Not What She Seems

by Yasmin Angoe

She left home as the local pariah at twenty-two, but when a family tragedy brings her back, she must confront her tortured past—and a new danger in town that no one seems to understand but her.

After years of self-exile, Jacinda “Jac” Brodie is back in Brook Haven, South Carolina. But the small cliffside town no longer feels like home. Jac hasn’t been there since the beloved chief of police fell to his death—and all the whispers said she was to blame.

That chief was Jac’s father.

Racked with guilt, Jac left town with no plans to return. But when her granddad lands in the hospital, she rushes back to her family, bracing herself to confront the past.

Brook Haven feels different now. Wealthy newcomer Faye Arden has transformed the notorious Moor Manor into a quaint country inn. Jac’s convinced something sinister lurks beneath Faye’s perfect exterior, yet the whole town fawns over their charismatic new benefactor. And when Jac discovers one of her granddad’s prized possessions in Faye’s office, she knows she has to be right.

But as Jac continues to dig, she stumbles upon dangerous truths that hit too close to home. With not only her life but also her family’s safety on the line, Jac discovers that maybe some secrets are better left buried.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Crime, Ebooks

390 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2024

About the author

Yasmin Angoe is an action and psychological suspense thriller author, Library of Virginia People’s Choice Award Fiction Finalist, and Anthony-award nominee of the critically acclaimed Her Name is Knight and Not What She Seems. Her Knight series has been featured in The New York Times, Oprah Daily, The Guardian, PopSugar, and Woman’s World book club, and the series is currently optioned for a feature. Yasmin is the recipient of the 2020 Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Writers of Color and has been nominated for the Anthony Awards and the Library of Virginia’s People’s Choice Award. She is a proud member of organizations such as Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color, International Thriller Writers, and the Women’s National Book Association. Hailing from Northern Virginia, Yasmin Angoe is a first-generation Ghanaian American and a former English teacher and instructional coach,
She received a Kirkus review calling Her Name Is Knight, “A parable of reclaiming personal and tribal identity by seizing power at all costs".

Reviews

[Ida Wilcox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jac got on my LAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST NERVES.

She's a complete idiot. One idiot move after the other. I wanted to reach through the book and smack her.

As for the writing style that got on my nerves as well. It reminded me of J. R. R. Tolkien in Lord of the rings. Extremely too wordy for the liking. Through reading I was like get to the point.
He had this ability to take an entire chapter to describe a tree. This was happening in this book more often than I liked. Thank goodness it was a digital book I can quickly get past all those details that really didn't matter. Long winded and at times constantly repeating sentences. I drove me crazy.

This story was also very predictable and very obvious who was behind all the craziness.
This story didn't have to be 50 chapters long. My goodness. The mystery was no mystery at all and there were tooo many story lines happening at the same time. Jac, Faith, the Mom, the ex-boyfriend, Nick, Daphne, and the grandfather. All those storylines they were really intertwined but just slightly touch on each other.

I rolled my eyes soo much through reading this book I got a headache. :[ off to take an Advil

[Ebony · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I fully understand that suspense is what makes a good thriller, I suspect that Angoe was stalling. The book read like she needed to meet a word count as the main character ruminates on the same thoughts over and over and over again. Sure, there are lots of real people that are ruminators, but this character is annoying AF. She has no confidence, barley any self-esteem, and moves through her world berating herself obsessively so much so that I think a third of the book would be excised had the author merely cut the main character’s self-deprecation in half. The plot “twists” were incredibly predictable except when they didn’t make sense. There was one true surprise, but it was tangentially related to the plot. I mean, the book would have been essentially the same without it. I found the reading laborious and the “bad guy” unbelievable. And I’m disappointed. I absolutely loved the author’s first book, but I suspect she was always writing it until she published it. The books that have come in quick succession after have been increasingly disappointing.

[Linzie (suspenseisthrillingme) · Rating 4 out of 5]

With multiple mysteries, plenty of dark secrets, and a stunning character arc, Not What She Seems was quite the impressive premise which drew me in deep. After all, the initial slow burn quickly caught fire around the 50% mark into a wild game of cat-and-mouse as lies were revealed and schemes were laid bare. Trust me when I say that while the beginning had a definite drama-esque vibe, that quickly fell away for a fast-paced, action-packed thriller that had me speed reading until the very last word.

