Unsettling, stunning, & evocative!
PLEASE SEE US by CAITLIN MULLEN is a raw, edgy, dark, eerie, distressing, and compelling psychological thriller that absolutely enthralled me. I was immediately taken and entranced with how mesmerizingly poetic the enigmatic narrative was that I couldn’t put this book down.
It’s a storyline that appears to be something that we have all read before but let me tell you this is nothing but as there is something a little different here that makes this quite the impressive and immersive read. There is nothing cheery here it’s a pretty bleak and hopeless story.
CAITLIN MULLEN delivers a fantastic, suspenseful, vivid, richly detailed, well-crafted and well-written story here with interesting and compelling characters. The story is told in alternating perspectives between a few key players here. The first is Clara, a young psychic, Lily who returns to her hometown of Atlantic City, and Luis who watches and knows things. Also, we hear from a set of absolutely fascinating characters the six “Janes” who are lying in the Marsh. I absolutely loved how the author gave these dead women a voice to tell us their own stories. That was so clever and such a unique spin to the storyline.
Another aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed was Clara’s visions and her tarot card readings. I find that sort of thing totally fascinating and it just adds in this extra layer of intrigue and mystery to the storyline for me.
Expected Pub Date: March 3, 2020
Norma’s Stats:
Cover: Eye-catching, enticing, mysterious, ominous, creepy, intriguing, emotive, and an effective representation to storyline.
Title: Intriguing, effective, relevant, emotive, and an extremely meaningful and fitting representation to storyline. The meaning behind this title is absolutely brilliant! Love it!
Writing/Prose: Well-written, mesmerizing, engaging, readable, and beautiful. I absolutely loved the writing style!
Plot: Intriguing, eerie, evocative, emotional, suspenseful, heartbreaking, unsettling, moving, disturbing, entertaining, captivating, and fast-paced.
Ending: I thought the ending was imperfectly perfect and that’s all I’m going to say.
Overall: 4.5 Stars rounded up! Once I started reading it I was hooked and so absorbed in this richly detailed storyline that I was flipping those pages as fast as I possibly could. I highly recommend it!
Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Canada for my ARC!
Book Blurb from Goodreads
In this sophisticated, suspenseful debut reminiscent of Laura Lippman and Chloe Benjamin, two young women become unlikely friends during one fateful summer in Atlantic City as mysterious disappearances hit dangerously close to home.
Summer has come to Atlantic City but the boardwalk is empty of tourists, the casino lights have dimmed, and two Jane Does are laid out in the marshland behind the Sunset Motel, just west of town. Only one person even knows they’re there.
Meanwhile, Clara, a young boardwalk psychic, struggles to attract clients for the tarot readings that pay her rent. When she begins to experience very real and disturbing visions, she suspects they could be related to the recent cases of women gone missing in town. When Clara meets Lily, an ex-Soho art gallery girl who is working at a desolate casino spa and reeling from a personal tragedy, she thinks Lily may be able to help her. But Lily has her own demons to face. If they can put the pieces together in time, they may save another lost girl—so long as their efforts don’t attract perilous attention first. Can they break the ill-fated cycle, or will they join the other victims?
Evocative, eerie, and compelling, Please See Us is a fast-paced psychological thriller that explores the intersection of womanhood, power, and violence.
Witch Words 
14 responses to “Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen @SimonSchusterCA #bookreview #travelingsistersreads”
Great review! The six Janes definitely does sound like an interesting, unique angle. That makes me want to read this one even more.
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Thank you so much, Diana! It really was a unique angle…definitely intriguing! I hope that you really enjoy it as well if you give it a go. 🙂
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Wonderful review, Norma💜 I need to check this one out!
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Thank you so much, Jonetta! I think you would really enjoy this one! 🙂
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Wow I love the photograph of the book! It’s sounds so mysterious, I like the tarot card part of it. This book sounds great although it’s probably too dark for me, you mention dead ladies and I’m like ok not for me. But I have to get a green light from B because she my book mother 😉 sometimes it’s not as dark as it seems. Which is why some books should have ratings. Great review!!
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Thanks so much, Tiffany! I’ll be passing it on to Brenda and then if she feels its okay for you to read you are more than welcome to read it as well! 🙂 It might be a little dark though.
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I had the same experience with this book. It’s kind of still a mystery to me how it kept me so enthralled.
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Oh, I’m so glad to hear that you had a similar reading experience as I did! That is awesome! 🙂
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Awesome review, Brenda! I think I have to add this one.
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Hi Mary Beth, it is actually Norma this time around. LOL I definitely think that you should add it…..it was so good and I think you would love it too!
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Love the cover!!!
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I really like that cover too, Lindsay! 🙂
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I am planning to get this book as I am seeing quite a few great reviews. Sounds extremely interesting
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Thanks so much, Shalini and yes it was really interesting and kept me entertained right to the very end! It was such a gritty and dark story.
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