Don't Trust Me by Joss Stirling was a very enjoyable Psychological thriller.
The story centres around Jessica and the surrounding events that occur after she returns from a holiday in the sun with her older boyfriend renowned criminologist Michael.
It's quite apparent from the very beginning that her relationship with him is on the rocks.
He believes her to be a fantasist with a made up job and also a pathological liar who needs help for her constantly destructive behaviour.
In fact, Jessica's main offence is actually a mental breakdown from depression after her integrity over events with a student was called into question in her previous teaching position.
She resigned on the advice of Michael rather than waiting to be sacked.
This as a result, ended her career in education but also came with an added diagnosis of ADHD.
from Jessica's therapist which at last explained an awful lot to her.
So after returning from there holiday Michael makes a swift exit leaving on business.
Jessica proceeds to travel to her job of three months, researching runaways but on arriving her keys no longer fit and her boss seems to have cleared out without a trace.
dumfounded Jessica starts to look into things unwittingly uncovering more than she realises and it's not long before events themselves escalate dramatically leaving Jessica floundering for answers.
So there was a lot going on here.
Don't Trust Me was a tangled web of intrigue and mystery where nobody could be taken on face value and everybody was a suspect in themselves.
This is told mainly from Jessicas POV with the occasional side scene dedicated to Michael, who does definitely come across as a bit of a jerk.
There is also the input of journal entries from Michaels perfect dead wife, these add an interesting touch and perspective also adding further intimacy and insight into her final days.
Jessica herself is a hot mess, many things contributing to her present self.
She is actually I found a contrast in contradictions, sometimes so difficult to like especially when she goes off plan, selfish decisions and ill thought through actions contribute to her self-destructive conduct.
Other times you kind of get where she's at and why she behaves the way she does.
And when she does do sweet and considerate you realise she's just human at the end of the day.
So yeh difficult one to call, but I did like her the majority of the time.
So The secondary characters here were fantastic each with there own role to play.
My hands-down favourite here though has to be Jessica's friend Drew I absolutely adored everything about the lad in fact if I'm honest I'm not sure Jessica truly deserved him, needed him perhaps and he was definitely good for her but overall he was a lot more decent than she was.
Saying that I am glad he gave her a chance as he helped her to be a better person overall.
And I liked the fact immensely that he was just a normal everyday bloke.
So every little action here was interconnected.
Nothing completely random or left to chance.
Don't Trust me was all wrapped up so neatly and splendidly and I was super impressed with the way the author had carefully crafted the finish of this story.
I did guess some things here but that no way took away from my overall enjoyment of this novel.
I found this book to be an engaging piece of fiction that I am happy to recommend.
I was provided with an ARC of "Don't Trust Me" By Netgalley of which I have reviewed voluntary.

A cleverly written psychological thriller, with a charismatic, if flawed protagonist who finds her life in turmoil when her boss and his business disappear without a trace when she returns from holiday.
There is a constant niggle at the back of your mind when you're reading the early chapters of this story as to whether the unfolding events are products of Jessica's troubled psyche. She is an unreliable protagonist, who abuses her prescription medication and has a naive attitude to sexual partners that threatens her career and self-esteem.
Despite her self-proclaimed flaws and lack of judgement, Jessica doesn't lack insight into her problems and therefore comes across as a believable witness as the story progresses.
Almost any of the characters could be the antagonist, and this gives the story a cosy mystery ambience at times. There are conspiracy theory elements and plenty of mysteries to solve before Jessica can vindicate herself and solve the puzzle that has become her life.
The only person who truly stands by her is Drew, a delightfully, quirky character who is often shocked by Jessica's exploits but always gives her the benefit of the doubt, emotional support that has been missing in her life to date.
The plot has plenty of twists and misinformation which keeps the reader guessing, I did work out most of the story about halfway through, but this didn't spoil the story for me. However, I do feel that the antagonist is revealed sooner than necessary, making the ending more of an action thriller and losing some of its psychological impacts.
'Don't Trust Me', is an eminently, readable thriller that will hold your interest right to the last page.
I received a copy of this book from Killer Reads via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book is packed full of twists and really kept me gripped throughout.
Jessica thinks she’s in love with Michael but when he acts unreasonably towards her, she decides enough is enough.
On top of the break up of her relationship, she goes into work and finds the office no longer there and her boss has disappeared.
Jessica starts to question everything she once knew and Michael makes her feel worse with his accusations.
The chapters are told from Jessica and Michael’s perspectives and you whilst you get an insight into their thoughts, it becomes evident that there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
The final few chapters will have you on the edge of your seat and make you desperate to find out the truth.
I can’t say too much more as I don’t want to spoil it for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Killer Reads for the opportunity to read this book.

