Cover Image: Date Night

Date Night

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

For the most part, I actually enjoyed this book. It was a sea of red herrings that kept me guessing, but around 64% I had most of it figured out. The final twist was well executed and unpredictable, but lazy. SPOILER WARNING - I feel that using sexuality as a plot device is ultimately a cop-out and the book could have ended in so many other tangential ways, as there were definitely plenty of branching opportunities. The characters weren’t in depth enough for me to get invested into any of them, and the ending was the nail in the coffin for a book that started out strong.

In summary, I enjoyed the way Date Night led me with twists and turns galore, but had figured out most of the story just over halfway through, and the parts I didn’t have figured out felt lazy and forced. With some finetuning, this okay book could definitely be incredible so I’m still going to keep an eye out for Hayes’ work henceforth.

Was this review helpful?

This book opened with a couple returning from a date night to find the babysitter missing. What I loved about this story was nothing was what I expected! This story haunted me for a few days.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview DATE NIGHT by Samantha Hayes. Wow - I did not see that coming at the end.
A young couple with a small child have a great life - Libby and and Sean have a daughter, Alice, and family ties to their community. They are happy. Until one day Libby finds a note on her car that says that Sean is having an affair. At first Libby is stunned and does not believe it, and she struggles with telling Sean about the note. Finally she does and although Sean denies any wrongdoing, Libby feels strangely aware that Sean is not being truthful. They decide to get out one night - a date night - they haven't been out in so long away from Alice - the time alone will heal these bad feelings. So Libby gets Sasha, a young girl who works with her and loves Alice to babysit for them. Sasha and Libby are close but when Sasha comes to the house prepared to babysit, Libby gets the impression that something is wrong. Sasha is giving off vibes, looking at Sean, and acting differently. Could Sasha be the other woman?
When Sean and Libby get home after their disasterous date night, something is terribly wrong - Sasha is gone. No trace and Libby and Sean find themselves caught in the mddle of a missing person case and MORE...Something happened and soon the police will be knocking on their door - Sean says she better get her story straight...but Libby is very confused and she knows that life will never be the same after their date night.
The book goes back and forth in time - telling Libby and Seans story. I was immedialy taken in by this book and could not put it down. Excellent summer read (actually all year) Recommend - 5 stars.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you so much for this ARC!

I loved the premise of this book and always love a bad guy husband situation. What a twist!

Was this review helpful?

I found this book very hard to get into and keep track of. I get the thought process behind it, but it was very confusing and hard to follow all the way through everything was answered at the end but I feel the stuff before 80% of the way through could have been handled better. I felt like I had to wait until then to understand anything that had been going on. And not only that, the epilogue only explained Sean and how he ended up. I was dying to know what happened with Marion, Libby and Alice. The book had a lot of promise but I just dont feel that it lived up to it. I gave 3 stars simply because I never saw that twist coming and I actually gasped out loud.

Was this review helpful?

Wow! Totally gripping, sick, and twisted. Leaves you guessing until the very end. What happened to Sasha, and why is Sean always acting so strange. Page turner of the year!

Was this review helpful?

The premise and opening held a lot of promise for me. The slow build led to a sense of urgency when Libby walked outside one morning to find a note on her car telling that her husband was having an affair.

In an attempt to put her mind at ease, her husband, Sean, takes her on a date night to help ease her mind about the allegations he denies.

Of course things do not go as planned and when they return home, the babysitter is missing and their daughter has been left at home alone.

I found the bouncing between the present (after Libby had been arrested for the sitter's murder) and the past to be a struggle in narrative. The voice that it is written in struggles to keep up and multiple times I found myself back reading trying to figure out if I was in the present or past.

I thought the set up for the twists was done very well done. Early on I figured most of it out but found myself second guessing and creating new theories every few pages. The final twist was a little much for me and I thought it was for shock value more or less, not substantial for the story.

I also found Libby to be very weak. Not weak written but emotionally and mentally weak, which for me, made her hard to relate to. The deeper the story went the more I struggled to even root for a character. I also though the wrap up was a little lackluster.

