She Left is a classic locked room whodunnit mystery with a unique backstory. It includes a cast of interesting characters that were well depicted, and most of which were very unlikeable. One character in specific was extremely misogynistic and racist, to a point where I debated DNF-ing because he was so offensive I was uncomfortable.

While I didn’t have all the answers figured out, I did guess the murderer early on in the book. The story felt drawn out at times, maybe due to the blaring obviousness at who was to blame. One aspect I did enjoy was that there weren’t any unanswered questions by the end of the story and all loose ends were tied up in a neat bow.

🎧 Audiobook review: With multiple characters and an alternating POV between all of them, it did make things more difficult to follow along with. It’s definitely not the kind of book you can listen to mindlessly while doing other tasks and not get lost. To get the most out of the story, this is one I’d recommend taking notes on throughout. The narrator did a good job of being clear and concise, while also using different tones and pitches for the various characters.

The storyline itself is worthy of 3.5 ⭐️, which I’d normally round up - but I’m so bothered by the derogatory remarks of the one character that I’m rounding this down. There’s a line between writing an unlikeable character and an offensive character - this one crossed that line and it greatly hindered my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for this ALC. All opinions expressed are my own.

It's been twenty-years since the Memorial Day Massacre that claimed the lives of five of Amy's friends. It happened at a small house party they'd been enjoying together. After Amy was made to feel like she didn't belong though, she left. Little did she know, that was the luckiest choice she could've ever made. Within an hour, all of those left at the house were be dead.

In the present, Amy, along with ten other people connected to that night have been invited to a cliffside lodge by a journalist preparing to do a piece on the murders. After arriving at the home, and being introduced to one another, events quickly take a dark turn. With inclement weather closing in, isolating them even more from the outside world, it becomes clear that this weekend isn't what any of them expected it to be. As bodies start dropping, Amy and the others must fight to figure out who orchestrated this event and stop them before they complete their goal; keeping the secrets they've been hiding for twenty-years.

Y'all, I really enjoyed this. I went into She Left with zero expectations. I hadn't heard anyone talking about it and I was unfamiliar with this author's other works. I was attracted to it purely for the cover and synopsis. The synopsis was giving me a classic mystery/horror set-up, where people get invited to an event, like a dinner party or weekend retreat, only to arrive and realize it's not what they thought. It's very And Then There Were None, amongst others.

Grey succeeded in her delivery of that set-up. I loved how this started off, meeting all the characters and learning how they were all connected to the Memorial Day Massacre. They're not all as directly connected as Amy was, so it was interesting to figure out all of that. We do get glimpses into all the various character perspectives, but Amy is definitely our main focus, and as an FBI Agent, Amy really had the most to offer as far as figuring the whole thing out.

Grey also succeeded in really building out her atmosphere. I loved the setting of this. She didn't just tell us it was remote, it felt remote. The inclement weather, and potentially hazardous mudslides, added an extra element of danger that only aided in the feeling of anxiety and desperation. This is extremely fast-paced, as well as engaging and easy to follow. I listened to the audiobook and loved that as a format choice. I absolutely flew through it.

At the end of the day, I wouldn't say there's anything particularly ground-breaking about this story, but I didn't need there to be. It was still highly-entertaining and that's exactly what I was looking for. Overall, the plot is gripping and fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but still delivers a well-plotted, intense mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. I'm pumped to read more from this author!

This was a good read. Kept me on my toes. The narrator did a good job as well. It was very entertaining!

She Left, by Stacie Grey, was a who-dun-it type storyline that kept you guessing from the start. The book follows a small group of people, all related in some way to a massacre many years prior, as they get together for a remembrance. Of all the attendees, only Therese had been there the night her friends/classmates perished at the hands of someone else.

The book continues to slowly feed you information related to the massacre, but does not revolve around it- only each person’s involvement or relation to it. If the author is so inclined, I would love to read a story dedicated to the massacre itself!

The opening to the book immediately made me feel claustrophobic, set in a remote, hotel-like environment and immediately removed of all access outside including car keys and cell phones. The finger pointing and blaming kicks off immediately, as do dead bodies left and right.

I didn’t find this story super suspenseful, maybe more of a mystery genre than thriller, but excellent all around. I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator enjoyable as well. Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this ALC.

