This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel is a strangely unsettling yet absolutely gripping read. I was hooked by the premise, loving as I do books about cults, and while this might not strictly fit into that description, it definitely scratched an itch.
The book is largely the story of two sisters, Natalie and Kit, who are very different people leading very different lives. Older sister Natalie is organised, bossy and always thinks she knows better than younger sister Kit who has drifted from job to job and leads a largely unsettled life, particularly since the death of their mother. When Kit tells Natalie that she is leaving her job and apartment to spend six months living on an island retreat where she will become a better braver version of herself, Natalie has her doubts, especially when told that contact with the outside world is forbidden. The apparent lack of any information beyond the retreat's own website and dearth of reviews does nothing to reassure her either, so when she receives a mysterious unsigned email from inside the retreat threatening to reveal her darkest secret, she decides to take matters into her own hands and visit Wisewood for herself. Despite a less than warm welcome from the community she is determined to try to convince her sister to leave, even if it means telling her a truth that will break her heart but as she discovers, getting off the island may be a lot harder that she imagined, and her sister is even less willing to leave than she could ever have thought.
This is a dark and disturbing book about family and the power that familial relationships have over us no matter how much we wish it was otherwise. The author really plays with the reader by using a mix of timelines and point of view characters , which might confuse some readers at first but does come together well in the end. A word of warning however, if you do not like ambiguous endings this may not be the book for you.
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

A story being told by several characters and over different timelines, involving abusive upbringings and a cult.

Natalie Collins is a successful businesswoman but hasn’t got the greatest of relationships with her sister, Kit. Her sister Kit was struggling after the death of their Mother but then she found Wisewood.

Wisewood is situated on a private island and promises to help you but you have to commit to a six month stay and cut all communication with the outside world.

Natalie didn’t think Kir should go but six months after Kit left for Wisewood, Natalie received a menacing email from someone on the island. Natalie decides to visit Wisewood and find her sister. But what will she find on the remote island ? And will her sister be pleased to see her ?

A great psychological thriller that maybe a little confusing to start with due to the differing timelines and characters but it soon becomes clear, so definitely stick with it. Very well written and if you like this style of book then its definitely one to look out for.

Thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

This Might Hurt follows Natalie who receives a mysterious and threatening email from the self-help retreat where her sister is currently staying. She immediately heads to Wisewood – a remote island where visitors surrender access to the outside world and their own personal privacy. As you’d expect, nothing is quite what it seems and Wisewood comes across as very cultish. Beyond the mystery, This Might Hurt is very much about how far we can bend and what lengths we might be willing to go to.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d hoped. There were multiple POVs, multiple timelines and it didn’t really work for me. I also found that I couldn’t connect with any of the characters which meant that I didn’t care what happened to them and I do think that’s an important factor for me.

While there’s a lot of suspense, I’m not entirely sure that I’d call this a mystery or a thriller. The mysteries contained in the story were more uncovering secrets than anything else and the most thrilling thing was the remote and somewhat claustrophobic setting.

However, I do think that the way that Wrobel built up the main characters from childhood well into adulthood was masterfully executed. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t what I expected or hoped to get out of this book.

This Might Hurt tells the story of two sisters, Kit and Natalie. After a difficult period in her life, Kit heads off to Wisewood, a secluded island retreat where residents work hard to become their 'maximised self' under the watchful eyes of Teacher. Natalie receives a threatening email from Wisewood and heads off to find her sister and bring her home.

This story is told in three narratives, one of each sister and the third is unknown until part way through the book. Initially, I did find it a little confusing with the mixed narrators and mixed timelines, but it all came together about halfway through and made a lot more sense.

Wisewood is mysterious and sinister with it's cult-like lifestyle and the descriptions made me feel as though I was really there.

Some of the earlier chapters contained scenes of child abuse, which I did find hard to read, but these eased off as the book got going.

Overall, it was an interesting read and I enjoyed the mystery of Wisewood.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

When I read the description to This Might Hurt I was really intrigued by the story. Unfortunately once I started reading it was not what I was expecting. I still enjoyed it but just not as much as I thought I would.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

I enjoyed Stephanie's first book so was keen to read this and whilst I did get confused about who was who for a while I did really enjoy it. The tension is immense and I loved the back stories. Self-help and wellness retreats are big business nowadays and this was a fascinating take on how you can just take it too far. I really feel like Stephanie Wrobel is a writer who is just going to keep on growing.

After reading and thoroughly enjoying Stephanie Wrobel's first book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on her latest release. Unfortunately this just wasn't for me. I didn't think the story had much mystery or thrilling elements and the abrupt ending didn't sit well with me. I would still definitely give this author another go because I believe she has talent and can write a compelling story. It's just that this story wasn't for me.

