The diary was one-part psychological thriller and one-part women’s fiction, dealing with serious topics like sexual assault, bullying, and suicide. To my surprise, I enjoyed the serious subject matter more than the thriller portion, which is why I initially picked up the book! I was invested in seeing the story unfolds between the girls, how they got from then to now, and really enjoyed the overall message of sisterhood that sort of developed by the end.

**Thanks to Netgalley for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't really a fan of the concept of this book as I felt like it was written for a younger audience instead of an older audience who enjoys psychological thrillers. I thought that the storyline had promise, but the fact that most of the story was centred around bullying didn't;t really thrill me. I much preferred 'The Girl Across the Street'.

First I want to appologize for the late review. I really loved this book. It was so well written and the mystery and suspense were killing me. I couldn't read fast enough untill I got to the end to find out what will happen. It was very interesting read that kept my attention till the end. Well done.

New author for me but pleasantly surprised. Thank you for the approval and look forward to a book relationship with other reads in the future,

Going into this one, I immediately had Pretty Little Liars vibes, and while I normally love books that focus on secrets, lies and past revelations, this one kind of fell a bit flat.

The novel focuses on Lauren, whose sister Hannah committed suicide as a teenager. Lauren remembers what happened so clearly; the memories have followed her all her life. She also remembers what Hannah - her popular, pretty, wonderful sister - was actually like, and that sometimes, she wasn't as perfect as everyone thought. As she returns to her hometown for a memorial to mark the ten-year anniversary of Hannah's death, and meeting up with her old gang of friends, Lauren is haunted once more - not just by the memories of that awful night, but also by some strange, anonymous messages.

Messages that threaten to reveal not only Lauren's secrets, but the secrets of all her friends.

As the memorial looms closer, Lauren and her old group try to work out who's behind the messages, and also get over old memories, especially one that ruined Lauren's school life.

The plot sounds extremely intriguing, but it just didn't work for me. A lot of the book was repetitive, and a little over-the-top angsty. Some of it made me cringe, although the prose itself was wonderful. Vikki Patis is a great writer, I think it was just this particular book that had issues (for me, anyway). Even though this was a generally okay read, this seemed to be less of a psychological thriller, and more of a young adult read. I got the feeling it would be better suited to a slightly younger audience.

Even though this book adhered to the usual thriller formula, I got the feeling that the ending was too hasty. It felt tacked on, as though the build-up was for little reward. Or maybe that this book was written differently at first, maybe not a thriller at all, but adapted to fit the formula. I've read a few like this recently. Perhaps this is just me, maybe I have just read way too many of these books of late that I'm finding them all too similar and should perhaps step away for a while, but it just didn't ring true.

I'd love to read more from this author in future, but The Diary just wasn't for me.

I really enjoyed this book! An intriguing mystery with plenty of interesting and flawed characters. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen! I liked the format that went back and forth between the past and present, it was a great way to build the suspense. Will definitely read this author again.

I was excited to read this as I imagined it would be hugely tense and the plot sounded really good.

The suspense was a little lacking for me. It didn't really feel like Lauren (and the other women) were in real danger, despite the threats. I've seen other reviews claiming that it is a little teenage in its approach and I'd agee with that. As a teen/YA book, it would really hit the mark but as a grown up psychological thriller, it feel somewhere between the two.

I was a bit confused about the title too. The diary in question doesn't make an appearance until quite some way into the book and doesn't play a major role in the plot. It's referred to a few times but perhaps a different title would have been better.

It wasn't an awful book by any means but it would have been a lot better with more tension and suspense, especially with it being marketed as a psychological thriller.

According to Goodreads, this novel is a "suspenseful psychological thriller full of twists and turns – you won’t be able to stop turning the pages of The Diary. Perfect for fans of The Sister, The Girl on the Train and We Were Liars." I loved The Sister, The Girl on the Train, and We Were Liars, so I was excited to see this book which was compared to all three. However, this book failed to capture me in the same way which the previous three novels did. The story seemed kind of repetitive, and I felt like there were times when the story was just dragging and dragging on. It seemed like a movie where they have to stretch it out into two hours, so they fill it with all kinds of useless events and characters to make it long enough. Unfortunately, I wanted to like this book way more than I did. Thank you to NetGalley for the e-copy of this book.

I you-yo'd between enjoying this book and rolling my eyes at it. It was like a teenager trying to be an adult. In that I mean the book is meant to be a psychological thriller but was not mature enough to be so. The idea of the story is good enough and overall was enjoyable but the characters lacked any real depth and were not ones i felt as though i could relate to. I wonder if this book was sold to me as a YA thriller i may have accepted it more.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. It was still well written though, but I wonder if perhaps it would be suitable for a younger audience?

I like books with lots of suspense and thrills. This book was mediocre lots of teenage and adult drama not my favorite thing to read about I just like a good mystery. Not a favorite book of mine.

This is supposed to be a psychological thriller. But I'm afraid it's neither! I read it through to the end, all the time hoping it would improve, but unfortunately it didn't happen!
Not my usual type of book and now I know why!

I really enjoyed this book. It was brilliantly written with a great cast of characters and intriguing plot that kept me turning the pages. Perfect read to escape from day to day life. A great read.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a good read for me. Many times I felt like giving up on it but I persevered with it to the end. I didn’t like any of the characters and to me it felt more like a YA book than a psychological thriller. Would not recommend this one .

Great book with a great storyline. Not what I was expecting at all so was a nice surprise. Easy to read and good characters in there too. Lovely cover on the book.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC

I think the title was a little misleading as I didn't think the diary had as much play in it the story as did the secrets of the past in general. However, I did like the book. Will check out more from this author.
Bring it to the beach or curl up on the sofa with a cup of tea with this read.

A thriller that goes backwards and forwards from the past to the present, and whilst a great premise for a story, in this case I am not entirely sure it worked.

Still a reasonable read though.

Interesting story, but rather predictable. I kept waiting for the unexpected twist, but never got it.

This is disjointed, repetitive and full of teen angst... both “Then” and “Now” as the story flips from teen years (Then) to adult angst (Now), 10 years later. Grown women acting like teenagers all over again, all hiding secrets and guessing who did what to whom. After a point, like 50% into the novel, I didn’t even care. It was 10 years ago, for heavens sake. Teens do stupid things.

What I don’t get is all the 5-star ratings. I read a lot of psychological thrillers and I just wouldn’t even call this one a thriller, maybe a little psycho, but it was like the author was trying too hard to build suspense where there really wasn’t any. Yes, there were the mysterious texts coming to all the women who were once teenagers together, trying to intimidate them about past secrets. No one knows from who, but I guessed it long before it was disclosed.

This was just not my cup of tea. This felt aimed at the followers of the “Me Too” movement, for whom I do have empathy, but I just didn’t like the presentation here of that topic. I trudged along with this anxious to finish it up, which thankfully I did... hallelujah, and therefore submit this unbiased review for NetGalley. Thanks for my e-ARC, but I can’t really say I’d recommend it to any of my fellow reading companions.

Lucy has been pushing her past under the blanket for the last ten years. However when her dad asks her to come home for her friend Hannah's tenth death anniversary, she knows she needs to do the right thing. As soon as she gets back, the past seems to engulf her and her old friends.

An unputdownable psychological thriller that starts a bit slow but soon turns into a page turner.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for. the ARC of this book.