At the start of this book, I was really excited.  It had the makings of an excellent thriller.  While I could have done without all three narrators I did like jumping between past and present.  I enjoyed learning about the characters this way.  

The mystery was also very interesting what happened to Ruth and what if anything did George have to do with it.  But there were a couple of things I didn’t love, like the characters.  having three narrators meant I didn’t really connect with any of them.  I liked Kat the most, but even she was a little annoying. 

I also was not a fan of the resolution of this book.  It seemed very anticlimactic, and quite honestly very unsatisfying.  I really enjoyed this book up until about three-quarters of the way through, I just wish it had a better resolution.

3 for neutral.  I tried to get into this a few times, but never could, which really made me sad because it sounded like I would love it.  I am a very moody reader though and will update of that changes in the future, which is very likely!

First time reading this author, was not really a book I could get into, was a bit confusing. Actually ended up giving up as I just wasn’t the page turner thriller I was hoping for.

This was my first book by this author and I found the story very entertaining. At first it was maybe a little confusing since it has 3 POV storylines but once I got that figured out I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see how it ends. Thank you publisher and netgalley  for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

This was a fantastic thriller one that will make you look behind yourself and check under the bed, I won't give anything away for you but this was a great thriller If you liked the book You then you'll like this.
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

This one just didn't do it for me and it was hard for me to get into the story and characters throughout the book.  I was really excited for this based off the description but it fell short with what I was expecting/hoping for.  Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I found this to be a slow starter but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. 

This story is told through three points of view and changes from past to present. Usually I’m not keen on all the jumping around but the author made it work in this story. 

Alice is married to George. She’s haunted by the disappearance of a girl called Ruth who was in George’s past. Was he to blame?

Although this didn’t grab me from the start I thought it was a good read. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I really enjoyed this book and I raced through it , some parts of the story are familiar ,for example the behavior of the privileged set at university , though this did not distract at all from  my enjoyment . Alice married to a prominent ex politician thinks she see's one of his ex girlfriends from university whilst on the train . She starts to investigate what happened to Ruth who had disappeared whilst still at university . The story is told both from the past and present . We have Naomi who is Ruth's sister involved in the search too . A good twist I didn't see coming and some pretty vile characters make this a very entertaining read .

THE GIRL, BEFORE YOU is a great suspense novel. Nicola Rayner does not disappoint. I am glad I was picked to read this one because it is amazing. It has bit of everything, suspense, heart and great characters.

3 stars for this quick read debut. A bit confusing as it’s told from 3 narrators, whose voices weren’t distinctive to me. Fairly predictable plot and an unsurprising ending. I look forward to more books from the author as I think she’s got a lot of potential.

Loved this so much that I devoured it in one day! A real page turner. It’s cleverly written   so you know each character and care what happens to them all. Compelling storyline and convincing characters keep you wanting to know what happens next. Looking forward to reading more Nicola Rayners

She was his.
She was perfect.
And then, she was gone.
An addictive and twisting psychological suspense, perfect for summer. If you liked My Lovely Wife, you’ll love this.
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?

The Girl Before You is a well paced psychological thriller following the narrative of 3 women who were at university together.
The story starts of slowly before picking up its pace.
Excellent story that weaves the different time lines together expertly.
I loved the story line and plot so very well written.
Great characters that were written very well.
Really enjoyed this one and going to be looking out for more from the author.
Recommend reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC of this book.  This is my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

An interesting storyline but have to admit there are others around quite similar. As a lot of this is set in a university with students there is quite a lot of sex and swearing. Not everyone's cup of tea.

Right, first things first. I just need to say that this book is absolutely brilliant. It was a struggle to put it down and I only did so when I had to, like when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

There's so much more to the story than what is on the back of the book. Alice plays a big part but she shares the telling of the story with Naomi and Kat. Alice is married to George Bell, a former MP and now a television presenter. He's one of those supremely confident men who think that they can get away with anything (and often do). On a train one day, Alice thinks she sees Ruth, a woman who went missing when they were all at university, one George had a dalliance with. Naomi is Ruth's sister. Quite understandably, it's been hard to move on with her life when her sister is missing. Is she alive? Is she dead? Will she just turn up one day? Or did she see her for the last time all those years ago? Kat's story is mostly from those university days and we see much of what happened then through her eyes.

Alice's sighting on the train moves her to look a bit closer at George and to ask herself if she really knows her husband. More digging ensues and that, combined with the story from the past, mean that secrets are starting to come to light. As it says on the front cover, there is something that is revealed at the end that is totally unexpected. I'm not sure I gasped but it was quite a revelatory moment and I had to take a moment to process it.