I read a lot of this genre and, after a while, they get a bit samey and I yearn for something with a bit of spark. With this book, I not only got the spark I got a big BOOM too!
Jessica and partner Michael have just returned from holiday. It's clear from the start that their relationship is a tad strained, probably as much to do with Jessica's ADHD and other issues from her past as it is with Michael's treatment of her. As he leaves to work away again, she returns to her own job as an investigative assistant, but is shocked to find the office locks have been changed and all traces of the company gone, her boss allegedly having skipped off owing money that, through some duplicitous behaviour, she is now accountable for. Turning to Michael proves to be a mistake as, it turns out that he doesn't even believe that her job existed in the first place and that it is all fantasy on her part. This isn't helped when their home is broken into and things belonging to his ex-wife are stolen. Determined to get to the bottom of things Jessica then embarks on a bit of a wild ride as, together with her friend who she is staying with, she tries to piece together what is going on. And then she finds a body...
And that's all I'm saying here as the rest of it is so well plotted, it is important that the reader gets to learn things at the right time. Yes, I did spend quite a lot of the book clouded in mystery and confusion, but at just the right amount to be able to read through it and wait and trust that the author would come good in the end. Which she did, with great aplomb.
Jessica is one of the most complex characters I have met for a while and she was brilliantly portrayed, warts and all. She admits to certain character quirks herself that has her doubting her own actions half the time so it was also difficult for me as a reader to really understand what was real and what wasn't as the story progressed. This is aided by some really rather clever writing that kept me confused and intrigued all the way through. None of what happened subsequently felt contrived, rather it all came together really well at the end when the final truth all came out.
In fact, at the end of the book I was a little sad to have to say goodbye to certain characters in the book, especially Jessica herself. I felt that she has maybe more to give and would love to reconnect with her in future stories.
All in all, a perfectly plotted and paced book the held my attention nicely through and left me completely satisfied and indeed spent at the end. This is a new author for me and from taking a peek at her back catalogue, I see that she has a few series that I wouldn't mind checking out, tbr allowing.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Finally, a thriller with an unreliable main character that I love! Normally in thrillers with unreliable MC, if und them unlikable because they’re whiney or they are just simply annoying and obviously hard to like but not here! Jessica has ADHD and often acts no impulse because of this; she says what she thinks, even if it could get her in trouble and make her actions reckless as she tends to also act without thinking but she’s also clever and humorous and we really get to see that in this book. I don’t have ADHD and I have no personal experience of ADHD so I can’t speak for the rep in this unfortunately. But Jess as a character was one I loved, and I really hope we see more of her somehow – she’s was so human and you can relate to her in so many ways which was great.

This follow Jess who comes back from holiday with her boyfriend, Michael, to discover that her workplace no longer exists and that she can’t get in contact with her boss either. This sends us down the path of Jess trying to figure what has happened with her work whilst trying to deal with her relationship and all the other things life is chucking at her. Like I said above, one of the best things about Jess was that she was relatable and flawed and her thought process was so well written you could follow along and understand. This was one of those stories where you didn’t necessarily know what to believe. As much as I liked Jess, I didn’t necessarily believe her all the time (which is obviously part of the build up!) but I did still find myself rooting for her.

This was mainly told from Jess’s POV however we do get one or two chapters later in the story from Michael’s POV. We also get some chapters which are old diary entries from Kate – Kate is Michael’s dead wife who died due to cancer but we don’t know much else about her as Michael hasn’t really spoken about her to Jess. We get to see the chapters as Jess reads them which I enjoyed because it meant that we were always in the dark as much as Jess was and can make conclusions based off what Jess knows and not much else.

Because this is a thriller I don’t want to say much else about the book in case I ruin it but I did love how the story played out and ended. It was very in keeping with recent discussions and a topic that doesn’t get brought up much but does happen and I liked how it all came together.

With this book bring touted as "the best psychological thriller debut you'll read in 2018", I went into Don't Trust Me with high hopes, expecting a page turner that is read breathlessly in one sitting.

However, I was unimpressed. It was pretty meh for me. I did finish it, so I'd give it 2.5-3 stars. The characters were pretty much all unlikable except Drew. I saw most of the plot twists coming from a mile away. I didn't like the spotty back and forth diary entries that didn't appear in chronological order - it made things pretty confusing. Also, my suspension of disbelief for the character's outrageous behavior and plot twists was stretched near to the breaking point by the end.

