This book takes a long time to get going and most of the action happens more than halfway in. It’s a decent story but a little predictable and most of the clues as to where the plot is heading are pretty obvious, Writing style-wise, it reads as very “young adult.”

This book has good potential but It was pretty predictable and repetitive. I did like the ending.

This one was hard for me to rate.

Ellie, a senior in HS falls for Josh the new kid at school who was accused of killing his girlfriend from his former school. The first 70% of this book is them dating, people warning her about him and his creepy dad.

Around the 70% mark Ellie is kidnapped. She escapes and Josh’s father is accused of kidnapping her and killing Josh’s prior girlfriend.

At 75% we fast forward 20 years and this was where things picked up.

I was disappointed that it took 70% of the book before things kicked off. I wanted more about Ellie’s kidnapping and the events that played out after jumping ahead 20 years.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Great read!

I really liked this book. I couldn’t put it down. I feel like the first half kind of went for too long.
With teenage Ellie, you want to yell at her to trust her instincts and talk to someone. With adult Ellie, you root for her nonstop. The ending is very cute as well. The book has some good twists and turns

Definitely recommend!

Where do I even begin with this? First, I spent the first half of the book entirely confused. I thought this was a story about a daughter being kidnapped twenty years later after her mom. Eventually it is, just not until after the 50% mark. There is a lot of backstory and fluff that comes in the beginning and then as The Girl in the Basement finally becomes thrilling, it ends. I did have the kidnapper pegged initially in the beginning as well, the twist during the reveal was not what I expected though.

Overall, The Girl in the Basement wasn't horrible. I would personally recommend it for a YA audience instead of Adult since the first half of the book is a slow burn story involving high schoolers. If you're looking for a good summer thriller, The Girl in the Basement will be out on shelves July 30, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley, author Eoin Dempsey and Storm publishing for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

The Girl in the Basement is a 3.5 out of 5 stars for me as the story felt quite slow for me. The story happens mostly in flashbacks, which is sometimes offputting. The story was not as page-turning as I had hoped it would be. Overall, an okay read.

The story is about Ellie, who was last seen at a party with her boyfriend, star quarterback Josh before she went missing. Now, twenty years later, Ellie has rebuilt her life. The man who ruined it is behind bars. But as Ellie leaves her therapy group, a face she hasn’t seen in decades appears before her. Josh, her high school boyfriend, is back in town.

As they reconnect after years apart, trying to make sense of their shared trauma, a few streets away, Ellie’s seventeen-year-old daughter Jess vanishes.

The story was a quick read, and overall, it was good, just not my favorite of this year and the characters are not ones I will think about again.

A 3.5 out of 5 stars (rounded to 4).

#TheGirlintheBasement #NetGalley @Stormbooks_co

Sadly this didn't work for me.
It felt overly simple at times and full of clichés.
Also, quite short, so I felt I never got to know the characters beyond surface level.
Something kept me reading to the end though, so that's a positive.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Eoin Dempsey and Storm publishing for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

I would say it is a solid 3.5 stars that had the potential for 4-5. My only negative point was that the first 50% of the book was quite juvenile. More of a young adult fiction novel than a psychological thriller.

Once you get past 50% the book takes a turn and becomes more geared towards an adult audience. It was a suspenseful page turning last half. I was convinced I knew who the killer was and was quite shocked at the end.

A few sections were lacking thrills and I figured out what was going to happen to the main characters daughter long before it happened but kept reading to find out who was behind it.

I feel this author has so much potential to write 4 and 5 star thrillers if he writes from start to finish for an adult audience and leaves out the immature high school stuff. The first half of the book could have been summed up in much less and still went on to be a great read.

A little more descriptive sections would have made this much more thrilling. More details with the main character in the basement, descriptive accounts of the daughters traumatic experience and perhaps more details into what the male main character knew about his mothers abusive history.

I would recommend to other readers (YA audience) and look forward to reading future books by this author.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As I read this book, I could picture it as a movie. It's mostly a flashback story. I liked the high school football romance and the parts about a mother and daughter. It moved slowly, but overall, it was well done. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Three stars.

This story was quite enjoyable but something about the pacing was a bit off. The story's blurb says that now twenty years after Ellie vanished, her daughter Jess also vanishes. But this doesn’t happen until almost 60% of the story, And Ellie herself doesn’t get kidnapped until well into the story, also. So that was surprising and I’m not sure why so much is given away right off when the reader has to wait until deep into the story for these events to happen. It doesn’t hinder the pleasure of reading the book, but I feel like it would be better if there was less build-up and more of the Ellie and Jess relationship that we see later in the story.

I liked the surprise parts of the ending; I saw some of it coming, but not all. I also expected conflict between Ellie and her boyfriend, Josh, leading to them going so long without communicating. That’s not a spoiler, we’re also told that in the blurb. They were a close couple that cared so deeply for one another that I couldn’t believe they would have left each other alone for so long except to add to the plot.

But these are just minor issues and I have to say, it really was a page-turner that I didn’t want to put down. It just flows well and if I needed to take a break from reading, I easily jumped right back in where I left off, ready to immerse myself again. I’d definitely read more from the author, so I’ll be keeping a look out for what they come up with next.