This was a fun who-dunnit thriller. I enjoyed the FMC and although I found her original bullying issue to be a little anti-climatic, I enjoyed her thought process throughout the book. The cast of characters was fun, my only issue was the fact that I knew who did it from the get go. However, that being said, there were enough twists and turns to keep me second-guessing my original guess, as I had no idea what the main motivation for the killer was. When the FMC brings everything to light it was an, "Ahhh that makes sense." All in all, this was a solid audiobook, I really enjoyed the narrator and had fun listening to this while prepping test packets for middle school standardized state testing.

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media for the free audiobook!

While I really enjoyed listening the narrator; Linda Jones did a great job, the story didn't hold my attention like I hoped.

The premise of being the final girl sounded so fun and while it really started off with a bang, it fell off as it went on for me.

I'm still hopeful this will be a success for the author!

This is out now!

I enjoyed this murder mystery thriller! Kept me guessing!

Publisher's summary
As a teenager, Amy Therese Brewer argued with her friends and stormed out of a party—moments before the five other teens were brutally murdered. Now, on the anniversary of those deaths, ten people with connections to the crime have been invited to a remote cliffside house by a journalist looking to do a story about the so-called Memorial Day Massacre. But the group quickly learns the event is not what it seems. As a storm closes in and guests begin to die, Therese realizes there is someone in the house who knows more than they admit about what happened that night long ago, and they will stop at nothing to protect their secrets.

Thanks to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the ALC!

She Left
By: Stacie Grey
Narrated by: Linda Jones
Release date: 05-14-24
Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Ten years after a horrific massacre, a journalist reunites those connected to the tragedy for a weekend retreat. As a storm isolates the group in a remote cliffside house, the past claws its way back with deadly consequences. Amy, the sole survivor from that fateful night, finds herself trapped in a terrifying game where no one is safe.

I enjoyed this suspenseful story, but the plot unravelled in a way that felt slightly convoluted at times. Overall, it's a gripping read that deserves 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4).

Amy Brewer was at a house party with 5 of her friends when she got in a fight with her friends and walked out. After she arrives home, a neighbor runs over to check on her, frantically calling Amy's parents to confirm that she is okay. All 5 of the friends that she left behind have been brutally murdered.

Twenty years later, Amy receives an email from a reporter asking her to join ten other people on a cliff-side house for the weekend. The reporter is going to write a story on the still unsolved murders and wanted to get the perspective of those connected to the case. But, a storm blows in, there's avalanche of rocks, and the guests start to die off one by one. Will Amy survive once again?

This was a fun closed room thriller reminding me of An Then There Were None.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio arc of this title.

A locked room (within a locked room) type mystery? Yes please. The plot is fantastic and I did enjoy some of it. Unfortunately I was bored.

The narrator did a fine job orating the prose but I kept “checking out”. So this may be a “me thing” and I would have enjoyed the physical book a lot better.

The characters just didn’t grab me so I didn’t buy into them and care what happened to them.

However, the premise of surviving a massacre only to regroup years later on a private island with other survivors and face peril, it definitely meets the basic expectations.

So if you like this genre, give it a go!

There were a lot of great things about this story, and the ending was my favorite.

In She Left, an Agatha Christie style storytelling, ten people are invited to stay with a journalist ten years after a horrific event shook their small town. Their connections to each other start to make sense and the ten guests begin to realize that their stay will be less than relaxing.

First of all, Linda Jones is an expert narrator. She was able to keep each character distinguished from the next, to a point where I kept thinking there were multiple narrators.

Like I mentioned, the ending was my favorite. Everything tied together and it was incredibly satisfying. We got slivers of information to keep us guessing, like the picture on the wall. Also, the coffee thing at the end was such a nice touch, it made me smile.

She Left will keep you on your toes and keep you guessing!

Massive thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, Poisoned Pen Press, and of course Stacie Grey for allowing me to read and review this advanced copy.

I was approved as an ARC for this book, a coming together of people to relive and dissect a bombing done twenty years ago and it sets off with them dying one after the other. As they slowly find out what happened years ago they learn more about each other also. Ending with all loose ends tied. Good book

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚......

Special thanks to @dreamscape_media @staciegreyauthor @poisonedpenpress and @netgalley for the #gifted eALC.

