Oof, this one hurts me. I was certain I was going to love Whistle in the Dark because I’ve heard such amazing things about Emma Healey’s debut novel, Elizabeth is Missing. I didn’t actually realise I had this book on my NetGalley because I have it sitting on my bookshelf, so I thought this story was going to be swiftly moving from my ‘read then donate’ pile straight onto my shelf of favourites.


Unfortunately, the exact opposite ended up happening. I’m about to get spoilery, so if you haven’t read this book yet it’s probably time for you to jump down to my thoughts on Furiously Happy…

Whistle in the Dark doesn’t really tell a story. A girl goes missing during a vacation in the Peak District with her mother, and when she comes back she won’t tell anyone where she’s been. Her mother is worried that someone kidnapped her or took advantage of her, but Lana remains tight-lipped: is she protecting someone, or has she suppressed her memories of the traumatic event? Sounds like the makings of a perfect psychological thriller, right?

WRONG. This book has such a brilliant premise, but it doesn’t live up to it AT ALL. It starts to try to address so many different, interesting plot lines, then abandons them and jumps off on other tangents. There are a slew of almost thought-provoking inclusions – the struggles of parenting a child with depression, self-harm, sperm donation, religion – but in the grand scheme of things every single one of them falls short.

I’ve seen a lot of different reviews since I finished this book, and all of them have said that they were impressed by at least one section – either the beginning, the middle or the end – so they’ve felt justified in giving Whistle in the Dark three stars minimum. Meanwhile there’s me, the salty little sausage in the corner, who can’t think of a redeeming thing to say about the entire novel. The beginning was intriguing for all of five minutes, the middle perfectly showed the paranoid musings of an anxious mother (and then showed it perfectly over and over again, as Jen repeated her worries so regularly that I began to worry that I was pressing the back button on my Kindle rather than reading further into the book), while the ending was possibly the worst thing I’ve ever read.

Turns out, Lana went into a cave to OD, passed out, came around and got lost in the cave and managed to find her way out three days later. We learn this because Jen goes exploring and gets lost in the same cave… But gets out within a couple of hours. How long are we supposed to believe Lana was unconscious?! None of it added up, and it’s the least satisfying pay off I’ve ever gotten from a ‘thriller’. I’m still going to pick up Elizabeth is Missing, but I wish I’d trusted the Goodreads ratings on this one.

I unfortunately didn't love this book and therefore didn't finish it. I enjoyed the premise but the plot started to fall flat for me.

DNF @ 59% - after WEEKS of struggling through it, I realized I don't hate myself enough to continue.

This book is nothing but a self-indulgent mess of disjointed, boring and utterly pointless anecdotes. There is no plot. It's not even a book, let alone a thriller.

This is one of those books where I expected it to be one thing and it actually was different to what I thought I was going to get, but this was absolutely not a bad thing. I very much appreciated this book and I got so much more out of it than I was expecting. Jen’s teenage daughter went missing, and was found alive but she refuses to talk about where she’s been or what happened to her. This is so much more about how it feels to be clamouring around in the dark trying to understand what is going on in your teenager’s head. Lana has depression and she isn’t able to communicate how she feels with her mum. I suffered a lot when I was in my teens so could see things from Lana’s point of view, but it was really emotional for me to see it from Jen’s perspective and to have more of an insight into how frightening and heartbreaking it must be to see your child suffering in this way. This book was such a brilliant read and one that will stay with me.

I loved the book Elizabeth is Missing and so took on the next one. I loved the mother/daughter story and I could relate to Jen. This is a very authentic novel.

I wouldn't necessarily describe this book as a crime story or a thriller as it is listed although this was a good story. Instead, it focuses more on the mother-daughter relationship which is extremely well portrayed. This also touches on a very serious subject of self harm. This book can seem extremely depressing in light of this but it's actually quite a fun read. The ending is a bit anti-climatic but it is still in keeping with the book so I found out that it worked regardless of this.

I loved this taut tale of a family in turmoil. Troubled teenager Lana disappeared for four days in the Derbyshire Peak District whilst on a painting holiday before being found injured, bleeding and claiming to have no memory of the past few days. The story is told from the point of view of Lana's mother Jen, and their fractured relationship is described in pithy, sharp detail. Many of the confrontations will be familiar to parents of teenagers, but these are exacerbated by Lana's refusal to reveal anything about what happened to her. You can feel the family's frustration and worry. Jen is of course driven to investigate and follows several red herrings before the book's conclusion.

I enjoyed this book immensely, aided by the fact that I am familiar with some of the locations, such as the Nine Ladies Stone Circle and the neighbouring 'charm' tree which is described accurately. Characters are portrayed superbly and all dialogue feels very realistic. I liked the ending - the last line was particularly poignant. Highly recommended.

3/5 stars. This book had an interesting premise, diving into the complex relationships between mothers and daughters. I don't know what I was expecting, but this book didn't live up to the hype for me, it was just ok. I did appreciate the unlikable characters though and the complex character development.

