I loved this boo!. Kelly did a great job weaving past and present, her voice and his. Without giving out any plot twists, they were unexpected and effective, as was the ending. And I loved the fact that it centered around eclipse watchers - I done;t recall having read any other book that used this as background. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a good, compelling read..

This is the kind of thriller I love reading. Keeps me turning pages telling myself just a little more until I'm up late reading. The questions, doubt and trust issues this story weaves in intense.

In the summer of 1999 Kit and Laura, who are newly dating, travel to Cornwall to work at a festival during the total eclipse. Kit is an eclipse chaser, however this is Laura's first time. They are newly in love and eager to share this event together. Due to clouds they move to view the eclipse in a secluded spot of the festival and on their way back to the main area stumble upon a man and woman in a tent. It is obvious to Laura she is witnessing an assault, but the man is quick to deny it and the woman is too in shock to speak. Kit calls the authorities, the man is caught, and months later he is sentenced to jail. Kit and Laura are both called to testify about what they witnessed and their words help decide his fate.

After the trial the victim (Beth) shows up at their doorstep and ridden with guilt Laura takes her in. Beth starts to intrude a bit on their lives and after a few suspicious things happen Laura and Kit decide they need to cut ties with her.

15 years later they have started a new life, married and expecting twins. Kit is still chasing eclipses and they are very careful with their digital footprint. in 2015 Kit goes on a solo eclipse watching tour leaving Laura home since she is close to having the babies. Both if them are on edge with being separated, and both are convinced Beth is tracking them down. They are right to be concerned, and not for all the reasons you are expecting.

This was a very good book. I didn't bump it up to 4 stars because I was able to put it down for a couple days and wasn't dying to pick it back up. When I did pick it back up I liked it and was able to easily remember where I left off. This book changes POV between Kit and Laura and also changes the years and it still flowed smoothly and I didn't lose track of when or who I was reading. I also didn't fully catch on to the twist at the end, although it made perfect sense once it was all written out.

This will go live on my blog on Wednesday. Kellyvision.wordpress.com

This is told from two perspectives and goes back and forth in time. Kit is an eclipse chaser and has been since childhood. His girlfriend Laura is a recent convert. One trip, they stumble across a rape. (Laura arrives during the attack; Kit only sees the aftermath.)

That is basically the most straightforward part of the book. For the rest, we keep learning new things; each revelation throws other things into doubt.

This book is an actual masterpiece. I have no idea how Erin Kelly manages to write books like these, how to have every new detail be a complete surprise but also make perfect sense.

Recommended.

I am so excited to read this one, He Said She Said by Erin Kelly. I read some reviews about it being a page-turning suspense and that sounds perfect to me! There’s been a huge wave of awesome suspense novels lately and I can’t get enough!

Here’s the synopsis:

In the summer of 1999, Kit and Laura travel to a festival in Cornwall to see a total eclipse of the sun. Kit is an eclipse chaser; Laura has never seen one before. Young and in love, they are certain this will be the first of many they’ll share.

But in the hushed moments after the shadow passes, Laura interrupts a man and a woman. She knows that she saw something terrible. The man denies it. It is her word against his.

The victim seems grateful. Months later, she turns up on their doorstep like a lonely stray. But as her gratitude takes a twisted turn, Laura begins to wonder—did she trust the wrong person?

15 years later, Kit and Laura married are living under new names and completely off the digital grid: no Facebook, only rudimentary cell phones, not in any directories. But as the truth catches up to them, they realize they can no longer keep the past in the past.

I cannot wait to start this one! It’s next up on my To-Read pile!

Laura and her boyfriend Kit travel to Cornwall to view a solar eclipse. This is Laura's first time, but Kit has been chasing eclipses since he was a child. While there, Laura witnesses a brutal attack. She and Kit call the police, and stay with Beth, the victim, until they arrive. Because they were the only witnesses, they are called to testify in court. After the trial the couple becomes involved with Beth, and the rest you need to read for yourself.

