Wow. 

This is the perfect book to read during this self quarantine because you're not going to be able to put it down, anyway. 

Right from the beginning, you're hooked onto the dirty, greasy Tara, who is being controlled and forced to steal by her mother. Then, you learn that it's more than that. She's twenty years old and locked into her room or closet, with very little to eat or do and absolutely no social interaction. 

I always read the true stories of kidnap victims so this book drew me in immediately. It reminded me so much of the true stories I have read and the many feelings that come with being taken and eventually caring for your capturer.  

My only complaint with this book was how Mother found her. Especially if she already had the other. How did she know? Did Angela not clear her computer history? And even still, how was she always driving by where they were, when they were 6 hours away? This part made no sense to me and I wish it had been better explained or at least that the Feely's lived much closer to Mother. 

Otherwise, I devoured it and it was absolutely amazing.  While fiction, it still reads eerily similar to all of those true stories, where the kids finally find their strength once their abductor claims a new victim.

Another example of why you shouldn't believe everything you see online! Although I enjoyed this book, I didn't really feel a connection to the characters. I guess I didn't understand how a 20 yr old would allow herself to be held hostage? The story was good though and kept me engaged and wanting to read more!

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Bleeker and Lake Union Publishing for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll be totally honest and admit that I didn’t read the synopsis of this one before requesting because I am a big Bleeker fan and the first few chapters I started to think that maybe this would be my first DNF of the year. However, things changed pretty quickly at about the fifth chapter and I was so immersed into Tara’s life and the crazy challenges she was facing. I adored where this novel went and I was never sure what was going to happen next, keeping me turning the pages. You definitely find yourself rooting for some characters and hating others and I love that in a novel! I was shocked by some of the twists and the ending was awesome. I definitely would recommend this one for other Bleeker fans and those who enjoy a good thriller!

While I didn't find this to be a great read it was a fast and easy read that kept my attention. I  wasn't interested in the characters and the story was extremely  farfetched,  that said, I  always intended to see the story through to the end.

Tara is adopted by a controlling and twisted foster mother. Longing for a better life she watches videos online. She's obsessed with the Feely family. They seem to have it all. The perfect family. When Tara takes an internship with this famous family she discovers things aren't exactly as they seem. I loved the last book by this author and this new one did not disappoint. The tension and suspense held me. I read it straight through. This packs a punch. I loved it.

Dawnny-BookGypsy 
Novels N Latte 
Hudson Valley NY

3.5 stars.

The description led me to believe that this book would be a thriller full of suspense, but I didn't feel like that was quite accurate.  What It Seems by Emily Bleeker is a contemporary story about a girl who grew up in abuse and escapes to find a new life.  There are a few moments of "thrill" and suspense but I don't feel like that was the driving point of the story.  

It seemed to me that there were two stories in this book, and each story probably could have been a complete story in and of itself.  First, there is the story of Tara who grew up under the hand of her foster mother's abuse.  Locked in her room, forced to shoplift, physically and emotionally abused for almost 12 years, Tara is at a breaking point by the time she reaches the age of 20 and desparate for freedom and escape.  The second story is about what happens when Tara does escape.  She becomes an intern for a famous Youtube family and learns that the family is not as perfect as they appear on camera.  

I thought both of these stories were compelling, but I have mixed feelings about whether both stories needed to be combined into one book.  It just felt like too much.  Several things seemed implausible, and one event as the two stories intersected at the end was entirely too coincidental  I found a lot of it hard to believe.  

However, I also thought this story was compelling from start to finish.  I was hooked and eager to keep reading, even though I didn't quite buy into everything that happened.  So perhaps I don't need to be too nit-picky about the implausibility or the excessiveness of the plot, because it was still highly readable.  It kept my interest, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened.  

If you are willing to suspend your disbelief a bit and just go with whatever happens, this is an entertaining and easy read that should keep you turning the pages quickly until the end.  

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Will draw you in from the first sentence. Atmospheric and tense. Will Tara succeed or fail? Come along. Read and find out. You won't be disappointed by this winner. Happy reading!

I have a good friend who loves the work of author Emily Bleeker, and she's been encouraging me to pick up one of her books for quite some time now. When I read the synopsis for Ms. Bleeker's latest novel What It Seems, I knew it was the perfect book for me. I read it in a single sitting, and I have now purchased her previous books as well.

Twenty-year-old Tara doesn't know much about families. She lives with her extremely controlling mother who adopted her under strange circumstances when Tara was eight, and for the past twelve years, it's just been the two of them. Her mother is a very volatile person, and Tara is punished for the smallest infraction. Her only real link to the outside world comes in the form of the Feelys, a family whose internet videos form the basis for Tara's fantasies. She'd give anything to be a part of such a warm, loving, upbeat family, the kind of people who seem to love each other unconditionally.

While surfing the web late one night, Tara makes a startling discovery. The close-knit family she's been idolizing for months is looking for an intern. At first, running away from her mother and joining the Feely family seems like nothing more than a pipe dream, but as the days pass and things grow increasingly untenable at home, Tara begins to plan her escape.

