Member Reviews

A good read with plenty of suspense and a brilliant twist. I loved the setting and got caught up in what was happening.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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An excellent, intelligent read which had me hooked throughout.
There were some clever twists but generally the whole plot had enough cliffhangers to keep the reader interested all the way through.
The story raced along to a I'm looking forward to the next one already.

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This is my first book written by this author thanks to Netgalley allowing me to read it and then review. OMG what a page turner. Creepy atmospheric, brilliant. I have already downloaded my next book by this author. Would thoroughly recommend, but don’t read if you’re staying in a room by yourself!!!!

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This novel opens with a very disturbing murder taking place on film, then moves backwards and forwards in time to see what led to the event. A dark psychological thriller, this book promised a lot, but I actually found some of the detail of the violence unnecessary and the ending was.a little disappointing. Easy to read, but ultimately a little disappointing and far-fetched.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic books for an ARC of this book.

First up, having an ARC that not only hasn't been formatted, but also hasn't been proofed, proved extremely frustrating for me. And it's impossible to give feedback that will reflect upon the final book.

Now on to the story itself. It's tagged as Psycho meets Fatal Attraction, but frankly, it wasn't that much of a thriller. Neither was it a mystery. It was obvious who'd done what right from the off. As soon as the key players appeared in the narrative, they gave the plot away.

Instead of chapters, the layout is in Play, Pause, and Rewind, and the individual 'times' on the 'tape' didn't seem to have any correlation whatsoever, making this a confusing read with a jumpy timeline.

I didn't invest in the characters at all, and they felt more like props or gimmicks than real people. I finished the read but it really wasn't my cup of tea. It gets two stars from me.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I CONSIDER A 3-STAR RATING A POSITIVE REVIEW. PICKY ABOUT WHICH BOOKS I GIVE 5 STARS TO, I RESERVE THIS HIGHEST RATING FOR THE STORIES I FIND STUNNING AND WHICH MOVED ME.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — GO READ THIS BOOK.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — AN OKAY READ. DIDN’T LOVE IT. DIDN’T HATE IT.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —LACKING IN SOME AREAS: WRITING, CHARACTERISATION, AND/OR PROBLEMATIC PLOT LINES.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —LOTS OF ISSUES WITH THIS BOOK.

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I really enjoyed this book, I liked the way the plot unfolded and how relatable the characters were. A great read

Many thanks to Netgalley and Catherine Ryan Howard for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

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‘Rewind’ is a novel that put puts the ‘grip’ into the grip-lit genre - I had absolutely no idea where this book was going to take me from one moment to the next and unlike so many novels before it, this one did NOT disappoint - the ending being refreshingly strong and satisfying! I was impressed by the way the author didn’t shy away from uncomfortable topics, tackling them in a non-judgemental way that added to the intrigue of the story. Thank you to publisher/ author / NetGalley for a preview of this book in exchange for an honest review. I can say without hesitation that I am eagerly anticipating delving into another title from Catherine Ryan Howard.

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This story is about Natalie a successful influencer on Instagram. The book starts off with us finding out that Natalie has gone missing and the Garda are treating her disappearance as murder.

I enjoyed the story as a whole but it took me a while to get into it. The timeline leaps all over the place. There are titles such as PLAY, REWIND, PAUSE, FAST FORWARD. I found it very confusing and at some points I was not sure whose POV I was reading from.

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This was an intriguing story with an unusual plotline, that fell a little flat for me. The story itself was good, encompassing influencers on Instagram, voyeurism, murder and plenty of shady characters. However, the execution meant that any suspense that started to build up was lost when the plot jumped forward or backward. To me, it felt like a novelty to tie in with the video aspect of the murder and also Andrew's background. The characters became props to propel the story forward rather than people that I felt invested in reading about. That's just my opinion though, and I can see that other readers liked this plot device.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

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Catherine Ryan Howard has created a fan out of me with Rewind. This is my first from the author and it certainly won't be my last. The story is creepy. Howard makes use of a unique format taking advantage of the Pause, Play, Rewind, Fast forward aspect of the novel. The story actually starts in the middle with a woman being killed and then the book proceeds to rewind to the past and at times fast forward, etc. It is confusing at first and takes some getting used to, but once you get it..the book is fast-paced. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy excellently plotted psychological thrillers.

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I thought this was a good story. The Rewind idea was somewhat challenging if you just read on to the next chapter as it tackles several timelines and it was not always clear which was which. It uses heading such as "Pause" to inform the reader but it can be unclear.
I did enjoy it and thought that the horror chapters were not gratuitous but added to the story. The characters were quite real and the very up to date theme of Instagram and blogging made the whole story feel very possible.
I did identify the killer as I progressed through the book.
Some of the characters eg: the local Guarda officer, had side stories which seemed to fizzle out and were not continued as the story continued.

