected of being involved. Over the course of the novel, Chloe's memory begins to reform, leading her to weave connections amongst other suspects in order to avenge the artist she has come to know through the work she left behind.

The Gallery Assistant is full of high suspense and unlikely twist that do not derail the readers intrigue into the facts of the crime set before them. Kate Belli makes sure to give just enough information to keep the reader in the know while hiding important details in the body of the plot. Set in the New York during the aftermath of 9/11, the unease and sense of instability exhibited by Chloe is heightened and sets a suspenseful tone throughout the novel, making it a well done thriller.

Months after the 9/11 attacks an art gallery assistant finds herself uncovering sinister details when an artist on the rise is murdered. Chloe knows she was one of the last people to see the artist alive , but has no recollection of the details of that night. This is a mystery full of bone chilling revelations and heart breaking truths set in a time when everything felt uncertain to the whole world.

Chloe losing her sense of certainty and security in the world around her after 9/11 is spot on for how the entire nation felt in those days. I love a flawed main character and Chloe has unresolved trauma. It makes her question herself as much as those around her. It’s a slow burn and I do recommend taking the time to savor it as the story unfolds. It does stir up memories of 9/11 and feelings of the time after so I think slow and steady was a great choice for the pacing of this story!

This was an interesting read, though I found it a very slow burn, we spend a lot of time in the head of the main character, who spends a lot of time doubting her decisions and trying to remember what happened through most of the story. Chloe works at a small art gallery, they do deal in expensive art, but mostly their art deals on are the smaller amounts instead of in the millions. Chloe had been the receptionist until promoted to assistant to Lou who purchases art and arranges sales. Chloe also suffers from PTSD, she had been sent to the North WTC on Sep 11 to deliver a print to a fellow that had purchased it, she had never been to the WTC previously, while waiting for the fellow to take a look at the item, the building suddenly rocks and both Chloe and the fellow stumble. What follows is her chaotic escape from the tower just before it collapses and her mental suffering from survivor's guilt, she self medicates with alcohol and causal sex. One night while attending a party at the house of an artist, she over indulges and has no memory of how she got home, the next day two detectives from the NYPD are waiting for her at work, asking her about what happened. Chloe then attempts to remember what happened, she talks to people who were there and does piece together some of the events. But she doesn't think people are always telling her the truth. Overall this was interesting, the setting was well done and I would recommend especially if you enjoy stories that take place in New York or that include art. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Atria for the ARC.