Wow what a book - didn't want to put it down. Much better than Gone Girl in my opinion. Loved the story telling from the 2 perspectives and kept me turning the pages right till the end. A fab psychological thriller to keep you up late at night reading. Would highly recommend.

I enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting, although I didnt enjoy the end. I liked both Emma and Jane but I did prefer Emma. I found Jane very annoying towards the end. I would read more by this author.

I almost missed this book and so did you! I saw it on Netgalley a while back, and because of the immediate associations with other recent thrillers like ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Girl on the train’ (which I enjoyed – maybe not so much the film versions) I almost dismissed it, thinking I had read those two and I was done with that Thing for a while… until one day in January 2017 I saw everyone was talking about it on Twitter in a positive way. So I went back on Netgalley and realised I had requested it the first time after all!

And – JP Delaney is a pseudonym, with the book being first published in the US, so although I really enjoyed the book, I wasn’t going to blog about it. But my 5 minutes of stealthy internet research show that not only is this book set in Britain (London) but it is reported to be by a British author, Tony Strong, so I reckon is qualifies for the British Books Challenge 2017 which means this review now exists!

So – is a psychological thriller? Yes. Does it remind you whilst reading of books like Gone Girl, Girl on the Train, Before I Sleep? Yes. Is it fodder churned out to be like those other popular books to make money? No! It’s really good. And it’s published by Quercus, they don’t publish that kind of thing. They pick good ones usually. Does it have red herrings and make you work for the finale? Yes, of course. You as the reader feel quite manipulated as you go, as you’re led to think certain thing of certain characters, and of course when you realise your mistakes is when the thrill comes and the pace picks up. Delaney is fantastic at this suspense, drama, manipulation of the reader… which is what is also happening to some of the characters too.

For me it also invokes Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (where the new wife feels haunted in her new home and marriage by the previous wife, despite her or the reader never meeting her) – in fact, I would love to write an essay comparing them if I was still at uni! And I learnt from the details in here a little about architecture as well as sadly recognised the truth in the control needed and exhibited by certain people in the story. A sense of place seems to be happening in my reading a lot – Room by Lauren Oliver (a most perfectly formed book) and I Found You by Lisa Jewell.

I like how at the start I was a little confused about the different POVs, because of course the different female tenants of the house featured ARE meant to be similar and follow a pattern, so it made sense to me that it took a while to work out each voice. And I really like the idea that your environment shapes how you think – I’ve heard it before, but it is truly fascinating that a house could be designed to manipulate your lifestyle, so you prefer being there to anywhere else. I almost wished the house itself could have a narrative part, as well as the women who live there. But it’s too serene and untouchable I guess.

I raced through this book, needing to know what happened. It’s a great story, but maybe not one to read if you’ve just changed house or boyfriend…

Whilst searching for a place to live in London, Jane Cavendish stumbles upon an offer that
seems too good to be true. One Folgate Street, a minimalist house designed by a famous
architect, is available to rent for a ridiculously low price. However, there are conditions –
the inhabitants must agree to live by a set of controlling rules set by the building’s designer,
the enigmatic Edward Monkford, which include sacrificing most of their personal
possessions and allowing their daily lives to be monitored whilst in the house. Whilst Jane
agrees to this and moves in, she soon discovers that the previous tenant, Emma,
mysteriously died in One Folgate Street and as she begins to investigate, discovers some
unnerving similarities between herself and ‘the girl before’.
Whilst the initial idea of the story seemed like it would make for a thrilling read, I found that
the plot became a bit ridiculous right from the start. The narrative switches between the
perspectives of Jane and the previous tenant Emma, and we learn how both of them have
suffered recent traumas (Emma had a home break-in and Jane lost her baby) and are
looking for a ‘new start’ when they stumble across One Folgate Street. Despite this attempt
to provide some sort of justification behind their choices, I just couldn’t see how anyone
would willingly give up the majority of their possessions and agree to such a privacy-free
lifestyle, with rules so stringent and pedantic that no sane person would accept them
(examples include no books and no pictures). Jane and Emma also both have to undergo
constant monitoring of everything they do and frequent questionnaires assessing how
residents are ‘progressing’ in the house, which seem more like psychometric tests. It all felt
completely intrusive and bizarre and I simply couldn’t understand why they were going
along with it.
Unfortunately, things get even worse when we are introduced to Edward, the architect who
designed the house. Both women enter into a relationship with him because he is
‘handsome’ and ‘mysterious’, yet he is also obsessive, aggressive and downright creepy. His
controlling nature and desire to regulate every aspect of his partners’ lives (including
recommending changes to their diet, lifestyle and exercise regime) reminded me horribly of
the male lead in Fifty Shades of Grey, which is without a doubt the worst book I have ever
read. I fail to see what either woman would see in a man who wants to control their every
move, never mind the fact that in Jane’s case the suspicious circumstances surrounding
Emma’s death all seem to point to him. The romantic element of the story was completely
incomprehensible and seemed to just be an attempt to mimic the popularity of these
abysmal romance novels to win over a few extra readers.
As well as the faults in the plot, I thought that the entire book felt a little rushed and
unfinished. Quite a few of the characters and plotlines seemed irrelevant to the story and
were only included to fill pages and elongate the list of suspects. Both women were fairly
flat characters with a few quirks and personality traits thrown in to make them seem
different from each other (although this didn’t work well as I often had to double check
whose perspective I was reading). The ending also felt a little anticlimactic and didn’t come
as a surprise to me at all. I never felt as if the characters were in any real danger, as the
supposedly unsettling atmosphere of the house that the author tried to create never really
resonated with me.
Overall, whilst the concept of ‘The Girl Before’ showed promise and the book was definitely
readable, the controlling-relationship element of the plot felt too contrived to be believable
and the story itself needed a bit of focussing and refinement. Whilst it was entertaining,
this book was also incredibly frustrating and I found almost all the characters
unsympathetic and unlikeable. For these reasons, I have only given it two stars.
Daenerys
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.