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Slightly confusing style and format which meant I had to read several parts again to follow the storyline.
The story focuses on a internet star Natalie who disappears in a tourist village outside Cork - she has gone there to try and find evidence that her husband has been cheating on her.
The manager of Shanahmore holiday cottages has hidden cameras in the cottage and sees an attack by someone on Natalie.
The format is set out as Play,pause and rewind - which made it difficult to get into the story.
A clever idea but made the storyline confusing and difficult to get into.
I didn't find any of the main characters likeable which spoiled the enjoyment of reading.
A lot of twists and turns throughout.

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Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this book

Oh my, this was the first book I have read by Catherine and I was absolutely gripped. I read it in two sittings on holiday. I was a little scared afterwards and had to get my husband to check our holiday let one night as I had a bit of a scary moment. Catherine is a great thriller writer and she I am now a bit worried about sleeping somewhere that isn't my own home. Still scared now and again now !!

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So creepy and so disturbing!
Instagram "influencer" Natalie is trying to find out if her husband is really cheating on her and disappears off to a tiny holiday let on the coast to track down his illicit liaison.
Audrey is trying to track down Natalie, hoping for a juicy story that will elevated her from the click-farm of the entertainment pages of her online newspaper employer up into the realms of the real reporters.

However, all is not as it seems at Shanamore cottages, with so many disturbing characters hanging around the place it feels like the type of place you should leave before you get there from the outset!

It turns out that all of your instincts play out in this chilling tale of a seemingly innocent trip to discover the truth, unearthing a whole different and despicable reality as the book plays, pauses and rewinds through the various characters viewpoints and back stories to finally arrive at the real truth.
Creepy, chilling, intense, horrifying.

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This one started off slow and seemed to drag on quite a bit. Premise was initially interesting but I did get quite confused with the timeline and didn't care very much for any of the characters. Honestly - IMHO - it was overly descriptive in parts and meandered in others. I admit to reading it piece-meal and perhaps that was my undoing as when I picked it up again I'd lost the thread as to who was who and where they were . This is the first book of Howard's that I've read so I'm going to refrain from any further comment until I read her next. Overall I wasn't too invested in it and was kind of glad when the book finally reached it's conclusion. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

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I found this book to be very confusing. I couldn't follow the replay/pause/ rewind style and gave up. Sorry, this ones not for me

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Once I’d got used to the play/pause/rewind/fastforward element of this novel (which I’m still not entirely sure I followed the concept of, but that says more about me than it does the story), I loved this book - not least because it was set in Ireland (for some reason I really enjoy stories set there, even though I have never been!), this story is a truly thrilling whodunnit. After Instagram sensation Natalie goes missing, it seems to fall at the feet of journalist Audrey to investigate what has happened - but there are other characters with their own dark secrets who know far, far more than they are saying. I particularly enjoyed how the story ends, as everything is properly tied up for the reader - something that is not always the case for every thriller.

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It's always good to discover a new author and as soon as I've finished writing this review I'll be going onto Amazon to see what other books of Catherine Howard's I can download. This is a genuinely creepy psychological thriller about a social influencer Natalie who disappears. It involves child sex abuse, pornography, blackmail and hidden cameras recording in holiday homes and hotels. Horrible! The structure is a little odd following Pause, record and rewind just as you would on a video recording and while I understand the relevance of this I did find it a little contrived and unnecessary but it didn't detract from my enjoyment. The characters (apart from the hideous 'baddies') were sympathetic and Audrey the would be journalist was particularly well drawn.

All in all, a good psychological thriller. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

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This is a real page turner of a book with a really unusual plot. It starts with a description of a really brutal murder that has been filmed by a hidden camera. Problem is, the murderer knew it was there but was not the person responsible for placing the camera. The person who did hide the camera now can't disclose the murder to police because he will be implicated in other crimes. Add to this the disappearance of an instagram influencer, mysterious credit card bill which indicates her husband has been unfaithful and other characters that are all downright creepy!!

The style of the book is one I'm not always keen on - we go back and forward in time with the different characters until we have an overall picture of what happened.... bit by bit the full picture is revealed. Although I sometimes struggle to keep track of this type of storytelling, there is a relatively small number of characters that made it easy to follow.

There are some huge issues tackled in this book - child sex offenders, pornography, infidelity, marital problems, lies, secrets, gaslighting.... it's all in here. Despite this, it's not as far fetched as you might think and has left me with a bit of uncomfortable feelings about holiday accommodation and social media!!

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Intriguing storyline and great characterisation throughout. Timeline could get a little confusing but didn’t detract from enjoyment of the novel.

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