The Empty Cradle by Lisa Rookes is another amazing story.
I was really shocked by this novel, it’s got a very distinctive voice and the mystery is complex and develops in a really unexpected way. A brilliant set of characters, and the storytelling was perfect full of secrets and suspense.

Thank You NetGalley and Orion for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This one’s eerie, atmospheric, and full of slow-building dread. Strange rituals, creeping figures, and a mysterious pregnancy turn this into a chilling suspense tale with folk horror vibes.

Set in Yorkshire this is a creepy read and has a Rosemary's Baby kind of vibe.

It has a sppoky supernatural element and a few twists.

Amy discovers her husband is having an affair with her best friend and finds a place in Yorkshire to just mellow and decide what to do next.

Without giving spoilers this is a good read. The ending was a little disappointing to be honest but this did not ruin mt reading time ..

Devoured this book. It wasn’t at all what I expected and really enjoyed it. The perfect amount of creepy. Definitely recommend!

The Empty Cradle by Lisa Rookes
⭐️⭐️⭐️3/4

Publication Date: 14th August 2025

Thank you to @netgally and @orionpublishinggroup for the advanced copy in return for a honest review.

This book was dark and gave off some great horror vibes, but the twist let the book down a little bit, I could see what was coming from the start, even when the author tryed to throw us off course. It was the folklore that made this book so interesting, and turned it into a fun read. I didn't feel fully invested with any of the characters, but loved the setting of the Yorkshire village and descriptions of the countryside. So this book was a little 50/50 for me, but I think thriller and mystery fans should definitely give this one a go.

I thought the book was suspenseful and kept me intrigued in the beginning. However, I wasn’t really into the supernatural part of it. I felt a lot of the ending was redundant and just overall not satisfying. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters either and when their names were mentioned I had to think to remember who was who.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Not a bad book, but not quite a five star read for me. It did hold my attention and make me want to keep reading, but I wasn't keen on the ending.

With The Empty Cradle, Lisa Rookes narrates the story of Amy, who wakes up to the cheating of her husband Joel with her best friend, crushing her dreams of building a family. Amy floods with sorrow and retreats to a shabby little house in a remote village in Yorkshire to calm down and start over. There, she felt anything but welcome and instead felt lost and alone. Eventually, a group of local women invited Amy to partake in their book club; the invitation became less pleasant when Amy started noticing odd happenings, unexplained gifts left at her doorstep, shadows moving around her home, and an unplanned pregnancy that felt like the greatest joke. Concerned expressions toward Amy from these women make her feel increasingly tense because she is never really certain who she can trust.

Amy, after a journey from vulnerability and grief, finds herself in a life-and-death battle to regain control and security. The portrayal of her deep emotions is raw and real, distinguished by betrayal and loss. The supporting characters, especially those from within the village, possess an entirely different nature and can be viewed as either strong allies or serious threats. This delicate balance nurtures an uncertainty that pulls the reader further toward Amy's own development, making her strength and mounting paranoia feel all the more genuine and compelling.

Motherhood, guilt, trust, and betrayal create the novel's thematic fabric, illustrating the many pressures that arise for women around pregnancies and motherhood. This theme is intertwined with the dangers and advantages of living in a woman's community and shows an active participation in the discussions around women's autonomy and the yet unresolved fear of stepping into unfamiliar environments.

Lisa Rookes' unclouded yet suspenseful writing carries vivid imagery of the rural landscape in ever-tightening psychological tension: the balanced rhythm orchestrates movement from expected consolatory moments to active engagement of darker, threatening strands, piquing and sustaining reader interest without involuntary melodramatic displays.

Being a climate thick with isolation and unease, it recounts the discomfort of being vulnerable in an altered world. The Yorkshire countryside in places suggests brief moments of serenity while darkening the enigma and danger falling upon Amy.

The Empty Cradle certainly offers a riveting story with a new take on trust and community that stands out in today's arena of suspenseful tales. The emotional elements linger long after this one winds up, intertwining personal trauma with strange mystery in an intoxicating way.

3.5/5

All I have to say is that I finished it. Usually I am a big fan of folklore, local legends and superstitions and this book had that but I was not just feeling it and found myself skimping over some parts.

