Why oh why could I not get into this as much I had hoped I would?
First off, I loved the writing of it and the character development. That made the book for me. I will say in the beginning, I was very confused because no one was tied in together. They eventually do with the domestic violence, child neglect, marital issues, etc. I did love the drama of it all. I just wasn't gripped by it.

To Dare by Jemma Wayne, yet ANOTHER good book! So many fantastic novels coming out in 2020. Its been such a great year for reading. In this story, there are three women:

Veronica married and hoping for a baby after suffering a miscarriage. She is looking for a fresh start in a new home. Her neighbor is Simone, an addict and has an abusive husband. Sarah is Veronica’s childhood friend.

These three women’s stories will intersect.

Check out the plot:

Veronica and her wealthy husband George are unpacking boxes, hoping a fresh start in their newly refurbished Victorian terrace will help them heal from a recent trauma.
Next door, Simone returns to her neglected council flat. Miserable and trapped, she struggles to take care of her children under the watch of her controlling husband Terry.

When childhood friend Sarah re-enters Veronica’s life, things are thrown even further off balance. As tensions in their own lives rise, the painful memory that binds them threatens to spill into their present. Three lives collide in this story of family, inequality and revenge.

When you start this book, you will make assumptions about these women and you will most likely be wrong. This was a heavy story with difficult themes of addiction, abuse, deception. Yes, it’s dark. But so well written and definitely worth your time to read!

Read this now, get a copy here!

I was looking forward to reading this because I’ve enjoyed other books by the author. I loved this. I can’t wait to read what the author comes up with next. The complex story has multiple narrators and crosses different timelines. The chapters switch narrators and timelines and it took a few chapters to get into the rhythm. This is a domestic thriller of a sort, focussing on the secrets and lies of two women who live next to each other, showing how their lives smash into each other and a third woman, the friend of one of the other two. The book is very dark and twisted at times but so well written and engaging I couldn’t stop reading. I had to know what was going on.

*word of caution - this book is heavy with abuse, miscarriage, drug abuse, domestic violence and rape/sexual abuse *

I so badly wanted to love this book, the synopsis was right up my street and was really looking forward to getting stuck in.... sadly I was disappointed.

Once again I'll be in the minority with this review as all the others are 4-5* but I think the main reason is that I just didn't feel any connection with any of the characters which is a massive negative for me. I just could not engage with it at all.

Written from the POVs of three women who all lead incredibly different lives and fighting their own battles and demons, they all eventually intertwine with each other.

In all honesty I did feel bored at times, it was real hard going and i found my mind wandering and eyes glazing over.. I think maybe it was more the subject matter that didn't click with me because I did enjoy the authors writing style.

Unfortunately it just wasnt for me!

2*

Thanks to netgalley and Legend Press for the ARC.

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for approving my request to read on netgalley. This was a new author for me and i was hearing lots of great things.

This is a fantastic book.

Gets right under your skin and very thought provoking.

A real mix of characters especially the women. You wonder how the three will be connected.

Compelling and unpredictable this is a fast paced high tension psychological thriller.

Dealing with hard hitting subjects and plotted with great pace and accuracy

Loved it and cant wait to read more from her.

Published 1st July and i highly recommend.

This is the sort of book that it would feel wrong to say you enjoyed, as it is really quite a heavy and intense story of three women touching on the difficult subjects of rape, domestic violence, substance misuse and miscarriage, but it is in all honesty a very good book. I think the author portrays the difficult storylines in a very real and raw way and there is definitely no attempt to romanticise these issues which is what makes this such a compelling read. The intensity and speed of this book picks up pace in the last quarter as you feel yourself spirally towards its inevitable end when all three women’s stories weave perfectly together.

Veronica is starting the next stage of her seemingly perfect life with her husband George as they move into their newly refurbished home but underneath the surface they are both recovering from a recent trauma. Next door lives Simone, trapped inside a relationship with her controlling partner Terry, struggling to bring up her two kids. And then along comes Sarah, a childhood friend of Veronica’s, which brings back painful memories for both them which threaten to reignite into their present.

Thanks to Netgalley for this book. Ot was a very tough read. I found parts of it difficult to read especially the rape & abuse parts & feel the need to warn people about it Overall it is a good read that has the courage to explore difficult topics

Three different women, Veronica - a teacher, Simone - Veronica’s neighbour and an addict and Sarah- Veronica’s childhood friend and her daughter is in Veronica’s class. All three women fighting their own battles.
This book is quite heavy with abuse, rape, miscarriage and domestic violence but ultimately the three women’s story will cross paths.
I really wanted to love this but I found it very hard going. I know this will be a minority view as there’s fantastic reviews for it but I didn’t really connect with the characters and felt slightly bored at points.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Veronica Reddington and her husband, George have just moved into their new Victorian house in Primrose Hill, London. Living next door, Simone is trying to cope with her two children and her manipulative fella, Terry. When Veronica’s childhood friend, Sarah, re-enters her life, memories of their old friendship start to surface...

