This is a book you will remember for a long time, you won’t want to go to bed until you have read the next page.

This is a story about a teenage girl who struggles with her mental health. She goes missing for 4 days, and turns up unharmed, but doesn't talk about what happened to her over these days, I like Emma Healey's character building. I'm sure there are a lot of people who can relate to them. The difficult family dynamics were well portrayed as well. Generally, I don't find the subjects of mental illness and different lifestyles well written often, but I think the author did a good job on that. I found the end a bit too predictable and the plot a bit too sad for my taste. But, all in all, it's a well written book.

This is a haunting novel, which I enjoyed very much. The relationship between the mother and daughter was a heightened version of every mother and teenage daughter relationship. The trauma of the daughter’s disappearance brings to a head the underlying conflicts within the family, but, ultimately the strength of their love for one another carries them through. Although the reader is caught up in the anguish, there are light touches and moments of humour. A feel good ending. This is a book that I would enjoy rereading at leisure.

I loved Elizabeth is Missing so was really intrigued to read this new novel from Emma Healey. The overall concept is strong and so gripping - Jen is struggling to cope in the aftermath of her teenage daughter Lana’s disappearance. Although Lana has been found and appears relatively unscathed, she either can’t or won’t tell her parents where she has been or what happened to her. Jen becomes increasingly desperate as she tries to connect with her daughter and solve the mystery, and veers quite wildly from fearing a brutal kidnapping to entertaining thoughts of the supernatural.

What really made this stand out to me, though, was the intricately drawn and deeply believable relationship between mother and daughter - the push and pull, the frustrations and misunderstandings. Lana is spiky and awkward and occasionally affectionate, she feels smothered by her mother yet clearly needs her. I really thought the author’s exploration of this relationship was impressive.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and Net Galley.

An OK read for me. I loved Elizabeth is Missing and was sorry to finish it, but felt this isn't on the same level as that. I found I wanted to get through this book but felt indifferent at the end of it. Sorry, not for me.

I LOVED THIS!! I was honestly reluctant to read because I lived Elizabeth so much but fabulous.

I haven’t read this author’s previous book ‘Elizabeth is Missing’ but I do remember hearing a lot about it, so I was quite excited to read her latest book ‘Whistle in the Dark’. The first page immediately drew me in, it is pretty unusual to start at the point where the missing girl is found and then covering the aftermath and I found this immediately intriguing. The mystery lies in discovering what happened to Lana whilst she was gone and how the whole family adjusts to her return. The characters are realistic, the narrator is Lana’s mother Jen and throughout the novel I felt that so many different aspects of her personality were slowly explored and revealed. The relationship between mother and daughter is a real focal point of the novel. I felt this was a really skilful portrayal of the difficulties of a mother trying to relate to her teenage daughter and the disappointment when she is totally unable to do so. Their relationship is so full of tension and at times it is actually quite painful to read because it felt so real. The issue of mental health, particularly depression is something that is dealt with well in this book. The author does a beautiful job of showing how depression can overwhelm a person completely and change their personality into something else entirely. There is also a focus on the effect that dealing with a child with mental health issues can have on the rest of the family. The author explored these issues with great subtlety which added another layer to the story.

Another interesting aspect of Whistle in the Dark was the structure the author used. The book is made up of lots of mini chapters of variable lengths, some very short and with different headings. There were many short chapters which take the reader out of the main story and explains something about a character or a flashback to the past. I found this style very effective as I have never read something quite like it before. I always enjoy reading something a bit different! I also liked the way the author writes, I found it difficult to put down despite it not being full of action or drama. There were some parts in which I felt the story was meandering slightly but I was always hooked back in by the author’s writing. There was a real feeling of unease and paranoia, like something terrible was about to take place throughout the whole novel which did not subside even with the conclusion. I like that sort of uneasy slow burn in a mystery, however it may not be for everyone.

Overall, I liked this book very much. I do wish certain things had been more thoroughly explained but I really loved the atmosphere of the novel and I thought the characters of Jen and Lana and their relationship was dealt with beautifully by the author. I will definitely read more from Emma Healey who seems to have a real skill for capturing the intensity of mental illness and showing how it really can and does affect everyone. This is not a book packed full of twists and action, however it is an unusual and thought provoking mystery with a sinister feeling of not quite knowing what is real and what is not.