found it difficult to believe in the premise of this book. A minimalist house in London available at a low rent for the right person who will obey the rigid rules set by the eccentric architect who may have murdered his wife and the previous tenant.
I felt the author concentrated too much on the twists and turns of the plot to the detriment of characterisation.

Interesting and thought provoking read! i would recommend this book. Its creepy and suspensful in all the right parts and had me hooked from the begining
I enjoyed the writing style and the characters involved, so much so that i was actually discussing the concept of living with the arrangements involved in this book!
Great read and look forward to reading more from JP Delaney.

The House of your dreams- or not? One Folgate Street in London is a modern, spacious state-of-the-art and technologically advanced place to live, which Jane sets eyes on and where she is looking forward to hopefully living. That is, if she can pass the odd test of interview questions that await her. There's one condition- she must answer correctly if she has a chance of being the chosen one by the estate agent.
Emma lived in the house "before". She also loved it at first. One Folgate Street is rented out again after her death. Jane, fearing she may be prey to the same fate, has to keep a close watch on what she does.

The Girl Before kept my attention all the way through due to its pace which was helped along by chapters in the alternating POV of Jane and Emma, and I really found it easy to imagine what it would be like to be inside the house, the descriptions of it were so vivd.

With well-fleshed out characters, a creepy house and strange goings on, The Girl Before by JP Delaney will not disappoint if you love a great thriller.

Thanks to Quercus Books, JP Delaney and NetGalley for my ARCs of both the sampler and full format versions of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting read, but I honestly can't decide if I've liked it yet..... It was a bit confusing, jumping between the different female characters point of view, but maybe it was just me. Worth the effort.

great read from an author i had not heard of before..will be looking for more

Enjoyable psychological thriller. I thought the two timelines in the same location worked very well.

I am not surprised that The Girl Before is being made into a film; it's chilling, creepy, gripping and scarily believable. Edward Monkford is the landlord from hell, although he's so enigmatic that his tenants don't even realise that they've sold their soul to satan.

The Girl Before is written in the tried and tested 'then and now' scenario but with a psychological twist; both timelines are scarily similar; the same patterns, the same events, the same words but different women. I was reading with my eyes wide open in terror as I prayed that history wouldn't repeat itself.

Then: Emma and Simon are looking for a new home as Emma doesn't feel safe after a burglary in her home. One Folgate Street, with its state-of-the-art security, seems perfect and Simon just wants what's best for Emma so they apply to be tenants. After completing the grilling questionnaire they are accepted but their dream home turns into a house of horrors.

Now: Jane is looking for a new start after she lost her baby. She feels a definite connection with Edward Monkford when she is interviewed to be his new tenant, and it's not long before he moves into One Folgate Street with her. As the reader is treated to glimpses into Emma's past we realise that Jane is in grave danger, but from whom?