Thanks to a dynamite dysfunctional family dynamic, the characters ran the gamut from cheer-worthy to thoroughly unlikeable. Through first-person narration, I was quickly pulled into the gossip-hungry small town as I grew attached to Jac despite my incessant desire to shake her but good. Adding to the fun were two old friends and plenty of foes. And while the evil doer was revealed rather early on, the plot nevertheless kept me guessing thanks to oodles and oodles of delightfully wicked twists and turns.

All said and done, while there was a definite over-the-top feel throughout this humdinger plot, it still resonated with me all things considered. The second to last scene even brought tears to my eyes. So despite the fact that this near 400 page novel could have used some editing down, I was 100% hooked as I flew through it in just a single evening. With deliciously flawed characters, a revenge plot for the ages, and evocative prose, it was nothing less than addictive in the extreme. Just know that you will need to suspend all disbelief. After that, however, the fun will truly begin in earnest. Rating of 4 stars.

SYNOPSIS:

After years of self-exile, Jacinda “Jac” Brodie is back in Brook Haven, South Carolina. But the small cliffside town no longer feels like home. Jac hasn’t been there since the beloved chief of police fell to his death—and all the whispers said she was to blame.

That chief was Jac’s father.

Racked with guilt, Jac left town with no plans to return. But when her granddad lands in the hospital, she rushes back to her family, bracing herself to confront the past.

Brook Haven feels different now. Wealthy newcomer Faye Arden has transformed the notorious Moor Manor into a quaint country inn. Jac’s convinced something sinister lurks beneath Faye’s perfect exterior, yet the whole town fawns over their charismatic new benefactor. And when Jac discovers one of her granddad’s prized possessions in Faye’s office, she knows she has to be right.

But as Jac continues to dig, she stumbles upon dangerous truths that hit too close to home. With not only her life but also her family’s safety on the line, Jac discovers that maybe some secrets are better left buried.

Thank you to Yasmin Angoe, Thomas & Mercer, and Over the River PR for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

PUB DATE: August 1, 2024

Trigger warning: heart attack, infidelity, knife violence, gaslighting, kidnapping, fatal fall

[L A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers' Favorite Mystery & Thriller of 2024. I agree this was fabulous! Kudos to Jordon Cobb for her incredible narrating skills with a southern drawl. (15 hours and 57 minutes)
Jac left home when she was 22 after the town blamed her for the chief of police's death, which was also her father. When her grandfather suffers a heart attack, she returns.
Brook Haven, South Carolina has like most small towns: drama and gossip. Her mother in her high society, prim and proper manners is a hoot to listen to.
Another southern female Faye Arden has transformed a run down but notorious Moor Manor into an Inn. The town praises her for her perfect exterior, but Jac sees right through her. When visiting with her, she sees an item belonging to her grandfather that she must have stolen. This sends the town into a frenzy and points accusations towards Jac's behavior. She would come unhinged quickly and could have handled situations differently, but the drama is what makes this story come to life. There are a lot of mysteries going on, murder and action to keep you reading or listening the full 16 hours. This is fast-paced and told in first person with Jac giving every detail of each person accurately.
Her family appears dysfunctional because each one has a secret. This sinister little town has characters appearing as innocent bystanders, just stand by for an incredible adventure of lies. Not everyone is who they are portrayed. I'm glad I read it and enjoyed it, whereas there are a few who did not. Awesome writing, Yasmin Angoe!

[Jamie Hood]

7/3/24: unfortunately this book was not what it seems and not for me. A lot of Jac’s struggles, whether social, personal, hobbies, jobs, etc, are ones I cannot relate to, and I didn’t feel like reading about them. When she said she carried her hooka bag around with her and had an affair with her boss, I think I was done. Also the author would randomly take the subjects out of sentences so that they started with a verb, and it drove me crazyyyy. I did not understand the logic or writing style behind this? It was like a rough draft that needed to be cleaned up.

