The Empty Nest
by Sue Watson
290 pages 
2⭐⭐
Publication date: November 1, 2019
Publisher: Bookouture
My Review:
 None of the characters were likeable at all and I failed to connect with any of them. Kat is a mother who is extremely obsessed with her daughter. Kat was extremely annoying and boy do I mean annoying. The book is wrote from Kats point of view and it's page after page after page of Kat whining and moaning and groaning because her daughter has gone to college. This woman is seriously obsessed with her daughter to the point it's insane. I was thinking throughout the whole book girl you need to run and run and run and never look back ! Get far away from your crazy mother !!!!Over 60% of the book is nothing but Kat repeating herself over and over. The story moved at a extremely slow rate and it was just repetitive to the point I wanted to beat my head into the wall. Had the author put something else into the beginning of the story other than Kat whining about Amy being gone it might would have been interesting. I swear I wanted to choke the woman just to make her shut up. I finally gave up at 62% through the book because I just could not take any more. I'm sorry but this is just one book I cannot recommend. Many thanks to the Publisher , the Author , and NetGalley for a ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own.
#TheEmptyNest #NetGalley

This book starts with a huge bang and then kind of sizzles.  The premise is a good one; Kat has left her only daughter at a distant university and is desperately missing Amy.  Then, when Amy is supposed to be coming home for a holiday, she disappears.  No texts, no calls and no online presence at all.  Kat is understandably frantic, casting aspersions on everyone she can in order to get them to admit that they know where Amy could be.  That is where the interest kind of slowed down for me, just as the momentum of the book did.  The rest of the book is a slow burn, a slow revelation of where Amy is and who is responsible for her disappearance.  The author did a good. job of including some twists, but I must say that I had guessed most of them by the time she got there.  I enjoyed reading the book, but it was not the psychological thriller that I was prepared to enjoy.  Fans who enjoy a slow and well-written suspense will enjoy this book as long as their expectations for surprises are low.

Sue Watson is incredibly skilled at character development, and like in Our Little Lies, The Empty Nest builds suspense through the thoughts of a potentially unreliable narrator, adding complexity that doesn’t rely on dubious plot twists. Sue Watson is an author to watch and i am already excited for her next book.

Loved this book, with a topic that is relevant to mothers nowadays,. The character was very easy to relate to. Twists and turns all the way through. I loved it. I cant wait to read more of her books.

I found the relationship between Kat and her daughter to be claustrophobic  and controlling and this put me off the story. I didn't finish it .

Kat’s daughter goes off to university. Amy tells her mum she will be coming home to visit. But Amy doesn’t arrive . Kat is worried sick but everyone tells her not to worry she will have been out with her friends and will turn up.The police  are soon involved and the twists and turns keep coming in this excellent book right up to the end..
Thanks NetGalley

3 for neutral.  Unfortunately, this book was not for me, or at least at the times I tried to read it.  It just never grabbed me, but will update my review at a later date, if able to finally get into it and finish.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. Honestly, I could not finish this book. The main character, Kat, has an obsessive relationship with her daughter who just left for college. I guess you could say she is a helicopter mom.  If I was her daughter, I would have gone to a college much further away than 2 hours. Kat just comes across as this perfect mom who has a perfect "best friend" relationship with her daughter. It was just too annoying for me.

The Empty Nest is a 3.5⭐️ read for me. 
I have read “The woman next door” and loved that so had high expectations for this one, especially as I have found myself in the same situation in September but unfortunately it fell short. The storyline was good, the way Sue Watson leads you down the wrong path is great and the twist to the take was great as well, it was just the first 10 chapters or so I semi struggled with.
Kat Ellis is finding life hard at the moment having left her daughter, Amy, at university a hundred miles away in Aberystwyth, Wales. After not being able to contact Amy she hits panic mode as she knows that Amy would always return her calls and messages. After 10 chapters of Kat worrying and whittling away I nearly gave up but I am so glad I didn’t as the second half of the book was sooo much better, suspense, twists and reveals made this into a great read.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

★★★ 3.5 stars

THE EMPTY NEST is one of those books that I had high expectations for, particularly after enjoying "The Woman Next Door" so much. I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't find it nearly as enthralling as much as irritating. Having said that, it does get better...somewhat.

