I was looking forward to reading this debut novel from Natalie Daniels as soon as I read the blurb.  Oh! I was fascinated! Too Close is a tense psychological family drama which had me gripped throughout.

Overall, I found the book to be quite dark and uncomfortable as the author weaves a shocker of a story that was very emotionally disturbing at times. It tells a story of friendship, betrayal, deceit and is a very tense read.

The scenes are very well written and you can imagine yourself there. The characters are very believable. I really felt for Connie and the situation she found herself in. The author has impressively developed each character incredibly well, and the similarities shown between Connie and Emma's lives was fascinating. This is the feeling I love to get from a new author.

This story was magnificent and I just couldn’t put it down – one more twist, one more turn… I look forward to reading more from this new author. Brilliant debut!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and Natalie Daniels for the opportunity to read and review this novel prior to publication.

This was a slow burner for me - at first I found it difficult to follow the characters and the time changes. I carried on, however, and was rewarded with a skill fully plotted enjoyable read. Definitely one to pick up.

Too Close, Natalie Daniels's debut novel, is a tale of friendship, deceit, betrayal and mental illness and describing it as a thriller is inaccurate. That said, the author weaves an interesting yarn that was much more emotional and disturbing than is evident from the synopsis. However, the jumping back and forth between past and present with no prior warning has the potential to be confusing, although for me it worked like charm in ratcheting up the tension and creating a menacing atmosphere to the whole thing. It starts off very well and has lots of promise but there were no real twists or shocking surprises, and I found myself waiting in vain for something to happen but it never did.

Daniels infuses the story with plenty of emotion which was one of the major plus points of this read, and I truly felt sorry for the predicaments Connie found herself in. Unfortunately though, she was the only character that I found sufficiently developed as the rest of them were rather one dimensional, and I felt that a lot of them were only there to pad out the cast and added little or nothing to the advancement of the story. What the book perfectly illustrates is the potentially rapid decline in a persons mental health and the impact on both their wellbeing and that of their close relatives and friends. Well written, paced, and on the whole, an enjoyable reading experience. Recommended to those interested in women's fiction and the realistic and devastating consequences of the unravelling of an individual's mental health, but if you're looking for a light, easy story then you have come the wrong place as this is a book steeped in melancholy. I look forward to what the author produces next.

Many thanks to Transworld Digital for an ARC.

Firstly thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

How close is too close? I’m not sure whether this refers to Ness and Connie or to Connie and Emma but both relationships were too close. This book explores the darker side of female friendship, although would your best friend really have an affair with your husband? It provokes questions about mental health and drug therapy and was deeply disturbing in places. All of the female characters knew the power of guilt and the novel explored this well. It was well written and extremely plausible and Natalie is to be commended for the way in which she maintained my sympathy with Connie throughout the novel, knowing what she’d done to her children and to Polly. A good read!

The story revolves round Connie, from the day she met Ness in the park. They both had children that after a brief smartie war moment became best friends so it was enviable that they became friends too, then both families. In no time at all Connie became a little concerned, Ness took on the same hair style as her, then was wearing her favourite perfume. When Ness and her partner broke up she began to spend more time at Connie's and Connie had, had enough. Then the story jumps to find Connie in a psychiatric unit,
This is one of those stories that lets you know that something massive has happened but not what it is, then it drops back to drip feed the story of the terrible event that happened and finishes a few chapters down the line from where it started. I must admit that this type of story really hooks me every time.
Connie was as clueless as me as to why she was in this secure unit but Emma, her psychiatrist, was working with her from a point she could remember in her own time. As well as all this going on there are diary entries from Connie's daughter and the problems of Emma in her private life. This story is so well written though that it is easy to follow. I have to admit here that Emma's story became quite a fascination too as a more than weird relationship developed between her and Connie.
This is such a dark story, that takes you down roads that you should really step back from and think, 'Is this what I want?' because sometimes when a line is crossed it can't be erased. My mind was ready for exploding in a cascade of fury, hurt and betrayal, as my heart went out to Connie. The author masterfully takes you into the mind of Connie to share how she sees the world and at times it is overwhelming with such extreme emotions. The question is will Connie be able to finally face what happened as her mind had shut down once already. A brilliant read.
I wish to thank NetGalley and Ella at Transworld Publishing for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

Many thanks to Natalie Daniels for the opportunity to read and review this book. This book is quite different to what I was expecting and if I'm honest I found it difficult to follow at times. Once I did manage to get into it it was very intriguing.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this in return for an honest review.

Too Close by Natalie Daniels is a dark intertwining web of mystery. Darting between the past and the present, this book explores the close relationship that formed between two women who met at the park and slowly illustrates the story of how Connie ended up in a psychiatric facility.

I loved this book. It showed the depth of emotion in both women and brings to light how easily mental health can decline. It was very interesting to find out bits of the story as it went along rather than just a timeline of events.