Soon, things fall into place and Tara is living what she thinks of as the perfect life. She's not punished for her every mistake, and she is starting to feel like a valued member of the family. Unfortunately for her, things aren't quite as idyllic as they seem. The Feelys have their share of personal problems, and it isn't long before cracks begin to form in Tara's hard-won existence.

Tara is a very troubled young woman, and readers won't always like the choices she makes. However, these choices, problematic as some of them may be, do make a great deal of sense given her less-than-stellar upbringing. It's clear from the start that she wants desperately to be loved and valued, but she has no real clue how to go about it. Some of her actions made me cringe, but I still found myself hoping she'd come out on top.

You're probably wondering about the Feelys, but I'm going to allow you to discover their secrets for yourself. They're a complicated bunch of people, and I found it difficult to know who to trust pretty much from the start. Tara thinks they're perfect, but I wasn't convinced, and I doubt you will be either.

If abuse is difficult for you to read about, you might want to steer clear of What It Seems. The first quarter of the book has some vivid descriptions of the horrible way Tara's mother treats her, and there are some flashbacks of abuse later on as well. I didn't find them overly graphic, but Ms. Bleeker does such a fantastic job transporting readers out of their everyday lives and into the hell Tara experiences, and this could prove difficult if you're sensitive to the subject matter.

This is definitely a thriller, but in a way, it's also a coming-of-age story, and I loved watching Tara come into her own. It's not always a smooth process, but it's brimming with authenticity and heart. The author celebrates all of Tara's imperfections and seems to urge the reader to do the same, and also made me feel as though my heart was in my throat due to the danger I was pretty sure was right around the corner. It's an interesting mix of genres, and Ms. Bleeker pulls it off beautifully.

Buy it at: Amazon or shop at your local independent bookstore
Visit our Amazon Storefront

1 star

I feel like reading two separate novels: one about an abused teen/young adult, and one about a family with secret. None is maximised and I kept thinking these should be two stories, but eh.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I'm really unsure of how many stars to give this book. This book started out all wrong. There was no adequate explanation given for how "Tara" got into the situation she was in and went down hill from there. How does someone stay in that kind of environment when they have so many opportunities to run?

I'm sure there are many others who will thoroughly enjoy this book so don't take my opinion as gospel. Read for yourself and see how well you like the book.

I love Emily Bleeker's books and was excited to read her latest one. What It Seems is a page turner that hooked me from the first page!

Emily Bleeker, author of "What It Seems" has written an intense, riveting, captivating, edgy suspenseful novel. The Genres for this story are Psychological Thriller, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, and Fiction. The timeline for this story is set in the present and goes back to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story.  The author describes her colorful and dramatic characters as complex, complicated, emotionally unstable, selfish, quirky and strange. There are betrayals, secrets, and twists and turns.

Tara has been raised by a controlling and manipulative foster mother when she was eight years old. Her foster mother basically keeps her isolated as much as she can, and Tara fears the punishment that she will get if she doesn't cooperate and behave the way the foster mother expects her to.

Tara has a computer, and has learned how to get around and starts watching online videos. She becomes obsessed with a video family, the "Feelys" and wishes she could be with them. An opportunity presents itself for Tara to apply for an internship by e-mail. While running errands with her foster mom, Tara runs and gets an interview. Could this really be Tara's ticket to happiness? Will Tara's foster Mom really let her go?

Does anyone know what the perfect family should be? I loved the exciting and intense ending. I would highly recommend this suspenseful thriller.

A unique story set with characters that are not what they seem...therefore the title of the book.  A young woman must escape her horrifying life if she is to ever be happy.  She has watched a family blog for many years where they seem to be everything she wants in a family.  But of course, life is not always beautiful and even within a family famous for their positive outlook, darkness is just around the corner.  A good read that had many unique situations woven into a mystery that was a good story itself.

Heavy plot with potential that isn’t met. Reviews for this is all over the pace. So maybe just go in blind and decide for yourself.

"i was never some hulking giant with bulging muscles that pounded my way out of a bad situation. i was a frail, broken child who survived long enough to escape."

i am very confused. this is not an easy book to review. i was so intrigued by the blurb and, in some ways, it exceeded my expectations. in others, however, it felt really short.

our main character's story is tragic. it is horrifying, and it is portrayed within that tone, which is very appropriate. however, it was fairly obvious from the beginning what was actually going on. i mean, i am quite possibly the most gullible person in the world and i even i immediately understood that tara hadn't been adopted or fostered, but abducted.

while the book made sense, up to that point, i felt like it suddenly just veered off course with the introduction of a popular youtube family, whose videos tara enjoys watching. and, here, i start to get annoyed. tara has one hundred million questions about everything, naturally, due to the isolated life she leads under mother's "care". however, even at twenty years old, it never occurs to her to look up mother, herself or her birth parents? come on.

