Grove Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Open Your Eyes. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Teaching creative writing and taking care of her husband and their two children are two jobs that Jane Campbell loves, but her life would be complete if she could just get one of her many rejected novels published. Married to a successful crime writer, Jane cannot help be want what she does not have. When Leon is attacked in their driveway, suspicion falls on Jane due to lack of outstanding evidence. Will the investigation that Jane pursues on her own put herself and her family in danger?

Open Your Eyes is a good mystery thriller, but parts of the plot seemed to be there only to move the story along. I found it hard to believe that the police would be so inept, especially since Jane seemed to discover pieces of evidence that were scarcely hidden. Jane was a very sympathetic character, for the most part, although she put herself into situations that a mother with two small children would likely have not done. Overall, I liked Open Your Eyes and I look forward to reading more by author Paula Daly in the future.

“Open your Eyes” by Paula Daly is a thriller about woman whose husband is attacked and left in a coma. This book has a lot of twists and turns and I enjoyed it. It was a bit predictable, but good nonetheless. Thanks to Netgalley for this Advanced Reader’s Copy.

An enjoyable psychological thriller that left me wondering throughout, who attacked Leon in the driveway that day? Highly recommend.

When Jane Campbell's sixth novel in a row is rejected, she feels she's wasted yet another year of her life. Her husband doesn't understand why it hits her so hard; then again, Leon is the well-known author of a gritty crime series and winner of a Gold Dagger Award. Due to Leon's success, the couple and their two young children live in a tony Liverpool Victorian.

One afternoon, with the family in the car headed to a birthday dinner, Leon is angrily confronted by a neighbor about the misbehavior of the Campbell cat, another in a series of perceived transgressions that has soured relations on their quiet street. Jane retreats into the house momentarily to escape the argument and returns to the car to discover Leon incapacitated and unresponsive.

With Leon gravely injured, their future uncertain and suspicion beginning to swirl around Jane, she's forced to poke around in Leon's computer for answers. Jane's digging brings more uncertainty and danger to the forefront, leading her to believe something more serious than an aggrieved fellow author or uptight neighbor might be lurking in their lives.

Open Your Eyes is Paula Daly's (Keep Your Friends Close) fifth work of psychological suspense, and she entertainingly weaves elements of the publishing industry, seedy and reputable alike, into her trademark domestic-driven drama. Daly's characters acknowledge the plot is akin to "something Hollywood cooked up for the purposes of dramatic storytelling." Fun and fast-paced, Daly has prepared a menu fit to pack into one sitting

Three and a half star rating.
Leon (a successful writer), wife Jane and their two children - the perfect family or are they? One day their wonderful life is changed when Leon is attacked. Why would anyone want to do that? It’s a bit of a slow burner until Jane takes matters into her own hands and attempts to find out what’s been going on and why and from that point there’s lots more action and the book becomes very much a page turner. Some of the characters were likeable and you could relate to their dilemma. I liked the cover and style of writing and would buy this book for someone who enjoys domestic thrillers.

I raced through this book, i love Paula Daly's writing, this book was so easy to get into and i raced to the end to find out what happened

I love Netgalley because it gives you the opportunity to discover an author that I know I wouldn’t have found otherwise.
I found this book a bit slow to start but after I committed I was hooked.
I will look for more of Paula Daly’s work in the future as I enjoyed her book very much.

This was a hard book for me to read but I did try. A husband recovering from a brain injury has uncontrolled sexual desires It was not something I could read details off and I skipped a lot of the book as it was not for me . The premise was disturbing and its honestly a subject I never ran across in a book before and never heard of. The author wrote it from the frantic wife side as well as the husband part which was fairly wild. .

