An intriguing character-driven mystery that reminded me of a one-act play. The story will come out eventually, but can you guess how it will end?

The Interview by Gill Perdue flips sides between an extremely disturbed and unreliable narrator, Jenny, a 14-year-old girl who's been picked up by police covered in blood and refusing to talk, and seasoned victim interviewer Laura, who has her own demons to fight.

Jenny's narration is all over the place, she has an awful lot going on internally and berates herself frequently as a "dumb bitch." Particularly when she finds herself almost answering detective Laura even though she can see through her sneaky interview techniques. Jenny is not dumb at all. She's just coping.

The Interview explores some quite dark themes and does it well and effectively. As the pieces come together, your understanding of Jenny's internal monologue will start to crystalise, but fair warning, it's not a pretty picture.

Although I was absorbed when actively reading The Interview, it's not the type of book that makes you desperate to get back to it after putting it down, its pace was a little slower than that. It's more of a patience game. A slow jigsaw, if you will, but enjoyable nonetheless.

If you like the Netflix show Criminal, you will likely enjoy this book.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review ★★★

This is the first book I have read by this author.

I enjoyed this book.

It was a dark story that wasn’t fast paced but enjoyable and easy to read.

Many thanks to the author publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
This is a excellent book that I highly recommend. It is a dark, demanding read, slow in places but well worth the effort. It touches on difficult subjects such as domestic abuse, child.abuse and metal health issues. It's not a book for those who maybe triggered by these subjects.
I would be very keen to read more of this authors work.

This was a very dark, but very interesting read. Not exactly what I was expecting and a little slow in places, but ultimately a good book that I’d recommend. Thank you for the ARC

I struggled with the subject matter of this novel - it deals with violence, domestic abuse and sexual abuse - nothing graphic but the descriptions of its repercussions makes it a hard read. Worthwhile but certainly not a switch off story. I wanted to keep reading as I was not at all sure what the outcome would be - fascinated and repulsed in equal measure.

Jenny - the victim - is found covered in blood and in shock. She can only recount her story through fairy tales with no one sure what is truth and what is make believe. It is up to Laura and Niamh to find out the truth and video her testimony. To add to the difficulty in doing so Laura is struggling to cope with secrets of her own which could jeopardise the whole investigation.

Well written but traumatic - not for the faint hearted.

I really enjoyed this book, although it is a very dark story. Detective Laura Shaw is an expert at interviewing, being very good at getting people to open up. When 14 year old Jenny is found covered in blood and her step father is missing, Laura isn't sure whether Jenny is a victim or if she has committed a criminal offence. Jenny is determined not to talk. It soon becomes apparent that Laura herself is suffering with her mental health, dating back to a serious assault when she was 18. This is a real page turner that will keep you guessing to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Thanks to #netgalley for arc
I loved this book from very first word I was hooked I could feel the connection between the girl and Niamh and Laura how they built the building blocks of the framework of their interview
Then you begin to realise that one of them has more invested than the other and the balance shifts slightly but then then both take themselves for a quiet conversation and pull it back together
But do they ?? Niamh has her coaching to keep her occupied outside of work but Laura where time is consumed with Katie her almost 2 year old daughter who she has major anxiety over leaving. She has been seeing a great therapist called Sam but upon trying to contact him this time finds out he has died, so she tries to follow what he taught her although she finds this harder and harder.
Laura is hiding a traumatic secret of her own and her thoughts and Jenny -the girl - thoughts are getting muddled up until eventually something is going to have to give
Will it be her marriage to her super supportive husband whose parents always looked down on her, or will it be this secret that is strangling her or will it be the line she is prepared to take in her job to get Jenny to talk openly?
It can’t be all only one? But which one ?

This book had such an interesting premise and I did find myself wanting to keep reading, but it wasn't amazing! None of the characters were very likeable and I felt the ending was a little falt for me.

I did enjoy this book but it took me a while to get into it - i found myself getting easily distracted instead of gripped and i'm unsure whether that was because the pace was slow or whether the book was just not for me. i really wanted to like this book and i thought i was going to but i was left a little disappointed as there wasn't as much suspense as i usually look for, however the plot and writing were very good. The triggers are definitely heavy - this wasn't a factor that influenced my rating as such because they weren't sensitive topics for me, however I can see how theh would be for some people. Overall I did enjoy this book but it's not one that i would pick up to read more than once. It would be a good introduction to the genre though.

I thought this was a very interesting concept for a book. Where a 14 year old girl Jenny, is a victim of assault and gets interviewed by Detective Laura and her partner Niamh. The twist here is that Jenny only speak through fairy tales. As she says "fairy tales are way more honest. Bad things happen".

Firstly, it's hard to imagine Jenny as a young girl when she comes across as a grown adult (I think this is because of all the swearing she does and how mature her inner monologue comes across). At first she's mute, but then slowly opens up through the telling of fairy tales (very dark ones). I thought the idea of communicating her situation through fairy tales was a unique one, but unfortunately, this just took wayyy too long!

The book is very very slow paced... Practically nothing happens in this book other than Niamh and Laura trying to pry information from Jenny and Jenny swearing and refusing to give any information. Whenever we do get any information about Jenny and her case, we get very little and then the story drags again until we get more. The plot never seems to truly progess?

Also important to mention that there are some dark and difficult moments to read in this book as well.