This was an AMAZING thriller, I loved trying to guess what was going to happen next, sometimes I was right and sometimes the book took me in a whole new direction!
Wonderfully written and I believe that it was paced perfectly for me

Josh Thomas moves to a new school after his girlfriend is murdered and even though he was innocent, people talked about him as the main suspect.
Ellie Walsh and Josh become a couple, and she disappears after a party and was kept in a basement.
Her kidnapper, who she calls "Voiceless one", as she never sees or hears the person, sets the house on fire, and Ellie miraculously escapes.
Josh's father is jailed as the kidnapper, as he had made inappropriate advances towards Ellie, despite his pleas of innocence.

Twenty years later, Josh comes back and Ellie's seventeen year old daughter disappears. But Josh was with Ellie at the time, and his father is in jail.

This was a twisty book, and during the first quarter, I thought to myself "ahh, a YA thriller", but it definitely was not. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would after that first fourth of the book.
However, I did have my suspicion of who the murderer/kidnapper was, and in the end, I found that I was correct!

I definitely recommend this to those who love a good psychological thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you NetGalley but had to fold. stopped at 38%, I did truly triesd to get into it but was not a success for me, unfortunately. I do love suspense thriller type books but this was taking too long for it to start.

Football was everything at Lower Merion High School and the new addition of star quarterback Josh Thomas has the whole school buzzing because of his talent and his past. The previous year Josh’s girlfriend ended up murdered and despite being cleared of all charges, the speculation followed him.

Seventeen-year-old Ellie is excited for her Senior year and the appearance of Josh makes things more complicated for her. Ellie dispels the rumors that Josh killed his ex and begins dating him. Things are going well for Ellie and Josh, that is until Ellie disappears from a party and the last person seen with her before she disappears is Josh.

Could the rumors be true. Is it happening again???

Ellie ends up being held hostage in- you guessed it - a basement before she is able to escape. 20 years later Jess has moved on from her nightmare and her captor is behind bars. 20 years later Ellie has moved on, rebuilt her life and has a daughter of her own - Jess. Ellie ends up bumping into her old boyfriend Josh when he comes back to town.

As Ellie and Josh reconnect and try to make sense of their shared trauma, life seems to repeat itself for Ellie as her own daughter Jess who is now 17 is taken. Is history repeating itself? How is this happening again?

The race is on to find and rescue Jess from the nightmare her mother lived. Will the shocking truths finally be brought to light and will she be able to save her daughter?

The girl is the basement is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you guessing and the pages turning. Eoin Dempsey got this right and left me wanting to know more - just one more page! I devoured this book in a day as it sucked me in from the start.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC. *all opinions are my own*

The book is primarily a flashback, starting with Ellie being trapped in the basement and not knowing what is going on. There is then a good chunk of the book in the past, looking at Ellie's relationships with her friends, boyfriend, and family and how they all interlinked. Ellie had a great family, and the dynamics are all very well detailed and explained throughout the book. The teenage angst of having a popular boyfriend and yet the murder of a friend underpin the mood. The end of the book is in the present day, looking at Ellie and her new life twenty years on. The twist is a fabulous twist and unexpected; the book ramps up the tension and unpicks the assumptions made one by one as it hurtles to the conclusion. The epilogue is a goodie too.

This was another great summer thriller. I enjoyed the story and the characters. Pick this one up on publication day.

I totaly binged this book on holiday at the pool! Lots of twists and turns that had me convinced I was right until the end! Really enjoyed it!

3.5⭐
The first part of this story takes place when our FMC, Ellie Welsh is a senior in high school. On the first day of school, news travels that there is a new football player who just transferred to her school . Josh Thomas is a all-star quarterback, a straight-A student, and Ellie finds him attractive. However, his ex-girlfriend was murdered and even though he was found innocent, people still looked at him as the most likely suspect. One night after a party, Ellie goes missing, she was kidnapped and held captive in a basement where she barely escaped.

Twenty years later, after Ellie re-builds her life and has a daughter of her own, Josh Thomas shows back up in town wanting to reconnect. While they are out on a date, Ellie's teenage daughter vanishes and questions are left unanswered. Why do things keep happening to her when Josh is in her life? Did Ellie's past come back to haunt her?

I enjoyed this one, it kept me tuned in to the story and guessing along the way. I honestly was able to binge-read this from the moment I picked it up. However, the beginning of the book seemed juvenile at times and I could not stand the insta-love between the characters. I mean would you instantly fall in love with someone who was a suspect in their ex-girlfriends murder?

Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Eoin Dempsey for granting me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A psychological thriller that lives up to the category. Fast paced, action packed. I enjoyed the characters and their backstory. I was left guessing throughout the book and enjoyed the twists and turns along the way! . The authors note indicated this is his first book in the genre, and I look forward to many more!

High school senior Ellie starts dating Josh, the new student and star quarterback. Josh’s seemingly ideal life is anything but, and both his and Ellie’s life is turned upside by the middle of their senior year. Fast forward twenty years, and Josh and Ellie reconnect, right before her own daughter goes missing. Is it a coincidence this happens when Josh returned or is there a copycat criminal in their town?

The Girl in the Basement was a fantastic read! The author did a great job capturing the audience and making you question as to who really did it when things weren’t always obvious! This definitely keeps you in the edge of your seat!