This was so suspenseful and well written. It's been a long time since I have been this involved in a book. I was shocked more than once at the way this story played out. There are twists and turns until the very last line, and my jaw literally dropped. The narrative is split between Laura and Kit. The timeframe is also split with the events in Cornwall in 1999, and 15 years later. This setup worked perfectly to rachet up the suspense as you wonder what on earth happened to cause Kit and Laura so much trouble. A very clever and unpredictable read. Some reviewers have complained that it is too slow starting, but I was hooked early on and never slowed down until that final chilling sentence. Highly recommended for those who love a psychological thriller. Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with a digital copy.

I was really excited about this one, but I couldn't get into it and gave up on it pretty quickly (and usually I try to finish every book I start). It just didn't grab my attention and I didn't find myself caring about the characters.

This thriller, who relates to a couple's 1999 event during the total eclipse of the sun, is very slow paced. The story is twisted and the characters manipulate each other. I wasn't able to read it to the end...

“Waiting for something horrible to happen is almost more draining than it actually happening.”
Erin Kelly, He Said/She Said

I had high expectations for He Said/She Said, but I felt the pace was too slow (especially at the beginning). From the reviews I've read, readers or really liked the book or not. I honestly felt it was just ok. Regardless, Kelly's writing is solid, detailed and smart. The chapters alternate between Laura and Kit over a 15-year time span and include a lot of information about solar eclipses. More than half way through the book the novel did incorporate elements of surprise and one particular moment I did not expect or see coming, which I liked. Overall, it was not a bad book but it just moved too slow for me.

This was a fantastic psychological thriller. The book is laid out in sections that match the five stages of a solar eclipse. Like an eclipse, you only see parts of the whole. The book moves between characters and time periods and has a slow pace that allows you to piece details together gradually. Even then I still didn't see any of it coming. I think my heart is still pounding!!

If you want a twisty mystery suspense thriller- read it. But don't research too much before hand. Just go with it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

While the premise was fascinating, I found that this book just didn't play out for me the way that I hoped it would.

Laura witnesses a rape in the aftermath of an eclipse that she was attending with her boyfriend, Kit. After the trial, Laura and Kit find that their lives are changed just as much as the victim's, Beth. Laura knows they made the right choice in speaking out, Yet Beth seems to stalk their family, bringing destruction wherever she goes.

I love a book about twisty women—GONE GIRL will always be favorite. I was hoping to see more of that here. Marketed as a mystery/thriller, this book was really more about interpersonal relationships and the way that you can never really know someone. While this can work well in a thriller, it didn't work well here. The constant switching in POV and in time made following the plot confusing.

I found myself often putting this book down and then struggling to remember where I left off when I came back to it. The ending was decent, full of twists, though I'm not sure it's the ending I would have liked to see. Overall, this isn't a bad book, but does move slowly for the genre, which is a negative for me.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

3.5 Laura and Kit share a love of eclipses, travel all over to find the best spot to witness them, it is where they meet and fall in love. When Laura witnesses something horrible at one of the eclipse festivals she is unprepared for all the changes her life will take as a direct result of this.

I have read all but one of the books written by this author and found them all very readable, suspenseful, love how she tackles different themes in each. In this one there are the moral questions of when and if it is every okay to lie, even if you are sure it is to correct an egregious wrong and do the end every justify the means, in a relationship or the law? Interesting questions. Loved the structure of this book, centered around the different phases of an eclipse, each phase reveals a new revelation in the ongoing story. Suspenseful? Sure, but maybe I am finally getting better at guessing because I had some niggling thoughts beforehand on some of the reveals.

A slow buildup with much misdirection, an ominous tone throughout and though I didn't guess the ending zinger, I can't say I much cared for it either. So many manipulative characters but still a solid and interesting read.

ARC from publisher.

The whole time I was reading this I felt something wasn't quite what is seemed, but when it finally hit, it wasn't at all what I expected and that's what made it a great read. There have been many books of this kind lately, and with that I mean "put the reader on the wrong foot" thrillers, but what made this one great for me was the slow but steady build-up of the story and the atmosphere. I thought I had it figured out, but it turned out differently. The title really gives away the strength of the book, because who really knows when someone is telling the truth? Excellent read for those lazy afternoons near the pool or on the beach!

The first half was slow (I feel like I've been saying that about a lot of books lately. Maybe that says something about me rather than the book?) but it really picked up halfway through. I didn't know much about the book or author going in, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover a twist that I really didn't see coming.

