This was a gripping book from start to finish. I didn’t see the ending coming at all. It was a bit hard to keep up with at times but otherwise an excellent thriller.

I was completely engrossed in this book from start to finish. The gripping narrative had me hooked from the very first page, and I found myself unable to put it down. It was one of those rare stories that demanded my full attention, compelling me to read it in one sitting. The author's skilful execution of suspense and mystery kept me guessing throughout, constantly questioning my own understanding of the plot. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, the story took an unexpected turn, leaving me astounded and hungry for more.

The sheer intensity of this novel made it a true psychological thriller. The suspense was masterfully built, keeping me on the edge of my seat, eager to unravel the enigma at the core of the story.
And oh, the ending! It caught me completely off guard. I had formed numerous theories and hypotheses, but none came close to the startling truth revealed in the final pages.

I loved this book, such a good read that kept me guessing right to the end . The twists and turns kept going through the whole book which made it difficult to leave down. The story unfolds leaving you wanting more after every chapter. I would highly recommend this book to everyone you loves a good psychological thriller

WARNING!!!

Do not pick this book up unless you are prepared to not put it down!

HOLY SMOKE!

What the heck did I just read? My Word Against His, is absolutely incredible! This book sent chills up my spine and had me begging for my mama!

This book is so realistic you will swear it was ripped from a headline. The amount of talent that is showcased between the pages is award winning. Lauren North, has natural born talent that just can not be explained.

I am ashamed to admit this was my first book by North but after browsing Amazon, I see she has quite a bit of prior publications that all sound amazing. I just downloaded One Step Behind, wish me luck !

This book is out now and free on Kindle Unlimited!

Teaser:

My future hangs in the balance. They’re questioning both of us and every word I say matters. I need to be careful – it’s my word against his, and I can’t afford to lose…

Thirteen years ago. Teenager Lucie babysits our little son Henry. She’s like the daughter I never had. And she believes we’re the perfect family – just me, my husband and Henry.

But Lucie doesn’t really know what’s happening behind closed doors. Until one night, she sees something so awful she leaves. And my family is never the same again…

Now, Lucie has reached out, desperate for my help. It’s been thirteen years of silence, but I would recognise her voice anywhere. She’s back: and so are the secrets she took with her.

What did she see that night? And does she know my side of the story, or only his?

I hope she knows what she’s doing. Because there is no line I won’t cross to protect the ones I love – or the secrets I’ve worked so hard to hide…

Saw this book on NetGalley and read as an ARC. The cover was great and grabbed my attention. This made me read the description which also sounded great.

'Both of us are lying.
One of us is a killer'

The book was okay. For me personally, it didn't have that grab your attention and pull you in feeling that I really want out of a book. I felt there were extra peices in the story that really didn't add anything to the story overall and could have been removed.

The characters weren't super likeable in the story. Though some of them weren't supposed to be. Lucie was my favorite of all of them.

I liked the multiple viewpoints that the story was told in. Not my personal favorite. But I think people who enjoy slower paced books could enjoy this one.

3.5 stars

Reviewed on storygraph and Instagram

Also noticed a continuity error. On page 41 it says 'with a long sigh, she throws off the covers' then later on page 41 it says 'she shivers beneath the duvet" she can't shiver under a blanket if she already took them off! =]

My Word Against His is a complete page turner of a book with plenty of twists and turns throughout. It kept me guessing all the way through and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

Drawn in from the cover. This is a fast paced story told over different timelines by different characters. The true story is unfolded through their narrative which at times is unbelievable and so skillful it made me change my opinions do much as i read. Full of twists and turns i didnt want it to end. The book was better hhan yhe audio for me petsonally. I fidnt want the story to end as i wanted all the loose ends to be tied up but it was enjoyable unbelievable in places but a joy to read.
Highly recommended 5 stars

I struggled to get into this book and didn’t find the characters interesting or relatable. I also didn’t like the writing style, peppered with clichés and contrived dialogue. This book wasn’t for me.

