This book had me on the edge of my seat all the way through. It was even better than The Girl on the Train. Compulsively readable, I couldn't stop until I got to the heart pounding ending! Everyone who likes a good thriller or even just a book that you can't put down, I would recommend this book to them.

I really enjoyed this novel. I'll be honest, I thought I had narrowed down where this book was going about half way through and was totally thrown through a loop at the end. JP Delaney brilliantly wrote in not one, but two plots twists.

This is a worthwhile read if you enjoy psychological thrillers. Its’ chapters alternate between “Then Emma” and “Now Jane”, women who have two things in common - they both look strikingly similar and each have come to live in the same technologically advanced house (three years apart) built by renowned techno-architect Edward Monkford, an imposing man with a need for absolute control. I felt this was going to be a great ride almost immediately when red flags of living in this unusual home are waved early on.

First, a questionnaire comprising endless pages of restrictive covenants and intrusive/weird questions that must be completed by the prospective tenant prior to being even considered to live in the home. No books, no rugs, no pictures, no curtains, no waste paper baskets, nothing left on the floor ever? - over 200 stipulations. Ginormous red flag.

“Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.”
“Would you sacrifice yourself to save ten innocent strangers?”
“I have no time for people who don’t strive to better themselves. Agree/Disagree”

Unusual tenant questions? Yep. Walk away, now!! But of course they don’t…

This fast-paced twisted and unpredictable page turner had my nerves jangling and kept me reading late into the night. I got lost in the characters’ uniquely distorted views. I was excited to see that there was a bidding war between movie studios wanting to bring this story to the big screen. It was ultimately won by Universal and will be directed by Ron Howard. Can’t wait to see who is chosen as characters.

Note: other reviews will be posted as soon as book ibecomes available to the public.

A smartly crafted and compelling thriller that unravels its core mystery with precision and gripping suspense. You won't be able to put this one down.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

My biggest regret with this book is that I didn't start it sooner.

The chapters alternate between the perspectives of two women who lived in a beautifully designed home. The home comes with a long list of stipulations, but is rented at a great price. The two women not only look alike, but fall into similar trends.

This is a must read for sure!

My heart was racing and hands sweating the whole time i was reading this!

This review will be posted on my blog (xxertz.wordpres.com) and on my Goodreads account the day before the book publishes. I will add links closer to publication. I rated this 4 stars.

Oh man, where do I even begin?

There's so much that's already been said about The Girl Before, so much that I don't know if I can add something of value regarding it.

From steamy relationships to the strange rules of the house to the general mystery of the girl before, let's just say it's a book you won't want to put down.

All you need to know, right?

...

Ok. I can't leave it there.


The Good.

Format

A lot of times I have problems following the Then/Now format. To be honest, I don't particular care about the inbetween, which is everything the format represents. What can I say? I'm a linear lady. Thankfully, The Girl Before is an exception. The Then/Now follows two different individuals rather than the past and present of a single one. Genius, right? Maybe not, but it was perfect for me.

Story Line

The story lines show such eerie parallels with Then's end colliding well with Now's beginning. There are mirrored relationships and situations, with the Now discovering some of her similarities with Then. We all know people have types, but this is pretty extreme.

The Bad

Just a forewarning.. I love gossip. It is completely rude and self-indulgent, but I am a sucker for it anyways. Unfortunately, there is none of that here. My distastes with this books are completely minor. So today there is no true bad section, just an ehh one.

The Relationship

The main relationships were meant to be eerie. Like, Fifty Shades of Grey control freak + dating someone simply because they look like your ex eerie. I think it played great into the book, but I don't find it sexy. At all. (I wasn't a fan of Fifty Shades of Grey, btw.)

The Ending

If the rest of the book was an A+, the ending was just an A. Very respectable, but missing some oomph. I believe this is largely because the reader has only one real suspect to choose from. If you've been around me, you know I enjoy having at least a few suspects to choose from.

Recommendation

Pick this one up - you're not going to want to miss it.

I posted a review this morning on Goodreads.com

I could not read this one fast enough, and read it all in just a couple of days. I felt as if the story had a very strong beginning and middle. I did not like *some* of the ending, but some of it was crafted very skillfully. Edward was masterfully painted as an obsessive psychopath, someone you'd love to hate and hate to love. (If you read this book you'll see what I mean.)

For the most part the story had me flipping pages like a madwoman, going back and forth between Emma and Jane's perspectives. Overall, well done. I did get a little confused, and had to think to myself just which woman I was reading about. It didn't help matters that on Emma's side there were no quotation marks, and sometimes I had to wonder if someone was speaking or not. (Again -- you'll see what I mean later.)

This is definitely an "unreliable narrator" type of book, and a very strong offering for the new year. I almost gave it 4 stars instead of 3. Apparently Ron Howard has taken an interest in this novel, and I'm looking forward to seeing this as a film. It holds a lot of promise and potential. Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc.

I have seen other reviews that try to compare this book with "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and that's an unfair comparison. That book relied strongly on the interplay between the two main characters and in manipulating the reader's perception of truth through the narrative.

