Claire, Darling is such a fascinating look at the "girl falls in love, girl gets ghosted" subgenre of thrillers--the writing is sharp, the narrative unfolds perfectly and the characters are so well drawn. I read thus in one long gulp and throughly enjoyed it!

This book was definitely a roller coaster of a thriller. You almost feel sorry for Claire and her horrible childhood as the story develops. But the glimmer of light is her fiancé or who we think is her fiancé and how sweet and kind he is too until he goes missing.

Claire's fiancee disappears and she begins a search that leads her to a confusing path where you're not sure if what she is experiencing is real. Claire is the victim of child abuse and her mental state makes her an unreliable witness to what unfolds. Readers will have to suspend disbelief through most of the book.

The novel is told from Claire’s point of view and it moves between timelines: her traumatic past with her abusive mother, the history of her relationship with Noah, and the present. Each phase of Claire’s life offers plenty to reflect on, and the author does an excellent job of developing her character. The writing is sharp and direct. The flow was consistent, however interest waned in the second half, as some of the twist became predictable. It was a great read, and I will look out for her next novel.

This book had an interesting story line and keeps the reader gripped until the end. Claire, after suffering years of abuse by her mother until her death, falls in love with a handsome investment banker. They start dating and even get engaged. But when Claire goes to surprise him at his office, she finds he no longer works there and starts ghosting her. When she finds out that he has been living a double life, Claire sets out to find out what happened with the help of her colleague/friend from the office.

A few (slightly predictable) twists but still a good page-turner.

Claire decides to surprise her fiancé, Noah, by dropping off lunch at his office for him--only to discover that Noah has another life, another house, and another girlfriend. She's desperate for an explanation, but Noah completely ghosts her. But Claire is determined to figure out what has gone wrong and to win Noah back.

This was a pretty good domestic thriller. Claire as a narrator was really strong, and the flashbacks to her troubled past and manipulative mother were effective. Even if I started to suspect where the book was going about halfway through, it was still an entertaining read (and I didn't guess everything!). The writing was just okay but the pacing was fairly quick and the book was easy to get through. Recommended for fans of psychological suspense and domestic thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an incredible debut novel from Callie Kazumi. I was really impressed with the level of writing and character development.

Claire's fiancé basically ghosts her one day. He has a new job she' didn't know about and he doesn't come home or answer her calls. We also learn that has a horrible past Are these related? Buckle up and find out.

This book was just OK for me. I felt it had been done before and i slugged to finish. It was just OK for me.

A psychological thriller about a woman who’s ghosted by her fiancé and on a mission to find out what happened. Though I did guess the twist at the end, I still enjoyed the book and read it quickly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

He was the unexpected one. Claire had never had a relationship but the day they met at Morrison's grocery store and he asked for a wine recommendation, she was swept off her feet. His name was Noah, he was gorgeous and had some job in banking-which made it so unlikely that he would be interested in her. But the second time they ran into each other, she knew otherwise, he was smitten too. He had even told her that she should leave her present PR firm and join a better one-where she had worked for the last six months. She also made a friend there-a senior employee took her under her wing and got wrapped up in Claire and Noah's romance. They vacationed in Venice and Noah popped the question and gave her a ring. But one day, when Sukhi offered to go with her when she dropped off some food for Noah's lunch, Claire discovered that he didn't work there anymore. She texted and called him but he didn't answer and failed to come back to their studio flat (which she bankrolled) that night. She had been ghosted and he blocked her on social media. Luckily Sukhi could get into his pages on Facebook and Instagram and Claire got to see that he had another life, with a gorgeous apartment and an even more beautiful girlfriend. She blamed the girlfriend.
The story of Claire and Noah's romance and betrayal intertwined with that of Claire and her mother. Before Claire was eighteen and could legally leave her house, her life was a waking nightmare. Her mother was psychotic and Claire never knew what she was going to do, so she did her best to hide any emotion or reaction when she was physically and mentally abused. She had pushed this part of her life to the bottom of her thoughts, but they started to reemerge as Noah's puzzling actions caused them to rise to the surface.
I can't reveal any more of this novel because the readers should unravel the plot on their own. Suffice to stay that once I went down the rabbit hole with Claire, I was hooked. Did not want to put it down until I figured out what happened and I was thoroughly shocked when all was revealed. Kazumi is a debut author and I can't wait for her next one!

