In My Dreams I Hold a Knife: TikTok made me buy it! The breakout dark academia thriller everyone's talking about

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With her debut novel In My Dreams I Hold A Knife, Ashley Winstead has woven an intricate mystery full of twists and turns that will surprise most readers, and she has devised a clever and original method for her characters to reveal details from the past and put the pieces together to solve a ten year old crime.

But not everyone has moved on from the murder, someone has been compiling evidence long after the police have given up on the case. And they plan to force a confession from the killer and to reveal everyone’s secrets. A] mordant debut novel....examines what it means to covet the lives of others, no matter the cost."--The New York Times The best thing I discovered in college was that I had access to free counseling. (This is true of grad school, too.) What a gift. Talking to someone else about how you’re feeling is healing. The character development is so well done! The past fills us in on the present cast and we get a good feel for what has shaped them and who they really are. Sure they have changed in 10 years, who hasn't?! 🤷Yet who are they really? Deep down inside? Not the persona that they have displayed for all their fellow classmates, but they real person they are- when no one is looking. But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather's murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night--and the years' worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.I was invested in the story throughout even though I really didn't like any of the characters. They all had some twisted motivations and dark things they are hiding. At one point or another I suspected pretty much everyone, so the ultimate revelation definitely came as a surprise to me. Plain jane Jessica Miller always felt like an outsider in their group, not good enough. Even though she dated one of the most popular guys at school, she felt like a fake. Now she is an Upper East Side girl named partner at one of the most sought after positions at a consulting company in NYC. She can't wait for reunion day...to show them all what she has made of herself....no matter what it took...she made it to the top...did the others?

Her brother Eric is adamant to find the real perpetrator! So their reunion turns into murder investigation against them. One of them is killer! And sooner or later the all secrets they have been hiding are about to reveal to change entire dynamics of their relationship. Nothing as it seems.The story moves very slowly, but does contain lots of twists and turns. However, some didn’t feel realistic and others went a little too far. Kudos to Winstead, as it is difficult to see where the plot is headed before it actually goes there. Once it does, the pieces fall into place. Overall, this is a good debut thriller, and I would be willing to read more from this author.

I also listened to this playlist of dark academia music while I read the book and it was LIFE CHANGING: https://youtu.be/uQpmIm4I1dw I devoted a lot of time to imagining who each character was and how they felt about each other and themselves, so I felt like I knew my characters inside out. By the time I started writing In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, it was almost like they were friends whose stories I’d absorbed. sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs: 10 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs ɪs ʙʀᴜᴛᴀʟʟʏ ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴄᴀᴍᴘᴜs, ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴɪɴɢ sɪx ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀs ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴀsᴛ ʜᴏᴜsᴇ sᴇᴠᴇɴ ʀᴇᴛᴜʀɴ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴀᴍᴘᴜs ғᴏʀ ʜᴏᴍᴇᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ sᴛᴀʀᴛs ᴀs ᴀ ʀᴇᴜɴɪᴏɴ, ǫᴜɪᴄᴋʟʏ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇs ᴀ ᴡʜᴏᴅᴜɴɴɪᴛ, ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠɪᴄᴛɪᴍs ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴀʟsᴏ ʀᴇᴛᴜʀɴs ʜᴇʟʟ ʙᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ғɪɢᴜʀɪɴɢ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴡʜᴏ ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ʜɪs sɪsᴛᴇʀ. Ah, people’s secrets are the best way to get to know them! That’s actually how I dove into each of my characters—I went right for the jugular. But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather's murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years' worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.Newsflash: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is one of the best, most addicting thrillers I’ve read all year!! Stewing in grief and anger, I thought to myself, Why do I feel so frenzied by this disappointment, so desperate? And what if there was a woman who didn’t tamp down those feelings but explored them to their dark ends? And so a villain was born. What consequences would you expect for Dr. Garvey when his affairs came to light? How does tenure work against students in cases like Garvey’s?

We are so thrilled to present to you the . . . ‘In My Dreams I Hold a Knife’ Exclusive Mortal Edition, brought to you in collaboration with @ ashleywinsteadbooks and @ bookmarked! Walking across the college campus, having fun with your friends, falling in love, making mistakes, no responsibility. The Phi Delta Fraternity of 2008 and the NFL of Frankie’s expectations are not supportive places for LGBTQIA+ members. What was your impression of his attempts to navigate those attitudes? What would you do in his position? Once the characters began working to solve the mystery, I enjoyed this book very much. Winstead’s pacing and storytelling are exceptionally good as she brings in many important social issues into the story, always in appropriate and respectful ways. My only struggle was with the first few chapters as we are getting to know the characters. Being about 20 years older than these characters, I found it very difficult to care about the things that they cared about and found it incredibly difficult to relate to them at first.

Christmas Gifts

It's an addictive story, dark academia at its best, but also it’ll leave you with a shadow of nostalgia for something that happened but it's now over.