Samantha Downing

"Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven't all been together in years. And for very good reasons--we'll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and--more importantly--secure their inheritance. But time with your family can be tough"--

He Started It

Lamia Hajani

This was definitely a one-sitting kind of book, where I stayed up until 2am to finish it. It's intriguing in that none of the characters are necessarily likable, and the narrator who is one of the characters knows that. There's also this alarming foregoing of morality for most of the main characters who are related. 

Out of all the mystery/thrillers that I keep inhaling these last couple of weeks, this is one of the better ones (hence the 4 stars). Although the writing can be somewhat flat (presumably the narrator is the flat person), it's still a good and absorbing read, where you lose track of time.

With the choice, I'd give it closer to a 3.75 stars. However, I'm rounding up for GR, (a) because I have to and (b) because I did finish it in one sitting.

celene

sophia n

it's only been a month but i've already forgotten half of what happened in this book. so much of it was forgettable and honestly only certain scenes really stuck out. the ending was good, though not at all what i was thinking was going to happen which threw me (which, i guess that's a good thing? depending on how you look at it, but i'm still not sure if it was worth the payoff lol) but the journey there was so sloooow and then the end felt super rushed. idk, i did enjoy parts of it, but thinking back i truly can't think of anything to say about it beyond just "it engaged me while i read it." i like fucked up family dynamics and drama a lot but i don't think i ever truly cared enough about them for it to really hook me.

Lauren Tabor

*4.5

This really kept me intrigued until the very end. There was always so much going on and so many questions popping up that I never wanted to stop listening to this audiobook. There were a couple of good twists, but for the most part it was so hard to be shocked by anything because this story was so over the top that by the end there wasn't much I wouldn't believe. I think if you can get past how unbelievable this story is, then you will really like it because it's just a wild ride to be honest.

Danielle Balum

Enjoyed the mystery that unfolded throughout this high tension family trip, however, the ending left me a little underwhelmed. 

SOMEONE ALWAYS TAKES THINGS TOO FAR . . . Pre-order the gripping new psychological thriller from the No. 1 bestselling author of My Lovely Wife 'So addictive it should come with a warning' Alice Feeney ________ No-one knows you better than your family. They know the little things that make you smile. They know your darkest secrets. Sure, you haven't always been best friends. But if it seemed as though someone was after you, that you might be in danger, then you'd be on each other's side . . . Right? So gripping you won't stop reading. So twisty that you won't know who to trust. And so dark that you'll realise something truly chilling: No-one is more dangerous than the ones who know you best. 'My Lovely Wife was one of my top books of 2019. He Started It is even better!' C.J. Tudor, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Chalk Man 'Whip-smart, lean, deliciously dark and addictive. One of the best thrillers I've read in a long time' Ali Land 'Wow! It's dark, it's twisted and it's going to be your new favourite book! 5***** Reader Review 'Chilling, thrilling, twisty, fast paced, riveting, tense, dark & scary . . . My favourite book this year' 5***** Reader Review PRAISE FOR MY LOVELY WIFE 'The most gripping psychological thriller of 2019' Stylist 'Wow! My Lovely Wife is a stunner - full of twists, well-drawn characters, and riveting suspense' Harlan Coben, bestselling author of Don't Let Go 'An assured and deliciously engrossing debut. It will linger long after you've reached the last page' Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes

The new psychological thriller from #1 bestselling author of My Lovely Wife

Lauren Attaway

A smart thriller that makes you continue to turn the pages as you try to find out what comes next all of the way through to the last page. 

Ugliness that gets under the skin and stays past its welcome. We (thriller readers) all like dark peeks into worst-case scenarios, but no one wants to stay there. The Morgan siblings Beth, Portia and Eddie are like a dark peek. After putting this book down I felt like I just spent several hours in a car trip with people I could not stand.

Caitlin Snyder

daisy

ella of antipaxos <3

family drama was fun but the ending was disappointing. not as good as her other book. the suspense was kind of ruined by the complete lack of genuine emotion going on. lot of telling feelings and not showing them

Heather Heaton

My head is still reeling and confused as to wtf happened!?!?!?! I guess that is the sign of a good thriller. All of the characters in this book are very unlikable even though I found myself rooting for them at the end. Then I was wondering why I was rooting for them because they are awful. It was quite a ride.

https://youtu.be/LRZR9PBmcQs
booktube review to check out too

Anna Wilson

this book begs the question, do you have to like your narrator to like the book?

