This was ok. Not awful but not the best plot. I finished the book but would not recommend it. The main plot was a little unrealistic and the characters not entirely believable.

Isabel Dryland was brutally assaulted as a teenager. She can't remember the details of that day, but it left her physically and emotionally damaged. Her life as an adult is good.  Her loving husband has found them a wonderful house and she's renovating one of the outbuildings into a new studio. Everything should be fine...but it isn't. This is a gritty, sometimes brutal domestic thriller that had be both wanting to keep turning pages and wanting to put the book down because it's all rushing fast towards something awful.

Excessively tedious mystery-drama thriller.
It had a very captivating opening, a slow and simmery gothic style writing, but this descended into a muddled narrative of excess. I forced myself to finish this one.

Dozens of characters interspersed without proper context, timeline jumps, unclear POVs (a name/indicator allocated to a new POV would have sufficed), unnecessary gossip or reflection, mundane events, quotes from various literature at the beginning of each chapter that did little to add to the plot. I also felt very uncomfortable with the animal torture descriptions, but that's just my own personal trigger, I don't think I need to hear it in such detail to sense the attacker is an evil person. I found myself skimming past paragraphs because the content was not really exciting or necessary. The main character, Isabel, complained a lot, fumbled around mostly with trivialities, and I couldn't find myself caring for what happened to her. Her attitude towards mental health was also really cringey and unrealistic: "So here I am today, in the room for nutjobs...I'm not like these people..." then proceeds to judge the various extreme cases of people all in the room together with her. I have my beef with this because not only is it shaming those with mental health, but it's also assuming counselling to be something that only "ill" people need. Maintaining mental health applies to everyone, just like fitness does. Another jab at something else in the writing: mentioning the therapists hands as "neopolitan" (he was black) is making this character 'exotic'. This is inappropriate and racist. I know it's just unlikeable petty character things, but I find it important to address such topics appropriately in modern times.

The side characters weren't really given enough page space to be likeable (such as close friends or neighbours), and Isabel's mundane reflections drove the plot painfully slowly. The plot itself wasn't really that engaging with some predictable events, the narratives seemed forced, unrelatable or just too damn casual. If I felt threatened in a new house in the country, I would investigate the hell out of that. Set up cameras, talk to neighbours, call the police, get a guard dog a lot earlier, basically be vigilant and proactive to defend my private space - she went on as if she's out on the prairie's having tea & scones with chronic anxiety. I just couldn't find any glue to feel gripped in suspense or excitement. There was more romantic drama than thrills, and the romance sometimes just felt toxic or off-beat also. I feel it could have been a lot shorter, with a dozen less characters, and perhaps had the attacker reveal himself a lot sooner as his confrontation arrived at 90%.

How to improve: I think if the style is aiming for gothic mystery, I would tone down the excess inner narratives and dialogue to keep some mystery alive. There's no need to overexplain what the reader already knows, and it's best to just get on with it. There could be major twists or unpredictable character obstacles to replace the current use of daily events (such as the protagonist calling to meet various connections to the victim). The reason people read is to escape into something exciting and different, and the plot feels too ordinary.

Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy this one, but I think I lean towards exciting/gripping material. Perhaps others favouring a slower, more dramatic pacing, would enjoy.

TW: animal abuse, sexual abuse


Thank you to Netgalley, Penzler publishers and Julie Cameron for this advanced digital copy for review. Opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Only Truth is a haunting, thrilling, and wild ride of a book. Izzy was a excellent character due to an incident in her early life Izzy suffers from anxiety and migraines and I found that sometimes Izzy may not be the most reliable narrator but so endearing. And I think that’s why it works. Even now no one ever believes those who have mental illnesses as everyone just assumes it s the illness. Maybe that’s why they are the perfect victims. Overall, Only Truth is a suspenseful and twisty psychological read.

Overall, I was not a fan of some of the POV stuff as well as the mystery we were given and did not have a desire to want to pick it up when I was not in the moment of reading it. Bummer.

This is a thriller that will definitely keep you guessing. Is she actually being stalked or is she suffering from a mental illness. The story was a little slow at the beginning, but did pick up at the halfway point. All in all a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the review copy!

HOLY SMOKE! THIS BOOK WAS GREAT! I loved the cover and that is what drew me and when i read the synopsis, I knew I had to have it but oh my, the author out did themselves on writing this. I loved this story so much. It gave me all feels I was looking for. I was so excited when I got approved for this, I had to jump in. The plot and story were done great and were very solid. It was also very easy to follow. 

