Charlotte Boyd, a woman in her early thirties and struggling to find her stride in life both personally and professionally, is tasked with leaving her urban home on Toronto to temporarily move to the small town of Anville to help her parents renovate their retirement home while they winter in Florida. Charlotte, just being let go from another job, embraces this opportunity for recharge and reevaluate her life while overseeing the renovations. The only catch is the previous home owners 16 year old daughter committed suicide there 16 years earlier.

Charlotte arrives at the home and is immediately spooked after discovering someone is living in the garage. She flees to a small local pub and inn and is befriended by Merle and Cindy, the owners and is introduced to two police officers; Landry and Armstrong who discover he squatter is the son of the previous homeowners, Darryl. Law enforcement assures Charlotte that they will remove Darryl from the home and she will be able to return to renovate soon. A few days later, Charlotte returns home and connects with Darryl, who seems innocent enough and the two exchange numbers and begin to converse via text, soon leading to a romantic relationship. As Charlotte is cleaning, she discovers the diary of the Lark: the daughter who committed suicide at the home years earlier.

The story switches between Charlotte's present day point of view and the past diary entries of Lark. As Charlotte reads the diary, she discovers that Lark had been going through struggles leading up to her death: an absent mother who preferred men over bonding with her children, a broken friendship with her closest ally Dani, and a troubled romantic relationship with the now police officer Armstrong. It seems as though the diary is not only Charlotte's interest, as Darryl soon begins asking for the diary and the home is also broken into as someone tries to locate the diary as well. Could Lark's suicide actually have been a homicide? Charlotte is determined to uncover the truth,

With lots of twists and turns, the reader is kept on their toes as Charlotte uncovers the secrets truth about the secrets that are hidden in the diary.

This seemed like an interesting book but I had to merely skim it and couldn’t actually read it because for some reason my ARC was on a dark gray, nearly black background. It was impossible to read long term but the bits I was able to catch seemed intriguing.

In "What She Left Behind," the narrative revolves around Charlotte Boyd, who, following the loss of her employment, returns to her parents' summer residence to manage renovations. During her efforts to organize the house, she stumbles upon a diary belonging to Lark Peters, a troubled adolescent who tragically succumbed to suicide in that very location sixteen years earlier. The storytelling oscillates between Charlotte's contemporary experiences and Lark's poignant diary entries, which unveil the profound challenges Lark encountered. This connection to Lark's historical context compels Charlotte to investigate the circumstances surrounding her demise while also confronting her own unresolved emotional issues.

This book has a captivating plot and was very emotional to read. At times however, I didn’t empathize with Charlotte’s character as I felt that she was too needy and dependent and didn’t stand on her own “two feet”. I would have liked further clarification into her medical condition as it was mentioned a number of times, but further diagnostic information wasn’t provided. I did like the fast pace of the novel and the dual perspectives of Charlotte and Lark, which sustain the intrigue.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the advance review copy in exchange for my review.

I liked this one so much I DM’d the author when I finished and told her how much I loved Darryl!

This one was such a quick, interesting, page turning read that I couldn’t put down. I would find myself looking for my e-reader at any given moment of the day and the time I spend reading wasn’t wasted on this book. Oh man, this needs to be a Hulu series!

This is an exciting thriller that will draw you in and tug at your heart strings!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Dark, twisty, and totally absorbing

What She Left Behind pulled me in from the start and didn’t let go. I love a good thriller, and this one had me flipping pages late into the night. It’s one of those books that leaves you feeling a little wrecked in the best way possible.

The story follows Charlotte, who heads to her parents’ old summer home after a rough patch (recently fired, life in limbo—you know the drill). While going through the house, she stumbles upon a hidden diary that belonged to Lark, a teen who died by suicide there sixteen years ago. From that point on, it’s a back-and-forth ride between the present and Lark’s chilling diary entries, and wow—Lark’s inner world was intense and seriously haunting.

Charlotte starts digging into what really happened to Lark, and as things unravel, she ends up confronting some dark truths—not just about the house and the people in it, but about her own past too. There’s mystery, a bit of suspense, and plenty of emotional weight. I also really liked the dynamic with Darryl, Lark’s brother. He’s painted as this creepy, reclusive figure, but Charlotte sees something different—and that added an interesting layer.

The writing was super readable, the plot kept me guessing, and the way everything came together at the end was satisfying without feeling too neat. My only slight knock is that a few parts felt a bit rushed or could’ve gone deeper—but overall, it was a solid, gripping read.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Brianne Sommerville, and Rising Action Publishing Co. for the advanced copy! Definitely mark your calendars for August 12, 2025—this one’s worth picking up if you like your thrillers emotional, eerie, and layered.

