This is a gripping read. I started reading on a flight and could not put it down until finished on the first day of my holiday. The story revolves around a rape trial court case which might seem straight forward but is anything but. The reader is so drawn into the story and can feel for each character. The denouement is brilliant. Read this book.

He Said She Said

Wow wow wow wow wow!!!
I'll keep this short and sweet, read this book!!!!
It's beyond awesome and I predict this will be a top read for 2017! Don't miss out!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, 5*!

Kit and Laura are a young couple who have travelled the world to witness solar eclipses, while in Cornwall Laura and Kit chance upon an assault on a young lady, this encounter will dramatically change their lives and of those involved..
Erin has written a psychological thriller which flips between the past and the present, slowly feeding the reader information, unravelling the lies, the deceit, preparing the reader for a conclusion that I honestly didn't see coming. Erin shows the personality and vulnerabilities of each character easily in her written word, sometimes I wondered though is that seriously how that person would portray themselves to you if you met them in person.
He Said She Said will offer plenty of twists and turns, intrigue and heart stopping moments, a must read gripping page turner.

He Said/She Said is a slow burner that gathers pace and takes you on a rollercoaster right to the very end. Twists, turns and secrets seem to come with every page turn keeping you hooked until the end.

I enjoyed this book and read it over a couple of days. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Erin Kelly for the chance to review.

I liked the premise of this book and was excited to read it. Unfortunately I was just an okay read for me rather than what I had expected.

The story was quite a slow starter if I'm being honest. It was told in two different timelines, one in the present day and the other going over the years since Laura and Kit met. I found myself wanting to skim read a lot of their past life story so that I could get to the more exciting parts of the book. I made my own mind up about what the author was hinting was the issue from the past that they were dealing with. When it was finally revealed I was shocked at the extent of the lies which had been told.

The final part of the book, from the actual reveal, was the best part of the story in my opinion. I forgave the fact that the story had taken a while to get to that point, and found myself totally drawn in to the aftermath.

This was an okay read which picked up pace a little too late for me to give it a higher rating. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

"Oh! What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive" (W. Scott)

And oh what a tangled thread of misconceptions, lies and deceit this proved to be. On Goodreads I consider 3 stars to be a positive review (I liked it). Thrillers are not my 'natural' genre, although I recently read Wasp by Fiona Quinn and that held me enthralled. As I received an arc through Netgalley I felt obliged to finish this book, and only did so after reading reviews that said the book picked up pace and interest in the second half (which it did).

I'm sorry but there was just way to much waffle and unnecessary scene setting. This book could have a good 1/3 cut out from it without affecting the story. And this extra third made it a very, very long book. However when you get to the faster paced chapters where you can feel the action starting to happen, the book is good, not amazing, but good. There were some amazing twists and turns in the book, and when I got to the end of the book scenes much earlier in the book (thinking upper deck scene here) had new meaning. Whilst I can accept some type of prosecution on the second case (towards the end of the book) I found the actual charge very unlikely - real life has shown a lesser charge or very often no charge in these situations. However this links to the last line of the book, so perhaps the author did this to have a greater impact.

And I HATED that last sentence, I had been a little ambivalent towards the character, whose 'line' it was, for a chunk of the book but that compounded the dislike that had been building for several chapters. I could not understand their reaction to one lie when they too had been feeling guilty about lying for so long. This wasn't a book where I particularly warmed to ANY of the characters (at one point Mac seemed to be the most likeable of the lot!). The last 8 - 10 chapters drastically changed my view of MOST of the main characters and by the end the only character I had any time for was the only genuine victim in the whole book.

If your a fan of the author, or psychological thrillers, you may enjoy this. The writing style is good, easy to read and flows naturally, as does the dialogue. It was just the slow pace and not terribly likeable characters that made this an 'ok' read for me.

There are too many books marketed as psychological thrillers these days that are anything but. This isn't one of them.

A girl gets raped in a field during a festival to herald a lunar eclipse. This book tells the story of the couple that witness it, and give evidence at the trial.

Seen through the eyes of each of them at the time, and in the present day where the echoes of their experience still affect their lives, we slowly piece together what really happened.

Atmospheric and gritty, we live the pressures on a couple over a period of 15 years, with a dramatic and unexpected finale!

Recently, I have found my love for crime thriller fiction to be waning. I have come across many guessable plots, overused tropes and cardboard characters, and really struggled to find a thriller to utterly captivate my attention. Luckily for me, He Said/She Said brought me out of this genre slump and restored my faith in this category!

Kit and Laura appear to be a young, happily married couple and excited, if anxious, parents-to-be. The reality of their anxiousness, is far more sinister than any outsider would have imagined, however. Over a decade has past since their most recent encounter, and it feels their secret may be, finally, buried. Struggling with anxiety-induced panic attacks, it becomes easy for Kit to overlook Laura's continued misgivings. This flaw proves fatal for the couple, when the past returns to haunt them, just as she predicted. Figures from their past are returning and there are only so many places to run.

Set in both split-time and dual-protagonist perspectives, this became an engrossing read from almost the onset. The events of the book were foreshadowed by the depiction of a scene that only begins to make sense once the plot has progressed, which added even more suspense to the story.