3.5 stars

This is a very S-L-O-W psychological thriller. It does have a payoff but it is slow moving to get there.

Kit and Laura and are in love and she joins him in his lifelong pursuit of viewing solar eclipses. In 1999 they are in Cornwall for a solar eclipse festival. Late one night, Laura stumbles across a woman being attacked by a man. Kit quickly follows behind Laura and they call the police. This night is the catalyst for how all of their lives are changed forever. The trial becomes a case of
He Said/She Said.

Beth, the victim, comes back into Kit and Laura's life after the trial. She moves in with them and strange things begin to happen. Things that cause Kit and Laura to change their names and go completely off grid in terms of being photographed or having social media accounts. Even though they are in hiding, Beth (and past events) have a way of catching up with them.

This book is told through Kit and Laura's POV from 1999 to their present day 15 years after the attack. This flows seamlessly as the Author has titled her chapters with either Kit or Laura's name and the year their POV takes place. This works very nicely as the story unfolds. The reader learns that a LIE has been told. What is the consequence for telling a lie? How does that lie change lives? How does a person keep such a lie hidden and secret? How far is one person willing to go to keep their lie a secret?

Not everything (or everyone ) is as they seem in this book. I thought I had this book figured out. The reader is privy to one lie pretty early on in the book, but then toward the end of the book another lie is exposed changing everything. This is a pretty significant plot twist that is pulled off rather nicely. Why only 3.5 stars? This book was a little too slow in places for me. I kept wanting to hurry it along. I kept thinking as I read "Come on already..Get to it!"

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A very slow boil but oh so worth it! He Said/She Said is a novel that is full of twists and turns and you are unsure who is telling the truth and what to believe.

The story starts with a scene in the restroom of a courthouse. That opening grabbed me, —"We stand side by side in front of the speckled mirror. Our reflections avoid eye contact. Like me, she is wearing black and like mine, her clothes have clearly been chosen with care and respect. Neither of us is on trial, or not officially, but we both know that in cases like this, it's always the woman who is judged. And "At last our reflections lock eyes, each silently asking the other the questions too big-too dangerous-to voice. How did it come to this? How did we get here? How will it end?" Wow, that completely sucked me in. The author doesn't let you know why they are in court however and what got them there until the story starts to unfold. It does get slow after that first chapter and bogged down with scientific info about solar eclipses but hold on because it picks back up and is strong throughout the rest of the book.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I will be looking for more. She has a way with words that I loved! Very well written, suspenseful and great twists. A huge thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

I received a copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great thriller. More twists and turns than you can count. Keeps you guessing until the very end. And I do mean the last sentence.

The very beginning was a tinny bit slow. I just didn't see how they were going to create a thriller out of it. They saved a lot until the last quarter of the book.

As you get more details on the brutal attack you are forced to think about it from every angle and each persons perspective. Throughout the book you are trying to guess who is telling the truth and who might be exaggerating. You realize how hard it is to gather all the facts and be able to make a best decision in a trial. It was very enlightening and helps you realize things are not as black and white as we would like to think.

The characters are very well developed. I don’t want to give any spoilers. There was only one part that I didn’t feel the actions of a character were well supported. It didn’t feel believable and it was a large part of the story. It did not deter from the book.

One thing I didn’t like was the excessive use of British terms. Most readers won’t be bothered by this and it is appropriate because it fits with the setting and the characters.

I wouldn’t say it is exactly like gone girl. But, it does have a Gone Girl ending.

This would be a great book for a book club. There is plenty of material to discuss.

Five stars. This book is spell-binding. The characters are memorable, the twists are well-executed, and the whole story is just completely absorbing and clever. Do not spoil this book for yourself! You'll regret it if you do. The timelines and perspectives jump back and forth, but the author actually managed to accomplish that in a way that never confused me. Very impressive.