When we stumbled upon My Word Against His on Netgalley, we were immediately drawn to the synopsis, and although we’d never read anything by Lauren North before, we’d heard a lot of good things about her books. Like most of her other works, MWAH is a psychological thriller that revolves around suburban mom and counsellor Celia, who lives a quiet life with her 17-year-old son, Henry. When Lucie, a young woman from Celia’s past, re-enters her life after 13 years, and Celia falls victim to a carjacking by Sam, a young man from Leeds, it threatens to throw her perfect life into shambles.

Our only regret is that we started this book in the middle of the week because we were hooked from the start and couldn’t focus on anything else! MWAH turned out to be a fast-paced domestic thriller with more twists than a pretzel. Written in multiple POVs across shifting timelines, the story unfolds through Celia’s, Lucie’s and Sam’s perspectives of the various events that caused their lives to interweave. North’s decision to limit the characters in the tale was incredibly smart as it enabled her to focus better on each one. Consequently, the characters were brilliantly developed and had more layers than a Cedric Grolet croissant.

North’s storytelling shone in MWAH. Every time we found ourselves inclined to believe a certain character, she threw in a twist that further ensnared us in the convoluted web of half-truths that had been so carefully constructed (this is why we have trust issues!). Moreover, despite the seemingly straightforward narrative, she managed to leave key areas shrouded in mystery, thus building anticipation and piquing our interest until the very end. We especially loved the incorporation of mixed media, including phone calls and messages, which carefully excluded details of the sender and receiver until the final reveal.

While a couple of the twists did border on cliché, and the final one could have used a better build-up, MWAH certainly packed a punch. The morally grey characters and the numerous twists and turns took us on an emotional rollercoaster that had us questioning everyone and everything.

We’d like to thank Netgalley, Bookouture, and the author for the e-ARC of this book.

L&L Rating: 4.5 Stars

TL; DR: Fast-paced domestic thriller with more twists than a pretzel; binge-worthy!

My Word Against His is a really great thriller novel. A jaw dropping, page turner, full of twist book! The plot is really good. You thought you knew how it ends but you will never guess whats happens next. The author reveals a lot of secrets before 50% of the book and you thought you knew everything but not until the big revelation at the end. Just wow! Kudos to the author! I really enjoyed reading this book. I want more of this!! 4.5/5

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC. Its bit late, I really forgot to update my books and read it after the publishing date.

Both of us are lying...One of us is a killer...Who do you trust?

I found myself doubting everyone the further I dug into the story. Celia is first and foremost a mother, so her immediate instinct is to protect her children, at whatever cost. Sam already has a conviction, so surely that makes him the guilty party.

What a twisty tension strewn ride North took us on. I found myself so engrossed in the story I managed to lose half a night's sleep. Was it worth it, hell yes!

It's fast paced, the plot multi faceted, and the characters are highly flawed.

I couldn't get enough of My Word Against His and can't wait to read more from North in the future.

Many thanks to Bookouture for my tour spot.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The blurb really drew me in and I was looking forward to getting stuck in but unfortunately it didn’t grip me or really hold my interest. I was a little bored and found it confusing at times when the storyline was jumping from past to present day. It is a fast paced read but having said that I didn’t feel it was eventful more going through the motions and I was bored. The characters were ok but I felt I couldn’t really get a read on them and couldn’t take to Celia at all and found her irritating. It picked up for the last quarter of the read but by then I just wanted to finish it. Sorry to say this was just meh for me…

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read #MyWordAgainstHis

A gripping psychological thriller, with so many twists and turns.
Who is telling the truth - Celia, Sam or Lucie.

Loved hearing each of them tell their narrative, as it helps to try and make your own judgement As to what happened and involves you in the book

Thanks @lauren_c_north @bookouture and @netgalley for the eARC

Celia is carjacked and held at knifepoint; her only thoughts are her son. To get out of the situation she crashes the car, but this will lead to her past being reopened.

