The Safe Place

I personally found this a really, good read. Tense and very atmospheric...you could really tell as you read, that there was something very weird and sinister going on at Querencia, the family home where Nina lives with her daughter, Aurelia.

However, my one disappointment was the lack of proper background for the characters. There were the odd snippets here and there, but I felt it wasn't the full story. It made it difficult to fully emphasize with the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Anna Downes and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

A thrilling debut. Struggling actress, Emily, is offered a dream job working for a wealthy family on their estate in France. She loves her job and quickly befriends the glamorous and beguiling Nina. But this paradise hides secrets.

Anna Downes weaves gorgeous descriptions of the French peninsular and mansion with ominous and mysterious undertones creeping through at unexpected moments. There's sexual chemistry, a sinister caretaker, a troubled child and a house with secret rooms and no escape. All elements that make for a fun and twisty read. Throughly enjoyable.

I could just close my eyes and float away reading this book. Caught up in the laughter and friendship, it seemed like the perfect, safe place.

Emily is having a tough time of it. Losing her job, apartment, and her agent all in one day, when the opportunity to escape and hideout for the summer, she jumps at the chance. A summer working in France, helping out the wife and daughter of her CEO former boss on a beautiful private estate, with a beautiful guest house AND vehicle to go along with it... how bad could it be?

I tore through this one in about 2 days. I felt like “one of the girls” reading it and was as blindsided as Emily was when the truth came out. It sounded so perfect... Anna did a fabulous job of sucking me right into this perfect little fantasy and left me wanting more. Another first book by an author that will have me coming back for sure!

Emily is a quiet, sometimes flustered, aspiring actress. She is trying to get her foot in the door and instead is met with disaster after disaster. She freezes at an audition, loses her job and is soon to be evicted from her apartment. Not knowing where to turn...she ends up being chased down by Scott (her ex-boss) with a job proposal...one that sounds too good to be true.

Emily is whisked away to France to become the au pair for Aurelia and house assistant to Scott's wife, Nina. At first everything is perfect and Emily can't believe her good fortune. Soon, perfect sways to suspicion as Emily begins to see that all may not be as it appears.

I saw this ARC all over Bookstagram and had to snag a chance to read it. It has such a slow buildup that I thought about DNFing but stuck with it. For me, it took until about 80% before it started to gain momentum. This is definitely not a thriller. More like a domestic drama with a very predictable bit of mystery. While I did enjoy the writing style and imagery, the extremely slow burn made it hard to fully enjoy, however the last 10% of the book will definitely have you flying through the pages. #thesafeplace #netgalley

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.