Open Your Eyes started out a bit slow for me but was an overall good thriller. Honestly, I stopped and started this one several times before finally deciding to just commit to it and knock it out. Leon, his wife Jane, and their two children are in the car in their driveway when he sends her back inside the house for beer. While Jane sort of dilly-dallies inside to avoid her elderly neighbor who is nagging Leon about a cat problem, something bizarre happens and no one sees it - not even their two children sitting in the back seat. When Jane returns to the car, she realizes that something with Leon isn't right. That "something" is two nails shot into his head, resulting in Leon being in a coma and waking up a very different man.
Everything in Jane's world goes to hell. Leon doesn't remember a time period leading up to the attack, their finances are in the toilet, Leon has sudden bursts of violence, and Jane is in a precarious situation at a prison where she has taken a teaching position. As she tries to figure out who attacked Leon and why Jane continues to discover things about her husband that she had no clue about. Although entertaining and suspenseful at times, this was still just o.k. for me.
Why? First, I struggled relating to and/or caring about the characters. I felt bad for both Leon and Jane at times, but couldn't have cared less if they were safe and happy or not. Secondly, something about their son rubbed me wrong, Along those lines, there were just some things that were too unbelievable.
Nevertheless, it was a pretty good thriller, regardless of some of the issues with characters and plot.

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A twisty, emotionally poignant story which will haunt the reader. Never saw the ending coming, tho I felt that the story needed more momentum than it ultimately delivered.

Perfect psychological thriller! It moved at a fast pace with twists and turns throughout! I loved how Jane had to thoroughly look at everyone in her life and thought the author did a great job of writing a satisfying ending! I couldn’t put it down! Highly recommend!

I felt a sense of comfort picking up a Paula Daly book. I’ve only read Keep Your Friends Close, but it was such a thrilling read that I knew picking up Open Your Eyes was going to be a sure thing; I didn’t have to do anything but sit back and enjoy.

How many of us book obsessed people haven’t also dreamed of writing the next great American novel? The start of this book hit pretty close to home for me; the lead character Jane discussing her writing woes, not to mention Jane was a typical redhead, like me. I always enjoy seeing ‘myself’ in books, it makes for a much more intimate read.

The story itself didn’t seem all that surprising; man gets attacked, ends up in coma and then wife uncovers a lot of deep, dark secrets. Seems pretty simple. But Daly executes this story quite well and the more it built, the less certain I was that I knew where things were heading.

I was very enthralled in the mystery and while I figured that things weren’t going to be as they seemed, I was flipping pages quickly to uncover what the next secret around the corner was going to be. Some things I saw coming, but most of it I didn’t, which is really all I ask for in a book like this.

I really liked how this was a thriller of a book about writing books, at its essence, with a few tongue in cheek comments about the writing industry in general. I enjoyed these little pieces and how they all came together to bring me to where the book concluded. It was a clever approach that put a bit of a different spin on the “domestic noir” novel that has become so popular lately, the genre that I’m such a sucker for.

3.5*
Leon is a successful crime author with a devoted following. He lives a quiet, unassuming life with his wife Jane and their 2 young children.

When an attempt is made on Leon’s life, Jane scrambles to hold her family together while searching for answers why anyone would want to intentionally hurt Leon.

It doesn’t take much digging to discover there’s a great deal more about her husband than she could have ever imagined. Has she been married to a complete stranger? How is she supposed to live with a man who had all these secrets?

There were sections of this book that were a bit scattered, but overall the story-line was entertaining and it flowed easily and quickly. While some plot lines were easily deduced, there was still enough surprises along the way to keep me guessing. And the ending!! Well...let’s just say,😳

This was my first book I’ve read by Paula Daly but will definitely be looking for more of her works in the future.

A buddy read with Susanne!

Thank you to NetGalley, Grove Press and Paula Daly for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly is a highly recommended domestic thriller.

