I need to give this a 3.75* rounded down to a 3*.The first bit was gripping. It had me wondering about the circumstances of this story. Plus the emotional impact everything was having on this girl. The girl who sits chatting to her dolls each night, the child who has to creep her use of the computer and her obsession with a live family she watches online that she envies.Her “mother” isn’t her biological mother. She’s cruel, controlling and bullying. The mother of her “pretend” she is pregnant.It...

What It Seems by Emily Bleeker is a tense and taut thriller that kept me fully engaged and turning the pages with a growing sense of unease. This is the first novel that I have read from this author, but I am certainly looking for more to add to my always growing TBR list.Tara was adopted by her foster mother when she was eight years old. Never having a clear understanding of why her birth family abandoned her, Tara is a damaged young woman who has found herself the victim of emotional and psych...

Experimental Excellence. With this book, Bleeker does something she's never done before - writes a tale in first person. And for this particular tale, that was likely the only way to make this story as good as it is. This story involves some pretty heavy abuse, but that actually drives the reader to want to find some resolution... and drove me to complete the 304 page book in less than 12 hrs, which is a rarity even for me. An excellent take on the not-what-it-seems side of a popular cultural ph...

Twenty year old Tara was adopted by her controlling foster mum at the age of eight. She led a very solitary and isolated life, but she did what she could to get through each day. This was no life for a child, but escaping never seemed possible or was it?I really had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately I felt there was something lacking and I just couldn’t connect with the story or the characters. Although this book wasn’t for me don’t let my opinion stop you from reading it as there are

What It Seems was an unsettling and slightly creepy read that managed to take me out of my own head for a few hours. Tara is an awkward young woman who was adopted by her foster mom when she was eight and she lives a very isolated life. She watches YouTube families for a slice or normality and when she gets the chance to intern for her favorite family she decided to run away from her foster mom. That’s all I’ll share about the plot, but this was an entertaining tale of suspense for sure!

So, I did that thing that reviewers aren’t supposed to admit (but we totally do). I spent the last 50% of this book hate-reading it.I’m actually admitting that with NO SHAME WHATSOEVER because this is…kind of a train wreck.I never believed in a single one of our characters. Our 20 year old (12 year old) main character who apparently literally stinks and who is smart enough to figure out how to fake an ultrasound photo but who can barely put a pair of pants on. Our male lead who is both unobserva...

This book is a real page turner! Tara was a foster child at age eight, she is now twenty. Mother is beyond cruel to her but Tara escapes at night by watching a You Tube family, the Feelys. All is not as it seems in this book and you will be especially surprised at the ending. I was like, OMG, with my mouth hanging open! There is so much more to this story but I don't want to leave spoilers. Tara is an intensely written character and she will make you feel many emotions. Sadness emanates from her...

I was really hoping to like this book more than I did but I just could not finish it. I could not connect to any of the characters and I wasn't able to grasp anything this book was saying. I found myself skimming through pages and pages of what I tried to read and finally just gave up. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an egalley in exchange for an honest review. In her latest thriller novel, Emily Bleeker gives us 20-year-old Tara, a young woman held captive by her foster mother and treated very cruelly. Tara is forced to masquerade as a pregnant woman in order to steal from stores, but late at night talks to her dolls and watches YouTube videos. One channel, in particular, that of the Feely family, has Tara dreaming of what it would be like to live in the "p

I haven't read a whole lot by Emily Bleeker yet, in fact the only other book I have read is Working Fire, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect with What It Seems. What I got was a real page-turner that I had a hard time putting down!What It Seems had a couple of surprises, but overall I could definitely see the direction it was going. It is not a thriller, but more suspenseful and I spent a lot of the book wondering where things would end up. I didn't feel like there was too much mystery, but t...

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication date: March 17, 2020Tara was adopted by her foster mother when she was eight years old. Since then, she has barely left her house, spending most of her days locked in closets and catering to her foster mother’s nasty moods and attitude. Now twenty, Tara sees an escape through the form of The Feely’s, her favourite YouTube family, when they pos

Thanks to #NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of this book - the opinion expressed is entirely my own.I found this book to be a solid read (a 3.5 stars). Tara (Angela) is a 20 year old young woman who is totally dominated by a creepy and truly awful 'foster' mom. She has been abused physically and mentally since she was 12, so if that's a trigger for you, you might want to avoid this book. At 20 circumstances occur that allow her to try to escape. That escape is successful, but as sh...

What It Seems is about a foster child, now 20 living with her foster mother. She was 8 went Tara went to live with her controlling foster mom. Lonely Tara locked in her room all day finds happiness in a Vlog on YouTube about a real family. Something Tara never had. Fortune happens when the family need an intern for their show. Will Tara be able to escape her foster mother?

The beginning was fantastic! The middle was just ok for me, and then the ending was fantastic again! I love Angela, and how she handled everything. This book draws you in immediately right from page 1, so be prepared!

What It Seems is the first book I have read by Emily Bleeker and although I liked it, I didn't love it. I guess my expectations after reading the blurb of the book were pretty high and the book didn't turn out to be how it sounded in the blurb.The strongest point about the book was 20 year old Tara and her story about the dismal life and the psychological and emotional damage she suffers constantly at the hands of her foster 'Mother' with whom Tara is living since she was 8 years old. By sufferi...

OK, I’m gonna be pushy right now.⁣😆⁣If you have never read an Emily Bleeker book, please, please, please, go immediately and get one. Preferably this one, because it’s it’s book birthday today, but also - just get them all. Because every single one is SO FLIPPING GOOD.⁣⁣Emily Bleeker is one of my most favorite authors. I anticipate every new release and devour them like a ravenous lion feverishly attacking it’s prey. OK, that was weird, but no joke - I have never read one of her books that I did...

3.5 stars rounded up. TW: child abuse/torture, one brief scene of animal abuse, one brief scene of attempted sexual harassmentThis is the story of Tara, a 12-year-old in a 20-year-old's body. For eight years she has been the victim of an abusive, sadistic, controlling adopted mother who has forced her to shoplift to help put food on the table. Tara hasn't attended school since she was hit by a car at the age of 8 and then adopted by "Mother." She doesn't watch television, play games or leave her...

I love Emily Bleeker's books and was excited to read her latest one. What It Seems is a page turner that hooked me from the first page!

i was never some hulking giant with bulging muscles that pounded my way out of a bad situation. i was a frail, broken child who survived long enough to escape. i am very confused. this is not an easy book to review. i was so intrigued by the blurb and, in some ways, it exceeded my expectations. in others, however, it fell really short.our main character's story is tragic. it is horrifying, and it is portrayed within that tone, which is very appropriate. however, it was fairly obvious from the