The beginning of this novel made me a bit uncomfortable with the way Natalie and her sister were treated by their father. When the girls were older and starting to live their own lives, the story improved - becoming more about power and how to overcome pain. Before writing this review I actually looked at other reviews- (which I wouldn’t normally do), as I thought I must have missed something in the storyline thinking Natalie had become Rebecca, but I see I am not alone in getting confused and lost. I felt the ending was really abrupt and the storyline unanswered.

In This Might Hurt the reader gets to meet sisters, Kit and Natalie who are, like a lot of sisters, completely unalike. Natalie gets a message out of the blue from someone who is at the mysterious Wisewood, a retreat on a private island off the coast of Maine, where her sister has been living for the past six months. The message states that they will leak the secret Natalie has been keeping from Kit and, panicking Natalie makes the trip to Wisewood...

Told via two timelines, This Might Hurt was well written and oozed atmosphere and menace. A chilling tale heavy on control and manipulation, there are some fantastic reveals at regular intervals. Fascinating, riveting and thought-provoking to the end, I'm delighted to have read this novel.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Penguin Michael Joseph via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Messed up family dynamics? Complex sisterly relationships? Cults? On paper, Wrobel's sophomore novel is hand-crafted for me - after recieveing a mysterious email from the "wellness centre" her sister is attending, Natalie Collins travels to the mysterious Wisewood to discover what's happened to her sister, and to try and save their relationship. Told by 3 narrators across 2 timelines, This Might Hurt certainly isn't a bad novel, but it's not quite the compelling thrill-ride I hoped for, either.
As mentioned, 3 narrators across 2 timelines is a lot to wrap your head around, especially when one is totally anonymous, seemingly at a total remove from the present timeline. This anonymous voice is, however, by far the most compelling - their story is one of familial abuse and the scars it leaves on a person, and it's well done. This storyline also has a lot of interesting things to say about the concept of fear and how human nature lets fear control us - I found these passages to be razor-sharp and fascinating, particaruly as Wrobel uses stage magic - of all things! - to explain her thinking around the nature of pain and fear. These sections would have been better served by an earlier reveal as to who the narrator is - the anonymity, instead of thrilling me, left me distracted and a little frustrated.
The setting - Westwood wellness retreat, on a remote island off the Maine coast - also wasn't as compelling as I needed it to be, falling flat due to two-dimensional characters and a total lack of the uneasy feeling a creepy setting should give you. I know what Wroebel was trying to do but I just don't think it was executed as well as it could have been.
All of the above said, I found the last 50% of this book really engaging and was looking forward to sitting down with it every night. The relationship between the two sisters is the novel's uneasy centre and it's a good one, especially as both women are cast as unreliable narrators. I'd definitely read more of Wrobel's work in the future, and this novel has several very bright spots, but ultimately something was missing for me.

I had reasonably high expectations coming into this one as I read and really enjoyed the author’s debut novel The Recovery of Rose Gold last year. Unfortunately, these expectations were not met. I’m struggling to find anything good to say about This Might Hurt.

This is a story about two sisters, Kit who is caught up in the mysterious life improvement cult Wisewood based on a remote island off Maine, and Natalie who is desperate to extricate her sister from the clutches of wellness hell.

There’s a also a third narrator, whose identity gradually reveals itself as you read the book. This narrator has a difficult upbringing and there are some bizarre scenes of psychological abuse that don’t make for pleasant reading but also don’t really go anywhere.

The main problem I had with the book is that it’s very confusing. Sometimes not knowing what is going on can intrigue a reader (The Perfect Lie by Jo Spain is a good example), on this example it frustrated and irritated me.

There’s a lack of tension and the cult itself felt intangible and ridiculous to me. When the plot began to gather momentum, it fell flat again. The characters were not well-developed, believable or interesting. I’ll stop there. A rare 1/5 ⭐️ for me. One of the worst thrillers I’ve read for a while.

Loved Recovery of Rose Gold but struggled with this story,I liked the basis of the book and the Island etc but didn’t like the chapters with Sir etc,look forward to the authors next book

I love a cult narrative. There's something really absorbing about it, and I'm endlessly fascinated by the ways that cult leaders gain and keep control. This sounded really interesting. And the cult part was, to be fair. It's the strange unnamed, backstory bits that threw me off.

Threaded throughout the story are flashbacks from the life of an unnamed member of the story's cast. There's no marking or headers on these sections (as usual, I am reading a proof and the finished book may be different) and it threw me out of the story the first few times, until I got used to it. I still wasn't sure how it connected until about half way through, and even now I'm not sure it was all completely necessary. Yes, it shows a cycle of power abuse, but that could have been conveyed in less disorienting ways.

