Member Reviews
I like Lisa Unger's books a lot. She is one of my favorite psychological suspense writers.
However, I did not like this book as much as some of her other books. I feel like she compromised on some of the mystery to put in a bit of a social message.
However, I enjoyed reading this book. When I was reading this book, I was looking for a good book to escape into and this book fulfilled this need. For readers of Liane Moriarty, the yoga teacher plays a different role in this book that in a Liane Moriarty novel.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This started out promising—three couples go to a secluded cabin with spotty wi-fi and, of course, a big storm on the way. There are some creepy things going on here. I wasn’t concerned by the potential ghosts of a family who was killed by the dad/husband years ago, but there are actual troubling activities happening now.
A big part of this novel is genetic testing and finding your biologic family. You have to believe that one behavior in particular is something that you’re going to do is because of your genetics and not a learned way to treat people. It’s true that genetics can give you a higher chance of being a sociopath lacking empathy, and that kind of person could certainly do this but . . . Well, I have to be vague so as to not give anything away.
There are multiple story lines, which is fine, but I don’t feel like everything was fully resolved.
NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this novel, which RELEASES FEBRURARY 6, 2023.
I loved this book. Fantastic setting, interesting characters and a really intruiging premis, examining our current obsession with finding out about our ancestral origins. Pacing was slightly unever in some areas, but the last third had me utterly involved.
DNF at 50%. I love a locked room mystery but unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. Too many POVs and I don’t like or care about any of them. When I stop reading, I don’t have any desire to pick it back up and for me that’s the sign it isn’t for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ebook to review.
A Weekend in the Country for three couples sounds idyllic, peaceful, and absolutely perfect. Turns out, it’s anything but.
No one is ever who they seem, or rather, you never know anyone as well as you think you know them, and that includes family.
Tsk Tsk. The moral of this story is to trust no one. And I mean no one. Everyone in Lisa Unger’s Secluded Family Sleeps Six is keeping secrets from each other. Now that does sound like Family. Ha.
Let me just say that this book started out fairly strong. I was intrigued by each character’s storyline, especially that of Hannah, her husband Bruce, and her sister-in-law Lisa. Admittedly, something felt off about Hannah’s brother Mako, from the very beginning. Like I said to Kaceey while reading this, never trust someone who is named after a shark!
Sadly, as the storyline progressed, my interest waned. What was once intriguing, soon became unbelievable. Plot points unraveled and a few were dropped altogether. When I got to the end, it also became clear that a few characters were wholly extraneous. To that end, this was unfortunately one of my least favorite Lisa Unger novels to date. I remain a fan, however, and look forward to her next novel.
A buddy read with Kaceey.
Thank you to Legend Press for the arc via NetGalley and my local library for loaning me the audiobook.
Overall this was a pretty good book. It held my attention, kept me wanting to read, and had some twists thrown in. There were a few times especially around the climax where I was confused and even backed tracked to see if I missed something. Other than that I really liked it.
Fantastic! If you love a fast-paced thriller with multiple POVs and added elements of seclusion then this one is for you! Told over different timelines, this thriller follows multiple characters with the main story circulating around Hannah & her brother Mako (aka Mickey). This story had many moving parts and at times I needed to stop and write things down but definitely a great story! Hannah and Mako (along with other family members) receive a mysterious gift at Christmas that no one can account for. They receive DNA tests from Origins but no one will admit to gifting the kits and the mystery begins from there. Fast forward 6 months to an adult weekend away at a high-end secluded mountain getaway where the action starts to unfold! One the snowball started rolling, there was no stopping it.
I loved Last Girl Ghosted and was super excited to read and review this one! It did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this one!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion.
For me, this book was a bit of a long winded one. It took me a bit to read, picking it up and putting it down. It was a good story but it took a long time to tell it and there were random other stories in there that didn’t seem to have much to do with the actual storyline. This anffe ted the flow of the story in my opinion annd why it took me so long to read. Overall 3 stars.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me an early copy of this book. Here I was, about to be so proud of myself for getting a review out on time, only to realize that this book was published a couple weeks ago already. Clearly I will NEVER be on top of these reviews at this point.
First off, trigger warnings for stalking and sexual assault,
Next, I picked this book for the setting and the creepiness that it potentially had. However, it took more than a quarter of the book for the "six" to even end up at the secluded cabin together! The beginning instead was filled with Hannah whining about how her hot (I swear to god, if I had to hear her fawn over how "hot" Bruce was ONE MORE TIME) husband was likely having an affair because she just had a baby and wasn't' as cute as she used to be. I get being insecure. I get the need to drum up anticipation and add some doubt on the perfection of each couple's relationships. But, and this could just be my personal preference as a reader, I don't want to spend more than seventy-five pages hearing a new mom whine because she isn't sure her husband is faithful in a book that is supposed to be a mystery or thriller.
To be completely honest, something about the writing just didn't work for me. The characters were all annoying and whiny. The setting wasn't overly fleshed out or descriptive enough to make it atmospheric in the slightest. There were multiple times that I SWEAR I read the same lines more than once. For example, I am nearly positive I saw at least twice a line about how all humans share ninety-nine percent of the same DNA and only one percent makes a difference.
This is my first book from this author and even though I didn't enjoy this book as much as I initially thought I was going to, I think I'm going to pick up another one of their books since thrillers do have a tendency to be hit or miss for me.