Kat Ellis is an over-protective mother whose 18 year old daughter has left for university. Sadly for Kat, Amy chose Aberyswyth in Wales over a hundred miles away which brings a whole new set of worries for her mother. 
But then, had Kat been my mother I would have chosen Aberyswyth too...and I'm in Australia! Never a more annoying, irritating, insufferable woman have I ever encountered than Kat! That woman grated on my nerves from the first page, and while I did gain some insight and understanding into why she was like that, she still irritated me no end.

The first ten chapters are basically of Kat constantly staring at her phone and rambling nonsensically on and on, subsequently thinking, talking and analysing Amy's every movement. Why hasn't she called? Why hasn't she text? It's what she ALWAYS does! No, it's what's she always DID. Amy is 18 and has left for Uni...she's a big girl now and doesn't need her mum breathing down her neck every five minutes. But Kat refuses to believe that, saying that "a girl always needs her mum". While that is true...Kat just takes it to a whole new level, choking the life out of her daughter. "Smothering mothering" is the best term to describe her.

So when Amy fails to return home one weekend this of course sends Kat over the edge, causing her to imagine all sorts of horrors. Of course, she was just home two weeks before and mother and daughter have exchanged possibly around 100 phone calls and texts in that time. They speak daily without fail...until now. It has been two days and Kat has not heard from her daughter. She has not called...not answered her phone...not sent any text messages...she hasn't even been on social media! 

Alarm bells start ringing for Kat, whilst her husband and best friend think she is just overreacting. The assure her that Amy is fine; she's probably just having a good time with her new friends, enjoying her new-found independence and just forgot to call. Forgot? Kat screeches. Amy never forgets to call or text, as she would know her mum would worry. The first ten chapters are honestly spent with this over-wrought, over-anaylitical, over-reacting mum obsessing over the sudden absence of her daughter's communication. No one is listening to Kat and her worries. Amy wouldn't just disappear and not call.

When husband Richard finally agrees that the police need to be contacted, Kat is relieved that he is finally listening to her. He calls the police in Wales and then they both make the two hour drive to Amy's uni in Aberyswyth. Upon arrival, it is soon apparent that Amy's room has not been slept in...and some of her clothes are missing. Has she any reason to run away, the police ask. Of course not, Kat responds. Is she an at-risk or vulnerable person, they ask. Kat wants to scream that of course she is at risk and vulnerable...she is not at home safe with me! But as the hours go by, just about everyone who knew Amy becomes a suspect.

Despite the fact that it is now clear that something has indeed happened to Amy, for the most part we are subjected to yet more agonising and analysing from Kat and some woeful conversations between her, her best friend Zoe and daughter Jodie. But then gradually, a different picture begins to emerge. No one, it appears, is who they seem. Kat has secrets of her own, relating back to her ex-husband and Amy's father. She has not even disclosed to Richard everything from her past. And what is Richard hiding? Who can she turn to when those closest to her around her keep telling her that this is normal behaviour for a teenager? Then when Tony, Amy's father, turns up Kat begins to wonder if her decision to cut him from their lives all those years ago was the right one. Does Tony know where Amy is?

As the story picks up pace, secrets begin to unravel and Kat questions just who she can truly trust as we accelerate towards a surprising conclusion.

I must admit that it was impossible for me to identify with Kat as I am not a mother myself, but even I could see the "smothering mothering" was bordering on unhealthy to dysfunctional. Yes, she had her reasons for her behaviour but I still can't quite grasp her need to be constantly tied to her daughter. And to be honest, I think the closeness Kat envisioned she and Amy shared was pretty much all in her mind. They were close, yes, but not in the way she thought. I think, as much as Amy loved her mum, she craved for the independence she would never have at home which is probably why she chose a uni over a hundred miles away in another country.

Despite my intense dislike of Kat, I gave her my full attention...whilst questioning my own sanity...and I stuck with it. I am glad I did because I was happy to note that the story came alive in the second half. And not because everyone finally started listening to Kat...because goodness knows, I wouldn't have. But because there were secrets to unravel and I love nothing more than some juicy secrets to pick through - the darker, the better.