The Girl Before You is just such a fantastic read. It's very human, it's full of real life issues. There are characters who have such a sense of entitlement I know I would have hated them if I'd come across them in real life. There are also some that I know I would like.

I'm trying to think what I liked best about this book but I think it's the whole combination: there's the wonderfully twisty and complex plot, which all comes together so cleverly; there's those characters to love or to hate; and then there's the writing which totally drew me in and completely absorbed me. 

This is the kind of book I love. It's about relationships and friendships, with a mystery to solve. Nicola Rayner is one to watch.

"The Girl Before You" by Nicola Rayner 

My first time reading that author.

3.5 stars. 
I liked that book but it wasn't my favorite this year.  I found it a bit confusing with the different POVs and expected more or different as it was said to be "The new Girl on the train".

Well written and interesting story.  Good thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC of this book.  This is my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Alice has always been jealous of her charming husband's ex's but when she becomes pregnant those feelings intensify. One particular ex is the key focus of her obsession- a girl who disappeared after they dated. It is told through three different perspectives which isn't one of my favourite formats. I found this book to be quite slow and while I was interested- I wasn't gripped the whole way through. It's a perfectly enjoyable read but not one of the best thrillers I've read this year.

All the way through this book I felt I had read it before, I hadn’t! and that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good, it and the themes just felt ‘familiar’......
I am not sure if the tag line ‘This Years Girl on The Train’ helped, this is distracting and also quite an accolade to live up to!
Anyway the story is....rich and privileged uni kids, excessive drink, drugs, sex and all the woes that came with that.....a end of Uni’ ball’, someone dies, secrets are made and kept and life continues.....
Fast forward years later and secrets have remained secret, lives have been led....and then the girl who died is ‘seen’ ( on a train granted ) and the past starts to unravel and come back to haunt them all, some
of them have no desire to revisit their Uni days, some need to to come to terms with what happened to them....and the sightings continue...did she really die? 
In the mix is a ( now ) M.P. who was, in the day, a real ‘ladies man’ with his bezzie....of course there is more to that than meets the eye, that story and the sightings story with an added touch of teacher/uni student lesbian love all add up to quite a shocking story with many characters battling to get to various truths!
The ending is very quick, after reading 350 pages I prefer a robust ending rather than a ‘mmmmmm so what did that mean’ kinda conclusion
Strong and entitled characters, some uncomfortable subjects, good writing and a VERY unsettling teddy that reappears after years called ‘Nonny’ ( yep Nonny ) all tinged with as said ‘Ive read this before’ led me to a good read which I enjoyed, up to a point
7/10 4 Stars

Maybe it was the timing, but this was a bit rough getting into it. I just couldn't hold my interest. 

And towards the middle I found myself skimming through it. It wasn't necessarily boring or bad, I just wanted to get to the end.

Also, please stop marketing books as "the next Girl On The Train". That gives the reader either two aspects: either the main character is portrayed to look crazy and really isn't (or is), or there is a big twist at the end. Either way, you want your reader going into it expecting none of that because you might get your hopes up, like I did.

This book was right up my street! Following a slightly slow start, the pace picked up considerably and I was immersed in this fabulous dual timeline story. It followed the viewpoints of different players in a disappearance both at that time and in the current day. 

"The Girl Before You" was a very well thought out and engaging story and was edgy enough to keep my interest. With absorbing characters and intriguing themes it was definitely worth the read and for me, the elements all cleverly tied in together to complete a nice little package.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Avon Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Girl Before You is one of those psychological thrillers where the synopsis could is interchangeable with that of another book in the genre without losing the gist of the story. That's because there are so many novels effectively repeating the same trope-laden tale over and over, and this book is no exception. Don't get me wrong it's a fun, light, take-with-a-pinch-of-salt type of read and perhaps decent for a summer holiday or lounging around but nothing special or original. 

However, I feel the fact that it is based at a university with all the usual student shenanigans means it should be targeted more at a young adult/teen audience as the sexual liaisons, endless drinking and drug taking started to become annoying to me. This is a domestic thriller that is merely a mediocre read and explores the notion that you can never truly know someone. 

It's not the worst book I've ever picked up, but I was almost willing it to be over to engage with something better. The statement on the cover professing that you will be left gasping at the ending couldn't have been further from the truth. Many thanks to Avon for an ARC.