Isla seems to have it all. A carefree life as a housewife with a rich husband.
Beth lives on the council estate on the other side of the street. Her boyfriend has lost his job and pays her little attention.
The two women are brought together by the hit and run of a man late at night. An unlikely friendship develops. But both women are keeping secrets…
This is a deeply troubling and uncomfortable book but that’s what makes it a good read! It is powerful and shocking as well as emotive and beautiful.
The relationship between the two women is brittle due to the secrets that separate them and create a distance that cannot be overcome. However, both women have hope for a better future, a shared one.
I’ll admit the ending didn’t suit me personally. I couldn’t really understand the link between Kyle and Jake that is hinted at throughout the book so I didn’t find the explanation of the ending particularly credible. I would love to know what happened after the epilogue!
Despite this, The Girl Across the Street is a fabulous book that will make you feel concerned, angry, hopeful for the main female characters. The tension is wonderfully built up and the fear for the women leads to a sense of dread and anticipation which is completely gripping through thev whole book.

As I like to keep the books I read varied when it comes to genres, this was somewhat of a refreshing read. It went rather quickly even thought there wasn't that much going on. It wasn't predictable enough for me to figure out everything that was hidden and held secret, but I did kind of suspect the outcome. So I think that's why it fell a bit flat for me.

I did enjoy the character development and the character building was done well enough for me to want to pick sides, to feel for some and feel rage for others. Made me think about the fact that even though this is pure fiction, things like that really truly happen. It's one thing to be in an unhappy marriage, a whole another thing to experience something the main character Isla has to endure.

If I had to describe this novel in two words, I'd say thought-provoking and shocking. As I don't read thrillers that often, I wouldn't know what to compare it to exactly. It did give me Gone Girl vibes, but at the same time they don't have that many similarities other than there being a messed up married couple. All in all, I'd still recommend it! It's more of a 3.5 star for me rather than just 3, but not quite 4.

I was so fortunate to receive an Advance Readers Copy of The Girl Across the Street by Vikki Patis. Thank you Netgalley!
I started reading this book as something I would kind of just read on my phone if I was sitting at a practice, waiting for carpool, etc. Honestly, it was just an in between book, with not much investment on my part.
Well...that certainly changed quickly!!! This was such a great, psychological thriller...one that was so hard to put down and one I couldn’t wait to keep reading and put all the pieces together!!
Here’s the plot.
Isla and Beth meet in a very non traditional way...they are both at the scene of an accident where a runner is hit and killed by a car. In an effort to help him (or maybe forget the night’s events) these 2 polar opposite women become friends.
Isla- the woman who appears to have it all…polished and perfect on the outside, is really living with an abusive husband.
Beth- a struggling waitress trying to make ends meet and get her deadbeat boyfriend off the couch.
I truly enjoyed watching these characters develop and evolve throughout the story. There were so many line drops throughout the book that it left me wondering...
what is the truth? 
who is up to what...
and what is really going on here??

After I finished the book, I had a few unanswered questions about the events in the book, although they were fairly minor to the entire story.
This was a great book I would recommend and think thriller lovers would enjoy.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Very interesting and kept me wanting more. Was very easy to read. It was well written and flowed well. Nice characters and a fantastic read All round good read

When Isla an insomniac is having a late night walk, she witnesses a jogger killed by a hit and run driver. She tries to save his life along with Beth who lives locally.

Isla and Beth become friends. Isla has not had a close friend in years, what harm can it do? From the outside they have nothing in common, Isla lives in a nice house and has no money worries whereas Beth lives in a council flat struggling to make ends meet.

The chapters alternate between Beth and Isla. Seems like both of them have secrets. All the time there is a darkness hiding amongst this story. I was totally addicted desperate to find out what the connection was between the characters and how it would all end.

Beth has a plan to get close to Isla. But she wasn’t expecting to actually feel sorry for her and start to see her as a real friend, will she be able to carry on with her plan?

Loved this book and did not want to finish it. You never really know what goes on behind closed doors!! I really wanted Beth to be a true friend to Isla who I felt very sorry for!!

This book was full of secrets . It had me hooked from the first page. I couldnt put it down. This book captivated me and I wanted to know more and more. I cannot wait to read the diary by Vikki.

I honestly wasn't sure about this book before I started it. But boy was I delighted I read it.
Two women separately out for a midnight walk. They witnesses a hit and run! They're strangers, and are completely different!! From opposite sides of life. Isla is married and lives an affluent life, while Beth is living with her drug addicted partner!
They become friends and Beth moves in with Isla and her husband Jake when she becomes homeless and her partner does a runner!
But is that why she moved in?? And why do Beth and Jake hate each other??
Read on for a gripping ride!
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this arc.

