Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book sounded really intriguing and I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, it was not the book for me. The beginning was thrilling and hooked me immediately. So much so that I managed to read this book in a 2-hour sitting. It would be hard not to get hooked by the description and opening chapters. A man wearing the mask of Lily's daughter's face stands in their backyard staring menacingly at the security cameras. From there, the plot dissolved and I was left in total confusion.

My first issue is that Maisie, Lily's daughter, is completely unbelievable as a character. Throughout the entire book, I had to remind myself that Maisie was supposed to be a 5-year-old. Her actions and dialogue with Lily were indicative of an adult. It were moments when Lily helped bathe Maisie and put her to bed that I was reminded this was a small child.

For much of the plot, Maisie and Lily are navigating around a replica of their home. They are being held captive by an unknown kidnapper and must do everything they are told to stay safe. The book lost much of its thrill in the middle as I read about Lily trying to convince Maisie to eat and them attempting to live a somewhat "normal" life. When the backstory was presented, it was kind of thrown into the middle of the book while Lily was trying to figure out who had kidnapped them. Some supporting characters would appear for a few pages and that was it.

The ending was where the book lost me. I had kept reading because I really wanted to find out who was holding them hostage. The ending was over-the-top and out of nowhere. I was not expecting a realistic ending after reading the rest of the book, but I was hoping for more plot and character development that would explain everything. Instead, it felt like characters were thrown back in to have a neat resolution while also being an unexpected twist.

Finally, the cliffhanger ending. It was frustrating because I prefer everything to be resolved, but even more alarming was that the final pages hinted at a dark, and traumatic event that may be extremely triggering to read. With more development and a restructured backstory, this could be a great read. For now, it's very disjointed and ultimately uses the perceived vulnerability of women to drive the entire plot.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and girlie books therefore am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.

I enjoyed this very much. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Lily's terrified when she sees a man wearing a mask of her daughter's face on her security cam. This strange occurrence is magnified when she and Maisie wake up in their home...but it's not their home.

I knew pretty much from the first pages this wasn't a book for me. There was something about the writing style that threw me, but I hung in there. What really killed this book for me was how unbelievable it was. It was wildly improbable, the ending twist was just weird, and nothing fit right. Characters were dropped (like Sam) only to last about 2 pages before disappearing again. By the end, I really didn't care what happened, it was all too crazy.

This one is a mixed bag.

The premise and setup is deliciously creepy and kept me reading. I enjoyed the fast pace, and I liked both Lily and Maisie, their relationship and their will to survive and escape.

Maisie is an unrealistic five year old (a real five year old would have way more tantrums and be far less good at acting/keeping secrets) but I was able to overlook that.

For me, though, the book has two main problems:

1. The resolution comes out of nowhere. For this sort of thing to work, there have to be clues seeded through the narrative so that readers can retrospectively join the dots. It felt like the author was so keen to get into the action that they didn't include the back story that would make sense of the whole thing. (In fact, I did wonder if I was missing some vital chapters – the numbering seemed to jump unexpectedly early on.)

2, ***SPOILER*** Ewan's appearance at the end and the fact that Lily started living with him again was thoroughly implausible, given that she'd only recently felt the need to take out a restraining order against him. I didn't buy the reasons for his being there or the resurrection of their relationship. It would have made more sense if he HAD been involved with the kidnapping.

Fun enough, but flawed.

Wow this is a terrifying concept! Being kidnapped and having to survive and having a child involved too. A mother’s worst nightmare. I love how the story unfolds and starts with seeing someone on the camera and then turns into this whole nightmare. Good plot development and liked the ending (but won’t ruin it:)

I really enjoyed this book and especially liked how it was slightly different from a lot of the psychological thrillers out there. My only criticism is that the book was too short. Some parts, particularly at the end, became hard to follow because it was so rushed and I had to check back a few times when I found it missed how characters had ended up in a particular place. I also felt that the middle section of the book could've lasted longer - it's hard to explain without giving anything away - I recommend reading it yourself.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


You can always rely on R.J Parker to provide his own, inimitable spin on your typical thriller. 'While You Slept' is no different. It is fast-paced, tense, crisply written, and very intriguing. After all, what's not to like about a plot that sees the book's main protagonists wake up, seemingly kidnapped, in an exact replica of their own home? Who the hell would do that? Just a little reassurance for those of you that eschew the alternative realities of science fiction: this is not some surreal plot-device lifted from the legendary, mind-boggling, 1970s series, 'The Prisoner'. No, the motivations behind the contrived scene-setting of this novel is far cleverer than that. It does, however, involve a certain suspension of reality. But why do we read if not to escape from reality? I was certainly gripped by Parker's narrative, anyway. It was compelling stuff; with a number of twists along they way to a stunning, final denouement. Like other reviewers, however, I felt the novel lacked the context which would have made the characters of the book more three-dimensional. The ending, too, whilst exciting, was also rushed, and lacked the context of an understandable backstory leading up to the main events of the book. This would elevate Parker's latest effort from a 4 star to a 5 star read. Regardless, this was a very enjoyable read.

