Exhausted new mother Bridget collapses into her seat on her train home at the end of a long work day. She leans against the window, dozing on and off, until a sight shocks her awake. Two man are dragging a little girl into a white van. She has just witnessed a kidnapping. As the train speeds on, she asks other train riders if they saw the little girl. They didn’t. She reports it to the police but no child has been reported missing. Where is the little girl? Why is Bridget the only one who cares?

Bridget becomes obsessed with the case and starts her own investigation. Her determination begins to affect her marriage to Tom, a stay at home father. He’s worried because she’s recovering from postpartum depression and dealing with her overbearing mother. Although Tom tries to be supportive, he begins to think that his wife is having a mental breakdown fueled by rage, paranoia and confusion. Her mother agrees. Will Bridget find the missing girl before she loses her own sanity?

The Girl on the Platform, an intense psychological thriller, is narrated by Bridget and it disturbing to see how she struggles to process information and express herself as she experiences nightmares and confusion. Also part of the story are the worried thoughts of a sad little girl who has been kidnapped. This is a book you won’t be able to put down. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Bryony Pearce for this ARC>

Bridget is a tired, new mom of an 8 month old who works long, endless hours in order to support her family. On her way home late one evening, she witnesses a young girl being snatched from a train platform. No one else sees this and due to her postpartum depression and mental health issues, everyone discredits her and chalks it up as a nightmare she must have experienced as she was desperately trying to stay awake. However, Bridget couldn't stop thinking about the incident. Why is no one helping this child? The kidnapping is all consuming and it begins to impact her home and work life.

The story is frantic and I wanted to read more, but realized at 60% that I new the twist. It is a good thriller with a good pace and I could relate with Bridget's frustration and exhaustion.

This was brill book, the characters Tom his wife and the mother full twists and turn read this in one day

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC copy.

Bridget is struggling with a new born baby and a full time job. Meeting her self coming back with the night feeds and daily commute the tiredness and post natal depression are playing havoc with her. So when she sees a little girl being kidnapped from the platform of one the stations her train passes was it real or was she dreaming the whole thing. With her husband, mother nor police believing what she saw can Bridget prove it to them or did she really dream it all?

This, for me, was a book of three parts. The first third really got the story going and introduced the characters well. Unfortunately it was pretty obvious where this was heading and the middle section really dragged it out and it became frustrating. BUT the final third I couldn't put down as it had me gripped to see where it ended.

Really good read and I would definitely recommend.

Bridget is struggling. With work. With her new baby. With taking care of herself. When she sees a young girl being kidnapped while riding passed a train station she knows none of that matters. She has to help.

But the police don't believe her. No one else on the train saw the kidnapping.

The only person looking for this girl is Bridget. But is she putting her family in danger by not giving up the search?
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Pearce uses a lot of newly common thriller tropes (sleep deprived new mom, PPD, and side-effects of anti-depression medication to create an unreliable narrator) to weave together a mystery that is refreshingly original. The narrative bounces back from Bridget in present day to the girl from the platform, but otherwise these are the only perspectives the reader sees, which I found refreshing after dozens of thrillers that bounce you between 3-5 other characters.

By keeping the narrative in Bridget's voice most of the time, Pearce is able to dive into Bridget as a character and while she's a frustrating, not always likeable character, Bridget felt like a real person. The kind of mom I might find at a mommy-and-me group or pass at the library. And as she hurtles through the twists and turns of this story, I couldn't help but hope she solved the mystery.

Pearce manages to keep the pace strong throughout the book, and each twist is both thoughtfully foreshadowed and surprising.

I also appreciated Pearce's homage to real missing persons cases throughout the book, and her focus on the victims' stories rather than the perpetrators motivation. As well as the detailed work Bridget does with statistics to show the kind of effort that goes into solving a missing persons case.

Not only did I love this book, but I loved Pearce as a writer and I'll be watching for more books from her in the future.

*Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the review copy!*

I would like to thank #avonbooksuk and #Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m happy to say I thoroughly enjoyed this one!
It was a fast paced domestic thriller without one boring moment in it.

We follow Bridget a new mom struggling with postpartum depression while she’s heading home on a train late at night after work. She’s exhausted and can’t wait to see her 8 month old, whom her husband is looking after. When the train pulls past an old station she watches aghast as a little girl is taken by two strong men and hurled into a white van. Nobody else on the train sees the incident and when she calls the police she soon finds out that they don’t either.

This was so good!
I practically flew through the pages. Desperate to know what was going to happen and furious that nobody seemed to believe her. There were som red herrings along the way but I did figure out what the big twist was at the end!

I just loved the whole psychological aspect of the story! Bridget is taking anti-depressants and she frequently has nightmares. She’s also a little paranoid fearing someone might take her little girl, so you’re really not sure she’s a reliable narrator. But there are no jumbled thoughts here, no confused story-line! Bridget is a mum you can relate to, battling with depression while trying to be a good daughter, mother and wife. She’s also working and not getting enough sleep! Who can’t relate?
So when she starts lying to her husband so she can start to investigate the little girls disappearance, who can blame her?
Pub date: April 15 2021

I urge you to pick this up as quickly as you can!

This was average unfortunately. The twist was very predictable and I had figured it out at the 25% point. The writing is well done, the sense of suspense was incredibly well written and even though I was sure I knew the ending I was interested enough to keep reading and finished it very quickly. I think its a good introduction to thrillers for someone who hasn't read a lot of them but seasoned readers of the genre will be disappointed.

