I found the main character of this book to be fairly unlikeable and volatile. . The story was convoluted, the confusion seemed forced, and I wasn’t especially interested in what really was going on.

Thanks to Inkubator Books, NetGalley and Ruth Harrow for an ARC of this book.
this book was VERY slow, VERY!
there were jumps from past to present which is something i usually like but here it gave me whiplash. the FMC was very unlikable and always in her head. yes this book does talk about grief and loss but it also makes the FMC into this person who is stuck in the past and won't let her child live without her if that makes sense. like she can't digest that her SON has a kid and is very weird towards her daughter in law.
i skimmed the last chapters and know there is a plot twist too. which was a bit interesting but which again in turn made me not like the FMC more.
Once again thank you for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It’s not often I get a book that I just can’t get into the story but sadly this was one of those books, it didn’t work for me at all in any way possible I’m afraid…

I liked the concept of this but honestly I was lost half of the time and didn’t really understand what was going on.

I didn’t really connect with any of the characters or the plot which is a bit of an issue.

It was quite slow pacing which you don’t expect from a suspenseful story.

Would I recommend? Probably not because I don’t really know how I could sell this to someone if I didn’t enjoy any of the aspects other than concept.

Just One Lie
by Ruth Harrow

Thanks to Inkubator Books and NetGalley for the advance copy to review.
It began slowly and the book is told in two POVs - our main character, Alison, and another person, who we don’t know. It was a hit and miss when it jumped so often. But, all in all, it was a good read.

This book covered difficult issues such as loss and grief. The chapters are mostly written from the main characters point of view with some interspersed by an unknown character. Secrets are hinted at throughout the book, and gradually revealed. I certainly did not expect the reveal when it happened.

I thought the premise was enthralling and believed I would really love the book. But instead, the unclear transitions in POV put me off from the first. Didn't like the characters either. I didn't feel as much sympathy for Alison as was intended. Besides, the way the plot revolved around caring for children was exhausting (I mean, seriously, mothers love their kids. Yes! And they go to any extent for their kids. But not every mother has only kids as their entire world. They have a life apart from kids.)and the climax was too unrealistic.
I thought I would love the book. But unfortunately, I didn't.

Holy slow. This story absolutely crawled. The characters were totally blah and the writing was confusing. I couldn't get into the story at all and skimmed most of it.

I really thought I was going to love this book…but I didn’t. I found it very confusing to follow with the different perspectives, and I thought it lead to a lot of dead ends with no explanation. I skimmed through the last 20% and I don’t think I missed much. Parts of it were really interesting, but overall I was unimpressed. It was difficult to follow the storyline, and some of the chapters felt really repetitive, redundant and unnecessary. The ending was interesting but not enough to fully redeem the book for me.

I wanted to like this book, but I felt the writer went too far with ambiguity in the plot in order to create suspense. This tactic made the story seem disjointed and it was difficult for me to care about the characters. That said, there are some unexpected twists and turns. If you're in the mood for a light suspense book you may enjoy it.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Good plot lime a book about how far a mother would go for her child but really for me it was a bit slowed paced.
Overall enjoyable

“Everyone has a secret. But not like Alison’s.
Alison loves being a mother which is why she is finding it so hard to come to terms with the recent loss of her baby daughter. She still has her young son Adam whom she adores, but the grief is always there…
Everyone can see she is struggling.
And they don’t know the half of it. Alison has a terrible secret she has never shared with anyone – not even her husband, Dan. She knows if he ever discovers what she did, her family will be destroyed forever.
But someone seems to know, because Alison gets a sinister message. And then bad things start to happen – her website is hacked, her business is sabotaged, there’s a fire in her home… then more threatening messages.
Alison is in no doubt that someone means to destroy her by exposing her to the world. But who? And why?
Can she discover the truth before it’s too late? Or is the terror that fuels her sleepless nights about to become all too real?”

I loved the premise of this book, but the execution was lacking. The main characters were not particularly likable for me, and the book was confusing to read in a lot of places. I felt like I should’ve been catching on to something, but I wasn’t given enough information to put two and two together. I love multiple POVs in a book but I feel like it just added to the confusion here. Once I got to the plot twist and all the juicy bits the came with it, I was flipping pages like there was no tomorrow. But the first…eh, 3/4ths of this book was a drag for me. I liked it, didn’t love it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I was able to read this book via NetGalley, thank you very much for the opportunity. I will give my honest opinion, I swear. :D
This book had me on the fence. I was finding myself constantly rolling my eyes, close to throwing my kindle against a wall - a thing I would never do.

