Allie Reynolds

Who is Guilty and who is Innocent in the Most Gripping Thriller of the Year

Shiver

In this propulsive locked-room thriller debut, a reunion weekend in the French Alps turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at their remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm. When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to Le Rocher, a cozy ski resort in the French Alps, she's expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. It might have been a decade since she saw them last, but she's never forgotten the bond they forged on this very mountain during a winter spent fiercely training for an elite snowboarding competition. Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. The resort is deserted. The cable cars that delivered them to the mountaintop have stopped working. Their cell phones--missing. And inside the hotel, detailed instructions await them: an icebreaker game, designed to draw out their secrets. A game meant to remind them of Saskia, the enigmatic sixth member of their group, who vanished the morning of the competition years before and has long been presumed dead. Stranded in the resort, Milla's not sure what's worse: the increasingly sinister things happening around her or the looming snowstorm that's making escape even more impossible. All she knows is that there's no one on the mountain she can trust. Because someone has gathered them there to find out the truth about Saskia...someone who will stop at nothing to get answers. And if Milla's not careful, she could be the next to disappear...

Suyash Goylit

High school drama disguised as adult fiction

I was hoping for An Unwanted Guest or The Hunting Party style mystery thriller, but it was more like a bunch of squabbling high school kids in adult bodies quarreling over petty stuff. There are a lot of things in the negative column for Shiver but first, let's get the positives out of the way. It was very obvious that the author is very passionate about snowboarding and it is always interesting reading about something the author loves. Despite the inornate writing style, I was hooked almost the entire time by the mystery. It was a shame that the rest didn't hold up to complement that.

As mentioned earlier, the plot points were very petty which reminded me that I was reading a story, at every step, and never even tried to make any advances towards suspension of disbelief. The fact that I never really cared for any of the characters didn't help either. Most of the characters didn't have any depth to them and the ones that did, tried and succeeded in making me feel indifferent towards them. Saskia was portrayed as completely villainous without any redeeming qualities. Why would I care that she was killed? However, my biggest problem was with Milla, the protagonist. She comes off as very artificial. Behaving normally sometimes, and at times, out of nowhere, behaving completely erratic. She didn't have a constant personality, rather she's written based on the scene she is in. I was never able to see her anything beyond a character. This made the entire story feel inorganic. This was made worse by the format of the story. I'm a big fan of multiple POVs and timelines but this is a glaring example of how not to do it. Whenever things started getting interesting, the focus shifted. The way it was scripted hindered immersion and broke all the tension. Pointers can be taken from The Guest List on how to do it perfectly.

(view spoiler)[All the negatives could have been somewhat redeemed by a solid ending, however that was not the case. The big reveal of the murderer was overcomplicated. There are times when multiple killers elevate the effect, The Secret History being the perfect example of that, however here it was completely unnecessary. The way Saskia was just pushed over the cliff due to confusion was somewhat funny but I doubt that was intentional. The whole ending, though not bad, was a bit of a convoluted fizzle instead of a bang. The author should have leaned into the flaws of the characters on a deeper level, which was hinted at but never explored, instead of traversing the superficial. Overall not a bad debut, but definitely could have been much better. (hide spoiler)]

Kristen Claiborn

I’m going to start this review with I GAVE THIS BOOK FIVE STARS!!!! 2021 has taught me how to NOT give every book five stars. It’s been a rough internal battle. While there are always exceptions, I feel like any book I even sorta like deserves five stars. I haven’t managed to write a book…so I feel like those who write books deserve all the damn stars, even if I hated the book. So, who am I? A reader? Why do I have the right to review books all over the interwebs? 
	I’m going to move on to: THIS IS A FRIGGIN DEBUT PEOPLE! This human wrote a book, for the first time, had it published, somehow ended up on my TBR, and earned five stars from me. This is huge. I’m now super excited to read anything by Allie Reynolds. 
	I read three books with creepily similar themes in 2021. Ruth Ware, an icon in the thriller genre, published One By One on November 8, 2020. A bunch of people get suckered into going to a remote, mountain resort, where they all die. Then in February of 2021, Sarah Pearse published The Sanatorium (a Reese Witherspoon book club pick), where a bunch of people are enticed to a remote, mountain resort…and they all die. This book, about a group of friends lured to a remote, mountain resort…where they all die, was published between those two heavy-hitters. I fear it won’t receive the same acclaim, so little peon me is going to five start the crap out of it as many places as possible. 
	The backstory of this book was so much more complete than the other two similarly-themed books, which might be why I enjoyed this one more. During 2021, I got super frustrated with the back-and-forth timelines and alternating POVs, I almost didn’t want to read this one because of it. I knew I was going to endure two of my most frustrating writing themes, but I persevered. It was so compelling, I almost called in sick to work. I will not give any more information about this book, but I want the world to know that I REALLY enjoyed this one!

Jessica Ford

They were all there. So which one of them did it? 'A knife-sharp locked room mystery' HARRIET TYCE 'An exciting, twisty page-turner that will keep you guessing all the way to the end' C.L. TAYLOR 'A white-knuckle-ride through a dangerous world full of deadly ambition' ERIN KELLY 'A truly gripping chiller of a thriller. Sensational ' PETER JAMES It's that time of year when the glacier gives up bodies. But there's one in particular someone is looking out for. When five friends meet for a reunion in an isolated mountain lodge, things turn deadly. Who is guilty and who is innocent? Fans of Lucy Foley and Lisa Jewell will be gripped by spectacular debut novel Shiver. When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can't seem to let go. The five friends haven't seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don't know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth. In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light. Readers love Shiver: 'I felt the fear, isolation, silence and sense of dread... as if I was there' 'An exciting, gripping page-turner' 'Absolutely fabulous, could not put it down' 'Best whodunnit I've read in a long time' 'It's hugely exciting and a real page-turner' 'Wow! What a book! A deliciously dark, chilling, tense and twisty tour-de-force' 'A brilliant debut with a fabulous group of characters' 'A fantastic read and I loved every chapter' 'I can't wait for you to read the must-read thriller of the year' 'An addictive, suspenseful page-turner. It was fantastic!' 'Quite simply I loved this book'

They were all there but which one of them did it? An absolutely gripping chiller of a thriller.