Dark and intense, this book kept me guessing to the end. Like the main character Jen, I worried about where her daughter Lara had been and what she could have experienced when missing. Although similar in theme to a lot of books with missing teenage daughters, the impact of depression on a family, and relationship issues, this book was different in style with the inclusion of letters, articles and other unusual ways of telling the story. This made it stand out. Beautifully written, I had a real insight into Jen's world.

On the surface this book is about the agonising aftermath of 15 year old Lana's four day disappearance. Her mother Jen has all those concerns you'd expect - will she be found alive or dead & later concerns about what did happen. However the book is primarily about much more than that. It is about Lana's crippling depression & how that effects her family around her, in particular her Mother, Jen.

This isn't actually a very jolly book though there are moments of lightness. Lana is a young girl who is seriously hurting, lacking in self-confidence and very unhappy. She lashes out at those around here, primarily her mother. This means that Jen spends a lot of time walking on eggshells and not wanting to upset her. She fears to ask the questions she so desperately wants the answers to, as she seems always to send Lana into a spiral of despair. Consequently Jen allows Lana to walk all over her.

There are a lot of questions raised in this book about teenage depression & how it affects the family around them. Lana was fortunate to have a therapist but the support for the family as a whole seems to be weak. Jen naturally is out of her depth - how would any of us deal with such a fragile daughter? There are questions raised about the support available to young people and their families. There are also the very current questions about social media and the pressures on young people today.

I was pleased that we found the answer to what happened to Lana during her missing four days. As the end approached I was getting more doubtful that we'd never find out, which I would not have appreciated. However, that was really a side issue. The missing four days are really just a plot device on which to hang the observations and concerns about a young girl's depression. I am glad that I read the book as the questions raised are important. However this is not a book to read for the sheer enjoyment of a good story.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

After the first chapter I wrung my mum and couldn’t stop moaning about how much Jen frustrated me as a mother. Not that I am a mother or am anywhere close to being one. And thankfully I can’t relate to losing a daughter in anyway. But for some reason I felt I had a right to make that instant judgement. One hour later and well into the book a wrung my mum again to apologise. To apologise for misjudging a mother, I loved Jen, I can’t relate to her experience but there is something in her everyday struggles, in her relationships with her daughters, her husband and her mother that everyone can click with. As whose family is easy?

The instant hook was in starting the book from the moment Lana was found. The instant relief that comes at that point was strange as I hadn’t felt any of the struggle you normally do when stories are told about missing children. But the struggle was there and as I got pushed more and more into it I fell deeper into the story and the characters lives. This book is absorbing, beautiful, picturesque and haunting. The imagery and ideas that Jen and Lana create to communicate with each other are wonderful. And I loved being able to be in that moment Jen right until the very end. This is a great book and Jen is a great mother.

I really loved how unique Elizabeth is Missing was so I was excited to read Emma Healey’s next book. It didn’t disappoint!

It is a sensitive and, at times, achingly sad book about a teenage girl named Lana who suffers with depression. While on a painting retreat with her mother in the Peak District Lana goes missing. She turns up 4 days later unable to remember where she has been or what has happened to her. However this mystery isn’t really the main part of the story - instead Healey explores the complicated relationship between Lana and her mother, Jen.

It is written from Jen’s persepctive and you can’t help but sympathise deeply with her character. She is desperate for her daughter to be happy and she drives herself mad worrying about every detail that passes between herself and Lana. And the worst part is knowing that there is no magic cure for Lana’s depression and she obviously doesn’t intend to cause Jen so much stress and anguish. I think the way Healey manages to show both perspectives so effectively is impressive and really shines a light on families coping with this illness.

This is a thoughtful and beautifully written novel, which I really enjoyed. I’d definitely recommend!

I actually could not finish this book as it was so depressing. I don't feel I can give a fair review but I can say that the actual slow pacing and characters will appeal to many people. Its a very moving book and touches on depression a lot. Also the relationship between mother and daughter but just not got me.

I thought the book started well and I was engaged but unfortunately that didn't last very long. I found the mother's submissive attitude towards a daughter, who needed support, to be beyond irritating. The greater part of the book was muddled and when I had finished reading it, I wondered what it had all been about. Not for me.

This is a slow-burner of a mystery novel which also depicts the raw psychological effects of teenage depression on a mother/daughter relationship. There is not much in the way of suspense until the final chapters, but the revelations gradually build into a nail-biting denouement, guaranteed to give a claustrophobe like myself nightmares, especially as the main action takes place in the Derbyshire Peak District, which I know well – and in which a certain crucial feature of its topography is involved in solving the puzzle.

