Claire Darling by Callie Kazumi

This introduces a very disturbing and sad to read dysfunctional family. A verbally and mentally disturbed mother constantly berates and degrades her daughter at every turn growing up. Claire, in response, accepts her mother's assertions as true and spends her years at school as the brunt of all jokes and bullies. It's a terrible life that she accepts as her fate.
As she matures and sees how other people live, she realizes that to change her circumstances she has to make a plan. She works, saves every dime and then leaves home with a bare bones nest egg. She's on her own.
It's hard to meet people in her meager grocery job but one day her prince arrived in the wine aisle looking for help: handsome, smart, kind and she is smitten. They go for coffee and talk for hours. Dates, trips, gifts all come her way with this love of her life and the reader is all consumed with her happiness until you see cracks in the facade.
The reader learns more about this knight in shining armor. Claire discovers he is dating others, he won't introduce her to his friends, he posts on FB with other women. Claire is now on the hunt as to why...he is her fiancé! They live together!
It's here that storyline moves at warp speed for the reader. Who is this guy, why is he ghosting the girl he is engaged to, why does she discover he does not exist at his job when she stops by. Claire and her only friend become sleuths following his every move, confronting him and his friends.
The tension and intrigue builds to an engrossing series of events that lead to a sad, albeit obvious outcome for Claire. The reader may see it coming, but the final chapters are as sad as the first.
The book is as much an eduction in the depths of mental illness as it is a memorable read.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC!


3.5/5 Stars rounded up

Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi is one of those books that has a lot of potential but doesn’t fully stick the landing. The premise is intriguing — a woman digging through the wreckage of her family’s past while dealing with her own messy emotions — and Kazumi’s writing has some really beautiful, thoughtful moments. There are passages that genuinely stopped me for a second because of how well they captured a feeling or memory.

That said, the pacing is a bit all over the place. Some parts feel like they drag forever, while others rush through things I actually wanted more of. A few side characters seemed like they were going to be important, but then they kind of faded out without much resolution. It left the story feeling a little unfinished in spots.

I also wish there had been more tension or urgency in the plot. The book leans heavily on atmosphere and introspection, which is fine if that’s your thing — but I found myself wishing for a little more action or clearer stakes now and then.

Overall, it’s a solid, well-written debut with some flaws. If you like slow-burn, reflective stories about family secrets and personal regrets, it’s worth a read. Just go in knowing it’s a bit uneven.

I read a lot of thrillers, and the setup for Claire, Darling pulled me in immediately.

The story starts with Claire, who thinks she’s surprising her fiancé with lunch on their anniversary. Instead, she discovers he doesn’t work where he said he did, and he has a whole other life with another woman. As Claire searches for answers, her unraveling leads straight into the darker corners of her past (especially her fractured relationship with her mother).

This one is dark, twisty, and unputdownable. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam, and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book begins with Claire and her fiancé Noah celebrating their first anniversary. After a chance meeting while purchasing some wine, the two are now engaged and living together. After a great night celebrating together, the next day Claire decides to bring Noah some lunch at his office. She and her friend Sukhi are in for a surprise when they arrive, though. The receptionist won’t let them through, saying that Noah hasn’t worked in the building for months.

Of course Claire texts, then calls him, but he is completely ignoring her. She and Sukhi do some internet sleuthing, and find social media profiles that Claire didn’t know existed. She finds out where he works now, and she also finds a picture of him with a gorgeous blonde woman. Then it hits her: the man she is engaged to has a whole other life. He’s lied to her. He’s embarrassed her. He’s crushed her. Now answers are needed…and we get them with an ending I predicted, but still enjoyed reading.

The book is mostly about Claire trying to find out the truth, but we also have her diary entries from the past year that tell us more about how this relationship played out. The story also slips to the past at times, and speaks of her childhood with an alcoholic, abusive mother. This debut novel was slightly predictable, but quite enjoying. Four stars!

(Thank you to Random House - Ballantine, Callie Kazumi and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

This book took the “unreliable narrator” aspect and upped the ante! I loved the journal entry format to gain perspective of the main character’s state of mind. This was equal parts infuriating, informative and saddening. It’s hard to believe this is the first book from Callie Kazumi it was THAT good. I can’t wait to read more from her in the future.