DNF at 17%, chapter 9.

[Silke Stevens · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lengthy descriptions of inconsequential thoughts or situations made for a boring read. MC was annoying and not relatable for me.

[Rachel Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very Fooled by the Synopsis

This book and the underlying story has SO much potential. That potential is ruined by the oft-mention race, and it is certainly race-baiting and stereotypes against anyone who is not black. I kept reading the book with the hopes that the story would become something else, but then the author would throw in race again and it was to the detriment of her own characters. Her very own characters were in contradiction because of how very desperate this author was to bring in race. I just wanted to read the story, and to find out about "Murder Manor" and about the Armchair Detectives and about what happened the the grandfather. It was overshadowed by a desperation to plead a race into a storyline. Such a shame and unnecessary.

[Becky Elliott · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ridiculous Plot

The main character is unlikeable and unbelievable. The plot is ridiculously unbelievable. And the writing worsened as the book wore on. Sorry I chose this one to read.

[J Robin Harris Szabo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really struggled to get through this and towards the end, I just skipped everything but the dialog to figure out what was happening. Jac’s thoughts surrounding the dialog were completely unnecessary words. It was so frustrating as a reader to be able to see the ways in which Jac could overcome her assailants but time and time again she just…wouldn’t. It was a book that I felt needed much better editing and needed to be pared down and less wordy. There could have been a good story somewhere in this but it just ended up not being that for me.

[Kurryreads (Kerry) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars - available on KU

Video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2wCe9TQ/

[Nursebookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

TITLE: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS
AUTHOR: YASMIN ANGOE
PUB DATE: 08.01.2024

I am a huge fan of the Nena Knight series by Yasmin Angoe so it was a no brainer that NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS is definite must read for me.

Small town South Carolina
Secrets & Skeletons
Suspenseful

Talk about flawed characters and ultimate badassery - that is what I found in Jac Brodie who returns back to her small town reluctantly when granddad falls ill. Things have definitely changed, but some things remain the same and secrets want to stay buried. I enjoyed this fast paced read full of drama and sweet revenge!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Maria Triantafilloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot twists felt very childish.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't read Yasmin Angoe until I read Not What She Seems, and I definitely think I need to change that! This book was super wild at the end and while it was a slower burn to start, I was completely invested and couldn't wait to see what would happen. Jac is the main viewpoint in the story, and while I didn't always understand or agree with her choices, she was a multifaceted character who was both relatable and frustrating at the same time. She made for an entertaining and interesting FMC and the drama was top-notch.

Jordan Cobb narrates the audiobook, and I would recommend it to all the audio fans out there. I thought Cobb was an excellent narrator, especially for Jac, and she helped keep me on the edge of my seat. The conclusion of Not What She Seems blew my mind a little bit and was completely unexpected. Including Faye’s viewpoint later in the book was a brilliant idea and helped me get a better idea of her character and what was driving her throughout the story since we don't have her viewpoint elsewhere. There were a lot of what I would call stupid decisions being made when I neared the end, but it added lots of suspense, and I couldn't look away.

Thank you to the publishers, author, and Over the River Public Relations for my complimentary listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

[Natasha Niezgoda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why is Jac so clueless 70% of this book?!?

[Priskah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ✨✨✨

(Audiobook)

[Geralyn Soles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unbelievable plot, almost silly. The characters were so annoying. Especially Jac, get a grip! Almost seemed like YA suspense/fiction. And I didn’t like the author’s frequent mentions of race, especially the reverse racism. Only finished it bc I hate to not finish a book once started, but it was just not well written and the synopsis of it was deceiving.

[Nurse Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was well written, but extremely long and pacing felt off.

[Hol · Rating 1 out of 5]

holy moly what a long walk for a short glass of water

on a real the premise seemed cool but my god it could have been half the length, I lost interest pretty early on due to everything being so long winded but sheer stubbornness kept me going

[♡Heather✩Brown♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on my IG

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is one that I'm vacillating on how to rate it. I liked it overall, but the ending (the last 25%) was just so much overload and over the top for me. I was at a point where I was rolling my eyes, thinking not another out of the blue event.

