Loved this book and read it almost all in one sitting! I'm a sucker for any book where the characters reflect back on time spent at university and this book didn't disappoint.

The twists keep you guessing until the end!

What an amazing thriller! Absolutely loved it; every roller coaster moment of it. This book was full of surprises, and there was no boring moment. I highly recommend it.

I found this book to be very slow and difficult to follow. Ruth's death still haunts Alice whose husband dated Ruth for a while. She tries to figure out what happened. I am usually intrigued by stories such as this but this one just didn't hold my attention.

3 stars. This book was definitely full of twists, but at times, I found the intricacies a bit difficult to keep straight. While the overall plot was intriguing, the varying layers of plot line through different character interpretations felt convoluted. Without spoiling the ending, I would also say that it was a bit fantastical and the converging of story lines at the end felt a little forced for me.

A bit of a slow burn for me but I did enjoy it. Just feel it could have been better as it left me with u answered questions that could have been tied up better.

This book is a slow burn. If you don’t like a slow suspense then I don’t suggest reading it but if you get sort of obsessive with figuring out the mystery quicker than the clues then check this out! An obsessive wife usually makes an excellent narrator!

This had a slow start, but I gradually got really into it and as the story went on, was completely gripped and couldn't wait to find out what happened.
The reason, however, that I'm only giving two stars, is because the ending _completely_ let the rest of the story down. We never actually hear if Ruth is found, there's no kind of decent wrapping up of the ending. It all leads up to this turning point and then suddenly it ends. I understand the point of cliffhangers and leaving readers in suspense, but this was a very untidy, unsatisfying ending and as a reader, I feel cheated by it.

This is a fun switch-off read but it pretty much just re-jigs all the tropes of other books with 'The Girl...' in the title: switching narrators/PoV, a then-and-now storyline, privileged men, #metoo women, the wife who suddenly realises she doesn't know her husband, the devious best friend, girl-on-girl competition for men, a double helping of pregnancy, the dead sister trope... cue mysterious cards and a soft toy in the post, respectable wife on a mission to solve the mystery.

Do be aware that much of the body of the story takes place at university so if you don't want to read about students drinking excessively/doing lines of coke/having casual sex and bonking in the toilets, then maybe give this one a miss.

I absolutely loved The Gurl Before You its the kind of thriller / mystery that appeals to me the most and once I started reading I couldn't put it down until I'd finished! Nicola dealt with difficult subjects in a respectful way and although I prefer a story with a clear ending the openness of this ending was so well done.
5/5

Alice has always been haunted by the women from her husband’s past. As an MP and now a TV personality, George Bell’s reputation as a ladies’ man precedes him. But when Alice falls pregnant, her unease becomes an obsession.

And there’s one ex in particular she can’t get out of her head: a beautiful student George dated in his first year, who went missing before they finished university. Ruth.

When Alice sees a woman who looks just like Ruth, she can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to her disappearance than George has been telling her. But does she really want to know what her husband has been getting up to behind her back all these years?

This was a really good read with a lot of suspense. I thought this story went at a great pace and the building of the plot was excellent. I liked the characters a lot! All around great book!!

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of The Girl Before You by Nicola Rayner
Pub Date: 06 May 2019

The first 2/3 of this was unputdownable. I connected with the characters, the plot was beyond intriguing, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened. The last third was a bit of a slog- the plot jumped around a lot, it was hard to keep everything/everyone straight, and the ending wasn’t very rewarding.

A really enjoyable read. I liked the past and present alternating chapters. A good mystery. A great debut. I would definitely read more from this author

I must admit that for once I found this hard to get on with. It was slow to start and somewhat confused. A good story idea but not one which seemed to flow. Sorry to say but I will not be recommending this to friends.

Whilst I enjoyed this book, I think it could have been even better as I was left with some unanswered questions about some of the characters and plots.
The ending was very good and unexpected.
Overall, I gave it 4 stars and will definitely read more from this author in future.

As a Pembrokeshire girl born and bred, I guess the affinity I felt with this book was born from that connection (I live 20 minutes from Haverfordwest so it was very relatable)
It’s a good storyline, well written.
Easy to keep up with despite the several seperate narratives.
My only gripes are the not very conclusive ending, and I would have loved an epilogue - what are Alice and Naomi doing now as new mums? How is life going for them? Have they found any closure?
All in all this is a good read but it has scope to be much better.

Though this book started out slow, it picked up quickly and I was wrapped into the dual timeline story of Ruth’s disappearance. It follows the viewpoints of different players in Ruth’s disappearance at the time and current day. It differed from a lot of other thrillers in that as far as I could tell, I had no idea what was occurring until almost the very end and it was very well thought out.

The story became more interesting as the book went on and I found myself seeking it out instead of school readings I should have been doing [oops.] The story evolved as it went on and became a very well thought out and engaging story, tying all the story elements together in a nice little package.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really good bad boy/dead girl type thriller if that's your thing. You kind of want to shake the wive as she has a bit of TSTL but all the others entertain, even the bad guys, and it's very enjoyable reading. Did not see ending coming.

Alice is married to George, a playboy with a long list of conquests who include an MP and a TV star. Married now, George promises his philandering days are over, but when Alice becomes pregnant, she begins worrying about his extracurricular activities. One day, Alice glimpses a woman who looks like, Ruth, the student George had had an affair with before she disappeared. But if Ruth is not missing, then what else has George been lying about? As Ruth begins to doubt everything about her marriage, her world spins out of control bringing about events no one could have predicted. Anyone who has lived with a partner with a roving eye will appreciate this book and easily be able to put themselves in Alice’s place