Phoebe has prosopagnosia; she cannot recognize faces, not even her own in the mirror. When she breaks up with her boyfriend, a nightmare begins: Alfie is a master of deception and now he's using her face blindness against her to force his way into her life. She can never be sure if the nice man on the bus or one of her dates is actually her ex. Phoebe flees to her sister, even though their relationship has been problematic since childhood.

My initial impression was: 1) Phoebe is very whiny. 2) Phoebe always puts herself in the center of attention. 3) Phoebe sees herself as the victim. Yes, her prosopagnosia is undoubtedly a real disability, but she makes it unnecessarily difficult for herself by not telling anyone and therefore not accepting any help.

As the book progresses, however, it becomes clear where the causes lie: after her parents' divorce, little Phoebe chose to live with her father but at the same time felt betrayed by her mother and sister. This may seem illogical from an adult perspective, but for her, it was a trauma that became the foundation of her identity. Even as an adult, every loss feels like deliberate abandonment, and everything is exaggerated and reframed as a drama.

Her behaviour leads to her not being taken seriously when she actually experiences something terrible and is in great danger. This is the perfect basis for a psychological thriller and indeed highly suspenseful, although I found Alfie to be too black and white. While Phoebe shows character growth throughout the book, he never transcends the one-dimensional stereotype of the psychopathic villain. Other characters are also quite flat; only her sister, who initially comes across as very unsympathetic, gradually shows more dimension.

Overall, my conclusion is: Original, suspenseful and written in a solid writing style, but with significant drawbacks in the portrayal of the characters.

The title and cover design intrigued me.

This was a good psychological thriller. It messed with my head, in fact, my palms were clammy while I was reading it.

I liked the protagonist and the way she talked to the reader. By contrast, the antagonist made me feel disgusted, but this was something that motivated me to keep reading, because I wanted to find out what became of this character.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

Domestic thrillers have been my most-read genre this year. Because of that, I'm pretty picky with the tropes that I enjoy. When I first picked it up, I was expecting another stalker story and I wasn't too excited. But the author, C.J. Bowden, threw in a twist that I didn't know was going to add so much to the plotline. The female protagonist, Phoebe, suffers from face blindness; she can see faces just fine, but she does not recognize them. How much more gripping a stalker tale becomes when the victim can't recognize the stalker! Throw in a boyfriend suspected of cheating, and decades-old family secrets and you've got a really engaging and unique domestic thriller certainly worth the read.

A smart phone could've solved all Phoebe's problems, and the book would've ended after the assault part, the nagging thought of "why does she not ask people for a photo to be able to recognize them?" kept me frustrated the whole time, at the very least, the author could jest casually mention that the book is taking place in the early 2000s or something.
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However, even after reading inconsistencies here and there, and bearing through some unbelievable decisions from Phoebe, I can absolutely say that I LOVED the book, I couldn't put it down at all, the author was smart for making fast paced, which helped kind of distract me from any implausible part.
I wouldn't go as far and say I liked Phoebe, because I didn't, but at the same time, I didn't hate her, she was kind of a bland character, some side characters were much more interesting, like, Suzi for example.
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I really liked the backstory of Phoebe's family, it didn't have a direct impact on the storyline, apart from the fact that it was the main reason for Phoebe's low self-esteem, but it was written so well, and it did make me warm up to Suzi, who was one of my favorite characters.
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The ending was amazing, I got closure for everyone involved, and the character development for each character was satisfying for me.
So, overall, this book is success for me.
*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

A thoroughly entertaining read - I found myself really looking forward to reading the next chapter and it was one of those books I found myself reading late into the night because I wanted to see what happened! Face blindness would be a real bitch!
The end felt a little jumpy and rushed - we can only assume what happened with Alfie the creep.
Overall a great read that I would recommend to anyone looking for a psychological thriller!

Great read. Didn't want to put this down. Brilliantly written from beginning to end. I really enjoyed this and found myself absorbed in reading.

The Girl Who Couldn’t See Faces by C.J. Bowden
5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s

What an amazing edge-of-my-seat thriller this book was! A 30 year old single nurse living in the middle of London; working long, tiering shifts can be a tough life. Add to that her two roommates don’t particularly like her, even tease her, and definitely don’t like her boyfriend, who they consider a loser, sponging off of Phoebe’s generosity. Add to that a very estranged relationship with her only relatives, an older sister and an alcoholic Dad. And finally, add to that a case of prosopagnosia, “face-blindness”; a disorder with which she was born. She can see faces, but not recognize the face belongs to her boyfriend Alfie or her sister Suzi or a complete stranger!

