I signed up to receive a free ARC of this book from Macmillan 100% because they cited rave reviews by Joe Hill, whose blurb graces the front cover. I think I immediately forgot I'd entered in my info so I was surprised when it arrived on my doorstep, but I was in the mood for a good thriller and decided to dive in right away so I could read it before its Jan 31 release date. The eager promotional materials that invited me to spread the word and help make this book a best seller were honestly a little off putting, and I find the "hashtag wtf that ending" tagline kind of ridiculous. It's a thriller. We get it, there's going to be some twists and an exciting ending. And such an informal hashtag feels awkwardly forced to me. That being said, once I started reading I was as immersed as I'd been promised, and I loved the experience of reading this book. The slow burn of information revealed was exactly what I want in a thriller, and the characters were interesting and I cared about their tangled web of secrets. I will try to not reveal anything about the ending. For me personally it was something I'd considered could happen, but had mostly dismissed the idea because I didn't see how it could work. Pinborough made it work better than I'd had it figured though. I'm always excited when I can figure out an ending ahead of time, and I love flipping back through and seeing the places it was set up when it all gets revealed. So, even though I can understand why some reviewers haven't liked it, for me the ending hit the right notes from a thriller perspective. The counterpoint for me is, there's a part of my mind that always races around more critical questions when I read, and one of the big ones is 'is this book relying on or reinforcing tropes that are used to harm disenfranchised communities?' This book gave me squirrely feelings around that question. I'd love to read opinions of people more equipped to discuss these topics than I am, and I'm not sure if there's anything there, just that it pinches at me. I look forward to discussing it all with anyone who decides to read it! And I guess we'll see whether it's the next big thing, feels like it could be to me, but I've never gotten in on such a low floor with a thriller before so I have no sense for it.