Hi and welcome on FromBelgiumWithBookLove! Allow me a little mini-rant to get started, please bear with me and know that I adore Vikki Patis, OK? OK! So. In this post #MeToo era lots of books have been written about abuse, and while I am convinced that this is an important subject that most definitely deserves and needs to be addressed, I can’t quite come to terms with the world being depicted in black and white: not ALL men are abusive, narcissistic pigs and not ALL women have been the victim of some kind of abuse. When reading a novel in which that is the case, well, it doesn’t quite gel with me no matter how great the story is overall. You know, give me a super villain, a character or even a gang to hate and I’ll merrily pick up my pitchfork and join the angry mob, but I can’t deal with ALL the guys being bad guys. Likewise, give me an abused woman and I’ll happily grab some tissues and a blankie and watch Bridget Jones on a loop with her, but I can’t deal with an entire cast of abused women.

Still with me? Well that’s absolutely fabulous, thank you! I’m sure you’ve gathered that the above is relevant because abuse is a theme, if not THE theme, in this novel. That’s not a spoiler, it’s quite obvious from the get-go. I really didn’t want to go down that black and white road again, I really didn’t want another brick in the #MeToo wall. But I loved Vikki Patis’s writing in The Diary and so I also really wanted to read The Girl Across The Street. And I’m thrilled to announce that we did NOT go down that dreaded road!! The main characters, both male and female, are quite balanced, and not all the men are evil, nor are all the women victims. That was refreshing!

The story starts with a car accident. A man is hit by a car and left for dead. Isla and Beth meet over trying to help him and thus a highly unlikely friendship begins. Isla is the posh trophy wife, always manicured and pedicured and perfectly groomed, the girl who has it all, while Beth is the girl across the street, in the crappy apartment with the crappy boyfriend. Before long, Isla is offering Beth a place to stay when Beth is down on her luck and out on the streets with no money, but how well does she really now Beth?

I really feel Vikki Patis has grown as an author and I’m very curious to see what more she has up her sleeve! This is a tale about trust and betrayal, about keeping up appearances, about friendship. A gripping domestic thriller well worth your time!

Many thanks to Vikki Patis, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not paid to give them.

I was so surprised with this book , it was a great read which I really enjoyed. Not always easy reading about physical abuse but it was central to the story and it happens so often these days . I will be looking to read more from this author in the future

Rating 3.5 stars!

As I am trying to power through all of the reports never posted on books I've already read, I see the pattern of my reading of late.  Today's book review is about The Girl Across the Street by Vikki Patis.

The chapters of The Girl Across the Street were alternately narrated by the perspectives of the main characters, Isla and Beth.  Readers learn about Beth's life and see how she didn't have it easy struggling along just to make ends meet while her boyfriend seemed lazy and didn't even want to help out around the house. I felt bad for her being trapped in that type of situation.  At first, though, Isla seemed to have it all - she's married and living a very affluent life, but of course first appearances are just that.Beth and Isla seem to be brought together in their unlikely friendship following a terrible car accident occurring on the street between the perfect homes where Isla lives and the worn down side of the street where Beth lives.  They seemed to get along so well and it was nice to see both of them happy - but then something began to irk me and I started thinking things just weren't quite right. 

The secrets, lies and deceptions were pouring out from pretty much most of the people in the book. I even found myself questioning what these two random people were doing outside on the same street at 3 o'clock in the morning......To write much more will cause me to write a spoiler, so this review will be brief.  What I will say is that The Girl Across the Street is definitely a dark and gripping psychological thriller that keeps you reading it cover to cover.  I sat silently when I was finished with the book, a little sad that it was over.

Beach worthy! Intense and thrilling, the girl across the street will have you in shambles! Awesome read!
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

<b>Hang on! This is an intense, heart pounding read! </b>

<I>We stood together, silence hanging in the air, heavy, suffocating.
I stared down at my hands, glistening red in the moonlight streaming through the window. I realised I was trembling uncontrollably.
‘It’s okay,’she whispered, reaching out to grab my hand. I saw the blood coat her fingers too; now she was implicated as well.
I could hear my heart beating; waves rushing in my ears. My mouth was dry, my breathing laboured. I gripped her hand tighter, desperately trying to draw strength from her.
‘What have I done?’The words were barely a whisper as they left my mouth; I could almost feel them wrapping around me, marking me with their judgement.
‘It’s okay,’she repeated, her voice ringing out in the silent room. I stared at the woman in front of me, our linked fingers hanging over the body between us. She looked up and our eyes met, and an understanding passed between us. A silent pact.
<b> We’re in this together.</b></i>

********
The Girl Across the Street by Vikki Patis is a thrilling ride from beginning to end! I could not put this book down!
The story is unique with complex characters and a heart pounding pace! I really enjoyed this novel and will definitely look out for more from this author!

With thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Vikki Patis for my advanced digital copy to read and review.

Wow. Well Bookouture have done it again!
Vikki Patis completely knocks it out of the park with her second novel, in which 2 women, from opposite sides of the street become entangled in each others lives.

The worst thing to happen to the victim of a hit and run is the best thing to happen for Isla and Beth.

Both love lives they are desperate to be away from whilst simultaneouly feeling they deserve no better. It is only when fate throws them together trying to save the life of a man who has been run over whilst jogging that they realise their self worth is shot to hell. And it is thanks to the men in their lives.

Whilst dealing with the consequences of the accident,they become the friends that both of them didn't know they were looking for and it gives them courage to realise they are in bad situations and in need of escape.

For Isla, she has, what would appear to be the perfect life-a beautiful home, money, a husband with status but do we really know what goes in behind those designer curtains? It is dark, very dark indeed.

And as for Beth, she spends her days as a waitress, being groped by leering men but unable to give her job away as she is the only breadwinner in the flat she shares with her boyfriend Kyle. But going home after exhausting, unfulfilling work should be an escape and respite from the day but for Beth,what is waiting is nothing of the kind.

In each other these women find the strength to shine a light into the dark places of their lives, and say no more.
It is a novel of empowerment, friendship and the toxic relationships that can occur before you even realise that you are in one.

Vikki writes fiercely and with passion about uneasy topics, it's very hardhitting but necessary to explain the situations that both women find themselves in with no fault of their own.
Brilliantly twisty, I lvoed both of these women and cared about them so much, I was gripping my kindle so tight, willing them to break free!

'The Girl Across The Street' is a fabulously engaging slice of domestic noir best devoured whole.

A good mystery that had me on the edge of my seat to see how it would end. It was easy to pick out some of the ending but there were still a few good surprises. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

When you marry, you hope it's forever and that you will be safe. Isla finds that her life with Jake is just the opposite. As the characters develop in this novel, you learn to love Isla, like Beth and hate Jake but you will still want to read on. Great story about how perceptions change and how lies become the truth.

Vikki Paris is an exciting new author for me. She enthralled me with this psychological thriller.
Iona is a lonely young housewife who lives in a beautiful house where she keeps everything perfect for her successful husband.
Beth is a downtrodden young waitress who lives in a grotty flat with her lazy good for nothing boyfriend.
Following an accident that happened late one night they formed a bond and quickly become good friends to the extent that Iona offers shelter in her home to Beth in her time of need.
As the story unfolds you will not be able to put this down - great read on a winter's night.

There are some books I wish I could rate more than just five stars and this is one of them! Another book that has made it onto my best reads so far this year. Any fan of this genre needs to make this book one to read! Five stars but more deserving of ten!

A good, steady read, which kept my attention and had me wanting to find out more, I didn’t really think it was a thriller as much as a domestic drama/suspense story. It was well written and captivating though, and one I would recommend to most of my fellow type of book lovers!
I will be using in a challenge and recommending to those in Chapter Chatter Pub!

Isla & Beth have never met. They may live close to each other but their neighbourhoods are very different. Their paths cross one night when insomniac Isla comes across a jogger who is seriously injured in a hit & run accident. beth is frantically phoning 999 & Isla administers CPR to no avail. This traumatic event draws the two women together & they strike up an unlikely friendship.

The chapters alternated between Beth & Isla giving a look into their lives & the people around them- none of whom are particularly pleasant! They both seem to have their secrets & the reader is kept guessing.

This was a good enjoyable read. thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Isla is on the surface a well presented, home loving housewife. Where as Beth comes from the wrong side of the tracks and barely manages to scrape by each month. When they both come across a hit and run victim their lives change forever. Desperate for a friendship, the women seek each other out. There are clearly underlying motives but it takes a while to uncover the secrets.

I really enjoyed the story line, I predicted the end but that didn’t take away from the suspense that Vikki created which made me want to rush through to find out what’s happened. It was well written and every character had a good depth to them. I would have liked to hear some of the story from Jake's point of view but I enjoyed the relationship between Isla and Beth. This was a great read with suspense, anticipation and plenty of drama.