Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book ahead of its release! The synopsis of this really intrigued me and made me keen to read as a big true crime nerd myself. However, this is not at all what I was expecting! I did enjoy the narrative and the focus on the darkness surrounded true crime forums and just true crime on the internet in general. I wish the book would have explored this a bit more however, as for me it didn't feel like it focused enough on that which is kind of what I was expecting from the blurb. Overall I did enjoy this in parts but in other parts it lost me completely.

This debut novel by Kate Brody is a fast-paced, compelling character study and candid depiction of a family dealing with grief, leading the protagonist through a downward spiral of self-destructive behaviour and obsession as she attempts to cope with the aftermath of her sister's disappearance and her father's suicide.

I felt misled by the publisher's synopsis that this was a 'twisty, sexy debut [...] perfect for fans of Ottessa Moshfegh'; Teddy falls short of the comparison to Moshfegh's humorous, perverse, deviant female characters. Her erratic and amoral behaviour seems exaggerated towards the end of the novel; rather than building her slow deterioration to a breaking point, her jump into unhinged behaviour seems abrupt and rushed, her recovery and decision to move on, more so.

This novel was more of a slow burner, and while it was a relatively quick read, I felt myself waiting and waiting for the climax or moment of revelation — which never came. The ending was deeply unsatisfying as the reader becomes invested in Angie's case, following red herrings and potential leads, only for it to culminate into nothing.

The writing is strong and concise, and Brody doesn't waste time with pages of narrative description. The novel is surprisingly well-paced for a narrative written mostly as inner monologue, and the story provides a harrowing depiction of someone suffering and carrying out maladaptive coping strategies for her grief. If you are looking for a character study, or more of psychological drama than a mystery/crime novel, then this is a good read. I probably would have enjoyed this more going into it with no expectations.

Thank to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a solid family story with hints of mystery but I felt the blurb was a bit misleading - the "Reddit community of true crime fans" is a much smaller element of the story than I had hoped. Other reviews say the same and I do think this book may suffer from being marketed as though it is a thriller.

Link to review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5936866473

Teddy's older sister, Angie, vanished as a teenager. Rabbit Hole opens ten years later, immediately after her father—Angie's step-father—commits suicide. He leaves behind a tangled nest of notes and phone numbers, the result of his never-ending quest to find out what happened to Angie. Teddy, cut loose in grief, trying to support her mother who has experienced numerous tragedies, starts to clean up the mess and gets stuck on several details: the phone number of their old gardener and the name "Michael" on a post it note. This leads to the opening of old wounds and two very unhealthy relationships—one with Bill, the gardener who turns out to have provided Teddy's dead father with drugs, and the other with Mickey, a teenager who looks eerily like Teddy's sister and who has an obsessive interest in Angie's case.

After I got over the initial disappointment of discovering the book was written in first person, present tense, I was drawn in by the skilful, literary prose. The tense and pov worked well with the storytelling and I soon forgot about it. It helped to create a paranoid, claustrophobic feeling. The writing in the book is beautiful, lyrical without being ostensibly so. Wonderful use of metaphor and symbolism, but, again, not in a way that's obstructive. Teddy is a fascinatingly complex character. The grief she's endured has made a huge mark on her psyche and the consistently self-destructive choices she makes make this tangible. I felt sympathy for her even when I wanted to scream at her.

Not a lot happens in the book. The story moves very slowly, focussing instead on character, relationships and history. I was engaged through the entire novel and looked forward to getting back to it when I had to take a break. The characters were unusual, not cliche or tropey at all, which was very refreshing. Everyone was damaged, everyone sympathetic in their own way. I particularly loved how the Kate Brody dealt with memory and its fallibility. It's a deeply sad, deeply tragic novel, but I found the ending emotionally satisfying with enough hope promised to leave me able to cope.

A couple things frustrated me, one stylistic—a lot of contemporary writers are allergic to making a character's emotions clear, and this novel is definitely of that school. On a number of occasions I was surprised to discover though blocking or other character's reactions, that Kate was feeling something. I prefer a bit more spelling out where a character's inner experience is concerned. A little bit of telling doesn't hurt, especially in first person where you're trapped in their head. It would have helped make a number of Teddy's crazier choices make more sense. The second thing was story oriented: their family dog, Wolfie, was riddled with cancerous tumours and suffering greatly. It worked wonderfully as a metaphor, but I wanted to scream at Teddy and her mother to put the poor thing out of its misery. The subject was raised once, but no explanation was ever given as to why they let the poor dog suffer for so long.

Ultimately, Rabbit Hole is a beautiful book and a poetic exploration of grief and tragedy. I look forward to reading whatever Kate Brody writes next.

This is a difficult book for me to describe as it was very different to what I was expecting and did struggle quite a lot to connect to the characters and story. I think the problem was I had expected the story line be more of a mystery thriller and to be honest it wasn’t really that it was more about grief and loss and the repercussions of a missing sister and a father who committed suicide. I found the pace to be quite slow but the writing was excellent and for a debut book I was impressed by that. So for me this was an ok 3 star read but as I say just not what I was expecting but I’m sure others will enjoy it more than me.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing PLC for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A visceral, haunting novel that delves into the weird world of online "true crime" communities. I am astonished that this is a debut!

This is one synopsis that had me pulled in and Rabbit Hole was a brilliant read. The writing was sharp, I loved the mystery element throughout and I thought Teddy was an interesting character. Would read from Brody again. A solid 4 star read.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book, the relationship between social media (specifically Reddit) and true crime has always been something i’ve found slightly sickening but fascinating but unfortunately this book fell a bit flat for me.

It follows Teddy whose dad ends his own life on the anniversary of her sisters disappearance. Teddy begins to look deeper into her dads death and her sisters disappearance and finds herself dragged into an online Reddit forum which obsessively discusses the case.

