The House in the Pines: Reese's Book Club (a Novel)

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The mystery of what happened to Aubrey and also the other woman at the diner is very interesting. While Frank is present for both deaths, there’s no evidence of any foul play by him. And no drugs or anything like that showed up during the investigations. Reyes’ thriller, published Tuesday by Dutton, tells the story of a woman who believes that a friend’s death years before was the result of murder—and discovers that the friend’s boyfriend at the time has been linked to other mysterious deaths. Pliny the Elder said Home is where the heart is, but how can a place that feels so home-like also be so terrifying? This reflects some events and concerns in Reyes’s life. The inspiration was mostly subconscious. I was living alone in a new city, cut off from any place I’d call home, when I wrote the first draft. This lonely feeling inspired one of the book’s major themes, which is the universal yearning to return to a place and time of belonging. That theme shaped the story and helped me build the titular house in the pines. - from the Book Club Kit Reyes incorporated several elements of her life into the book. In addition to struggles with addiction, both Maya and Ana are half Guatemalan. Both were raised in Pittsfield, MA. The book took seven years to write, and the gap between Aubrey’s death and Maya’s return to the scene of the crime is seven years.

During their last year of high school, Maya's best friend, Aubrey dropped dead while in the presence of Frank, a man they had been spending time with over the summer. Seven years have passed, and Maya has a secret addiction to klonopin which she has been keeping secret from her boyfriend, Ben. Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is dealing with the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can’t account for. The House in the Pines has a great hook, a beautifully painted central protagonist, and a genuinely creepy villain. I loved it. Superb.” How did Maya’s addiction impact her credibility, if at all? As the novel went on, did Maya’s credibility change for you? If so, what was the turning point?

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Of course, if you are one of many readers who is OVER the pill-popping 'can we trust her' trope...you might want to avoid this. It only tends to annoy me on a case-by-case basis (and didn't here, although her habit was mentioned more than it needed to be) and I don't feel it detracted from the narrative too much, but if you are fed up with addicted protagonists, this won't be the book for you. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review. Our unreliable narrator in this story is Maya. Maya has been addicted to Klonopin and alcohol for the past several years. Maya no longer has her Klonopin, and is experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Some of the withdrawal symptoms are paranoia, hallucination, and insomnia.

Powerfully eerie and atmospheric, The House in the Pines is a compelling mix of psychological thriller and dark fairy tale. By focusing not on whodunit but how and why, Ana Reyes’s stellar debut explores the many ways our memories can fail us—and how they can set us free.”

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Once Maya finally admits to Aubrey the truth behind her relationship with Frank, Aubrey surprises her. She's afraid of him too. Just as the two girls begin to make connections, on that very day, Aubrey ends up dead. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.