A haunting and well written thriller dealing with the seedy underworld of sec trafficking rings.
This book was steady paced and set in the quiet backdrop of a small town which was at odds with the premises it dealt with.
There were a few loose ends that I’d have liked to have known more about, like what happened to Becky and River plus more explanation about the hiding girl.
Well worth a read though.

The Girls in the Basement by Steena Holmes is a haunting psychological thriller that explores the deep emotional scars left by trauma, secrecy, and betrayal. It’s not a fast-paced, twist-every-page kind of thriller—but rather a slow-burning, emotionally layered story that pulls you in with a quiet intensity. While I didn’t find it completely immersive in every moment, I was deeply compelled by the themes, the atmosphere, and the painful truths it uncovered. For that reason, it earns a solid four stars from me.

What Holmes does especially well is build tension that doesn’t necessarily come from shocking reveals, but from an unrelenting sense of dread. From the opening chapters, there’s this gnawing feeling that something is very wrong—and she sustains that unease throughout the book. I appreciated how the story unfolds through multiple perspectives, each adding a new layer to the central mystery. Every character has their own secrets, and the slow unraveling of those secrets is what kept me invested, even during quieter moments.

Jillian, in particular, is a character I wanted to fully connect with—and while I didn’t always feel as emotionally close to her as I wanted, I did care about her story. Her emotional journey, especially in the face of betrayal and manipulation, felt raw and painfully real. There’s a certain distance in the way the story is told that occasionally made it hard for me to fully step into her shoes, but at the same time, that distance may reflect the emotional numbness and disorientation Jillian herself is experiencing. In a strange way, it worked—just not always in the most immersive sense.

What really impressed me was Holmes’s handling of heavy subject matter. This book doesn’t just hint at trauma—it dives headfirst into the psychological damage inflicted by abuse, gaslighting, and long-term manipulation. And yet, it does so with a level of care and thoughtfulness that doesn’t feel gratuitous. It’s uncomfortable at times, but that discomfort felt necessary and honest. Some of the twists, while not entirely unpredictable, still packed a punch, especially as the full scope of what was happening came into focus.

I’ll admit that parts of the story were emotionally difficult to read. There’s a darkness here that lingers, and I think that’s part of what makes the book effective. It may not have hit me on every emotional beat, but the overall impact was undeniable. It made me reflect on how trauma reshapes identity, and how people cope in the aftermath of profound betrayal and loss. That’s not something every thriller attempts, let alone pulls off.

In the end, The Girls in the Basement is a slow-burning, emotionally charged thriller that doesn't rely on flashy reveals but instead digs deep into the psychological damage hidden beneath the surface. While I didn’t feel completely immersed the entire time, I was absolutely drawn in by the story’s weight and complexity. For readers who appreciate darker, emotionally driven suspense with a strong psychological undercurrent, this book will stay with you. It certainly stayed with me.

Solid thriller! There was a lot of characters so it was a little hard to follow at times and I wish the ending game more but overall a good read!

This book kept me constantly on my toes, and when I got to the end, I felt like it fell short in many ways, and that even so, I would have read another 100 pages because the author truly knows what she's doing and how to draw us into the plot.

In this story, we meet a woman who thinks she knows her husband, but she doesn't. Several characters, several intertwining stories, and endings that are completely open in many ways, leaving you wondering why the author decided to end (or not) the way they did.

I think that was my main problem with the story. Because I wanted to keep turning the pages, and there weren't any more. THERE WERE NO MORE PAGES!

I need the extended version by tomorrow (?)

Thank you, Joffe Books, for the ARC I received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a gripping read, right away I was drawn into the danger and the growing suspense that kept the pace flowing, great twists too.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I absolutely love this author's books but I did not like the last one and decided to try another one. Sadly, I was very disappointed. This was just too dark for me and too many characters at once. I can normally keep up with this if the author is clear about them but this was a hot mess to me. I sure miss the old writings of this author.

Great book and full of suspense. This is the second book I have read from this author and she never fails to keep me interested. I will be going to find more of her work

A book you will not put down, from start to finish I was on the edge of my seat! This is a must read! I will definitely be reading more from this author!

Very good book! Very captivating from start to finish! With each page you're turning faster to find out what's going to happen next! It's also emotional! Your heart goes out to the characters in the situation as it plays out. The author did a phenomenal job... there's great foundation, easy flow from one page to the next, great world building, and relatability! I definitely recommend this book!

THE GIRLS IN THE BASEMENT BY STEENA HOLMES.
Release date set for the 190th of April 2025.
This is my first book by this author.
I was drawn to the cover instantly. I love it.
Mutiple POVs and really easy to follow along.
I thought this was a tense thriller.

