The Safe Place | Book Review

Thank you NetGalley and Affirm Press for the eARC of The Safe Place, by Anna Downes in exchange for my honest review.

Imagine if you're whole life was falling apart and suddenly you got THE live-in job opportunity to a wealthy family that was so perfect it was just too good to be true?

That's exactly what happened to Emily. An aspiring actress who just lost her job as a receptionist, got dropped by her agent and was notified by her landlord that, after all the delays on paying the rent, she's going to be evicted. That's when the CEO of her former company, Scott, knight in shining armour, arrives to offer her the job of a lifetime.

A live-in job as a personal assistant/housekeeper in his family's estate at the coast of France. He needed her because the couple's daughter, Aurelia, had a lot of health issues and Nina (the mom) couldn't look after her and take care of the estate all by herself. A summer getaway from her crazy life in London without having to worry about money for the first time since graduating seemed like everything Emily could ever want and more, plus the old-now-new-boss wasn't too bad to look at, so into a private jet she went. But the picture-perfect family wasn't perhaps that perfect after all.

As soon as I started reading this book I was pulled right in. This is the perfect mystery to read by the pool or the ocean. We get both Scott and Emily's perspectives in this, which I LOVED, as well as some of Nina's perspectives from the past. This made the story much more interesting and thrilling and made me even more curious to piece everything together. I was hooked to this book from the start and my heart was pounding at the end.

Although I did manage to guess the big twist (not to its fullest extent) this did not diminish my enjoyment of the book in the slightest and I still had no idea how this was going to end. I adored Anna Downes writing and, seen as this is her debut, I can only imagine what's she's gonna come up with next. Will definitely keep my eyes peeled to whatever that is because her writing is flawless.

Overall this book is incredibly gripping, the characters are really realistic and the mystery is very well developed. I did wish we got a bit more on Emily's background but I loved the open note it left at the ending like we didn't need to know every single thing. I love when authors do that well.

I gave this book 3.5/5 ⭐️. A very immersive and engrossing read, highly recommend to anyone who likes mysteries with a bit more of a psychological focus. Loved it and cannot wait to read more of Anna Downes' books.

Love,

N.

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