Massively anticipated and oh boy! It did not disappoint in the slightest. Mystery, drama, a remote island and a creepy cult? So many times yes...

This book is split into two timelines and features sisters. It was okay but a bit confusing and I couldn't get into it really. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

I couldnt get enough of this thriller with a gothic feel it was deliciously dark and had some really chilling moments. Totally gripping

This Might Hurt - Stephanie Wrobel

I've seen great reviews for this author's debut novel The Recovery Of Rose Gold, so was keen to read this.

It's an unusual novel centring around two sisters, Natalie and Kit. Natalie is the older, more responsible one and Kit has disappeared to join a six month retreat on a remote island. Natalie is desperate to make contact and bring Kit back to real life.

For a good chunk of the book, there is a spilt timeline with the story of two young sisters, the connection to the main events isn't made clear until much later, which personally I find a rather irritating device, though it just about works on this occasion.

Once things slot into place, I much preferred the second half.

The character writing is very good, the plots rolls along at a decent pace, even though I found it a little fractured or indirect sometimes. I found it really quite moving at points.

It's a very good book if you fancy something a little bit different, but not one one I would make a glowing recommendation to for readers who prefer more conventional psychological thrillers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK

This was really well plotted with excellent characters and a really nice way of weaving past and present. The ending was appropriately creepy and I thought the pacing was spot on. Another great read.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Penguin Michael Joseph UK, for the ARC.

Now, I thoroughly enjoyed this author's previous book - "The Recovery of Rose Gold", but I am really in two minds about "This Might Hurt". On the one hand I could say that this is very cleverly written - on the other hand, I would say that it's SO cleverly written and obfuscated by hints of mis-direction, that it could be described as rather confusing, until one is well into the story.

Most of the reviews so far concentrate on the storyline of Kit and Natalie Collins. Nat is older than Kit by three years and has always seemed to be bailing-out her younger sister from various situations. Their mother's death has deeply affected Kit and she decides to spend six months at a retreat - Wisewood, on an island off the coast of Maine - to seek her purpose in life. Residents there have no communication with the mainland, but one day Nat receives an ominous email asking her if she was going to tell Kit what she had done - or were they? Getting no joy from contacting the retreat she decides to travel there to make sure Kit is OK, and to finally tell her the secret she'd kept to herself.

So, interspersed with Kit and Nat's story, the reader also follows the lives of two other sisters. Dragged-up by an abusive disciplinarian of a father and a meek, religious mother, we follow "I" and "Jack" . Are we reading about Kit and Nat's younger lives or not? that's the obfuscation bit!

As we follow these sisters' lives and Nat's desperate attempts to find her sister, Nat discovers that not only is Kit very happy at the commune, she has taken on a staff role.
Gradually the separated narratives come together - that's clever. I just wish I hadn't felt quite so confused in the beginning.

I wasn't particularly drawn to any main character but did feel sorry for "I" and "Jack" at the hands of the father.
I found the teaching principles of the commune actually quite interesting - but even on the island, all is not what it originally seems, and the ending leaves me wondering.............did she?

OK, mind is made up. I'll say this gave my brain a good workout, and for that I'll give it 5".

I was drawn to this novel after reading excellent reviews of the authors's debut novel. Natalie has a successful career in New York, her sister Kit has taken refuge at Wisewood , a retreat off the coast of Maine. After receiving an email which suggests the sender knows a secret of Natalie's she joins her sister at Wisewood to discover what is really happening there. This novel started off promisingly for me but I soon lost interest when it became apparent that it was a locked room mystery set on an island. This seems to be a popular genre at the moment , which sadly isn't for me. Interspersed with Natalie and Kit's story is that of 'two siblings I' and Jack and it takes a while for the relevance to become apparent. I found this to be a disjointed read, it didn't flow for me and I had little interest in the characters or the outcome. However, I don't want to put off fans of this genre , it just wasn't for me.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I strangely enjoyed this book even though it left me very confused at the end. It was slow to start with and I struggled to keep reading it at times. It is written well and the author is clearly very talented but I don’t think the story flowed as well as it could have.

Well...... where to even begin. I read a lot of domestic noir/ thrillers so find myself often writing variations of the same review but this book was genuinely like nothing I'd read before.

I finished it 2 days which is longer than I'd normally take however I'm still really undecided about how I feel about this one. Its written from the perspective of 2 sister plus flashbacks and it did actually confuse me a bit trying to get it all to fit and trying to understand who was narrating what as it isn't always clear. It obviously does all click together perfectly at the end and you find yourself suddenly piecing together a million things that had been glaringly obviously from the off but just out of reach until you get that final puzzle piece. I can't say I found any of the character likeable which was also new for me lol! I wasn't rooting for anyone to win or overcome anything, I was more just trying to gain an understanding of what was going on the whole time. The ending was and still does have me scratching my head a bit aswell. Its really well written and will most definitely have you hooked. There's no doubt it gets you in its clutches relatively quickly but don't go expecting any sense of closure or a happy ending...... although in saying that, it does all wrap up nicely and does have a happy ending hahaha. Read it, you'll soon see what I mean. It's just left me feeling a bit flat but I can't pin point why

I was drawn to this novel after reading the excellent reviews but for me it never quite got any better than three stars. I did enjoy the writing and the characters were good but it felt a little slow and confusing. I find myself in the minority and feel sure many people will disagree with my review. On the positive side I enjoyed the writing style and would gladly read more of this authors work in the future.