I loved this book!! Great read. Kept me enthralled and entertained, throughout. I loved the suspense and really liked how it ended ! Pick it up. Great read.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Random House Publishing Group for the arc in exchange for a fair review.

I did the audiobook of this one. It was a binge worthy listen, but unfortunately I thought it was very predictable.

Claire, Darling will startle you! Its story a combination of mystery, romance, childhood abuse but especially surprising secrets! You will fall in love with Claire and sympathize and empathize with her to get her happy ending.

Claire has never really been in love. She spent her childhood being abused by her mother a single parent, and narcissist, as well as being bullied by quite a few girls from school. But even though she had a turbulent childhood Claire has always been a hopeful romantic thinking someday...

So when she meets Noah an investment person and they begin to date she falls madly in love and so does he! The relationship moves quickly and they decide to move in together although in the back of Claire's mind she continues to hear her mother's terrible voice always making her feel as if she's not worthy to be loved.

And then unbelievably Noah proposes to Claire! She never imagined her life could be so happy! She's finally found the love of her life. Her happy ever after.

Until on their anniversary of meeting when she goes to Noah's job to surprise him with a lunch and discovers there is no one there with that name. She is shocked and doesn't quite understand. She's called him there many, many times. She thinks it's a mistake but suddenly realizes as she tries to call his cell phone and he doesn't answer that something has gone terribly wrong. She's being ghosted.

Then, she finds out the painful horrible truth about the man she loved. He has a girlfriend. A beautiful one and a very rich one. Why on earth did he do this to Claire? Was this a sick terrible joke? To hurt her as she has been hurt in her past.

Claire then begins to go down a terrible rabbit hole which she can't get out of and starts to make irrational decisions she never thought she could imagine. Now, Claire feels like she must delve deeper into their relationship. She becomes obsessed.

Are there really any winners when lies are told? Claire's abusive past suddenly merges with Noah's horrible deeds. What good could ever come from this type of bad relationship. Well, none.

Claire darling is a story of emotions, heartbreak, innocence and revenge! It will have you on the edge of your seat as you learn the outcome and many other hidden secrets. Oh, Claire darling!

Thank you #NetGalley #BantamBooks #CallieKazumi #Claire,Darling for the advanced copy.

I absolutely loved this book. I can't wait for more my Claire. I loved the character development and the storyline. I would give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Claire and Noah just celebrated their anniversary the night before so Claire decides to surprise Noah with his favorite lunch at his workplace and finds out he hasn't worked there for several months. She doesn't understand why he wouldn't have told her about this major decision so she calls him immediately but he won't take her calls and then Noah never comes home to their apartment that evening or every day afterward. Claire is beside herself. with misery so she secretly follows him and discovers he is leading a double life with a beautiful woman that Claire had no idea of him ever cheating on her and now he won't even see her if only to give closure to the relationship and happiness that Claire thought would be her forever life.

Claire can still hear her mother's hurtful words saying she would never find a man to love and take care of her. She is just devastated, hardly able to function but her wonderful friend (Sukhi) from work won't let her wallow and drown in her sorrow so she helps Claire get back.on her feet to take the next steps to getting on with her life without Noah although Claire isn't willing yet to give up on her relationship as she would be happy to forgive Noah everything if he would just come back home to her.



What a wonderfully fun and twisted psychological thriller this book was to read! The writing was fast-paced with well developed characters and flowed smoothly when transitioning from past to present. I was very surprised to find this was a debut book because the storytelling and writing was very, very good. I also enjoyed the different little twists which made this book stand out from other novels with similar storylines and the unexpected twist at the end of the story made reading "Claire Darling" a real.treat.

I am looking forward to reading more books in the future from 'Calorie Kazumi' and I definitely recommend this book to everyone who enjoys dark but fun, psychological thrillers!

I want to thank the publisher "RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHING - BALLANTINE" and NETGALLEY for the opportunity to read this digital copy and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given a rating of 4 SHARP AND TWISTED 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

If I'm being honest, I read about 50 pages of this book, then abandoned it for several weeks. I didn't love it at first, and wasn't that interested. I then saw it being talked about online, so decided to come back to it. It turned out to be much more interesting as I continued reading, and once I got going on it, I was hurrying to the end to see what could possibly be going on. This book is clearly a case of an unreliable narrator, but also one where it's very unclear how they could be so...which is the fun and mystery of the book. There is a huge twist near the end that explains it all, and will question your feelings about each of the characters as you were reading it. This was a fun ride, just not a favorite.