anyway, as the book flies off course, we're presented with another entincing bit of information: the feelys, the youtube sensation family, aren't all they seem. you know what this ends up meaning? that they're a normal family. that they're not all happy and bubbly every single second of every day. that their videos for youtube are staged (shocking!). the dad is kind of a creep, too but, i mean, the author made it seem like they were hiding corpses in the pantry so it turned out to be a huge disappointment.

all of this just led me to believe that including youtube and vloggers and influencers was a strange attempt at making the book feel modern. honestly, it just felt like i was reading two different stories. the first plot would've been more than enough for one cohesive and interesting novel, and there was so much left to explore, especially when it came to mother! what's her background? what made her into the person she is? was tara the first child she kidnapped? did she really have a daughter of her own? why was she in prison?

even though it was disappointing, the novel was still entertaining and, therefore, i would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an arc, and henry for being the only logical character in this book.

First, a warning; What It Seems is such a heavy plot. Unfortunately, despite giving us an awful story of a young woman trying to survive in a controlling, abusive environment, I felt her character was quite flat. 

The Feely family I found really irritating; in fact, the whole "vlogger" storyline really grated on me. Maybe this is a storyline that would be more appreciated by someone who enjoys the whole vlogs but it wasn't for me. 

I really struggled to keep reading What It Seems but I didn't consider a DNF... I just really wanted it to be over. 

I bumped What It Seems from one star to two, purely because of the ending; literally the last chapter! Throughout the book, Henry is the only redeeming character and even then we don't get to see the real him or know much about his story. Finally getting to know his story and see how he responds and cares for "Tara" made me like him even more. 

I know this is a really negative review and I hate giving such criticism but this was just not the right book for me at all and this is just my own opinion. I've no doubt there are people out there who will read this book and find themselves utterly absorbed by "Tara's" life and her fight. Unfortunately this just wasn't the case for me personally. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Bleeker and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Though one of Bleeker's earlier novels is already on my ever-growing TBR, this is actually my first experience with her writing. This is a fast-paced and engaging read. Tara, twenty years old, is completely under the controlling influence of "Mother" - a woman who adopted her at eight and has abused and tormented her ever since. Tara manages to keep a few secrets from her witch of a caregiver - and one of them is her computer skills where she hides the fact that she follows a few families on YouTube, greedy for these glimpses into an idyllic family life. The plot escalates as these two worlds intersect and this quickly becomes hard to put down. 

I admit to being thoroughly hooked - almost despite myself. This book evokes the same feelings as when you get sucked into a Lifetime movie: objectively, you know that this isn't really good, but you can't tear your eyes away either. Definitely a guilty pleasure as more and more of Tara's terrible situation comes to light. And while some of the turns of the plot are not exactly the most plausible, and the book is definitely sad and a little silly too, I can see this easily being a one-sitting read. Despite some expected turns, the book holds surprises, too. Though the characters are not deeply developed, I still felt invested in their fates and I definitely did enjoy reading this. I am looking forward to catching up on Bleeker's earlier novels and I know I will be keeping my eye out for her books in the future.

I haven't read a whole lot by Emily Bleeker yet, in fact the only other book I have read is Working Fire, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect with What It Seems. What I got was a real page-turner that I had a hard time putting down!

What It Seems had a couple of surprises, but overall I could definitely see the direction it was going. It is not a thriller, but more suspenseful and I spent a lot of the book wondering where things would end up. I didn't feel like there was too much mystery, but the writing was really good, and I found myself glued to the pages.

I loved that What It Seems was different from the books I've been reading lately and that Bleeker went a different direction than a lot of authors right now. Even though I felt like I knew what was going to happen (which I did) it didn't remove any of the enjoyment for me, and I loved the pacing! If you are looking for something quick that you can read in one sitting that is more suspenseful than thriller, I would check this out!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This was a crazy story!  It was a quick read which I think is because of the writing style and the fact that it was pretty suspenseful. I was intrigued by this story from the very beginning and it only got better.
.
The whole story is told from the protagonist’s point of view in first person which I’ve mentioned before is my favorite style. The protagonist herself, well...she wasn’t my favorite. First I felt awful for her, then she frustrated me for a while, in the end she mostly redeemed herself. The jump from being with her horrible foster mother to interning with a YouTube vlogger family was just...different. I think it seemed odd mostly because it’s not something I’m used to seeing in this type of book. But it was a good way to bring in the reminder that things aren’t as perfect as they might seem on social media. There were some good surprises that totally caught me off guard which was awesome and the ending was full of action!
.
So, I had a couple complaints about this book, but when I put them together with what I liked about it they’re pretty minor. I really liked this book and it gets a solid 4 stars from me!

They say the grass is always greener on the other side...but is it? Tara is about to find out the hard way. She escapes from a hellish life to a life where things aren't as they originally seemed. Only time will tell if she made the right choice or not. 

Unfortunately I thought the plot was a little far fetched and therefore I didn't enjoy this one as much. Which is a shame, because the actual writing was really good. 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.