I have to say that there there is not one likable character in THE EMPTY NEST, except Richard who I thought deserved a medal for putting up with Kat. But I thoroughly disliked Kat most of all. I'm not surprised Amy had disappeared...I think I would have too. And yet, the story is still engaging enough to keep you interested until it gets better... and it does.

Again, despite my intense dislike for Kat (that never changed throughout the book), THE EMPTY NEST is an addictive page turner once you get past the first several chapters of Kat's constant rambling, which inevitably slowed the pace dramatically to start with.

The one thing that saved this story were the twists at the end - albeit a little over the top maybe - but satisfying all the same. I must admit to feeling a kind of perverse pleasure as it unfolded.

Overall, THE EMPTY NEST is a slow burn thriller that will have you tearing your hair out. It will aggravate and irritate you but stick with it as the ending is bound to satisfy in some small perverse way.

I would like to thank #SueWatson, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheEmptyNest in exchange for an honest review.

LOVED THIS!! 
As a mother whose daughter has just left home to move into her own flat, my heart was in my mouth reading this. I felt every emotion Sue Watson attributed to her main character, missing her daughter, knowing something was wrong but nobody believed her. 
Although I had my suspicions about some of the people around her, I was surprised by the outcome (no spoilers). Couldn’t put this down!

EXCERPT: Later that night when I can't sleep, I come downstairs and make a cup of Amy's peppermint tea. It's 4a.m. and it's dark outside, and as I wait for the kettle to boil I stand close to the frost framed window, it looks so dark out there. I hope Amy's okay, hope she isn't cold. I'm beginning to hate it here, the wallpaper, the waiting, the landline ringing urgently during the day, people calling to ask if we've heard anything, the kettle boiling endlessly, steam and fear thrumming through the house. I'm living in a loop, and though it's now the early hours of Tuesday - three days since anyone last heard from Amy - I can't see an end to this.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: ‘Sometimes we can’t see what’s right in front of us, Kat. Everyone has secrets, even the people we love, the people we live with…’

Kat remembers the days when her only daughter Amy wouldn't leave her side. Amy was the baby who cried when you walked out of the room, the toddler who was too shy to speak to strangers, the small child who clung to Kat's legs in the school playground.

But now Amy is grown up, and Amy is gone – to university in a town several hours away. Kat's house – which once felt too full, too noisy, too busy – is deathly quiet, and Kat awaits the daily phone call to tell her that her beloved daughter is thriving and happy.

But one day Amy doesn’t call. Kat’s husband and friends think she is being paranoid – surely Amy is just out, having fun with her friends. But Kat knows right away that something is very wrong. Her daughter would never forget to call. She would never just disappear... After all, Amy has nothing to run from. Or does she?

MY THOUGHTS: At 50%, I wasn't feeling the love for The Empty Nest by Sue Watson. And although it improved from that point on, I still never really felt the love for it.

Kat is a whiny, neurotic, smother mother, who admits that she puts her daughter first before all others. And that is an understatement. She is not at all likeable. But she is not the only one.... But she is the one from whose point of view the story is written. Which, I think, is the main problem with the first half of this book. I was sick of listening to her whine.

Don't get me wrong, she whines her way through the second half as well, but at least there is other stuff going on to break the monotony.

There actually wasn't much I enjoyed about this book. I had the who sorted out pretty early on, and the motive became clear as I read on. In all, it was pretty predictable, and not a read that I will be recommending, unless you want a quick read that isn't going to require any thinking.

I do like the cover. 🙂

#TheEmptyNest #NetGalley

😕😕.5

THE AUTHOR: Sue Watson was a journalist then TV Producer at the BBC until she wrote her first book and was hooked.

She's now written thirteen novels - many involving cake - and her books have been translated into Italian, German and Portuguese. Originally from Manchester, Sue now lives with her husband and teenage daughter in Worcestershire where much of her day is spent procrastinating while eating cake (for research purposes), and watching 'My 600lb Life,' on the sofa.

Sue explored the darker side of life for her latest book 'Our Little Lies,' a dark, psychological thriller completely devoid of cake. She's hoping this change in direction will be reflected on the weighing scales.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Empty Nest by Sue Watson for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system, please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage

Never dismiss a mothers instinct.

I must be honest I did struggle with this book I found myself wondering if it was going to go anywhere it seemed to be stuck on a broken record with not much happening. 