I highly recommend this read!

If only I could get peace to read this. Once I did, it was awesome. Great plot. Got me wondering who the perpetrator is and a nice little decoy to distract you and beef up the plot. Really enjoyed this. Highly recommended

This book is creepy and full of twists however, it wasn't hard to identify the main antagonist ( I kinda prefer to have a hard time figuring it out) and I spot it right away and I was right. Regardless, I still enjoyed reading it.. Author’s writing style is good, characters and plot are good as well.

We'll start with the good. I've been on a major Crime Junkie kick and this story, if it was real, would be a total feature on that podcast. I loved the back and forth between Isabel and the person who hurt her, getting to see into both of their psyches and what turned them into the people they are from the people they were when they came together in the past. There was also backstory about a girl that Isabel's attacker had killed and I loved that the girl helped to lead Isabel into the answers of what happened. The fact that Isabel was somehow haunted by the home she lived in was very interesting as well and it kept me moving along, wanting to know who the attacker was and what would happen in the end.

Unfortunately, just because a story is good doesn't mean the book will be good. While I continued to move forward because I wanted to know what would happen next, the writing was incredibly off for me. The author really turned me off of Isabel and some of her thought processes made me really dislike her.

The writing also made it hard to follow the story at times. I'm not sure what it was that turned me off but I found myself not wanting to pick up the book because of the way the author wrote. Towards the end I found myself skimming because I wanted to now what had happened but I also just kind of wanted the book to be over.

Possibly the writing style won't bother other readers as much, and the story is worth it. So if writing style doesn't hinder you the way  it does me, you may want to check out this read.

A solid mystery with tons is suspenseful moments and characters that  the reader will be instantly drawn to. Julie Cameron does an outstanding job at building intense foreboding and challenging the reader to second guess themself. The story is told from multiple perspectives and weaves a pattern of mystery from page one to the very end. 4 stars

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC OF #OnlyTruth which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

#mysterynovels #bookstagram #bookblog #readreviewrepeat #noteverythingisasiteeems #ScarletBooks #tbr

Months ago I read the book "Into the Darkest Corner" by Elizabeth Haynes and loved it. I was desperate afterwards to read something similar. This is exactly what I was searching for! I loved the tension in this book and really appreciated the switch between the protagonist and antagonist. Unfortunately I'm now in the same predicament as before, I need more like this.

May not finish prior to when this book is published. Will update review asap when I am done reading. Rating is in the middle for right now and will be altered when I'm finished to reflect the true rating I give the book.

I didn't end up enjoying this much and thought about DNFing a few times. But I pushed through and finished it. I found it a bit boring and didn't think the mystery aspect was very compelling, since you pretty much know who the attacker is early on. I also didn't think the attacker's POVs were always necessary, and just found them depressingly dark.

What would you do if you knew something was wrong but the people you trust the most didn’t believe you???
Isabel Dryland has a traumatic past that she can’t remember. Moving to a new home has her feeling watched. 

He checked no one was watching and bent forward. Quickly, like a snake, he flicked out his tongue and ran it across the door handle where her hand had been.

Super creepy and suspenseful.

This was an okay read.  A bit confusing at beginning and a tad slow for my liking, but one that I would still recommend.  I think if it was a bit faster paced, it would be much better, but I still got some of my thrills, chills, and shocks!  I fo think it was well written, with good character development and a realistic premise and unique execution.  Overall, if you don’t mind slower paced books, I think you will absolutely love this one and even those who are like me and love the fast paced thrill rides, I’m sure you’ll get enough thrills and chills to fulfill you!  
Will make sure to buzz around platforms and use lower  amazon reviewer number on release date!

This book was really good! You are in for a heck of a rollercoaster ride. Even though I figured out who it was before the end I still enjoyed reading this story. I really grew to like Izzy the MC, and how she works so hard to get herself right. I could have done without the insta-love but to each their own. I don’t want to say much because I don’t want to give anything away but...Geez can everyone just remember STRANGER DANGER?!

I was excited to read this book because the cover and brief description drew me in.  The book started off slow and never did pick up.  Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this as much as I hoped I would.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A young woman who suffers from injuries inflicted on her during a brutal attack unwittingly returns to close to her attacker.

The premise of this story sounded interesting, as I really enjoy this genre. It started off strong, but unfortunately, that didn't last. The pacing was slow, which made it hard for me to stay engaged. A few twists surprised me, but not enough for me to up the rating.