... happiness is all the same, but misery is unique...

A weekend away at a cabin called Elegant Overlook - Hannah and her husband, her brother Mako and his wide, her best friend Cricket friend and her dreamy new boyfriend.

But their idyllic getaway is about to turn into a nightmare.

Unfortunately this book was just not for me - too many perspectives, too messy, too many loose ends and too many irrelevant stories.

I couldn't understand why all the background stories on Henry? Was his story a red herring, or just a way to up the word count? And hearing the perspective of the owner of the rental property - this added absolutely no substance to the story and should have been omitted in my opinion.

2 stars ⭐⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I do love a great locked door mystery! This book has a classic premise that I always like. To me it was a little scattered and while I did enjoy the characters I would have liked to have seen more depth. Overall this is a quick afternoon read- snuggle up by the fire with your blanket and enjoy! Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

A luxury cabin in the woods, great views, hot tub, private chef…for six friends (three couples) it seems like the perfect getaway, doesn’t it? Perhaps it would have been if there weren’t so many secrets and lies! Seriously, everyone here has a secret.

I love stories of people being trapped in remote places under stressful situations…and Lisa Unger’s Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six definitely qualifies. There is more than one storyline going on here, and as I said, plenty of secrets and lies. Unger does a great job with the characters. Right from the opening we’re introduced to several of the key players. These characters are flawed, well fleshed out, and very engaging. The story is tense (and intense at times) with an intriguing, twisty plot that kept me up turning pages well after I’d intended to call it a night. I’d like to thank Legend Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2HUX5JVKGBXY8/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

A brilliantly eerie unique story. Fantastic characters that are believable and bring this story to life. A creepy gritty plot that twists and turns and leads you astray only to reel you in for a shocking finale. Keeps you reading till the very last page.

I read and reviewed Lisa Unger’s Last Girl Ghosted, Confessions on the 7:45, Under My Skin, and Ink & Bone and they were all four star reads, so I was not terribly surprised when I received a copy of Ms. Unger’s Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six from Legend Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and it ended up also being four stars.

The difference is that for some reason this latest one seemed full of characters that were annoying. Not just one person – all of them. The story is one of the “locked-room” mystery types, with several characters staying together in a luxury “cabin” in the remote Georgia woods. (I admit as I got into it, I wondered if we’d hear the theme from Deliverance playing soon…). The houseguests for this luxury getaway include Mako/Michael, the organizer and host for this bash, along with his wife Liza, his sister Hannah and her husband Bruce, and Hannah’s BFF Cricket and her boyfriend Joshua. The “cabin” comes with a chef and masseuse and the owner, Bracken, who seems to always be hovering nearby. On top of all that, the history of the place includes possibly being haunted, and then a big storm rolls in, knocking out power and making the one road entrance impassable. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

A second storyline involves a boy named Henry, whose mother died when he was even younger, forcing him into the foster system. With Unger’s typically awesome method of building suspense and weaving storylines together, and the fact that we just know the stories will merge, things move quickly. There is plenty of deceit, love, loyalty, and redemption to keep the reader occupied. I’m giving it four stars, just because it kept me entertained for a couple of days, and I consider Ms. Unger to be reliably good at writing books I enjoy (even if the characters are all PITAs).Thanks to Legend and NetGalley.

Nice idea but not what I expected. This “locked room” mystery ended up being wide spread with a side story that takes place elsewhere. The author brought the stories together well. There is family, then there is FAMILY!

This was a good locked room type mystery. Lots of characters which took a bit to get into, but then it all started to come together.

Thank you #Netgalley for this advanced copy!

When three couples rent a cabin in the secluded woods, secrets slowly begin to trickle out. Best friends, siblings, coworkers, inlaws, so many layers of relationships, yet the secrets run deep. When a storm hits, and the power is questions begin to arise and one ends up missing. Some story lines were a bit extreme and difficult to understand why they were included (ie Bracken). Overall, the book kept me intrigued lots of hype leading up to what happened but then fizzled out a bit.

A really fast-paced book, that started off with an interesting premise, however, the multiple points of view didn't quite mesh together well.
I do enjoy a locked-room mystery, but this was not one that will make my favourites list.
The characters didn't have much depth to them and I can't say I liked any of the characters.

My first Lisa Unger book, thanks to Net galley and Legend Press book on Netgalley for an e-`ARC of this book.

Lisa Unger is one of my favourite authors of psychological thrillers and I'm pleased to say her latest offering did not disappoint!

I found the plot fascinating, intriguing and very suspenseful, with quite a few characters (but not too many so that one gets lost!) and some were very unlikeable indeed... It was well paced throughout, and became very addictive three quarters in!
A definite recommendation 🙂

Thank you to Legend Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Publication date is 16/2/23, but it is out now in the UK and the US.