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is a twisty, turny thriller with a large cast of characters, multiple timelines, and a lot of red herrings to help obscure the real culprit in the central mystery until more than halfway through the story. At times it was a little difficult to sort out what was going on, and the jumping between timelines and character perspective was a bit frustrating until the plot started to gel. Despite those minor frustrations, this was an enjoyable read primarily because the "who", "why" and "how" of the central mystery weren't clear until well into the last third of the book -- a bit of a rarity in the genre lately.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!
What sounds more relaxing than time away in a secluded cabin with your closest friends and family? Hannah, a new mom, and her husband Bruce will spend the weekend with her brother, Mako, his wife, Liza and her closest friend, Cricket and her new boyfriend, Josh. Understandably, Hannah is nervous about leaving her young daughter for the first time. She can't shake the feeling this trip is giving her. Mako runs a successful company and has set the weekend up for everyone. So Hannah concedes and takes the trip with Bruce. She is hoping it helps her reconnect with Bruce. When she searches online about the cabin, there are nothing but positive reviews until she searches deeper. The host, Bracken, built the house himself. The mountain man gives Liza a tour after they arrive. Liza is stricken with a migraine and heads to bed while the weekend festivities begin. When Hannah meets Cricket's new boyfriend, Joshua, she swears she has met him before; he is so familiar.
This thriller is told from many points of view and jumps from the past to the present. It takes a little bit of effort to keep track of it all at first. Over time, secrets are revealed, some of which could hurt people they love. Are the people you love really who you think they are? There are some twists that I do not see coming. Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row for allowing me to read this book.
If there’s a cabin involved…I’m there! Especially if said cabin is situated in a spooky wood. Dream team! If you love fast paced, high energy thrillers this is definitely a book to check out. It hits the ground running from page one and doesn’t stop until the end! Unfortunately it was a little too busy for my old lady brain to handle! I enjoyed a lot of aspects and the concept behind the story but there were so many names and then those names had nicknames it felt like secluded cabin sleeps a bakers dozen - I couldn’t keep up! This was my first novel by this author and I would like to try another. I’ll bring my notebook so I can try to keep up next time!
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger intrigued me from the beginning and the complexity of the storyline(s) added to what I enjoyed about this book. I found myself wanting to know more about each of the flawed characters. I actually listened to this as an audiobook and found it really hard to follow. When I snagged the e-book thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press, I found it much easier to keep up with all the twists and turns. In the audiobook, it's not clear which character is the primary focus of each chapter nor is the timeline, they were just listed as chapter one, chapter two, etc.
I loved the focus on family in this book, both nuclear, chosen, and the one we often gain by happenstance.
Read if you enjoy a book about friends and family getting away for a weekend that goes so incredibly awry..
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is a novel in which DNA and the tracing of family lineage is the basic plot. My problem with the story is that there are no likable characters (other than Henry) and character development is poor.. There are too many characters and sub stories and, with alternating chapters about each of them, the reader tends to lose interest and become bored. In an attempt to pull things together at the conclusion, this reader found it to be tedious and somewhat implausible.
I thank NetGalley and Park Row Books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to its publication.
2 *stars*
Unfortunately, I wasn't having a great time with this story.
This story has numerous of characters to follow, which made it hard to get into. Everyone had a purpose to be in the story, but it didn't feel flowing with overall main focus event or whatever it was. I would have been less confused if 2 of the characters point of views weren't involved at all (Henry and Bracket). Too many perspectives were introduced to the reader, but it was so unnecessary. Why should I read the perspective of the cabin owner Bracket? It was just creepy. Oh, and Henry. Oh Henry, Henry, Henry, wait did You get lost and entered a totally random book?
I could easily divide this book in 3 pieces - 30% slow story pace, introducing a lot of characters. 20% the middle, was really going somewhere and the rest of the 50% I wished it would finally end.
Three couples get away to a secluded cabin in the woods, where someone is trying to make sure that they don’t leave alive. Everybody holds a secret that they don't want to reveal. Just a mystery story, nothing unique in particular.
Thank You, author Lisa Unger, for the experience!
Big thanks to Legend Press books and Netgalley for providing this ARC copy for my honest review!
This was a great psychological thriller with that’s locked room feel. Loved the feeling that the Lisa gives the readers as they travel through this book.
Three couples, entwined by marriage and love, go to a secluded luxury cabin the the woods for a weekend. Before this, they all receive dna test kits as presents. No-one knows who gave them the kits, secrets are rife through the couples and their lives.
They start their weekend with a lovely dinner, but Liza goes to bed unwell, then dissappears. Strange things are happening. A massive storm hits and then the secrets all come out.
A pretty good story. She has written better, but it held me captive till the end.
I tried really hard to like this one, but just couldn't. I made it about halfway through and had to give up. I found myself having to reread because I couldn't really focus on it.
I won't post this to Goodreads because I don't want to post a partial review there. I wasn't the audience for this one, but I'm sure that audience is out there.
This was my first time reading this author. I enjoyed her writing style and feel she gave the story dimension. Good character development and she made all the characters fairly likeable.
I did not like that there were holes never filled and major events never explained. Once answers started being revealed I was waiting for resolutions that didn’t materialize.
Overall this was a good read. I would try more books by this author in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley for the free advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.
This is my first Lisa Unger book and it will NOT be my last!
I loved the plot trope of this mystery/thriller. Isolation, no cell service, creepy landlord, etc. It was a bit of a slow start, but I got into the character development and once it got going..wow did it ever take off!
The only downside for me was multiple character POV within 2 different timelines…kept me on my toes and I had to go back a few pages a few times to make sure my story lines were accurate.
Overall, I give this story a 3.5 (rounding up to 4 bc THE ENDING!!!)
Thank you NetGalley and Legends Press for the advanced read copy of this book!