While THE GIRL BEFORE YOU gets off to a slow start, it picks up speed about halfway through. From that point on, the narrative twists and turns, resulting in one startling revelation after another.

The mystery behind a girl's disappearance is intriguing, yes. But the most interesting (and unsettling) aspect of the novel is George's complex character. In many ways, he's akin to someone we all know: charming on the surface, entitled and selfish at his core.

In other ways, of course, he's unknowable.

After him, Kat and Richard are the most intriguing characters. Their storylines kept me engaged and interested (as they had some angst to them), while Alice and Naomi's dragged a bit for me.

The novel's close is perfect: it provides closure in some areas, yet leaves enough open-ended that readers still contemplate and question the material long after its been consumed.

For fans of psychological thrillers, THE GIRL BEFORE YOU is an entertaining and worthwhile read!

This book was confusing with all the different points of view...and I normally like a couple of different POV. It also kept skipping back and forth in time which didn't help. I thought the storyline had promise and was hoping it would hook me, especially as it's been compared other books I've enjoyed, but it didn't. I didn't particually like any of the characters and the ending was so meh, I'm not really sure what happened. Did I miss something? I'm not sure if it was just too mixed up and not straight forward enough for me to get stuck in to...or if it just wasn't good?

When I finished reading The Girl Before You, it left me in a hypnotic state. Brilliantly written with only a handful of characters and an amazing story.

The story centered on Ruth who disappeared 15 years ago. Ruth’s disappearance tied Alice, Naomi, and Kat together. We hear (or read) the story from their perspective & it shuttles between past and present.

Most of the setting is in the college (past) and in the present Alice is the one feels disturbed and has a nagging feeling about her husband George.

Even though there are three unrelated women telling the story, each of the narrative’s merges with no gaps. All their retelling ends with a mystery after every chapter.

The writing was not just easy it was entrancing. The author candidly explored the feelings of teenagers and also how it changes as we grow up. In retrospect, as adults, we try to analyze why took certain decisions.

Naomi and Ruth were sisters and there’s a passage (read below, it’s not entire passage) where Naomi describes her relationship, is so relatable for anyone who has a sibling.

“How to put it? When I try to access my first memory without her, there isn’t one. There isn’t memory without Ruth. She was the one person to whom I could say: ‘You know that ballet teacher?’ And she would know whom I meant, or ‘Remember that boy on holiday in Crete, with the with the burnt skin?’……….”

The memories you create with your siblings, the secrets you share with your bestie or a roommate has been described aptly by the author.

The author eloquently wrapped up the mystery and the parallel characters in the end.

For a debut novel, the author did an admirable job.

I would recommend this book for all the mystery book fans.

A heartfelt thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating for the book is 5 stars.

Brilliant story of love and loss and friendships that span the years.

Secrets will always come out even if it takes what feels like forever.

I really enjoyed this read.

This is billed as the next Girl On the Train, a rapid page turner. I don't see it, I struggled through a lot of this book. I am not a fan of the ending, it left a lot unsettled and for the reader to assume a lot.

You also have some college age boys doing really disgusting behavior with seemingly no consequences, and a girl stupid enough to marry one of them trying to figure out why everyone hates him. Really?! Just had a hard time relating to most of these characters or understanding their actions.

I’ve finished this book today not quite knowing how I feel about it. I think I expected more; more drama, more suspense, more excitement. There are too many loose ends that haven’t been tied up as well which is disappointing. So many characters where I find myself asking, so what happened next? It was a quick and easy read but I would have liked a few more chapters to feel the story was properly finished.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

If you are a fan of "Girl On The Train" by Paula Hawkins, then you might enjoy this debut psychological thriller from author Nicola Rayner.
A slow burner and a slow build to this story...
With its dual timeline, author Nicola switches between past and present to give you an insight into the disappearance of student Ruth Walker and those surrounding her.
So you do need to have your wits about you to follow what is happening.
But what did happen to Ruth back then in the university days?
Her sister Naomi, her friend Kat and TV personality and MP George Bell, all with their own story to tell about what happened.
You have to wonder who has something to hide and why does George's wife Alice become so obsessed with finding out the truth about her husband.
A great price on amazon at the moment if you fancy nabbing a copy...

Thank you kindly to author Nicola Rayner and her publishers Avon Books UK for my copy of this book. Much appreciated.