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. I’m going to be honest (always). I really did not enjoy the first half of this book. It was all over the place and kind of dull. It did pick up in the second half, but it wasn’t enough for me to give it an “I liked it”. The plot was convoluted and full of holes, and most of the characters were unlikeable. My favorite one was the 15 month old baby who was barely in the book. 😂 Lisa Unger is a popular author. I’m going to give her another chance because this is only the second of her books I’ve read. I gave Last Girl Ghosted three and a half stars, but looking back, it probably should’ve been a three star review. If you like Lisa Unger’s novels, please don’t let my review keep you from reading this one.

Superbly dark and convoluted with a premise which is both familiar with a proven track record for brilliance and also an entirely original strand (pun intended).
The familiarity of the story is insofar there is a group of friends / family holidaying together in a remote dwelling. This is a tried and tested whodunnit method, in fact almost it’s own sub genre, but it hasn’t let me down y and this is no exception. Add further to this a level of nearby threat, loss of electricity and a storm and we’re close as it gets to cliche. Luckily though the other side of the story revolves around the DNA test kits that are all the rage for people eager to look into their ancestry and past and present family connections. I admit I’ve done one myself but there’s definitely room for sinister, surprising and shocking results for anyone which this plot cleverly plays on. There is also the excellent moral and psychological question of nature versus nature to be explored.
All in all, excellent food for thought, entertainment, drama and suspense. A definite recommend from me.

I really wanted to love this book. The premise seemed like it was the perfect thriller for my interests (I love a good locked room mystery) but I almost didn’t finish the book during the first 10%.
It starts off slow, and to be honest, the writing sometimes reads as if a high schooler wrote the book. It seems like the only descriptor that the author can use to describe an attractive person is “hot” and it was thrown around excessively, in my opinion.
But then it got better. I was actually interested in finding out what happened and didn’t want to put the book down. And even though I wasn’t really invested in any of the characters, I still wanted to know how it was going to end.
Some of the twists I was able to deduce fairly quickly and others had me guessing until the very end. I did think the ending of the book was a little underwhelming but overall the book ended up being entertaining.
A solid 3 star read, in my opinion. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. If you like locked room mysteries you’ll probably find it to be an entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Legend Press for this eARC.

This book was quite a pleasant surprise! I actually thought by the title it was going to be the normal run of the mill serial killer kills guests in remote cabin but was completely blindsided! An entertaining read

Best title of the year! I would read Lisa Ungers new book any way, but WHAT a way to draw you in. This locked room mystery is both twisty and unpredictable. I was outraged at times (why would they DO that?), intrigued - most of the time at least. And in the end, entertained. And that is what you hope for as a reader. Is it the most believable story? Perhaps not.

I liked the peeping cottage owner Bracken the most (what does it say about me?). I would hade liked to hear more of he’s analysis of the people in the cottage. At times - not counting the creepy part where he watches them with hidden cameras - he seems SPOT ON.

” Babe. Bracken really hated that word for some reason. It was so—common. Anyone could see that the woman was anything but. Bracken definitely wouldn’t call her babe. Maybe love. Maybe darlin.”

All in all this was a GOOD read. Not great. But good.

What an absolute thrill ride this book was! My first book by Lisa Unger but definitely not my last. I thought this was utterly full of suspense f and I loved the guessing game that went into it!

The characters were fascinating to learn more about, and I thought the plot was well developed. Highly recommend to fans of Lisa Jewell and Lucy Foley.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a pretty solid mystery, using an interesting element that I’ve never seen used this way (no specifics, so I don’t spoil anything). There are a lot of characters and plot lines to keep track of, which was a little confusing at times. Overall, a solid 3 stars from me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the least-thrilling thriller I’ve ever read.

Six couples rent a luxury cabin for a weekend getaway… What could go wrong? Everything. Everything about this book went wrong.

I am deviating from my normal type of review here because, y’all, I just really need to rant about some things, ok? I’ll try my best not to reveal anything too spoilery, but some things just need to be said. I really don’t know how this made it past editors or sensitivity readers. Park Row… are y’all good over there?

There are a few themes that the book touches on that I did really appreciate. One is the concept of privilege, how it skews our views on the world and how it can affect the actions and decisions we make. Another is the idea that not every woman idealizes motherhood and that is okay.

“When did a person start to feel like a grown-up, in charge of her life, brave.”

I also resonated with this quote in particular. As I hit my thirtieth birthday this year, it has made me rethink my younger self’s ideas of what it would feel like to be an adult at this age. I have tried hard this year to throw out my previous expectations of what I feel like I “should” have accomplished by now and remember that we all have our own timelines and paths to follow and that’s okay too.

It isn’t all completely terrible. In the spirit of finding a silver lining, I thought the opening line was really great, definitely attention grabbing. And the atmosphere at the beginning is creepy and sinister. I was first struck by how much I loved the author’s voice. Each character’s POV is unique in its style and illustrates their personalities. The cadence and rhythm of the phrasing and prose is truly outstanding writing.