Rookes has crafted a psychological thriller that leans into community paranoia and the sense of being watched. The village setting feels intimate yet suffocating. Amy’s isolation, both emotional and social, gradually builds tension as she becomes unsure who she can trust – even within a group that claims to offer friendship.

The pacing is steady and deliberate, allowing suspense to creep in rather than explode. When twists arrive, they feel earned, not gratuitous. Rookes’s background as a crime reporter and journalist adds authenticity to the investigative undercurrents, and her portrayal of rural life feels grounded and believable  .

Amy is a sympathetic protagonist whose vulnerability invites both empathy and suspicion. Supporting characters—including the women in the book club—are drawn with enough nuance to leave you guessing about their motivations to the end.

This book was so creepy in all the right ways! I devoured it! The creepy shadows had me especially spooked! An awesome read!

A very creepy thriller which i lapped up staying up late to finish it

When Amy wins her bid on a dilapitated cottage she plkand to flip it and move on but things get in the way and plans change

Thanks to net galley and the publishers for this arc.

4 stars

The Empty Cradle was an absolute wild read full or twists and turns.

Cancel all your plans before reading this one because you will turn page after page until you get to that ending which... WOW

A solid 5-star

The plot of this has a dark and sinister feel of fear and horror. The twists are superior and I felt so unsure of who could be trusted in the deliciously dark and disturbing background. It's about a woman who finds out her partner has been cheating on her with her best friend. As a consequence she moves into a house that she is renovating and meets a group of lively women who insert themselves in her life. When she discovers she is pregnant the women seem to become a even more prominent part but the question is why? With strange events and folklore I really didn't know what was happening but I felt eager to find out.

This thriller is a pulse-pounding ride full of sharp twists and electrifying suspense. The plot unfolds with precision, keeping you second-guessing everyone’s motives. The writing is sleek and fast-paced, making it impossible to put down. Each reveal is more shocking than the last, building to a jaw-dropping conclusion. It’s everything you want in a page-turner.

I did not enjoy this book. I felt it was all over the place . I gave two stars because I felt the concept of the book was good, but was poorly written.

Many thanks to netgalley, the author and the publisher for approving my request to read this book.

I loved this deliciously dark and creepy book and devoured the pages as fast as I could. This book had a sinister, twisty plot and I was left wondering who could be trusted. I also enjoyed the folklore that was mentioned throughout.

This book was definitely right up my street and I will be recommending this one to others, it had everything I loved in a book!

Amy's so sure that her husband, Joel, is deeply invested in their future together. After all, it's his dream of a family together that has them trying so hard to have a baby, despite a series of disappointments. It's this certainty that leaves Amy absolutely floored when she learns of Joel's affair with her best friend. Heartbroken and horrified, Amy flees to a dilapidated cottage in a Yorkshire village, a place she'd bought with dreams of making it feel homey and warm. In the new village, she feels like a clear outsider, but a group of local women soon take her under their wing. They gather for a routine book club, they say. Before Amy knows it, these women are in her life, and in her home! Good book! This book had suspense, murder, mystery, intrigue, and a few shocking twists! The story was interesting! It wasn’t one of my top favorites but still definitely worth reading! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

oh hello a twisty little web we we've. and one that is certainly set to deceive. and as a reader im more than happy to be caught in the middle of this one! what a premise and what a story to tell. you are never quite sure of anything. who are we trusting? who are we not? is Lisa teasing us with her plot to make us look in one direction or 'assume' things about certain characters? do we look towards the husband, the new friends(freakishly freaky at time this lot) weren't they(or is that a red herring) or are we being misled by a narrator and character who we also cant trust?
i loved trying to figure this out but mostly just being taken along to wherever Lisa wanted to take me with it.
it felt uneasy, unsettling and with a baby involved their is automatically more feeling and more weight concern.
a gripping read and very original plot.

This was a heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat! It was fast paced, edge of the seat thriller that was extremely well executed. I was gripped from the very first page!

I loved the characters and the storyline. I recommend reading this book straight away definitely 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book had it all it was a wild ride of lies and deceit that had many twists and turns which lead to a great but shocking finale!