What Is the Most Critically Panned Pick from Reese’s Book Club?

Ana Reyes’ “The House in the Pines” had the star-studded endorsement, the glossy cover, and the marketing push. It also had a narrator in freefall. Maya is gripped by a memory she can’t quite trust. Years after witnessing her best friend collapse and die under mysterious circumstances tied to her then-boyfriend, she stumbles across a video that mirrors the moment almost exactly — a woman dying in an eerily similar fashion. As a result, she’s dragged back to the town and the man she’s spent years trying to forget, and a feverish, looping search for truth follows.

Reese Witherspoon picked Reyes’ debut as her January 2023 selection, calling it “a wild ride that had me flying through chapter after chapter” (Reese’s Book Club). For many readers, that ride felt more like a confusing detour. Even the most loyal members of Reese’s Book Club were left scratching their heads, struggling to connect with a novel that promised psychological thrills only for its potential to get lost in the woods.

The reviews on Goodreads were frank. “Reese, girl… you sure you liked this?” asked one reader. Others were more detailed in their disappointment, citing “choppy” writing, uneven pacing, and an ending that “felt like the author just pulled it out of a hat!” One review wrote, “Cannot express how disappointing this book was,” echoing the general sense of letdown. The most brutal assessment came in just two words: “womp womp.”