This deals with the serious topic of how parents can deal with a teenage girl who is depressed and self-harming but the choppy writing style and broken up sections got between me and the story. Told mainly through the mother's PoV, this will be emotive for the right reader - I don't think I am, sorry.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK), Viking and Emma Healey for my ARC of this novel in return for my honest review. Whistle in The Dark centres on the complex, sometimes turbulent relationship between a mother and daughter.

Lana, just fifteen, is found bloody and bruised after being missing for four days. She is unwilling (or unable) to communicate what has happened to her during that time. The tension between her and her mother, Jen, is cleverly portrayed and so easy to relate to.

The book deals with depression and how it affects everyone around with sensitivity and care as the tension builds throughout the story.

On impulse, Jen eventually takes the trip to the Peak District to find out what happened to her daughter while she was missing. The ending is moving.

Although this is the first novel I have read by this author I will be buying ‘Elizabeth is Missing’ now. Recommended.

I think Jen Campbell one of my favourite authors/youtubers mentioned this book as one of her most anticipated of 2018 and it’s clear why reading this.

From the start of this book, there’s this feeling of ominous-ness that I like, that something is about to happen, a tension that rises slowly that makes for in my case a page flicking read. It’s how the story is set and how the characters work together that just creates this atmosphere that works perfectly in this book.

The story around the mother-daughter connection and Lana’s depression is very real and true to life. Lana is shown to change how she feels so quickly, moving from one feeling to another it’s difficult to catch up and I think it’s such an authentic description of depression. The mother-daughter relationship I feel is more in focus when Meg appears as she delivers new air into the story, as Jen increasingly needs to know what happened to Lana giving the story contrast between the sisters.

I really like the story, Emma Healey’s first book ‘Elizabeth Is Missing’ was so good, so I had such high expectations for this book, and she doesn’t fail to be great once again here. The scene, the story and the characters are written so well that you think you could probably meet them, and that makes for such good fiction.

This is a good story, but unfortunately it wasn't for me. I just couldn't connect with the writing style, which I found disjointed. I think that was probably the point, the air of uncertainty matched the theme in the book, however I just couldn't enjoy it.

That said, I have friends who would love this, so I think it's still worth reading. Different styles suit different people after all!

It was going to be hard to follow Elizabeth is Missing. However I thought the author had done it with this novel. It was a great look at how parents deal with children with depression and what it does to them. It's taken further by having their daughter disappear with no explanation. I raced through it and then I got to the end. The last day was great but the few chapters before it were terrible. I understand the metaphor of the caves but it felt that the only way to understand someone is to experience what they experience or get answers. It was a real letdown.

Magnificent - this novel is a tour de force ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I live for those moments when I can justifiably give a book a 5 star review and it doesn't happen very often. (Some say I'm a harsh critic - they would be right...)

About 20% of the way into this I knew it was going to be excellent. I loved Healey's debut book, Elizabeth is Missing and I would argue that this is even better.

After Lana's disappearance, her mother, Jen, is understandably anxious. Why won't her daughter tell her what happened in those 4 lost days? What is she hiding? I was absolutely drawn into Jen's rising feelings of anxiety and paranoia, and the level of tension crept up so slowly, you didn't realised you were submerged in it until too late.

The relationship between mother and daughter is delicately explored in this book, with a teenage daughter that is unable to express her feelings, and who ricochets between outright contempt for her mother and affection that she struggles to communicate. It felt so utterly real to me. There are fleeting moments of dark humour and sarcasm between family members that keep the tone from ever being too dark.

Healey treats the subject of teenage depression with the utmost respect. Lana is no cliché - she is a 15 year old with all the light and shade one would expect. She is complex and interesting and a complete puzzlement to her mother. I bet there are many parents out there that can identify with the struggle Jen faces, in allowing Lana to have her freedom, whilst still wanting to shelter her from all the evil in the world. We witness how this desire begins to overwhelm Jen and she cant function until she knows exactly what happened in those 4 days.

This is not your 'typical thriller'. Had there been a big 'Oh my God' twist at the end I would have been disappointed. It's a beautiful thriller/ family drama/ mystery that draws you in and wont let you go. I know when a book is outstanding as I physically try to slow myself down while reading on it, so I can revel in it for a bit longer and I didn't want this to finish. I can't say enough good things about it. This is me, being as effusive as possible!

I can't wait for this to be released and for everyone to go bananas for it. Huge thanks to the Publisher and to Netgalley for the preview copy in exchange for this honest review.