While I enjoyed reading this book, I really wasn't bowled over by it. I didn't feel enough for Emily to care much about what happened to her, and her stalker tendencies bordered on contrived for me - somethning to fit the plot rather than plausable as she made one stupid decision after another. I never really got the character of Cian (the grieving widow) either: he was so psychopathic is was almost pantomine. 

An easy read, and fairly enjoyable but not one I would heartily recommend 'm afraid.

Deliciously Tense

This is a deliciously tense psychological thriller that had me in its grip from the opening page. 

Emily’s narration gives us access into the very core of her tortured and tumultuous mind - her anxious thoughts spilling from the page. I found it fascinating that our introduction to Rose comes after she has drawn her final breath and largely by the way of interspersed social media announcements that provide a snapshot of her perfect life. The 
grieving Cian Grahame is enigmatic, devilishly handsome and utterly captivating. 

As Emily’s desire to become Rose’s replacement grows stronger the tension ratchets up and the twists will have you gasping out loud. 

Her Name Was Rose is an accomplished and cleverly plotted book that will have you turning its pages long after bedtime!

I found this book really easy to read, and it was quite absorbing.  Although I did come to like the main character, I found the other characters quite hard to care about and quite 'unreal'.  The plot was a little too implausible at times, and the ending a little unsatisfactory.  I would certainly read another book by this author as she has a talent for suspense and dialogue.

Imagine you see someone die right in front of you. 
It could be you. 
What if you feel hunted, are always full of anxiety. 
How would you react?

Emily, the protagonist in 'Her Name, Was Rose', is already labelled as a troublemaker, unstable even though she is the victim, is her Ex taking revenge, or is it all in her imagination? Emily wants someone to love, someone to care for, to be part of a family, that's why she tries to step into Rose's old life. She feels connected to Rose and longs to have the perfect life she enjoyed.

Emily is an unreliable protagonist, reliant on prescription medication and alcohol to keep her anxiety in check. Told from Emily's point of view, the reader can't be sure if Rose's experiences are real or imagined. 

Well-paced the plot adds additional characters and twists, throwing doubt on Rose's life and the manner of her death. Cleverly built tension among the cast of characters, particularly at Rose's former workplace increases the suspense. Emily's vulnerability and lack of insight increase the story's menace until the reader doesn't know who to trust and realises appearances can be deceptive.

The ending is adrenaline-fuelled and has a surprising twist or two.

I received a copy of this book from Avon Books UK via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Emily is a lonely soul. She is recovering from a broken relationship. Her best friend is in America & she feels very vulnerable. Coming out of a lift she lets Rose, a young woman with a small child go ahead of her only to see this woman killed moments after in a hit & run accident.

The thought, "It could have been me!" seems to take over and she become obsessed with Rose. She haunts her Facebook page, scrutinises all the news about her. Rose seemed to have all Emily wanted. A loving husband, beautiful child, friends and a job where her workmates are friendly & caring, 

Emily continuing with her obsession, gets Rose's old job. She tries to make Rose's friends her friends. She meets Cian, Rose's husband, and when they seem to get along she wonders if she can have it all.

But extracts from Rose's diary that pepper the book make the reader suspicious that all is not as it seems and Emily may not have her happy ending.

I did feel sorry for Emily even while I kept wishing she'd show a bit of sense! It was a good read & will look out for more from Claire Allan.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Loved this book. Powerful stuff. Strong story line with strong believable characters. Fab subject with loads of twists to keep you hooked.

Argh what a fantastic read, I had the most perfect Sunday nursing a wineover (slight ache in my head from wine) sitting out in the garden totally absorbed in this book. It was genuinely gripping and I mean it when I say I couldn't put it down, literally! It was so well done that you just don't know who to trust at any given time.

I saw a few things coming a mile off but I think that was done intentionally so that you think you have it all figured out but nope, there are surprises around every corner. I was on edge the closer I got to the end, I kept expecting bad things to happen at any moment! Just as I started to relax it jumped out at me!

Her Name Was Rose isn't overly violent and I think that's what makes it so enthralling, it's the psychological side and the unravelling of its characters that makes it such a fantastic read. I really genuinely enjoyed it and I would certainly read it again. Interesting to know this is the first thriller by Claire, I look forward to more like it!

Many thanks to Avon Books and Netgalley for the chance to read and review, all opinions are my own and I am not paid to give them.

Some of you may be familiar with the authors previous books but this is her "thriller", and given that I'm on a bit (OK more than a bit at this stage) of a psychological thriller kick, I was delighted to receive a copy from Netgalley. 
Our story focuses on Emily, whose life is a mess. She suffers from anxiety, has a drinking problem, hates her job, all of which stems from her horrible relationship with her ex. And then BAM! The woman who she held a door for gets killed by a joyrider. 
Through the process of a bit of Facebook stalking Emily finds out as much as possible about Rose and her family, and becomes jealous of their perfect life, culminating in her applying for Rose's old job, and hoping to meet her dream man, Rose's husband. 
Of course, all may not be greener on the other side. 
As Emily slides into her new role she uncovers a lot of secrets, but who can she trust? And which Rose is the true Rose. 
The story that follows is brilliant, with a well constructed protagonist and cast of supporting characters. I felt completely drawn in to the story here and was (once again) reading this book into the wee small hours. I have to say I find it hard to think of any real negatives about this. It ticks all the boxes for me (Including the Irish box ;-) ) 
I certainly recommend it to fans of thrillers or those who are looking to get lost in a book by the pool this summer.