Another book I could not put down and had me wanting to know what happens next. This novel is written with a dual timeline and multiple points of view that will keep the reader guessing with several twists.
This is my first read by this author and one I would highly recommend

My Word Against His is another amazing novel from the very talented Lauren North. The premise, overall plot and the vast portrayal of all the character were beautifully written.

My Word Against His comes across a little confusing but that is what the story is about and that in itself gets you engrossed and wanting to read more. I had no idea where the story was going and each chapter something different was happening and secrets were being revealed. There was not one dull moment.

You meet the characters Celia, Lucy, Henry, Sam and Martin in this book. Each characters are different and have their own secrets. Death occurs to some. Who did it? What caused their deaths? Murdered or..?

Everything about this book is fast paced, told from different perspectives which gives you insight into what the characters are thinking and doing, this makes you feel for them or makes you dislike them? You don’t know who you can trust which makes the read genuine and really interesting as the chapters progress into more.

I was hooked from the very start and I couldn’t put this book down once I started. I also really liked how we get flashbacks from the past and present timelines. An interesting past paced read with twists and turns and thriller aspects throughout the whole book.

This is my current favourite read from Lauren North and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the copy of this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Another gripping novel from the excellent Lauren North, well written, beautifully plotted and with a fascinating array of characters. There is much subterfuge, many intriguing revelations and a whole bunch of secrets and lies. The story keeps one engrossed from the outset and the denouement is highly satisfactory.

We are dropped into the middle of this with multiple timelines and narrators getting us to the point of the prologue. I think this could be an excellent book club choice to discuss what you thought when you were first dropped into the story and how that narrative changed as the facts slowly unfolded. What I thought was happening versus what happened was a far cry from each other. And all the narratives in between as a new fact came to light. I normally come up with a bunch of wacky ideas what could be happening, but rarely do I have so many thoughts so far from the truth of the story happen. My thoughts of the situation and the characters morphed multiple times throught this one.

It is cleverly and painstakingly constructed by the author to do all that flipping around without giving too much away. I always applaud these unique constructions since domestic thrillers can be quite similar.

You might have to suspend a little disbelief, but I was entertained and tethered to the book as I tried to piece together what happened in this one.

This book could at times be confusing, but that was the whole point of the story. The narrators, Celia, Lucie, and Sam were all flawed characters who told parts of the story from their own perspectives. Celia especially was the epitome of the unreliable narrator, and she had an extreme case of OCD. She had her and her son Henry's meals, clothes, and daily activities planned in minute detail, never varying from week to week. Poor Henry, although he was 17, seemed like a child still from living under his mother's complete control all his life. In each chapter there were text messages, phone calls, and Facebook messages that were never clear as to who they were from or to. We learned the backstory in flashbacks particularly from Celia, but it was hard to know if you could believe anything she said. There were many twists leading to the surprising ending. This is the first of Ms. North's books I have read but it won't be the last. I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Celia is stopped at a red light when a strange man gets in her car, holds a knife to her, and tells her to drive. She doesn’t know where he’s leading her, but all she can think about is her son at home and her meeting with Lucie. Celia doesn’t want to die, so she crashes the car, and her whole life begins to crash around her too. Told through multiple points of view, Celia, Lucie, and Sam (the carjacker), readers learn of Celia’s complicated past. Celia tried to help Lucie when Lucie was young, but once Lucie started asking questions about Celia’s complicated marriage and the bruises on her five year old son, they fall out… until now. Celia and Lucie reunite with an argument, then Celia gets carjacked, and the past comes rearing back. This book is full of twists and turns; even seasoned mystery readers will be kept guessing throughout.

One of those compulsive books you can't put down!
Lauren North, take a bow!
This book goes in so many directions, it's hard to believe the opening scenes when I think back!
I finished it in a day. Unreliable characters, scenes that make you question everything and everyone, and a superb ending.
Fabulous.