This is the first book I've read by this author & I really enjoyed it, it kept me intrigued the whole way through!!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Now You Are Mine in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist
I picked up Now You Are Mine expecting a tightly woven psychological thriller—the kind that keeps you up too late, eyes flying across the pages, heart racing. The premise had promise: a missing woman, buried trauma, and a protagonist whose past refuses to stay hidden. But despite that setup, the story quickly lost momentum and never found its footing again.


The Details
The protagonist felt frustratingly passive. She reacted instead of acting, drifted through events, and repeated the same thoughts without growth or clarity. I wanted to understand her, to connect with her fear or confusion—but her narration circled around the same emotional beats until they felt stale. Her decisions rarely made sense, not even within the context of her trauma, and that made it difficult to root for her or stay invested in her journey.



The pacing dragged. For a thriller, this book moved at a glacial pace. Long stretches passed without meaningful action or insight. Instead of building tension, the plot wandered. Key developments landed without impact, and emotional moments lacked weight. I kept waiting for the story to escalate, to offer a twist that would jolt the narrative back to life—but it never really happened.



Most of the twists fell flat. Some were painfully predictable, while others felt tossed in without enough setup. They didn’t surprise or thrill—they simply arrived, disconnected from the rest of the narrative. A well-done twist should feel inevitable in hindsight, not confusing or random. These reveals lacked the finesse that makes a psychological thriller satisfying.



The supporting cast felt underwritten. Characters appeared when the plot needed them, but few had real presence or depth. Conversations lacked tension, and relationships that should have added complexity felt one-dimensional. Even the antagonist lacked menace or intrigue.


The Verdict
To its credit, the writing itself remained clean and readable. The premise held potential, and with tighter plotting and more emotional depth, this could have been a stronger story. But too often, the narrative played it safe. Scenes that should have simmered with dread felt dull. Revelations passed without consequence. The book needed more urgency, more psychological nuance, and a protagonist who took charge of her own story.

Now You Are Mine is a decent standalone thriller built around a classic closed-room mystery. The painter’s retreat setting was an interesting premise, but it lacked depth and wasn’t fully explored. While there were a few surprises along the way, much of the plot was predictable and didn’t quite deliver the suspense or intensity I was hoping for.

There were also too many characters to keep track of, and most of the notable ones felt either unlikeable or hard to relate to, which made it harder to stay invested. Overall, it was a mildly interesting read—quick, but not particularly memorable.

Thank you Netgalley, Boldwood Books & Amanda Brittany for the arc!

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood books publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was well written however the plot did not keep me as engaged as I had hoped. It seemed to drag on and I didn't feel much for any of the characters. Given the beautiful writing, I hoped for more, but ultimately I could not get into it fully.

This is the first book by Amanda Brittany I’ve read, and it won’t be my last! psychological thriller that keeps you guessing from start to finish. The book alternates between past and present timelines, which adds depth to the unfolding mystery. Polly, our main character, attends an art retreat with her friend Nicky, where things quickly take a dark turn as strange events unfold, a person goes missing, and suspicion falls on everyone. The pacing is well done, building suspense with each chapter, and the alternating points of view add layers to the story. I really appreciated the foreshadowing and the twists, which kept me engaged all the way to the end. The slow-burn mystery is perfectly executed, making for a thrilling yet suspenseful read. I felt this was an engaging, atmospheric thriller that fans of psychological suspense will thoroughly enjoy.

This was a slow mysterious burner which I actually really enjoyed, I started reading it on a whim and found that I struggled to put it down. I really enjoyed the storyline of the mysterious house and it's dark past, also who is targeting Polly and what do they want?

A big thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first read by Amanda Brittany and I was drawn to the book because I like a good psychological thriller and the description seemed to fit the bill. In my opinion the book moved slower than I would like and I never felt the true since of a good suspense. The ending felt forced and clumsy.
Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

Sounded good. Not as good as I thought,very tedious and slow. I managed to get to the end and breathed a sigh of relief. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Thank you Boldwood books, Netgalley and Amanda Brittany for the eArc for Now you Are mine.

This is a solid psychological thriller on a duel timeline of the past and now. Our MC Polly who decides to go to an Art retreat with her friend Nicky, get friendly with the others also on the retreat. Weird things start happening, someone goes missing and fingers are pointed. I really enjoyed the pacing of this book as well as the different POV, each adding to the eventual finale. There's some great foreshadowing and some good twists which keep you engaged. This is the first book of Amanda Brittany's Ive read and ill be looking forward to reading more of her books.

Julie Maisey narrated this book and her voice is engaging and a pleasure to listen to.

4 stars

I really enjoyed my first read from Brittany and was expecting this to be a similar locked-room mystery. However, this story was quite disappointing: I found the plot to be quite messy and the characters not particularly convincing.

The opening chapter of someone apparently burying two bodies with a distracting suicide note was something that immediately intrigued me. Fast-forward many years later and we see Polly arrive at Lakeside House which has now become an artists retreat. However, Polly isn’t really there for crafting her art technique, but to find out more about her birth mother – whom she suspects used to live at Lakeside. Yet, the other artists seem to be slightly odd, one goes missing and it would seem that someone has it in for Polly.

What confused me was that the author gave equal importance to Polly’s search for information on her family history, as well as the stalker she has recently escaped from. However, my brain considered the stalker to be more of a sub-plot, when later in the novel it is meant to be really important. It would have been better if Brittany had developed this more earlier on in the story, to signify it would be added into the main plot. Indeed, I was confused about Polly’s relationship with her flatmate Nicky, and was never convinced that there was anything more to this co-habiting, despite what is implied.

