Member Reviews
Natalie has gone to stay at Shanamore cottages to figure out whether her partner is having an affair but then she disappears. Audrey a reporter looks into her disappearance and visits Shanamore cottages herself before receiving a disturbing video that may hold the first clue. Just what has happened to Natalie and who is responsible?
This was a page Turner from the very start. Its split into chapters via their place in the story, cleverly done using pause, rewind, play etc. It added a unique twist to the story and helped figure when everything was happening. The plot itself is full of twists and turns. I figured out some but not all of them. The characters each add to the mystery of the story, keeping you guessing as to who knows what. The story builds to a rather short ending. I wanted to see more of the capture but the excerpt from Audrey's book ended it nicely. A dark thriller with some brilliant twists.
An entertaining intruiging page turner! I really enjoyed this thriller, it grabbed my attention from the start and kept me fully involved to the final page. The writing is excellent and the plotting of story is told in an unique way.
Rewind is a story will keep you on your toes. Exciting, suspenseful, intriguing, a thoroughly good read, I will definitely look for more books by this author.
4 Stars from me
This is one of those 'clear a day as you ain't putting this book down' type of books!
I was utterly hooked from the beginning and loved the roller coaster of pause / play / rewind as the story jumped around.
The insta famous aspect was really good too, probably a pretty accurate glimpse into the lifestyle of the accidentally famous.
Shanamore Holiday Cottages... what can I say except that I will now probably never stay in a holiday cottage on my own! Much like the ever present acute awareness I have in public toilets after watching the film Copy Cat!
Rewind contained some really interesting characters - from Andrew the pathetic and creepy weird, to Sean the good guy, slightly spoilt Natalie and slightly desperate reporter Audrey - Catherine Ryan Howard did a fantastic job of making them all seem real and plausible.
Very clever, addictive book which will keep you on your toes!
My thanks to Atlantic Books/Corvus for an eARC via NetGalley of Catherine Ryan Howard’s ‘Rewind’ in exchange for an honest review.
Double thanks are due as I also participated in The Pigeonhole’s group read and was able to share my thoughts and comments with other readers as we read the daily chapters.
A murder is caught on a secret camera but we have missed the start. In order to understand what happened we have to rewind....
The plot details of ‘Rewind’ are difficult to summarise given its format, which moves forward and backwards in time so we gain glimpses of its plot from various points of view.
Natalie O’Conner, a popular Irish Instagram influencer, is reported missing by her husband. Audrey, who works in the Entertainment division of an Irish newspaper, is asked to look into it by her editor. Audrey follows up on a tip that Natalie has traveled to Shanamore in County Cork.
Yet we already know that Andrew, the manager of the Shanamore Holiday Cottages, has watched via a spy camera his only guest being murdered in her bed.
The ‘Play, Pause, Rewind’ format was a bit confusing especially as new characters were introduced. I found the way the chapters were headed with time stamps didn’t help. I was grateful for my fellow pigeons so I knew it wasn’t just me struggling. However, after a while the fragmented pieces started to come together.
So for my response was mixed. I quite liked Natalie, who emerged as quite a genuine person, and Audrey, who was struggling to make her mark in a fiercely competitive world. Yet other characters felt under-developed. Generally I felt that I was working on a jigsaw without an overall picture to guide me.
Certainly ‘Rewind’ was an okay read but I wasn’t bowled over.
A readable book, but the storyline was rather predictable with only the tagged on explanation at the end clearing the husband of any misdemeanours.
With thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and Pigeonhole for the. Arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
Whilst I enjoyed reading this book and the storyline was very clever and the twist at the end was extremely unexpected, I thought it was a bit confusing at times, with going back in time and then into the present and then the imagined and which character was who and why they behaved the way they did.
I was not wholeheartedly involved with the book and the characters, who were not the easiest of people to live with or like. In the end I think for me it was too overly complicated.
This is a complicated story about an Instagram Star who goes missing. The story starts with a bang. A man is watching a video where a woman is sleeping in a bed. Turns out this guy owns some cottages and he likes to watch his guests. In this particular video he witnesses a murder.
The story jumps back and forth like a video. There is forward, pause and rewind. I don’t know why this kind of labeling was necessary. There could have been different headlines like names etc. While the beginning is strong and creepy the end is disappointing because it is all just telling. Through the entire book the story is character driven. But at the end it is just explaining what happened and how.
This book was an ok read. I liked it but I did not love it. For me it was not as good as the authors other books. The story is creepy and complicated and full of interesting characters but the end is rushed and not as good elaborated as the rest of the book.
I wanted to love this book. I loved the premise and although the chapter headings - rewind, pause, play, fast forward - were a bit confusing at first, I started to get my head round it and was enjoying it as a dark mystery/thriller. It was building up really well for a big reveal ending ... that just didn't come. I was really disappointed with the ending and if talk of a sequel is true, I am not sure whether I will read it.