I really enjoyed this book, it was full of twists and turns with an ending I didn't expect. A dark theme with a vulnerable character.

Great summer read!

I tried to love this book but it's taken me over 2 months to get half way through it. I am so sorry but I just found it a little same old, same old. There's a lot of psychological thrillers out there and for me this had no wow factor.

Have you ever started a trip and you are sure you know the way? In fact, you don’t even GPS it because you tell yourself that it’s down this road but suddenly you see a street on your right and that seems like the way to go. So you make the right turn to get to your destination but that’s wrong so you turn again and while that road looks familiar, it is still not the way.
Eventually, you get there but your trip took a few detours because it turns out that you weren’t really as familiar with that path as you thought.
Claire Allan’s book, Her Name was Rose, is like that trip. It seems familiar at times but at the end it takes you down a few streets that are brand new.
Main character, Emily, witnesses the hit and run of a woman. Her name was Rose. Emily becomes obsessed with Rose and her life. She immerses herself into Rose’s world in a near stalkerlike fashion.
As Emily struggles to come to terms with her own troubled past and demons, she tries to learn everything about the seemingly perfect life of Rose. Looks can be deceiving and will Emily see the truth before it is too late.
Claire Allan’s psychological thriller was addictive, complex and full of all the twists and turns of a great book that you won’t want to put down.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book. This did not effect my review of this book. #netgalley #hernamewasrose #claireallan

I felt very ambivalent about this book and found it difficult to review. After a dramatic start it seemed to take a while to rack up any tension again, and when it did it felt like a fairly standard thriller as abusive relationships, sadly, seem to be very topical at present. Having said that I thought it was well written and the characters well drawn and although I had guessed the ending I enjoyed the process of getting there!

I’d like to thank Netgalley and Avon Publishing for my ARC of Claire Allan’s novel, “Her name was Rose.” The story moved at a good pace with some really interesting characters. A well plotted story line, we open with our protagonist Emily, witnessing a woman being run over right before her eyes. But due to her past, Emily thought the accident was intended for her. Feeling a sense of survivors guilt, Emily begins to learn from social media that the victim, Rose, had it all. Everything Emily ever wanted. A beautiful baby, house and husband. Rose’s life was on full display for all to see and Emily wants that beautiful, shiny, happy and perfect life. So when she sets out to try and replicate it, things don’t always seem to be as they appear on line. Was Rose’s death truly an accident? And was Rose’s life really as perfect as it seemed? Is anything in a life really as it seems?

Emily, a lonely young woman who has been trying to make a new start after a nasty relationship break-up, finds herself struggling with demons from her past when she becomes an unwilling spectator to a woman’s fatal hit and run accident. Guilt-stricken, she remembers how she prompted the victim to step out in front of her, only to see her being brutally mown down. With dread, she is wondering: was Emily the intended victim? Has she unwittingly sent the young woman to her death? Unable to put her doubts to rest, she looks for the victim’s profile on facebook – a perfect mother, a happy young wife. Everything Emily has ever wanted for herself. In a fit of longing for this perfect life, she applies for the dead woman’s old job, and discovers that it is not all that difficult to slip into someone else’s life ....

Her Name Was Rose starts off with a hidden sense of danger and menace that had me instantly hooked, and I was keen to find out more about Emily’s fate. The premise of someone slipping into a dead woman’s shoes sounded very intriguing, and I was keen to see how the author would play this. 

I soon discovered that Emily was in many ways an infuriating, tormented characters (I am not completely sure whether I mean this in a good or a bad way). As a person who possesses at least what you can call rudimentary self-preservation skills (ok, not counting the times I precariously clamber around on slippery rocks to get that perfect bookstagram photo), I found it very difficult to understand Emily’s decision making processes (or lack thereof). This is a character who stumbles from one stupid decision to another, never taking pause to think and evaluate, even as her despairing friends and family advise caution. If it had been down to natural selection, Emily would not have made it to adulthood. The author did try to make Emily out to be a troubled soul, seeking refuge in sedatives and alcohol, falling apart under pressure and rushing into decisions that would get her into trouble. The concept of normal people finding themselves in extraordinary situations makes for a good premise for a thriller, but I felt that Emily’s dark side needed a bit more depth to make her character more credible and better fit the mould of unreliable narrator she is supposed to present.

I read a lot of psychological thrillers and like them best dark and twisty, messing with my mind. According to the author, she is new to the thriller genre, which is perhaps why some aspects of the story read more like a relationship drama to me, making me long for a bit more suspense and mystery. Without coming across too critical or a smart-arse (I’m trying for constructive feedback), these were the elements that did not work so well for me:

*) Too much being revealed too son, i.e. in the form of Rose’s diary, which gave away those very elements that would have created doubt in my mind as to the truthfulness of the main players. I am finding more and more that diary entries in mysteries rarely work for me, as there is a fine art to making them credible. If we had not had Rose’s POV to the time leading up to her death, there would have been mystery. As it was, all roles were defined very early on, leaving few surprises in store.

