I struggled with the writing in this one but had a feel of a more literary Liane Moriarty style 'Big little lies'. I'm saying 3 stars because I personally did not get along with the writing style but I can definitely see the appeal and the sort of customer who would love this book.

Very boring till about the 70%. You're just wondering, so what, is something gonna happen or that's all...The characters are unlikeable. But then the last 30%. Great, full of twists. Shame you have to wait that long to actually enjoy the book.

Wow! This book is so bad!

I've read a couple of other Sarah Pinborough books before and had mixed experiences but I thought I would give her one last try.

Unfortunately I think this will be the last book I read by this author.

This book was incredibly dull and very boring. It was very slow and the plot just wasn't that interesting.

The characters were all very unlikeable and were so similar it was hard to actually tell the difference between them all. Which meant that I kind of lost who was speaking and what was going on.

I really don't like domestic thrillers which just focus on rich people and their problems. It was incredibly dull and I just couldn't care for any of the characters.

The ending got really weird and far fetched, which pushed it from a two star to a one because it was trying to be something it wasn't.

For the most part I wouldn't have even said this was a thriller. It was very slow and definitely did not keep me hooked on the edge of my seat

I definitely would not recommend this book. Even for a domestic thriller, it was quite poor.

TW: gaslighting, murder and suicide

Straight off from reading the blurb I knew the characters weren't going to be 'pleasant'. High society types with huge egos and vile attitudes etc (not my kind of people) BUT I didn't realise they would be THAT unlikeable and completely unrelatable... for me this was a negative from the off, personally I HAVE to have a connection of some sort with at least one of the characters but I literally felt zero emotion at all.

The plot was good, there are quite a few twists thrown in but as soon as I felt it start to get going it seemed to peter off and never pock up pace again.

I just found the whole read kind of strange but can't quite figure out why.

I did enjoy how the author wrapped things up and pulled it all together but in all honesty I was just left feeling disappointed.

It won't put me off reading Sarah Pinborough as I've enjoyed her previous work but this was just a no no from me.

2*

Thanks to netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.

A clever, tangled story with an interesting start. Second wives, established communities and secrets were a great beginning .Younger, fresher second wives trying to compete with the established first, old school wives - who was prepared to lose, and how far were they prepared to go?
The introduction of the voodoo seemed an unnecessary addition and clouded the story rather than adding to it, and the revelation at the end seemed a rather strange one.

When Marcie met Jason Maddox, she couldn’t believe her luck. Becoming Jason’s second wife catapulted her into the elite world of high society. But underneath the polite, old money manners, she knows she’ll always be an outsider, and her hard-won life hangs by a thread. Then Jason’s widowed boss brings back a new wife from his trip to London. Young, beautiful, reckless – nobody can take their eyes off Keisha. Including Jason. Marcie refuses to be replaced so easily. People would kill for her life of luxury. What will Marcie do to keep it?

I was not expecting to like the characters in this book, the blurb prepares you for the kind of people and society this is set in so I was fully prepared. However, I did not expect them to be so unlikeable and I did not expect to have zero connection to anything. This simply had nothing in it that I liked, could get on board with and connect to. So it was off to a bad start.

Then the plot gets going and I found it okay, Pinborough throws in a few twists, some more surprising than others and I liked the direction the read was going in. Sadly, about halfway through it just runs out of steam, just as I thought it was going to get exciting, the adrenaline fades away and it was a real struggle to finish this. The plot takes on a bit of an odd direction as well, again I could not relate to it and it added to the weird vibe I already had. I did enjoy how Pinborough pulls everything together and there are little twists right to the very end, this just was not my favourite and I did not really find anything to like about it.

'Dead To Her' was a summer disappointment for me in that it was not an enthralling, intoxicating thriller and instead took on a bit of a weird direction.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for an advance copy.

It’s difficult to review this book without giving anything away but what I will say is when you pick up this book you are taken on quite a twisty journey. In this book we meet Marcie who is married to Jason. Marcie likes her life and is determined to keep things as they are. Unfortunately for her Jason’s boss brings his new wife Keisha into their social group and things drastically change.