But it all just seems to fade away after several chapters, where we start seeing the overuse of crutch words and phrases. The writing loses its luster. The characters are dull and stereotypical. And the plot is a meandering slog of mud. I was hardly invested. In fact, I actually considered DNFing it several times after many eye rolls at the continuous waxing poetic of the same issues over and over again.

The secluded cabin thriller we were all expecting is altogether overshadowed by the rest of the nonsense. There is nothing suspenseful nor mysterious in the plot. We pretty much know everything that’s happening and why. Honestly, it’s kind of boring.

Sure, if you want an anecdote about the importance of family being about our actions and our choices, rather than biological aspects, this would be great. While I do applaud that message and its profoundness, I didn’t need three hundred pages of adults whining about not knowing who their father is because he was an anonymous sperm donor to get it across to me.

There’s a lot of telling us about what the characters are supposedly like but with little to no evidence to back it up. Like Hannah constantly telling us that Liza is “unfailingly kind,” but I never actually got that impression from anything Liza ever said or did.

And no one is really that likable, to be honest. Maybe that’s the point. I don’t know. But there’s definitely a void of connection and understanding between me and everyone in this story. It’s all a surface-level view of many people and lacking in any depth. I must say, I’m a bit shocked and taken aback by how both the women and men are portrayed in this story. The women are incapable of existing without their male counterparts and the men are work-obsessed and selfish.

While there might be a teeny tiny part of me that does feel slightly empathetic to Hannah wanting to “protect” (which is the term she uses, not what I would call it) her brother, I just cannot under any circumstances justify covering up something that terrible. That’s just not what you do, it’s inexcusable to me personally. I mean victim-blaming and slut-shaming, really? I don’t like that the women in this story so willingly brush sexual assault under the rug, even if they were teenagers, even if it was family, it’s just awful and it made me angry.

I don’t understand why Bracken’s point of view was even included. It is completely pointless and utterly irrelevant to the plot. He had only two interactions with the other characters within the entirety of the story and even those were unimportant and essentially unnecessary. You could take out every single one of his chapters and the story would still read exactly the same. I guess you could make a loose thread of connection by saying that in the end he’s another example of the importance of family. But, I mean, why? When it truly has no bearing on the story in any way.

Henry’s story, while not as inconsequential as Bracken’s, is still barely relevant. It was interesting at times, but he really had zero effect on the sequence of events throughout the book. His story, both past and present, consumes much of the story and is given way too much page time for how little consequence he is to any of the rest of it.

Mako’s point of view is absent and, even though he is one of the more prominent figures of the story, I still barely feel like I know anything about him.

Cricket and Bruce are practically bystanders, whose only importance or relevance is their relationship to Hannah.

And, finally, Trina. Her motivations, I’m not really buying it. Her circumstances don’t feel significant enough to warrant her actions. Maybe with a little more of her backstory it could’ve felt justified, but as it is I’m hesitant to believe it.

Yeah, I know I’m being harsh, but rightly so because this story is seriously problematic.

Did anyone get the ending they deserved? Meh. Are we supposed to feel compassion towards Mako by the end? I’m sorry but, no. He didn’t give us one single shred or inkling of redeemable qualities, regret, or even willingness to admit what he did.

And they are still, even after it all, defending and standing by a man that is in every way abusive - emotionally, mentally, physically, sexually. Even Liza!?!? Y’all, I cannot understand it nor feel good about it. I’m not ok with this. Am I the only one who is pissed off about this??? Surely I can’t be. I do not feel like this part of the story was handled with care nor consideration.

And even if I could somehow overlook and get past my feelings about this part of the story, there was nothing intriguing, immersive, or engaging about any of the rest of it. I can’t recommend this aimless absurdity of a book. Honestly, spare yourself from this mess.

It gets two stars only because I did read it and usually use one star for DNF books. This might be the longest review I’ve ever written. This was my first experience with this author but I know she has two previous books that were largely popular and I am interested in checking them out. Like I said in the beginning, I can see points of the writing that truly do shine. I don’t know what happened with this story that it ended up this way, but I am hoping that maybe it is just a fluke and her other writing will be better and more of that glimpse and spark I first saw in this one.

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six didn't hit the mark for me. The characters seemed slightly cliche (with none of them very likeable), the tension felt manufactured/a bit off balance and the baddie was underwhelming and unrealistically omnipotent. There were lots of dysfunctional people populating this novel. Maybe too many? I simply didn't gel with it from the start which is unusual for this author. It could very well be me as maybe this genre isn't what my soul was after when I chose it? Will certainly try the next book as Lisa Unger is such a safe pair of hands when looking for a good thriller or murder mystery.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Book was enjoyable for the most part. Sometimes it got a little wordy and I found myself skipping parts of the descriptions. The book switches narrators by chapter and at times that could get confusing. There was really 2 stories being told and they end up intersecting. Interesting twist.

Worth a read.



#SecludedCabinSleepsSix #NetGalley.