The reader is gripped very quickly by the compelling lives of these three women. Each character is superbly drawn by Jemma Wayne but although they were all sparse in the likeability department, this served to enhance the story, at least for me. Incorporating some really deep topics such as domestic violence, substance abuse, miscarriage and childhood trauma, To Dare really packed a punch. An intense, fiendishly good read that I highly recommend.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel at my request from Legend Press via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

Books like this should come with a warning. Rape, domestic violence, child abuse, drug usage, death, etc etc etc. Pick your poison, and it's in this book.

This is the heartbreaking story of three women.
1. Simone whom is physically and emotionally abused woman who has two children.
2. Sarah is a lawyer is childhood friends with Veronica. She is happily married and also has 2 children.
3. Veronica is Simone's neighbor. She is married and very desperate to have a baby.

This book is hard to read. It's heartbreaking and painful. All of these women are broken and looking for a way to heal. It's not a book that a book club will read and laugh about, This is powerful but proceed with caution.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

As adolescents, Veronica and Sarah were close friends but not as close as Veronica thinks since she forgot all the things she did to hurt Sarah during the weeks she stayed with Sarah and her family. They drift apart after attending different colleges.

Years later Veronica is an elementary school teacher. When she realizes that Amelia, the little pupil she's enamored with, is Sarah's daughter she tries to rekindle their friendship not understanding the pain she's caused Sarah in the past. Playing a game of dare the way they did as young girls offers a way to reconnect and learn from the past.

To add to Veronica's distress at not yet having children, she and her husband George discover that the new home they'd so carefully planned for includes noisy, crude neighbors. The neighbors Simone and Terry and their children are not at all what Veronica and George had in mind when they moved in. The problems faced by the three women are all different yet joined by a similar longing.

Set in England, the story offers insight into friendships and the ways in which we can help one another through trying times. I found this book hard to put down and read it in a day. I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and appreciate the opportunity. I'm looking forward to reading more works by Jemma Wayne.

I won't lie - one of the initial attractions of this book was its choice by Sainsburys Magazine as its Book Club pick. As I've always known this UK grocer to be a purveyor of highly readable summer novels, I thought I would enjoy a fun thriller. The novel was much heavier than that, and quite honestly, should come with Trigger warnings for prospective readers, as the subject matter involves searing accounts of domestic, physical, and sexual abuse. In the first few chapters, I witnessed a knuckle-biting episode which is one of the more brutally written accounts of partner abuse I've come across. The term "misery porn" was in the back of my mind for the first half of the novel and it was emotionally taxing.

However, the story - which revolves around 3 separate households living in posh Primrose Hill in London, yet divided by a gulf of socioeconomic and class differences - took a more exciting turn by the second half and by book's end, I was racing through the pages to see the final (shocking) outcome. The story is told from the POV of the three female protagonists: Beautiful, charming Veronica who seemingly has it all, except a much desired child; successful, driven and righteous Sarah, Veronica's childhood friend who also seems to have it all, yet is nursing a consuming grudge against Veronica for crimes committed in adolescence; and worn, beaten, drug-consuming Simone, who loves her two children but knows she has been unable to protect them from her vile and abusive partner. All three carry childhood traumas which shape the people they become, and individually, all are both sympathetic and wretchedly unlikeable at various turns of the book.

Jemma Wayne had previously been long-listed for the Baileys Women's prize for fiction (one of the UK's most prestigious book awards) and many passages are wonderfully and humorously written. In response to a casual remark by her spouse on their neighbors' loud and raucous bedroom relations, Wayne writes "Veronica wondered if this was a dig at the current infrequency of their own sexual relations, or about the clinical, baby-optimising nature of them". When describing their childhood version of Truth or Dare which pushed all the boundaries, Sarah muses that "the test was not of their answers but of the questions, of teir stomach for depravity, their repoertoir of it, their boldness in speaking it aloud". There are many more literary passages I continued to highlight throughout.

But my one gripe with the novel was the absurdity with which the characters shape-shift in behavior, particularly Veronica, who can go from the epitome of Mean Girl (at 12 and at 33) to mature, kind, caring enchantress within a chapter. Sarah has a similar character development arc, and back again. It felt too jagged and unrealistic, no matter how much past traumas underpin both women's dreadful behavior.