A very slow paced book, which is fine, if the story was going somewhere. It was told from two POVs and even when we think we know who the second one is, we actually don’t. Would have been too obvious. I had two problems with this.

The first problem was, all the characters were totally… blah. That’s a serious problem when the main characters annoy you. A lot. The only character I liked was Rebecca and we were feed suspicions, because come on, she can’t be that nice?

Problem number two is more my own and will probably have some stones flying my way. But I can’t stand it, when everything has to revolve around having children. It made me feel super uncomfortable. And then the grandparent that knows everything better and things her son and baby are the holy grail. Sorry for saying it, but no, not for me. And that should be ok. For some people it works, for some not. I am not against having children, no, but these characters were so extreme and Not relatable for me. So sorry. It was more the style of writing that was really disturbing.

Sorry, but I did not get it. Yeah, a mother would do everything for their child, but this book? Nope.

This book was a good read though I did get a tad confused, the main character is Allison who is struggling with the loss of her baby, Alison is also a mother to Adam she has recently opened a photography studio when storage things start to happen Alison is also hiding a massive lie all in all a good book

A  plot that explores the lengths that a mother would go to for her child.

Alison Burnham, a photographer, is constantly on edge from the secret and lies that she has been harbouring for many years now. Coupled with the recent loss of her unborn baby, her grief and her guilt makes it difficult for her to let go of the past and focus on the future. And when she begins to receive threatening messages and her business is attacked, Alison realizes that her lies have finally caught up with her, and that she can trust no one.

I am a bit on the fence regarding this book. It was slow-paced with a gradual build-up in the suspense over the chapters. The two main characters were totally unlikeable. The parts depicting Alison's grief were repetitive and exhausting - as a reader, I just wanted to skip it and move on. I do not know if the author intended for Alison's character to garner sympathy, but I must say that I felt absolutely none for her; considering her one 'little' lie, she was dealt with pretty lightly at the end.

I found the story pretty much meh until the plot twist and the antagonist were revealed - that part was simply awesome - and couldn't help wondering if only the narrative until then had a bit more depth to it, with a little less rambling, then I'd have enjoyed it more. The climax was quite thrilling, but the denouement was disappointing.

Overall, an average story with a great climax. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Alison is under a lot of stress starting her new photography business while still coping with the recent loss of her daughter. Even though she still has her young son and husband, her heart is shattered. It makes the secret she is keeping even that much more unbearable.

This story was wild! It is told from alternating points of view from Alison and another person (no spoilers, we don’t find out who that person is til later). As Alison is trying to move forward with her life, the grief of her loss and the burden of her secret make her question her own sanity at points. But the one thing that keeps her going is her devotion to her son. The other people in her life even become questionable and at points I suspected them of all of being sketchy. I love when books have multiple characters that make it difficult to guess who is the “bad guy”. At times, it was a little confusing differentiating the points of view but other than that, this book was SO good! The first I’ve read by this author but it won’t be the last.

“Just One Lie” comes our June 6th! Thanks to Netgalley, Inkubator books and Ruth Harrow for the ARC. This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (books_by_the_bottle) shortly.

I really enjoyed this book! It hooked me from the very first chapter, and kept me hooked the entire time!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Alison is struggling after the loss of her baby and it's no secret. However, it's a secret from her past that may be her undoing.

I couldn't get into this book. Alison came across as hysterical and a little unhinged and at times it was hard to sympathize with her. She never clicked as a strong character for me. I realize her big secret was the reason she was the way she was, but I found the entire situation very hard to believe would happen in current times to begin with. It cast doubt on the entire narrative and in a thriller like this, you need to be able to find some sort of believability that the situation described could happen. I finished the book, but there was no one was I really rooting for in it. That made it difficult to stay in the novel.

Good story, hard to follow at times but enjoyed it. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Inkubator Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

At times it was confusing, overall throughly an enjoyable read. Well written with enjoyable characters. I didn’t want to put it down.