I had such a hard time getting into this one. I was so intrigued by the synopsis - how insanely creepy to wake up in an identical world to the one you just left but then finding out it's not actually the world you thought it was. Instead, you're being held captive by a crazy person who has replicated your life but is holding you hostage. I mean...c'mon!! I was so excited to read this but I just couldn't get into it. The story was so all over the place that it almost wasn't coherent. At one point, the main character is talking to a police officer over the phone and during that same conversation, she's talking to her in person with no explanation as to how that happened. One minute she's in her office and in the same sentence, she's outside her house. It just felt too confusing and I didn't have the patience to try and work out what was going on. Bummer!

I gave this book 3/5 stars.

I loved the plot of this book so much that I read it in one sitting.

One day, while Lily is at work, she gets a notification from her home security app. On the video footage, she can clearly see a man, standing in the middle of her garden, wearing a mask made from an enlarged photo of Maisie, her young daughter. Creeped out, she called the police and pick up her daughter from school. Who is this man? What did he wanted? Could this be a sick joke from her ex-husband?

The police check the whole house but there's absolutely no sign of effraction and her closest neighbor didn't see anything. That night, before going to bed, Lily double checks that every door in her place is locked tight. The next morning, she wakes up feeling a bit nauseous but starts her day as she normally would. But somehow, within minutes, something feels off, way off. While her place looks exactly like hers, it feels so different. The view from her kitchen has changed overnight. Instead of overlooking her garden where the man stood yesterday, it now seems to be high up, with an unknown view of rubble. Suddenly, her phone rings and she realizes that she and her daughter have been kidnapped and are now in an exact replica of their home.

Who did this to her? And why? Where are they, and will they be able to escape?


Let me tell you that within the first 50 pages, I was hooked. My heart started beating a bit faster and I couldn't turn the pages quicky enough... I was truly one the edge of my seat but, as soon as I could see the story wrapping up, I couldn't help but feel like I didn't have enough yet.

While this could have easily been a 5 stars thriller, the ending was a big let down for me. I wanted more from Lily, Maisie, and their kidnapper but the last few chapters felt a bit over the top for me. I especially didn't like the ending, which felt far too unrealistic in my opinion.

This was a fast paced, psychological thriller that had such a promising premise.

While this was somewhat an enjoyable read, unfortunately I didnt love it.The pacing seemed quite off; it started out slow and then felt extremely rushed towards the end. Some sections lacked detail while others seemed to have an unnecessary amount put it.

Thank you to the publishers who provided me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

ARC kindly received in exchange of an honest review

While You Slept by R.J. Parker is a very fast-paced read that I finished in a couple of hours.
It kept me guessing from the beginning till the very end.
It was a smart thriller, more psychological than crime. The writing style was so fast-pacing and kept me interested. The characters were well-developed and you understood their behavior, especially from our protagonist.

The plot is very engaging and super creepy and tense.
I kept guessing till the very end, but I didn't see the twists and turns coming. I liked the daring story and how the author didn't hold back. We need more thrillers like this one. It is so interesting and creepy at the same time to read stories about these sort of crimes. They hit closer to home, especially around these times.
The mystery surrounding the story made me kept reading it until it was finished.
4 stars.

**MAY HAVE SOME SPOILERS**

I read The Dinner Party a few months ago and absolutely loved it! I was so excited to get my hands on a new R.J Parker book!
What a great book! This book had me staying up all night because I just had to know if Maisie and Lily make it out alive.
This book starts off with Lily noticing a strange intruder in her garden wearing a picture mask of her 5 year old daughter, Maisie. She calls the police, but they don’t catch the intruder. The next day, Maisie and Lily wake up in their home… but it’s not their home just an exact replica. They’re trapped and cannot get out or call for help.
This book is quite fast and definitely brings the creep factor. I did struggle with Maisie as she didn’t sound like a 5 year old and she was definitely a little annoying for my liking and found her to be a little distracting to the overall story… I enjoyed the ‘surprise’ connection of the kidnappers, but felt like I need more of their backstory to make sense of it…I had a lot of questions, but I guess that may be the point!!

