Oh My Goodness!!!

What a book this was. It actually made verbally shot out loud towards the end.

Brilliant writing but very frustrating. Get this on your “to be read” list.

Friends Don't Lie by Nell Pattison is a highly recommended domestic psychological thriller.

Izzy (Isabella Butterworth), who works from home, received a few emails that were meant for another woman with the exact same name as her. After a man accosts her outside her home, wondering where Bella was, she begins to look into the other woman's life to try to meet her. Bella Butterworth leads a much more exciting life than Izzy so Izzy begins to obsess over her and finds ways to insert herself into Bella's life, perhaps to warn her that she might be in danger, but under a false name. The two do become friends, but so many questions remain and nothing is exactly as it seems.

The opening to Friends Don't Lie moves at an even, slow pace, however, you will be drawn into the plot. The narrative is told through the points-of-view of different characters, which helps develop them as individuals. None of the characters are particularly likable, but the fact that one character is eventually really stalking another character will grab your attention and hold it while things get switched up in the plot. And the lies, there are most certainly lies and subterfuge in the narrative. There will be a point where you will say "What?" and doubt what you've reading, but the twist will sort itself out.

The plot is really rather pedestrian for most of the novel until the twists which occur later. You will be expecting some twist, however, so when it finally happens most readers will be prepared to figure it out even though it is confusing at first. The second twist then becomes a predicted one. Friends Don't Lie is an entertaining novel. 3.5 rounded up
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Amazon.

Thank you Netgalley and Nell Pattison for letting me read an advanced reader copy of this brilliant psychological thriller!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After reading Hide, I was really excited to read Nell’s next book. And it didn’t disappoint! A classic psychological thriller, set in a domestic environment, with a huge twist. Honestly about half way through I was so pleased with myself for working it out. But no! I didn’t see that twist coming. And when I realised I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen it?!

When Isabelle Butterworth starts getting emails for another Isabelle Butterworth she thinks nothing of it. But when a strange man turns up at her door looking for an Isabelle Butterworth who isn’t her, she starts to feel a bit weird and worried for this mystery woman. And when that man turns up dead, she soon realised that things are not what they seem.

So Isabelle decides to make friends with Isabelle. Using a different name, Isabelle tries to find out as much about Isabelle’s life as she can, to try and find out what the man wanted with her and if she’s in any danger. But who will end up needing saving in the end?

A thriller telling a story of envy of two women situated in the same town but significantly different in their circumstances. An excellent and thrilling tale!

This is a super twisty and intriguing read from a author who I'm a big fan of. It's a bit different to her previous novels, but it's just as cleverly plotted and compelling.
In this book nothing is as it seems. There are so many twists and turns and the plot is complex.
I absolutely raced through this book and I was left reeling by the ending.
A really compelling and addictive read.

I received a complimentary copy of Friends Don't Lie by Nell Pattinson in exchange for my honest review.
Isabella Butterworth, (Izzy) is a hearing impaired young woman, who lives alone in her flat since her brother was sent to prison. She detests her hearing aids, and has begun to withdraw socially because she finds it difficult to keep up with conversations. Her college friends don't invite her out much, but when they do, Izzy has little in common with them.
Izzy works from home as a virtual assistant and occasionally gets emails for someone with the same name as her. She really doesn't think anything of it, until the night she is accosted by a man looking for the other Isabella Butterworth (Bella) who threatens to kill her when he finds her. Izzy feels that she must find Bella and warn her, keep her safe. So it begins.
Izzy finds Bella, she finds Bella has a beautiful home, beautiful children, a handsome husband... a failing marriage and lots of secrets. Under an assumed name, Izzy manages to keep inserting herself in Bella's life, running into her at the gym, turning up other places that Bella frequents, and soon they become friends. Then, the man who was threatening Bella turns up dead and the twists and turns just keep on coming. Secrets, lies, stalking, deception.. this book had it all!
I really enjoyed this book, the twists and turns kept me guessing. I did get confused a time or two and had to go back and reread just to clarify things for myself, but it didn't detractfrom the book. If you love secrets, and psychological thrillers then this is a must read!

I absolutely love this kind of thriller where I have no idea who to trust and where the twist makes me rethink everything I've read to this point.

Nell Pattison is an autobuy author for me and I'll read everything published by the author. I love the representation in this as in the others I've read.

I would highly recommend this book.

So dark and filled with toxic secrets. This was such a page turner, the pages could not turn fast enough.

Absolutely yes! I really enjoyed reading this novel. The characters were fun, it held my interest, and provided an escape from reality. I would definitely recommend!

Ok…wow! I’m pretty sure this book broke my brain. Two women with the same name. The book opens with one visiting the other in prison, but we don’t know why or which is which. I was very invested in Izzy’s story at first. The pacing inevitably slowed down quite a bit as the mystery unraveled and was starting to lose me a bit, but then there’s suddenly a mind blowing twist and the pages flew by. I had to stop several times to try and make sense of what was happening. Nothing was as I assumed it was and then bam! Another twist. My brain almost melted at this point and to be honest, I’m still thinking about this book. I loved the author’s last book, but this one is even better! If you haven’t read Nell Pattison yet, this is the book to start with!

Friend Don't Lie is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Friends Don't Lie today.

Isabella Butterworth keeps getting emails for a woman in her city with the exact same name. She's a lonely single woman who lives and works alone, and when a man tries to attack her looking for the other Isabella, her desire to find the woman to warn her starts to spiral into obsession... But the tangled web of this story goes deeper than even Izzy realises...