This was an excellent debut novel! Though I did have an inkling regarding the twist, it was extremely well executed. The writing was intriguing and kept my attention the entire time. Absolutely recommend checking this book out!

Thank you to Callie Kazumi, NetGalley, and Bantam for this ARC!

I raced through this one as it got better with each twisted page! Claire works for a PR company and is excited about her first anniversary dinner with Noah, the love of her life. After living with an abusive mother, Claire is so happy to have found a wonderful man to spend her life with and dreams of their future together. Through her diary entries we see just how horrible her childhood was; she was bullied at school and went home to her mom who brought home random men and never showed her affection. But suddenly Noah is with another woman and seems to not even know who she is. Now on trial for murder, Claire is confused...and so are we. Block out plenty of time for this riveting thriller as it won't let you go until the end!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the copy of Claire, Darling. I loved how this book started, but parts about Claire’s youth were too hard to read because her mother was so toxic. I loved that parts of the book were intriguing and I felt for Claire but thought she went overboard. While I can see how many people love the final reveal, I hated it and felt cheated. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and it only took a few days to read. I think this is going to be a good book club option for several clubs. I plan recommending to my book friends and I look forward to reading more by this author.

I love domestic thrillers (my husband not so much) this was a lot of fun and a bit predictable in some places but overall i really enjoyed it. I wanted to know what was happening and the journal entries were a nice touch.

I have always been a fan of Lifetime movies where the main character wants revenge and gets revenge in the most sadistic and carnal ways. It's my guilty pleasure so don't judge me lol! This book was a roller coaster ride of twisted suspense and I couldn't get enough of it.

Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

Claire is engaged to Noah and the day after their anniversary Claire goes to Noah’s job to bring him lunch and is told that he hasn’t worked their in months. Claire is of course upset and confused about what is going on and with the help of her best friend Sukhi tracks him down to find out what is going on. Noah acts like he doesn’t know her and when they see that he is at a bar with friends find out that he is also dating another woman Leilah and they live in a fancy part of London and have been together for years. Claire starts stalking them and eventually decides to speak to Leilah and ends up pushing her causing her to die. 8 months later Claire is on trial for Leilah’s murder. It is revealed that Noah had an affair with another woman named Mads who was his personal trainer. After Noah takes the stand they use Claire’s diaries to show that she is not of sound mind and she goes to a psychologic hospital and pretends to be taking her meds and confesses to killing Leilah by bashing her head after finding out they were planning to start a family. By the end of this book it is clear that Claire was suffering from delusional tendencies where she pretended to have a relationship with Noah. This book was very interesting and I flew through it.

What would you do if the love of your life deleted you out of his without explanation? Well you might go a little crazy which is what Claire proceeded to do, or...was she already crazy? Having read similar books with this premise I pretty much guessed the plot, but that did not take away from reading this book. Interesting characters, interesting locales and the writing made for an easy read. Looking forward to the author's next book!

SPOILERS

This book was actually insane. Like poor abused Claire has never had anyone to love her or care for her or be there for her. And she’s finally found someone who is so sweet to her and loves her for who she is and then this???? Genuinely the entire time I was thinking “did she make this up? No she couldn’t have because they did this together, they live together, there’s no way” and now EYE feel insane. Also the epilogue had me literally clutching my chest because Claire is so unhinged I love her.

I actually really loved this book!

(Spoiler alert) - I knew that Claire wasn’t mentally stable. It was fairly obvious with the crazy, cruel mom and the stalking of Noah and Lilah, but the writing was well done and I wanted to keep reading. I also love that the author set this up for a sequel, which I would absolutely read!