Two sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air.Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York. When the youngest grows gravely ill, their mother leaves with the … leaves with the child to get help from a nearby town. And they never return.
As months pass, hope vanishes. Supplies are low. Livestock are dying. A brutal winter is bearing down. Then comes the stranger. He claims to be looking for the girls’ mother, and he’s not leaving without them.
To escape, Wren and her sister must break the rule they’ve grown up with: never go beyond the forest.
Past the thicket of dread, they come upon a house on the other side of the pines. This is where Wren and Sage must confront something more chilling than the unknowable. They’ll discover what’s been hidden from them, what they’re running from, and the secrets that have left them in the dark their entire lives.
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This was a unique book, very well written and narrated, with creatively merged dual storylines. It begins with two teenage sisters waiting for the return of their mother. Their mother has taken their younger sister for medical assistance. It is winter and the girls have been on their own for weeks, with little food to survive on. The girls, their mother and younger sister have been living off the grid with no other human contact, until the day a strange man breaks into their cabin. Meanwhile, miles away, a couple with marital challenges seemed an unlikely connection to the girls. However, the writing is so engrossing, that before you know it, the stories have unfolded, the final page has arrived, and plots have fallen into place like a well orchestrated symphony.
Wren, Sage and Evie are three sisters and their mother has been raising them in the forest away from all of civilization. However when Evie gets sick they leave to go get help leaving Sage and Wren behind. When they don’t return the girls start to worry and then a strange man their mother would meet in the woods showed up. As soon as they could they ran away from him and out into the world they knew nothing about.
This is a great story that will have you on the edge of your seat from the first chapter. This is a well written and very entertaining story. I would recommend it to any book lover.
I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
Excellent character development and an absolute page turner with many surprises. The girls who think they are sisters really grabbed me with the tragic circumstances of how they all came to be together, scared of the world but yet full of love.
I personally did not find this book as excellent as so many others. The ending that I expected, was definitely not what I got. I kept waiting on something exciting to happen, and it didn’t. The author wrote in a slow, dragged out fashion that made the book hard to finish, as well.
Will read this author again.
The Stillwater Girls was captivating. I couldn’t put it down.
5.5 Stars
Another hit for me from Minka Kent. I really seem to like everything Minka Kent puts out and I think it may be hard for me to be disappointed in a novel by her.
Ren and her sisters Sage and Evie have spent their whole life living in the forest in their little cabin. Then one day Mama took her sick, little sister into town to get her medicine and never returned. It has been two months and no Mama or Evie and then one day a stranger enters their life. Ren sees no choice but to take Sage and try to make contact with the outside world.
Nicolette is struggling herself. Though Nicolette always thought she was happily married she has lately been questioning it as of late. She has begun to suspect her husband Brant of having an affair and that he fathered a child with his mistress. She saw a photo hidden in the back of his sock drawer of a girl that has his exact shade of sea green eyes. Then one lonely night while Brant was out of town there is a knock on her door and there stands Ren and Sage. All of their lives are changed forever.
If you like a well written mystery with characters that you can root for and a quick and easy read I would pick this up. It’s a good way to spend a day!
Wow. You think you know but you have no idea.
So dark and twisted. Tragic and sad.
Just when you think you can put pieces of the puzzle together, more pieces are dumped on the table.
I couldn’t put it down. It was amazing!
I really enjoyed this book. The author’s writing just flows along and draws you right into the story. The best part is definitely the much disputed twist at the end, but I, for one, loved it. The part of the story told by Wren’s point of view was captivating and you can just picture her and her family living off of the land deep in the forest. It was expertly tied in to the other narrative of Nicolette who is dealing with her own struggles and hardships. This book is a real page turner and I found myself reading it all in one sitting because I couldn’t wait to get to the end and see how everything resolved. You really don’t want to miss out on this one!
Stillwater Girls is not my usual read, but I was pulled in by the characters and could not wait to find out what the connection between Nicolette and Wren was. Wren was raised far from civilization with her mother and two sisters. They lived off the land and are hidden away from society. When Wren’s youngest sister falls ill, Wren and her sister Sage are left to fend for themselves. Nicolette is a young woman that lives a beautiful life with her artist husband. But lately she feels her husband pulling away from her and their marriage. She is lost, lonely and needs answers to his distance. When Wren and Evie come knocking on Nicolette’s door, she does what she can to help them acclimate to their new life in a new world. There are lots of twists and turns and even though the final outcome was a bit inconceivable, I enjoyed these characters and their stories.
The Stillwater Girls
By Minka Kent
Main Characters: Wren and Sage
I voluntarily and honestly reviewed this book without bias or persuasion from the author.
5 out of 5 stars
Holy cow Batman! This is the first book I have read by this author and I really want to read more. There are parts that you can guess but so much more you can’t. I definitely did not see the ending. Lots of twist and turns and well-rounded characters. This book had me from the very beginning. Would absolutely love to read more by Minka Kent.
Less dark than I expected with the blurb.
I have long hesitated about my rating because the blurb and cover suggests a very dark story, but finally, despite dramatic episodes and unpredictable twists sometimes, the story is not horrifying and the suspense is limit.
Nicolette and her husband Brant can not have children and Nicolette wants to adopt, but she feels her husband walk away and discovers more and more facts that leave her doubting his loyalty.
Wren and Sage are waiting for their mother who has been away for 63 days with their sick sister, Evie. They remain locked in their house, without ever going into the forest because it would be very “dangerous”, however, they starting to not have enough food, and, moreover a man joins them and they are forced to escape. The first house they find is Nicolette’s.