The story also had an interesting side-story that involved Kit's obsession with solar eclipses. His globe-wide journeying to view the rare phenomena was interesting, and gave this book an unique flavour.

This was a continually interesting story, but it wasn't until the last quarter that it really made my jaw drop open in awe. Unguessable plot twists shocked me, as a reader, and made me rethink my entire preconceived misconceptions about the plot and the characters. This story proves over-and-over the ramifications of trusting in initial judgements, and the reader is invited in to share these consequences by the shock the ending induced!

It is very rare for me to be unable to review a book, but He Said/She Said failed to grab me from the start. I don't wish to continue in order to write a negative review, so I'm putting it aside. Just not for me.

Oh my God. I thought this book was never going to end. The only reason that I didn't DNF it was because I really, really - and I mean really - hate not finishing a book. So much so that I really think I give some books too many chances, too many last warnings and as a result, I am frequently disappointed.

This is a story told from alternating viewpoints as well as flipping backwards and forwards in time from 1999 to 2015. Kit and Laura, a pair of eclipse chasers although Kit has been doing this for much longer and the eclipse that can be seen in England in 1999 where a lot of this is based will be their first eclipse as a couple.
Unfortunately, to me, both Laura and Kit are just plain unlikeable. The Laura of now (2015) is paranoid and has anxiety issues and Kit has a massive chip on his shoulder relating to his father and twin brother and it would seem that their lives have just span out of control since the 1999 eclipse.

Anyway, Kit and Laura, Mac (Kit's twin) and his girlfriend Ling travel down to the Lizard peninsula of Cornwall for a festival where they are hoping to enjoy the eclipse, have a bit of a party and make some money selling tea.

It is here in Cornwall, just after the eclipse that Laura witnesses something that will change her and Kit's life in more ways than you could ever imagine. Laura is convinced that they have stumbled upon a rape and insists upon calling the Police.
This ends up going to court and naturally, Laura and Kit are the key witnesses.

I personally didn't feel that this book really got going until I was at least 65% into it but wow that last section certainly kept me on my toes and speeding through the book. I had no idea what to think, who to believe or even what had happened. This is where for me, the title He Said/She Said really came into it's own. My head was spinning from trying to keep track of what was going on - and no, that's not a criticism. I loved it. Unfortunately, I felt that this was just too little too late for my liking.

Loved this book.
Loads of twists which kept me thinking I knew what was going on, then as events escalated and unfolded, I didn't know who to believe.
15 years ago Kit and Laura witnessed an assault which changed their lives forever when they called the police. What they thought was truth is questioned. Is Beth the real victim?
The story jumps between present day and the past fluidly, small drops of information, previously unknown, are dripped into each new revelation.
I couldn't put this book down until I knew the final outcome, the truth.
A compelling read that on completion, made me want to read it again as I was certain I must have missed something as I didnt see the truth that had been cleverly hidden, how a little white lie can grow and change lives forever. The backdrop of the eclipses all over the world works perfectly in contrast and in unison with life that is never just black and white.
My favourite book this year so far and an author I will be adding to my faves.

The story in this novel unfolds slowly, piece by piece - and even when you think you know all the facts, you're not even half-way there yet! So I am not going to include any more details than that, no spoilers.

Secrets and lies abound here, along with relationships, both of the sexual kind and the friendly ones, side by side with family dynamics. It's not a book you can race through, rather it's one to be savoured, absorbed and mulled over.

Nothing in this book was what I expected to happen next - even the ending surprised me. My only regret? Now I've read it for the first time I will never have the full experience again.

This is a very memorable read; spell-binding and so thought-provoking, and one which I have no hesitation in recommending especially to readers who enjoy a really good psychological suspense novel.

I received an arc via Net Galley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Intriguing, complex and suspenseful, this was a great read. The story structure is very cleverly layered, and peeling away the layers of the story, both past and present, keeps driving the reader forward. I loved all of Erin Kelly's other books and can highly recommend this one.

Lies always seem to come back to haunt you!

In 1999 Laura and her boyfriend Kit decided to watch the total eclipse by taking part in the Lizard Festival in Cornwall. It’s shortly after the eclipse that they are making their way back to their tent when Laura sees two people having sex. However, it’s the expression on the girl’s face that leads Laura to act immediately as she is sure that the girl is being raped. Laura stays with the girl while Kit follows the male and tries to make a citizen’s arrest.

The decision that Laura makes that day to help Beth, the girl she saw being attacked, has major repercussions on all four lives which are best described as being like a tsunami. Everything they’ve ever known or done before is swept away. None of them will ever be the same again.

The story is told by Laura and Kit in the present day (2015) with flashbacks to the day it all happened. (1999).

Why am I only giving 3 stars? After all, Erin Kelly is the co-author of Broadchurch, one of my all-time favourite television series. It’s mainly because of the characters and also the way some of the situations are portrayed. I took a dislike to Laura and again I’m sure someone will ask me why? After all, she did the right thing to intervene and rescue Beth. She even becomes friends with Beth, giving her support long after the trial and all its repercussions, but her self-righteousness got under my skin.