I enjoyed reading this, it flowed quite well and had an interesting outlook on university life and family connections. Slow to start, it soon picked up pace and kept me entertained throughout.
Our main character Alice is married to a high profile individual, George and is pregnant. If I’m honest here, I had my problems with each. Not any fault of the authors, the characters were very well done, I just dislike the “people” they are. Yes, I referred to a Character as a person, and I had an instant dislike for both and I couldn’t tell you why.
The story is told from Alices view, and upon seeing someone she thinks looks like Georges Ex, she decides to investigate and see what happened. I have to say here, that is part of my dislike. I mean really, she saw someone who LOOKED like an ex and decide to drag up potentially painful memories for everyone? Issues much there Alice?
Anyway. So we see the story also from Ruths sister (who Alice contacts and investigated with) and follow a dual timeline throughout the story of Alice investigating and trying to find the truth, and A timeline through the characters (not Alice) through university, how they met Ruth and what happened leading up to her disappearance. At this point, I disliked George. Stereotypical male University student, thinks a lot of himself and expects anything female to fall at his feet.
However, despite my dislike of the two generally, I enjoyed the story. It was slow to start but built quickly and kept me entertained throughout. Despite my dislike of Alice and George, it didn’t put me off reading!
If you enjoy Psychological Thrillers then this is certainly worth reading! It’s an engaging read, and one that could be enjoyed on holiday or with a cuppa, although it does follow a popular theme at the moment of a woman investigating a partners ex having disappeared.

At the start of this book, I was really excited. It had the makings of an excellent thriller. While I could have done without all three narrators I did like jumping between past and present. I enjoyed learning about the characters this way.

The mystery was also very interesting what happened to Ruth and what if anything did George have to do with it. But there were a couple of things I didn’t love, like the characters. having three narrators meant I didn’t really connect with any of them. I liked Kat the most, but even she was a little annoying.

I also was not a fan of the resolution of this book. It seemed very anticlimactic, and quite honestly very unsatisfying. I really enjoyed this book up until about three-quarters of the way through, I just wish it had a better resolution.

3 for neutral. I tried to get into this a few times, but never could, which really made me sad because it sounded like I would love it. I am a very moody reader though and will update of that changes in the future, which is very likely!

First time reading this author, was not really a book I could get into, was a bit confusing. Actually ended up giving up as I just wasn’t the page turner thriller I was hoping for.

This was my first book by this author and I found the story very entertaining. At first it was maybe a little confusing since it has 3 POV storylines but once I got that figured out I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see how it ends. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

This was a fantastic thriller one that will make you look behind yourself and check under the bed, I won't give anything away for you but this was a great thriller If you liked the book You then you'll like this.
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

This one just didn't do it for me and it was hard for me to get into the story and characters throughout the book. I was really excited for this based off the description but it fell short with what I was expecting/hoping for. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I found this to be a slow starter but once I got into it I really enjoyed it.

This story is told through three points of view and changes from past to present. Usually I’m not keen on all the jumping around but the author made it work in this story.

Alice is married to George. She’s haunted by the disappearance of a girl called Ruth who was in George’s past. Was he to blame?

Although this didn’t grab me from the start I thought it was a good read. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I really enjoyed this book and I raced through it , some parts of the story are familiar ,for example the behavior of the privileged set at university , though this did not distract at all from my enjoyment . Alice married to a prominent ex politician thinks she see's one of his ex girlfriends from university whilst on the train . She starts to investigate what happened to Ruth who had disappeared whilst still at university . The story is told both from the past and present . We have Naomi who is Ruth's sister involved in the search too . A good twist I didn't see coming and some pretty vile characters make this a very entertaining read .

THE GIRL, BEFORE YOU is a great suspense novel. Nicola Rayner does not disappoint. I am glad I was picked to read this one because it is amazing. It has bit of everything, suspense, heart and great characters.

Loved this so much that I devoured it in one day! A real page turner. It’s cleverly written so you know each character and care what happens to them all. Compelling storyline and convincing characters keep you wanting to know what happens next. Looking forward to reading more Nicola Rayners

An interesting storyline but have to admit there are others around quite similar. As a lot of this is set in a university with students there is quite a lot of sex and swearing. Not everyone's cup of tea.