The Sunday Girl is a thriller great for readers starting out in the genre. If you have yet to read others I do suggest picking it up.
The premise is what intrigued me, a woman consulting The Art of War to get back at her ex boyfriend. I thought it was such a clever concept! Unfortunately it was not executed well.

Taylor was so silly! I actually rolled my eyes at some scenes because I knew what was going to happen because she could not hide her tracks. She also can not take a hint! Like how obvious does someone need to be until she understands? I am not sure if the reader was to know but it was pretty blunt.

The end did feel rushed but in all honesty I did stay up late to finish the last 100 pages because I needed to know how it finished. I am not 100% satisfied with the ending but I can not wait to read more of the authors work. It was a great debut and I hope to see her writing grow in this genre.

As I write this introduction I am STILL debating on my rating of this one. I felt it wasn't quite up to a 4 for me, however 3 seems a bit slack because I did enjoy it more than that. Times like this I really wish that Goodreads and Amazon would allow half votes! 

Taylor wants to get revenge on her ex Angus, after he does more than a few awful things to her. But the problem is she doesn't quite know when enough is enough, and things get a bit out of hand...

I enjoyed this psychological thriller. It was like watching a train wreck, but in a good way. There were a lot of enjoyable twists and turns, however it didn't totally grip me. 

The characters... Wow! You love to hate them that's for sure! A little too unbelievable perhaps, but I enjoyed getting frustrated with Taylor's stupid decisions! That was part of the fun.

I enjoyed the romance and the raunchy parts, and I loved the psychological mind-screwing that was happening. You never knew exactly what was going to happen next. 

I think I would have rated it higher and not be so conflicted if I enjoyed the ending. I was unable to put it down as it reached the end, so excited for whatever was in store. But the things in store didn't do it for me unfortunately and I felt a bit down as it ended and my excitement waned. 

Would I recommend The Sunday Girl?
It was a good read, if you are a fan of psychological thrillers you should enjoy it! It was well written and fun read.

*Thanks to Simon and Schuster via Netgalley for a copy of The Sunday Girl to review.

This read appears in the beginning to be a bit of naval gazing, however as the chapters progress the action picks up and with all that starts to happen it becomes hard to put down. Taylor and Angus are in a relationship, although to be more precise Taylor is in a relationship with Angus. Angus is in a relationship with Angus, himself, egotistical, narcissistic and controlling. When blank spots appear regarding certain aspects of Angus’s life along with aggressive behaviour and sordid images uploaded onto the internet, Taylor physically leaves but not mentally. Everyone around Taylor’s life, boss, friends and her mother see the real Angus but Taylor is blind to all warnings. This is a young woman as happens with many people when love is not fulfilled by a parent during childhood as with Taylor, a missing father, then the void of this is misplaced by the perceived love by a lover. This perception gives Taylor an unbalanced mind, why cannot Angus love her like she loves him, or rather is obsessed with him. The discovery of the missing elements in their relationship through Taylor’s obsessive nature and sleuthing reveals a continued contact with a previous girlfriend and prostitutes for which leads her to hatch a plan of revenge. However dealing with a narcissist is another thing, unlike Taylor highly emotional there is no emotion just cool headed evil on the part of Angus. In the midst of all this chaos Taylor meets another man, a nice man but with complications that fills her head with more negative thoughts about herself. Also the fact is that Angus is taking up all her mind space she isn’t functioning at all well and to think of any other man is not on her horizon. Events move rapidly towards the end, Angus has hatched his own counter attack, throwing Taylor to the wolves, will she survive? suspense, the worm turns will she be finally caught out?

I'm not sure what it says about me that I love books about righteous vengeance where a smart protagonist outfoxes the baddie, but this sounded right up my alley - a heroine using Sun Tzu's Art of War to ruin her cheating scumbag ex.
It didn't really go how I expected, though, and while I still really enjoyed it, I'm left feeling a little disappointed that it wasn't what I expected, hence 4 stars.

Taylor is a 20-something property researcher who has just discovered that the love of her life, handsome older banker Angus, has uploaded a sex tape of her to the Internet after an argument, and taken his ex-girlfriend on their planned skiing holiday. Determined to get revenge, she lets herself in to his flat, causing some mischief, including ordering some prostitutes on his work credit card. This is the beginning of an escalating war between them, and she soon realises she is out of her depth as she discovers how truly malignant Angus can be...

