I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A good thriller/suspense. Highly recommend.

Hannah Brown thinks she's suffering a nervous breakdown when she sees her best friend at the museum she works at. The best friend that died at age eighteen. Hannah still feels guilty about the events surrounding her friends death so she's determined to find out the truth... did Ellen survive after all our is her mind playing tricks on her. Told in flashbacks to twenty years before in her childhood with Ellen, Hannah, and her brother Jago and their changing friendship, to the present with Hannah struggling to understand what's happening to her. This mystery will keep you on your toes.
I really enjoyed this story and I was heartbroken at the end when I read what really happened. Hannah seemed completely clueless about so many things, believing Ellen to be exaggerating for attention. The character I sympathized with the most was Jago and the terrible way Hannah treated him over her jealousy.
I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 3.5, found myself having to reread parts bc i was zoning out a lot with this book, but still not a bad read, would try to reread or recommend

I've decided that Louise Douglas writes a little darker story than I like to read. This one follows her theme of ghost and "magic". The short easy to read chapters go quickly but I wasn't intrigued with the story line, especially the ending. Many people love her books and I'm sure if you've never read her you might enjoy her style. this book incorporates memories from the past into a woman's present day life and does a good job. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is basically about two teenaged girls who become best friends through one of their grandmothers, and the boy they both love. One of them is raised as his sister even though she is not biologically, and the other one over time falls in love with him. It's a weird jealous sort of triangle as they get older and grow up way before they should. The "sister figure" covers for the teenaged lovers as they sneak out of the house away from the others father. Many years later, one of the girls keeps seeing her best friend, on the street, in the museum she works for, etc. She feels like she's going crazy and losing her mind as she tries to figure out what really happened that night her best friend drowned in the ocean. I wish this book would have been more suspenseful, but it was honestly more like a mystery/ drama type of read. It was easy to figure out the ending, although throughout the book implied a totally different direction to the story line. Thank you Net Galley. I received a free copy for an honest review.

I like how the story alternates between time frames even though I wanted to jump ahead a few times. Hannah is a very strong/smart woman. Enjoyed the descriptions of the little town she grew up in and the museum where she works. Her friendship with Ellen is tough but sweet. The very end made me want to hear the rest of that phone call!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Hannah and her best friend Ellen did everything together when they were younger. Hannah hasn't seen Ellen forvover twenty years until she was at work one day. This book kept me intrigued from the beginning.

3 stars

This is a well written and suspenseful book. The first I have read by Louise Douglas. I cannot wait to read more from her.

Mysteries, lies and misunderstandings, all set in Cornwall. What begins as a friendship between two young girls goes horribly wrong as they grow older. Only in the present does the truth come out. I really enjoyed this author, Unfortunately, her other books are not available unless you order them on Kindle Amazon UK.. I thank Net Galley to making some of her books available.

This story of young love, lies, and betrayal was a page turner for sure, and I really enjoyed it.

It had been several years since Hannah lost her best friend, Ellen, and yet the past continued to haunt her. While working one day at the museum, Hannah was convinced she’d seen Ellen’s ghost and suddenly her sense of reality and everything she thought she knew was thrown through the ringer. Was she having another breakdown or was Ellen somehow still alive?

As the story bounces back and forth from past to present, the reader gains more insight into Hannah’s home life and relationships with Ellen and Jago. Secrets from Hannah’s past slowly unravel and continue to be revealed as Hannah tries to unearth what really happened to Ellen all those years ago. The truth definitely caught me by surprise and I loved the way the story ended.

The only aspect of this book I didn’t like was the friendship/semi-attraction between Hannah and her co-worker, John. It just didn’t seem pertinent to the story at all and I felt like it was just thrown in their as filler.

Other than that, I thought it was a unique story and I enjoyed reading it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3801323121

Growing up in Cornwall, Hannah was best friends with Ellen, a girl that is all that Hannah wishes she could be, but a tragedy tore the two apart. Now, twenty years later, Hannah is shocked when she sees a woman who looks just like Ellen. Could she have come back to reunite with Hannah, to forgive her? Or is she back for a more sinister reason?

Hannah is finally happy. She's in her 30's, single with a job in a museum that keeps her busy. She's managed to put her childhood and her troubled years behind her. Then one day, she sees Ellen at the museum. Ellen? But Ellen died many years ago and Hannah can't be seeing her, can she?
Told in Hannah's POV the story moves from the present to Hannah's past, setting up the reader's to sympathize with Hannah and wonder just what did happen that summer. The characters are well defined, you'll recognize them as someone you know from your childhood too. All the adults seem clueless as the teenagers move towards a traumatic future. Hannah suffered a breakdown at the end of the summer, is she on her way to another in the present day?

Louise Douglas has written several women's fiction/ drama stories that revolve around the decisions we make in our youth and how we mace the consequences in order to move on. This was a fantastic read.

This was an interesting story-line linking the past with the here and now. Such a well written book about young friendship, love and coming of age and how the past can haunt us. It was beautifully written and moved effortlessly from past to present and back again without losing the plot. I loved the poetic writing with emphasis on prose and style. The words were so beautiful and there were so many secrets which weren't revealed until the end of the book and they took me by surprise.

A beautiful book on the inside with a gorgeous cover on the outside. I loved the characters the setting and the story. It was something different yet held my interest until the last page. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a moving read that leaves you wanting more. Thank you Louise Douglas for such a beautiful, agonizingly poignant book...I look forward to reading your others.

I received an advance copy of, In Her Shadow, by Louise Douglas. This is a very good book. I liked the characters, setting, and story line.

I absolutely loved this book. The story was great and the characters drew me and had it feeling like you were there! This book had such a sinister sense to it which is what held my attention throughout.
And absolutely amazing read with great writing.
I'm hooked on her books now!