It appears others have loved this book, and you might too, but unfortunately it was a bit of a miss for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Don't Trust Me twists and turns so many ways that you will not know which way you are going.

Jessica returns to work after a weeks holiday with her boyfriend of 5 years to discover that the locks have been changed and the business is gone. Not only that but there are people after her boss for money. This is the start of a downward spiral for Jessica. She suffers from adult ADHD and there are things in her past that she is not proud of. Michael is a criminologist and he is done with Jessica and what he believes are her delusions.

This books was jam packed with plot twists and unlikeable characters... great story that I read in one day.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK / Killer Reads and NetGalley for a copy of this book to read in exchange for my honest opinions

I loved this book, Jess was a totally endearing, scary and perfectly flawed leading lady. I loved the humanity of her and even as she feels she's approached her own personal conclusions she then (as humans tend to do) still questions her own inner strengths and self belief. The story kept me gripped and although I did guess the twist at the end it was not blindingly obvious and I did second guess my own theory a few times. Overall huge thumbs up from me, for a really well written book with likeable and equally dislikable characters throughout. #teamdrew

HA. No way I can give this anything less than 5* because whatever I thought I was going to get going into this book I actually got pretty much the opposite. Don’t Trust Me lives and dies on the back of it’s main protagonist Jessica (although we do get other points of view) and she is more than up to the job let me tell you. Witty and wise despite her mental health issues, realistically portrayed, this is cleverly plotted, extraordinarily engaging and yes even the mystery element gave me a run for my money.

Psychological thriller yes but with a difference and I kind of hope this is not the last we hear from Jessica.

The story is intriguing – Jess comes to work after a rather divisive holiday with her boyfriend to find the place deserted and shut down. He doesn’t believe she ever actually had a job and Jess starts to doubt herself but sets out to prove that it wasn’t all fantasy – in doing so she opens a whole can of worms and we are off on a twist fueled journey that is highly addictive, often ironically funny and genuinely riveting.

I love a main character you fall in love with and that’s what you get here – Jess is extremely clever underneath her slightly hectic outer personality and is intuitively aware of her own shortcomings, even as she is making bad decisions she understands the fundamental flaws in those decisions – as such she is really easy to follow along with, it is as much a journey of understanding for her as it is for the reader. Add into that an honestly unpredictable mystery element, a brilliantly eclectic supporting cast and a real sense of reality and there you have a winner.

I love the way Joss Stirling plays with your perceptions, not only of the people involved but of the actual events, you really are not sure where it’s all going to end up and the writing has an edgy, vibrant touch to it that just immerses you into Jessica’s world.

Overall I loved this. Can I hope for a sequel? Yes yes I can but either way Don’t Trust Me really is one of the best psychological thriller debut’s you’ll probably read in 2018 – put “Quirky” in front of “psych thriller” and go in with no expectations and I reckon you’ll love it.

Highly Recommended.

Trust Me - This is a darkly disturbing debut.

This is a book that really gets under your skin. Jessica is the perfect unreliable narrator, her paranoid thoughts skittered across my brain as they ran riot through her own. Twist after twist I was unsure who I could trust, who I was rooting for and I had no idea what disturbing revelation each page would reveal. The writing is assured, the creepy undertones that drift through each sentence make it hard to believe this is Stirling’s first book for adults.

Thank you so much to Joss and to the Publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Trust Me, it’s one to read with the light switched on!

This is a really good book which I really enjoyed.

Jessica and her boyfriend Michael come back after being on holiday.

Jessica goes to work but can not get in to her office. The keys she has will not open the office, and she finds out that her boss Jacob has gone missing.

Jessica decides she is going to find out what is going on and where has Jacob gone?

Jessica also suffers from ADHD and her life is falling apart.

Her boyfriend does not believe Jessica and you really start to feel sorry for Jessica. You really want her to meet someone who really cares about her.

The story is good and I thought I knew who the culprit was but I was wrong and that was a nice twist that I didn't see coming.

You also really feel for Jessica because her boyfriends flat gets burgled and he blames Jessica when items from his dead wife are taken.

What a totally brilliant book. I totally bought into the superb main characters and excellent storyline. This book is just so well written! I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Don’t Trust Me by Joss Stirling
Jessica has just came back from holiday with her boyfriend Michael to find out that the office where she works is closed and her boss missing. This leads her to a manic search for the truth. Jessica was a fantastic character and I was in her corner and rooting for her all the way. I really enjoyed this book and read it in a day because I did not want to put it down. I would like to thank NetGalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.