Leon and Jane Campbell live in Liverpool where Leon is a published crime fiction writer and Jane is a want-to-be published writer and a teacher of writing. The couple have two children and are by all accounts happy when the unexpected happens. While sitting in the car, arguing with a truculent neighbor, a horrible accident happens and Leon is rushed to the hospital. Thankfully Jane and the children are okay, but when Jane discovers what caused Leon's accident, and subsequent coma and brain damage, she needs to take care of her family and try to figure out who and why someone would want to harm Leon.

Jane is a likeable character and readers will be hoping she finds the answers she seeks and can manage to keep her whole family safe and together through the whole traumatic event. There are no easy answers for Jane as she begins to ask some uncomfortable questions and uncover some information Leon has hidden from her. Although Jane has to figure out who would attack her husband, her circumstances allow readers to bestow her character with understanding and sympathy as she slowly uncovers more information.

The writing is great and Daly keeps the novel moving along at an even pace. She slowly allows more information to be uncovered while Jane goes through the overwhelming struggle to keep it all together. Some of the twists in Jane's discovery are surprising and frightening while others are puzzling. The even pacing of the new information and twists allow your interest in the story to remain without flagging or feeling like the story is slowing down. I'm not a fan of the ending, but in totality, this is an entertaining novel.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Grove/Atlantic.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/10/open-your-eyes.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2565007113
https://www.librarything.com/work/21950674/book/161520339
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/1052591400821379073

A compulsively-good, twisty thriller that will make you consider the nightmare a life can become following a single moment!!! This is my first Paula Daly and I had a blast reading Open Your Eyes! I actually wish I could start this review with the last line of the book, because it was THAT GOOD! But of course, the last line would spoil some things about the story so I won’t post it here. But if you’ve read Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly or when you do, savor that last line! I’m still thinking about it days later!

About the Book

Jane Campbell avoids confrontation at any costs. Given the choice, she'll always let her husband, Leon--a bestselling crime writer--take the lead, while she focuses on her two precious young children and her job as a creative writing teacher. After she receives another rejection for her novel, Leon urges Jane to put her hobby to rest. And why shouldn't she, when through Jane's rose-tinted glasses, they appear to have the perfect house and the perfect life?

But then Leon is brutally attacked in their driveway while their children wait quietly in the car, and suddenly, their perfect life becomes the stuff of nightmares. Who would commit such a hateful offense in broad daylight? With her husband in a coma, Jane must open her eyes to the problems in her life, as well as the secrets that have been kept from her. Although she might not like what she sees, if she's committed to discovering who hurt her husband--and why--Jane must take matters into her own hands.

Reflection

Well, I completely loved this book! Let’s start with the main drama of the book—Leon’s injury! In the few minutes that Jane went inside to grab things for their trip, Leon is attacked in a horrifying way and it leaves permanent damage. Even beyond the coma, Jane has to go through the experience of living with someone who had a traumatic brain injury. And this injury has completely changed Leon. He has memory issues and personality changes that would be so difficult to live with!

I have a colleague who was married to someone who suffered a traumatic brain injury and it was so awful. His personality completely changed, and eventually it was no longer safe for her or her children to be around him. And the saddest part is, it is not his fault. So you want to stay and do the right thing. Brain injuries can truly change a person’s personality. They may be angrier, suffer from poor decision-making. Of course, I won’t say how it plays out in this book. You’ll have to read and see! Often as the swelling reduces, many of their new issues will lessen. Will Leon be so lucky??

And then we have the mystery itself! Aside from the changes to Leon, what was he not telling Jane before the accident? She’s stuck with questions and no answers. As Jane investigates, more troubling information will come to light, and she’s left alone unable to talk to Leon about it. I loved Jane and her storyline. I though Paula Daly handled the realities of this change to Jane’s life in such an authentic way.

And then we have a delightful storyline about writers. Not only are Jane and Leon writers, but they have friends and other colleagues who enter the plot. I was fascinated by the dynamics between Leon—a successful writer—and Jane—a still unpublished writer. Each has their own hang ups! For Leon, how will he know he can deliver book after book? And for Jane, how will she know when to keep trying to catch her break? And then we have the whole cast of writers in between. This storyline sang to my writer’s soul! It is a real treat, and I think many readers and writers will relate to the issues presented in the book.