However, I do like how this book is written in terms of chapters. The chapters aren't that long and the book is written in multiple POVs which makes the story interesting as we get insights to every character's thoughts.

I think this book would have been more enjoyable if it weren't so slow in progession.

I had trouble liking this book. For starters, the pace is too slow, almost no action, especially in the first part of the book, and no tension or much suspense. Also, i really didn’t like the characters, especially Laura who I found the most annoying of all. The themes are intense and strong (abuse, trauma, neglect) which are described in details so it is not a read for everyone. I kept reading to see how the story and the characters would develop, but I am sorry to say it is not a book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Interview.

Laura has had a rough young life, but now she is well established as a respected member of the Gardai, trained in interviewing young people after crimes have been discovered. But when she meets Jenny, Everything changes. Jenny’s circumstances effect Laura in ways she can’t imagine, making her job even more difficult. Will Jenny ever tell the full story? Or will Laura never discover the truth?

This was an interesting premise for a book, but I felt it dragged a little in the middle section. Or maybe could have been wrapped up sooner. There was also some Irish dialect and terms which I could not understand, but it was easy enough to follow. 3 stars.

A girl covered in blood. A missing man. A cryptic fairy tale.

Detective Laura Shaw seems to have it all: a supportive husband, a happy two-year-old and a great career. She is her team's top interviewer, brilliant at coaxing victims to open up.

Then, she meets Jenny - a 14-year-old assault victim - and the façade crumbles. Jenny's stepfather is missing, the blood on her clothes is not her own and Laura can't interpret the fairy tale she keeps repeating.

But Jenny isn't the only one with secrets. With every hour that passes, Laura loses more of her grip, grappling with the biggest question of all:

Is every life worth saving?

‘The Interview’ by Gill Perdue is an exceptionally gripping debut novel. A slow burn start but the author has a wonderful way with words and before long the tension is ratcheting up. The interviewing detective is almost as damaged as the 14 year old victim who has the answers but communicates by creating a sinister fairy tale - and time is running out for the victim. The psychology is fascinating and the detective is forced to take risks to get to the answers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope it’s the first of many from this author. I mean, who needs sleep anyway?

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Wow this was addictive!

This was one of those books that had me itching to pick it back up as soon as I’d put it down for a break – I was completely gripped and desperate to know just what was going to happen.

Chapters are told from the points of view of Laura the detective, Laura’s colleague Niamh and finally, Jenny the victim / suspect.

I will say the subjects this book covers were pretty harrowing to read about at times but I think the author did a fantastic job of highlighting them through Jenny’s ‘fairytale’. It’s hard to know at times whether Jenny is telling the truth and just how to interpret her story she is telling. It really showed just how victims of such horrific trauma compartmentalise their feelings and thoughts in order to survive and move on.

I don’t want to go into much more detail as this really is best enjoyed without knowing too much. It’s an absolutely gripping story that slowly unravels with each chapter, becoming even more heartbreaking. Both Laura and Jenny have secrets and ultimately end up helping each other face their fears and past traumas.

A brilliant read that was so addictive and impossible to put down!

This is a dark and complex book which I struggled to finish as I found it slow to start and difficult to engage with the characters.

It is a book which tells the stories of Laura, a guard who has in her past suffered a rape which she never disclosed, Niamh a fellow guard and the only level headed character and finally Jenny, the teenager who is in hospital struggling to come to terms with her own abuser and the tragedy of her family.

I did finish the book however I found it quite slow, despite the trauma. The descriptions of the fantasy world that Jenny part lived in were confusing for me as a reader.

Not one I would recommend but I would thank Netgalley for the chance to read and review.

This book gives you an insight into the minds and thoughts of trauma and abuse victims. This look beyond the outward persona gives you cause to think and have a better understanding of what bottling up anxieties can do to a person.
In that respect the book does a good job although Laura's drifts of concentration and resulting lack of professionalism was a little frustrating at times.
I would rate this book 3.5 stars as it was quite a slow burner, I nearly gave up a third of the way through but it did improve after that.

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. I found it very slow and I just couldn’t get into it. I DNFd at 20%. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book. It was on my kindle and I read it without reading what it was about, I was gripped from the first page it is a very interesting book, I found I could not put it down. Very disturbing in parts

I unfortunately was really disappointed with this. The blurb really intrigued me and I was excited to read this, but it definitely didn’t live up to my expectations at all. The book was written well and I could see what the author was trying to do but it just didn’t hit the spot, Jenny’s constant swearing and all the internal monologues got a bit annoying and repetitive and I feel like after nearly 100 pages we hadn’t really learnt that much at all., I didn’t find myself wanting to read more or actually read it at all. This is the first book I didn’t finish. Too long, too slow!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily.
The character development in this book is speedy, unlike the record of the interviews with Jenny which clearly demonstrate the difficulties of interviewing a teenager who is distressed and psychologically affected by events and the actions of others during her childhood; I thought the very slow trickle of information from Jenny coupled with the language in her thoughts was typical of someone in that state. Laura's character showed her to be somewhat unstable, requiring counselling support but refusing to access it, and her anger with and behaviour towards her long-suffering husband made me dislike her intensely. I thought she was extremely unprofessional in her job and selfish at home.
I think the plot and narrative style of this book is clever, but it wasn't for me and I gave up at 30%.