This is a completely addictive book. I read the whole book in one day as I was unable to tear my eyes away from the page for one single second. It's like 50 Shades of Grey meets Psycho as the ladies who are drawn to Edward Monkford end up dead, in what appear to be accidental circumstances. My brain was on overdrive trying to anticipate what was going to happen, whilst at the same time fizzing with anger as Edward purposefully repeated history as if he was reading from a script. He is a total control freak who made my blood boil, but is he also a psycho?

Definitely one to add to your reading list and I can't wait to see what Ron Howard does in the film version. I think it might be one to watch from behind the sofa!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Gripping read from the start. Real page turner! Highly recommended

The Girl Before - J P Delaney

Two young women, one in the past and one in the present, whose lives intertwine, as the past threatens to overwhelm the present.
The suspense grips you from the first page, each woman has so many secrets and emotional damage and the clean, simple lines of 1 Folgate Street, offers a new start, the slate wiped clean and they are desperate to take the solace it offers, whatever the cost.
The girls’ past histories draw you in. The suspense intensifies as Jane discovers what happened to Emma, the woman who lived there before her and the secrets surrounding her.
The women’s characters are fascinating and tragic.
The enigmatic owner and architect of 1 Folgate Street is mysterious and menacing. Yet, sometimes it’s the familiar that presents the most danger.
There are lots of grey areas in this story, open to the reader’s own interpretation, which keep you turning the pages and make you wonder if you really have understood, who did what.
A story that will keep you enthralled to the end.
I received a copy of this story from Quercus Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, the storyline was a little far-fetched but it kept me reading and threw in quite a few suprises.

It alternates between two women, the previous tenant and the current one of 1 Folgate Street. A very strange place to rent with so many rules, both women passed the tests to become tenants of this very high tech house. A very unusual story but captivating nonetheless.

Overall a good read and 4 stars from me.

This was just so slow and bored me totally.
Very disappointing.

I thought this was a bizarre but really good read. It isn't a particularly believable book. Surely no one would actually live somewhere they were not allowed to keep books? Yet as I've often said, in fiction fact doesn't always matter. I enjoyed both the different viewpoints, and both stories were interesting without revealing any important details too soon.
Whilst I don't think this was necessarily the best book I have read and the mystery ending wasn't that much of a shock it was a quick fun read.

Really enjoyed this and I liked the way it's written going back and too in time. A fast read and ideal for the holiday season!

This is a compelling thriller told alternately in the first person by Emma (then) and Jane (now), two young women who have made the minimalist designer house at 1 Folgate Street their home. The house and its architect, the extremely attractive Edward Monkford, make huge demands of anyone who rents the property. The rental agreement has a long list of dos and don’ts that would make even Sheldon Cooper blanch, including no books (!!!) and the obligatory and frequent personality questionnaires. Not all are able to cope with the exacting conditions – but Emma and Jane see the house as a chance for a new life unencumbered with unnecessary possessions and safe from their past traumas. It certainly helps that the house is beautiful and comes with a very low rent. However, Emma died in the house under suspicious circumstances and Edward’s wife and son died while it was being built, and are buried beneath it. So, it is understandable that Jane needs to know what happened, even if it makes an enemy of Edward. She starts to fear that she may be the next woman linked to the house to die.
Each chapter is headed by the name of the woman narrating it, but soon you find that you forget whose story it is, and have to backtrack to make sure. Although with quite different personalities, the women seem to meld into each other. And it is not just you as the reader who is having trouble telling them apart, the men in their lives – Edward and Simon – also appear to see them as one in the same.
Emma and Jane’s stories emerge gradually as the book goes on. They are both changed by living in 1 Folgate Street, and by their relationships with Edward, but the reader’s relationship to them also changes as more and more information comes to light. All the characters are very well drawn, and all have unsuspected hidden agendas. Red herrings are everywhere, and the twists keep coming increasingly frequently as the book reaches an end that you will never see coming.

I tried to read this book twice and failed - the style failed to engage me and even though there was a mystery at the heart of the house and the architect and the flowers, it did not engage me.

Not for me. The two women characters, Emma and Jane .... well, I suppose there must be such idiots around, but what are the chances that the creepy architect would find two (that we know of), who look so alike, and in fairly quick succession. My fellow women, would you ever agree to rent a place which has the most restrictive rules ever, so much so that you have to change your way of life, then let the landlord dictate everything you do, spy on you, even restrict your internet access, have sex with you, then move in? No, me neither.
The first one, Emma, I can accept that perhaps, but then the second one, Jane, knowing that this has all happened before in a very sinister and identical manner, made me give up on this. I've never heard of the author before, but I'm fairly sure it's a man ...

Review of an advance copy from the publisher.