I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio
Published: February 22, 2022
Summary:
From the USA Today bestselling and Edgar-nominated author of Darling Rose Gold comes a dark, thrilling novel about two sisters–one trapped in the clutches of a cult, the other in a web of her own lies.
Welcome to Wisewood. We’ll keep your secrets if you keep ours.
Natalie Collins hasn’t heard from her sister in more than half a year.
The last time they spoke, Kit was slogging from mundane workdays to obligatory happy hours to crying in the shower about their dead mother. She told Natalie she was sure there was something more out there.
And then she found Wisewood.
On a private island off the coast of Maine, Wisewood’s guests commit to six-month stays. During this time, they’re prohibited from contact with the rest of the world–no Internet, no phones, no exceptions. But the rules are for a good reason: to keep guests focused on achieving true fearlessness so they can become their Maximized Selves. Natalie thinks it’s a bad idea, but Kit has had enough of her sister’s cynicism and voluntarily disappears off the grid.
Six months later Natalie receives a menacing e-mail from a Wisewood account threatening to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from Kit. Panicked, Natalie hurries north to come clean to her sister and bring her home. But she’s about to learn that Wisewood won’t let either of them go without a fight.
My thoughts:
This is another book that I’ve had sitting on my shelf for quite some time. After loving her last book, Darling Rose Gold, I grabbed this one as soon as I could, but of course I didn’t get to it until now. Thankfully my friend Bethany selected it as the September pick for her #BuriedInBookBuddies read and I’m so glad she did!
This book was definitely a unique read in the way it was told and while I was engaged throughout, I think the fact that I decided to do the audio format may have been a mistake. Not that there was anything wrong with the audiobook but it just didn’t work for me as well as I expected it to. I think I might have to reread this one at a later time in the print format to see if I feel the same.
I will say that I loved the cult angle – that is always something that appeals to me and the way that it is used here combined with the magic was done in such a fascinating way. And then there are the characters. I loved them because there are some really horrible ones – Sir, anyone? – and then there are ones that you just aren’t sure about.
This is definitely a book for discussion. There are a lot of dark topics that are covered within these pages and again, I am so grateful that I had my group to talk through these with. It’s a good story and I am definitely a fan of this author!
Audio thoughts:
While I think the audio format was not for me in this case, the audio production was still done very well. The narrator, Laurel Lefkow, did a great job bringing the story to life. I think it was just a case of it’s me not the audiobook, which rarely happens.