It was a good quick read, I inhaled it in one setting. It was entertaining and even though I did not love the ending, it definitely sucked me in. It was easy to get lost in the puzzle of what happened during their date night.

Even though it wasn't my favorite thriller for the above reasons, I definitely think it's with the read. I enjoyed not knowing what was going on and how this novel made me second guess every theory I created!

Was this review helpful?

Wow, I was not expecting that!! What a book! Definitely a big twist. I had it as someone else. Booked from the start. Thank you so much!!

Was this review helpful?

Date Night by Samantha Hayes captivated me! I loved this book which I read in recond time. It was a wonderful combination of setting, murder, mysterious characters and being in the wrong place at the wrong time AND a surprise twist. I also like when a book moves quickly and keeps the tension tight.

Returning early from a disastrous date night with my husband, I know something is wrong the moment the wheels crunch the gravel drive of our home. Inside, the TV is on and a half-eaten meal waits on the table. My heart stops when I find our little girl is alone in the house and our babysitter, Sasha, is missing…

Days later, when I’m arrested for Sasha’s murder and torn away from my perfect little family, I’ll wish I had told someone about the threatening note I received that morning.

I’ll hate myself for not finding out who the gift hidden inside my husband’s wardrobe was for. I’ll scream from the rooftops that I’m innocent – but no one will listen. I will realise I was completely wrong about everything that happened that night… But will you believe me?

It all starts with a note on Libby’s windshield warning her that her husband is cheating. Of course, she is worried and nervous though he insists he’s not cheating on her. Maybe going out on a nice date will help get them back on track. Only their date night is the beginning of things really going wrong- including their missing babysitter and a cast of characters who had reason to set Libby up for murder.

This one was an excellent read! It coming out on August 20, only $3.99 on Kindle.

Was this review helpful?

Well, that was a fast paced wicked read! Libby and Sean have the perfect marriage and perfect baby in a perfect cottage in a perfect English town where she is a caterer and he’s the local vet. We learn Libby had a previous relationship where the man was controlling and jealous and always accusing her of having an affair. Now her life is perfect - until a few pages in, she discovers a note on her car saying Sean is having an affair....and now we are off and running with Libby narrating the story in an seemingly authentic voice,......until it isn’t. The Date Nate in Date Night is meant to reassure Libby and at the restaurant their world begins to fall apart and when they get home they discover their baby sitter missing, and their world explodes and we begin to see an unreliable narrator we are supposed to trust. Lots of red herrings, lots of twists and lots of fun.

Was this review helpful?

Date Night by Samantha Hayes is a thriller about a date night gone wrong. Before that disastrous night, Libby found a note on her car's windshield, exposing her husband Sean for having an affair. Since, she has been obsessed with finding out who Sean is seeing behind her back, if he is. They decided to go on a date night to fix their marriage. But they came home to find their babysitter Sasha missing. Now Libby is accused of murdering Sasha. What really happened that night?

The story, told from the events leading up to the date night and after, is fast-paced. Overall, it was a good plot and the author did a great job in developing the plot enough that the reader has no idea what ride they'd be in for. However, I did find myself left with some questions. I also felt the ending was a bit too vague for closure. The last scene felt like a cliffhanger. There were introduction of characters that did not need to be part of the plot at all. But overall, the author bought me on a twisty ride and I did not come close to solving the mystery at all.

I read a lot of reviews of people comparing the book to the likes The Wife Between Us, Friend Request, or Gone Girl, but I did not think there were any similarities at all. However, I do enjoy the concept of an unreliable protagonist.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author Samantha Hayes, and publisher for providing me with an ARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Was this review helpful?

Libby is left a note on her windscreen saying “Sean is having an affair”, she thinks nothing of it at first as she has to drop her daughter, Alice off at her mother in laws but as the day goes on, the note and what it says begins to fester and she can’t help but confront Sean who denies it completely…. Things start to go downhill and cracks appear in their relationship, Sean suggests a “date night”, so they go to the local pub and get a local girl Sasha to babysit. However dinner doesn’t quite go to plan as Sean keeps getting texts and phone calls and another fight ensues…. He storms off and orders a taxi cutting their “date night” short but what they find when they get home is about to change their whole future….. their babysitter Sasha is nowhere to be found, Alice is tucked up safe in her bed but Sasha’s things including her phone are still there, where is she, what happened to her?