"The Girl Before" is an altogether different tale. Instead, it is a process of discovery and author J.P. Delaney did an excellent job of revelation through the two narrative voices. By alternating between the two women (Emma and Jane), the story creates a visual parallelism, until it diverges. I frankly loved the storytelling device used here.

There are more meanings to the title than you should assume and the book, while dealing with some heavy issues of sex, desire, manipulation, lies, control, and grief it does so in an interesting way, avoiding most tropes.

One of my favorite books this year.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

The marketers of this book are firmly placing it in the category of if you liked "Gone Girl" you'll love this book. Frankly, the truth is that the reverse is true. It's a likable enough book, good page turner, and I never considered not finishing it. But, the characters are far from likable. In fact the more you learn about each of the characters, the more two dimensional they appear. Very few of them are what they appear, and this book almost seemed like it was designed to change the villain for each reading, just by changing the last few chapters!

Well...what to say...

I was excited to start this one, but pretty quickly on figured out I maybe I was not be the key audience for it. That will put me in the minority, probably, but a few of the characters I just couldn't find much to like as the story progressed. I'm not sure I can really put what I think without spoilers, but maybe that will get my point across. For me, I thought it was an extremely odd cocktail, especially by the end. The components seemed an unusual mix, and a little too out there. Not believable, you know? Trying too hard to shock, maybe? And sex was just too much of the book. Some of it felt unnecessary to me.

Now I can tell you what I did "like"-- The house itself was interesting to read about and neat to imagine. I don't know much about the "minimalist" approach, and don't think I would be a huge fan, but it did make for a cool read! The book was also a page turner, which is weird since I had thoughts of not wanting to finish periodically. But in spite of the issues I had with it, I really did want to know what was going to happen! There were a few twists I never saw coming and was surprised by them.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend it universally. There is an audience for it, and to those people I will recommend:)

**Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC to read and and give an honest review**

I found this book to be very suspenseful and I had a hard time putting it down. The story goes back and forth from one woman who rented an unusual house in the past to a woman renting the house in the present. In order to rent the house the tenant to be has to fill out a very detailed application which has contingencies that are extreme and intricate. If the perspective tenant passes the application and interview process he, or she, must abide by the rules the owner sets up. The story is intriguing and is unusual. I could not put it down until I finished it. A very good read - and I would highly recommend this book.

This debut novel has a fun structure - a shared setting bringing two separate timelines together. The mutual setting is an unusual apartment - one that is a living model of high architecture - designed by an enigmatic architect. Emma and Jane narrate two different narratives that bring them to live at this unusual residence at separate times. While different circumstances brought them to their new home, their lives share similarities - particularly as they abide by the stringent rules set by the architect - and later by their relationship with the architect himself. Both women, too, are haunted by the titular girl before - in Emma's case, she becomes obsessed with the first wife of the architect, while Jane becomes obsessed with Emma.

The chapters alternate between the two women and the similarities (and later, the differences) really amplifies the tension. As echoes of the two women's lives ring out across the whole, it really makes this an absorbing read. The plot moves along at a fast pace and does involve more surprises to the plot than I expected. At first, the book really feels like a straightforward read and each woman's actions and investigations adds complexity to the plot and their characters. Jane's section in particular has a tragic backstory, that may be a bit too sad for some readers. But, overall, it is an exciting and engaging read. The conclusion fits nicely, too. And the whole pattern of the place works well, too - and after learning that this is a pseudonym, I am anxious to find out who really wrote this, so that I can check out more books without waiting!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

I was hoping to mix it up a little by reading some suspense -- a genre I don't generally read much of. Just the inclusion of "The Girl..." in the title should have clued me in that maybe this wasn't going to be quite as suspenseful or original as I might have hoped....

The novel is primarily set in a high tech house in London and focuses on the string of women who live there -- all bearing a striking similarity to the architect's dead wife. The plot was a little too obvious and there was too much gratuituous "Fifty Shades" type content for my personal taste. I think this is a pass for most of my GR peeps.

Told in alternating voices, the story is a compelling thriller. Not quite The Girl On The Train or Behind Closed Doors, however, the suspense and surprise is there. Somewhat predictable in some places and not as intense as the other two, there are enough twists and turns to keep me interested. The description and the concept of the house adds a new element to the story as well as the fact that the restrictions necessary to live there does not deter the two women. It is well written and has a cliff hanging element to it, so I recommend it for mystery lovers.

No idea what or how to rate/review this book. I loved some parts and hated others. The story was suspenseful and quite unpredictable. But the female characters are just plain odd and unbelievable. Yes the book was entertaining. Yes it's a worthwhile read. But that said, I hated all of the characters and really wound up not caring about any of them. Thumb sideways for you movie buffs out there.

This one definitely had me turning the pages. There were some unlikable characters, but that was on purpose. I got confused sometimes, because the two girls really were so similar. I was surprised at the ending! A solid psychological thriller that I will easily recommend to people who enjoy that type of read.