What an amazing book! I loved all of it. The writing was beautiful and the story was dark and really twisted. I liked that it was set in another country, it was very interesting to see the characters develop and the story unfold in a different scenario. It was dark and I thought the author was very clever in the way she writes the chapters, by telling the story from different points of view. It was really really good and cannot wait to see what her next book is about.

I received this ebook in exchange for a fair unbiased review, my thanks to HQ & Netgalley for the opportunity.

I don't do spoilers so for a guide the the book I suggest the blurb.
Michelle Sacks knows how to write and also how to draw you in. Whether you want to spend your time on the beach with her characters is another question.
I found the book intriguing and read my way through avoiding the temptation of skipping or checking ahead. As literary effort I give it five stars as entertainment I cannot say I enjoyed the books characters and it was only the authors style and craft that carried me to the end.
That said I think the read will be far more enjoyable when the weather cools and one sits comfortably in front of a fire with a glass to hand.
I recommend the author and look forward to her next book.

I did not like this story, or any of the characters. It just didn't work for me unfortunately. Not sure if I'll read anything further from this author.

This story shares with the readers the perfect life that Merry and Sam have in an isolated area of Sweden. That is to the outsider looking in, as all is not as it seems.

I really enjoyed this novel and I couldn’t have anticipated what would have happened from reading the high level blurb on the back. Wow, it did certainly pack a punch! There were many twists to this book and I didn’t see them coming.

I would highly recommend anyone to read this and the authors writing style was a joy to read.

Initially I wasn't sure I was going to like this, but there's something about Sacks' evocative style that sucked me in and transformed this into a real page turner.

Merry and Sam have their secrets, but on the surface their marriage is perfect until Frank comes to stay and something terrible happens.

I guessed who the culprit was immediately. This is not a book with surprising twists. It's the characterisation that hooks you, as you learn more about what's really going on.

An intriguing read for anyone who enjoys domestic mysteries.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

An interesting book not least because I’ve learned a little about Swedish life and lifestyle. I liked this story because I changed my mind about what was actually going on quite a few times. This was because of the different points of view expressed in the book. Just when I thought I’d worked it out, along cams another perspective. I didn’t actually like any of the characters but I don’t think that really mattered. A relatively easy one day read

I really wasn't a fan of this one, I found all the characters (apart from the poor little baby) to be ireedemably evil. But it is very well-written.

Husband and Wife, Sam and Merry and their son Connor now live in a remote and idyllic area of Sweden. Merry’s best friend Frank comes to stay, the women have been friends since childhood. All seems good, life appears perfect….but is it really?

This story is told from the perspectives of the three main characters, Merry, Sam and Frank in quick alternating chapters. Merry is looking forward to Frank coming to visit, as Merry is now a stay at home Mum, but she is determined to show Frank that she has a wonderful life, baby and home that everything is perfect. Frank however knows Merry from old, knows how she works, and how she make things out to be rosy, so she is trying to see if things are indeed as rosy as they appear. Sam is trying to get his business up and running so is not home all the time.

The author has taken the concept of marriage, happy families and idyllic home-life and thrown a big old spanner in the works by psychologically manipulating her characters. Friendship is not immune to this spanner either, it doesn’t take long for the pretence of perfect to start showing a few little cracks, as the bonds of marriage and friendship are not as they first appear.

One thing I really loved about this story was the lack of dialogue. Yes you read this right, no dialogue. Instead you are given the perspective from whichever characters head you are in. I got to see and hear the thoughts of past events, conversations and it worked so well for this story. It was easy to follow and it didn’t take long for me to recognise which character was which was which. The voices of the characters came out loud and clear for me. It was a way of seeing behind the mask of the character if you like, hearing their real thoughts rather than saying what they think should be said. It was also a great way to build up the suspense and the tension as the story developed even more, but even though I was in their heads there were still quite a few shocks along the way, and the mistrust built up.

Initially I thought I was warming to the characters, but as things progressed I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about them, I didn’t trust what they thought. I did empathise and feel for them but by the end I was shocked.

