Plot: Falling pregnant with her new partner’s baby only mere months into their relationship, Rachel begins to suspect that she doesn’t really know the person she’s fallen in love with. It all starts with an email and a different name. She’s driven to find out what the secrets he’s keeping are, while still trying to hold herself together.

My thoughts: Flipping between the past and present so that the truth slowly gets revealed to us, this book definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat, constantly wanting to get through the book to find out everything but wanting to enjoy the ride too.
I really loved the setting in the North East, which is a place so familiar to me but isn’t often given a starring role in books. I also enjoyed the role social media played in the story as it’s something that’s increasingly prevalent in everyone’s lives, but especially in my own.
The characters were both flawed in their own ways, but that made them fascinating to read. In fact, they can really be described best by the title of the book!
Coming back to the book a year later to write about it was interesting – I’d marked it down as one I really enjoyed, but I struggled to place the characters and plot for a little while. Generally if I’ve really enjoyed a book, the storyline will stick with me and I’ll instantly remember it, so that was a little odd – I’m not sure I enjoyed it as much as I think I did then?!

Yes I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting, drew me in and made me think. Well drawn relationships. Recommended

Everything But The Truth by @GillianMAuthor was my 9th book of 2018. Firstly it has taken me a year to come back to this, for some reason I started this nearly a year ago and then abandoned it after a dozen or so pages. I have no idea why, as this time the book hooked me in from the early stages.
Yet again another book with the lead character being a female who if I am brutally honest I didn't really like. Rachel falls for Oban man Jack, quickly and possibly when she wasn't ready to. Soon after a traumatic period in her life, where she lost her Mum, boyfriend, patient and job she finds herself pregnant with a relative strangers baby.
All of what has gone on has left Rachel full with anxiety and lacks trust in herself and Jack. There are certain elements that make her doubt Jack and his past. The story unfolds justifying Rachel's concerns, Jack maybe not who she thought he was.
Rachel was obsessive with her search for the truth as she couldn't ever accept what she was really being told by Jack.
I found myself sympathising with Jack in great elements of the book as Rachel seemed to be wanting to find the worst almost as an excuse not to be able to trust him. All the while she was not being open with Jack on the real reason she left her career in medicine.
Overall it was a decent read and I think I will read more from this author. Something however I felt was missing from it, I don't know, I think the story could have deserved a more traumatic ending, this could be me just not wanting a happy ever after for Rachel!
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books for letting me have a copy of this book in exchange for this free and honest review.
I give this book a strong 3.5/5.

I had high hopes for Everything But the Truth by Gillian McAllister.
Rachel and Jack are a new couple in the throws of lust and falling in love with each other faster than they control.... and now find themselves pregnant. So as the pregnancy progresses, Jack and Rachel continue to learn about each other. Jack’s behaviour is sometimes skittish and confusing and when Rachel sees an email on his iPad, it flags up all Jack’s unknowns. As more of Jack’s little mysteries reveal themselves, Rachel starts to panic if she really knows the father of her child ... and if she’s safe with him.
This sounded so intriguing and mysterious but sadly the plot fell short. When the book starts, we are given the impression that Jack and Rachel got pregnant accidentally ... as it turns out, this isn’t exactly the case seeing as they discussed it already.
Rachel’s character was annoying and she had every right to ask questions of her boyfriend. Instead she skirts around things and avoids asking until she’s built herself into a panic. And while Jack just wanted to leave his past behind him, I would’ve thought that his past should’ve been something he could open up to the mother of his child about.
This book just didn’t quite live up to the hype I expected but is still well written by the author. I think I’ll probably read Gillian McAllister’s other books - definitely haven’t ruled her works out based on this but I was just a little deflated afterwards and glad to get it finished.

Thanks to Gillian McAllister, NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having loved 'Anything You Do Say' so much,there was no chance of giving 'Everything But The Truth' a less tgan 5 star review.
Gillian McAllister is fast becoming one to watch,she has gripping storylines,engaging characters and a great sense of pacing.
Many writers have great hooks but run out of steam or their characters just cannot carry the weight of the story.
However,in this book, it feels just right. The story of Rachel and Jack who meet unexpectedly,fall in love and get pregnany quicker than either planned is a multi layered and engaging one. She is so sure that Jack is hiding something but are her suspicions valid? Is she sabotaging their relationship based on her past and is she really that free if secrets herself?
Twisting and turning as the story flips from past to present you cannot help but wanting a clear resolution but as in real life nothing is ever black or white.
I am very grateful for the chance to read this thanks to Netgalley and the publishers.

A good first book for this debut author, although more a love story than thriller. Starts with a midnight email that plants the suspicion that pregnant Rachel's new boyfriend Jack is not as perfect as he seems. A host of fascinating moral conundrums.

I decided it was time to catch up with Gillian McAllister's first book - Everything but the Truth - rather than just read her latest one, Anything you do Say. So here's a double review.

The books are two very different standalone psychological thrillers. Both are well written, intriguing and tense, with multilayered plots covering deep ethical and moral issues. In both cases, I found myself relating these back to me - 'What would I do?' and 'What would I say?'

Everything but the Truth is a tale of domestic noir set in our social media-driven society. Rachel is pregnant. Although she loves and trusts her boyfriend Jack, she hasn't known him that long. When she finds a seemingly suspicious email, Rachel wonders whether she knows him at all. What follows is a twisty journey into discovering more about Jack's past - and, as Rachel's obsession escalates, there are also big reveals about her own. The two of them appear to have been selective with the truth - not just with one another, but also perhaps with themselves.