The Girls in the Basement by Steena Holmes, published by Joffe Books, is a gripping, literally unputdowable thriller of its finest.
Complex, complicated with characters I could easily connect with, twisty and full of very unexpected turns that book had me in suspense from start till the last page.
I recommend the book, 4,5 stars.

A fast paced thriller that kept me up all night reading one more chapter till the end. Lillian and her family move to Montana but bodies are found and why is her husband so secretive? Plenty of twists in this well plotted novel that will keep you guessing till the end. Thanks to Joffe books and Netgalley for this review ARC.

Is her husband a monster? Does she know him?

Phew- this is a wild ride but so fun! I enjoyed the story, how it flowed and the ups & downs throughout. The twists twisted and I found myself excited to know more and unable to out it down!

Worth the read!

Absolutely loved this book, it is well written and such a great story which awful things happen in but the ending is good. I won't tell to much.

Thank you Joffe Books and Netgalley for this ARC! Another truly gripping story by Steena Holmes! When Jillian and her family move to Montana, her hopes to put down roots are tested once again. How did they get such a deal on her dream home? What is keeping her husband Tucker away from home and from explaining what’s going on. Why does Jillian think she sees her long lost friend that went missing 20 years ago? This page turner of a book will keep invested even when you put it down!

This was very intense, full of suspense and it had me unable to sleep. It’s a fast paced thriller full of twists and turns . Will there be a sequel. .? I hope so. So many unanswered questions

Reading a book set in Montana was a great experience, though it took me some time to get fully immersed in the story. The plot felt slow at first, only picking up pace significantly after the halfway mark. However, the ending more than made up for it—I was completely hooked by the final chapters. I really liked the main character and found the antagonists thoroughly despicable. The story itself is harrowing, portraying a world where girls are treated as commodities, and justice feels frustratingly out of reach. Despite its dark themes, the book left a strong impression on me, and I look forward to reading more from Steena Holmes!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. I love the premise of this book and it was definitely fast paced. I did think the ending was pretty abrupt and left alot open to interpretation on the closing. Would have liked more in ending. It was high stress, then boom the end. Overall, I love this author's books and will continue to read more.

Jillian's friend was abducted and trafficked when she was a teenager.
Jillian and Tucker were in WITSEC, but left and are living on a massive farm in Montana. Jillian doesn't want to uproot her family again.
Agent Meri Amber's sister was abducted - she is looking for the monster who took her.
Tucker's family have their own secrets, and all of these things are connected.

A dark, but enthralling novel dealing with sex traffickers. Normal people, who could be family and neighbours could be involved in this heinous activity.
How could Jillian not know her husband after all those years?

I cannot spoil the book for readers by asking direct questions. But who killed the girls and women that were found on Tucker's land? Why were they killed?
What about Becky?
The ending was unsatisfactory, in my opinion.
There were far too many questions unanswered. Too many loose ends.

At least there was a trigger warning at the beginning of the book.

Rating: 4.5 stars

I usually stay away from titles like this because I can at least guess what it generally covers. This sounds like some of the episodes featuring a pretty recurring theme on Criminal Minds and I was not in the mood to be triggered. (TW: sexual violence, human trafficking) But my curiosity got the better of me and I was thankful that I went along with it.

When Jillian Harper, her husband Tucker and their son uprooted their lives to move to their dream estate in Montana, she hoped the neighbourhood would be her ‘greener pasture’. Settling into a new job, seeing her son to his baseball practice and enjoying their new huge backyard made her grateful for this new life. But luck didn’t stay with Jillian long, because it was soon after when piles of dead bodies were found on her compound, opened a can of worms she was not ready to face.

This was my first time reading a book by this author and I was amazed by her writing. Her book read like a movie and it was not hard to imagine a life adaptation of this story. Every word was inviting, I found it hard to stop – I needed to know what was going to happen! I was not surprised at all discovering that this was her fourth book. Her writing was so seasoned, I found each chapter evenly-paced and her words captivating (something I’m not really picky about when it comes to thriller but highly appreciate nonetheless).

The story was rather predictable but the suspense whether the characters I was rooting for would survive kept me hooked. I was also glad that though the story revolved around sex trafficking, it did not go into unnecessary revolting details that might be (too) triggering. Would definitely look out for other titles by Steena Holmes. Recommended!

The Girls in the Basement will be published on 10 Apr 2025! Be sure to check it out :)

Shoutout to Joffe Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy! #TheGirlsintheBasement #Netgalley #Joffebooks