The Night It Ended

Welcome, or Welcome back! My name is Amanda and this is where I share spoiler-free book reviews and other bookish things. Not every book is my cup of tea – and that’s ok. Even if I didn’t like it, I attempt to find readers that would. Thanks for visiting. Let’s get Smitten For Fiction.

I was just filling out my bullet journal for the books I read in May and June and my reading pace in June is on fire, which explains why I’m falling behind on reviews (yet again). I’ve been feeling really stressed this month and am using fiction to cope. Knitting while listening to an audiobook feels meditative. Don’t forget to take care of yourself.

Anyhow, today I’m here with a review for The Night It Ended by Katie Garner. I found this book on Netgalley while looking for new debut releases and it did not disappoint. This is a mysterious, fast-paced, adult psychological thriller that will keep you guessing to the end.

“Set at an exclusive school for troubled teenage girls, The Night It Ended by Katie Garner is dark, twisted, and utterly compelling. Impossible to put down, you won’t know who or what to believe and the creepy location will have you looking over your shoulder more than once. One heck of a debut with an ending that left me speechless.” —Hannah Mary McKinnon, internationally bestselling author of Never Coming Home

About The Book 📚

Title: The Night It Ended

Author: Katie Garner

Publication Date: June 27, 2023

Publisher: MIRA (Harlequin Trade Publishing)

Genre: Mystery, Thriller (Psychological), Suspense

Pages: 416

Content Warnings: Mental Illness, gaslighting, murder, adult/minor relationship, self-harm, abusive relationship, medication abuse, depression, anxiety, extra-marital affairs, blood, wounds

R Contains profanity, violence, drug use, or nudity.

About The Author

“Katie Garner was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey. She has a degree in Art History from Ramapo College and is certified to teach high school Art. She hoards paperbacks, coffee mugs, and dog toys and can be seen holding at least one of those things most of the time.

Katie lives in a New Jersey river town with her husband, baby boy, and shih-poo where she writes books about women and their dark, secret selves. The Night It Ended is her debut novel.” https://www.katiegarnerauthor.com/aboutkatie

https://www.goodreads.com/thenightitended

https://www.amazon.com/Night-Ended

https://twitter.com/kgarnerauthor

https://www.instagram.com/katiewritesmystery/

My Review

› Told in dual timelines, The Night It Ended is a wild ride with a shocking twist.

› The first timeline is December 3, one year before the other timeline. “C5” is working with the police department interviewing “EO12” to get the full story of what happened. All names are redacted. We learn that “EO12” had an affair and something really bad happened. The second timeline is a year later, starting on December 16. This timeline is told in first-person from the perspective of Dr. Madeline Pine, a criminal psychiatrist with a teenage daughter named Izzi and a husband named Dave. Something bad has happened with her family and we know that they don’t talk anymore. Dr. Pine’s mental health is not good. She’s acting very strange, like putting the SIM card for her second phone under her tongue “for safekeeping” and then getting rid of it on the train. Why does she have two phones? Is one for work? Why get rid of the SIM card?

Dr. Pine receives a phone call from Matthew Reyes, a private investigator. Charlotte Ridley (Charley), a sixteen-year-old female was found dead in the woods near Shadow Hunt Hall, an all-girls boarding school in upstate New York and her family hired Reyes to get to the bottom of what happened. The police said it was an accident, but Charley’s family is suspicious. She was found wearing no shoes and pyjamas outside in winter. The police think she sleepwalked and froze to death. However, her feet were clean and had no marks from walking barefoot in the woods and snow, and she had defensive wounds on her hands and forearms. The autopsy said she died on the first day of winter break and almost all of the staff and students have left for the break. So if Charley was murdered, then the killer is still on campus. There’s not a lot of physical evidence, so Reyes needs witnesses to help him figure out what happened.

› Reyes called Dr. Pine because he was impressed by her work on the Strum case last year and saw she’s the author of a book called Dark Side: A Psychological Portrait of the Criminal Female Mind. Most of the students have gone home for Christmas break and Reyes has been asked to wrap up his investigation by the time they return on January 2nd. He’s having trouble getting the girls to talk to him and is hoping a psychologist can help.

› Shadow Hunt Hall is an old building surrounded by 300 acres of dense forest and a cement wall. With a gated entrance, there’s only one way in, and one way out. The only people left on campus are the headmistress – Emilia Hawke, four students – Hannah, Kiara, Violet, and Alice, the school assistant – Rosemarie, the maintenance man – Blake Edwards and his son Jeremy Edwards.

› While Dr. Pine and Reyes work together to try to discover what happened to Charley, Dr. Pine’s mental stability unravels. She’s having panic attacks, hallucinations, and flashbacks to what happened to her family. Someone left a brick under her pillow, someone has been moving her things around, and messing with her medication. The suspense builds continuously and Dr. Pine is in danger from the beginning as she’s interviewing students and tracking down the truth.

› “Questioning the unquestionable is the only way to learn the truth. And I will learn the truth.”

› I rate reviews similar to the CAWPILE method
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 8
I just wanted a little more characteristics and backstory.

› Atmosphere: 8
I love the setting and mood, I just wanted a little more description and world-building.

› Writing Style: 7
High-quality writing, high readability, however a little wordy and repetitive.

› Plot: 7
My one complaint is the first half of the book felt a little willy-nilly. It felt like a 3-star book for most of it until the ending blew me away.

› Intrigue: 6
I struggled for the first half.

› Logic: 6
I don’t know if the plot holes have been fixed before the final copy, but I would hope that an editor caught them.

› Enjoyment: 7
This book had me feeling all the feelings. I felt frustration, anger, confusion, and sadness.

Average 7

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★★★

› Final Thoughts
• The Night It Ended felt like a 3-star read for most of my experience, then the ending absolutely blew me away and twisted everything I thought I knew. This is a dark, mysterious, tense, fast-paced, emotional debut novel with complicated characters about self-preservation and survival. I will read everything Katie Garner writes. According to her website, the author has another adult psychological thriller coming out next summer. Bring it on. You won’t trick me next time.