Phoebe’s life quickly goes from bad to worse when her relationship turns south, her roommates give her room to someone else, her sister berates her and bullies her, and she experiences sexual abuse. But she can’t go to the police. She doesn’t know what her assailant looks like.

Things just spiral from there and you have to hold on to the edge of your seat for the rest of this crazy psychological thriller!

I haven’t read a thriller like this one ever before and definitely not one that kept me guessing and staying up all night to read in a very long time! If you need a great thriller, this is it!! 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s from me!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, C.J. Bowden, and BooksGoSocial for this special Advanced Readers’s Copy.

Such an interesting twist - how do you catch a stalker when you can’t “see” their face? This condition and the way the author wrote about it was fascinating and added an extra layer of complexity, taking the book beyond the thriller genre and into almost a social commentary. Really found myself on the edge of my seat as I watched the protagonist grapple with her condition and circumstances.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I hadn't heard of face blindness before, and the author did a great job of showing how tough -- and dangerous -- life can be for those living with this condition.

Whïle the main plot was great, I had some big problems with this book. One is the fatphobia casually displayed, "It's like ... lining up at the back of the school gym ... and the only ones left are you and the overweight girl with body odour ..." In 2023 I would have hoped not to read degrading stereotypes about fat people.

There's also Suzi, 33, and her husband, who decide to try to have a baby. "Ï'm already an old woman!"Suzi says. "But we're going to give it a try." Really, Suzi?

My other main problem with this novel is that I dislike weak heroines. Phoebe could never just say yes or no, she lied. She ran from a hospital into an empty lift in order to escape her maniacal ex (!), and after she managed to lose him, she went to her house, where she believed he'd been (!!!). I found her difficult to like, but the author did a great job of putting her in enough danger that I rooted for her despite my feelings.

What would you do if you couldn’t recognize the faces of the people around you?

This was such a unique read. Phoebe has extreme face blindness. She is unable to recognize her friends, her sister, or a stranger on the street. The story centers on the psycho Alfie Phoebe us dating who is trying to take advantage of her illness. Alfie is a gross human being. He plays tricks on Phoebe like disguising his voice. Phoebe is sexually assaulted at Alfie’s home and she can’t decipher who assaulted her.

I thought this book was just ok. It had its thrilling moments mainly towards the end but I found myself wanting to put it down a lot.

The Girl Who Couldn’t See Faces is available February 28, 2023.

Thank you netgalley and books go social for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this was a fascinating concept, with definite moments that ticked "Thriller" boxes, but I did find myself disengaged occasionally - I think I struggled to find Phoebe likeable enough to be truly invested in her.

I loved the unique element that prosopagnosia added, but felt confused by Phoebe's job in a busy accident & emergency department and seeming lack of coping skills or methods. I didn't feel as though the difficulties facial blindness would cause in this situation were really addressed, and feel it was an odd choice for someone who needs to be able to rapidly identify patients and to quickly recall whether they had been triaged or treated yet. I may be being ignorant in that sense, but do feel that as Phoebe has severe facial blindness to the point she doesn't know if either of the new people she's dating are actually her ex-boyfriend using a different name, and with how important the facial blindness is to the plot, I feel like there should have been some more exploration of how Phoebe copes at work, or maybe any indication that in her life she's attempted to find methods to help keep herself safe other than "rely on big sister" or "hope they have scars or wild clothing". The vulnerability of Phoebe feels *too* forced in places.

Putting that aside, I did really enjoy the book. It was an unusual, unique premise and was a quick read. While there was an element of predictability past a certain point, this was a creepy, thrilling read overall and I would recommend it.

3.5 Stars - rounded up.

This was a quick and enjoyable read. A story about face blindness, stalking, and strained familial relationships.. Phoebe was likable, if a little naive. Rounding up to 3.5 for the twists I didn't see coming. Thank You to NetGalley and booksgosocial for a chance to read this Arc. I liked the authors writing style and will read more of their books in the future.

Book releases on Feb. 28.

Phoebe was born with face blindness, the ability to not recognise people and who they are.

Her boyfriend Alfie who was so nice before had turned on her. Phoebe left him and when she meets Tom and Robbie, she's happy trying to decide between the two. Until someone says how do you know its not Alfie playing around?

Is Tom and Robbie Alfie? Will Phoebe be able to stop living in fear?

A great boom with a unique story line. I couldn't put the book down.

A fab read.

Great page turning thriller. I was hooked from the very beginning. There were some predicable bits but nothing I couldn't speed read through.

I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for giving me this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a “meh” for me. It promised a great storyline but fell short. I feel that the story was not well developed. Furthermore, I did not like the main protagonist at all.