Kit and Laura are young and in love. Seemingly made for each other, in a way that would make others envious. Not long after they meet, Laura accompanies Kit on one of his many eclipse chasing adventures. His passion is to travel around the world when and wherever that hushed event that blocks out the sun occurs. He's been fascinated by it since he was a child. Laura's fascination with them stems from Kit, and she's found his enthusiasm contagious. But the first trip they take forever changes their lives... Laura witnesses an attack and stops it. The young victim, Beth, wants to see the attacker Jamie go to prison for rape. As witnesses, Kit and Laura have to testify in the trial, as Jamie's defense tries to paint Beth as a reckless and promiscuous woman who consented to rough sex with a man she barely knew.

Fifteen years later, they remain together. Now married, Laura is pregnant with twins. Neither had any idea how the case would change their lives, but it has. At first it's not clear why, but they've gone into hiding for their own protection. Kit is still traveling to see eclipses, but he must do so carefully. Laura is now a ball of anxiety, far different from the carefree young woman she once was. What happened in the aftermath of that first eclipse they shared together that altered their lives so irrevocably? I'm not going to tell you, so you better read this book and find out.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and St. Martin's Press, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

He Said/She Said is a slow-burn thriller, and it was pretty fantastic. The book follows Laura and Kit, a married couple living lives altered by a pivotal event 15 years before. After the two witness a total eclipse, Laura finds a purse and winds up witnessing an attack. The aftermath of the attack leads to Laura and Kit's involvement with the courts and the victim, and none of their lives will ever be the same.

At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about this book. It started out a wee bit too slowly for me...and my Kindle told me it would take me longer to read than I wanted to know (technology makes things harder sometimes). However, I'm very glad I stuck with it. The book is a thoughtful exploration of a marriage, shadowed by some extraordinary events. The characters aren't always likable. From the beginning, you can tell that Kit and Laura also aren't very reliable as narrators. There's something mysterious happening, and it all dates back to the attack Laura witnessed. The narrative flits between Laura and Kit's points of view, and backward and forward in time, with chapters arranged in groupings classified according to the stages of an eclipse. You get snapshots of their lives, and slowly piece together this event that has had such large ramifications for both of them. The story did seem predicatable at times, but near the end there was a lot of twists and turns that contributed to the suspense, and I didn't see most of them coming until they were there.

Overall, I recommend thict of this novel.s novel for fans of slow-burn thrillers. It was a little reminiscent to me of Ian McEwan, due to the pacing and the meditative nature of some of the prose. It was a very understated sort of thriller, and I find that I really appreciated it. It has some good social commentary as well (but I can't really delve too deeply into that without spoiling things that aren't included in the book's summary). If you're interested in giving it a go, He Said/She Said is out now!

Note: I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for publishing a fair and honest review.

HE SAID/SHE SAID BY ERIN KELLY

HE SAID/SHE SAID written by ERIN KELLY is told in alternating points of view between Kit and Laura.who start out as a couple in love that are visiting a festival to view an eclipse. Laura interrupts what she is pretty sure is a woman named Beth in the middle of a sexual assault by Jamie. But is that what Laura really came upon? Years later Laura will question herself if she truly happened upon what she had thought she had seen. There are so many tangled lives and secrets I sometimes found myself questioning what and who to believe. That is the master art of Erin Kelly's writing. Layer by layer things begin to slowly reveal themselves.

The police come to the scene and Laura will later testify in court for Beth what she perceives to be the truth of what she saw. The book also uses the device that many psychological thrillers of today use of which it moves back and forth in time between 1999, 2000 through 2015, the present. In 2015 Kit and Laura have moved and changed their identities and don't want Beth to discover where they live because it could have dire consequences, but why? Kit and Laura helped Beth.

I went into this novel completely blind and I do recommend doing that because it enhanced my enjoyment of it so much greater than if I were to know what it was about. I do think HE SAID/SHE SAID is my favorite Erin Kelly novel that I have ever read and I have read all of her work. I love how this book explores the different emotional and psychological complexities between how men and women deal with trauma. I was also fascinated in the way this crime was dealt with. This is a rich, beautiful and dark atmospheric suspenseful thriller with a grand finale that Ms. Kelly hit out of the ballpark. I was hooked from the first brilliant page to the last one. I absolutely loved this book. Once you read this book I can guarantee you that you will not forget it! Highly Recommended.

A Huge Thank you to Net Galley, Erin Kelly, Hodder & Stodder Publishing for providing me with my digital copy for a fair and honest review.