Claire and Noah are celebrating their first anniversary of being together. Soon after she decides to bring a surprise lunch to Noah at his office, but he is not where she expects him to be. After he doesn't respond to her many calls and messages,she realizes he is ghosting her, which is not a sign of a healthy, loving relationship and not what she expects from her soon-to -be fiancé.
We also learn about her difficult childhood with her abusive alcoholic mother.
What will she do? What would we do? She is devastated. I guess crying one's eyes out necessitates getting up and doing something to make oneself feel better .
The story is exciting and Claire's reactions seem to be common until they aren't. The ending shocked me. This was a great read.
Wow.
Special thanks to the author and the publisher for giving me a copy of the ARC. All opinions are strictly my own.

Claire Darling immediately pulled me in. I had to know what happened between Claire and Noah and could not stop reading. It was an excellent book and I cannot wait to read more by this author!

4.5 stars - rounded down! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a debut! This is one of those psychological thrillers that really messes with your head. What is real and what isn’t?

The story quickly pulls you in with a murder in the prologue. A fast-paced, page turning read full of suspense and a highly entertaining plot!

Claire gets ghosted by her fiancé, so she starts stalking him to find out why. As the story unfolds, we learn more about Claire’s troubled childhood and tumultuous relationship with her abusive mother. The first half of the book is Claire’s obsessing over her failed relationship and the second half is a courtroom trial.

I had a feeling about where this was going, so I took off .5 star. However, I had a hard time putting this down. The epilogue was superb!

I’ll be looking forward to Callie Kazumi’s next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for my advanced copy to read and review.

Claire, Darling was a fascinating read about a woman who is totally unhinged and I loved it. Claire decides to drop off lunch to her hardworking fiancee, but he doesn't work there. This was a wonderful tale of an unreliable narrator and the impact of growing up with a self obsessed mother. There were many twists and turns of any good psychological thriller.
Thank you to NetGalley, Callie Kazumi and Random House. This book is available now so don't hesitate to read it.

Claire is dropping off a surprise lunch for her fiance, Noah. Its their anniversary, but the receptionist says theres no one working there with that name. How can that be? Noah isn't answering Claire's calls or emails. Unknown to Claire, Noah has a beautiful girlfriend and house that they share in another town. Claire ends uop following Noah, and begins spying on him. What she finds is similar to life she lived with a manipulative mother. Can Claire be free from her past. Thanks netgalley

Claire Darling was fast paced and easy to read! You were sucked in to the main character’s world and left wanting to know the truth. A nice debut!

Really great twisty domestic suspense. I found Claire's character highly realistic. The story is told in alternating timelines between Claire's childhood, her recent past, and her present. I think the suspense could've been turned up just a notch of the first half of the book had had more forward flashes to what was happening in tune second half. But overall a most enjoyable, fast-paced read.

Claire's fiance has seemingly ghosted her. He's left his job, won't answer his calls, and seems to have completely ditched her. Claire and her friend Suhki are on a mission to figure out how and why Claire was so unceremoniously dumped and how her past may be presenting itself in the present.

This was a quick thriller, fast-paced with short chapters that made it hard to put down. While it was predictable at points, the writing and character-driven story made it a solid read. I am looking forward to reading more from Callie Kazumi!

Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi was so good!! If you like woman scorned, psychological thrillers, revenge, flash backs, and an unreliable narrator then you will love this book!!

This is my first book from Kazumi and I was in no way disappointed. Kazumi did a great job with the storyline and plot. She does a great job of giving us detailed backgrounds and we learn about Claire and Noah’s relationship through her journal entries. Claire grew up in a dysfunctional family and suffered from childhood trauma. Claire meets Noah they fall in love, and move in together. It’s their anniversary so Claire and her friend Sukhi, decides to surprise Noah with lunch. While at his office they realize that Claire has been ghosted and soon learn Noah is not the man she thought he was. There were twists and turns that keep you hooked in this fast paced story and I loved it. This is a must read and can’t wait to read more by Callie Kazumi!! Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Ballantine for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion thoughts and opinions.