What She Left Behind is the story of 30 something year old Charlotte who moves into her parents' new house to help with the renovation process while they're away. She discovers the diary of 16 year old Lark who previously lived in the house.

What I liked: I enjoyed the two person narrative between Charlotte and Lark (via her diary entries). It was fast-paced and an easy read.
What I didn't like: Charlotte was unlikeable and annoying, acting almost juvenile for a 30 year old. It was fairly predictable with less twists and surprises than other thrillers.
Was it terrible? No. Was it great? Also no. It was okay. Regardless, I would still recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Brianne Sommerville for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

ARC copy, ebook
Book: 2 stars

This is a review of the ebook.

This story follows Charlotte, who has agreed to move into her parent’s new summer home and take charge of the renovations. She stumbles across the diary of a young girl, Lark, who had lived in the house previously and had tragically taken her own life.

As she reads the diary and gets more integrated into the town and its people, a mystery reveals itself and draws her in, leading Charlotte to try and untangle the secrets within.

I loved how the perspectives jumped back and forth between both Lark’s diary entries and Charlotte’s perspective. I became so invested in finding out the truth; my heart truly ached for Lark as we read her entries.

I really like sinking into a good mystery/thriller- this was one of the good ones! What She Left Behind delves into Charlotte Boyd's life as she tries to put her life together - when nothing is making sense.
Charlotte has felt things spinning out of control since losing her high school friends in a tragic car accident. She has just lost another dead end job in the city and her parents are getting ready to retire to Florida. They offer to let her oversee the renovations on their new summer retirement home in small town Canadian border town. With no other options, she finds herself in a home that has a tragic past. An abandoned journal draws her into a mystery and she finds herself compelled to find answers.


Thanks to NetGalley, Rising Action Publishing Company & Brianne Sommerville for the opportunity to read this Arc in exchange for an honest review. I will look for more by Sommerville.

Charlotte moves into a house and finds a diary that belonged to a teenage girl, Lark. Lark committed suicide, but the question remained
"WHY?" While reading
Lark's diary. Charlotte does some digging into the Parts brother, Darryl The clues from the diary lead them in many directions. The reason why Lark committed suicide.... you thought you knew, however.....nope! I+ nad a good plot and twist!
I really like Brianne's writing style. It was the first time reading a book by this author. will definitely read more of her books.
Thank you Nethalley, Brianne Sommerville, and Rising Action Publishing Co. for the Advanced Readers Copy for an honest review of the book!

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

1.5 stars, rounded up.

Seems like I’m the odd one out given that the other reviews are so positive, and I feel bad saying so, but this just really did not work for me at all. Would absolutely have DNF’d if it weren’t an ARC.

eARC received courtesy of netgalley (thank you!) in exchange for my honest review.

First, I wanna thank Rising Action Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC!

Another story playing in a house holding a tragic past. It might be obvious at this point this is one of my favourite tropes when it comes to thrillers. Also may I just add that this cover is so damn beautiful? It was what drew me to the book first, together with the title.

Here, we are meeting Charlotte, who finds a hidden diary in the summer home of her parents. The story is told in the POv of both Charlotte, and Lark, the trouble teenager the diary actually belonged to, and who died from suicide at exactly the same house Charlotte is living in now...

It was a good book, a captivating story and easy to read. I got invested with both Lark and Charlotte, and just had to keep reading until I finally knew what has happened, praying Charlotte would not lose herself while finding out more about poor Lark's story. Highly recommended!

“What She Left Behind” is a fictional thriller that I found entertaining and was left a bit of a mess after reading it, in a good way. It had a great storyline, it was easy to read, and was thought provoking. It kept me wondering what was going to happen next! It is about a woman named Charlotte that finds a diary at her parents summer house. The diary she finds is about a teenager named Lark who committed suicide sixteen years ago, in that same house. The book goes back and forth between Charlotte in the present and Lark’s diary entries in the past. It really goes deep inside the mind of Lark, which is frightening to say the least. She begins to start doing her own detective work in finding out more about the boy that killed himself. As the story starts to unravel, she finds hidden truths about the past, while dealing with her own past issues. Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars!


Thank you NetGalley, author Brianne Sommerville and Rising Action Publishing Co. | Rising Acti for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book is set to be published on August 12, 2025!

Spoiler alerts: Ugh. So heartbreaking. So avoidable. Someone should have protected her.
Obsessed with all the characters in this book. My heart aches for them.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Although the writing was a tad fluffy for my taste, the plot was fine for a fairly solid, quick mystery.