Jac has been staying away from her hometown for several years due to a tragic incident for which she was not only blamed but blamed herself and couldn't face the townspeople nor her family. She left loved ones, good friends, and when the day came for her to go home due to an illness in the family she had some awkward situations.

New to town/to Jac was a woman named Faye. Faye was right off the bat someone that the reader most likely won't like. I sure didn't. I believed something was off about her so I had my suspicions.

I had a difficult time actually liking the characters. To me, Faye was one I couldn't stand. Pen, Jac's little sister, was just okay but nothing that caught my eye. Jac was annoying in many ways. Her mother was terrible to Jac as she was growing up, and more. I'm pretty character-driven. If the characters don't resonate with me it's harder to get into the story. So, I still haven't decided how to rate this one because I did like the concept but it just unfolded in ways that didn't quite work for me.

[Rhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked "Not What She Seems" for Black History Month, and honestly, if it hadn’t been on that goodreads-list, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. And I am definitely not mad about it, even though it was just a three star read for me. I had fun reading it, even if it wasn’t the best piece of literature I’ve ever come across.

As a psychological suspense novel, there were definitely some tense, nail-biting moments that kept me engaged. The pacing was a bit slow at first, but it picked up as the story progressed. However, there were times when the characters took wayyy too long to say something you already knew was coming. I mean, just articulate it already! 😭

My biggest issue was with the main character. She’s definitely flawed, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I found her decision making frustrating. She’s an educated woman, yet she often jumps to conclusions without real proof, making accusations without thinking things through. This impulsiveness doesn’t do her any favors.🙆‍♀️

[Jeannine Scopp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book as one of my Amazon First Reads for July.

The synopsis grabbed my interest but it wasn't really held in reading the book.

The main character, Jac, irritated me with her unrealistic approach to her investigation. Of course I wanted the villain to be caught, but I couldn't get past the ill conceived path Jac took.

Many elements of the story, including Faye's past, were predictable.

One of the beauties of reading is everyone has their own opinions. It seems some people really enjoyed this book, it just wasn't for me.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was all over the place. Way too much going on. Not in a good way for me. The last 30% or so got interesting.

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a terrible book. I trudged through to the 6th chapter and gave up, hoping that it would go to the story rather than detailing her every thought, which by far is atrocious.

[Maryann Larucci-Troche · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very start of this story is a hook line and catch for me, making me want to know what happened to this man you wanted to be your own grandfather. This was a great storyline, but in some sections it dragged, making me want to skim pages; however, my conscious self wouldn’t let me. There were many shockers that I never saw coming. This story is really great and would be a five-star if it weren’t for the sections that felt long and endless, full of unnecessary descriptions. However, the story descriptions might not seem like that to you; therefore, make sure to give this story a try and share your own thoughts.

[Debbie Rozier · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this book that has family drama, a murder mansion, armchair detectives, past and present crimes, and a sneaky sweet antagonist, I’ll be picking up whatever this author is writing down.

It’s a thriller with in depth background of its characters, set in the low country of South Carolina, and gives a shoutout to my alma mater, the University of South Carolina.

[Trisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love that this made the 2024 Goodreads choice awards and that others loved it more than me.

But ooooooh I just could not get over this main character. I found her so unrealistic and unlikable. She was so over-the-top ragey. There were so many chances she had to change things around or out smart everyone and, instead, she tripped over her own feet every time. She'd rage, be unable to hold her tongue in any way. She'd steal, break into places, punch, scream, and threaten to kill everyone. She couldn't even keep her cool to go visit her grandfather in the hospital and instantly has zero patience for the girl at the front desk. I mean, jeez, can't you be worried and scared and be nice to the staff?!

I found the bad guys SO over the top! Short of cackling and mustache twirling, they were exactly the "bad guys" you think - so evil and over the top they've never had a nice thought in their head. The last 25% pushed this one over the top from silly to completely unbelievable. I think stories when the bad guy wins over and over are really hard to read. I wish I'd liked this one more.

