This is how it ends was a page-turner for sure. I loved this author writing style and would read more books like it. I was so upset when the book ended because I could not get enough of this book.

So glad I requested this title. It grabbed my attention from the very beginning and continued to grip me throughout. This book keeps you guessing until the end and still you will not see it coming. Though the characters are a bit too simple for me I still enjoyed the story and voice. Character development is a bit slow for my liking but only because I am always looking for that in a book. The story follows Ella and Molly. Two friends who need to come up with a plan to hide a body. This book is full of twist and turns that had me scratching my head constantly!

Wow, not the ending I expected! This was much more a "whydunit" as opposed to a"whodunit"! I had trouble getting into this one initially as I think I was reading too quickly, assuming I knew what this was about. But when I slowed down to savor it, I realized there was so much social commentary as well as the plot shadowing Ella and Molly as they work to cover up a murder committed by Ella in a hasty altercation. Because they are both protesting the gentrification of the area in which they live, we see tenants being forced out of their building with nowhere to go. We also witness police brutality as protestors become violent and volatile. The novel raises the question, is there a fine line between good and evil? Can someone we think we really know be a different person underneath? You may think you know what is true, but the end may surprise you. I have great respect for this author and will be reading her other books as well!

This was a pretty good and thrilling ride. It was definitely different than anything I've ever read before, but I still really enjoyed it,

Intriguing read about activists and their fight in this book against the wealthy having the means to displace low rental folks to build high end apartments. Characters were all unique and committed to their respective jobs whether policing , law, or being activists . I did not get the warm and fuzzies from Ella and Molly . Book moves forward and back in a timeline. Beginning is a tad slow but the last fifty pages or so make up for the beginning. Lots of violence, sex , undermining and passion ,

This novel is in the perspective of Ella and Molly. The story told In two different time frames. Ella, is a PhD student from a wealthy family who has been beaten up by the police in a protest. Middle aged Molly Molly is the seasoned long term activist, who earned her stripes at Greenham Common.. The relationship between the two women gives you the mother-daughter dynamic which I enjoyed. Then there is a death. A man is killed,left in a lift shaft. Only Molly and Ella know what happened. But Molly begins to suspect that Ella has not been truthful about what happened and their relationship begins to falter. As the drama unfolds
both women have to deal with the repercussions of this terrible event. This incident leads to a web of lies, deceit and murder. Who can be trusted?

Beautifully written and so clever I enjoyed this book from front to back. Thanks to NetGalley and everyone involved.

#ThisIsHowItEnds by Eva Dolan
#NetGalley
13 March 2018

This is one of the most amazing books I have read in a long time and the ending is totally unexpected. The two main characters are Ella and Molly who has a mother-daughter relationship and pretty much only has one thing in common which is protesting pretty much anything where they know police and the press will be. Molly is in her sixties and only takes photos of the events but has introduced Ella to some of the big name protestors. Ella is in her twenties and has been kicked out of the police academy. She is writing her PhD on protesting and is using Molly’s pictures and her influence to get connected to known people. One night Ella hosts a party at Molly’s place which is a rundown shell of a building which has already been sold for development and only a couple of people are still living here. Without going into too much detail and spoil the ending, a man dies and Molly helps Ella getting rid of the body. The book is interestingly divided in parts told by Molly in the present and by Ella in the past. I was lucky to receive this book from #NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. I would gladly recommend it for all mystery fans.

Ella and Molly have to leave. Their apartment building, once active and on-demand, is losing its tenants. The historical building will become modern condos, and it's time to move on. But when Molly finds a dead man on her floor, a series of strange events occur. Now Ella and Molly are at odds. Should Molly trust Ella? It was Ella that found the body, and all evidence seems to point at her. Ella forgets that she's complicit, and has wound herself to damaging secrets; she also helped hide the body. As the bizarre events mount, these two characters, like the building and its tenants, disintegrate one by one.

This is a great mystery, one of the best I've read in recent months. As a lover of all things England, the setting seduced me from the beginning, and the dark voice and mounting suspense sealed the deal for me. The one downside for me was the book's awkward e-book format. I received this as a galley for my honest review, and the font and formatting were terrible. There were periods instead of commas, where the sentences began with a lowercase letter. It was difficult to read at times. But this is not the author's or publishers' fault, so I'm basing my review solely on the story. (Besides, these things get fixed before the book comes out.) It was lovely, kept me reading it all the to the end. That should tell you how good this is (given the formatting). I recommend it if you're in the bargain for a well-told mystery with a fresh voice. I give it four out five mocha-almond lattes.

I wanted to read this book based on description. From the beginning, I really struggled to connect with the pages. I wish I had an honest reason why, but the only thing I can think of is (since this was an advanced electronic copy) that because of the font that it was displayed in, it made it physically difficult to read.
Aside from that, the book was okay. Now that I am finished, I liked the plot. The part I didn't like was the "Then"/"Now" back and forth. It's not the first book I've read that uses a timeline like that. But this felt like there was just too much of it going on. And it felt haphazard. At times while reading, I mentally felt lost. The order and points in time they went back to seemed out of order.
I also struggled to connect with either of the main characters. I couldn't figure out the significance of their big age gap. And the character that I assumed (based on the description) was to be the 2nd main character, should probably have been the actual main character.
I finished the book, and was glad I did. I enjoyed the ending and how it played out. It was a great way to close the book. I might recommend this to my psych thriller reading friends, as you definitely are always trying to figure out what is going on.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Eva, a popular blogger/activist, calls her friend Molly to help her dispose of the body of a stranger who attacked her and whom Eva has accidentally killed while defending herself. Molly does so, but then begins to wonder if Eva has told her the full story.

This is an extremely well-plotted novel (once you work out that the Molly chapters are going forwards in time, while the Eva chapters are receding into the past - the dates are clearly set out in the chapter headings - it just took me a while to pick up on this). I worked out what was going on about half way through, so felt very pleased with myself, although I did not guess the identity of the dead man.

I'm not going to give it 5 stars because I felt that sometimes the Molly chapters were a little repetitive and dragged somewhat. I suspect we were meant to identify with Molly, but I struggled to warm to any of the characters. Clearly the police come out of this story badly, but the way the Eva/Molly/Carol/Quinn brigade were keen to protest all and any causes meant that neither "side" seemed to occupy the moral high ground - maybe that was the point...


SPOILER



Minor quibble: Can you really be an undercover police officer if you have only done the first six weeks of the training?

Very cleverly constructed; it holds together well.