Some of the problems I had with this were Taylor's naive assumption that Angus couldn't possibly suspect her when a bunch of bad things suddenly happen to him within a week of their break-up. For a supposedly smart woman, she makes a lot of stupid mistakes, especially taking him back when she knows what he has done. She also has unprotected sex with three men within a week.
On a minor note, there were several Americanisms that should've been picked up in editing - grocery store, pantyhose, someone being pissed rather than pissed off... And, without wanting to spoil this, I'll also say I found the ending a let down, I was hoping for a clever twist - it was all a bit convenient.

Despite these criticisms, it was a fast compulsive read, and I liked the excerpts from Art of War at the start of each chapter. Angus is a brilliant antagonist, a classic narcissistic sexual predator, and you can't wait for him to get his just desserts. 3.5 rounded up for a good premise and smooth writing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Sunday Girl is published on September 1st.

Can I give this more than 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️? This is the debut novel from Pip Drysdale...wow! I am a fan and can't wait to see what she has in store for us next. Do yourself a favour and pick up this book...you will not regret it, although you may lose sleep as it is very hard to put down. A brilliant read from a bright new star.

Some affairs change you forever. This is a story of an angry and hurt woman Taylor, whose now ex-boyfriend Angus has posted a sex tape of her online for the whole world to see. Taylor's is mortified, and then discovers that Angus has taken another woman on their ski trip. This is the final straw acorn Taylor who starts to plot her revenge.... but once she starts she just can't stop and things begin to spiral out of control. You will feel the need to keep reading this to find out what happens next.

I can't praise this book enough.... all the stars and more! Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

When Taylor Bishop is dumped by her boyfriend Angus after a row and finds he has not only posted a sex video of her on social media but also taken his ex girlfriend on the skiing holiday they had planned together, she decides to take revenge. Consulting Sun Tzu's 'Art of War', she uses her knowledge of him to lay plans to damage his reputation, setting in motion an unstoppable series of events that will take over her life as Angus fights back.

The events are narrated by Taylor and as they escalate out of control, the tension ramps up and it's hard to see how it can end well for Taylor. Although Angus is a totally self absorbed narcissist and sociopath, it was often difficult to understand Taylor's actions in allowing him to be cruel to her and accepting his explanations and excuses. However, once her eyes were open there was no going back and Angus might have underestimated his opponent. An addictive read and excellent debut novel.

When Taylor Bishop breaks up with and is then humiliated by her abusive, cocaine addicted boyfriend Angus, she decides it’s time for revenge and seeks to destroy him. But after Taylor commits her acts of revenge, she finds herself unsure which role she plays in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

It’s not often that I find a book that I actually sit down and read in one sitting. The Sunday Girl managed to achieve this with a compelling story, a pace that told the story well but without lingering, and characters who weren’t always likeable but who were intriguing.

Drysdale has created a world that feels real despite the surreal events that are occurring within. In a thriller like The Sunday Girl the main characters, Taylor and Angus, have to be a bit caricature-like and extreme but still believable which was also well executed.

The saturation of romance thrillers with the word ‘girl’ in the title has become a bit of a joking matter in some circles, and I’m not going to tell you that The Sunday Girl is much different from others of its ilk. However, I did find it to be an engaging addition to the genre.

If you have enjoyed novels such as Gone Girl then The Sunday Girl is a quick read with tight writing that doesn’t spend too much time faffing about with unnecessary fluff.

What a scary story. It is een more scarier because you realise that this can actually happen. People are so evil when they are evil, there are no boundaries or limits as to hat they can do to you just for fun if nothing else. Moreover, there is nothing one cannot do to stay alive, to stop being a ictome. And when one is pushed into a cornder... Who are we to judge or blame.

A story of a relationship between tall dark handsome and wealthy sociopath and good 'Sunday girl' from a broken family. She was looking for true love. He was looking for her. He found her, marked her and made her his own.

Taylor is not stupid nor she is wane, weak or backless. She is naive when it comes to men. But aren't we all? We meet a new person with open eyes and... She met her man. She fell in love. She... blamed herself.

But he hurt her so bad and ugly. Taylor decided to retailate. It all turned upside down and from woman of vengeance Taylor quickly became a victim, a prey.