I did find this book compulsively readable, which is always the hallmark of story that deserves at least 4 stars. I am thankful to NetGalley and LegendsPress for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3406014652

Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up
Recommend? Yes, but with allllll the trigger warnings

To Dare is a literary thriller that was way darker than the thrillers I'm used to reading. The book switches between the perspectives of three different women whose lives intersect in interesting ways. All three are struggling through emotional difficulties that the others don't know about. This book focused a lot on privilege and manipulation, two themes that I think are difficult to write, and Jemma Wayne did a fantastic job. The writing was definitely my favorite aspect of the book; despite the heavy topics, Jemma Wayne's writing style felt smart and effortless. She is a master of character development.

I did struggle with the storyline at times. Since it's a literary thriller, the plot was a slow burn, and it lost my attention about halfway through because I wasn't sure where it was going. The ending is... a lot. Just really heavy the entire way through. I would definitely recommend this book for people who like thrillers, but with trigger warnings for child abuse, rape, death, infertility issues... really runs the gamut on grief.

‘To Dare’ follows three different women who lead three very different lives.
The book opens with Veronica and her husband moving into their new home in Primrose Hill. It should be a new start for them. But it is very much affected by their ‘neighbour from hell’ playing music late at night, banging and shouting and could he possibly be abusing his wife and children?
Simone lives next door to Veronica with the ‘neighbour from hell’ and her children. She is not happy with the arrangement, but does not know if, and how, she could change it.
Sarah was a childhood friend of Veronica; but hasn’t seen her since they were 12 years old. She has a husband and two children and is a happy, successful barrister. She meets Veronica again as an adult. Could they be friends again?
Three women, all seemingly very different united in different ways, how do their paths cross? How will their decisions affect each other? And will they be able to resolve their differences?
A very different book with interesting characters.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The three women in this story endure so much and the author captured it beautifully. This psychological thriller takes the reader on a ride that you still feel way after turning the last page.

This was a very different thriller that evoked strong emotional reactions. Told by three different women, all bearing emotional scars from their childhood, it runs the gamut from emotional and physical abuse between both partners and childhood friends, the frustrations and affects inherent in trying to become pregnant, the power drugs and alcohol have over ones ability to care for their children, the sadness and confusion children face with parents who are not able to emotionally and physically care for them, and the challenges of change to better oneself.
Anger, frustration, and disbelief ran through my thoughts as I read this riveting story. I can’t say any of the characters, other than Jasmine, were likable, but together they told a powerful story. Unfortunately, I believe there are many of these “stories” in homes around the world.
Many thanks to Jenna Wayne for evoking such strong emotions, Legends Press, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read this page turner.

Betrayal, jealousies and animosity. So realistic the words practically jump off the page. I loved this book from beginning to end and so will you. Take the chance and discover the wonder of Jemma Wayne's writing. This is my first book by her but it won't be my last. A must read. Happy reading!

To dare.



Before I start, you should be warned that this book should come with trigger warnings. Lots of them. It tackles abusive relationships, rape, child neglect, drug abuse, alcoholism, miscarriage, sexual harassment…you name it, it’s probably got it.



It follows the intertwined lives of three women. Simone lives in Primrose Hill with her abusive husband. Veronica, a school teacher who is desperate for a child, has just moved in next door. Her dream home quickly descends into a nightmare with her noise next door neighbours. And then there’s Sarah. Parent to one of Veronica’s students and childhood friend.



Once I got past the initial shock of the serious issues that are in this novel, I really got into it. It’s a dark twisty tale that connects all three women together. It’s a real slow burner with everything coming to a head at the end. Interestingly, throughout the novel I didn’t actually find any of the women likeable. However, in the last 25% or so I was surprised to find myself really quite invested in their individual plot lines and wanting a positive outcome for them. This novel is really well written and deals with challenging issues really sensitively. It’s well worth a read.

4/5 stars

Well I did not expect that!
A chapter in I hated Simone and what she and her hideous partner were doing to their children, I liked Veronica.
Three chapters in, all change!
The author plays wonderfully with your mind and the issue of first impressions, exploring brilliantly the issue of how our childhood and our parents can effect our deepest psyche.
The writing was subtle but so GOOD! I was genuinely anxious waiting for the noise to start at night and the violence, I genuinely felt the emotions of the characters in so many ways.
The ending was very satisfying and the threads drew together really well.
An unexpected read and very thought provoking, issues of mental health, the shaping of the psyche from childhood, sparks of self realisation and the ability to understand ones past and find the strength to make changes.
Not an easy read at times but so glad I read it, I will read more of this excellent author.
Thank you to Netgalley and Legend press for the ARC and opportunity to read and review, I loved this book.

Woooooow this is incredible! I was on the edge of my seat for the entire thing. Really great writing and the story kept me gripped. The characters felt so real, which is testament to Jemma Wayne's skills I'd say! Definitely going to recommend this book, thanks so much for sharing the review copy.