There is a steamy side to this story as we delve into the lives of these characters. Along with secrets and lies placed to keep the drama levels high. There were some good moments throughout but not really enough to keep my attention completely focused. The story worked well in some parts and to be honest the ending was worth reading through to the end. Unfortunately Dead to Her wasn’t quite for me. I liked it but I guess I didn’t love it. If you like a story that is filled with unlikeable characters, a slow burn plot and secrets then this book could definitely be for you though.

For the life of me I don't know what it was that compelled me to pick this book up. Perhaps the fact that I loved Behind Her Eyes by the same author? Other than that, the plot of this book wasn't something I'd typically go for and now I can see exactly why. The word that springs to mind to easily summarise the whole book is vapid.

The characters were just so... ugh. Artificial and truly vile examples of human beings with absolutely no redeeming qualities. Even if that was what the author intended, I despised all of them and couldn't even enjoy the story objectively because they infuriated me.

The plot... I don't even know what the plot was, to be truthful. It got very convoluted in the last 30% of the book in particular. I'm a big lover of a weird and ridiculous plot twist, but this really just didn't hit the spot for me. The first half of this book left me somewhat hopeful and I was interested enough to continue, but it just lost me after that.

I've heard better things about Cross Her Heart so maybe I'll give that one a go once the dust has settled from the disappointment of this one.

Big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy!

This book wasn't really for me. I spent the first quarter of the book waiting for something to happen, so to stay it is a slow start is an understatement. Then the rest of the book I was a bit, meh. Is this it? I wasn't always waiting to find out what happened next, it just felt like a bit of a slog. I wanted to like it, to engage, to like the characters. Although once I realised the they're all awful and there was no "good" character, I liked them all a little more. Having read both of Sarah Pinborough's previous books it's obvious she likes the supernatural. I loved the details that I learned about voodoo from this.

There were parts of the book I did like, as always with Sarah Pinborough she does a great job of bringing characters to life. The way it all came together at the end was clever, but there was nothing at all that didn't surprise me. Which is what I like best in a thriller. It was an OK read, but it wasn't something I'll be raving about sadly.

I was disappointed in this book as I found it a little too smutty for my tastes. I disliked the characters a lot which was unfortunate as the story was quite good. The women were rich and spoilt and seemed to do exactly what they liked and to whoever they wanted and very frequently, they seemed to have very little care for each other and just set out to destroy each other.
It’s a shame as I have enjoyed Sarah Pinsborough’s books in the past but, this one didn’t set me on fire.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, although I did find it a bit bizarre. It was a cleverly written thriller about a bunch of elite people who are based in Savannah. The two main characters are called Marcie and Keisha and the story follows both of them on their adventures within different families. They are quite complex characters, with both of them having a similar past. In the book there is a lot of sex, secrets, voodoo, cheating, lying, drug and alcohol taking and murder.

Although I did enjoy this book, I will be honest and say that I did prefer Sarah's other book 'Behind Her Eyes'.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a tedious over long book. I found I didn't care about the characters ar all. The voodoo mumbo jumbo was just too rediculous.

A really good thriller full of twists and turns! Although I found Dead to Her a bit slow to get going the first half set the scene in the Savannah community for what was to follow. By the the third of the book I couldn’t put it down. A strong 3.5 stars.

I am a big fan of Behind Her Eyes and it was one of my favourite reads of last year, I also quite enjoyed Cross her Heart, although not as much. Dead to Her is the worst so far.

I just couldn't enjoy the plot, everything seemed jumbled and unbeleiveable - without adding too many spoilers, the whole rich golf club set, combined with weird voodoo and secret lesbianism was enough to get your head round without the addition of a historical murder and then an attempted murder on one of the main players.

I didn't see the ending of the book coming, and it was a surprise twist, but I wonder if it was a plausible one? Behind Her Eyes was shocking and totally unfeasible, it was worked up to in such a cliff hanger, edge of your seat way the book left you thinking over the ending for days. This didn't end like that, I was a bit like "hmmm...ok doesn't seem like that would ever happen" and had I had unanswered questions for many of the characters that just hadn't been addressed. The ending seemed too abrupt.

I will say though, as usual Pinborough has great writing style, fast paced punchy and it does draw you in. I was keen until the very last page to find out exactly what had happened, I just felt let down by the ending.

Thanks for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review Netgalley.

I couldn’t put this book down! It was the perfect holiday read - sultry Savannah weather, wealthy unscrupulous characters and a young second wife with a troubled past trying to fit in. I enjoyed all the secrets and lies and never knew who to trust. The theme of black magic was interesting and made the book a bit different. I had no trouble turning the pages as the writing style just swept me along. Great read!