The past of all women present begins to catch them up rather unexpectedly, and this is the interest of the second part because the first is more in the description of the characters. In short, I rather liked the whole, but I was disappointed not to find the kind of story I was expecting at the beginning.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book
An absolutely breath stealing suspenseful read!!
This book is a draw you in and hold you tight kind of crazy. But it does it in the best of ways possible. This is an absolutely captivating read from beginning to end. I started reading and fell in love with the characters and their stories as they unwound. Then just when I thought I knew what was going on and how these people’s lives were interconnected, BAM twist in the plot and I’m left totally dumbfounded and lost all over again. Once you read this entire story you’ll be like, holy cow what a trip. I never saw it coming and believe me when I say, you won’t see this coming either. It is a psychological suspense to top them all. A fabulous read and I highly recommend reading this book!!!!
Coming at you from a two-story angle that comes together in a compelling and in my opinion off-kilter way- My first book by Minka Kent left me all saying what just happened?!
Stillwater Girls caught my attention at the very first page, moving along throughout the disjointed lives of sisters Sage Wren and Evie and the backwoods life they lived until their they had to flee, where they find themselves met with a whole different set of circumstances that are hard to wrap their minds around.
While I was caught up in the twisted, dark and emotional turmoil of the characters and their issues, my frustration and confusion with timelines and actions of said characters got the best of me. So much so I would have to go back and reread paragraphs to make sense of what I was reading.
Overall, I think this book is an intriguing twisted domestic thriller with an edge of suspense, that in the end I did enjoy and I am glad I got to read. I am looking forward to reading more from this author very soon!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Stillwater Girls
This is the first book that I have read by the author. It was an engrossing, page-turning psychological suspense story that I had trouble putting down, and when I did, I found myself thinking about the story. I loved they way it was written, alternating chapters of different but related stories. There were lots of main characters in this book, and had distinct, engaging personalities. I also enjoyed learning about Brant & Nic’s lives and difficulties. In terms of plot, I try to go into suspense/mystery stories with an open, mind; I want to be entertained, not second guess the author. The story twists, turns, and culminates into a surprising and neat resolution. I would read more from this author.
I received a copy of this book via Net Galley, and I am voluntarily providing a review.
Minka Kent’s psychological thrillers are always some of my favorite books to read. Now this wasn’t my absolute favorites of Miss Kent’s stories but she still created an incredibly fascinating story that I was quickly pulled into. I found myself trying to figure out how the two separate storylines were connected. Kent developed a fantastic storyline and wove her way creating mystery and intrigue.
I’m not going to go into the storyline. Really, Kent created a deep mystery and I don’t want to accidentally spill the beans. Kent’s writing is descriptive and detailed. She is able to maintain two separate storylines while slowly starting to weave them together. Normally Minka Kent is a 5-Star for me and I really debated with this one. But there were some things that didn’t really work for me. I removed one-star just for this, the things that didn’t sit right or didn’t work. For the most part, this story is seriously a great book!
I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I would leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… my opinions.
Another great book from Minka Kent. This was a faster read but the story was still as enthralling and twisty as previous books. This dual POV story introduces to Wren and Nicolette, two woman who are introducing us to their lives from very different perspectives but then things change and the twists begin to happen. I don’t want to spoil anything but just know this was a great read that didn’t take too long and definitely had the twists and turns this Author is known for.
This is a new to me author and this thriller is amazing!
The Stillwater Girls is a story full of intrigue, it kept me guessing until the end and what an ending it was! I actually gasped when all the truth was revealed.
This story also has hope and bravery, the girls are forced into a world they don’t know and they handle it as brave as can be expected.
The premise of this story is scary and believable! I think that is what scared me the most. The vivid pictures that Ms. Kent writes with her words will put you right into the scene. Her descriptions were amazing. I caught myself reading a paragraph and then stopping to let it soak in.
I loved the alternating POV’s in this story, each person’s story (I don’t want to spoil it) flows beautifully into the next.
Read this book like a fine glass of wine, slowly sip and savor the words, you don’t want to miss any clues and insights into what is going to happen next.
I really enjoyed this story! I hope to add Ms. Kent’s other novels to my TBR list.
Solid Psychological suspense with parental heartbreak at it’s core.
This is the first book from Minka Kent that I have read, and I absolutely enjoyed it, and will be checking out more of her books.
As always with these types of books, it starts off innocuously enough, and I was trying to pick which bits of the story were pertinent information to remember. The thing with thrillers is that there is always a twist and a connection between party’s that are seemingly unrelated. I’ve long loved those programs with psychological twists like Silent Witness or Broadchurch so I tried to sharpen my game.
On one hand, I was reading the POV from young Wren, who with her younger sisters, has been living off-grid for as long as she can remember. It’s been a tough, but loving life of isolation that has never been questioned. The second POV is from Nicolette, a woman who has felt a deepening disconnect from her husband of 10 years. I was taking notes and highlighting passages, thinking I’d worked it out somehow.
What I read, however, was more heart-breaking than I imagined. And, I enjoyed reading this book, The Stillwater Girls, every bit as much as I thought I would. Good solid read at 4 stars.
This was such an intriguing story! Two stories that merge into one. Two stories that keep you guessing, that have your head spinning, and that have you swerving when you least expect it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, trying to guess what would happen next, and gasping when I was way off base!! Truly loved this!! Such great story telling!!!