This Might Hurt was an enjoyable read - nothing ground-breaking but enjoyable none the less.

The book focuses on three different narratives, which I do think took you out of that particular characters story and sometimes led to confusion. I appreciate that the author was trying to bring something new to the thriller genre but for me it felt a little flat.

I did enjoy the writing style and the story was very intriguing to begin with, it just dragged a little and the reveals weren’t enough to keep me interested.

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the ARC.

This was a very slow burn, found it hard to get into the characters. I liked the story idea but I felt some parts were rushed through. The ending was a bit flat, i felt after the long build up.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It was a good read which was well written and held my attention to the end. I’d recommend as a good book for fans of a thriller genre with cult elements.

Two sisters, two very different life paths.

Natalie Collins, had to grow up fast. She’s the one who picked up the pieces and made sure her little sister, Kit, would always have happy childhood memories. But, over the years, once they set off on their own paths, they separated and rarely kept in contact. Despite Natalies efforts, Kit grew up to feel troubled and lost in the world and as a last resort to find some inner peace, she signed herself up to spend six months at Wisewood, a secret self-help retreat on a secluded island in Maine.

This objective of Wisewood is to help the guests find their better, braver selves but this comes at a cost. There is to be no communication with anyone, not your friends or your family for the entire duration of your stay. So, when Natalie receives a strange email from Wisewood saying ‘Would you like to come tell your sister what you did – or should we?’ Natalie sets off to the retreat to get to the bottom of the mysteriousness email and save her sister from being destroyed as she struggles to believe that this retreat is what it claims to be.

I’m a bit conflicted with this book as it went in a direction I hadn’t anticipated. I was expecting it to be a lot darker than it turned out to be, or I’m just de-sensitised. It’s still an interesting story and as it told from various points of view, it did have me trying to work out how the past chapters linked to the present day and who’s voice I was reading. Once it came together, the mystery aspect was lost on me and it began to fall flat, but I do think it’s because I was expecting more in the terms of darkness. Wisewood is certainly not somewhere I would like to find myself on, I can tell you that and the story is well paced with very intriguing/interesting elements and with a few twists here and there, but I shan't say anymore as I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone.

This was a reasonably entertaining read with a pleasingly unpredictable tension running through it. The challenging and co-dependant relationship between the two sisters is believable and their back story is heartbreaking. The novel is full of thrills, twists, surprises and a satisfying ending.

Natalie & Kit did not have a happy childhood. Once they grew up Natalie became a success needing her life to be organised & predicable. Kit did not have much direction & she decided to go on a six month retreat to an island where she was going to be out of touch with the outside world. Natalie was somewhat disturbed by this but when she got a worrying email she decided to see for herself & encounters the claustrophobic controlling world of this strange cult.

I'm quite a fan of 'culty' books, so I was expecting to enjoy this one. The story was told through various narrators & I got very confused as to who was talking. I thought Kit & Nat had a dreadful childhood but I struggles to really connect with anyone. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book- it wasn't a favourite!

Wisewood is an exclusive island retreat where you can stay for 6 months to take charge of your life and complete by taking self improvement classes away from social media everyday distractions. However, when Kit leaves for the island her sister Nat becomes increasingly worried until one day she receives an email that makes her doubt what happens on the island. As she gets to the island and tries to find Kit more about the charismatic 'teacher' or leader of wisewood is revealed and not al is what it seems.

The dual storylines of the two sisters kept me in suspense to the end; all the twists and turns that were revealed led up to an ending that I wasn't expecting and absolutely loved.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

It’s quite hard to review this one. On the one hand, I was hooked and absolutely flew through it. Then on the other hand I almost didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d have liked as I felt something was missing.

I have to admit, after going in blind it took me a while to realise the story was being told by 3 narrators so I did get a bit confused. With the third narrator being a mystery until later in the book and it all happening across different timelines, some unspecified, it did loose me in places. I mean all of that may have just been me being daft and may have even been the reason for me being so unsure about it.

It’s a solid mystery, thriller and with the cult aspect and strange going ons thrown into the mix - it definitely keeps you hooked and wanting more. It was quite a slow burn but the creepy vibes and tension definitely makes it captivating. It was well written and intriguing but I did struggle to get invested in the characters fully.

Very much on the fence with how I feel about it but I would definitely like to try more from this author.

A strange mystery about a cult-like retreat on an island and a search for a sister who may have been caught up in the intrigue. Written from three viewpoints, it’s difficult to follow the narrative at times. It was a bit too weird for my liking.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension - impossible to put it down

Wow!! What a read!! I wondered how Wrobel would follow the previous book- I definitely haven’t been disappointed. I’m unsure a written review will do this one justice.

This has been a book that has been completely unputdownable, I have been completely unable to put this one down. Wrobel has a fantastic writing style that just transports you as a reader. I feel as though I have been watching the events play out in front of me as I’ve read this one.

Natalie has been a character I’ve loved from the beginning. She has come across a bit sassy and filled with attitude from the first page. Kit I’ve been more unsure of. I haven’t quite known what to make of her.