Aims

Cheri McElroy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

A fantastic debut by a former snowboarder! A group of former competitors meets in the French Alps ten years after tragedy all but ruined their snowboarding careers. Two of the number are missing, one who was injured and one who died that winter ten years ago-but her body was never found.

Things start happening, secrets come out, and danger lurks in this great, closed-circle story. I really loved it.

Samantha Bowes

Loved this story. Reminded me a bit of One by One by Ruth Ware. I was able to figure out some of the mystery before the end, but it didn’t really hamper the story for me.

Fellowes Cynthia

I really enjoyed this book which is a debut by the author!!! She is a former snowboarder and the book is about a group of snowboarders who get stranded at a reunion. It goes back and forth from the present time backwards towards ten years prior. It is very well written, very suspenseful and a lot of fun at the same time. Will be looking for more from this author.

Ana V. 

First-person narrative. We're on this journey together with Milla. A group of friends reunites ten years later where they have lived the most important moment of their lives.
I loved that apart from the mystery around the character Saskia we get to see their life during a snowboarding competition. It shows a lot of knowledge on specific sports. But even if we have no idea about snowboarding we can relate to the spirit of competing and what it means to push beyond our capabilities. I enjoyed the twists and the author's ability to control the story, although it was predictable to me in the middle of the book, I couldn't put it down. The perfect book for a freezing, snowing January.

Kaley Catron

Yeah…I wasn’t a huge fan of that. I just…I wanted more from it…and like I wish there were less constant back and forth time jumps. Like the 10 years ago right back to the present got kind of annoying at times.

Lauren Attaway

Shiver was a slow-burn that turned action packed! This book is full of the kind of twisted female ambition I love/fear/admire. Excellent locked room mystery, what a great debut.

Ipshita Kanungo

4.1 ⭐ WOAH. This is EVERYTHING. Thrill. Suspense. Jumpscares. Shock. Tragic. Sad. Depressing.The book has 64 chapters, but I went through all of 'em in what a day? That's the power the book holds. Solid plot, great twists, flawed but likable characters and amazing setting.This book kept me hooked from the start and I was hooked till the last line. This book was so much, so if you r looking for something light hearted, don't pick this, this is too heavy. The characters will blow your mind, esp the narrator.
I did see some things coming, and a lot I didn't. There were times it scared the shit out of me. It's a solid 4.5 tbh, but there are some things I didn't like for personal preferences. Like some characters didn't even deserve what happened wid 'em & the character tht annoyed the shit out of me at one point got more than what they deserved. 
Other than that, the book's really good. It's a big book, but you won't be able to put it down
Heads up: Everyone is guilty (except one) 


Kath Lau

A weekend reunion of former friends in the French Alps. The last time they're together was in a snowboarding competition a decade ago which ended up in a tragic incident. I thought the setting was perfect! The characters are unlikable but I didn't mind. I did pick up who the culprit is but it didn't affect my reading. The snowboarding terms just felt a lot sometimes. Overall, this was a very instense, atmospheric, and gripping read!

Caitlyn Gabbert 

NaTasna Jiggetts

I would have given this book 5 stars but the ending was almost like a cliffhanger. It left me wanting more of the story. This book talked about snowboarding, which I have no clue about at all the author did make it a bit easier to follow. The chapters go back and forth between 10 years so you are not lost in what is going on. Its about completion between a group if "friends" and what they would do to win.

Emily C Peterson

This was really atmospheric and I enjoyed the back and forth timelines. But it was probably about 50 pages too long

Nicole

Rating: 5 Stars 

A ten year reunion at an isolated ski resort gones horribly wrong, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.

I just finished Shiver by Allie Reynolds and I loved this one! I loved the isolated setting, all the twists and all the secrets! It was a good solid read, I'm so impressed with the author's ability to write. I'm equally impressed that this is a debut novel and that the author was able to pull off flawless alternating timelines. I love stories with alternating timelines but sometimes it's so hard to follow and keep up with. I had no issue with keeping up with this one even in spite of listening to the audio. I'm not sure which timeline I enjoyed more, they were both so good but I might have liked the "10 years ago" for the simple reason that the snowboarding integration was so fascinating.

I really liked most of the characters particularly Curtis and Milla. I didn't care for Heather or Dale and, of course, Saskia's character was extremely unlikeable. But the story is told entirely in Milla's pov and she was an interesting character to read her thoughts and feelings. Her competitive and strong willed personality really showed through but occasionally there were glimmers of a soft and affectionate side of her that I appreciated.

All the plot twists were the best part of this story. It made the story fast paced and it kept the reader on their toes the whole time. Every character had a secret, some offensive and some deadly. I know some people thought that the plot or ending was predicable, but I honestly never saw the ending coming.

I can't wait to discuss this with our book club and the author later today! I highly recommend Shiver, this book deserves all the stars! I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Shiver Who is Guilty and who is Innocent in the Most Gripping Thriller of the Year

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