People who love psychological thrillers will love this book.

What a fantastic, edge of your seat read.
When Connie and Ness meet in the park, they soon discover that they have a lot in common and become instant friends and naturally their children become friends too. After a while the friendship becomes more of a burden for Connie and she craves some space, then one day she wakes in a psychiatric hospital with no recollection of how or why she is there and she is being accused of a horrible crime.
A fast paced, well written thriller, with lots of twists and turns.

This is a haunting story. Connie has no memory of what happened. She is mentally ill and her memory comes back to her slowly. Parts of this book are very confusing. It is hard to work all of Connie's story out. The story jumps back and forth so much in places it hard to work everything out. Overall though it is a good read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Fantastic to read!

The story is gripping and full of tense moments. Twists and turns await every page! I really enjoyed reading this a lot and can highly recommend it.

When I read the description of this book I was convinced it was another creepy 'frenemy' story. It was anything but! True it concerns close friendship and betrayal, but it is mainly the tragic story of a woman's decline in to horrendous mental health issues, and how she and her psychiatrist become a support to each other. I enjoyed reading this, though it is not a cheerful story. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Very cleverly written book that will have you rooting for Connie one second and then despairing at what she did to herself and the innocent children. The unravelling of why she did what she did and why is a truly tough read but makes you think about how easy it could be for a life to unravel so quickly.

This story is about the fallout when someone very close to you causes a lot of hurt. Connie and Ness become close friends particularly after Ness's relationship doesn't work out. It is the kind of book you want to keep reading because you want to find out what happens next.

This had an unexpected twist - I had made an assumption early on regarding what was going to happen and it didn't. I really felt for Connie and her circumstances - it was very realistic and I was really rooting for Connie to come out fighting. Sometimes, however, that just isn't the way.

A good book though some of the themes are a little uncomfortable.

I enjoyed this book albeit for me it got off to a very slow start but having read other reviews, I held in there and am so happy I did, Not sure the genre should be psychological thriller, great to see books deal with modern every day issues that is becoming more prevalent in today's society i.e. mental health, doesn't matter who you are or what you do, mental health can affect anyone. Overall a good read and will definitely read more from this author in the future.

My thanks to Random House U.K. and Transworld Digital for an eARC via NetGalley of this tense psychological suspense/family drama.

I am reluctant to say too much about the plot as with this kind of novel it’s much more satisfying to read without prior expectations and allow the characters to reveal the events that have led them to this point.

The narrative moves between Connie, who is an in-patient in a secure psychiatric hospital and is unable to recall why she’s there (though her appearance suggests something very traumatic happened), and Emma, the forensic psychiatrist assigned to her case.

Natalie Daniels explores not only the evolving relationship between Connie and Emma in the present but the highly charged relationship between Connie and Ness that had became ‘too close’.

‘Enjoyed’ isn’t the right word for how I felt reading this novel as it was quite dark and disturbing in places. I certainly felt for both women and wanted to see how things resolved. As for Ness .....

For me this novel highlighted the very real dangers associated with some medications used to treat anxiety and depression, especially when misused. It gave a chilling insight into the distress felt by someone experiencing a mental breakdown.

It’s one of those books that might prove triggering for some readers. As I had an ARC I don’t know if there will be any end notes to address the real world issues the novel raises in the final editions.

It is a novel that I would expect to be very suitable for reading groups as there is plenty to discuss.

Outstanding novel exploring the pressure of life and society on women. Amazing characterization and a superb writing make this novel an unputdownable tale of souls swimming for survival. I was gripped by the relationship between Emma and Connie and just had to read in one sitting, unable and unwilling to stop the flow of words and events to come my way.

(Longer review to come)

GREAT book! I totally get how something like this could happen, from being the perfect family, thriving on friendship and love to feeling betrayed, alone and miserable. Parts were very hard to read, very real and honest, which made me love it more.

The plot was unexpected and it's the first time I find myself liking this kind of thriller – it was interesting and really dark and twisted. As the chapters went by, I realised that I did not really care about the characters so it was a bit difficult for me to finish the book. But then there's something about Connie that really captured my attention and she's got a sense of humour that I found really dark and dangerous.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, as I thought the relationship between Connie and her psychiatrist was well written and I wanted to know what had happened. However, the further I got into the story the more disappointed and less interested I was.

Some spoilers follow:

Believed she was visited by the devil? Threw bleach but the man who leapt on her wasn't injured? She carried two children and drove a car after slashing her wrists and arms? I can suspend belief at times for a good book, but sadly this wasn't one of them

I think the best words to describe this book are "frantic" and "chaotic". TOO CLOSE is dark and a little disturbing, but also somewhat frenetic. It's about two friends, their families, the children and it just spirals from there. I think the idea was promising but to me it just failed to deliver. I found myself struggling with this book when I did so much want to enjoy it.