Taylor was looking for a way out. She was strifing for a point in time hen she will no longer feel scared. She found it. Moreover, she found new love. But she lost a piece of herself along the way. But may be it was just some 'baby fat' that came off...

Amazingly thrilling and consuming read. I had to finish it in one day, I could not put it don. I saw myself in Taylor. And I said a lot of graces while reading this novel. I was thankful to realise, once again, that my ex-husband was not smart enough or brave enough to deliver on all his threats.

Don't judge... until you stand in her place...

We all know the feeling of heart break. When someone we truly love let’s us down, we want to get back at them. This is exactly what Taylor Bishop wants to do. She wants to destroy Angus Hollingsworth just like he destroyed her. But when seems to constantly be one step ahead, how will her revenge plan work. With strong Girl on the Train and Before I Go To Sleep vibes, this is a story of a girl on a mission to get out.

I do have to say, this book took me a little while to get into. We jumped straight into the story and I felt a little lost for the first 50 pages or so. However, once I got hooked, I couldn’t put it down. From the moment she utters the line “this was the last time I felt safe” I could not stop reading and spent every spare minute wanting to read this book. I do feel like Taylor got a bit let off the hook in the end, with no eyes on her, I was kind feeling like she should get caught out a little, but I was also so excited that she escaped. If you loved The Girl on the Train and Before I Go To Sleep, than I would highly recommend this book!

There has recently been a plethora of books with “girl” in the title. Girl on the Train, The Girl in the Window and so on. They all have common elements, the writing is first person narrative by the “girl”. She is not a girl but by any definition of the word but a woman and she would cry sexist if anyone else called her a girl. She drinks too much, has slept around a bit, gets involved with unsuitable men and is always having money problems.

The Sunday Girl is no exception to this format. Taylor is around thirty and has been in a rather one-sided relationship with the manipulative Angus. She splits from him only to discover that in revenge he has posted a sex video of her on the internet. She stalks him and retaliates in her own sneaky way. Against the strong advice from her friends she gives in to him when he tearfully pleads with her to get back together. So their rocky relationship continues until new revelations about him force her to act.

Taylor purportedly gets inspiration from reading Sun Tzu’s classic book The Art of War that teaches that the first principal of war is deception and that one should keep friends close and enemies closer. There are quotes from the book at the start of each chapter however, the artifice does not come off because many of the quotes are too obtuse and don’t always relate to the chapter.

The book is well written but the story is predictable.

Open the first page of The Sunday Girl and you will be thrown headlong into this fast paced psychological thriller. There is a quotation from Master Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and a great opening paragraph that is worth a second read.
The reader soon learns that the voice is Taylor Bishop, a woman who has been deeply hurt by her boyfriend ( a nasty piece of work called Angus) and is plotting revenge. Even she wonders if this is a good idea. Soon her life is spiraling out of control.
Try and put this one down - I will be looking out for Pip Drysdale’s next novel.

The Sunday Girl by Pip Drysdale is described by Simon and Schuster as Bridget Jones meets The Girl on the Train, and it is definitely that—a Bridget Jones Thriller. The book was welded to my fingers once I realised the epic entanglement Taylor had gotten herself into. At first I had my heart set on the HUGE revenge plot of epic proportions by the woman scorned, as promised by the synopsis. But as I read on, it became clear that she was more Bridget Jones than Gone Girl crazy. I admit, I was slightly disappointed; I wanted a more determined Bridget Jones than the slightly flaky, indecisive one I read but she was not bad either. Taylor quite possibly reflects the mixed, ebbing feelings most people feel after a relationship gone brutally wrong. I did find Taylor quite ingenious though, which is what kept me hooked. I always wanted to know what she would do next. But I was also internally screaming the whole time—‘Just get out!’, ‘Don’t do that!’, ‘RUN! Nooo!’ My inner turmoil for Taylor was great. So while not as insidiously revengeful as first thought and more an accidental stumble and a nose dive into the deep end, The Sunday Girl was an overall entertaining read which also provided essential insight and a sensitive but strong voice into domestic abuse.
4 Stars, definitely recommended.

Thank you to Pip Drysdale, Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for an ARC of this gripping book for my honest review.

‘Some love affairs change you forever.’