And then we are back to that ending. Loved it!!! It was so perfect!!! I can’t wait for readers to get to the closing line, and reflect back on the book. I’m still processing it days later!

Many thanks to the team at Grove Press for my copy of this book to review.

Open Your Eyes was a different ditty…in a good way!

The main character, Jane Campbell, a creative writing teacher, does not like confrontation. I can relate to that. She is married to a top crime writer, Leon, and she takes the backseat to him. Jane’s focus is on the family, including her two young children; however, she finally submits a manuscript to a publisher only to be rejected. Rather than push her to try again, Leon asks her to let her “hobby” of writing go.

Jane’s idyllic, quiet life comes to an abrupt end when Leon is attacked in the driveway of their home during the day with her children watching.

Leon is now in a coma, and Jane’s eyes are opened to the truth about her life, including some hidden secrets. She is convicted to find the truth, including who attacked Leon.

Leon is living with a traumatic brain injury, and Daly handles his recovery with care and empathy. I enjoyed the presentation of the story as if it were an autobiography written by Jane, since she is a talented writer in her own right. I was on the edge of my seat with the suspense in this one, lots of guessing, and the ending was ultimately satisfying.

In Open Your Eyes, Paula Daly shatters the facade of what, for all appearances, is the perfect marriage. She examines the vices of pride and envy and arranges a masterful whodunit. Open Your Eyes answers that question we ask ourselves all too often: do we ever really know those closest to us?

Thank you to the generous Grove Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It had mystery, suspense, and sympathetic characters dealing with family trauma. The narrative of Leon's behavior after his attack was very believable - especially to readers familiar with someone who has had a brain injury through stroke or accident. The characters were realistic and the plot was unique.

The ending was a surprise - especially the last paragraph!! I look forward to future books by this author

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for letting me read Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

My first time reading that author.

I give it 4 stars. I liked it a lot. It was good, well written, interesting, intriguing, but at times a little unbelievable. Being attacked and being a coma can change you and your family! You don't remember who you are/were and your wife starts digging...

Review shared online on NetGalley, Twitter, Goodreads...

[Review to be published November 2nd]

Aspiring novelist Jane Campbell, smarting from her latest rejection, is about to find events in her own life taking on the attributes and plot points from any number of suspense thrillers in Paula Daly’s pacy latest novel. In the worst way possible, the situation in which she finds herself mimics the raw, sheer, dread material of her crime writer husband’s narratives.

Long before the awful occasion that jumpstarts the action, Daly is already masterfully mining the everyday fractious pressures and tensions within the Campbell’s domestic realm: troubled encounters with neighbours, perceived spousal slights and disregard, battles of ego and will, strained responsibilities of child-rearing, overbearing and judgemental relatives. It’s a panoply of minor irritations. Observations are razor-sharp and pointedly pungent, illustrating a marriage and partnership that feels lived-in and natural, subject to the very real micro aggressions that arise from any bodies sharing enclosed, tight spaces. Before any crime is enacted, conditions are already enflamed.

Preparing to travel to a birthday celebration, the children already buckled in the back seat of the car, belligerent neighbour Lawrence chooses a most inappropriate time to accost the Campbells regarding their cat’s antisocial behaviour. Excusing herself to return to the home to fetch some beers for her increasingly querulous husband (but really seeking to avoid at all costs the confrontation which she so keenly abhors), Jane allows herself just enough distraction once back inside to successfully sidestep Lawrence’s presence. Upon returning to the car, Jane discovers Leon strangely unresponsive, and it is soon clear that something terrible has occurred in her absence, the particulars of which will not be divulged here. Needless to say, what has befallen Leon is a horrific game changer, injuriously nasty, and Daly describes the immediate aftermath in shocking, gut-wrenching emotional and forensic detail.

