My Rating: ★★★.5
Blurb:
I release myself from the shackles of the outside world and embrace the wilderness within.
As Bella drops her son off at university, she’s devastated. It’s been the two of them ever since Asher was born. The only thing helping her through is the upcoming week-long wilderness retreat in Sweden. It’ll be her chance to reconnect and recharge.
At the retreat, Bella basks in the beauty of the modern lodge, with its luxury rooms and picture-perfect views, the glistening lake and lush forest. For the full detox effect, everyone must surrender their phones.
The holiday seems idyllic until the person who ruined Bella’s life years ago arrives, threatening everything she’s worked hard for and will do anything to protect. Suddenly, a terrified Bella is trapped in the wild, knowing someone wants her dead…
**Spoiler-Free Review**
I received this book from HQ Digital via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was looking for a good thriller to start the year, and this sounded right up my street.
My favourite part of this book had to be the writing and the perfect atmosphere Moore created. The isolated retreat in the middle of the Swedish forest was so incredibly creepy. The mindfulness of the retreat was also a great reason for the characters not having access to the outside world with their mobile phones. I loved seeing Bella's relationship with Asher, and how she interacted with the various people at the retreat. The other guests were the perfect mixture of annoying and suspicious as well. The books starts off extremely strong and the first 30% were filled with suspense and intrigue.
I will say that the middle of the book did drag for me a little. I felt like the same few things were happening for a few days in a row (bad night sleeping, bad day, drinking, throwing up, nails on wall). It also had far too many dream sequences that became repetitive and boring; I found myself skimming the fifth or sixth one because it was so obviously a dream. The main character also made a few silly decisions throughout the book and saying things like 'this is the sort of stupid thing someone would do in a horror movie', but still proceeding to do it, doesn't make it any less stupid.
I'm happy to say that I didn't see the twist coming, but I also didn't feel like it had enough of an impact. I wish Bella was more lucid at the end to get more answers, because there are a few extra things that I wanted to know. I'm actually amazed that Bella didn't realise how badly her maths was off in the final chapter though. When she said she dropped out of university the next week, my main thought was 'that's ridiculously quick', and I was right.
I did really enjoy the Epilogue though and the relationship between all the characters, that actually felt really good and it tied everything up very nicely. Overall, I would say this is an extremely atmospheric thriller; so if you're looking for that creepy, isolated feeling, then look no further. I think other people might enjoy the twist more than I did, so don't let that put you off. Pick this up if you're looking for your next twisty read.
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