👉🏼 swipe for synopsis ➡️

MY REVIEW:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Like usual, I went into this blind, and I really enjoyed it! I didn't know it was a 'locked-room' style story, but that was an added bonus since that's one of my fav subgenres.

Amy Brewer may be the luckiest person, depending on who you ask. She left a high school party early because her "friends" were making fun of her and subsequently saved her own life from a mass murder.
Now, Amy has to live with the guilt of leaving all her friends to die, even though she never knew it was coming.

Her and a bunch of random people get invited to this house, they find out they all have some relation to someone who died in the murders, but the reason they were lured there was, of course, under false pretenses. Now, they need to figure out which one of them is here for revenge and stay alive until help comes for them.

I thought this was an interesting story, especially since it was people other than just immediate family members or other classmates. It had such a variety. It's what gave it a different edge from other locked room revenge stories. It definitely had a YA feel, but I'm loving those lately, so that didn't both me.

I think this was a great listen, I'd definitely recommend it.


QOTD ❓️⁉️❓️ What's your favorite genre, and it's subgenre you love?

AOTD - Thrillers, of course - but I love dark academia & locked room.

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#mysteryandthrills #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #sheleft #netgalley #lockedroomthriller #bookbuzz #audiobook #advancedaudiobook
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These types of books may not be the most original, but they are very entertaining. Teenage Therese ran away from a party, only to find out that everyone who stayed was murdered. Years later, an FBI agent, she’s invited to an isolated mansion along with other people related to the tragedy, the host is missing and a storm is coming… Ten little soldier boys… I loved the descriptions of the house, dilapidated but still impressive, and surrounded by a creepy forest. Some of the characters were memorable, although I found that others were so generic that I forgot who they were or what they were doing. In any case, narrator Linda Jones gives them all their own voice, so that at least the main cast of characters was easy to identify. Her rhythm and tone get darker in all the right places, so this may be worth getting the audio format. I didn’t care for all the characters, some were very unlikable, but I was rooting for Therese. The final part was very suspenseful and I really didn’t know whodunit. Enjoyable and fun.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Dreamscape Media.

Living with the fact that right after she left a party when she was a teenager, all her friends were killed in an explosion and knife attack, Amy Brewer has been invited to a weekend away by a journalist writing a story. There are several attendees and all have relationships with those who were killed. As members of the group start dying it is evident that the killer from years before is among them. Who is it and how do they stop them?

4 ⭐️ for She left by Stacie Grey
20 years after the Memorial Day Massacre 10 people are bought together for the weekend who all have connections to the victims But when people end up dying the need to figure out who is doing it and could they be connected to the original killer?

Linda Jones the narrator was great for this audio book, I listened to it at 1.25X and it was easy to follow and kept you interested. The story keeps you guessing till the very end on who is the killer and what is their motive.

I got 30% in before I gave up. There were far too many characters to keep straight. The narrator was good but still couldn't keep my interest.

I was so excited to get into this audiobook! I love “clue” type thrillers. A house full of people, all connected to one event, but they die one by one. Who is the killer?

This one fell a bit short for me. It wasn’t near as thrilling or as twisty as I was expecting. The lack of thrills made it hard to get into and care about any of the characters.

The narrator is great, easy to understand, and full of emotion. I listened at 2x and it was the perfect speed.

All in all, it wasn’t a terrible story, it was entertaining enough. It just didn’t have the thrills and twists like I prefer.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the premise of this book where Amy survived a massacre and is drawn back to be interviewed about her experiences, only to find the real killer is there to end things. This book was full of twists and turns and I didn’t know who to the real killer was throughout and always suspected Amy may have known more than she was letting on to. This was a great and twisty read.

She Left by Stacie Grey

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the free audiobook.

A fast listen and such a fun locked door mystery! Amy is the final girl from a previous attack, so why would she accept an invitation to a weekend away from someone doing a story on that incident?! I’m not sure but she did, and now we get a good story. With excellent suspense and thrill, this is a great choice for fans of locked door mysteries to read or listen to. Linda Jones narrated this story and she was amazing. I’d listen to more books read by this narrator. She Left is out today, 5/14/24. Happy publication day!

Happy reading 📖