What It Seems

By: Emily Bleeker

Narrated by: Jess Nahikian

A pause-resisting novel of suspense about the perfect family, and the perfect lies, by the best-selling author of When I'm Gone and The Waiting Room.

Adopted by her controlling foster mother at the age of eight, 20-year-old Tara has seen little of the outside world. Lonely, punished for the slightest offense, her only distraction comes from watching the Feely family's online videos. They're an affectionate vlogging quintet and an internet sensation. Most important, they are Tara's mental refuge. Then the opportunity arises for them to be something more. When Tara accepts an internship with the close-knit clan, they're her escape.

Daring to run away, and defying Mother's rules, Tara is welcomed into the loving fold. But the more Tara gets to know them, the more she realizes that not everything is as it seems. As secrets slowly surface, the image of the perfect family begins to crack. For Tara, it's another trap.

To claim a life of her own, she'll need a new escape plan. Because as the show's popularity explodes, reaching even more fascinated viewers, Tara can't shake the feeling that Mother is among their ranks. She's watching. She's waiting. She'll never let her go.

©2020 Emily Bleeker (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A good understanding of Stockholm Syndrome

I could not stop listening to this story. It kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. It’s a sad story with a happy ending.

More YA than I thought

This was an entertaining story, but more for young adults. The storyline was not really bad, just very predictable. The first few chapters were decent but it kind of went down a bit from there. I seriously considered returning the book near midway, but, after the reviews it got I figured it was going to improve. The main character just always ended up to wrap things up in the nick of time. It wasn’t that the story was bad rather simple and predictable. I can’t really recomend the book, but there were quite a few 4 and 5 star reviews, so, it suited some people’s taste, just not mine. Well, this is getting long and I always skip long reviews as hey are Tedious but if you get to the middle and hope it will get better IMHO, it does not.

Ah-Ma-ZING!

I gobbled this book up in 3 “sittings” (well, listenings). Emily Bleeker is becoming one of my favorite suspense novelists, right up there with Mary Kubica.

Aaiigghhh can I have some more Henry??? 😃

Wow, so good

Although dark at times, this book kept me listening with my breath held until the very end.

Kept me engaged despite the main character

I really liked, and disliked Tara/Angela. On the one hand I understand why she behaved as she did, given how she was conditioned by Mother… but at the same time she drove me crazy. When she was “trapped” in the bathroom… come on, all she had to do was say “I’m in here.” And she just jumped in the van? Sometimes I just wanted to slap some sense into her.

But I kept reading because the story was engaging. At times lighthearted and warm, often sad and depressing, but it kept me reading. No huge surprises, which worked out well anyway, and most of the suspense was believable. I just had a hard time with how much I started to dislike Angela, when I know I should have felt sorry for her instead.