However I never request an early preview of a book if i'm not going to read it so I persevered and I'm pleased to say the second half of the story started to warm up and was much better than the first. 
 
The tension of the story started to build with lots of drama and suspicion along the way.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher.  I found this book really annoying especially the characters that skipped half of it.

This was an interesting read in that it highlighted very well the way in which our views of our offspring can be blinded by love.
Kat is very close to her daughter Amy. They are in daily contact and share everything. Kat literally lives for Amy and cannot see anything remotely negative in her daughter at all.
Kat doesn't hear from her in 48 hours, there are no uploads to Instagram or additions to Amy's Snapchat story. No-one has seen or heard from her and most importantly Amy never turns up at home for a weekend break from uni.
Cue Kat and her ceaseless search to find Amy and convince the Police, her husband, her best friend Zoe and her best friend's daughter Jodie that Amy is missing and something bad must have happened.
Personally, even though I am a mother myself, Kat's hysteria and endless harping on about her wonderful daughter and how she couldn't live without her, at times drove me to despair. I felt that if I was Amy I would want to 'disappear' just to escape the over-protection and smothering. Yet I guess this is how the author wants the reader to feel because as the story develops you are left wondering whether Amy is taking a break from an intense mother or something bad has actually happened to her courtesy of her stepfather, her real dad or even her boyfriend.
When parents invest so much in their children that there is nothing left once the children leave home, the empty nest can be an uncomfortable place to reside and marriages can seem flimsy. This theme will resonate with many a mother, even if you don't experience the extremes of emotion that Kat does.
I saw what was going to happen and who was the guilty party. I also guessed what Kat had kept hidden for all these years, so in that sense there were no great revelations. However this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. There is a twist towards the end I did not expect and I did enjoy the change in narrator right at the end from Kat's voice to Amy's voice which gave the epilogue to this novel a much needed injection of wry humour.
The reason I opted for 4 stars rather than 5 is because although I wouldn't wish anyone dead, I did not much like Amy as a character. She is shallow and selfish and too complacent about her life. I was therefore not quite as emotionally invested as I thought I was going to be. Even so I am glad I had the opportunity to read this novel and I would recommend it to others.

I could identify with this book in so many ways.  I will be that mother that miss my child even though he is grown up and left home.... This was a great thriller, compelling and gripping until the end.
Recommended.

From the very off the main character in this book drove me mad, I just couldn’t relate to her at all and find her highly irritating but i think that was maybe how we were supposed to find her?

I feel like a lot of this book was history that could have been more concise to make way for more of the main story line. I definitely wanted to keep reading to find out what happened but on a few occasions I found it a bit slow. I felt like a lot of the book was just talking about what was happening when we wanted to know why! 

The twists were good and I have to admit that I didn’t guess what the ‘main’ plot was but I do think the book dragged out a bit too much. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to the author, @bookouture and @netgalley for my copy.

This is a really scary book if you are a parent, I have older girls so I could empathise with Kat. Kat and her daughter Amy have always had a close relationship, maybe too close. So when Amy decides she is going to university Amy feels like her life has ended. Although she is married, Amy has always been her everything, she can’t cope without her in the house or her life. So when Amy doesn’t turn up for a planned weekend home, Kat instinctively knows something is wrong.

Knowing her tendency to overreact, her husband and best friend both try to pacify her with platitudes. Kat is having none of it, after contacting all the friends she knows and the university, she is left with no alternative but to involve the police. Something she knows she should do, but is still reluctant?

The author portrays the terror of a parent who doesn’t know where their child is incredibly well. Kat’s distress leaps off the page as you read, and you feel your heart beating quicker as the story progresses.

This is the first Sue Watson book I have read, but definitely won’t be the last

The Empty Nest was a bit of a slow starter for me, but once I was in, I was in, and didn't stop guessing until the end. The tension builds very quickly after about the first third and I was eager to know how it would end. A gripping thriller!

Another fantastic book from Sue Watson. Her books just get better and better. The Empty Nest was just a brilliant read throughout and I was just hooked from the first few pages. This book had everything you need to have you hooked. It was fast paced, twisted and dark in places........Blimey I did not see that coming. 

I loved all the characters especially the cover.

I highly recommend Sue's books. Just brilliant 

Big Thank You to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Sue Watson for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.