Ruth Parker 

Bit of a slow burn... but my goodness that ending! Loved it! 

This is Samantha Downing’s second novel and following my adoration of her debut, this was a must read. It is a very different story to My Lovely Wife, so it’s difficult to compare the two. I think her debut is better BUT it depends really on what you want from a thriller.

AN INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "Wholly original. Scarily clever. Completely mesmerizing. You will never look at family road trips the same way again."--Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author A most anticipated book by Hello Sunshine ∙ Cosmo ∙ Entertainment Weekly ∙ Betches ∙ Hollywood Reporter ∙ Parade ∙ PopSugar ∙ OK! Magazine ∙ Hello Giggles ∙ Bustle ∙ Yahoo! ∙ She Reads ∙ Book Page ∙ CrimeReads ∙ New York Post Best Book of the Week ∙ Goodreads From the twisted mind behind mega hit My Lovely Wife comes the story of a family--not unlike your own--just with a few more violent tendencies thrown in.... Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven't all been together in years. And for very good reasons--we'll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and--more importantly--secure their inheritance. But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone. It's even harder when you're all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory, a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won't stop following your car--and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there's a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons. But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.

Sophie Elaina 

I might be in shock... that was really something. I don’t know whether I loved or hated the ending, but this was just as good, if not even better than the author’s debut! Samantha Downing is quickly becoming an auto buy author for me.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Becca Miller 

Are you kidding me?

Downing really flopped on this one. It felt like a B rated movie, and I just can't believe the plot because it got too convoluted. The ending felt like a "gotcha" moment and just, ugh. She throws one twist on top of another and really hammers the idea that someone else shockingly does something else bad, because this family is apparently made of psychopaths, and it just stops feeling "real." But by the time she exposes the twist, she's hinted at it like 10 excruciating times. Just tell me! You aren't making it suspenseful, you're just irritating me!

(view spoiler)[ I liked the first twist, that the sister was missing or dead. But the "what Grandpa did to Grandma" thing was so drawn out for no reason. I thought it must be worse than beating her, but no, apparently it's just that he was abusive. And then suddenly it runs in the family but skips a generation because the Mother only killed at what seemed like a breaking point in her psyche.

It would have worked better if we got to see one timeline or the other for longer, in "real time." I wish someone had seen her kill Felix too. I kept waiting for that bomb to drop, but apparently not.

The only thing I liked was to see her slow descent into madness about Nikki actualized by writing that weird journal. I knew something was off about it because she said it was her journal but then at some point said it was Nikki's journal. So weird.  (hide spoiler)]

Julia

3.5

WHAT THE F IS THIS ENDING!!! 

With this kind of family you don't need any enemies.

Rebeca 

3.5/4 stars 
This was good, this was really good up until the ending. I hated it could have ended better

Melea Mullican

I had really high hopes for this book. Even though, I still enjoyed it a lot, My Lovely Wife exceeded all expectations.

I really enjoyed the idea of this book. A crazy roadtrip with siblings isn't something you see much in thrillers. The first 3/4 were slow burn, but with enough intrigue to keep me reading at every chapter break. The characters aren't people you're going to like. While I don't usually have a problem with that, I found myself needing more to make sense of their motives. Even bad reasons are at least reasons. 

The end of the book is where things fell downhill for me. It felt very rushed and like the ending was there for shock value rather than to actually make sense. A twist is well done when all the set up is there, but you're still surprised. Instead I was just left with "huh?"

Overall, I still really enjoyed Downing's writing, and I will absolutely be picking up her next thriller. This one just fell a little below great marks for me.

Lori Keenom

Siblings repeat a road trip taken with their grandfather to get their inheritance. Let’s just say it’s not a happy road trip. I enjoyed this. Although, the ending wasn’t my favorite.

Yuki Reads

4.5 stars. This one was WILD! Super twisted & super original. The middle was a bit long but the end was super fast and that’s where allllll the twisty action comes in.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

This was a wild ride of a book! At times it was a bit slow and I wasn't sure it would pick up, and then BAM! It came back full-force. And the ending... AWESOME! I really didn't expect it at all. That's what I look for most in a thriller, for it to really floor me with its ending. This one definitely did that. I would definitely recommend this one to thriller readers. And even if you feel it's a bit slow at times, just stick with it. The ending makes it all worth it, in my opinion.

He Started It

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