I’m afraid I agree with a lot of the other reviews on here that nothing much actual happens in this book. Yes, they move to a new village, they have issues that are explored but that’s about it. There are no twists or cliff-hangers at all. What saves this book is the writing is great. I could visualise all the places and people. Just was a bit slow and boring.

This is about a couple who move to a quiet, scenic village in the countryside after moving from the hustle and bustle of London to escape the drama they left behind and to try and repair their tattered marriage.

They make friends with some of their neighbours and small little incidents start to occur. Karen has to deal with her paranoia and her husband’s flirtations with the local ladies.

I still do not know what to make of this book. I thought it was going to be a thriller after previously reading the book description but it was more about a troubled marriage and Karen’s insecurities. It is very slow moving and nothing really seems to happen. I kept reading onwards until I got to the very end and still nothing had really occurred of interest. There were also no real answers to any of the minor events that took place in the book.

It is very well written and the author captured Karen’s feelings perfectly but I just felt very disappointed with the whole plot.

Thank you Netgalley and HQ for letting me read the ARC in exchange for an honest review but personally this was not for me.

Whilst I really enjoyed the writing style and the fantastic imagery that the writer conjures through her description of the setting and the feelings of the character, not a lot happened in the actual story. It was easy to read and I was propelled to read to the end anticipating a big twist, but nothing actually happened.

Yes lot of little things happened to make the MC question her mind but these were either not mentioned again or explained away as litle incidentals. That said it was an enjoyable read but it left me wondering if I had missed something.

I am very excited to be part of the Blog Tour for The Move by Felicity Everett. Especially on New Year’s Day, finishing the year with a blog tour. Thank you to the team at HQ, for sending me an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Karen moves into a new home with her husband Nick. It is a new house and a fresh start. But it is still the same husband.

I do love myself a bit of family thriller and drama novels. The Move seemed like the perfect choice to get myself cosy, right before saying goodbye to the old year and entering the “new year – new me” attitude. And in the end, it does have this vibe, as our main female protagonist finds her true self and starts making the right choices in her life.

However, this book was not as exciting as I expected it to be.

There is a woman that is going through a hard time and a mental health recovery, judging by her memories and thoughts. Her husband had an affair and she didn’t handle that well at all. But now, it seems that she is well. Her husband got them a new home, with new neighbors, in the idyllic little village, where she can do the things she loves the most.

But her neighbors are not the best kind of type – they all seem weird. And her husband is not really listening to her when she speaks. Her child Ethan is here and there, the relationship shattered by the actions of his father.

And we spend the whole book standing by Karen’s side, watching all the dull things she is doing in the house, talking to her neighbors and being depressed and constantly worrying about everything.

I felt bad for Karen, because she is still going through a mental breakdown, even though really trying to figure out her life. She is really trying, but her husband, friends and neighbors are slowly pushing her down again. The Move has a very big voice on mental health. How important it is that we have our support network next to us, and I am glad that Karen finds Cath in all that mess of a life. Also, how important it is to trust your own guts. When all your friends keep telling you your marriage is perfect and you are so lucky, only because it looks so from the outside, you shouldn’t always believe them. Don’t ever ignore the little things. And don’t ever stay with a man that doesn’t believe in you.

As far as the book goes though, it was quite monotonous and uninteresting. No major plot twists, no big cliff-hanger. I was reading the whole time, waiting for the big moment to come, and it never did.

And in the end, even though we clearly know what choice Karen makes for her life, we don’t have a conclusive ending. We have one of those endings that sort of finishes and lets the reader figure out what happens next. I am not a fan of those, and it might be why I am slightly disappointed in how it all wrapped up.

I would still recommend it if you love family dramas and thrillers. However, if you are expecting for a book that will keep you on the edge, I am afraid you need to still keep looking.

Really enjoyed “The People At Number 9” so I was hoping to enjoy this one too.

I struggled to bond with Karen to be honest and found it also to start, but once I got into it I really thought it was a great read. With a fair few twists and turns your never quite sure who the villain is with this one, and it had enough action to keep you going.

Good book but not as good as her previous efforts in my opinion.

I do enjoy this type of book that keeps you guessing from time to time but there was too much going on in this to really fully understand at times what was going on.

The characters were good, they were a good solid base for the story. But I expected more of a thriller twist and this never really happened. I thought it was ok but could be better or maybe better in a different genre.

