Thoroughly enjoyed this book. A few decoys throughout where you think you may have solved things but you havent.
Well written with great charachters.

Seventeen-year-old Ellie is living the dream with a loving family, great friends, and a star quarterback boyfriend, Josh. But when Ellie goes missing, suspicion falls on Josh, especially since his previous girlfriend was murdered and he remains a person of interest despite being cleared. Thankfully, Ellie’s story has a happier ending.
Twenty years later, Ellie has rebuilt her life and the man who nearly destroyed it is in prison. But her peace is shattered when her seventeen-year-old daughter, Jess, disappears. Is history repeating itself?
Thoughts:
The Girl in the Basement by Eoin Dempsey has its share of issues. The novel alternates between Ellie’s high school years and the present, but the characters and plot suffer from a lack of depth and believability.
High school Ellie is portrayed as smart yet consistently makes stupid decisions. Her rapid shift from being uninterested in a serious relationship to falling for Josh, a new kid who’s trying to escape rumors about his murdered ex-girlfriend, feels unconvincing. Josh, described as handsome but bland, never evolves beyond a two-dimensional character. Ellie, too, remains a clichéd figure with little growth even after a twenty-year time jump.
In the present, Ellie and Josh rekindle their romance without showing any real personal growth. When Jess is kidnapped, Ellie and Josh work together to find her. As more evidence links Jess’s kidnapping to Ellie’s past and suggests that all clues point back to Josh, Ellie repeatedly tells him, "None of this is your fault." She means both their past and the current situation just in case it wasn’t clear from the two hundred plus times she’s said it throughout the book.


Recommendation:
1 star
The Girl in the Basement fails to deliver excitement or mystery. The resolution is predictable, and despite some red herrings, the storytelling and writing fall short of engaging the reader.
#TheGirlintheBasement #NetGalley Pub Date Jul 30 2024 | Archive Date Jul 31 2024

3 stars!

I found the start to be a bit slow but it definitely picked up in the second half. Like others mentioned, it was a bit too YA for me, but I did have a good time reading it.

Thank you Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

Great book! Very interesting and dark plot. I thought that the plot development was good and the book overall was well written.

The Girl in the Basement is a slow building thriller book. I think it was a decent read but not something I would want to pick up and reread. I think the author did a good job on the overall storyline but it was just a very slow start to the book and had a few spots that were confusing until you continued reading. From the title I guess maybe I was expecting more. This would be a good read for a YA audience.

You think you're getting a kidnapping story, but it takes forever for the actual kidnapping part to come into play. this is a slow burn. I'm glad I chose to listen to it, or I'd still be reading it. After the story progressed I did accurately guess at who the kidnapper was. Elle was not portrayed as an ordinary teenage girl with a boy friend, she actually thought about consequences and what might happen if her boyfriend was the killer, most teenage girls are going to run off to do what ever they want, and think they know it all, and all is perfect, so I found it unbelievable in that respect. The high school back story was very slow for me, I'm not big on romance books, I signed up for a thriller. To me there just wasn't enough thriller in it. Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

I want to start with saying the synopsis of the book is a little misleading, the story revolves around Ellie’s high school days for well over half of the book, and the kidnapping of Ellie’s daughter was the focus for the last 15%
I did appreciate the author’s way of writing about realistic struggles of a high school teen maintaining a relationship and navigating plausible situations.
It kept me on the edge of my seat, questioning and suspecting everyone, but I figured it out before the reveal. Other twists came along that I didn’t expect, but I didn’t love them, it felt more out of place to me. Overall, I recommend this book. I read it within a day!
Thanks to Storm Publishing for the ARC via NetGalley

A great read that I found very hard to put down once I started. Ellie was kidnapped as a teen and now 20 years later her daughter has been taken! We’re left wondering who it could be as her kidnapper is in prison! The story is told from 2 timelines and its a great read.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

I have enjoyed reading past writings of Eoin Dempsey. His typical genre is historical fiction, so I was excited to see something different. While the writing wasn't bad and the book had an interesting premise, I felt it was lacking something. I didn't feel the connection between Ellie and Josh in either timeline. It was a bit too instantaneous with no proof of true feelings, especially when Ellie was constantly questioning his innocence in one moment and the next gushing over him. The dual timeline was fine, but I was expecting more about the secondary kidnapping of Ellie's daughter. Too much felt skimmed over and not a lot of depth of information added. The characters felt one dimensional, also. I am still a fan of this author and will check out his next work!

3 stars

From the synopsis, I expected the first part of the story, where Ellie gets kidnapped, to be a short section and the bulk of the story to centre around her daughter’s kidnapping twenty years later, but this was not the case.

The first part takes up over half of the book and mainly details the lead up to the kidnapping rather than the kidnapping itself. It was very YA and I found it difficult to emotionally connect with the characters whose conversations were very repetitive.

I enjoyed the second part of the story, once the kidnapping eventually happens. The investigation is fast paced and exciting and I related to the characters as they are closer to my age.

An amazing read! Could not put down definitively a page turner for sure. Would highly recommend to my friends

I really like the premise of this book, a girl kidnapped and then the same thing happens to her daughter. Unfortunately the story fell a little short for me. Though it was an easy read, I felt confused through the first half, and then the second just fell short.

I found this slow going to begin with, but the plot did speed up until I found I had to keep reading. It told the story of past and present, originally with Ellie abducted and then her daughter years later. There were plenty of twists and planted evidence so it wasn't originally obvious who did what, but with the help of a private investigator and her ex boyfriend Ellie narrows in on who took her daughter. Definitely worth continuing to read it.

Girl in the basement had me at the edge of my seat , I was in a bit of a reading slump and this book brought me right back in track I 10/10 recommend

Ok, WHO approved this title? Very, very misleading. Nothing relating to the title happens until around the last 15% of the book. What the heck?

To me, this did not feel like a thriller. The first half or so of the book was really boring, with all the backstories about the teens. I would say this felt more like a romance or YA than a thriller. Big disappoint for me. Had this been properly characterized, I wouldn't have chose to read it.

The characters were annoying, the plot was super predictable, and it was just boring.

Thank you Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

I really enjoyed the book, and some of the writing was absolutely fantastic. There were other times when I thought it less strong, but overall it was well-written.

The pace was incredibly fast, and while I do like a quicker pace, this was perhaps a little too fast for my taste. I felt it could have been a little longer, perhaps giving room for more of Ellie’s experience inside the basement or to certain reveals or conversations.

I predicted almost all the twists, but for the sake of fairness I should mention that I’m an avid thriller and horror fan, so there aren’t many twists I haven’t seen before, and the build up for which I haven’t spotted!

The ending was satisfying, in my opinion. I felt it did justice to the characters and their backstories.

All in all, I would definitely recommend the book, as it was absolutely a page-turner!

Thank you very much to Eoin Dempsey and Storm Publishing for kindly allowing me an eARC of the book for review.

The book was solid but didn’t make a strong impression. It had a clear plot and decent character development, but it lacked the excitement or depth that could have made it truly memorable. It’s a good read for a relaxed afternoon, but don’t expect it to be a standout.

Thank you Net Galley & Storm Publishing for the ARC!

I did find this to be a bit more YA than thriller, however I still read this in one sitting. this was a good read and I’d recommend picking this one up!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, expertly written and kept me on the edge of my seat. I look forward to reading more from this author

This book was not very well written. It felt very repetitive. The plot and storyline was sub-par. I had to force myself to finish it. Felt like a poorly written tween book.