#BookReview: Rewind

by Catherine Ryan Howard

Book Blurb:

Psycho meets Fatal Attraction in this explosive story about a twisted voyeur and a terrible crime from the bestselling author of Distress Signals and The Liar’s Girl

PLAY Andrew, the manager of Shanamore Holiday Cottages, watches his only guest via a hidden camera in her room. One night the unthinkable happens: a shadowy figure emerges onscreen, kills her and destroys the camera. But who is the murderer? How did they know about the camera? And how will Andrew live with himself? 

PAUSE Natalie wishes she’d stayed at home as soon as she arrives in the wintry isolation of Shanamore. There’s something creepy about the manager. She wants to leave, but she can’t – not until she’s found what she’s looking for… 

REWIND Psycho meets Fatal Attraction in this explosive story about a murder caught on camera. You’ve already missed the start. To get the full picture you must rewind the tape and play it through to the end, no matter how shocking… 

My Review:

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic books for an ARC of this book.

First up, having an ARC that not only hasn’t been formatted, but also hasn’t been proofed, proved extremely frustrating for me. And it’s impossible to give feedback that will reflect upon the final book.

Now on to the story itself. It’s tagged as Psycho meets Fatal Attraction, but frankly, it wasn’t that much of a thriller. Neither was it a mystery. It was obvious who’d done what right from the off. As soon as the key players appeared in the narrative, they gave the plot away.

Instead of chapters, the layout is in Play, Pause, and Rewind, and the individual ‘times’ on the ‘tape’ didn’t seem to have any correlation to story location whatsoever, making this a confusing read with a jumpy timeline.

I didn’t invest in the characters at all, and they felt more like props or gimmicks than real people. I finished the read but it really wasn’t my cup of tea. It gets two stars from me.


NOTE ON RATINGS: I CONSIDER A 3-STAR RATING A POSITIVE REVIEW. PICKY ABOUT WHICH BOOKS I GIVE 5 STARS TO, I RESERVE THIS HIGHEST RATING FOR THE STORIES I FIND STUNNING AND WHICH MOVED ME.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — GO READ THIS BOOK.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — AN OKAY READ. DIDN’T LOVE IT. DIDN’T HATE IT.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —LACKING IN SOME AREAS: WRITING, CHARACTERISATION, AND/OR PROBLEMATIC PLOT LINES.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —LOTS OF ISSUES WITH THIS BOOK.

6 Comments on “#BookReview: Rewind

    • Yeah, I hate when I get excited about a book and it doesn’t pan out. Thanks, Staci 🙂

  1. Sounds like a hard book to get through. Too bad it sounded like a good read.

    • Yes, the book description drew me right in. It’s a great story premise. Thanks, Denise 😊

  2. I applaud you for sticking with it, Harmony. I probably would have given up once I hit all the formatting and proofing problems. I find it mind boggling books are put on NetGalley before they’re ready.

    • Right, and the publisher thinks it’s enough just to say it hasn’t been proofread yet, grr. This is almost enough to put me off ARCs. Thanks, Mae 😊