However, I am still recommending the story as it was really intriguing to see this particular cult from different angles. I only guessed the ending a couple of pages before we got there, and it was an interesting look at how people deal with difficult upbringings. Just be aware of the sudden flashbacks and don't be alarmed!

Well... this was a little different... And mostly in a good way! We start with Natalie receiving an email from Wisewood, threatening to reveal a secret to her sister who has been resident there for a while. Although she hasn't spoken to her sister, Kit, for ages, pretty much since the death of their mother, she still cares and, if the secret is what she thinks it could be, could hurt Kit very much if revealed.
But Wisewood isn't easy to get to. It's a retreat, of sorts. Closed off from the world with little contact with "outsiders". Some might call it a cult...
But there is a way to get there. Natalie is determined to go. To talk to her sister. Before someone tells her what she is desperate to keep hidden. Maybe even to "rescue" Kit. To bring her home. To reconcile. But is Wisewood and the people who run the place willing to let Kit go...? Has Natalie literally got to fight for her sister?
Oh my, this book was all the creepy and then some. The menacing atmosphere literally dripped off each page as I was reading it. Shudder. I do love a good cult and Wisewood is a doozy. But I will leave you to discover it and all its delights for yourself. Suffice to say that, on the face of things, it all sounds a bit enticing, especially given the fast pace lives we all lead these days, but, well, scratch the surface and, phew, shocking and extreme really doesn't cut it...
So, why not the full five stars. Well, for all the secret is so devastating, I personally was a bit disappointed by it. In fact, I guessed it quite early. So, this big be all and end all that I guess the author was basing the book on, just really fell a bit flat for me. Sorry. The rest of what I read, the story, the characters, the writing style was enough to shore up the remaining four stars, just not quite enough to make up for my disappointment. I also got a bit confused along the way, but then that's my fault and my assumptions...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

When Natalie Collins receives an e-mail urging her to tell her sister Kit "the truth", she is shocked. Not only because someone seems to know her deepest darkest secret, but because she hasn't heard from her sister Kit since Kit left for a self-improvement retreat in Maine several months before.

Natalie sets off to the camp, Wisewood, unaware of what awaits.

We also read chapters from a young woman connected to Wisewood, her dreams of being an illusionist thwarted by a manipulative, sadistic father.

This was so confusing to me. I was a good third of the way in before I realised that there was another person involved, and that it wasn't just Natalie and Kit's story. The whole Rebecca angle - I really didn't like it. The scenes with the father were so uncomfortable, and I wasn't quite sure why they were there - nature vs nurture maybe?

I love a good cult story, but this one didn't stand up well for me personally. I didn't really get to know Natalie enough to care what happened to her so didn't really care whether she found Kit or not.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley, I'm sorry I couldn't be more positive.

The description of this thriller piqued my interest and it turned out to be a book I couldn't put down.
Natalie, has a successful and all consuming job, but when she recieved a cryptic email threatening to spill family secrets to her sister Kit she is galvanised into action.
Kit has been floating through life, and in her search for meaning was drawn to Wisewood - a place where you can let go of fear to find your maximised self. Natalie follows her sister to Wisewood - a community on a secluded island off the East Coast of the USA and finds nothing is as it seems.
The story alternates between viewpoints, Natalie, Kit and an initally un-named charcter. This alternation allows the reader to gain insight into what has led each person to where they are now - the complex interactions of family and friends can lead to a reinvention of the self.
The exploration of blood family ties in contrast to community familial ties is fascinating. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC, all views are my own.

This is a really interesting, multiple POV novel. The different voices are a bit confusing initially, but it becomes clear gradually and then very intriguing. A very original and quite haunting novel. Highly recommended.

I loved "recovery of rose gold" but struggled with this book. I have read a number of books about cults and this didn't seem to add anything new to the canon. The magical.elements were interesting, but overall I didn't feel interested in any of the characters.
Thank you to netgalley and penguin Michael Joseph for an advance copy of this book

One can almost guess what is going to happen on the island but and it is a big but you are likely to get it wrong - I most certainly did.

The old adage about "there being more out of the asylum than in" certainly is relevant to this story and that is one of the things that drew me from page to page as I discovered there is more than a grain of truth to that adage.

A very interesting tale in interwoven parts which all come together in some very curious ways to form the perfect end. All of this makes the whole book very well worth the time it will take you to read it.

Told from three different points of view, I got confused as the book is about two sisters. Later in the book it becomes clearer. One sister checks into a retreat which is off the radar. Both sisters are traumatised from the environment that they grew up in. When Natalie desperately needs to see reclusive Kit, she doesn't like what she finds. Can they escape this cult unharmed? For fans of 'Nine Perfect Strangers.'