*) Threads that started off promising and mysterious, but ultimately didn’t go anywhere: eg Emily initially thought that Rose’s accident was an attempt to kill Emily. However, this undercurrent of danger to Emily just petered out along the way and unfortunately never lived up to its full potential (which I thought it had).

*) Unconvincing red herrings: whilst Emily has a few suspicions as to who was behind Rose’s death, there was little doubt as to the “goodies” and “baddies” in this story – also largely due to Rose’s diary giving things away too early. I would have liked for some characters to be less predictable, which would have added to the mystery.

Enough said.  Allan writes well, and addresses some very topical themes in her novel, such as mental illness, domestic violence, bereavement etc, which come to play in various parts of the story. Fans of the author’s earlier work or readers who enjoy a character driven drama will undoubtedly enjoy this story of dysfunctional relationships, but those (like me) who crave dark psychological suspense may find themselves a little bit unsatisfied. However, this was a fast and entertaining read, and I will definitely keep my eyes out for the author’s future books to see whether she fully crosses over to the “dark side”.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book as an arc.  
Emily is a witness to Rose, and her son Jack, being knocked down by a hit and run driver.  Rose's social media posts portray her seemingly perfect life, and Emily finds herself inveigling her way into her husband Cian, and son Jack's life.  Plenty of twists and turns along the way as we discover how and why Rose died, and the motivations behind the characters' actions.  
Very enjoyable book with plenty of surprises, but I did find myself shouting at Emily, for goodness sake woman, get a grip of yourself!

I am a big fan of this type of book- suspense, mystery, murder, romance. This book did not disappoint. It had an interesting plot of who killed Rose, and the fingers could point to so many people in her life. The characters were really interesting and complex. I kind of guessed who the culprit was near the end, but it was an interesting twist for sure. I hope to read more from Claire Allan.

Her Name was Rose was an addictive story that had me staying up reading far too late. I really got sucked into it and had to keep reading.

Emily does something nice for the mother with the pram by letting them out of the lift first... . And then the mother is knocked down in a hit and run and killed. Her Name was Rose. Emily has a troubled past and is convinced that it should have been her. She becomes obsessed with learning all she can about Rose, and finds that Rose had the perfect life.. husband, baby, job and nice house. Emily has nothing and wonders why she can,t have it all and tries to become Rose. But looks can be deceiving. Will Emily learn the truth before it is too late for her.

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book to read in exchange for my honest opinions

I received an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. 
This could be another book about the grass is greener but what makes this interesting is that the main character was thrown into this lush lawn rather than going in on her own accord.  Emily thinks this when she is thrust into Rose's life due to a deadly accident.  She finds her on social media and everything just escalates from there.  Social media has such a big part in our lives in this day and age, who hasn't occasionally looked into the life another and thought how lucky they have it.

I enjoyed Her Name Was Rose.
It had a good plot line that kept me intrigued to the end of the book. Good characters and the story moved on at a good pace gathering momentum towards the end. An enjoyable book that I would give 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

The story is about Emily. The book opens with her having witnessed an awful car accident, where the woman who was hit dies instantly, on the spot. 
Her name was Rose.
Emily’s past holds a resentful ex-boyfriend, Ben. She is convinced that the car that hit Rose was actually meant for her.
She is consumed with guilt, and very jittery over the whole episode. She starts to look up Rose and soon the casual looking-up becomes an obsession - who she finds on Facebook – and sees the gallons of love and affection that her friends, family and husband Cian, are posting on her FB wall. 
Rose was the perfect Mum, with the perfect house and the perfect friends, perfect wife to the perfect best-selling author, Cian.
Emily craves for something similar and on a whim, decides to apply for the job at the dental surgery clinic where Rose worked. Soon, she meets Cian (Rose’s husband) and Jack (their son); and somehow she finds herself in the midst of their lives. 
Just when she starts to believe that she could possibly replace Rose, not only at work, but also in her personal life - things turn sinister and Rose’s “accident” may not be an “accident” after all.
If that’s the case - who is behind it?
And what is the motive?
It seems no one can be trusted!

The story was fast-paced, though predictable to me (perils of reading too many books in this genre).
The twist came in the end - and what-a-twist it was!

I loved the handling of the character of Rose. Although she died on the first page, the entire book revolves around her. She’s the pivotal point revolving around all the major characters in the book, who are still alive.

This book also gives an insight into a very poignant issue - an abusive relationship. 
It highlights character traits of both the abuser and the victim. I also really liked the underlying message that not everything is what it seems on the outside; how social media is definitely NOT an accurate means of getting to know anything about someone’s life and how our lives are portrayed online doesn’t always reflect the reality. 
Because at the end of the day, we all just want to be seen as having a fantastic life, don’t we?
How many times have we posted about our goof-ups, the times we have been wasted, the times when we have said something we have regretted - most don’t and likely never will.

Definitely worth a read!