I read Hide by Nell Pattison on Netgalley last year and loved it, so I leapt at the chance to read her newest release. Once again, she sucked me right in. While Hide was a "locked room" style thriller with high stakes, this was more of a slow burn domestic suspense. However even with the slower pace, I was somehow completely engaged the whole time.

We get POV chapters from both of the women and though one is a bored stay at home mum with a crappy husband and the other is a lonely single, somehow they were both relatable in different ways. Even when they were doing questionable things, you found yourself not entirely condemning them - and then questioning yourself for it lol. For example, character is basically stalking another character, but then stops and talks to a homeless woman and buys her some essentials. So you're kind of left in this morally grey area of being unsure if they're a slightly misguided good guy or a psycho. I think that's clever writing.

The plot twist bombshell that drops about 80% in is the type that makes you sit there and rethink everything you've just read.

If I were being picky, I'd mention I was kind of waiting for some kind of last minute extra kicker like there was in Hide, so I felt ever so slightly dissatisfied with the ending. But I can be quite hard to please when it comes to endings in books like this.

This is not a book with high stakes moments, but rather a psychological suspense story. As such, I found it totally engaging and the surprises in the plot did not disappoint. I will read more from this author!

Side note: I did find it a little odd that the hearing loss of the main character is introduced and seems important, but then seems to completely disappear from the story.

Well, this was a fun little read. You have to pay a bit of attention, as there are a lot of twists and turns. A few, I figured out, but there were still enough that I did not. I enjoyed the POV's from each Isabella and both characters were well written. This is my second from this author and won't be the last!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Nell Pattison and Avon Books UK for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I've read a few books by Nell Pattison now, and each one has such a clever plot line it is almost like she speaks to me directly. I find it very hard to pass up her book because every time I think I know what is happening she throws me for another loop and leaves me guessing again. I really liked this book just as much as the other ones that I've read by her. This book like so many of her other books have main characters with hearing loss. I really like how she does this because she shows that this disability is not a game ending diagnoses and it
is very possible to live fully and happy eventful lives even if you have the disadvantage of not having your hearing. As a reader I've often wondered if she has family members who suffer from hearing loss because of
how perfectly she writes her characters. I like how this is a reoccurring theme and I hope that she keeps it for
all of her books to come. This book is all about our main character Isabel Butterworth she has a happy life with
lots of friends and a happy career. It isn't long before Isabel starts to notice that she keeps getting lots
of email addressed to her but clearly for another woman who happens to share her name. Isabel is suddenly
ambushed by a man one night who was attempting to attack the other Isabel. Who is this mystery woman with the same name? Isabel feels that it is up to her to find this other woman and warn her of what is headed her way. Pattison has a way with writing her books that really gets the reader invested. Her characters are very easy
to relate to and you really root for them to succeed so when they are going through difficult times you can't
wait to see how they recover. On top of her amazing characters I've always loved her plots. I find them to be
very creative and well thought out. I never see any of the twists coming and each turn of the page really
leaves me guessing and even more invested in the story that is unfolding. It really gave a different spin on what was just told to the reader. While the whole book was pure genius I found the epilogue to be one of the best parts it took what we thought we knew the whole time as a reader and really turned us on our hears. Great read as to be expected by this incredible author. I cannot wait to see what she comes out with next because I feel that anything she touches will turn to gold. If you like a happy go lucky read then this is not the book for you however if you like a book that leaves you questioning everything and in surprise after each twist then this is one that you shouldn't miss.

Friends Don’t Lie was a twisty domestic thriller that had me confused for a couple of chapters but everything fell into place making this an enjoyable read.
Isabella Butterworth I relies on her hearing aid, due to this she has cut herself off from her friends, she works from home so is fairly isolated., she receives emails for a different Isabella Butterworth and when one comes from a photographer she can’t stop herself from having a look. One evening she is attacked and threatened outside her flat but she can’t see anything that she’s done to make this happen. It then clicks into place that she is being confused with the other Isabella so she goes to the police but decides to befriend the woman and try to warn her about this man.
This was a very twisty read and was quite dark in places, I liked how the different characters got their own chapters as this made it a much deeper and involved read.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I have just this minuet finished this book and i am blown away! I love this author so I was so excited for this book and lucky to get it on Netgally! This is so so good! I loved all aspects of it twists and finding out where the book is going to go. I love a book full of secrets and that is what this book is. Friends with secrets are never a good thing. I did get a little confused near to the end with the characters but once I kept reading it was made clear to me. If you haven't read this author before defiantly check them out! every book by this author has been five stars for me. I can't wait for the next one!

Interesting novel based on the premise that two women have the same name and one had received dubious emails and post for the other

Pretending to be anyone other than herself one of them changes her name and befriend ms the other.

Dark family thriller which I enjoyed.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a wild ride this one was

I really didn't know who was a reliable narrator in this book and the twists were sooo good and unexpected!

This book was very easy to read, well written, an addictive plot and excellent ending!

Thank you Netgalley, Avon Books & Nell Pattison for the ARC of this book

The idea behind this book is an interesting one; two women with the same name living in the same town, similar in age, but one living a more interesting life than the other. I really wanted to like it more than I did. It took me a couple of attempts to get into it, it just didn’t hook me in.

i did enjoy this story and the way is was written. I liked the style and the way it was told from the different character's perspectivesr. THhe book looks at lots of issues including threats, lies, and secrets. the were lots of twists and in some parts was even a little twisted. Some parts weredisturbing with psycho toxic narrators. There was quite abit of repetition which i thought slowed the pace down and wasnt needed.