This is a clever look at marriage, parenthood and friendship and how each aspect of them fit together, or how they can be forced to fit. A great suspense filled psychological, noir that I would definitely recommend.

This was an alright book. The thriller aspect was decent, though ultimately predictable from the very beginning. It just didn’t keep me entertained or even interested in the book.
The characterisation was decent enough. All the characters felt like real, separate, distinctive people, even if I leant more towards hating them all. Sam, the cheating husband, Merry, the apathetic unhappy wife, and Frank, the best friend who wants Merry. None of them were likeable. And the last line of the book made me want to hurl it across the room.

The worst part about this book was the writing style. The whole thing felt like a speech because of the way the book was written. I was having a hard time trying to figure out when people had actually spoken and when the other characters were just inferring from facial expressions.

The setting and cover of this book appealed to me and overall it lived up to my expectations. Really enjoyed the style of the writing- dialogue presented without inverted commas; sparse, terse turn of phrase. Also enjoyed the initial set up as the unpleasantness of the 3 main characters was revealed bit by bit. However the subject matter was difficult for me, as I feel it would be to many more sensitive types, or indeed parents in general. The pace was great in first half, but latter half could definitely have done with a little giddy-up as it dragged a little for me.


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With the creeping unease of recent domestic noir thrillers like Gone Girl, but tinged with the emotional darkness of the brilliant Monster Love by Carol Topolski, I rather enjoyed this twisted tale of marital bliss gone sour, and the more than dysfunctional relationship that we suddenly start to observe.

I found the first half of this book in particular, a fine example of pot-boiling suspense, as one couple’s new life in rural Sweden begins to show cracks and fissures, that Sacks exposes in a beautifully controlled fashion. The sudden sinister shocks that she surprises the reader with, and which may unsettle those of a more nervous disposition, become darker and darker as the plot progresses. Structured in alternating chapters, both Merry and Sam begin to have aspects of their characters exposed which become just a little more distasteful and disturbing in their words and deeds, but Sacks unashamedly brings the darkest compulsions of Merry front and centre, in her fraught relationship with her child. I think Sacks walks a very thin line here between voyeurism and objectivism with the issue of abuse she raises, and unlike the aforementioned Monster Love , I felt a certain disconnectedness with the intent of choosing this narrative, and the response it seeks to spark in the reader.

I think it appealed to me at first, that these are two of the most dislikeable and smug characters that I have encountered for some time, and although initially finding myself unable to look away from their solipsism, self absorption and fake morality, I did begin to grow weary of their naval gazing self justification for their eminently disturbing behaviour. With the advent of the arrival of Merry’s friend Frank, further scope was given to the author to explore the formative years of this trinity of more than a little screwed up protagonists, and give the reader time to see the strange dynamic between them begin to evolve. However, with this introduction of a new character, I felt the plot begin to crawl to a more sedentary drawn out pace, sparking a feeling of frustrated boredom, and just a muted eyebrow raise at some of the revelations. I felt that the story seemed to start circling itself only inching the narrative forward, after the assured pace and reveals of the first half of the book, and a strange propensity for overwritten truisms began to become increasingly more evident towards the end of the book, as opposed to the clarity of statement and intent from the characters at the beginning. Definitely a book of two halves for this reader.

Thank you Netgalley and HQ publishers for the free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book triggered my interest right away. I saw lots of posts on this title on social media and soon got the impression that this would be a somewhat controversial read. I read both rave reviews and harsh critisism but wanted to form my own opinion so here it goes.

The book revolves around 3 main characters, married couple Sam and Mery and Mery's longtime friend Frank.
Chapters are alternately told from each of their perspectives which works very well.
We enter the story a year after Sam and Mery left New York for a radically new life set in rural Sweden.
The family seems to have it all, a beautiful, healthy baby boy, a characteristic red wooden cottage which they turned single-handedly into a wonderful home, a lush garden in which they grow their own vegetables, it all seems so idyllic. But nothing is what it seems in this thriller because the reality is that Sam and Mery hold secrets. Lot's of secrets and dangerous ones. And although they keep each other in the dark, things are uncovered when Mery's best friend Frank comes to pay them a visit. She know's Mery as no other and has always been very observant. Soon enough, she sees right through the carefully constructed facade. Mery and Sam aren't happy, it's all an act.