Thank you for providing a copy of this book for review however I was unable to open the file for this document unfortunately! Apologies.

This book explores the relationship between a mother and her daughter. They have a deeper connection than most relationships. I wouldn't really think of this book as a psychological thriller, but it was still well written and recommended.

Whistle in The Dark by Emma Healey is a beautifully written story of family and mental illness and the connections between mothers and daughters.

I read ‘Whistle in the Dark’ more than a year ago, and I’m embarrassed I’m just getting around to reviewing it. It’s about a spikey teenager who disappears while she’s on a holiday with her mother in the Peak District. She reappears four days later, bleeding and dazed, refusing to give information about her ordeal. In several key ways, the book shares themes with Emma Healey’s previous novel, ‘Elizabeth is Missing.’ They’re both about missing people (obviously) and both deal with social issues. ‘Elizabeth’ focuses on dementia while Healey’s latest book touches heavily on teenage depression and self-harm. Jen, the mother, has some mental health problems, too, hallucinating and stalking her daughter online.

I wanted to like this book but, alas, I got a little tired of both mopey Lana and shrill Jen. I also thought the ending was anti-climactic but I guess I was expecting a different kind of story.

Very interesting topic and it has a very interesting point of view of a parent-child relationship. On the other hand, I felt it is a little bit too slow for me and repeated a lot of thing thorough the book.

I loved Emma Healey's first book, Elizabeth is Missing, so this was a definite request for me, but I found - as is common with second novels - this one didn't live up to the first. I didn't like the characters, so it made it difficult to care for them or root for them in what should be a very emotional read, and the ending was a major disappointment that didn't tie up enough loose ends for me. I also cannot stand lack of communication - it's one of my pet peeves - and this story was rife with it.

I found this book to be quite slow and repetitive in the middle section which I feel let down a very interesting premise and some intriguing characters. I thought the way the novel dealt with mental health issues was interesting and well handled.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

Like many people, I loved Elizabeth is Missing, so I was very excited to get the chance to read another novel by the same Author.

The theme of the book is different (Jen’s daughter, Lana, who has depression, goes missing during a painting holiday to Derbyshire. She is discovered 4 days later, but insists that nothing happened. The book, written from Jen’s point of view, deals with a mother set adrift by her daughter’s illness), but there are similarities. A mystery needs to be solved, but instead of an old lady with dementia, the dogged solver is Lana’s mum. There’s a lot of Jen’s internal dialogue, as there was with Maud, and Healey captures the fractured thought processes well (something I liked about EiM too). The solving of the mystery is at once obvious, and also, I thought, well hidden amongst other possibilities. I had the sense that Jen was unraveling at times, driven to do the snooping things that mother’s should try not to do, driven by her anxiety for her daughter.

Did I like it as much as EiM? No, but it’s just as engaging and well written. I don’t have personal experience of people with dementia, but I do have a teenage daughter, so whilst I could enjoy EiM and appreciate the good writing, I didn’t have to undertake any self analysis! With Whistle, I found myself entering into Jen’s anxiety more, and wondering if I’d be any more calm or grounded than her in the same situation. Probably not. So it wasn’t a comfortable read, but it was a really good one.

Interesting read even if it did feel a little slow. Due to this I felt like the plot wasn't very active/very strong, but that doesn't mean I disliked it. It could probably have done with a little bit of a quicker pace as I didn't find myself anticipating anything or itching to find anything out. The end was brilliant and I loved the representation of a mother figure told in this way. Very insightful.

An interesting exploration of your relationships with your children and the terrifying decisions that parents have to make. I enjoyed it but read some bits through my fingers!

Jen and Hugh's daughter, Lana has been missing. During a painting holiday in The Peak District Lana, a troubled teen meets a man who belongs to a religious cult and then she disappears for some days causing her parents obvious worry and a media frenzy. We join the story after she has returned, bloody and bruised and refusing or unable to say where she has been or what happened to her.
This is a story about mental health problems in teenagers and the complex relationship between an over protective mother and her sensitive daughter. I don't want to be glib considering the subject in the book is that of depression but to be quite honest if I had a parent like Jen I would want to disappear as well.
She's like a dog with a bone, never letting up. Nagging Lana, stalking her on social media and searching her room and personal things. There's nothing she won't do to micro manage her daughter's return and discover why she vanished.
Because of this I found the book dragged a bit at times but I'm glad I persevered to the end because the final few chapters were so good and I felt as if I was actually experiencing what Jen did.
Worth reading if you can get past the annoying behaviour of Jen.

Whistle in the Dark is a subtle and powerful novel about family. When Jen's troubled daughter Lana returns after 4 days missing in Derbyshire, she struggles to discover what has happened to the young girl. Beautifully written each character is believable and the reader will relate to the family dynamics.