Kit, Laura’s husband is a reasonably nice person but doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to Laura and lets a situation, that could have been easily resolved, become a major stumbling block.

Beth, is well portrayed as the victim of the rape, who then suffers years of abuse by the rapist’s family. Erin Kelly has captured the rape, the trial and the events afterwards with great sensitivity and one can fully understand what damage this can do to anyone who is subjected to this degrading vicious crime.

I also thought that a lot of research went into the rapist who is the son of very wealthy people, who would stop at nothing to get the result they want for their son.

Now, having got to this point in the review, I’m thinking maybe I’m being mean and should really give an extra star, but then the ending flashes into my mind and I end up once again thinking “Really?”. I just felt that Erin Kelly managed to kill off the story too conveniently.

Treebeard

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

He Said/She Said was a must read for me as another psychological thriller exploring not only domestic relationships, but socially contentious issues like consent.

For this reason I was also nervous – this is a subject which is easy to deal with badly, with so many stereotypes and preconceptions it would be easy to fall into a number of traps. But thankfully all my fears were unfounded, Kelly deals with the subject brilliantly with a perfectly poised thriller that plays into, and challenges all of our worst assumptions, offering a twist which I didn’t see coming.

We know from the blurb that Kit and Laura, a young couple, witness a crime – a rape, which they have to testify about in court. We receive the story in chapters alternately narrated by Kit and Laura, both from the time, and when their past catches up to them in the future. This is all set against a clever back-drop of eclipse chasing, setting a symbolic foreboding and climax to mirror the plot, adding a more literary element to the genre fiction. We see the internal workings of the couple’s own relationship, as well as the court case they participate in and its aftermath. This makes it the perfect book for fans of domestic thrillers and court case drama alike.

The story is well paced, engaging and had a twist worthy of Gillian Flynn to round off a fantastic thriller. The only fault I could find, if it is a fault at all, is simply that I didn’t find any character particularly compelling, but the story itself was so engaging that this was a minor issue, and it would be a rare thing for a book to achieve all of this.

The ending is intense, gripping and completely unexpected. Overall, this was a brilliant read and one I would fully recommend to any crime or thriller fan!

In a book market dangerously close to being saturated with psychological thrillers, this is a standout book from a superbly talented writer. The narrative takes the reader through a seemingly predictable scenario and on to a twisting plot that never disappoints. This is a rare thing - a genuinely unputdownable book. I cannot wait to see what this author does next.

For month now I am reading book after book which stays behind my expectations. I am beginning to ask myself if it is my fault. Because this book is unfortunately one of those.

The blurb says enough about the story. A young couple travels to a festival in Cornwall in 1999 to watch an eclipse. There they become whitenesswa of a rape. After that the life of many people changes forever.

The story itself is very clever and complex. The problem is that every character is so very unlikable. Laura is extremely difficult. I found it hard to understand her in the past and in the present. I really did not get her anxious problems. And I could not understand Kit’s devotion for her. In the end I got it. But it is a long way to the end and the story drags and drags. The pace is extremely slow and sometimes the story gets lost. The thing about Kit’s father and his brother are not relevant for the story. As well is the background for Jamie, the rapist, not really necessary. It is just too much information. And Beth, a major character, is left in the dark. I really did not get why Kit and Laura lived in this total fear for 15 years.

At first I found this thing about the eclipse chasers very interesting. But the chapters following Kit to his trip to the current eclipse are quite boring and of no meaning to the story. It just got lost on sideshows. The pace is often slowed down by chapters like this. The whole story seemed artificial. All narrators are unreliable. They are not telling things just to reveal them in the end. They all lie. This is clever and interesting but it is told so slowly. It just got boring because it was told so slowly. There is just too much in this book. At the end there is another twist. And another one. It is almost predictable.

This book got a lot of ravenous reviews. Unfortunately I cannot comprehend. The idea is very good. But it is just too long, too dragging. The story gets lost. I had high expectations. But it is just too long, too tedious. The thing with the unreliable narrator is just overworked. There are one or two twists too much. I can see the brilliance of the idea, of the story itself. But it is somehow overworked. And the pace was so terrible slow. Maybe if I would not have received this book from NetGalley I would not have finished it. In hindsight it was a good and complex story, but the way to the end was quite a struggle.

I really liked this book, another excellent page turner from the queen of Thrillers.
Plenty of twists and turns.
I give it a 10/10.

From the very first page I was drawn into the story and found myself reading faster and faster to find out what was going to happen. Worth more than the five stars that I am able to give.. Too good a book to not read

A riveting story, a psychological thriller with an unusual element: solar eclipses. When Laura and Kit cross paths with Beth at an eclipse festival in Cornwall, nothing will ever be the same again. Who can we trust, is honesty the best policy or should we protect those we love by keeping them in ignorance? Integrity and reputation are central to the plot, and each individual's perceptions of an event will be different. I've just finished reading this compelling story, and found the twists and turns in the characters' fortunes, their challenges and tragedies believable and the writing excellent. It's hard to review without giving away too much, but this is an accomplished, enjoyable, intelligent and original novel which is well worth immersing oneself in. It's a jolly good read.