While You Slept is a story about kidnapping. Lily and her daughter wake up in a house replicated as their own. Except there is no way out. I like the premise of this book, however the actual story did not live up to that. Many aspects were just too unrealistic. I found myself rushing through just to get to the end.
Thanks to netgalley for the arc

I am so sorry but I was unable to get past 35% of this book. Nothing in this book was realistic, there is no way that Maisie's vocabulary is correct for a child of the age the book portrays her to be. Lily's constant childish questioning of herself and the situation she finds herself in began to grate and I found that I had no interests in how or why she had been kidnapped. I do believe the premise for the story was good however the author appears to be unable to pull it together and the writing is childish with no concept of how parents and children converse when a child is that age.

I wasn’t sure about this book. It was an interesting premise but it didn’t really work for me. I found the conversations 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. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

A creepy, chilling thriller which had me glued to my seat and read in one sitting. Lily and her daughter wake up in their home, but it isn't there home. Everything looks the same but it is not. This home is now their prison. Who are their jailers? Atmospheric, chilling and packed to the rafters with tension and suspense. This book definitely got my heart racing and as for climax it blew me away. A really good thriller with more than a touch of the psychological.
Thanks to HarperCollins UK and One More Chapter and Netgalley for the ARC.

I enjoy this genre, and I thought the concept was intriguing. Unfortunately, it didn't hit the mark for me.

I was surprised with the lack of character development, which made it hard to connect and care about them. Some parts of the plot seem unnecessary, and I found myself skimming parts of this. Happily, some scenes (attempted escape) had just the right amount of tension, but it wasn't enough to make up for the other places that fell flat. I also wasn't crazy about the ending.

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Wow! This is definitely a rollercoaster of a book full of twists and turns especially the last couple of chapters! I couldn’t imagine going to bed one night and then waking up in the “same” surroundings but then realising that it’s a prison that is effectively a replica of your home. Brilliantly written and highly recommend!

Really good book, The end was shocking. The characters are well written. The story line was good. Really enjoyed.

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this book with its unusual plot and it is certainly a page turner. However, for me I felt that some of the writing was a bit "wordy" and the conversations that Lily had with her daughter were very advanced for a five year old. I think it would have worked better if Maisie had been a little older. It's just a small think but it did niggle a bit I'm afraid.

A creepy read. The thought of waking up somewhere that is identical to your home is really creepy. This book started off strong but then seemed to take ages to get to a very rushed end. I kept hoping for more.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A creepy chiller that I enjoyed very much. I found this well written and engaging and I read this in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I’d like to thank HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘While You Slept’ by R J Parker in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Since separating from her husband Ewan, Lily Russell has had an app on her phone for security to warn of intruders. When she sees a man standing in her garden wearing a cut-out mask of four-year-old daughter Maisie she rings the police. The following morning they wake up only to find that what looks like their flat is, in fact, an exact copy that’s now situated in a derelict building, and they’re being held captive by the same man. When they try to escape they’re punished so they have no choice but to do what he says until someone realises they’re missing and comes to their rescue.

‘While You Slept’ is a gripping thriller with a plot that’s so disturbing it made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. I was so involved with the story that although I was worried what was going to happen next I had to keep reading to find out. Despite the plot being dramatic at times including parts running up to the conclusion, I thought the last chapters were disappointing, they were rushed and lacked a reasonable excuse as to why Lily and Maisie were being held captive, almost as though the author didn’t know how to end it. This is a pity as the story is intriguing but nevertheless it’s well worth reading.

This book was a bit of a letdown. It’s such a good, creepy, compelling premise - and then it’s utterly let down by pedestrian writing, paper-thin characters and an ending that comes out of nowhere and feels a little cheap. It’s a shame as it really was a good premise!

I really enjoyed this story, and even though I went in with pretty high expectations this book did not disappoint. I found it very easy to get lost in our characters lives a and the plot that was being laid out before you. This story was full of mystery but not to dark that it became cloudy to the reader. I also found that once I picked this book up it as very hard to put it down because the characters as well as the plot just grabbed me and I had to find out what was going on. The book starts out with our main character, Lilly, being woken up to find a burglar in her home wearing a mask of her daughter's face. Since she is at her other home she is unable
to stop the person but tells them to leave through her security camera. When she finally gets a hold of the police to tell them what happened they are a little hesitant to believe her especially when nothing was taken and there is no footage of the break in. I think this book plays on a lot of people fears for their children very well it makes a fictional book very believable both in what the characters say and also in what they do. I've never read anything like this book however after finishing it I'm very interested in what else RJ Parker has written because if they are anything like this one then I cannot wait. This thriller will really keep you on your toes. I found the characters in this book to be very interesting and what I liked the most was there was only really the three. The story didn't get muddled by others opinions and it really put the reader right into the story as well as it made it much easier to connect to Lilly and feel what she was going through. I'm very glad that I got the chance to check it out. If you haven't read it already then I highly suggest that you do.

