Quick twisty read where you figure out what happens but you’re pleased with yourself for figuring it out. The pacing was a bit scattered at parts but still a good read.

Okay, this was SO good. I absolutely blasted through it—it kept me up at night, interrupted my workday. I finished it in 24 hours. Great twists and turns, intriguing characters (though perhaps overly focused on Helen), and a genuinely fun twist at the end. Highly recommend if you like mysteries & thrillers.

This novel pleasantly surprised me. I was intrigued, roped in, searching for clues, hypothesizing what would happen and who would do it. Reminded me of twisty plots of Paula Hawkins and Ruth Ware. Suddenly insert a pregnant woman, Rachel, into the lives of two couples and the story takes off. Rachel becomes the catalyst of the plot which is complicated, historically caused, and involves affairs and secrets of the past and present. But who was with whom and when? And why did Rachel just happen to arrive in these lives? That’s the intrigue.
At some point the reader recognizes that there are subtle clues being given. What’s the crime? Who is responsible? Ah, I know and in the next chapter—nope I didn’t! A solid and intriguing read with relatable characters with plausible flaws. It will capture you and keep you reading. WARNING: Don’t read the end first, it would take away the fun.

I rarely ever do this, but this was a DNF for me. The pacing was off and the writing was so bad! There's one line in particular where Helen says, "My heart feels full of blood." Um...it's supposed to be full of blood?!
Not sure how it has 4-5 stars rating based on that alone. I'm glad other people were able to enjoy this book, but it wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m writing this review at 1am despite having to be up at 4:30am. I should have gone to bed hours ago but I had to stay up and finish it because it was just THAT good! I read this book in one sitting because I needed to know what happened and it is the type of book that sucks you in from page one and keeps your attention every page until the end. Great characters, great story, great writing... Loved this book and highly recommend it!

I’m actually editing my review a week later, to add a little more which is something I’ve never done before but felt I needed to. I needed a new book to read and was just looking for other books by the author since I enjoyed this one so much when I found out that this was her very first book and I’m even more blown away now! I have definitely read more psychological thrillers than the average person and I’ve never read one where I truly thought, for sure, that every single character was guilty at one point or another. The way the story developed and came together was brilliant and I will definitely be on the lookout for her future books!

This is an excellent book. It is told from several viewpoints but mainly.
well paced mystery which kept me guessing throughout and the final reveal came together really well, with a well written climactic scene.
Really loved this book! Not bad for a debut author!

This story focuses on siblings, Helen and her brothers, Rory and Charlie, and their spouses, Daniel, Serena and Charlie's journalist girlfriend Katie.

Helen meets Rachel at a prenatal class. At first Helen is unsure of her, Rachel drinks and smokes and certainly doesn't act like a mother-to-be. After this, Rachel starts to show up in Helen's everyday life. Helen is lonely so she starts to befriend her. But before long, things get out of control. What does Rachel really want and why is she always around and turning up wherever Helen goes?

This was an incredible debut, I had a hard time putting it down. It was filled with many secrets and lies that kept me glued to the pages as I read. Although I wasn't crazy about any of the characters, I absolutely loved the brilliant ending!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book started strong and I ended up crushing through it in less than two days. I just had to know what was happening and needed answers immediately!

What I liked a lot about this book is that it wasn’t creepy or gross. However it was suspenseful, just in a less stressful way than many thrillers I’ve read in the past. I don’t personally enjoy really graphically gory books or ones that are so tense I can’t sleep, so this was a win for me in those categories.

It was also a fast and compelling read and even though it didn’t end as strongly as it started, I still really enjoyed the entire book. I can easily recommend this for mystery/thriller lovers.

This is an amazing and compelling book which had me in its thrall from the first page and I had to put life on hold to complete this in order to know the mystery surrounding Rachel, who gatecrashed into Helen’s life. Who is Rachel? Why's Helen bumping into her everywhere? Why does Rachel want to be friends with Helen? What’s her ulterior motives? Is she innocent as she appears?

This is the story of siblings Rory, Helen, and Charlie and their spouses/girlfriend Serena, Daniel, and Katie respectively. The first two couples ‘friendship goes back to the way past.

I found Helen gullible, lonely and vulnerable. She meets Rachel at prenatal class and this event spiraled life into chaos. She tries to keep her new friend at bay but Rachel infiltrated and is having a strong hold. Helen is daft too, otherwise who opens their life to a random stranger. I can’t help feeling sorry for her and at times wished she would wake up and smell the coffee.

OMG, everyone in this hiding something. It was fun to watch their secrets unravel and they scramble to cover them by making mistakes upon mistakes and being pulled deep into abyss.

Loved the whole book but the icing on the cake is the last chapter which amazed me how they were able to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. I was astonished at their machinations, talent in carrying out the whole scheme in the open while being appearing as innocents. I’ve relished this part just for these people’ sheer audacity.

Though this book is the debut for Faulkner, her writing prowess is evident in each chapter and the clever way she crafted the story. Though I had my suspicions on a particular character based on their demeanor but couldn’t guess the motives as Faulker constructed the plot tightly and didn’t give much away until the final brilliant twists.

This gives deep insight into how low people could stoop to, how ruthless they can be, unscrupulous to trample anyone on their paths, takes the manipulation to a whole new level.

Overall, I would highly recommend this slow burn and riveting thriller that keeps you at the edge of the seat.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the arc in return for an honest review.