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In our story’s past timeline, readers meet Jess as a newcomer to Duquette, as she navigates her new life surrounded by wealth and status—two things she herself has never had. At its heart, Winstead’s novel examines what it means to covet the lives of others, no matter the cost. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years' worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden. They are each distinguished well and the developing cracks in their relationships add a lot of dark, brooding suspense in an already sinister-feeling mystery. Fans of books such as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl will find this book captivating, as will anyone who enjoys being led down a winding, frightening path.
Tense, twisty and packed with shocks, Ashley Winstead’s assured debut dares to ask how much we can trust those we know best—including ourselves. Plattsburgh Press-Republican “A gripping page-turner that keeps the reader second-guessing all the way to the end, highly recommended. When Jessica and her friends are reunited, they are forced to confront not only what happened that night, but the secrets they would do anything to hide. I’ve been so excited about this book for weeks now—next to For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing (another absolute must-read) it might have been my most anticipated thriller of the year. The pacing is quick, but still gives the reader plenty of insights into the insecurities of the characters and how those same insecurities still haunt them, as their carefully hidden secrets, are brutally exposed one by one.Now she is an Upper East Side girl named partner at one of the most sought after positions at a consulting company in NYC. This is absolutely genius, outstandingly entertaining, extremely heart pounding, absolutely better mash up of Breakfast Club and Pretty Little Liars than “one of us is lying” installment! If there was one element of IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE that perhaps didn’t work quite as well for me, it was the book’s pacing, particularly in the book’s first third. So not only did I not understand why she was friends with them but I also didn't care about her as a character so I wasn't motivated to care about who killed her or understand why.
An unsolved murder, dark secrets and dysfunctional college days, all wrapped up in a twisty plot that will keep you flipping pages.
Not without faults, a reader would be tempted to view her as superficial as she’s so focused on her image. IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE lures readers into its world alongside its characters slowly but surely, before snapping closed the trap that has been carefully laid around them.
But not everyone has moved on from the murder, someone has been compiling evidence long after the police have given up on the case. Our other characters and suspects are star athlete Frankie,brain ( that fits with both for Jess and our victim Heather), golden boy Mint who was long time boyfriend of Jess and left her for social media influencer princess Courtney ( even though she is not the member of unlucky number seven, she’s involved into murder investigation by being married with Mint), sweet, social, loyal friend and Coop’s new fiancée Caro, shy, lovely Jack who was also boyfriend of Heather has been accused to kill her but Eric finally knows he was not the one who killed her sister so he didn’t involve in his murder investigation. Over my years as a crime reader, I’ve found myself drawn over and over again to characters who are often described as “unlikeable”—characters who embody less-than-desirable traits that we’d all probably rather not admit we can sometimes relate to. I found everything I crave in a thriller (multiple POV, two timelines and a clever plot) AND the characters were well-developped.IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE is an immersive, atmospheric story of friendship, secrets, and obsession. This, of course, is not inherently a negative, and the care with which the author builds her story’s universe pays off as the book progresses.
i like ashley winstead but maybe i need to only read her romance novels because what the fuck was that? They all gather back at the prestigious Duquette University for their ten year Homecoming reunion, and secrets hidden begin to come to light. Ashley Winstead's mordant debut novel is the latest entry in the budding subgenre of "dark academia," where the crime narrative takes place on a college campus. There was even a love story (not taking too much place, but just enough to add some romantic tension).
Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions. For a second I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but then I thought how it made sense with the breadcrumbs that were scattered throughout. When one of the girls in her tight group of 7 friends was brutally murdered, the blame was immediately placed on her boyfriend.
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