#TheMove #NetGalley
It has all the ingredients which are necessary to make a psychological thriller.
Karen has packed up her life and is making The Move. She’s on her way to the idyllic country cottage which her husband has painstakingly renovated for her. They’re escaping the London bustle and the daily grind. And they’re escaping their past.
A fresh start in a beautiful, peaceful village. It will be different here, right?
I don't want to reveal much about the story because if is so brilliant that i can't give much details without giving spoilers.
Characters were creepy, cranky. Narration was like i was watching a movie, so detailed narration.
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for giving me an advance copy of this book.

This novel descibes what happens to Karen and Nick as they make a fresh start in the country. There is something off about their new neighbours. It took me a while to warm to Karen but as the story unfolded, she grew on me. This story was full of suspense and kept me guessing to the end.

This was a really good read. It stays with Karen making her way to her new home in the country.

She arrives to her, seemingly, attentive husband who is anxious for her to like the choices he has made for them.

It becomes clear Karen has had a breakdown but why? Who is the villain and what is happening... Is it real other imagination?

A really original book and a good read

This books promises a lot, and the author does a great job of building up a sense of unease and threat, but ultimately there were a lot of threads left unfollowed. I was half expecting a significant twist, as things kept pointing to something sinister afoot, but it never quite materialised and the red herrings scattered along the way became a bit confusing. There was a strong sense of place and I enjoyed the minutely observed interactions between characters.

Loved the synopsis, moving to cottage away from London to an Idyllic, dairy box cottage. The perfect place to support Karen and Nick to rebuild and focus on their marriage.
Likeable characters.

But there seemed to be something missing. The mystery, twist,.... it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Am sure others will love it.

This was a really neat thriller and I enjoyed it enormously. I really wasn't sure what to expect but found it gripping and wanted to know more about these characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, you've read the blurb and are wondering what "The Move" is really about. More pertinently, perhaps, why this novel has polarised reviewers in their opinions. Well, this first part is easy; it follows the move of Karen and her husband Nick from the hustle and bustle of London to an idyllic cottage in the countryside. For Karen, recently recovering from a mental breakdown, this is just the type of change that the eponymous doctor of the famous idiom would prescribe. The reality is somewhat different, however. With the eerie atmosphere surrounding the chocolate box cottage, some creepy neighbours thrown in for good measure, and a whole load of suspenseful tropes peppering the narrative - the enduring question for the reader is: what the hell is going on? For some reviewers - not a lot, and I see their point. There is no crashing, earth-shattering denouement that hints at the malevolent presence of some evil genius toying with Karen's sanity. That's as much as I can say on that point; but, and its a big but, I think what the author was hinting at in this novel is that the greatest psychodramas often take place in our own minds. This is perhaps the greatest drama of them all - the hidden fantasies of the human psyche and the internal struggle for mental coherence This is observed with great acuity by the immensely talented Felicity Everett, and I enjoyed every page. With her perfectly calibrated prose and astute observations of the human condition, this was a thought-provoking, entertaining read.

A definite hit.

This was a very good book which drew me in to it straight away. It was twisty and very compelling to read. I had heard about this book on goodreads and was interested to read it. It had been on my to be read pole for ages but, once I started it I couldn’t stop it was so good. I’ve never read this author before but I will be looking out for her books in the future.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I only have one thing to say about this book: And? This story had no plot, no direction and no purpose. This book was one huge "so what." I kept waiting for anything to take place but nada. No clear character development never mind character outline, no background info which led to a huge disconnect with the characters, no work on the marriage between the two main characters or on any of the relationships in this book and no reasoning or intel is given as to why any situation has occured, past or present. This book was just plain boring.