Starz: 💫💫💫

The Girl Who Couldn't See Faces is a fascinating domestic thriller. I never knew that prosopagnosia (face blindness) was a real thing. Imagine not knowing if the people you meet are friends or strangers everyday of your life. This is so much worse than I know that person but can't come up with their name.

Phoebe was born with this condition; she mostly looks at the people she knows with a blank look on her face because she struggles to decide whether she knows them or not. Her big sister Suzi stays with their mother after the parents' divorce and Phoebe with their father. Each suffered in different ways growing up and as a result have issues with relationships and each other.

Phoebe works in A&E and sees many new faces each day which does not impact her very much. But her colleagues, friend and other people are another story. Phoebe has a boyfriend, Alfie, and doesn’t recognize him. Alfie plays mind games with her and in general make her life more difficult. After she is assaulted, she breaks up with Alfie. Alfie doesn't take this very well and is determined to get what he wants and will stop at nothing until he gets it.

Phoebe meets Tom and then Robbie and likes them both. But at one point she wonders if Alfie is pretending to be Tom or Robbie, or both.

This plot is fascinating, and I just couldn't put it down. I can't even imagine having to learn how to live with this. But this adds an interesting twist in this domestic thriller. The characters are not totally likeable but after learning what they each kept secret from each other they become a little more likeable. This story escalated with every chapter. The ending really is a surprise to Phoebe and the readers are rewarded with an exciting finish.

Where to even begin with this book? The premise of a main character being hartases by her bonkers x boyfriend is one that has been done a million times. But then you throw in the fact that the main character has a diagnosis of prosopagnosia, which is when someone is not able to recognize familiar faces, and that just makes this novel stand out completely and raises the stakes of this nail biting novel. I truly could not read this book fast enough. It was sooo good!!! The awful ex boyfriend is incredibly manipulative, to the point where as the reader, you aren’t sure if what you are reading is truth or not. The author made sure to include many details, but not so much to where you were drowning in unnecessary details. I also enjoyed the family drama side of the story. It explained a lot about the main character and why she was the way she was and why she allowed herself to be treated so terribly. I truly enjoyed this book and eagerly await more books from this author. I will say that there may be some triggers in this book for some readers; including domestic abuse, stalking, harassment, and sexual assault. I am truly grateful to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this ARC.

The first time I read about prosopagnosia (face blindness) was in a book from Oliver Sacks, a psychologist who suffered from prosopagnosia himself. He wrote a couple of books about this and other psychological problems; books for the general public that are still very readable. I was attracted by the title of The Girl Who Couldn’t see Faces because I was wondering how to use this in a novel.
As a result of the fact main character Phoebe was born with this condition, she struggles through life. Her big sister Suzi is a great help, but when the parents split up and Suzi stays with their mother and Phoebe with their father, life became even more difficult. Phoebe managed to train as a nurse; she loves her job and is very good at it. She works in A&E and sees many new faces each day. As those faces belong to people she will not have to take care of very long, her condition doesn’t hinder her much. Her colleagues, friend and other people are something different. Phoebe has a boyfriend, Alfie, and sadly she doesn’t even remember his face. A fact that Alfie uses to play mind games with her and in general make her life more difficult. Why she stays with him is really beyond me. But then again, the book is about her breaking up with him and having to move out of the flat she shares with two other women and what happens to her during this process.
I can’t say I liked Phoebe a lot. She’s had a difficult life but she’s almost thirty now and I cannot see her even trying to get a grip on her life and try and have a bit of fun. She’s still living in the past and cannot seem to go forward.
Alfie is a horrible man of course and I’m glad she finally got rid of him. In the end, she finally tries to break free of her old feelings and trying to look forward to the rest of her life.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this review copy.

I kept hoping that this would get better and it kept disappointing me. It was all over the place and still felt unfinished. All of the trauma that the main character faced and the conclusion was her finding a relationship. What was the point of the descriptive assault scenes if the assault itself was never even going to be addressed?

This very much felt like a "true loves cures all" book. I do not recommend to anyone, but especially not anyone who has experienced domestic violence or sexual assault.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

I have mixed feelings about this book, and therefore can only give it 3 stars. I was drawn to the book because of the unique plot. The idea of the book was interesting, however I was expecting more. I thought that the plot was quite mild, and at times dragged in the middle.
It felt as if the main character Phoebe was just repeating constantly, although I get that with her face blindness that this is necessary. I enjoyed the plot, living with face blindness and trying to work out if your stalking ex is your new date.
The ending really pulled the book together, which I’m glad about. It gave the book more substance and more drama/action. I’d recommended if you want a fast read, and I’ll definitely give the authors other books a go.

*instagram post coming soon