This book was so unexpected and it was sensational 🌟
Radley Asher is burnt out, after ten years of working in Seoul. In a twist of fate, her friend offers her a chance to take a sabbatical during the fall, working at her cousins apple farm in Fox Isle, Maine. Radley is welcomed by the family. Beau and Livia are perfect, with three delightful children. But one night, Radley wakes to find the orchard ablaze and then one child missing, throwing the family into turmoil.

I must admit it wasn't the book I was anticipating from the outline and as I went through, it was eerie and haunting in places, it left me feeling uneasy and by around a third of the way in, I really started to fly through this. The family, the secrets, the supporting characters, each entwined in the story, also harbouring their own secrets and betrayals. And the main character herself was so complicated. Definitely one that will stay with me for some time to come.
Highly recommend.

Be sure you've got the time to finish this one, because one you open it you won't easily set it down. This is an up, down around and around psychological thriller where the plot just keeps twisting. Radley Asher is from Seoul and has come to Maine to help the perfect Carter family with their apple farm. When you think you have figured it out, keep reading. This was a refreshing read because I was kept question right up to the end.
Excellent, entertaining and i would highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advanced E-book in exchange for my honest review.

A perfect family who own an apple orchard in Maine. Should'/could be a bright, sunny, happy story, but instead it is a dark story of family, of obsession, of secrets. It took me awhile to stop thinking of this book once I finished reading it.

Domestic thrillers are a niche section of the thriller shelves. Neighborhood conflicts have been a common thread among the books I have enjoyed the last few years. Ellen Won Steil's The Lives of Others is just this type of book and is an excellent addition to the shelf.

Neighborhood tensions, secrets and lies. Violence shatters the look of a perfect, ideal neighborhood and the glossy veneer becomes cloudier and cloudier.

Every character feels like a real person that you already know. The same man you see at the grocery store, the woman at the dry cleaner....you know all of these people already.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Lives of Others by Ellen Won Steil was a fantastic read. I was hooked and this was a quick read for me.
I was immediately intrigued by the premise of this story and while I found it a little slow to start, it was definitely worth the time to read. Ellen Won Steil's writing was sharp and she has written another great story.

Thank You NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Radley’s quiet obsession with the Clark family creeps up on you and then everything unravels in fire and secrets. Loved the eerie orchard setting and the twisty, emotional layers.

Another outstanding book. I loved the fast paced plot, characters and short chapters. I flew right through this one. The twist at the end was the icing on the cake.

Many thanks for my gifted copy.

This book was tense and intense. It’s a character-driven story about the false face suburban women wear to make people think they’re internet-perfect, but behind that perfection lie secrets waiting to be revealed. A terrible act of violence brings some of these secrets to light, shattering the illusion of the perfect neighbourhood.

The story is both gripping and thought-provoking. I loved the tension between the characters—the way their secrets are revealed is like peeling back the layers of an onion, only this one is rotten to its core. The characters are real, authentically written, and relatable; they actually act like human beings. I also appreciated how the author effectively combines suspense with emotional depth, making the plot even more impactful in this character-driven thriller. It’s an amazing read, full of mystery and intrigue hidden in the bowels of ordinary life.

You know I love a good psychological thriller, and this one delivered so much more. A slow burn filled with intrigue, twists, and suspense, it also dives deep into the complexities of family bonds and motherhood.
A compelling mix of thriller and family drama that keeps the pages turning.

At first, the story takes its time to build, but once it found its rhythm I was completely hooked. I ended up finishing it in just two days because I had to know where it was going. Steil layers in so many twists and turns that kept me guessing—and, I’ll admit, wrong most of the time—right up until the end.

This is the second book I’ve read by Ellen Win Steil, and once again she’s delivered a tense, addictive psychological suspense that lingers after you’ve turned the final page. I’m officially adding her to my “must-buy” list.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Usually, I'm up for family drama or mysteries with topics such as friendship, motherhood or sisterhood/brotherhood, with a lot of character development. And if it is set in a smalltown or farm, even better.
Which means this book had everything in favour for my personal taste.
Yet, I didn't feel it. I didn't feel invested in the story or engaged in the characters' lives and dramas and struggles. I'm not gonna blame the writing, but something never truly worked for me.
I'm sure other readers will like it better, especially the ones that have already read a book by this author before and enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance
copy in exchange for my honest review. This book started out a bit slowly, but it really picked up about halfway through and I read it in one sitting from there. This story is a really dark reflection on motherhood and
family life that keeps the reader guessing until the end. Ellen Won Steil is an auto read for me at this point.

2.5 rounded up

This wasn’t even a slow burn of a book, it was just slow. It doesn’t picks up until about 70% and even then it gets slow again. The ending was very predictable. I felt like I was reading 3 separate stories somehow combined into one.