Taylor Bishop is hurt, and angry after her boyfriend Angus Hollingsworth kicks her out for another woman. But after he posts a pornographic video of her on the Internet, Taylor wants revenge. Armed with ‘The Art of War’, she makes a plan. If only she’d stopped there. If only. But, in a modern-day interpretation of ‘hell hath no fury’, Taylor takes the first step on a path which will quickly spiral out of control.

Reading this novel was like watching a disaster unfold in slow motion: I knew it wasn’t going to end well, but I couldn’t stop watching. The way the story unfolded held my attention: Ms Drysdale presents the story from Taylor’s perspective as a recounting of events in the past.

‘The question I keep asking myself is: would I have stopped right then and there if I’d known how things would turn out? But I don’t suppose it matters – I didn’t know.’

I found it difficult to put this novel down: I wasn’t sure how it would end. Taylor and Angus make move and counter-move, she can’t stop once she’s started and he won’t let go. And, in the back of my mind, is the thought that Taylor’s actions may well have been irrelevant in the sense that Angus has an agenda all his own.

So, what started out for me as a fairly ordinary novel about a jilted woman seeking revenge ended up in a much darker place. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending but, wow, what an impressive debut novel!

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Wow! What started out with a leaked sex tape and the decision to use The Art of War as a guide to revenge turned into an unputdownable read. Would the crazy coked up Angus come out on top? Or would the downtrodden Taylor finally manage to outsmart him? Pip Drysdale had me guessing til the very end about how their relationship was going to turn out. A debut thriller that is well worth reading. I very much look forward to this author’s next book. 4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the opportunity to read this digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story of domestic violence both emotional and physical . The story was well written , with many twists and turns I enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

Wow, I loved this book, literally could not put it down!
It sees our protagonist Taylor coming out of an abusive relationship with Angus, who shows his true colours by posting sex videos of Taylor on the internet, and taking another girl on their proposed skiing holiday. So taking inspiration from Sun Tzu's classic book "The Art Of War", Taylor starts to plot her revenge. However not all goes to plan and as Taylor's life goes spiralling out of control, she's sees her revenge backfire and life becomes very dangerous indeed. As Taylor herself says, once the dominoes start to fall there's no way of stopping them. I had no idea how things were going to turn out in the end, so raced through the book in a couple of hours!
Pip Drysdale has crafted a marvellous tale of love gone wrong and revenge, and I loved the excerpts from "The Art Of War" at the start of each chapter, the different strategies having new meaning in Taylor's case. I loved the character of Taylor, wanting to rant at her at times and at others wanting to give her a push forward.
All in all a fantastic debut novel and I'll definitely be on the lookout of more of the authors work in the future.
My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Shuster (Australia) for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Sunday Girl really took me by surprise. What begins as a payback for some revenge porn posted online quickly morphs into a situation that is so much more perilous than I could have envisaged. I was gripped by this novel, its open and easy to read narrative saw me devouring it within one, albeit late, night.

Told in the first person, in a sort of hindsight storytelling style, I really found The Sunday Girl incredibly absorbing. We know that something has happened to Taylor, but the what of it we are yet to uncover, and we’re also not sure on where this story is coming from. Is it a confession to the police? A cautionary tale of hindsight? Is she dead and are we reading a journal? I loved this unknown aspect of the story. The pacing is rapid, there are no blank spots in this novel, nor is it too busy. The suspense builds as the novel progresses and the fear that Taylor experiences, along with the dread of not knowing what Angus was going to come up with next, was on point from beginning to end.

Taylor Bishop was a character I had a lot of empathy for, and unlike many thrillers I’ve read in the past, she was not at all unlikeable. She was a regular young woman who had friends and was good at her job; she wasn’t sketchy or unreliable, nor was she cold blooded in her intentions towards Angus. Her plan for revenge was more about taking a stand, and later, her actions were all about survival. She’d just had the misfortune of being targeted by a master manipulator. And Angus Hollingsworth really was a piece of work. A very scary fellow who knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way as he laid down the path to Taylor’s destruction, likely right from their very first meeting. He chose Taylor, for a specific purpose, but fortunately, he did underestimate her pliability and considered her a shade more naïve than what she really was. The cat and mouse game that unfolded between these two was deadly in its intent and gripping in its execution.

I highly recommend The Sunday Girl far and wide if you are after a suspenseful read with a plausible storyline that will keep you guessing right up until the end.

