ARC Review: The Safe Place

 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

The tagline of this book had me from the start. "No phones. No outsiders. No escape."? That sounds exactly like my kind of book. I love the ever classic amazing trope of a group of people stuck together someplace, bad or suspicious or mysterious or just plain weird things start happening, and readers and characters alike know that at least one member of the group is up to something nefarious. 

And this book had some of that for sure. The massively down on her luck Emily is chosen by her former boss, Scott, for what sounds like a dream job-being caretaker, companion, and nanny to his wife and daughter, who live on a secluded estate in France. At first, everything is idyllic, but then Emily starts to pick up on small things that make her think all is not what it seems.

The suspense was my absolute favorite aspect. The tension was so thick sometimes it felt like I was really there with Emily, creeping around and trying to figure things out. There were all these small things that were just so strange, but all meant something bigger. The set up was really great.

I struggled with the main character, Emily. I did grow to root for her as her character was developed more, but in the beginning, she came off pretty terrible. She only calls her mother to ask for money, and makes her mother cry when she forgets it's her birthday and once again calls asking for money. I know there's a backstory there about feeling like we don't belong within our family, or like they don't understand us, but it's still really uncomfortable.

The big reveal is a really good one, but I had actually figured out the biggest part of it quite a few chapters ahead. I also wasn't crazy about Emily needing to go off site into town to find the huge dramatic piece of information she needed to put the whole puzzle together. I know it wasn't cheating, but when the suspense is built on this claustrophic intense feeling of isolation, just leaving and clicking on a computer to solve the biggest clue felt a little bit like a let down.

I definitely did enjoy this book. The suspense was so well done, and everything just feel tinged with this fantastic sense of eerieness. Anna Downes, the author, also did a good job of exploring that area of gray between good and bad, right and wrong. I really didn't know how characters were going to act and react, and I like being kept on my toes with a book like this. This isn't my favorite book I've read in this genre, but it's a solid and gripping read.