Too Close is a really strange debut but strange in a good way as this deep, dark thriller has you twisting and turning as much as it does.
Connie is the main character and we find out early on she is in a psychiatric hospital, but what for and how did this occur. The chapters are told from Connie’s viewpoint mainly but are interspersed with ones from her psychotherapist, Emma’s viewpoint. I have to say I liked both characters, Connie and Emma were as real a characters as you can get suffering from marriage, family and trauma. While we know Connie is the patient, Emma is also struggling with marriage and personal loss issues. To be honest this book covers so many problems and isn’t a fast paced book at all but it is very, very enjoyable. I liked how the reason Connie was where she was sent you up the garden path at one stage but was steadily eeeked out through the book and that Emma’s story at the same time kept you intrigued and also led you up the wrong path.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Transworld Digital for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Too close # Netgallery
It’s gripping and you just want to see how it all ends the characters come across as real, I felt sorry for Connie when her husband said he didn’t love her anymore, but when she offered to turn a blind eye to keep the marriage. I really really wanted her to walk away. It was well written and I definitely will be looking out for more novels by this lady. Brilliant debut novel.

Not my usual genre but this book had me gripped throughout. Will be looking out for more of the same!

Really enjoyed this well written superb book with believable characters. Full of twists and turns, enjoyed from beginning and found hard to put down. Excellent book and look forward to reading more by author.

This is an excellent debut novel and I enjoyed it immensely.
The plot is dark, disturbing but deeply engaging. None of the characters are particularly likeable but that does not distract from the story itself which is strong.
I’d recommend for anyone who likes this genre of book.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It wasn't quite what I expected, but I enjoyed it. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

Wow! What a stonker of a tale. With some gasp out loud and ah ha moments. I raced through this one, grabbing every opportunity I could to read it.
Is it possible to dislike and also feel sympathy for someone at the same time? Well, I did, at least at first where Constance (Connie) was concerned. This soon turned into full blown anger and disbelief at the treatment of her as the book progressed. I was rooting for her all the way.
An unnerving portrayal of how easily a seemingly benign family life can become your worst nightmare. Be careful who you’re friends are....

I really enjoyed this book, kept me page turning until the end. Wasn't an obvious storyline, well written and a joy to read.

Absolutely loved this book, the characters gripped me and I didn't want the story to end - a fantastic read

Psychological thriller. Interesting but difficult to like characters and a rather convoluted storyline.

When we first meet Connie and Ness it is in the park where their children are playing and they realise that they live nearby to each other. We next encounter Connie in a psychiatric hospital with horrific injuries. What on earth has happened.

Recounted mainly in the first person by Connie together with chapters from the perspective of Dr Emma Robinson, her psychiatrist. Emma has been assigned to her in order to encourage Connie to remember what happened. This is an intriguing story showing the devastation that results when a close friendship turns toxic.

Ness and Connie were each married when they met. Ness to Leah, a TV personality and Connie to Karl. Their two daughters got on well together and became best friends – there are some diary extracts from Connie’s daughter 9 year old Anna, complete with childish spelling, which at times are hilarious, and also so insightful. It’s surprising what children pick up on.

Don’t expect a fast paced read – this is more character based. For much of the story, we learn the backstory with only little teasers of what may have happened to put Connie in the hospital. We don’t find out what has actually happened until much later on and well done to the author for the ambiguity and some misdirection here. For much of the story my mind was in freefall, wondering what Connie had done to deserve being isolated in an institution and I made my own assumptions. However, there was a point when the rug was pulled from under me and I was completely taken by surprise.

All the characters are so realistic, in fact their lives are frighteningly so. Marriage difficulties, family problems, emotional meltdowns. In addition to Connie’s story, we also have Emma’s. She has her own marriage and life issues to deal with – in fact sometimes I thought that she should have been the patient instead of Connie.

Connie may have been accused of something dreadful but I couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for her. She was forthright and honest and her character was very well developed. With a family, as well as ageing parents to look after including a mother with dementia, she was trying to keep all the balls in the air, it was perhaps inevitable that one would drop.

Too Close is a disturbing novel of deceit and betrayal. I’ve seen it described as a psychological thriller however in my opinion it’s more of a domestic/suspense/drama. But whatever the description, it is an extremely well written debut novel and I’m looking forward to seeing what the author comes up with next.

This is the debut novel by Natalie Daniels. Connie wakes up in a psychiatric hospital and the story is told mainly from her perspective, by gradually revealing the reasons she is there and what has happened to change her from a loving mother and wife to being unable to cope.

It is a story of friendship, relationships and betrayal touching on deep, dark psychological problems, which at times felt brutal. I wouldn’t call this a psychological thriller but it engrossed me even though I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Natalie Daniels for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Good read. Recommended.