Thanks is extended to Simon and Schuster Australia via NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Sunday Girl for review.

A tense thriller which makes you think of the consequences of all the little choices that you make each day. What if you had done this instead of that? Moved on and not sought revenge? How things might have been different.

There is something irresistibly intriguing about stories of revenge. Admit it – who has not at one point in their lives fantasised about getting even, about getting their own back, even if it’s just directed at the sibling that’s eaten your (no longer) secret stash of lollies or taken a peak at your diary. So when I was offered the chance to read an ARC of The Sunday Girl I felt very excited to indulge the darker side of my psyche.

The premise is not all that different from your usual tale of a jilted woman out for revenge. Taylor is in a turbulent relationship with the much older and sometimes cruel Angus, who she adores for the same mysterious reasons that usually see women remain in dysfunctional relationships despite the agony they cause them. One day Angus, high on drugs, kicks Taylor out for another woman, uploading a private sex tape he has taken of her onto the internet as a parting gift. Jilted, hurt and with her reputation at stake, Taylor swears to get her own back and reclaim her inner tigerwoman. So far, so good. At this stage, I was ready to savour anything that would give Angus his just deserts – the man sounds like a first class a**hole. I particularly enjoyed the way Taylor sets out to forge her plan, using Sun Zu’s book on The Art of War to meticulously plot Angus’ downfall. At this stage, the book was still fun to read, and Taylor is quite the entrepreneur when it comes to making sure that Angus gets a taste of his own medicine. Until Angus comes knocking on Taylor’s door, begging her to take him back. He is remorseful, he has changed, he is a new man – blah-di-blah-di-blah. Taylor, you dimwit, I wanted to shout, don’t fall into this old trap! But she does ....

Overall, I found The Sunday Girl to be a well-written book with some clever and original ideas that had a lot of potential. I really enjoyed some aspects of it, but it ultimately didn’t click with me. Taylor, who originally seemed like a worthy protagonist, made some crappy choices that may be understandable for some, but which didn’t sit well with the story for me and often weren’t grounded in enough reason to make them understandable. For the most part, I felt annoyed at Taylor for stumbling from one bad decision to the next and then whining about it, despite a solid support system of friends and family that would have stood by her. For the most part, her decision-making seemed outlandish and a bit farfetched, and not consistent with the book she quotes as her recipe to exact her revenge. There is a turning point in the story about ¾ into the book that led to a discordant and unsatisfying ending for me.

In summary, I felt that The Sunday Girl was a well-written story with some original concepts that will undoubtedly make a fun read for many. For me, the make-or-break of any story is how well I relate to the characters, and this is where this one fell short for me. Taylor’s life choices and decision-making felt alien to me, and ultimately cost me my connection to the story. That’s not to say that I didn’t feel like throttling Angus myself, I would just have gone about it a bit differently! However, whilst it may not have been my cup of tea, I am sure that it will make a fun romp into the world of a woman scorned for many readers, so if the concept of the story appeals to you, you should give it a go! In any case, an impressive debut and I look forward to reading more from this author in future.

"Some love affairs change you forever. Someone comes into your orbit and swivels you on your axis, like the wind working on a rooftop weather vane. And when they leave, as the wind always does, you are different; you have a new direction. And it's not always north."

Taylor Bishop is miserable after her breakup with her boyfriend, Angus, but that's nothing compared with how she feels when she discovers that he has posted a sex tape of her online, with her full name attached. When Taylor happens across a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, she decides to channel her hurt into anger. Angus will pay for what he has done to her.

The Sunday Girl is the debut novel of writer Pip Drysdale, who lives in London where the story is based. It's a psychological thriller and should come with a trigger warning for anyone who has experienced an abusive relationship. It's not exactly a spoiler to say that Angus is not a nice guy, but he fools Taylor for long enough that she is heavily invested in the relationship, and she is at first reluctant, then finally afraid to leave him. The tension ratchets up pretty quickly as Taylor's early attempts at revenge begin to seem like a very bad idea. Without wishing to spoil the plot, The Sunday Girl also contains some useful warnings or reminders about exercising caution with the use of technology.

The Sunday Girl is quite a page-turner, which will keep you guessing until the end. If you like this one you'll probably enjoy JP Delaney's The Girl Before or The Mistake by KL Slater.