In my opinion, the plot moves quite slowly and I never got a sense of mystery or suspense. It always seems to rain and the characters are out and about in it, despite apparent flood warnings. The setting is quite spooky, especially when tunnels are discovered, but it was at this point that I thought the story began to get far-fetched. When more of Lakeside’s history is revealed, I had lost interest in the story and was frustrated by how much the characters were running around the property – more like headless chickens that lacked purpose.

Although I seem to be in a bit of a reading slump at the moment, I had high hopes for my 200th book of the year… this one didn’t deliver the punches I had expected after Brittany’s last book and I was glad to finish it. The story started off well enough, but I think it slowed down halfway, before racing to a clumsy conclusion where I couldn’t really care about the fate of the protagonist. Whilst this might be the impact of my reading slump, I still don’t think this was as good in the slightest as my previous read from this author.

With thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Personally I found this book a bit tedious to get through. The characters all seemed to run together and felt very two dimensional to me.

This is my first time reading something by this author and it definitely won't be my last.
This is a gripping thriller that kept me guessing until the very last page. The author does a masterful job of weaving together suspense, mystery, and a touch of the sinister.
Polly attends an art retreat at Lakeside House in an attempt to relieve some of the stress in her life caused by recent events, namely dealing with a stalker. Her biological mother once lived here, and she sees this as an opportunity to maybe find out more about her. But the tale soon turns sinister as she learns everyone there has something to hide and danger seems to be lurking around every corner.
Lakeside House already has a history of death, and as the story unfolds, strange things begin to happen, creating a sense of creepiness and dread. The intrigue and mystery kept me on the edge of my seat, anxiously reading to find out what happens next.
If psychological thrillers are your cup of tea, then this is one book I would definitely recommend!

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

The blurb of "Now You Are Mine" piqued my interest, and I was eager to dive into reading it. However, as I began, it became apparent that my enjoyment wouldn't match my anticipation. The story felt implausible, and the characters were such that I couldn't form a connection with them, leaving me indifferent to their fates.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Sad to say that this is a thriller like every other out there. Nothing I will remember but I enjoyed the reading. Thank you to the author, the publisher and to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Now You Are Mine is one of those books that intrigued me because of the mystery surrounding her mother and her family. Plus, I like stories that revolve around sinister events from the past whereby the net generation has to go hunting for clues about mysterious disappearances and secrets. How I love secrets! This had all the elements that I love in a story. So, where did it go wrong? Well, I actually found a lot of it implausible and although I can suspend some level of belief, there is definitely a limit. And I wasn't a fan of the main character.

The overall character development was one-dimensional which made it really difficult to root for the characters or really care what happened to them. I didn't really care that they were written in both first and third person as I don't think that was the problem, but I am writing this almost two months later from my notes, and if I hadn't written those notes, I would not recall who was who as they were all bland.

The first part of the book was the most interesting for me as I was intrigued by the mystery and I was interested in the setting and the threatening notes the new owners were receiving. You have Polly's artwork being tampered with, some of the characters are behaving weirdly, other characters are definitely hiding things from their friends and their significant others, and then one of them just disappears. Looking at all those things, it should have been a fascinating read, but the execution of it all just didn't work and felt excessive, like the author was trying too hard to create all of these strange scenarios, but couldn't keep track of all the threads. And because the characters weren't all that engaging, I just couldn't get invested in the story and what was happening, flipping through the pages just to get to the end.

I did enjoy the atmosphere of this book and thought the setting was intriguing, but then I love tunnels and secrets, so that was the part I enjoyed the most. I was actually grateful for the multiple POV as it gave me a break from Polly's story line as I found her irritating at times, and it was nice to learn what happened in the past and how it affected the future.

Now You Are Mine had a lot of elements that were interesting, but issues with character development and pacing definitely impacted the overall reading experience. Some of the twists were a bit hard to believe, and overall, I found the book to be a bit forgettable with an average plot and average characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishing house, and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review, based upon my honest opinion.

Polly signs up for a painting retreat, but the real reason that Polly has signed up is not to learn to paint, but it’s to seek information about her birth mother. Polly knows she is adopted, but knows nothing much about her mother only that she died at while giving birth to Polly. Mysterious things start happening right away, someone puts an unwelcome addition to Polly’s painting, strange letters are being delivered to the manor, people just aren’t what they seem to be. As Polly gets closer to finding the truth she finds she may be in danger.

This was my first book by this author. I enjoyed a lot of things about this book, but sometimes I found myself losing track of what was going on. Overall, I would definitely read another book by this author.

Now You Are Mine throws the reader straight into such an atmospheric setting which is wonderful for transporting you right into the story with the characters. Amanda Brittany writes beautifully and is a master of plot twists you'll never see coming!

The only thing I really found myself struggling with was the different POV for one character, that made it hard to stay on task and threw me out of the storyline a few times.

Another fantastic book by Amanda. Her books are utterly amazing. I loved the the different povs in this book and how easy it was to follow. Highly recommend this book to everyone

I enjoyed this thriller and it was hard to put down. The ending felt quite jumbled to me, as there were multiple different plots and twists unraveling together. The writing was great. Only a couple of the twists I felt like were disappointing and shouldn’t have been added.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this ARC. This book is out now!