I am not sure how to even describe this book!
It has everything from Romance, to deception and lies, to attempted murder and steamy affairs.
It was literally a rollercoaster of a book with lots of Twists and turns, which genuinely had me doubting each and every character at some point throughout the book.
Fantastic book - well worth a read.
Thankyou to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Dark and sultry, with the tension ramped up until the very end, I loved the way this book unravelled slowly and got more and more intriguing.

3 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Behind her eyes will forever be one of the most shocking and amazing thrillers I’ve ever read. I was more than excited to receive this.

I guess this is my fault for having such high expectations coming from behind her eyes but I couldn’t help it. I saw other people’s reviews on there being a twist and I let my mind wonder to what weird and out there ending it would be.

The reveals in this were anticlimactic in my opinion. All of these characters are not likeable which doesn’t usually bother me however they don’t have anything going for them. Normally an unlikeable character has an entertaining personality but these did not. Also the ‘always a cheater’ sort of backstory was getting repetitive. Characters always either acting like they are cheating or actually cheating was getting boring.

Shocked I wasn’t in love with this but will still read Sarah’s work as her writing style doesn’t keep me turning the page.

Dead To Her by Sarah Pinborough is a thoroughly entertaining story. It covers so many themes, love, jealousy, revenge, prestige, wealth and romance to name a few.
I have not read any of Sarah Pinborough's work previous to this, but I now know this matter needs rectifying double quick!
The story introduces us to Marcie Maddox,a woman living in opulence, with luxury yachts, absolutely stunning mansions and the fancy country clubs to hand in Savannah, Georgia. She is the second wife of Jason and finding it hard to keep his attention. This gets even worse when William Radford IV, his boss returns with a new wife, Kaisha. It really isn't too much time before Jason and Keisha are attracted to each other and we find Marcie fighting for her place .We are treated to an absolute blistering ride alongside the rich and famous of Savannah.
This is a book were it is very hard to find a likeable character but, boy, I enjoyed it and it makes its mark. Both Marcia and Keisha are aware that being a second wife means they can't put a foot wrong and neither of them are willing to relinquish the life.They are both from the wrong side of the tracks and realise how easy it is to go back there. we see Marcie uses everything in her power, including a little voodoo in order to keep her place in society, it is that important.
An brilliantly well plotted story, with well developed characters showing exactly what women will do in desperation. I was loving the Savannah life that's for sure! The world building was fabulous! Not keen on the machinations of it though.Loved the suspense throughout,did keep me wondering. All in all a really good read!
Thanks to Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour and Harper Collins and netgalley for the copy of the book.

Review will appear a link below on Fri 14th Aug

Today is the final day of the blog tour to celebrate the publication of Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough, so how fitting it is that for the last few weeks our weather her has been almost as sultry as the privileged world depicted in the book.

Set in the US city of Savannah, Dead to Her gives us an old-money world in which second wife Marcie Maddox has managed to immerse herself. But can this world accommodate another second wife when young, beautiful and haunted Keisha enters the picture?

I was incredibly impressed with this book, which is a properly immersive thriller, using a combination of superstition, the stifling weather of a hot, Southern summer and the equally stifling world of money and oneupmanship that exists among the so-called elites of the world.

Sarah Pinborough seems to use the Savannah heat almost like in a Tennessee Williams play, giving the impression that had Keisha arrived in the society circle at some other time of year, events might not have played out as they did. She also uses superstition and voodoo to add menace to the story, and this works very well. As a confirmed old cynic, I was impressed that it didn’t matter if I believed in those things, I just had to believe that Keisha believed them and, as the story progressed, these threads of voodoo and old Southern magic are cleverly added to the mix.

This is one of those books where it’s really not clear who to root for. All of the main characters have considerably more bad points than good – except, perhaps Keisha who has clearly married for money, but comes from a bad domestic background – and there is a certain satisfaction to the ending, even more so after the epilogue, as you realise that all those misdeeds will be paid for in full. It’s a clever way to wrap things up while still leaving the when, where, how to your imagination.

Having now read this, I’ve bumped Behind Her Eyes and Cross Her Heart up my reading list – definitely excited to read what comes next…