In Anything you do Say, Joanne realises she's being followed after a night out at the pub. Convinced it's the man who was bothering her there, she lashes out in a panic - one of those split-second decisions that you come to regret. The man falls down some steps and lies motionless in front of her. And this is when the story not only begins, but also becomes interesting and intriguing, as the narrative splits into two - the big 'what if'. What if Joanna runs (the 'conceal' scenario)? Or what if she stays and calls for help (the 'reveal' scenario)?

I enjoyed reading these books, with both of them making me think and question.

Everything but the Truth is a love story filled with secrets and lies - a look at honesty in a relationship and whether it's necessary to reveal everything or just hope your past doesn't catch up with you. Is it better to not know the truth about people's pasts and just live in the 'here and now'? Funnily enough, I actually thought Rachel's own secret was 'worse' than Jack's.

Of the two books, Anything you do Say had the slight edge for me, probably because I often think about the 'sliding doors' scenario. The 'what ifs' of life. Whether choosing a different path would have led to a different 'now'. Both storylines in Anything you do Say worked well, with enough overlap to make them both believable but without repetition of two potentially very similar narratives. I found myself racing through this novel to discover Joanne's fate/destiny.

I look forward to seeing what's next from Gillian McAllister.

Confession time: Everything But The Truth was a book I'd been wanting to read for a while, so I positively pounced upon the NetGalley email link when it arrived with a review request. I'd heard a lot about it and was kind of intrigued to see whether the book lived up to the hype.

We're thrown straight into Jack and Rachel's relationship. They've been together merely months, but are expecting a baby. Still getting used to one another, Rachel begins to feel as though something isn't right and starts desperately looking for something to cement her feelings. Looking through Jack's iPad when an email pings in shows her that perhaps she does have reason to worry. Is there something Jack isn't telling her about his past? Can she trust him? How well does she know him? Rachel's internal monologue begins to drive her crazy as she becomes more and more desperate to find out what Jack's big secret is.

Anyone who has ever been unsure of their place in a new relationship will be able to relate to Rachel in some way as she convinces herself that doing some recearch on Jack's past will throw up some secrets. Is she just assuming this to be the case, though? Rachel's growing neuroses become peppered with references to the fact that she might just be hiding her own secret. These become hints. Huge big hints, like the proverbial elephant footprints in the butter dish. In being so keen to hide her own secret, is she pushing her new boyfriend too far away as she tries to uncover what she thinks he's hiding?

To be honest, I enjoyed this book more than I'd expected to. I'd take issue with the fact that it's being marketed as a psychological thriller - it just doesn't seem to fit there, but I'm finding it hard to pigeonhole this as anything other than domestic noir without the tension. But anyhow. McAllister seems keen to show off her legal backrground with references to the nuances of the Scottish court system and that of the relatively recent introduction of Clare's Law.

Throughout the book, I couldn't see how Rachel and Jack could possibly be right for one another, but perhaps that's what makes the book so realistic. Sometimes relationships can be as much about circumstance as anything else and the balance hangs in how you end up dealing with the things life decides to throw at you. Including any secrets your partner might be hiding.

I very nearly gave this four stars as I did enjoy it, however I think I was always expecting a twist or something shocking and it didn't come. I really loved both of the main characters and wanted them to last and I think that is what kept me reading. Would not really class this book as a thriller as it needed a bit more substance. Good debut though and would definitely look out for her next book.

A wondrful debut novel. I loved it although I found it a little slow in parts. I loved the characters. It really makes you stop and think - do you really know the person you love. Especially after such a short time of knowing them. I found it hard to like Rachel she came across as not very sympathetic. It certainly re-affirms how being deceiptful can destroy a relationship.

What an amazing debut book by an author that i will definitely be looking out for in the future! This was a very slick and very current psychological thriller.

I literally couldn't put this down. Lots of twists and turns and a great storyline. I loved how the characters developed in that I feel that the reader really gets to know them and understand their journey through life and troubled times.

Great tale that kept me intrigued. I would recommend highly.

Everything but the truth is a debut thriller by Gillian, and almost makes the reader sick with all the twists up and down ! It was a very entertaining read and worth the effort.

This book started off really good with interesting characters. The title more or less tells the story BUT by the end it became quite sanctimonious and changed my mind about whether or not I would recommend it to others.

I found the book went round in circles far to often . And I don't think it was a thriller

Rachel meets Jack and very soon finds herself pregnant with is baby, and there begins a rather disjointed relationship. Rachel inadvertently sees an email on Jack's i-pad that makes her suspicious. Jack lies to her about the context of the email leading Rachel to delve deep into Jack's past. Will she like what she finds?
This is a story about morals and obsession. it is easy to read but for me i felt it did't really go anywhere.

Although well plotted and written I'm sorry but this book wasn't for me

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

I found this book really odd. I didn't identify with the main character and the attempt at suspense and mystery really fell flat for me. I didn't actually care about the 'secrets' that were being revealed slowly and painfully through out the book. It was like watching paint dry.... slowly. I can't tell you how relieved I was when I finished the book. Even the last reveal did nothing for me. It was predictable and trite. They stay together and make it all work out in the end.. blah, blah, blah.