This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel @stephwrobel @BerkleyPub @NetGalley #mystery #suspense #bookbloggers

Kaceey’s Review:

Looking for a retreat to get away from it all? Well folks, perhaps Wisewood is just the place you’re looking for! Just beware of the small print in the brochure…you’ll have zero communication with the outside world. And let’s hope you don’t feel privacy is at all important. Because there’s a good chance they’ll be watching you!🥸 

Natalie and Kit are two sisters that went in polar-opposite directions. Natalie, successful in business, while Kit has constantly floundered. 

After receiving a cryptic email threatening to expose a deep secret, Natalie races to the island retreat where Kit has been living for months. It’s imperative she find Kit and come clean before it’s too late. 

An entertaining, captivating thriller. I loved the ‘cultish’ vibe of Westwood as well as Natalie’s quest to ‘save’ her sister. 

The storyline is told from two separate timelines, which I found easy to keep straight. As the story develops, you can feel serious tension building to what you know will be a great ending! And yes, it fits perfectly. 

Already looking forward to more from this author. 

A thrilling buddy read with Susanne. 

Thank you to Elisha at Berkley Publishing via Netgalley for an ARC to read and review.

Susanne’s Review:

Sisters, as if that relationship wasn’t complicated enough.  Throw in a cult and anarchy ensues! 

The day Natalie receives an email from Wisewood, the island retreat her sister Kit took off for a few months prior, threatening to reveal something Natalie would rather keep from Kit is the day Natalie takes off for a private island on the coast of Maine. Natalie has no idea what’s in store.  Wisewood isn’t like any of those other wellness retreats you’ve heard about or been to. Their goal is to teach their guests to become their Maximized Selves by becoming fearless, specifically by letting go of the pain and suffering they’ve been carrying for years. Their methods for doing so, however, are wild.

Kit has embraced this way of life and has come into her own at Wisewood, just like so many others before her.  

Dark, disturbing, and entertaining at times, I was enthralled by several of the characters, yet some of the storyline dragged a bit and left me a tad confused.  Though I didn’t quite love this book as much as Stephanie Wrobel’s Darling Rose Gold, I enjoyed This Might Hurt and look forward to her next book. 

A buddy read with Kaceey.

Thanks to Elisha at Berkley Publishing Group for the arc. 

Published on Goodreads, NetGalley, and Twitter.