[Debby O'Brien Willmus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow, Boring, almost gave up. Not a believable story.

[Tif · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not love this book. I'm giving it two stars instead of one because I was engaged enough to keep reading and see how things unfolded, but that's not necessarily a good thing. In this case, it was mostly to see if the author was really going to do the things she did.

She did.

The premise was really good: years ago the police chief of a small town dies in the presence of his daughter, whose memories of that night are spotty at best. Jac takes off to live her life elsewhere and not deal with small town drama, but when her grandfather (a former cop and current cold case amateur detective) passes away, she has to come home. Stuck with the feeling that her grandfather's death wasn't natural and that his current cold cases had something to do with it, she stays to investigate.

There were so many things I wanted from this book that I didn't get. I wanted Jac to do some actual investigating and dig into the cold cases that her grandfather had open. I wanted more of the armchair detectives getting involved, because that would have been a good way to get to know her grandfather through his friends. I wanted the villain to make sense and I wanted to not hate Jac.

I did not get those things. Instead I got Jac stumbling around blindly until she accidentally sees or finds or hears something she needs, a very bizarre conclusion and villains that felt like they were reading from How to Be Evil For Dummies.

Also, what the fuck happened at Murder Manor?! They mention all the people who died and disappeared so many times in the book, but they never actually tell you what happened there. I feel like that might've been a better story.

Here are the specific things that bothered me:

- Jac breaks into a woman's office and steals Faye's Taser which is, at best, circumstantial evidence. She then takes it proudly to the police station because she is 100% positive the chief will realize it's the murder weapon and arrest Faye. As both the daughter AND granddaughter of cops (with a cop brother-in-law to boot) Jac should realize how fucking stupid of a plan this was.

- This book was supposed to be a mystery, but they spelled out the murderer being Faye at the very beginning. You learn Jac's grandpa dies of a Taser in the prologue and the second time you see Faye, she has a Taser on her desk and a clock she stole from grandpa's house sitting on her shelf. I desperately hoped this was a misdirect but it was absolutely not.

- Nick pushing Jac's father off the cliff came out of nowhere. There was nothing in the book or in flashbacks to the past that indicated he was unhinged as shit and obsessed with Jac to the point of trying to kill her dad. It was sort of just thrown in at the end and the only reason given for why her dad didn't like Nick in the first place was because of some vague comment about what HIS dad did, which was unclear. Also, Jac's amnesia about the night her father dies completely vanishes the instant she needs it to and she conveniently remembers the entire thing at once.

- Jac borrows a key from Mia and promises to return it. Of course, she forgets, and so she's outside Faye's house after rushing the key to Mia late. She then proceeds to watch through the window while Faye beats Mia TO DEATH. Jac has her phone with her and she's close enough to the building to go inside, but she does...nothing. Doesn't call for help. Doesn't run inside. Only AFTER Mia is dead does she finally contact the cops and by that point Faye has cleaned up the body. Apparently she killed Mia bloodlessly, I don't know.

- In the middle of this nonsense we also find out that Jac's mother killed her abusive ex nearly 30 years ago and dumped his body into a barrel and then a lake. The lake started to dry up and exposed the body. The authorities didn't care I guess, but his cousin did and came to find Jac's mom to confront her. He literally just pops in, accuses her of murder, and then is like....ahhhh you know what, it's fine, I don't mind that you killed him after all.

- Most of the book was spent on Jac internally whining to herself about how much she sucks. I agree that she sucks, but it wasn't exactly helpful. Again, she didn't investigate anything. She just stumbled onto things.

- Daphne. Do you mean to tell me that Faith threatened to kill her family if she didn't kill herself, but then didn't sit there and watch? Didn't wait to make sure Daphne was dead? She either left the room or the house long enough for Daphne to type out a million page confession of how they killed the other four girls and how Faith was forcing her to commit suicide?

- Why was Conrad involved? He could have been gone entirely and it would have changed nothing. He ended up being just another person that Jac stared at and watched die, which was actually pretty convenient for her because it meant the book wouldn't be published.

Actually, I'm giving this one star now that I've written it all out.

[Courtney Gagnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too long, imo