In her quest to uncover the reasons behind the vicious attack on her husband, Jane must find a brashness and boldness not native to her. She must come out from behind herself and fight against belittling forces. Hard lead investigator Ledecky, initially sympathetic to her predicament, grows increasingly suspicious and antagonistic, especially as evidence accrues; Gloria, Leon’s mother and Juliana, his sister, continually undermine Jane’s authority; Leon’s condition demands a commitment and focus heretofore unparalleled. Most disconcerting of all is a revelation of financial mismanagement on Leon’s part, along with the discovery of an archive of worrisome video surveillance, and a possible online campaign of character assassination of a fellow author, revealing a personality unknown to Jane, a trove of destabilising secrets. Compounding this dismay is the humiliation of having to inform friends of the extent of the deceit.

The most harrowing chapters of this work address not the crime, but the challenges and adversities facing the carers of victims of brain damage. In this respect, Jane and Leon’s family must struggle to accommodate a loved one no longer recognisable, given to hostile outbursts, inappropriate sexual behaviour, incommunicative, lapsed. Upon waking from an induced coma, Leon asks not for Jane, who is a stranger to him, but his ex-wife, the first awful indication of a new normal. Jane crests along an exhausting wave of love, fear, confusion, anguish, and hate. Daly acutely depicts the constant, sustained state of panic that is induced. Gloria, so steadfast in faith, loses centre. Juliana twists in knots, careening for elusive answers. And in the faded background is a very lost and frightened Leon.

Folded within the narrative is a study of the often contrary aspects of being an author, requiring an odd commingling of fragility and toughness, compassion, and ruthlessness, living both inwardly and outwardly. Daly addresses some truly ghastly conduct between writers, crusades of vicious manoeuvrings and machinations-stolen manuscripts, threats to livelihood, online trolling, even murderous inclinations. Writing is not such a sedate pursuit in Daly’s world, nor is it very often lucrative. The reveal of the culprit, although clever and very much resonant with its themes, is perhaps the one instance of immoderation, the confession extravagantly convoluted. Yet it fulfils the requirements of a thriller, it’s only because the rest of the novel is such an elevated example of what can be achieved within the parameters of genre fiction that the revelation suffers.

The book briskly moves past the mystery’s solution to conclude with Jane’s journey to London to meet with a publishing agent. With a manuscript in hand, this confirms Daly’s foremost concern to be her heroine’s story, her progression towards finding an emerging voice. Daly teases mercilessly in this section with what information is revealed and withheld, delivering answers skilfully, in the process upending the reader’s expectations. She saves, for the very last sentence, a startling and deeply satisfying meta twist that provides a personal and empowered final sting.

Again, a 4,5 stars I round up to five because I can see a growth in the author's writing, and because it was a real page-turner even if I can't really explain why!
The plot is quite simple and the pace is slow, but the ability of the author is in the fact that I started with the idea to read a few pages and then I found myself reading while I was washing my teeth, being late for work, and couldn't stop! I had no idea what the outcome will be, and I was really hoping there would be no silly twist because the characters where well drawn and I didn't want them spoiled by an unbelievable twisted ending like it happens ever so often.
It didn't happen this time. The resolution anyway was a surprise, I couldn't have figured out what was happening, but maybe someone else would, because honestly I am kind of a blind reader and I like it that way. There are not a lot of characthers, so if you want to play the whodunnit it's not as if you have a lot of possible different outcomes, but still, it was very well made, believable in a simple way but not predictable. I think if I read it again from the start I won'd find any false or misleading clues, it all fits perfectly.
It's not the kind of book I will be thinking about for a long time, it's not that deep or different, but it's the kind of book you can binge-read on a trip, or on a rainy week-end, and it's virtually impossible to put down. This wasn't my first book from tha author, and I will read all her future books as soon as they're out!

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me ARC of that book in exchange for an honest review.