* Spoilers 

There's a lot of good stuff in this book.
It's quite fast and furiously paced.
It opens with a creepy scene of a man wearing a mask of main characters child,standing in her garden,waiting to be noticed.
It keeps up being creepy for the majority of the book.
I struggle with the character of Maisie,who seemed far older than her five years.
The ending seemed rushed,I'd have liked more back story on how you go from being a broken 16 year old single mother,to someone who has the funds to set up this operation.

I wasn’t sure about this book. It was an interesting premise but it didn’t really work for me.

I was hoping for a creepy story that was promised based on the blurb, but I lost interest a few pages into the book. I found the talks between Lily and Maisie too advanced for Maisie’s age. There also seemed to be an awful lot of unnecessary description, which was often quite clumsily written.

The ending of the book felt very rushed and it wasn’t particularly satisfying. An interesting story, but not for me.

Oh my. This was a great book. I could physically feel myself holding my breath sometimes at the suspense. Intrigue right from the start. Highly recommended.

I really wanted to like this one but I didn’t. The premise of the book is creepy but I had a hard time getting into the story. Some parts were completely unrealistic and Maisie, the daughter, acts more like she’s ten than five. The ending was okay but leaves you kind of hanging. Even if there’s a sequel the end just seemed cut off.

I started reading this book at night and the first few chapters really creeped me out. I found them really well written but once Maisie and her mum were in the room it went downhill ....

First they were in the room for hardly any length of time at all before they found the way out
Also ... the escape ... sooooo drawn out and not very believable. They go to all those lengths to recreate their apartment but no back up in case they escape?
Maisie appeared a lot older than 5
I did enjoy guessing who it could possibly be but that leads me to the ending ......

It felt so thrown together, the characters (even the ones originally behind the reason) weren’t even really in the story !!! And all those years of planning for something the main character has no idea about !?!?! Seemed strange - actually I felt there were other characters who would have had much more reason!

And the last few sentence - gosh no. So so unsatisfactory. There is no lead up for a follow up so why lead with that?

2.5 stars

This was a page-turning read with a very original premise. I loved the claustrophobic feel and, unlike some other reviewers, didn't find the repetition off-putting - for me, it was all part of building the tension.

I found myself continually wondering how the characters would get out of that situation and who the perpetrators were. I did find Maisie a little annoying and at times unconvincing as a five-year-old, to the extent that I quite hoped she would be killed off (!).

The one big let-down for me was the 'reveal' at the end. The character whose actions precipitate all that happens was not 'on stage' at all and only mentioned a few times, which felt unsatisfactory.

But I really enjoyed this thriller overall.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read it.

A decent thriller, if you can suspend reality a little as well. The book centers on a mother and daughter who wake up one day in a replica of their home, held captive by a stranger. A great premise. I will say that the daughter seems really, really advanced for her age which threw me a little reading it. The ending came out of nowhere, and was a shocker.

ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

I wanted to love While You Slept, I really did. I was very excited when I got the ARC because the blurb sounded so creepy and cool to me. Unfortunately, all I got was a boring, repetitive story about a mother and her suspiciously articulate five-year-old daughter do almost nothing for 70% of the story, a few pages of good action, and then an explanation that almost made me whip my phone (my kindle app is on there) out the window.

The Good: As I mentioned, the premise was interesting and had a lot of potential. Despite not being a parent myself, I do like stories of badass moms doing anything to protect their kids. However, this often fell a little flat in While You Slept. I liked the weirdness of the situation and the feeling of wrongness that was portrayed pretty well.

The Bad: There's a lot tbh. I know this is an unedited manuscript, but there were an excessive amount of errors and formatting problems here, more so than in the usual ARCs I read. The writing is sloppy and basic, and the dialogue is completely unconvincing. This brings me to Maisie. I've seen other reviewers mention this and it is 100% true that NO FIVE-YEAR-OLD EVER would understand facial clues and be able to hold conversations the way Maisie does. I have several friends with children, as well as young second cousins, and I can say without a doubt that Maisie would have to be at least eight for this story to have been believable while keeping the same dialogue. Then there's the ending. *insert angry sigh here*. I mean, I didn't guess the ending, which I suppose is a mark of a good mystery, but that's only because the ending made no goddamned sense and seemed to be a total cop-out. It was basically the equivalent of vomiting and having a fever and thinking its because you have the flu but then the doctor tells you it's because you pet a random cat a few weeks earlier. Like okayyyyyyyy sure. Whatever.

TL;DR: Honestly if it gets a really good edit and somethings are changed around this might be a decent thriller, but as it stands I found it rather disappointing and dissatisfying.

Thank you to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to R&R