What a brilliant book! What She Did was one of those rare books that left me thinking about it after I finished it. Fantastically written with well-developed characters. Carla Kovach definitely has a way with words to keep your mind moving. It’s gloriously dark and twisty!

The main lead is Marissa. She was only 5 years old when her mother was murdered. Ending up living with her aunt and uncle she was subjected to abuse. You really want to fight for Marissa and be on her side. She has a silent strength about her and you want her to have a break in life. She is a fantastic lead character in the book and I’m pretty sure you will be by her side throughout.



Please note there are trigger topics in this book such as domestic abuse and mental health issues.

A highly recommended read. Make sure you put aside time to read in a short time as you won’t be able to put it down!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the copy.

Quite a different book that what author Carla Kovach usually wrote. A damaged heroine with time lapse memory losses, this was an interesting premise.

Marissa’s mother was murdered in her childhood. 20 years later her uncle, then her neighbor. And all fingers pointed to Marissa who couldn’t vouch for her memory.

The main character was etched well, her anxiety resembled mine as of today (all thanks to the pandemic). She had her own ways of being, so most times I couldn’t relate to her. But this being fiction, it didn’t matter as the plot twirled into the darker underlay.

Quite a disturbing plotline, liked the sense of danger emanating from it. The pace is erratic, too many of her ruminations which I didn’t need. Unlikable characters were peppered in the prose, adding spice to the story.

Overall a good afternoon read.

This was definitely one of the best books I have read this year... I did managed to finish this book within a few hours. It was captivating and difficult to put down.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house ad the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

Marissa Baxter's early life was truly what nightmares are made of; when she was 5, she witnessed her mother’s murder and she was sent to live with her only family, an aunt and uncle who neglected and abused her. Marissa, after her aunt's death, leaves and eventually gets her life together. Marissa lives in a less than desired apartment saving money to buy the cottage her and her mother lived in when she was very little. Then her abusive Uncle Simon moves into the cottage, she gets a new creepy, loud neighbour that she comes to verbal blows with and she has a new client who is overreaching her professional boundaries; all of this sets into motion a series of events that leave Marissa not knowing if she is a killer or if she is in danger. The ending had some surprises and was satisfying.

This was a good read but nowhere near as good as the Gina Harte series that I love, definitely worth a read though.

What She Did was so predictable that within a few chapters, I was pretty sure where it was going. This took a lot of the anticipation and thrill out of it, which is not ideal for a psychological thriller. If it hadn't been so short, I'm not sure I would have finished it.

I did empathise with Marissa - you would have to be a complete robot not to. Her early life was traumatic, and she went through so many horrific experiences. Despite this, I still didn't like her as a character or as a person. Her personality was clinging and annoying, making the narrative feel repetitive almost from the beginning, which only got worse as I kept reading.

I appreciated the attempt to take a relatively standard psychological thriller recipe and make it darker and more sadistic. Unfortunately, the attempt felt clumsy and forced because every twist was easy to see from a long way off and revealed no new significant information. As a result, the pace of the narrative felt flat, and I didn't feel the suspense that was intended and really necessary to make What She Did worth reading.

This one left me a little unsure of how to review if I'm completely honest.

I have loved Carla's previous Gina Harte series so I suppose deep down I was expecting much the same or a similar style but this book was completely different.

First off, hats off to the author for steering into a totally different direction, I think that personally it's a brave move for any author who is know for such a well loved series to step away from that!

For me it didnt quite hit the highs I was expecting BUT that could purely be because I had high expectations in the first place.

It didnt help that the majority of characters were unlikeable which is always a massive turn off for me, more so the fact that the main character Marissa was just as unlikeable as the rest of the characters.

It all just felt a little messy, repetitive and at times I hate to say it but boring.

Thanks to netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

What She Did is a decent crime thriller with a few twists to keep the interest. It is well written with good spectrum of characters.
Marissa Baxter has had a hard life, she witnessed her mother being murdered as a young child, she then got sent to her aunts where she was treated less than kindly and abused by her uncle. She now works for herself and lives in a flat that is not very nice. She yearns to be able to afford to buy back the cottage her and her mother were happy in before they had to move all the time. Due to her unstable upbringing she is a regular sleep walker when she is stressed. Her neighbour is awful that has just moved in and has loud parties all night, she’s just found out her uncle has bought the cottage she wanted to buy that used to be her mother’s. Marissa is not happy about this but she has a new friend on the estate to help her try and form a complaint to get rid of her neighbour. Tragedy happens and Marissa has to dig deep quickly and work out who she can trust.
I liked this read, the characters were all different although I did get a sense that everything that happened in the book was in a one mile radius as people popped up from Marissa’s early life like it was just down the road but besides that it was a well thought out plot line with a lot going on.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This book by Carla is a stand-alone thriller
I have read her other books and this one didn’t disappoint
A great read you will not want to put it down
Thanks NetGalley

I thought this book was good. I really connected to the story. I’ll read more from this author in the future.