But Frank is not so innocent either. In fact, all 3 main characters are pretty disturbed and unlikable making this a very dark piece of fiction.
I liked the fact that the author gives us glimpses of each of the character's past to illustrate their motivations. And in each of the cases, it's no wonder they turned into such twisted, self absorbed, individuals. However their actions are dispicable and shocking and their were times that I wanted to throw this book in the corner feeling fed up with all the wickedness. However, all in all I was intrigued and just had to know how it would all turn out. Conclusion; this won't be for everyone, but I found it an interesting and gripping psychological thriller.

This book is a bit of a slow burner be warned it’s very disturbing in some places. If that is the kind of story you enjoy then this is the book for you.

This is quite the horrid little gem of a book. I realise that doesn't make it sound very promising, but if you relish reading about the the ruined, dark hearts of ordinary middle class people, then this book is right up your street.
This is a claustrophobic book, and whilst reading it I kept thinking of the science behind the idea of rubbernecking. It is all too clear that the story is building to a hideous climax and there is no-one likeable in this story; no 'loveable rogue', no 'tart with a heart' or slightly ambiguous multi-faceted hero-villain to add any light relief. These people have all been twisted by their upbringing, and when brought together create the most horrible outcome that chilled me to the bone. For me there was no mystery about who committed the crime. Not because I guessed the perpetrator, but because each character was complicit in his or her own way. Again, I appreciate that doesn't sound promising, but the writing is incredibly skilful and the voyeuristic nature of the story made it impossible to look away or put the book back on the shelf until I had read right to the end.

I would like to thank the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

An excellent read - quite disturbing in a way, but gets under your skin. Would recommend - it's a slow burner, building up the tension gradually.

An American College Professor is dismissed from his job, he has recently inherited a property in the wilds of Sweden so he decides to take his newly pregnant wife over to Sweden to start a new life. The consequences are fatal! Well written, this book kept me guessing until the end.

I didn’t think this was for me but found it addictive and read it in one sitting over the course of an evening and was fighting sleep as I was desperate to finish it. I’ve never read a book before where I have disliked all of the characters. What a despicable bunch they all were. Dealing with some dark issues it is very well written.

YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS is a thriller that really gets under your skin. You feel that something is wrong right from the start, really really wrong. And as the story progresses do you just know that it will get worse.

Sam and Merry live happily together with their little son Conor in a small cabin in the forests around Sigtuna. Everything is perfect, life couldn't be better. Merry is the perfect wife and mother and she loves life in Sweden. Together with Sam, the breadwinner in the family is Merry now looking forward to seeing their son grow up in idyllic Sweden.

Is everything really that good and why is Merry worrying about her best friend Frank visiting? Is life in Sweden really that good as they are trying to make it out to be?

The book is told from three POV, Sam, Merry, and Frank. And the picture they are showing is not that idyllic, vice versa instead. The last part of the book is actually quite chilling and really shows that the image we have of a person can be horrifying wrong.

YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS is a frightening thriller about the masks we humans are wearing that you can never know everything about each other. It also shows that childhood traumas can have consequences later in life. Who knows what kind of person you have married or do you really know your best friend?

Sam and Merry appear to live an idyllic life - but do they? Right from the first few pages there is a sense of Merry being controlled by her husband but it takes a visit from her friend from schooldays for it all to unravel.

This novel has a slow start. None of the characters were likeable and I found the book quite hard to get into. I read the book to the end but it wasn't quite what I expected. The first person narrative between all three main characters, gave a good balance of insight into what each was thinking. This is a dark book which discusses some difficult topics alongside the suspense. My thanks to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.