The thing that I must say about Rabbit Hole at the very outset is that it is not a thriller, as I had expected. On the contrary, it is decidedly a slow-burn novel which very gradually gives up its secrets.

The story is an exploration of grief and the many ways in which people respond to it. This did throw me off, to some extent, as it was so very different from what I had expected.

Teddy Angstrom has never got over the disappearance of her half-sister Angela, a decade ago. As she now discovers, neither had her father, who was Angela's stepfather.

After his death from suicide, Teddy discovers that her father had gone down a rabbit hole of investigations and conspiracies in an attempt to find Angela. Now following up his "leads" with respect to Angela, Teddy not only embarks on an obsessive pursuit of her own - which includes reddit explorations - she also begins to display some seriously self destructive behaviour.

Considering the novel for what it is, it is insightful and well-written. But it is not a traditional thriller, and at times it can be very heavy. This is not a book for everyone, but those who like it will probably love it.

An uncomfortable yet compelling read and not the dark thriller I was expecting.
I would perhaps describe it as more of a slow-burning narrative which centres on an exploration of grief and the various ways people cope with loss.
Not what I was expecting, but a worthy read, nonetheless.

"Rabbit Hole" by Kate Brody is an emotionally charged exploration of grief and healing. The novel takes readers on a touching journey of self-discovery and the power of connection.

Oh this was so dark! I loved reading this - it treaded the line between giving the reader a "podcast experience" of exploring a cold case and trying to solve it, and giving the raw, honest look into what being obsessed and unable to move on from tragedy can look like. It's a heavy but addictive read and I flew through it.

Not a thriller as such, but a well plotted story about Teddy, obsessed by her sister's disappearance and her father's suicide. Well written and engaging with memorable flawed characters.

Ten years ago, Teddy's sister disappeared. Now, their father has killed himself. Teddy knew that her father had struggled to get over Angie's disappearance: but, in clearing through his personal effects, she discovers that it went far further than any of them thought. And with him gone, it is all too easy for her to fall down the same rabbit hole, in search of answers that may hurt more than any secrets.

Rabbit Hole is a fantastic exploration of 'true crime', in particular the impact of 'true crime communities' created by forums such as Reddit. I enjoyed the ways that Teddy both reflected on the ways it felt to be at the centre of the storm, the real person dealing with the tragedy made into a story by the rest of the world; and also how easily she was sucked into that, seeking for some kind of closure. I do agree with other reviews, that this book is not really a thriller, psychological or otherwise. It is much more a slow exploration of grief and trauma, the ways that loss and the lack of answers can affect a person. But in that, it truly excels.

As a side note - my growing-up-in-the-00s heart really loved that there was an actual SubReddit created for this! It was beautifully nostalgic, remember when that was a commonplace thing?! It started me off on my own rabbit hole (...) reminiscing about the various multi-modal fiction tie-ins I loved as a teenager, like Lucy Beale's online journal, the blog kept by Rose Casson, and the first book in a series I can't recall the name of which had a whole website for 'clues'. More irl tie-ins for books please.

This one missed the mark for me. The meat of this story was really about the main character Teddy’s mental health, as she tries to navigate her father’s suicide which follows ten years on after her half-sister’s disappearance. There's nothing wrong with that as a topic for a book, it's just very different from how the book is marketed so wasn't what I was expected. Teddy goes down a “rabbit hole” trying to understand whether her father had discovered anything about the disappearance and why he took his own life. Teddy is a challenging character to root for, as she so often seems to be working against herself. The other supporting characters feel a bit unbelievable, so that all together it makes the story hard to engage with.

Undoubtedly one of my books of the year.

I loved this twisty, turn-y novel and especially its use of Reddit.

5 stars.

I started this book with the expectation of a dark thriller, when I read a bit chunk of the book I realise is more a slow burn story and it focus on the characters and the way they deal with grief. This is a book of grief and how people deal with it in some different ways the writing is beautiful and very strong, it was uncomfortable to read in many ways but I think the author got a amazing future. I need to thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the access to this ARC

This was not the thriller I thought I was getting into when I requested the arc, but it did much more than that! It is a touching exploration of obsession and grief, there were a few moments where I had to stop reading to recompose myself. What a debut! Can't wait to read more by Kate Brody!

I'm not sure the book's description is aligned to the actual story. Although Teddy Angstrom does fall down the Reddit rabbit hole, as she tries to find out about her sister's disappearance 10 years ago, this is more a study in grief than a twisty thriller.
Teddy's family has been dogged by tragedy and scandal. As we start the novel her father has just killed himself by deliberately driving into a local river. It seems Teddy and her mother are ambivalent about him and his passing. But suppressed grief for her father, and the realisation that sister Angie may also be dead, sparks Teddy's obsession with mysterious 19 year old Mickey, and their often foolhardy pursuit of "the truth." Several family secrets are finally unlocked, but the pursuit of Teddy's step brother, abandoned by their dad, seemed over the top. Teddy started the book working as a teacher and supporting her parents. She had protected them from harsh realities such as work.
Her destructive path down the rabbit hole puts her career in jeopardy.
In terms of characters, I warmed to William and felt sorry for him. He's a straight forward guy who's out of his depth with Teddy. As soon as they met she was secretly scouring his phone and PC histories. I didn't like Mickey, who was an accomplished liar with an obviously sinister agenda, and Teddy's mother was frustrating and vague. It was hard to see the spark in her that must have convinced Teddy's father to abandoned his other young family.
I found the book went through several different phases, which meant it held my interest. A promising debut.

I think for a debut this is quite good but definitely had its peaks and troughs. I’d be interested to see how Kate Brody develops as an author I think she has a lot of potential.