I love this author but this book was just so all over the place, I couldn’t follow the flow and it was unrealistic at times, so I was so aware I was reading a made up story

You need to be able to suspend your idea of reality and believe in unbelieve characters. Very weak and abrupt ending.
Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

This book is so great I read it twice! This story is thrilling at every point and when they say "you'll never guess the twist" boy are they right!!
Will definitely be seeking out more books by this author, if this is anything to go by they'll be fantastic!

Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough

What do you do when one of the people closest to you is not who they appear to be? That’s the question that Cross Her Heart, the new thriller from Sarah Pinborough, poses. When Lisa discovers that someone she loves has been lying to her for years, she’s forced to confront the truth and face the secrets that lie hidden. With plot twists that keep readers guessing and characters that are so realistically flawed and relatable, Cross Her Heart will keep readers hooked until the very last page. Prepare to have your heart broken and your assumptions challenged. If you’re looking for an explosive and suspenseful story, you’ll find it in Cross Her Heart.

Unfortunately the book deals with child abuse, and it might be a trigger for some. I personally couldn't really enjoy this book because of it, but the rest was well written enough, and I will read more by Ms Pinborough in future.

Just finished the audiobook and just wow. I do love completely wild out there thrillers, and this ticked all those boxes for me! This is my first book by Sarah and I can safely say I will be back for more.

What a story, a completely harrowing heartbreaking, messed-up story! I loved the now-and-then element, we find out what happened in the past to bring us to this devasting present. Lisa’s world is destroyed, all down to her daughter, Ava, one amazing act of bravery.

I was not expecting this at all!

I found it a bit slow, to begin with, but I think I wasn’t engaged enough in the audiobook. Then like normal, something clicked and I couldn’t get enough of it. It got me through my working day for sure. I was dying to know what crazy thing would happen next.

So many lies! Three women, Lisa, Ava, and Marilyn, all tied, all have been lying in different ways just to get them through the day. All riveting to read. I loved Marilyn, despite everything she was going through personally, and her feelings about Lisa, she was still a true friend. I admired her through everything. Lisa’s backstory is one I would hate for anyone, and it seems to be a popular go-to theme of the books I am reading of late. Despite that, it is still such a distressing thing to read, no matter the book. This book really does hit some dark patches, which makes everything that much more intense!

I was shocked by the outcome, and by the reveal. Although, it took me a moment to figure out the reveal. When it happened, I had a bit of and what? moment, but then I realised who and what it all meant and then I was like whoa! I can honestly say I had no idea, but now looking back some of it was the perfect set-up!

One element of the book was…… a little odd, not quite sure how it worked. How no one would notice this HUGE thing, but I went with it. If you ignore how it’s a little bit off and crazy, you have a great book to enjoy and lose yourself in!

Thanks very much to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. Many thanks, Dave

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an advance review copy of ‘Cross Her Heart’ by Sarah Pinborough. It was first published in 2018. My apologies for the late feedback. I have since purchased its ebook/audiobook combination.

‘Cross Her Heart’ proved a very twisty psychological thriller that moves between the perspectives of three women: Lisa, a single mother who is senior staff at a recruitment agency, Ava, her sixteen-year-old daughter, and Marilyn, Lisa’s best friend and co-worker. Each harbours a secret.

It’s a novel that I would suggest is best read ‘cold’ and so no further plot details to avoid spoilers.

I have enjoyed Sarah Pinborough’s novels for ages with special love for those combining crime and horror genres. In recent years she has successfully moved into writing psychological thrillers.

Overall, a highly engaging thriller. I did a combined read/listen in a single sitting as I found it impossible to put down.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Rollercoaster Suspense…
Those lies. They will be the death of you. Lisa tells lies. There are so many lies it’s a small wonder that she remembers them all. The really big lie though is the one that she has fought to conceal and now it looks as though someone, somewhere, knows the truth. A rollercoaster of suspense with twist and turns aplenty and scattered red herrings. Well paced and with a deftly drawn cast.

Omg omg omg .......... this book was amazing I could not put it down I read every word on the edge of my seat I loved the story line, i loved the way the story just kept us guessing all the way threw I loved all the twists and turns and would defiantly recommend this book it was so believable and kept the reader engaged I love it

Sarah Pinborough this is not my first book by this author, I really enjoyed it, nice and easy read and highly reccomend.

