Written by Ana Reyes, published 2023. Summary, review, and spoilers ahead.
This book comes highly recommended by the internet… and I cannot figure out why. Reese picked this as her January 2023 choice… and I cannot figure out why. There is very little depth to this story and the big reveal could not have been more of a letdown. The only reason this makes any list, in my opinion, is because someone read the back cover and was interested in the setup (which is admittedly cool). Otherwise, there is nothing here.
I shall attempt to explain.
We mainly follow Maya, a troubled 25 year old who has issues with alcohol and antidepressants (klonopin specifically). We learn early on that a viral video makes the rounds of a girl randomly dying while on camera at a diner. She happens to be sitting next to Maya’s ex-boyfriend, Frank.
As it just so happens, a few years back Maya’s best friend Aubrey also dropped dead while hanging out with Frank. And thus, Maya believes Frank did something. Cool right?!?
That’s about as cool as this story gets, because from there we dive into the backstory and learn a lot of nothing.
Maya is dating Dan, a 3rd year law student, and gets blackout drunk at his family’s dinner. This has no effect on the story.
Maya quits klonopin and has withdrawal symptoms. This could be used in the story for solid effect; however, it is not. This has no effect on the story.
We learn about Maya’s parents and grandparents in Guatemala. While one small part is used towards the end, mostly this has no effect on the story.
Essentially, we learn more and more about the dating past of Maya and Frank and how mysterious gaps in memory keep occurring when they are together. Aubrey, who ends up dating Frank after Maya has similar experiences.
Unfortunately, this story ultimately loses me. For most of it we’re set wondering how these girls died, and what is causing these various gaps in memory. And perhaps, why the book called The House in the Pines. Is Frank the devil? Or does he have wizard powers? Is he a serial killer?
No. None of the above. [Spoiler Alert] Frank is just really good at hypnosis. That’s it.
Frank is so good at hypnosis that he creates a cabin in the woods that does not exist with mind powers. A vision so good that Maya is convinced she has visited it/seen it. Except that in reality, she didn’t… she visited an old camp site where Frank would go cry when his dad was mean to him and he “built” a cabin as his safe space.
Also Frank is so good at hypnosis that he tricks the girls into thinking he’s 20-something years old. He is in fact closer to 40-something years old. Ok???
Maya finally uncovers all of this and confronts hypnotist Frank and he again puts her under his spell, except that she breaks it when he (mentally mind you) pretends to be her dad but fails to speak with the proper accent. The gig is up.
Maya’s mom shows up, gets weirded out and they leave. That’s basically it.
She ends the book with Frank talking to the police, but Maya’s story is so random and unbelievable that nothing happens. NOTHING HAPPENS.
And lastly, the biggest and dumbest part of this story, revolves around the mysterious deaths of the two women. We learn that… well we learn nothing! He’s just so good at hypnosis that he can kill them. It’s never really explain how… I hate this. The biggest part of the story goes unexplained. At least say it was mind bullets! (That’s telekinesis Kyle).
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
TLDR: A cool premise that fails to deliver beyond a solid setup. There were moments I enjoyed in this book, however overall, a giant swing and a miss. Would not recommend. 2/5 Stars.