This was definitely a very dark, chilling read, which many know I absolutely love! I found it to start with a bang and end with one too! It was well written and provided the much needed thrills, chills, and shocks! Definitely recommend to those looking for just that perfect dark thriller to chill them to the bone!

Great story! I was engaged the entire time. A real page turner. Looking forward to reading more books from this author! Highly recommend!

I really liked this one. Quite dark and creepy but with a storyline that was easy to follow. Twists and turns made it a book that I had to finish to see what happens in the end

R.J. Parker’s While You Slept has an absolutely terrifying premise. Lily Russel and her daughter Maisie are trying to find their footing after Lily’s recent divorce from Maisie’s father Ewan. One day at work, Lily gets an alert from her home security system revealing an unknown man standing in her yard. Upon further examination, the man is wearing a mask made from a picture of Maisie’s face. After calling the police and believing things are settled, Lily and Maisie are kidnapped and wake up in an apartment designed to replicate their own home. Utensils in the same drawers, same types of clothes in the closets, but lots of strict rules to follow to keep their kidnapper happy.

This novel started out incredibly, deliciously terrifying. Trying to imagine what sort of twisted person would create a mask from a photo of a child’s face to wear while trespassing in her home was intriguing. I really do wish that the book spent more time building up this part of the story. Getting to know each character before they are placed in a stressful situation would have helped me identify with and become invested in Lily and Maisie better. If the book in its current state is 10% pre- and 90% post-kidnap, I wish it could be more like 30/70.

Another area that could be stronger is the conclusion. The ‘bad guy’ comes out of absolutely nowhere, and doesn’t have enough backstory or connection to Lily or Maisie to feel like a satisfying ending. The premise is easily 10/10, but the execution doesn’t quite live up to the high bar set. The good parts are definitely there and the author does a great job with these, but unfortunately they are just too short while some of the other parts drag a bit.

Note: I received a free e-book copy of While You Slept from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the concept of this one! It started off really well, Lily and Maisie waking up in their house. Except, they soon discovered it wasn’t their house.

Where were they? How did they get there? Who put them there? Why?

The first half of the book was really enticing and I was eagerly anticipating answers to all these questions.
It was fast paced, it was a page-turner and left me wanting more.

However, the second half just didn’t execute that. The ending, while I didn’t guess it, just didn’t make sense. It felt like I was reading a different book and left so many open questions from plot holes.

1. How Ewan ended up there didn’t really seem to add up?
2. The Sam storyline, why was it necessary?
3. If we’re going to drop the random bomb shell of everything leading back to her father, it needed more depth.

I kept flicking and as the % slowly got closer to 100, I realised I wasn’t going to get the answers I needed. Then everything just wrapped up in one tiny chapter.

I started loving it and had really high hopes but I just didn’t.

Thank you One More Chapter (Harper Collins UK) and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While You Slept appeared to be an intriguing yet far-fetched thriller but unfortunately, it fell flat.

The characters aren't developed at all so whilst having empathy for their plight, I couldn't feel any connection to them or understand the decisions they made. There's sections of the book prior to the kidnap which add nothing to the story that could easily have been removed and replaced with character development in order to allow the reader to understand the characters better.

The section with the attempted escape is by far the best section of the book. It was filled with tension and I felt myself skim reading in order as I had to find out what happened. Sadly, I needn't have bothered as the lacklustre ending is one of the worst I've read in a long time. There's no hints, no build up and no closure to the point where it makes the entire book feel like a vague first draft. Also, the last line is an awful way to end a book and pretty disturbing.

I can't recommend this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC.

While You Slept by R.J. Parker opens up with a genuinely chilling scenario, Lily is at work when she gets a notification from her home security system that someone is in her supposedly secure back yard. When she checks the camera system she sees a strange hooded figure, but when they come closer she is disturbed to see they are wearing a mask of her five year old daughter, Maisie's face. She immediately contacts the school and once she knows her daughter is safe, she picks her up and has the police check her home. Baffled and a little nervous , she goes to bed and wakes up in a nightmare. She and her daughter have been taken, and find themselves in an eerily perfect replica of their home, down to the drawings on the refrigerator and the clothes in their wardrobe. A call from a mysterious man warns them that they must do as they are told or there will be consequences, but Lily and Maisie are determined to escape and immediately begin to try to find a way out.
As I said, the beginning of this book seemed like a perfect set up for a creepy and disturbing read. I found the idea of the characters being removed from their home and relocated to a perfect replica a little preposterous but decided to go along with it and see how the story played out, and why this had all happened. Unfortunately I should probably have trusted my gut and given up at that point, because I found the rest of the book underwhelming. Neither Lily nor Maisie evoked any sympathy as characters, and Maisie seemed much older than her stated age of 5, both in terms of her behaviour and her conversations with her mother. The trapped mother and child thing has been done before, and better, so this fell flat for me. As for the ending, it literally came from nowhere, with no build up what so ever. There was no indication throughout the book of who was responsible or why they did what they did. I know its nice to have a twist that you didn't see coming but it feels like a completely different story. and I felt somewhat cheated.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.