The Girl in the Basement
by Eoin Dempsey
Pub Date: Jul 30 2024

5 Stars to author: Eoin Dempsey's, "The Girl in the Basement". This is the first psychological thriller Mr. Dempsey has written, I believe he has found his true calling!

The first part of the story I wasn't sure I was going to like it as it seemed a little juvenile, the more I read and got into the story the more it pulled me in. It's a great combination mystery/thriller that kept me guessing non stop until the final page. I highly recommend this book.

Many thanks to #TheGirlintheBasement #NetGalley & #StormPublishing for providing me with an E-ARC of this fantastic book!

This had a slow start for me. Not because of the book but because I have seen a movie with the same name based on the true story of Ellie (Elisabeth Fritzl). Once I got further into the story though it was worth the pushing on.

Sharing the best parts would ruin the read for others wanting to sink their teeth into the book too but I will say it is well written and had me hanging on as I went.

Top 10 book of my year.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for the book #TheGirlInTheBasement by #EoinDempsey. Twenty years ago Ellie went missing while with her boyfriend Josh. Now he is back in town. Shortly after her daughter is missing. How is she gonna save her daughter?

Thank you, NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Eoin Dempsey, for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.


20 years ago Ellie fell in love with Josh Thomas, an all-star quarterback full of potential and with a promising future.
When Josh transferred to Ellie's school, everyone knew who he was - the famous quarterback who would lead their team to success but also - the ex-boyfriend of a girl who had recently been murdered. Josh was found innocent but some people still had their reservations.

Despite all the warnings and setbacks, Ellie still wanted to be with him. Until she found herself locked in a basement.

***

I am in my thriller era and this book did not disappoint!

The Girl in the Basement is a short, fast-paced book and a total page-turner.

This was my first book by Eoin Dempsey and it left me curious to read more of her work.

At first, I was excited for it to be a book with less than 300 pages ( I must admit, I am a sucker for quick stories ), but later on, I did wish the book was a little bit longer, a bit more detailed!

Nonetheless, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a fast-paced thriller - trust me, you won't be bored!

This is one of those stories that was hard to rate because I don't feel like the blurb quite matched the story. I was expecting more of the story to be about what happened after Ellie's daughter was taken. However, about 60% of the story was had to do with the back story. In my opinion, the book would have been more enjoyable if less time had been spent on the past and more devoted to the current.

book review 📖 the girl in the basement by Eoin Dempsey
Genres: thriller, psychological thriller, fiction, mystery thriller, suspense
Goodreads rating: 3,56 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
My rating: 3,75 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Read in: 2 days & 🇬🇧

check my instagram @whatsjoanareading 📖
* link in bio

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

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Girl in the Basement" by Eoin Dempsey! I was hooked on the story from beginning to end. The plot was captivating, and I loved the constant atmosphere of tension and distrust. The way Dempsey wrote the story, connecting past and present, was very gripping. I was always excited to see what would happen next and couldn’t put the book (aka my kindle!) down.

However, I do have a couple of critiques about this book. The structure felt unbalanced to me; the first 65% of the book was a solid 4/5 stars, but what the author tried to cram into the last 35% felt like it could have been spread across an entire book on its own. Additionally, my second critique aligns with other reviews I've seen: the title and summary suggest a stronger focus on the girl in the basement and the kidnapping of Ellie's daughter, but from my perspective as a reader, these elements didn't seem to be the main focus of the book.

Overall, despite these issues, the book is a compelling read that I would recommend to thriller enthusiasts!

The Girl in the Basement by Eoin Dempsey was an intriguing and entertaining story.
I was totally absorbed in the story from the first page. It is a fascinating and fast-paced book.

Thank You NetGalley and Storm Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

For starters, this book was giving me "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" vibes, which was a good thing! It definitely reads as a YA novel, and the first half is reminicent of Jackson's novel, in that we are trying to determine the web of events that takes place in the kidnapping of a teen girl. This was a quick read, and while I found myself interested and drawn to the novel, it did feel like it dragged on in several parts. I did like that it gave us a glimpse into several stages of Ellie's life, and I am a sucker for a book that is told from the survivor's perspective.I would recommend this novel to an older teen/ younger adult audience. Thank you #Netgalley and #StormPublishing for the ARC!

Eoin Dempsey’s The Girl in the Basement is a gripping and emotionally charged thriller that explores themes of trauma, survival, and the enduring impact of past horrors. With its dual timelines and intense emotional stakes, this novel is a compelling read that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

Plot Overview:
The story unfolds in two parallel narratives. Twenty years ago, seventeen-year-old Ellie was abducted from a party, her life forever altered by the traumatic event. Now, after years of rebuilding and healing, Ellie is living a semblance of a normal life, with her abductor behind bars. However, her fragile peace is shattered when she encounters Josh, her high school boyfriend and a significant figure from her past.

As Ellie grapples with her resurfacing trauma, she is faced with a new nightmare: her seventeen-year-old daughter, Jess, goes missing. With the past haunting her and a sense of déjà vu looming, Ellie must confront the dark secrets of her own abduction and uncover the truth to find her daughter before history repeats itself.