Kit Collins and her sister Natalie haven’t spoken for over six months so it a surprise when Natalie receives an email from a retreat group Kit joined. The last time they spoke they were grieving the death of their mother and the two sisters dealt with the situation very differently. Nothing bothers Natalie whereas Kit is struggling to cope with the day to day pressures brought on by work and family. Convinced there is more to life, Kit decides to join a retreat called Wisewood. The email states that they know Natalie’s secret and are going to tell sister Kit. Natalie knows she must speak to Kit first.

Residents of Wisewood are required to commit to six month stays, where they are not allowed to contact the outside world. The rules state no phones or internet so that the guests can truly focus on the retreat and its beliefs so Natalie is going to have a fight on her hands to speak to Kit.

I would like to thank both Net Galley and Michael Joseph UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I loved Wrobel’s debut, The Recovery of Rose Gold - a fabulous and creative spin using a real life case as inspiration. So imagine my excitement to be able to read this, a book involving my favourite features: sisterhood, secrets and cults. And wowzer!!! This turned out to be a solid 5 star read for me.
In a nutshell this follows Natalie, who receives an email from the retreat group her sister has joined for the last 6 months. They know Natalie’s secret. And they’re going to tell Kit. Natalie needs to speak to her sister first, or she’ll never be able to forgive herself. She packs her bag and heads out to this isolated retreat on an island near Maine...
Along with Natalie’s narrative we also follow Rebecca’s story, as she’s raised by an abusive father and finds magic to be the perfect escape...

Wow! Wow, wow, wow!!! I loved this!!!!! Wrobel hypnotises the reader. I was utterly compelled. There are distinctive voices. I was swept away Rebecca’s story and what she becomes. Her arc was so well drawn out. For me personally this book worked because no one is completely demonised. It’s even hard to say who the antagonist is, nothing is black and white. The retreat/cult is so convincing in their principles; I actually did agree with some of their truths and what they had to say. It made me reflect more deeply and critically on my life and how society is orchestrated. I was swept away. But boundaries were crossed, subtly. And I could see how things can escalate and spiral into something else. I do wish, however that there was more closure at the end, as Natalie and Kit’s fate wasn’t clear. It was a bit ambiguous for me taste. Nonetheless this is undoubtedly one of the best cult psychological thrillers out there. I cannot recommend this enough!!

What a spectacular book! I loved the this tale of a terrifying cult and the two sisters who become entwined in it. Highly recommended!

Two sisters, Kit and Natalie Collins, are differently grieving the loss of their mother. Natalie focused on her high power position at work, while Kit joins a six month self improvement program at Wisewood. Wisewood is set on a remote island with no contact to the outside world including family. Natalie receives an ominous email about Kit and goes to Wisewood to bring her home. Secrets are dredged up and with a storm approaching it becomes a locked room mystery. I loved & devoured Darling Rose Gold, unfortunately this was a bit slow pacing with multiple characters’ and their past. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

I really loved Stephanie Wrobel's first novel, "The Recovery of Rose Gold", and in fact re-read it only this month, so I was very excited to see that her next novel was available on NetGalley.

"This Might Hurt" follows Kit and Natalie Collins, two sisters with a complex and strained relationship. Natalie is the older sister - successful in her career, diligent,responsible, and used to rescuing Kit from her various dramas over the years. But not this time. Kit has taken off for a six month sabbatical on an island retreat named Wisewood, run by the enigmatic Teacher. During that six months she is allowed no contact with anyone off the island, and no access to electronic devices. So when Natalie receives an email from someone at Wisewood threatening to reveal the terrible secret she has been keeping from Kit, she knows she has no choice but to get to the island and tell her sister before someone else does. But once she's arrived at Wisewood with its creepy cult-like practices, Natalie begins to suspect that it may be more difficult than she suspected to free her sister from the island's grip...

I loved this novel. I loved the way the narratives were split between Kit, Natalie, and a third nameless narrator that might be either Kit OR Natalie, or someone completely separate (no spoilers here!). The flashback scenes with the sadistic Sir were my favourite - genuinely tense and uneasy, and they gave that character such depth later on, and I really felt I could see why she had developed in the way that she had.

Wrobel writes beautifully - this is literary thriller in its best incarnation, with gorgeous prose, well-realised characters, and a gripping backstory. I finished the novel in a day as I couldn't bear to put it down, and the ending had my jaw on the floor. I always worry when I've really loved a debut novel that the second will be disappointing. I was so glad that this one upheld the fantastically high standard set by Rose Gold. Stephanie Wrobel has cemented herself into my list of favourite authors, and I eagerly await her next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher, who granted me a free ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

#ThisMightHurt #NetGalley
Completely believable.
Natalie Collins hasn’t heard from her sister in more than half a year.
The last time they spoke, Kit was slogging from mundane workdays to obligatory happy hours to crying in the shower about their dead mother. She told Natalie she was sure there was something more out there. And then she found Wisewood. On a private island off the coast of Maine, Wisewood’s guests commit to six-month stays. During this time, they’re prohibited from contact with the rest of the world—no Internet, no phones, no exceptions. But the rules are for a good reason: to keep guests focused on achieving true fearlessness so they can become their Maximized Selves. Natalie thinks it’s a bad idea, but Kit has had enough of her sister’s cynicism and voluntarily disappears off the grid.
Six months later Natalie receives a menacing e-mail from a Wisewood account threatening to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from Kit. Panicked, Natalie hurries north to come clean to her sister and bring her home. But she’s about to learn that Wisewood won’t let either of them go without a fight.
It's my second book by this author and I loved it more than her first one. It was really fabulous. I think she deserves a prize for this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for giving me an advance copy of this book.