Rewind begins with an opening scene depicting a frenzied stabbing of a woman sleeping in her bed. Most creepy was the fact that the whole scene was being filmed. So immediately the reader is questioning - who is the masked killer? Who is the victim? And why and who is secretly filming the attack?
The book then goes on to tell the story of Natalie by rewinding, pausing and fast-forwarding in time. Whilst an enjoyable read, I wasn't particularly engaged with the story. There weren't any real surprises or shocking twists. It is well-written, and for fans of this genre, it is worth a look. But for me personally, I found it somewhat lacking in depth. The characters were not interesting enough, and I wasn't kept on the edge of my seat. Not terrible by any means, but for me, not brilliant.
Natalie is an Instagram star, but then she disappears. Her husband has no idea where she’s gone…but someone is watching.
Told in the present with flashbacks to the past this is a psychological thriller with a difference. Play, Pause, Rewind.
Natalie believes her husband has been to Shanamore Cottages with someone else, she finds a poetry book in cottage Number 6….it’s hers. How did it get there?
When a video appears, it shows a brutal murder in the cottage, so many questions are raised….why were there cameras in the cottages?, where is the body? Was it Natalie?
There’s Andrew the cottage manager with a secret, Richard, a creepy, aggressive loner who wanders around the area, Audrey a journalist looking into the missing Natalie’s case and Jennifer a hotel,reception, how are these linked and just who is telling the truth?
I found this incredibly tense and a real page turner, a proper whodunnit. Yes, the ending is very abrupt but it felt right…any more would have just been padding. Original and totally believable. I can thoroughly recommend it.
Thank you to The Publishers, The Author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this for free. This is my honest and unbiased review.
Once again, I start a review with an apology. I'm sorry that the author's hard work just missed the mark for me. I know that I am in the minority here, and honestly, I completely understand why.
There were parts of this book that really grabbed my attention and pulled me in - Natalie, the reporter - their POVs were interesting and vital. But several other characters were in the mix too, and I understand that their involvement in the story arc is meant to heighten the tension and drive the mystery but for me, they jolted me out of the story somewhat. And, given the nature of the "then and now" narrative style, the two things didn't gel together for me.
And that is why this is something of a dichotomy of a review. I don't think this is a bad book. The writing is very visceral. I strongly suspect that if I had been able to stick it out, the payoff would have been worth it. It simply bounced back and forth too many times (character and/or timeframe) for me to maintain interest, and ultimately, I had to put the book down. Maybe I'll come back to it. Just not now.
Sorry.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
I thought this book was great and it only missed out on 5 stars because the ending really was pretty abrupt and left the reader dangling a bit too much! I do believe however that this book is part one of a series so this might be why the author has deliberately left Rewind at this point?
I loved the chapter headings with rewind, pause, and fast forward as I though this was an original and clever way of dipping backwards and forwards through the story's timeline.
It's a book for the modern age as it follows the obsessive nature of Instagram, how one can make a living from posting on the site as an 'influencer' and how ultimately living one's life in such public detail for all to see can invite unwanted attention from less than balanced people.
Natalie is the Instagram influencer and her husband is Mike. Things start disappearing, appearing and the back door to their house is found unlocked a couple of times. Natalie begins to think she is being followed by a woman in thick black glasses and suspects that Mike is having an affair. As a result of her need to find out the truth she visits Shanamore, an out of the way, more or less deserted seaside resort in East Cork when she finds a bill in Mike's name for the destination. Unfortunately by going there under an assumed name, Natalie opens herself wide to yet more trouble and meets some very creepy blokes, Richard who seems to wander everywhere uninvited and Andrew the guy who manages the 6 holiday cottages at Shanamore.
Something is seriously amiss and it is a report Audrey Coughlan who, desperate to move into proper reporting and get away from mindless entertainment trivia, stumbles upon a story that gets bigger and bigger.
Is Natalie just missing? Is she dead? And if she is, who did it?
Thoroughly enjoyed this very contemporary page-turner. Natalie is an Instagrammer, happily married and busy in Dublin attending events and building her business. But when weird events start happening at home, and an odd invoice for a remote seaside cottage turns up, she decides to investigate. The book then jumps between different timescales and viewpoints to roll the story back and forth, as an online journalist tries to find out what’s happened to Natalie.
I loved this dive into the world of the online influencer and the online journalist, with plot twists and tension galore. Really tautly written and clever plotting.
What a rollercoaster of a read. The book takes you quickly to the heart of the action. Natalie an instagrammer in Dublin has suddenly left the family home. She reappears in a small Irish seaside town. But what has driven her to this backwater place.
Next thing we know is she’s dead but the crime has been caught on a secret webcam in her room.
At times I found I was getting a little confused with the story being told in the past, and present tense. However stick with it. It’s a fabulous story and well worth a read.
Thank you to the publishers, Catherine Ryan Howard and Netgalley for an advanced copy.
