Really gripping and unpredictable storyline. I really enjoyed it. It’s the first book I’ve read by this author. Looking forward to reading more from her.

What an excellent read this was . I had not read any of the author’s work before this, but I certainly will read more. This was such an unusual story, and had so many unexpected turns that it was impossible to guess exactly where it was going. The characterisation was so good, making this reader sympathise with the ‘protagonists’. I found it hard to put this book down, as it was so refereshingly original, and had me gripped from page one. I would recommend this book without hesitation, as a welcome change from the usual crime novel genre. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

This was an excellent read. I was a little unsure to start with as I felt it was going in a direction I didn't really want it to but I need not have feared - the story beautifully played out and was thoroughly enjoyable. Highly recommended.

Usually I can rattle of a review as know what to say but this one I have thought about for a while....
Its a great premise for a book, Nina is saved from choking via an olive on a ( hilarious ) blind date by ‘Angel’ a waitress, Angel takes her address as she orders Nina a taxi....only to turn up later that night with a gun demanding Nina let her stay, swiftly followed by her brother who has kidnapped a baby
Until much later when the reason for these events becomes clear the story is repetitive and the dialogue laboured between the 3 and I found my mind wandering on and off throughout that part of the story
When things ‘hot up’ the story is good and held my attention and I was keen to know the outcome as the last section of the book became a tense thriller
On the whole the characters were irritating ( some of them meant to be!! ) and gained little empathy from me
It was an interesting idea and definitely a second act saved the first kinda book!!!

I couldn't engage with this book at all. I found the whole scenario to be completely unbelievable, and I felt no empathy with Nina. I gave up before the end, life is too short to read this book.

Wow! I have not read a book like this before. I couldn't get through this book quick enough I was very intrigued. It was very well written with Nina, Angel and Lucas being relatable characters. A real nail biting page turner. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Thank you Harper Collins and Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

Don't You Cry was a very easy read. When Nina goes on a disastrous date, she is rescued by the waitress. But later that night the same waitress forces entry into her home and holds her hostage with her brother and a baby.
A lot of events unfold and eventually Nina's nightmare is over after a chain of events. I didn't find some of the timings a little skewed in the descriptions which threw me off the plot line a little in places.
Overall an easy read with everything tied together at the end of the book.

This was an ok read for me. I really enjoyed the book to around half way and then the story seemed to stretch, as though there was unnecessary filler added. The story definitely picked up towards the end again but the middle was a little slow. I thought the characters were really well written and the plot line really intriguing.

This is a well wriitten thriller with an unusual and gripping storyline. What would you do if a waitress who had saved your life turns up at your door with a baby and a brother in tow and holds you up at gunpoint? Cleverly plotted, gripping to the end, a real page turner.
Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for an early copy.

Cass Green returns with a new book after "In a Cottage, In a Wood". There is again good writing, and Green doesn't agitate readers with dragging details of abuse and violence, unlike some other writers and I deeply respect that.

However somewhere between 40%-70% I felt like the story was stretched. I was distracted, and couldn't help to think this novel could have been trimmed to be better.

Still a good domestic thriller if you are a reader of this genre.

The story follows Nina, and the siblings, Angel and Lucas. Starts really good, how Nina stumbles upon Angel and then Lucas is involved. Told between the viewpoints of these 3 characters, it's a quick read. I figured what happened almost immediately but it was still nice to read.

One thing I didn't like was the narration style changing from third person to first person in Nina's chapters. I would have preferred all of them first person or third, as it feels a bit disproportional to switch between those narrations.

Overall I'd like to mark this 3.5 however there is no option to provide half scores, so rounding down to 3. Would read from Green again,

I read Cass Green’s previous novel ‘In A Cottage In A Wood’ and enjoyed it very much, so I was keen to give this novel a read.
The main character, Nina, is a sympathetic and well-drawn character; a recently divorced teacher who is slowly coming to terms with bringing her son up alone. Whilst on a blind date, she is saved from choking by a young waitress. A throw-away remark results in a night of terror and trauma and the subsequent repercussions.
As with IACIAW, this was a well written and undemanding read. The characters are well drawn and believable. The events themselves might be slightly fantastical, but they allow the reader to reflect upon how we perceive and judge people’s actions.