💭: Radley leaves her busy life in Seoul for the less hectic world of Maine. She is helping out on an apple orchard owned by her coworkers family. Things aren’t as simple and innocent as they first seem as the story unfolds. Although I did predict the big twist, I was excited to find out I was right. The family Radley works for is messed up and I can’t wait for you to find out why! I loved the universal themes of motherhood, family, and the need to feel useful and needed.

Wow! Talk about a page-turner! THE LIVES OF OTHERS by Ellen Won Steil absolutely blew me away, book friends. As soon as started reading, I immediately got this strange feeling in my belly. Something didn’t seem right to me about all of the characters. Something was off. I had absolutely NO idea where the author was going to take this story. Is it a romance? Perhaps a horror novel? A domestic suspense? Or just a tried-and-true mystery/thriller? I couldn’t peg the characters or plot for the life of me, and you know what? I liked it. I enjoyed the unsettled feeling, the intrigue, the strangeness, and the odd sense of unknown.

QUICK SYNOPSIS:
“𝘈 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘍𝘪𝘯.”

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Mystery and intrigue
- Maine setting
- Motherhood and marriage
- Female friendship
- Apple farming
- Family drama and dynamics
- Character-driven novels
- Starting over stories
- Slow-burning pace
- Complex female characters

My best advice is to go in completely blind like I did. As I write this review, I honestly still don’t even know how to properly describe this book. It’s mysterious, suspenseful, complex, heartbreaking, shocking, and super entertaining. I found it impossible to put down. It’s truly one of a kind.

I went back and forth over my rating, hemmed and hawed for a few days, but have come to the conclusion that this novel deserves a full 5/5 stars. Mostly because I like the feeling that it gave me—that uneasiness. It’s been a while since a book made me feel that way. I absolutely love the author’s writing style and have already downloaded her previous novels. They’re all available on kindle unlimited, FYI!

THE LIVES OF OTHERS releases on August 26th!
5/5 stars!

The Clark family isn't perfect. Radley knows that because she's watching them. All the time. Back from Seoul after 10 years, she took a job working the Clark's orchard. But why there? This is indeed a slow burn that leans in on mental health issues as well as motherhood. How reliable is Radley? You decide. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

It's not really a review because I didn't finish. I’ll tell you why—the blurb says ‘psychological suspense’, but I couldn't find anything psychological or suspenseful till the 8th chapter (I lost patience after that).
The writing is neat and I like the imagery of the countryside, but I didn't really requested this book for those things; it was the mysterious and suspenseful setup mentioned in the blurb that piqued my interest.
Eight chapters, in my opinion, are more than enough to finally build intrigue/mystery, however in this case, they are all (there are way too many characters that I couldn't remember their names) meeting and greeting and cooking or something like that.
Moreover, I didn't like the main character. She seems to behave like a snob, too detached and expressionless.
Thank you for the opportunity, sadly it didn't work for me.
I absolutely loved the cover though.

I couldn’t stop thinking about The Lives of Others, even days after finishing it unsettled me in the best way. Radley’s life on a Maine apple farm coils into a tense dance of secrets and emotional unrest, brought to life through lyrical prose and haunting psychological insight. Her unreliable narration kept me guessing, and the exploration of grief and motherhood felt raw and resonant.

I loved how the tension simmered beneath everyday domesticity, making every quiet moment feel charged. The emotional arcs hit hard—powerful, evocative, and wholly memorable.

That said, this isn’t a quick, fast-paced read—its slow-burn unfolding may test the patience of those looking for immediate thrills. And occasionally, the emotional peaks verge on melodramatic. If you enjoy emotionally rich domestic suspense that lingers long after the final page, this should be on your TBR. I received a review copy via NetGalley—opinions are entirely my own.

This was my first by the author.

From the moment I opened The Lives of Others, I was drawn in by Steil’s elegant prose and the haunting small-town Maine setting. Burned out after a decade in Seoul, Radley Asher arrives at Fox Isle’s apple orchard seeking solitude—but the overly welcoming Clark family draws her into something far more complicated. Their picture-perfect façade begins to crack after a devastating fire and a child’s disappearance, and Radley’s habit of watching from the sidelines becomes a gripping, unsettling obsession.

The novel slowly tightens its grip through Radley’s vantage point—part fascination, part voyeurism—threading psychological suspense with the creeping dread of secrets unraveling. The pacing is deliberate, every detail laden with quiet tension that builds toward a shocking, emotionally wrought climax.

This was a fast, twisty read with a strong sense of atmosphere. I liked the small-town New England setting and the slow build as Radley gets tangled up in the Clark family’s perfect-on-the-outside life. The mystery kept me guessing, but I didn’t feel fully connected to the characters, and some twists felt a bit rushed. Still, it was an entertaining psychological suspense read, so I’d give it 3 stars