Wrobel has created a novel with plenty of chilling moments and events that you really don’t see coming. This Might Hurt really makes you reflect on control and manipulation and I’ve found myself racing through page after page- desperately wanting to know what was coming next.

This is a book which will unsettle you, leave you with goosebumps and make you feel claustrophobic. This is a book that I haven’t stopped thinking about since I’ve finished it. I’ve been completely caught up and unwilling to complete real life chores until I’d finished this one.

Wrobel is a genius and this is a book that needs to be on the TBR. I’ve loved everything about this one. I will absolutely be recommending this book.

I was expecting a lot from this book, but unfortunately it didn't peak my interest.
I found the story a little bland and couldn't quite commit to it in some places.

A good thriller centred around a cult within an isolated setting hits so many of my buzzwords, so of course I was excited to read the latest release from Stephanie Wrobel.

Natalie hasn’t heard from her sister Kit for months -not since she went to Wisewood, a retreat for those looking to leave their stressful lives behind and become their Maximised Selves. But then, Natalie receives an e-mail from a Wisewood address saying that they’ll tell Kit the secret that Natalie has been keeping for years. So, she decides to rush to Wisewood, find her sister and bring her home before it gets out but it seems that Wisewood doesn’t like letting people go, once they’re in its grounds.

Wisewood has a strange mixture of tranquil and ominous vibes. Natalie isn’t happy that Kit is going and she’s highly suspect of it straightaway. The fact that residents have to live off-grid and are fully isolated from their loved ones is a big red flag but I found myself understanding why this was necessary in order to reach self-actualisation, which is what I initially thought the retreat was about. The more the story unravelled, the more the creeping feeling closed in and I genuinely felt chilly!

As well as literally being cut off from the rest of the world, Wisewood is fully barricaded against the physical world around it. However, the cold hard boulders, metal gate, sharp edges, dark forest and clean, corporate appearance all give it an instant ‘evil’ character. Even if I didn’t know that this was a thriller, I would have expected only bad things to happen there, despite the fact it insists it’s trying to do the opposite.

There is some quite violent, visceral imagery in the book but it isn’t over done. What’s there is necessary in order to effectively paint a picture of a certain character’s past and subsequent growth but it wasn’t exaggerated and rendered meaningless, which it easily could have done. I really appreciated the fact that this particular viewpoint because although it was dark, it caused things to make a whole other level of sense by the end and that angle is tinged with tragedy.

Wisewood’s ideology is based on eliminating pain through eliminating the fear of that pain. It’s an interesting concept, which obviously has noble intentions. I can certainly see how it could garner a collection of followers but of course, as with most ideas like this, it’s easily corrupted and can become dangerous. The culture of Wisewood and how it spreads reminded me of what I know of the Manson family and I was really scared that things would descend into murder and chaos at Wisewood before too long.

This Might Hurt is an interesting, heart-racing thriller with a lot going on. The multiple perspectives slowly start to thread together and my mind was definitely blown, when I realised who one of the characters was. I really enjoyed that things gradually began to make sense and the final pages certainly gave my mind a good workout. Give it a go if you enjoy thrillers with a very dark heart and plenty to wrap your head around!

I had high hopes for This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel, . The blurb and cover really stood out to me. I raced through some parts of the multi-narrative story, particularly the first 1/2, but after that, I was lost in the several different timelines. I cared for some but others I felt like skipping and by page 300 just wanted to get to the end- which i did find myself rushing to get to

An enjoyable read but I did struggle at times with timelines. It doesn't quite leave its mark like The Recovery Of Rose Gold so think some readers might be left a bit disappointed.

I liked the main storyline of the book but did find the back and to a little difficult to keep me as fully gripped in as I usually would be when reading. I did enjoy finding out more about the characters and seeing the story develop.

DNF at 52%

Plot wasn’t gripping, timelines were confusing and the characters weren’t interesting enough for me to root for them

I went into This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel with high hopes. The blurb and cover combination really sold it to me, as well as the fact that I’d only heard good things about Wrobel’s debut, The Recovery of Rose Gold. But while I raced through some parts of the multi-narrative story, other parts fell a little flat.

With several different timelines, the earliest, describing a mysterious character’s early life, was by far and away my favourite. For me, the pace of the other timelines tended to be on the slow side. That said, towards the end of the book my interest was well and truly piqued and I read the final 75 pages, a great ending, in one sitting.

I think what I needed was to care about Kit and Natalie a little more than I actually did. I wanted to feel utterly horrified but unfortunately I wasn’t really too bothered about what happened to them 🙈

It’s a solid thriller but not one that will stay with me. With thanks to Michael Joseph for gifting me a digital copy to review.

Having loved The Recovery of Rose Gold I couldn't wait to read This Might Hurt. I did find it a little confusing to be honest with the back and forth of timelines - this is where it lost the tension in my opinion.

Wow this is a bit of a dark and disturbing read about two sisters who’s life growing up is hardly ideal and full of fear and abuse and as adults they have drifted off on different paths but now they are drawn back together at the retreat and finally have to face some home truths.