'Don't You Cry' is an expertly crafted psychological thriller that also packs quite an emotional punch. Nina is just getting back into the dating game and has a blind date. At the restaurant, she ends up choking with waitress Angel coming to her rescue. Now comes the far-fetched and unbelievable part. Angel later turns up at Nina's door with gun in hand, before her brother Lucas also shows up with blood on his hands and a kidnapped baby in tow. As you can see this is not exactly a probable real-world situation, but what are books for if not to push the boundaries?

I find I am able to suspend my disbelief if the writing style suits me, it is an engrossing tale and the pace is impeccable, all of which in my opinion were present and correct here. Original, twisted and compulsively readable, this is a book that makes your heart race and your palms sweaty. Claustrophobic, suspenseful and chock full of thrills and spills. A cast of truly menacing characters will ensure you keep turning the pages long into the night. Excellent!

Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

3.5* I really enjoyed this.

The story begins with a woman whose husband has unexpectedly left her for a younger woman, so she's now having to cope on her own with her young Son. So, 'same old same old' I hear you say, but, it's so not and that's what I thoroughly enjoyed about the entire book. It's well written and kept my interest throughout as Nina (the lead character) is firstly held hostage and then pulled into a dark, complex situation.

The story is told from the perspective of the different characters and it really worked for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK and Caroline Green for the opportunity to preview in exchange for this honest review.

This was my first Cass Green book, but, definitely won't be my last!

I haven’t finished a book so quickly in ages! The storyline gripped me from the beginning and I genuinely couldn’t put it down without knowing what happened next. The story was cleverly written, I couldn’t work out if I was sorry for Angel and Lucas, or outraged at their treatment of Nina. Great book, will definitely be looking out for others by this author.

Remember the old « at the wrong place at the wrong time »? It is exactly what happens to Nina. A big ball of wrong which will turn her life upside down and make her think twice about what you say to strangers. I know I will!!!

A blind date is already bad enough, but when the night ends up at your house for a sentence taken literally, you might want to stay home for a while! Nina only meant well when she thanked the waitress who saved her from choking at the restaurant. Never had she imagined that this same person would later appear at her door with a gun and no explanation. Nor that a baby and a man would join them in what will be Nina’s longest night.

This sounds like a good movie plot, doesn’t it? But if it were a movie, we would miss the spotless and spot-on characterization from Cass Green, the careful attention to detail to make every protagonist flesh and bone. They all get to talk, we get to jump inside their heads with each chapter and it feels like a camera changing angle. I just ADORED being the fly jumping from one side to the other because I could feel there was more than met the eye, though I had no idea how right I was.

More than your usual adrenaline-inducing psychological thriller, Don’t You Cry is an unputdownable (I know, this word is overused and awful to write, but trust me!) and addictive novel about survival, parenthood, and demons from the past. But it doesn’t stop there. As the story unfolded, my perception of colors turned all funny. No black and white, good and bad, normal or weird people. Don’t You Cry is a mash-up of grey with a big threatening shadow. Except your idea of the shadow evolves as you read about the lives of Nina, Lucas, Angel (The latter name will forever be linked to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to me, so I had a hard time imagining a woman wearing it! Damn brain!)

I admired Nina the most. Stuck in a situation she didn’t see coming, kidnapped in her own house, a single mother fighting with her own life having been torn apart by her ex-husband when he decided to leave, she proved to be an extraordinary ‘normal’ main character. No big muscle, no acts of bravery, just a woman dealing with cards she didn’t ask for. I had no issues putting myself in her shoes and her reactions felt so perfectly in sync with what I was thinking or how I think I would have reacted that I couldn’t NOT root for her.

It took me longer than I thought to realize there was more to the night than a baby coming out of nowhere, a lone guy and his sister with a scary gun. They too have a story to tell and oh my, what story! This is where Don’t You Cry takes a 360-degree turn and races through a completely different level to me. Oh, the tension kept ratcheting, the sky still felt ominous, even when the reader is expected to believe things will get better. If you are a crime fiction lover, you know they rarely do get better but I was frankly marvelously surprised at where Cass Green took her story to for the last part of the book. What a brilliant idea! She colors the grey, she adds some crimson, and she makes sure your previously clear view of the events is put under a different filter, letting you in on a perspective that gives you an entirely new puzzle!