Whilst I enjoyed this as a stand alone book by Carla , i much prefer the Gina Harte series , that being said its a good solid read . Marissa is a believable lead , trying to get along after her traumatic childhood and i did like her and was invested in her story . I found it a bit slow in parts but that didn't affect my enjoyment

Dark, moody, atmospheric and chilling - What She Did by Carla Kovach can be described crisply in these words. This story is told entirely from the heroine Marissa's POV and her perspective. What we get, as a result, is a journey into the mind of a person, who has underwent lots of trauma in her formative years and is still trying to learn to live with that. She is complex, strange and the thoughts going through her head sometimes are weird. She is vulnerable yet resilient. She is scared most of the time but still knows how to take care of herself when she is trapped.

On top of all the things she already has to sort out, she is thrust into circumstances that are very confusing for her and scary too. The story follows her attempts at finding out exactly what is happening and trying to resolve it. The story didn't work all the way for me mainly because of the disjointed way it was presented. There were no adequate reasons for many of the inferences the heroine arrives at, many of the times. The plot seemed to get murky at certain areas. And the mood of the book is certainly not my cup of tea.

The book is worth 4 stars for these reasons and I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC. All opinions in the review are my own.

Here's an author that I can always recommend! Especially as she is one of my favourite authors!
Carla's books just get better and better. So when her latest book What She Did by Carla Kovach came available.......I had to change my plans for that day and put everything on hold. However, one thing I will say "Don't start reading her books just before you go to bed as you will not want to put your kindle down!"

This latest book is full of twists and turns throughout and is so gripping and differently a page turner.

WoW what a book, it was superb and a very powerful read. Carla this book was superb and I highly recommend it

Big 5 Stars from me!

Big Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author for a free electronic review copy.

Fantastic read. First from this author and won’t be the last. Plenty of action to keep me gripped throughout. 4 stars

Thank you Bookoutre and NetGalley for this advanced copy.
I really have found an author I now love. This was very well written, a great story with a really good plot. I really enjoyed this book but there was just something keeping me from giving 5 stars - I would have given 4.5 but couldn't!
Please keep them coming.

The book was great, interesting characters, fast changing and twisting plot- exactly what I love! I would recommend this book to my friends and family!

Good book that kept me interested throughout. Good characters, plot and suspense. This is my first book by Carla Kovach and I will seek out others by her

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for an Arc in exchange for an honest review

I struggled with this book and in the beginning I was going to stop reading it but I preserved and it got better, much better. and I really enjoyed the last half of the book and loved the ending.

I was given an advance copy by Bookoutre and netgalley but the review is entirely my own.

What an amazing story. I could not put this one down. Full of twists and turns. This one took me on an incredibly tense, fast paced journey. Absolutely loved this book. Thus author is one of my absolute favourites.

A standalone novel by Carla Kovach after reading most of the Gina Harte series I was intrigued to read.
The story jumps around a lot and creates a strong mystery on the main character and her background.
However, I didn't find the story that interesting and I guessed the twist quite early on.
A good read but not quite to the standard of the Gina Harte series.

'What She Did' by Carla Kovach is a psychological thriller that is one hell of a read. I have been a fan of Carla Kovach for a long time now. Her Gina Harte series is so good that I wondered how 'What She Did' would measure up against it, I soon found out.
Marissa Baxter’s mother was murdered twenty three years previously. Just before she was killed she made Marissa hide. Marissa has suffered ever since and to make it worse the killer was never discovered. She was left in the care of her aunt and uncle who,instead of caring for her, neglected and abused her. She is now in her twenties, working as a financial advisor and has her own flat now too. Two murders of people known to her, bring her memories flooding back. She begins to fall apart and wonders if she could be involved in some way.
Carla Kovach has done it again. I was gripped to this book from beginning to end. With characters that are relatable and so well developed that you feel you are with them. I could picture Marissa and really felt for her the further she crumbled as her world fell apart. I was really invested in her and it tugged at my heartstrings. This is a fabulous skill of Carla Kovach, to create characters that are so unique with their own strengths and weaknesses.
A story that has enough red herrings along with the twists and turns to ensure I had no idea throughout the book. I did think it was someone different and a great book is one when you can't guess the ending if you try.
A truly addictive, shocking and actually brilliant read that I recommend if you love a psychological thriller.
Thanks to Bookouture and Carla Kovach for the copy of the book and my place on the tour.