What I Loved:

Emotional Depth: Dempsey delves deeply into Ellie’s psychological scars and the complexities of her trauma. The depiction of Ellie’s struggle to move forward while haunted by her past is both poignant and powerful.
Tense and Suspenseful: The dual narrative structure, alternating between Ellie’s past and present, creates a gripping tension. The suspense builds effectively as the story unfolds, with twists and turns that keep readers guessing about the connection between Ellie’s abduction and Jess’s disappearance.
Character Development: Ellie is a well-rounded protagonist whose journey from victim to survivor is portrayed with sensitivity and nuance. The interactions between Ellie and Josh, as well as her relationship with her daughter, add depth to her character and enhance the emotional impact of the story.
Atmospheric Setting: The novel’s setting adds to the tension and atmosphere. The contrast between Ellie’s current life and the dark memories of her past creates a vivid backdrop for the unfolding mystery.
What Could Be Improved:

Predictable Elements: While the suspense is well-crafted, some plot twists might feel predictable to seasoned thriller readers. Certain elements of the story follow familiar patterns, which might reduce the surprise factor for some.

Conclusion:
The Girl in the Basement is a powerful thriller that combines emotional depth with a suspenseful narrative. Eoin Dempsey’s exploration of trauma, memory, and the impact of past events on the present is handled with care and insight. The novel’s engaging plot and well-developed characters make it a compelling read, earning it a solid four-star rating. If you enjoy psychological thrillers with a strong emotional core, this book is definitely worth adding to your reading list.

The main theme of this book is Football(not soccer) and it's really fast paced

The prologue got me hooked. I just wish this book had stuck with the first part which was more like a YA book or started with the second part which felt like a domestic thriller. It felt like two disjointed stories.

The first part of the book takes place in high school. Introducing Ellie the fmc, when on the first day of school, news travels that there is a new quarterback who just transferred to her school . Josh is a star football quarterback, straight-A student, and Ellie finds him attractive. Although there's a rumor that his ex-girlfriend was murdered and he was found innocent, people still think he's the suspect. Ellie gets kidnapped and is held captive in a basement by someone she calls the "voiceless one"

2nd part
Twenty years later, Ellie has a daughter of her own, one day Josh shows up in town trying to reconnect(no much explanation to their breakup from 20yrs earlier). They go out on a date and Ellie's daughter is kidnapped.

I don't really know how to feel about this book. I was so sure I knew where the plot was going.

I'll still recommend tho. (Probably just a bit biased cause I have high expectations when it comes to thriller/mystery).

I’m in two minds about this book. On the one side it is a good idea for a thriller but on the other it read like a YA story with too much repetition and was not credible in terms of timelines, depth of emotions and other irritating details - all of which I would haven’t noticed if I was reading this when I was a young girl/woman. I’m probably too long in the tooth, jaded, cynical and have read hundreds of similar books to not notice these points. There weren’t enough other possibilities as red herrings to keep the reader guessing. I’m knocking off stars for the above reasons but appreciate the author’s time and commitment to his craft. I’ll give Eoin Dempsey another try at some point.

When FMC Ellie was a senior in high school, she meets Josh, a new student and football player at her school, and Ellie feels an attraction for him. However, Josh has a past: his ex-girlfriend was murdered, and while Josh was found innocent of the crime, it's not completely believed by everyone that he is actually innocent. Ellie is then kidnapped and held in a basement.

So now, after Ellie escapes, time passes and Ellie is now a single mother, when Josh returns and things with Ellie reignite. And during this time frame, Ellie's daughter goes missing and Ellie starts to wonder why this happened again, and why did both times happen when Josh was in her life, and why was it happening again when the man who did it the first time was in prison.

Unfortunately, I think that due to the synopsis, I was expecting more about Ellie's daughter and what happened to her, and how it was similar to what Ellie went through. However, most of the book was actually about Josh and Ellie before Ellie was kidnapped, it seemed like it dragged on for so long.

I did enjoy that this was a short read, shorter than most other thriller books that I've read, but this may have also affected how much wasn't added to the story, and left out. I felt that the amount of backstory was so long and not entirely necessary, and I wish that there was more to do with Ellie's daughter. The prologue hooked me from the start, but at some point during the amount of backstory, it lost me and it was hard for me to keep from putting my kindle down. This book did have some twists and turns that kept me guessing at the end, but I just wish that it wasn't so rushed at the end.

Thank you to Eoin Dempsey, Storm Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

This book took me a bit by surprise because the title is such a small piece of the story. I really enjoyed it though and found it difficult to put down. And then the ending is one you will never guess is coming. Thank you so much to NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The synopsis provided for The Girl in the Basement, to me, is very off. Even the title I feel is misleading. I would estimate that about 70% of this book is YA relationships, 20% "other" and 10% basement-related. The Girl in the Basement starts off with the main character, Ellie, meeting a high school football star, Josh, and somehow falling in love with him instantly and ignoring every survival instinct she has considering his father is an abuser and Josh's ex girlfriend was murdered. A good portion of this book is Ellie and her developing (? it never really seems to go anywhere) relationship with Josh and repeat conversations involving his ex-girlfriend's murder. Everything about this portion of the book seemed repetitive and the conversations were not believable.