The book flits between now and then, now when Libby is in the police station having been arrested on suspicion of murder despite no body and then, back to the date night and the days that followed. This was a quick read and a need to know what happened and where Sasha was grips you, it’s a case of WTF is going on, Libby is losing control and still suspects Sean which is not helping, they are supposed to be holding a united front, however, all is not what it seems…..

The big reveal is not what I expected, in fact far from it, I would never have guessed in a million years.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review an e-arc of Date Night.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I found it very slow going and was not a fan of the writing style. I struggled with it and gave up at the halfway mark. I am definitely in the minority with my opinion and I do wish the author every success with the book.

Was this review helpful?

This book was very well written. Nice and easy to read and flowed well. Had me on the edge of my seat. Wondering which way it was going to go. Great mystery can’t beat it.

Was this review helpful?

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Date Night’ by Samantha Hayes in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

When a note is left on the windscreen of Libby’s car claiming that her husband Sean is having an affair she starts to disbelieve everything he tells her and in an attempt to smooth things over he organises a date night. They argue in the restaurant and return home early only to find their babysitter Sasha is missing and her belongings scattered around the room.
Although there’s no sign of Sasha apart from her shoe found in the woods the police arrest Libby and charge her with murder.

‘Date Night’ is a gripping and fast-paced psychological thriller with an involving plot and interesting characters. The chapters move from before the ‘date night’ to the present time and leads the reader to suspect several people who know more than they’re telling. At times I found Libby annoying as she wouldn’t answer her solicitor’s questions, not even to help secure her release, and Sean came over as a liar, controlling and unpleasant. The beginning of the book was exciting and grabbed my attention and although the middle part was a bit drawn-out the end finished with an amazing and unexpected twist that took me by surprise.

Was this review helpful?

I just have thoughts more so than a review for Date Night. Samantha Hayes. I didn't really enjoy this book at all, but thank you to Netgalley & Bookouture for the advanced copy.

Very slow read. By 68% I was ready to give up completely. Very much going over the same things again and again but with an added twist that doesn't give much away.

The book is set in the now and then but even in the now it will mention back to before and being told in present tense not past tense. It's hard to keep up.

There seems to be too many names in the book, I usually follow these quite easily but sometimes forgot who was who, i.e. Matt, Jan, Dan or Phil. Either it was because there were way too many uniteresting people in this week, or where I was finding it hard to follow the book.


"the gun dogs scampering about eagerly – running off at the slightest scent, before turning back to their masters, tails wagging, tongues lolling, silky ears flapping." Sounds like something my 9year old daughter would write"

Everything is tied up in the final epilogue, even though the twist is finally revealed, it's a bit boring to have to wait for the final chapter.... I wish I had just skipped to the epilogue from when I got bored at the start. Would of saved myself a lot of time.
Sorry but even though I stuck with it, on this occasion this writing was definitely not for me.

Was this review helpful?

Started out strong with a good premise. Jumped around in time a little too much which became confusing, but still kept me interested. A little too many side stories which really had nothing to do with the storyline & could have been left out in my opinion.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC.

What a really quick thriller, with a sad bust just ending. Samantha Hayes has a way of pulling you in and keeping you invested with her writing. I enjoyed this thriller and read it in two sittings.

Was this review helpful?

Libby finds a note on her car telling her that her husband, Sean, is having an affair. Their planned Date Night is a disaster and when they get home their ordinarily quite responsible babysitter, Sasha, is nowhere to be found and Alice, the 4 year old, is by herself.

Libby is arrested for Sasha's murder and vehemently denies any knowledge of events but does she know more than she is saying?

This is a compelling story of secrets, lies and control; juicy and well-spun. It dragged a bit in the middle but concluded spectacularly, so 4 stars.

Thank you to Samantha Hayes, Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Date Night by author Samantha Hayes is yet another great book! Such a solidly built plot as well as characters! There were parts you would assume to drag or be obvious but they really aren’t. The ending was awesome!!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?