This is my first book by the author, at first I was a bit underwhelmed, but it did end up growing on me. I think the overall takeaway to parents and parenting the social media generation is very strong here, so kudos for that. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the Wisconsin camp resort setting. And I will agree this book is very bingeable, I finished in a couple days, I just needed to know the twists and outcome.

I can’t say I found any of the characters likable, everyone has a lot of flaws. The toxicity of the male characters was on a different level. The interactions between the married couples and their parenting styles, or lack there of, had me so frustrated throughout the whole book, that could also be the point. The kids were just so bratty, to each other and the parents, no supervision. There’s a plot point with Wyatt that really had me scratching my head and I felt like there was no closure there.

The main trigger for me was the blatant grooming of 17 year old Reese by a 24 year old man, right under everyone’s noses. It had my skin crawling, also maybe the point author wanted to make.

Was it predictable? Sure. I had so many ideas where this would go and I was partially right. It’s not a happy feeling or a happy outcome, because two people were murdered and now the three kids are orphans, it left me conflicted, there’s just a lot going on at the end. But I think I liked it.

I listened along with the audiobook narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya, Brittany Pressley and Gary Tiedemann. The ladies did a great job bringing their characters to life, it was pretty realistic and I can appreciate the emotions it evoked in me. Gary Tiedmann jumps in at the last moment for a timely twist and it had me questioning everything all over again.

Thank you to HTP Hive for the free review copies.

Pub date: February 3, 2026

Title: It’s Not Her
Author: Mary Kubica
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