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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Drug dealer, coming from poverty, smart, snarky, charismatic, seeing the true face of Jess from the beginning and he is the only truly accepts her. One character is a jock, another a nerd, a spoiled rich girl, a girl from a religious family, a rebel etc. All of the characters are so fleshed out and it was such a great mystery trying to figure out what actually happened in the past. When Jessica and her friends are reunited, they are forced to confront not only what happened that night, but the secrets they would do anything to hide.

At its heart, Winstead's novel examines what it means to covet the lives of others, no matter the cost. What she does not anticipate, is that her former friends have lived with their own insecurities and dark secrets. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the plot and characters, I felt that the author, Ashley Winstead, displayed a lot of talent. Page after page you get lost in the college atmosphere, in its parties and ceremonies, until everything is over, the truth is revealed and there's nothing more to read. Ten years after an unsolved campus murder, the victim's best friends reunite, knowing one might be a monster—but is anyone innocent?As I got closer to the climax, I caught myself biting my nails, tapping my foot feverishly in anticipation. Ashley Winstead's mordant debut novel is the latest entry in the budding subgenre of "dark academia," where the crime narrative takes place on a college campus. I loved the writing style with the jumping back and forth in time, and I love that it’s mostly told in Jessica’s POV but we also get singular chapters from some of the other characters. I’m so honored to be able to reveal the cover for Vanessa Lillie’s buzz-worthy new mystery here on CBTB today! 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.

I’ve been so excited about this book for weeks now—next to For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing (another absolute must-read) it might have been my most anticipated thriller of the year. Like, they put up with her and act like they want her around but then also think she's a huge b*tch (because she IS) and like secretly hate her. While I am a massive John Hughes fan and have seen all of his movies a million times, this thriller came up slightly short for me. Tense, twisty and packed with shocks, Ashley Winstead’s assured debut dares to ask how much we can trust those we know best—including ourselves.At one point or another I suspected pretty much everyone, so the ultimate revelation definitely came as a surprise to me. Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession, and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is an addictive, propulsive read you won’t be able to put down. The novel has some surprising revelations, and one stunning final admission that I didn’t see coming. Set against the backdrop of an elite southern university, this engrossing suspense novel takes readers into the dark secrets of a picture-perfect friend group, exploring the complex dynamics that exist between individuals who have spent their formative years together. In a nutshell, this is about a college reunion that takes a rather dark and twisted turn as a group of six friends are forced to reckon with their involvement in, and contribution to, the now 10-year-old unsolved murder of one of their own…talk about suspense at its absolute best!