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BOOK INFO
Title: The House in the Pines
Author: Ana Reyes
Publisher: Dutton
Publish Date: January 3, 2023
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Series: na
My Rating: 3/5
BOOK BLURB
Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they’d been spending time with all summer.
Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can’t account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer—the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.
At her mother’s house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father’s book that didn’t stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank’s cabin. . . .
MY REVIEW
Maya returns to her hometown to cope with trauma from her past. As a teen, her best friend died mysteriously. Seven years later, another girl dies in the same way. Maya decides to confront her past and search for answers.
The House in the Pines is told from Maya’s point of view in the past and present. The past is from her senior year in high school and the present is seven years later. Maya is an unreliable narrator who has self-medicated for years.
I love unreliable narrators, and was intrigued by the premise of this book. Unfortunately, the writing didn’t completely pull me in. That said, I still found The House in the Pines to be an entertaining debut novel.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.