The story is told from primarily Connie's POV with the odd chapter from Emma's perspective as well. Emma is Connie's psychiatrist, Dr Robinson, or Dr. R as Connie calls her. But I'm not sure what Emma's place in the story was. What was the point of her chapters? Her perspective? How did her story collide with Emma's? It didn't. I felt like her story was a little superfluous as she is there as Connie's psychiatrist and not really anything else. I mean, she didn't really DO anything else.

So we know from the synopsis that Connie and Ness meet at a park, become friends, and their families inseparable. Until Ness' marriage to Leah ends in a bitter divorce and then she is practically at Connie's all the time. So what happens out of that?

We also know that Connie wakes in a psychiatric hospital with no knowledge as to how she got there. She is told she has committed a terrible crime but she has no memory of it. And so the story begins to unfold with the how's and the why's. Or that was the plan. But honestly? I spent the majority of the book confused particularly when it seemingly jumped around suddenly to various scenes and then backtracking to where they were before that said scene. Utterly confusing and I struggled to keep up.

I felt it difficult to connect to any of the characters but Connie, particularly as the story seemingly unfold through her eyes. I felt for Connie and the predicament she found herself in with no memory or knowledge as to why she was there. It was heartbreaking yet confusing and you really get that sense of loneliness - that she is on her own. But I felt there needed to be more explanation into Connie's diagnosis in the end. In Connie's words it was "bipolar fucking psycho". Did that mean she had bipolar disorder? Or that she was psychotic? Or paranoid? And how did such a diagnosis lay undiagnosed for so long? I mean, if she were bipolar she would have displayed a little erratic behaviour. Instead that erratic and psychotic behaviour came almost out of nowhere, only building after the overprescribed medication by her GP - which caused her erratic behaviour. And then her delusional behaviour leading up to the accident that put her in the psych hospital - that was more psychosis than bipolar. I've not known bipolar to be so delusional thinking that she was already dead. Maybe I'm wrong but my brother in law is bipolar, and he displays nothing of the sort that is characterised by Connie. I felt that needed more explanation because it just left me more confused.

I didn't like Ness nor Connie's husband (whose name escapes me right now and I can only think of him as "the Weasel" as Connie calls him). We didn't see enough of Leah for me to form an opinion of her. And although I liked Emma, I did feel her story was unnecessary, as it had nothing to do with Connie or the story at hand. But Ness? She was supposed to Connie's friend. I had really hoped Connie had succeeded with the hydrochloric acid because I felt that visceral betrayal as Connie did. And the Weasel? What a complete and utter bastard! His excuse to open their relationship to seeing other people was just a way of getting permission from Connie to do just that! Sleep around without consequences. How Connie could respect him after that, I've no idea. He just wanted to get his leg over where ever possible because it was obvious he really didn't fancy Connie anymore.

Throughout the completely chaotic story, I felt for Connie. I really did. To be betrayed by those closest to you and then you are the one thrown in the psychiatric hospital because your frustrations, hurt, betrayal, and ever emotion collide to create a catastrophic event. When if it hadn't been for Ness and the Weasel and their complete betrayal and lies, none of it would have happened. Not that I condone someone doing what Connie did, but I understand. I understand her frustration, her hurt and her betrayal. I felt it in those pages. And it made me hate those two.

On a lighter note, the addition of excerpts of Annie's diary was a nice touch, as we got to see another perspective of the story as it unfolded through the eyes of a 9 year old. Although at 9, I could spell a lot better than Annie did. But it was a clever addition to the story.

The writing was very good. Hard-hitting and Natalie Daniels pulls no punches. It was also very visceral in that it really draws you in so you can feel the pain that Connie feels. For me this was Connie's story and no one else's. Everyone else was a player in Connie's story. Emma's story and POV was superfluous and I felt it really wasn't needed. Unless there was something in Emma's story to connect the two women - not even losing her daughter could do that. I just felt it didn't belong in the story.

Overall, the pace was frenetic and didn't let up but despite this I struggled. I kept going because I wanted to know what Connie did and what happened in the end. But for me the whole story fell flat. It was disappointing as I felt it could have been better. The ARC could have been better editted as the entire book was just one long story, and despite having chapters, I could not access them from the menu. As the book is to be released in a week, I would have thought it would be a little better presented. As my Kindle could not tell me how many minutes were left in each chapter (as I prefer) but only how many hours and minutes were left in the entire book, it made it difficult for me to plan my reading at times as I didn't know how long a chapter would be, as they seemed to go on forever. I prefer shorter fast paced chapters. I felt these were too long.

Having said all that, I did somewhat enjoy the story. I connected with Connie right away and felt her pain but it could have been better. It had promise but failed to completely deliver.

I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of #TooClose by #NatalieDaniels in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book.