The next portion of the story is when she's in the basement. This should have been the most suspenseful part of the book but I just didn't get that feeling. It was also a very quick, resolving in I believe 2 chapters.

In the second half of the book you are finally in the timeline that the synopsis talks about - 2o years later when Ellie has a teenage child of her own. Even though she's now an adult, everything still feels very Young Adult. I also found continuity errors that just pull me right out of the story. For example, Ellie states in one chapter that Jess (her daughter) and her lived with Ellie's parents until Jess was 7 years old. A couple chapters later she explains that her parents helped her buy her house when Jess was still a baby. A chapter or 2 after that, she explains she's been living in the house with Jess since Jess was a toddler. I found myself again eye-rolling some of the conversations or events as it just seemed so repetitive and juvenile. I also don't like that the night her teenager goes missing and she goes to the police, they do nothing. This is not realistic. There was forced entry into the home and a juvenile missing. Missing people can be reported at any time, 24 hour rules are a myth. Nevermind the fact there was evidence of a break-in. As someone who works at a police department and is interested in True Crime stories, I feel like this is something that should not be perpetuated in modern stories.

In the end, this was a very easy book to read, I just found myself thinking that I probably would have enjoyed it more if I was a teenager. As an adult, the relationships were irritating and unbelievable, emotions didn't seem to fit situations correctly, and sometimes it felt like paragraphs were entered to hit a word count and not contributing to the story line. Oh, and way too much football talk. I do not know football terminology and I'm not here to learn about it so I thought the play by plays of football games were unnecessary.

Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the arc of The Girl in the Basement. The premise of this book is what had me want to read it. I guess I was expecting the title of the book and the gist of the story to be centered around the girl. That didn’t come until near the end of the book. Also, it’s hard for me to read some of these books that are geared more towards younger audiences. I did enjoy it, but was hoping for something a bit more thrilling.

oh, this was creepy!

Josh joins Ellie’s high school as an incoming star quarterback amid the drama of his girlfriend at his prior school being murdered, and the murderer was never identified. Close to the close of their senior year, they attend a party and Ellie is abducted. After a dramatic escape, we move forward into Ellie’s life as an adult and single mother to teenager Jess. With her tormentor behind bars, Ellie feels much safer and has even started a domestic abuse survivor group. Then Josh comes back into Ellie’s life, and the sparks are still there. But then the unthinkable happens - Jess is missing. Ellie is reliving all the fear and trauma of her past and deathly afraid of what will happen to her daughter. I was thoroughly surprised at how this book wrapped up - nicely done!

Thanks to NetGalley, Storm Publishing and Eoin Dempsey for the eARC.

This was a really exhilarating read, I felt hooked as I wanted to learn the secrets and lies behind the night Ellie was taken.

The girl in the Basement was a good psychological suspense read. It’s starts with the girl in the basement, then goes onto explain why she ended up in there and then 20 years later.
I enjoyed reading about Ellie, she was a likable teenager and adult. Josh who was her childhood boyfriend arrives back on the scene 20 years later. He’s a football player and the book does talk about that a lot. What a great ending.

It’s a quick read that keeps you engaged. A chilling 4 star read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

Completely conflicted on this one. By that I mean I thought the writing was good. Read it in one sitting actually… and love when that happens with a new to me author.

But. I struggled with the plot at times.

(Spoilers kind of)


Insta love? Really don’t like that subgenre. And like it even less when it’s in a love story side plot. Like girl. Why are you in love immediately when he’s suspected of killing his ex?! Wtf?
And slow in the sense that it took forever to unravel.

BUT again. I read it in a sitting. So I don’t know why it felt like it dragged slowly, but I could still binge it.

I’ve been reading so many thrillers lately, and maybe it affected the stars but this wasn’t a fav.

I’ll be interested to try another of the author’s books ro see if it was a me thing. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a gifted arc!

The Girl In The Basement by Eoin Dempsey is a gripping psychological thriller that masterfully weaves multiple POVs and timelines. The narrative, predominantly from seventeen-year-old Ellie's perspective, is both immersive and unnervingly realistic.

Reading about Ellie's decisions, I often found myself thinking, "Ooh girl, that's not a good idea." But then again, she is 17, and my older self recognizes that my teenage self might have acted similarly. This perspective brought a relatable depth to the story, capturing the impulsiveness and naivety of youth.

When Ellie is kidnapped, the tension skyrockets. The creepy vibes from certain characters were palpable, showcasing Dempsey's talent for creating suspense. The stakes intensified further when 20 years later Jess is taken, keeping me on edge. Despite thinking I had the plot figured out, the twists and revelations kept me engaged until the very end.

This book is a quintessential psychological thriller. I devoured it in two days, reading late into the night because I couldn't bear to leave the story hanging. The resolution was satisfying and tied the story together beautifully.

Overall, The Girl In The Basement was an exhilarating read, and I'm grateful for the chance to review it. Thank you NetGalley, and Storm Publishing for this opportunity.