I absolutely loved this book, it is an edge of your seat read, with all the lights on. I was gripped from start to finish. The characters were all so convoluted. Andrew who likes young girls, Richard also known as Icky Ricky, Natalie the Instagrammer, Mike Natalie’s husband, Orlando the girl at the cafe with Natalie’s picture on the wall. Jennifer delusional, or lover, or stalker. Audrey the online reporter, Seanie the new young Garda at Shanamore.
These characters all made you wonder what they had to hide if anything, who committed the murder, each time you thought you guessed one thing something sent you in another direction. My only thing that I really struggled with was the timeline as it was back and forth and in the end I started to ignore it and worked out where I was through the plot. I thought the whole book was just pure genius. I would not want to stay at Shanamore cottages that’s for sure.
If you want to curl up with a really good Psychological thriller I can highly recommend this one, it will keep you guessing until the end.
Thank you netgalley and Corvus for letting me have an ARC of this book all views and opinions are my own and honest and unbiased.
WoW....WoW...............WoW.............What a fantastic book Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard was. I love books like this. Its full of twists and turns with a brilliant plot that will lead to a OMG ending!
This book rewinds and starts with a woman murdered on camera.
Who is she?
Audrey is a tabloid reporter and has done little to accomplish anything big on the tabloids. Until her boss gives her an assignment on the disappearance of famous instagrammer, called Natalie O'Connor.
Natalie wants to get away and rents a small cottage to clear her mind and reevaluate her life after a difficult situation back at home with her husband. She doesn't know the bedroom she's staying in has hidden camera and someone is watching her every move.
You meet Andrew, he is the cottages' manager. In his past time he enjoys watching people who have rented the cottages from him. He becomes a witness to Natalie's murder by a mysterious figure.
Who is the mysterious figure who murdered Natalie?
Does the murder know Andrew is videoing people who have rented these cottages?
Then it goes fast forwards.............Then rewinds back.........pauses and Stops!
Each part tells you a part of this story and what has happened to the Natalie. Then........Stop at the end.
WoW.......Just Brilliant how it all comes together and very cleverly as well.
I highly Recommend this Wonderful book 5/5 read!
Big thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advanced digital copy of Rewind, a Psychological Thriller, in return for an honest review
This is a really good psychological thriller that had me hooked from the first few pages.
The story is told from several different perspectives and goes back and forth in time.
Natalie is concerned that someone is stalking her and is even more concerned that her husband may be having an affair.
She finds a credit card receipt for some secluded country holiday cottages and is determined to find out if her husband was there with another woman.
When she arrives it’s even more remote than she thought, and she has doubts about it.
Natalie starts to ask the locals questions about her husband but as a famous instagrammer, she’s soon recognised. She asks her to keep it quiet that she’s seen her, which she does, until Natalie is missing.
Orla contacts the press following an appeal for information and Audrey can’t wait to get her teeth into this investigation.
This book has many layers and I loved the way they were all brought together at the end.
This is a great read and I would like to thank Corvus/Atlantic Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
I really enjoyed this book. A woman is stabbed to death in a lonely holiday cottage in Ireland. The whole attack was being filmed on a hidden camera and watched by the manager of the complex.. The story is told in different timeframes and from the perspective of different characters. There are some really nasty characters and I think the description of it being Psycho meets Fatal Attraction is very apt! I recommend it as a really great read. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.
This is an excellent suspense thriller that right from the start was an excellent read. It has an unusual format where the chapters are played out in play, rewind and forward like a dvd and at times I did find this a bit confusing.
Take a little piece of Pulp Fiction, add in a Dash of Memento flavoured with Fatal Attraction, and then stir in a little drop of Psycho.
Add your "Liquid Hell" to your cocktail shaker, pop in a few ice cubes and shake that sucker until your head explodes!
This is the book that makes you go "Wait...Whaaa"
The story is so cleverly written, it is just as you would be watching a murder mystery on a VHS, but you really want to get to the good parts, you stop the video, rewind, watch a little bit, decide that's not the part that you wanted. Rewind again, nope still not it, perhaps it was further on than you thought? Maybe try fast-forwarding, nope not it, rewind it again.....
STOP...
PLAY...
PAUSE....
WHAT...IS...THAT??
Each chapter gives you a snippet, but not enough, and you just have to keep on reading!
Some truly unlikeable characters in this story but what a great story it was.
Natalie is what we would now call an influencer, she is an Instagram star.
She's made lots of money and has used this to pay for a new house that her and her husband have moved in to.
So why would she just pick up and leave her somewhat perfect life, and book herself into some random holiday cottage in the middle of nowhere with a creepy manager?
The book starts at the end of the tape, and this tape is what someone is watching when a woman is brutally murdered while asleep in bed, someone is watching a live feed from a secret camera in the room
A murder, caught on camera, You've already missed the start. To get the full picture you must rewind the tape and play it through to the end, no matter how shocking...
A very clever thriller that will keep you turning the pages.
**Thank you to Atlantic Books, Netgalley and the Author for a copy of this book**
Enjoy the madness
Vicci