I raced through this one. It's a mix of The Girl on the Train, Strangers on a train and a missing children's case. There are some serious issues here too and a look at a mother suffering from depression. Plenty of twists and OMG moments. I'm going to be worried looking out of a train window in the future.

I found The Girl on the Platform to be a slow burner that gradually builds in intensity and you find yourself getting totally absorbed into the novel. There are a number of twists and turns in this plot that add depth to the story and although I did guess the ending, it was still most enjoyable. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

I love books that make me feel uncomfortable and send shivers over my skin.

The Girl on The Platform manages to do this, and more! Highly addictive read

Trigger Warning: Gaslighting / Child Abduction

What's scarier than witnessing a young child get snatched from a train platform when their parent isn't looking? Having the police not believe you. The very people who are meant to protect us and investigate such things won't follow it up no matter how much you plead.

Bridget's story is a relatable one, new mother, lack of sleep, general fear that something bad will happen to this tiny human baby you are now responsible for. Lack of sleep and post-natal depression can do some very strange things to the brain.
When looking out of the train window, on her way home, Bridget sees a child snatched from a platform and bundled in to the back of a white van. No one else on the train saw anything of the sort, even the police questioned if she really had seen anything.

Bridget wraps herself up in trying to help this young girl, frustrated and consumed by it and driven to distraction to try and figure out how to help. Exhausted with no one believing her, she really does her best to forget about it.

So many things could be written off as co-incidence, a white van following Bridget's car (there are countless white vans out there), forgetting things or feeling groggy could be chalked up to lack of sleep rather than being drugged.

Without wanting to spoil things, the story only ramps up from there. Gaslighting doesn't even come close to the deception and subterfuge as the truth is gradually unveiled.
Incredibly well written, terror inducing almost (in a good way!) and you can't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens.

My only complaint is that it was a little slow to get going for my taste, but I can absolutely say the resulting turmoil and ending was very much worth struggling through that 'slow' period at the start. The groundwork it lays is important.

Bridget sees a child being snatched from a railway station but the train is going too fast for her to see clearly.
It appears no one is investigating so takes it upon herself to do so.
I thought the characters were well portrayed and was really involved with them. A slightly disappointing ending but well worth reading nonetheless

A wonderful thriller with a lot of unexpected twists and turns that really kept me entertained throughout.

It also touched on themes of mental health, and how that can affect us including the wider reaches of how it can affect family's. I really felt there with Bridget at times as the descriptions of how she was feeling were so detailed and true to life.

Really enjoyed and read in a couple of settings.

I received a copy of this e-arc thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books.

The copy I received had, what I assume to be, the editors notes written throughout it. It was interesting to read an arc that hasn’t had its final edit.

This seemed like a typical thriller; the main character witnesses something and decides to conduct their own investigation. This was the case until about 3/4 of the way through when the story took a whole different turn. Completely unexpected! It was a brilliant twist to the story, different to what you’d be expecting. It then started to clear up some details from earlier, which wouldn’t have been seen as suspicious as it was easily explained away. I didn’t think it a heart-pumping, gripping read but I found it very interesting and clever.

I was completely engrossed in this book that I read it in one day!

When a woman sees a kidnapping on a train station, she does all she can to find out what's happened to her.

But is it all it seems?

Very well written and even though I did guess what was going on, I still throughly enjoyed it

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for ARC

This book started off slowly but developed into a very good read. I did guess some of the twists but that didn't spoil it at all. A very good 4* story

This book is brilliant. You totally experience and feel Bridget’s anxiety as a first time mum as she is trying to balance her life, being a new mum, depression and working life. Alongside this Bridget has become obsessed with the kidnapping of a young girl she saw being kidnapped from a train platform as no one will listen to her and take it seriously. This is a really great and dark psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat, sometimes hiding behind your hands, and at other times silently shouting warnings Bridget, it will definitely keep you hooked until the end.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about Bridget. Bridget is happily married and has not long returned to work after giving birth to her daughter Grace. Her husband stays home to look after Grace. One night whilst coming home on the train Bridget witnesses a girl being kidnapped. The problem is that nobody else witnesses it and she has a hard time getting anybody to believe her.

I really enjoyed this book. I must admit at the beginning I just had no idea how the author was going to be able to make the story interesting. I need not have questioned it. This was a fast paced story with some twists and turns along the way. I managed quite early on in the book to figure out what was actually happening. This could have been a five star book but I felt towards the end a few things just didn’t make much sense.

What a good book – I really enjoyed it from start to finish. It is about a lady called Bridget who is married to Tom and they have a young daughter called Grace. Bridget’s upbringing left a lot to be desired, her mother being a complete control freak. Tom is out of work but Bridget has a very good job in London which is a daily commute. On a return journey home she is convinced she sees a kidnapping which she reports causing drama on the train as everyone is questioned. She is seen by the police at home. Everyone including her husband and mother decide she was seeing things and this did not happen but Bridget cannot let it go and starts her own investigation which causes a lot of trouble for her and her family. Everyone decides she is suffering from postnatal depression and whatever she finds out or says they all ignore her. Eventually everything spirals out of control. The story moves along with Bridget and culminates is a story line which I did not expect which was surprising and a very good plot. Really liked this book

Great thriller. Could see where it was going but keeps you interested.
Worth a read.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.