I can’t express how refreshing, fantastic, and utterly frightening Don’t You Cry is. I devoured it like cake, each layer tastier than the last!

"She knew only the bare facts and hadn't pressed for more. But she will. And Lucas can never tell her the truth. He can picture all too well how she would look at him if she knew what he'd done. No, he needs her too much right now. His sister is the only person in the world he could have called. If she abandoned him..."

Told from the perspective of the three main characters, Nina, Angel and Lucas, this is a psychological thriller about kidnap, murder, abuse and misconceptions, involving a newborn baby. Nina's life is not going well after her husband left her for a younger woman. With her teenage son Sam away on holiday with his Dad and new girlfriend, Nina plans moping around the house until she receives some unwelcome visitors after a chance meeting in a local restaurant. Waitress Angel saves Nina from choking but then needs a favour in return. A nightmare ensues as Angel tries to pick up the pieces of her and her brother Lucas's lives after their mother died when they were children. Nina is unwillingly dragged into this mess.

What follows is a fast-moving tale of retribution that kept me turning the digital pages until I knew the whole story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. This is the first book by Cass Green that I've read. Nina, A 45 year old woman is out on a blind date. It's not going well. The man is clearly not interested in her and things deteriorate drastically. A waitress in the restaurant, Angel, comes to her aid and Nina makes a rash offer to do anything for her in return. Well! That offer is taken up quickly and later that evening Nina opens the door of her isolated house to find a desperate Angel there. A few minutes late, Angel's brother Lucas turns up covered in blood and carrying a baby. A terrifying night follows. Just how desperate are the siblings and what will they do to to get what they want? All is not what it seems however and in the aftermath, Nina finds herself wondering about why they did what they did.

This is a tense psychological thriller with characters that you care about. Nina is likeable though her actions at times are a little difficult to understand (but let's face it this is a common trope in fiction like this - how often have you found yourself shouting at a book/tv programme 'No! Don't open the door, don't go into the woods, step back from the obviously dangerous situation) though I suppose without these actions there wouldn't be much of a story. You also find yourself empathising with other characters and these are all very well drawn.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. Would I buy another from the same author? I just have.

This is a great read that had me gripped from start to finish.

Separated from his husband Ian, Nina is out on a date in a restaurant. She chokes on some food and a waitress called Angel saves her life. A few hours later, in the middle of the night, Angel turns up at Nina's house. A while later Angel's brother, Lucas, who has a tiny baby, also turns up. Lucas has blood on his hands and is very agitated. Nina is now held hostage but she is concerned about the baby. Angel and Lucas demand money off Nina. At 3am they agree that she can go to the local garage to get money and baby milk. Nina walks to the garage but she doesn't call the police as Angel had said that they’d harm the baby if she did that. I found that quite unbelievable. Together with the fact that there were three people in the queue before her at the petrol station and several joined behind her as well as a queue of cars forming at the pumps. Really? At 3.30am in the UK? In Las Vegas maybe.

The middle of the book focuses on the reader learning more about the background of Angel and Lucas and the abuse they and their mother had endured in childhood at the hands of their step-father. Nina is really not sure if they are telling the truth as she heard some shocking news while at the garage.

This was a well thought out plot with good characterisation although I didn’t particular like any of the characters. It had some good twists and I was very keen to get to the end to find out what happened to everyone. It was a good satisfying read.

With thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story was truly gripping, so unpredictable and I really feel like I’ve been through the wringer after reading this. Such a clever story with great and believable characters, at moments I couldnt bare to read on because I anguished with the protagonist so much but of course I did because I was completely enthralled. Brilliant read!

An interesting and original idea for a novel, this grabbed me immediately and drew me in. Unfortunately I found towards the middle of the book my interest faded, as there seemed to be a lot of repetition and it wasn’t going anywhere. The climax was well worth it though.

Ideally this would be a 3.5 stars from me.