Totally different type of book to what I usually read but I really enjoyed it
I normally read psychological thrillers but this had me hooked
It covers in depth the effects of how friendship and betrayal can affect a person's mental health and how lives can be devastated not just the person who has been betrayed but also the whole family.
Connie loved her family so why will they not see her ?
I grew to love Connie and Dr R her psychologist who also had her own issues and wanted to know Connies story.
The book starts off in the present day and Connies current mental state and goes back into what brought them to this weird friendship

I don't know where to start. This book got to me from the very beginning and although I wanted to savour it, I also wanted to get through it to find out what had happened. An excellent thought provoking book.

This was definitely a different style of book, it was somewhat chaotic and frantic, though very intriguing and a little dark/disturbing. It took me a while to read this book, at times I was enthralled and others a little confused/bored. Perhaps it was just the writing style of the Daniels that I didn't enjoy, since the plot wasn't that bad for me. It was hard to keep up with what was going on at times, and though the idea for the book is good, I didn't really feel the ending was up to what it was building up to be.

I think its one of those books where you have to read to see if you'll like it, personally not my taste, but I think a lot would enjoy it!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Digital for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* Young mothers Connie and Ness meet up in a park and strike up a fast friendship. Soon their children become close and both of the families lives are intertwined. Then things start to go wrong. Whilst I enjoyed parts of the book and found the characters portrayed fascinating, the book was hard to follow at parts and left me with some questions unanswered. The book tended to jump around in time and place, which can be a useful plot device, but was also a little confusing at times. Certainly not a terrible book and if you enjoy thrillers, worth a read.

Too Close is a dark, emotional and disturbing psychological thriller that I will definitely remember. I think the thing that most most hits you about this book is how real it feels. This is a scenario that could actually happen, the things that happen seem so innocent that the reader is lulled into a sense of false security which makes the twists seem even more shocking. As a mum with young children I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve struck up conversations and created friendships in the playground so for me this was especially chilling. I’ll definitely be finding out more about people before getting too close now.

The characters are all very well drawn but mostly hugely unlikeable ones that I just couldn’t warm to. I did however find Connie to be quite a sympathetic character. Yes she came across as quite rude and shocking at times but the reader can emphasise with her due to what she’s been through in the past. I found myself feeling quite protective of her as the book progresses and wanting her to have a happy ending.

This story intrigued me from the start with its realistic opening and I soon found myself fully immersed into the story. The tension is slowly increased throughout the book which helps create a very tense, almost meanacing atmosphere. The twists and reveals in the book are well paced and surprising which definetly made me want to keep reading. The ending was brilliant, really shocking and totally unexpected which I thought very cleverly done by the author.

This unbelievably is the author’s debut novel and I’m really looking forward to reading more from her in the future. If you like dark, gripping and emotional psychological thrillers then you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Transworld publishers for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

A brilliant book, demonstrating how flawed we all are and how forgiving we can be of others, yet not of ourselves, never knowing when that ‘last straw’ will hit us. I was rapt throughout and a gibbering wreck by the end. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book. Told mainly from the side of Connie, a severely damaged woman, who is in a psychiatric hospital telling her story to her therapist, Emma.
While for me it wasn't too much of a thriller, I still enjoyed it and found Connies telling of her story and how she ended up with the nickname 'Yummy Monster', to be interesting and engrossing and I couldn't put it down once I got a feel for where the book was heading.
For me it was definitely more a story of a woman's descent into mental illness and how that affected her life and choices she made.
Would certainly read more of Natalie Daniels work.

When Connie meets Ness in the park she thinks nothing of it. Even when she discovers that they are neighbours she doesn’t expect that their paths will cross again. She doesn’t even notice Ness’ beauty as others do.

In fact, it isn’t until Ness is entwined into their lives that Connie realises how beautiful and powerful Ness is.

Ness suddenly becomes much more than a neighbour as her marriage irretrievably breaks down. Ness is there at Connie's house, constantly demanding Connie’s attention, until Connie ... remembers nothing.

Connie wakes up in a psychiatric hospital with no recollection of how she got there. She knows that she has been accused of committing a terrible crime, but she doesn’t know what that is, or how she is supposed to have gotten where she is now.

Piece by piece Connie’s forensic psychologist tries to help her put the pieces of the puzzle back together.

But Connie’s life is now so broken, that we wonder if it can ever truly be put back together.

Too Close is very cleverly written and it’s title could be perceived to be about any one of the many complex relationships explored in this novel.

Too Close is a great read if you are looking for something a little different, and I look forward to more from this author.