I absolutely loved Felicity's previous book 'The People At Number 9' and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of her next book 'The Move'. The synopsis just screamed 'you need to read me as soon as possible' at me and so I decided to do as I was told (for once). I grabbed a cup of tea, made myself comfy on the sofa and began to read. 'The Move' was certainly an interesting read, which I did enjoy but more about that in a bit.
I can honestly say that I didn't take to either of the main characters one little bit. The main characters being Karen and Nick, who are a married couple. It's obvious from pretty early on in the book that something happened which threatened the future of the marriage. I won't go into too much detail as to who has done what because I would hate to give too much away. The couple decide to move to the country and start afresh. It is hoped that they can make a go of the marriage. Nick is a ladies man and don't we know it. He thinks nothing of flirting with the ladies and in plain view of his wife. He thinks he is charming but to be honest he is anything but charming. Karen comes across as a bit needy and always on the lookout for signs that things are going to go wrong. She is also rather blinkered in many ways. I got the impression that they are both trying too hard and that each of them are keeping little secrets. To say that they want to make a go of living in the country, they certainly don't know how to go about making friends. The pair of them occasionally make snide comments about their neighbours or mock their houses and on occasion Nick and their friends from the city mock their neighbours' attempt to be friendly by giving them presents. For me the comment that made me decide they had gone too far was the fact that Nick and their friends were all snooty about their neighbours make chutney!! If I was to meet either Karen or Nick, I would give them a wide berth and avoid interaction with them as much as I could.
It didn't take me long at all to get into this book. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first couple of chapters, I knew that I was going to be in for one hell of a read. I wasn't wrong either. 'The Move' wasn't a book that I could binge read over the course of a day but I did read it over the space of a couple of days. The more I read, the more intrigued I became and I just had to keep reading to discover what happened to Nick and Karen. I would say that I seemed to fly through the last third of the book. The pages were turning increasingly quickly as my desperation to discover how the story concluded grew and grew. All too quickly, I reached the end of the book which I was disappointed about. Although I didn't take to either of the lead characters, I was enjoying the book that much that I just wanted the story to continue on and on.
'The Move' is well written. Felicity has a writing style that draws you into the story from the start and once she has your attention, she will not release it until the moment you close the back cover. Felicity has created complex and multi layered characters, who are most definitely interesting. I loved the way in which Felicity steadily cranks up the level of tension in the book. I can't say that the book is particularly fast paced to start with but as the story continues the tension gradually builds- you know something big is on the way but Felicity certainly keeps you guessing as to what the big thing could be.
In short and overall I did enjoy reading 'The Move'. It was an interesting and intriguing read, which I would recommend to other readers. I will definitely be reading more of Felicity's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.

We start this book by following Karen and Nick who have moved to an idyllic village cottage away from the hustle and bustle of London life. Karen is recovering from a mental breakdown due to her husband and the countryside is sure to help her recover and repair their marriage.

I'm in two minds about this book. Whilst it well written with full characters and descriptive words, it just didn't seem to go anywhere. I was perhaps expecting some sinister turns, a cracking thriller, but what we read is about friendships and relationships, self recovery and honesty.

I found the plot to be unassuming and absent and the ending was rather abrupt and came from nowhere. However, I did like Karen's journey and realisation of what she wanted in her relationship.

I was definitely left wanting by this book.

Thank you to @hqstories and @Netgalley for the free copies of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What's interesting about The Move is the way Everett gives it the vibe of a psychological thriller and yet at the end you realise it's something else entirely. Around every corner, in every nook and cranny, and behind every hedge and window, there is this suggestion of menace. Something evil this way comes.

The author writes the story in a way that invites the reader to imagine more than actually happens by describing scenarios and people that leaves everything to open to interpretation or more than one possibility.

There is this scene at the very beginning with Karen in the car - I swear till the very last word I expected some revelation about what had really happened. It's quite clever really, because there is this suggestion that people in general have the tendency to assume, imagine and pad out their experiences. Karen for instance tends to jump straight to paranoia, which is sparked by jealousy and low self-esteem.

Her husband Nick loves to gaslight his wife, despite the fact he is a cheat and an abusive parent, he likes to play the innocent hard-done by hubby. Poor Nick who has to put up with the crazy wife and the loser son. Perhaps he has a point though?

For me this is a story about discovery of self, empowerment and setting yourself free from oppressive emotional bonds. As soon as you recognise them you can set yourself free by severing the ties.

The author shows the emotional recovery of Karen and epiphany she has. It's all about comprehending that just because someone points the finger of blame at you it doesn't mean you are actually to blame. When someone tells you who they are - believe them the first time.

I am in two minds on how to review this book.
On the positive side of things: I loved Felecity Everett’s writing style. I was engaged in the story from the beginning, she has a way of drawing you into the intricacies of the plot and making you constantly question the characters, the motives and the ending of the book. I particularly liked her characterisation, each character felt like a fully developed person in their own right with their own desires and flaws. In particular Nick, the main character’s husband, was difficult to read and as three dimensional as any real living flesh and blood person.
On the negative side of things: the book never really got anywhere. I started reading this expecting a domestic thriller but I finished it feeling confused about what genre it actually fit into. It wasn’t a romance, it wasn’t a thriller, it wasn’t really an anything. I suppose it was a Mike Leigh film of a book. It was more like a snapshot an excruciating year of someone’s life. A lot of questions went unanswered and I was unsure how one event could have been a catalyst for the fixing of a marriage that seemed at best dysfunctional and at worst abusive. I would happily read another Felicity Everett’s books as I really enjoyed her writing style however I probably won’t pick this one up off the shelf again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Felicity Everett and Harper Collins for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Didn't enjoy this at all unfortunately which is a real disappointment at it promised so much. The characters didn't seem relatable but this is maybe because the story itself was all over the place and still left me hanging at the end. Very frustrating read!!