Read this! It’s brilliant. I adore absolutely anything by Pinborough and this one is no different. Absolutely excellent book and a brilliant read. Recommend!

Love the author and I own all the books. So happy that I could read this early and it is just fantastic.

If you like a thrller with an interesting plot then this is the book for you

Although I read the first 100 pages of this book, I found that I could not finish it as it just didn’t hold my interest. To offer any full review would be dishonest.

This book follows Lisa, Ava and Marilyn after the events around them challenge the secrets they've been holding from everyone around them.

It's really difficult to comment on the events of the book without giving away some kind of spoiler.. so I'm finding it difficult to explain why I just couldn't get into this book.

The writing style makes the book feel like it should be quire accessible and not too demanding, but as the story goes on, the events get more complicated, the characters and their relationships more confusing, and I found that I just hadn't been gripped enough to want to fully understand all these complications.

I didn't feel any real connection with any of the characters, simply because almost every other chapter felt like it was being told by someone completely different! Usually 2-3 POV's are enough for me. But this was just too much to have to juggle! At times the POV's were fast paced and exciting and it was hard to keep up, and at other times the POV's just felt like they were stalling for a chapter or so with little meaning for the characters.

I do admire that the events of the story, and some of the contexts are very vividly described, so I did feel captured in parts by the writing, but alas a few chapters later, I was left feeling lost again and trying to work out the relevance.

This book had some aspects which make it a good contender for a great thriller, but it just didn't feel capitalised on. It's a shame because I had heard many great things about this title - but just not one for me I'm afraid!

I do accept that my slow pace of getting through this title definitely contributed to my experience of reading it. However I just couldn't keep track of what was happening or why. So I gave this book a three star review on Goodreads which I think is more reflective of my views. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be picking up another title by this author, as the style of writing just didn't grab me throughout.

As usual for Pinborough, this is a great thriller, with twists, which starts off slow but turns into a well-paced race of a novel by the end. Overall a quick and engrossing read to be enjoyed on a nice autumn night!

After reading and thoroughly enjoying ‘Behind her Eyes’ for its originality I was really looking forward to starting this book by the same author. But sadly it just didn’t compare and it has only just scraped through with 3 stars. It was quite predictable and a tough subject of a story line. So all in all an average thriller but nothing original or different. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK/HarperFiction for letting me read and review this book.

Sarah Pinborough has done it again in writing Cross Her Heart. She packs this novel with thrills, twists, and tension that urges you to keep reading

The task of repopulating the senior library has been an exciting and daunting task aS in a boarding school our aim is to encourage all members of the community to read. Because of this, I have been searching down a wide and diverse range of books to read that will entice a wide cross-section of the school to come in, browse and find books that they love.
Books like this will ensure that the senior students in the school see the library as a diverse, modern and exciting place with books that speak to them and they want to recommend to their friends, classmates, teachers and tutors.
It is an engrossing and exciting read with fully-formed characters and a plot that ensures that it's hard to look away. It is as far from formulaic as it is possible to be and kept me up far too late in order to finish it. I immediately wanted to read all of this writer's other books as I loved their voice and found that it really drew me into the story and made me think about it even when I'd stepped away from this tale.
This is a thought-provoking read which I'm sure will be a popular and well-read addition to our new library; I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to read it and I know that the students are going to absolutely love it too!

Reclusive Lisa lives with her daughter Ava. Her best friend, Marilyn, doesn't know the true story behind her shocking past. When a newspaper report brings widespread attention to them, Lisa's life spirals out of control, as childhood secrets are brought out of the shadows. But Lisa isn't the only one with skeletons in their cupboard.

Sarah Pinborough is an incredibly versatile writer, seeming effortlessly to turn her hand to a multitude of styles and genres. This is pretty much a straightforward 'domestic noir' plot, but the pace is superb and there are enough twists and turns to elevate it above the usual standard. Whilst some of the characters felt a little flat at the start, the reason for this became apparent as the story progressed, as the secrets are revealed. This is a novel you'll zip through. The chapters are quite short and the constantly shifting viewpoint keeps things fresh and interesting. Recommended.