A dark workplace thriller that follows the lives of Katherine Ross, a 41 yr old magazine editor and her young intern Lily (coincidentally the niece of the new CEO). Lily sets out to bring Katherine's world crashing down. 

Both Katherine and Lily are thoroughly unlikeable characters to the extent that I couldn't find myself caring who had the upper hand in their destructive, obsessive relationship. Katherine's behaviour and attitudes were like someone from a bygone era, and hard to reconcile with someone in their early 40s. The overuse of the derogatory term snowflake made me bristle repeatedly - I presume this was the point. 

It was essential to suspend your disbelief at key points; in what real world setting would you ever suggest a senior staff member is trained by your intern? Likewise, what workplace leader would opt for a spa & bar day when expected to be on a training day!? 

Getting past the above, I did however find the story an enticing page turner and it was genuinely entertaining. I dont think the story will last long in my memory but it did entertain.

Precious You, is a ominous and sinister mix of workplace noir and psychological suspense and is Helen Monks Takhar's daring début.

Flagging editor Katherine Ross, is concerned when Lily Lunt, a twenty-four-year-old, privileged, politically correct, millennial is hired as an intern at Leadership magazine, where Katherine is editor in chief. To Katherine, Lily represents everything she is not. Lily is enterprising, advantaged and she has a social media obsession Katherine cannot comprehend. Katherine is envious of Lily’s youth and she fixates on the younger woman’s beauty. As complex rivalry escalates between them dark secrets as well as sinister plans begin to emerge, and both women are not who they give the impression of being. As desperation grips them, the question remains as to which one might triumph over the other.

Structured using alternating points of view, the narration is divided equally between Katherine and Lily. The two women are like chalk and cheese but as the story progressed, their shared experiences and thought processes gradually allowed me to recognise they were not that dissimilar. The narration was intensive and I loved that all of their faults, as well as their confidence levels and self-doubt were on view. I really wasn’t sure if I was team Katherine or Lily as both women were completely intolerable and obnoxious, though for me this served to delightfully enhance the story.

Precious You is a distinctive and original thriller with plenty of grit to keep those who appreciate bleaker storylines captivated. It is a deliciously dark read and I particularly liked that Helen Monks Takhar gave me plenty of fodder including political and topical issues, power and prestige to ruminate over whilst also featuring a plethora of twists, turns and misdirection to keep me flipping the pages. Precious You is a pertinent novel that fishes in the quagmire of a working relationship marred by a generational divide, rivalry, obsession, evil, deceit, revenge, and jealousy.

Helen Monks Takhar really knows how to create maximum uneasiness and apprehension. Her writing was assured, the tension was taut throughout, and the pace never flagged at all. A fantastic read from a brilliant author I'm delighted to have discovered.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request, from HQ via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion. Thank you also to Pigeonhole and Helen Monks Takhar for the opportunity to read this book!

Set in the world of magazine publishing, Precious You is a modern-day tale of intrigue and includes all the worst parts of office life. 
There's nothing I love more than finding a new writer to add to my list. The writing style is interestingly different here, in a good way. The story of two diametrically-opposite characters, in age, experience and values, clashing in the workplace is handled with aplomb. The twist unexpected and gasp-worthy.

Just wow! If you are looking for a book that leaves you guessing until the last page then this is it!

This is a dark tale into intern Lily’s dark fascination with her new boss Katherine, but is all as it seems?

The characters in this book are well rounded and believable and at times you want to hate both of them but can’t quite manage it.

This book had me furiously turning the pages, wanting me to know what happens and the ending did not disappoint. All in all a great, suspenseful read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Helen Monks Takhar and HQ for my arc of Precious You in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis: An obsessive power struggle between a magazine editor and her 'millennial intern'. For Katherine Ross, editor of Trade magazine: Leadership, she's got to where she is today through true grit and hard work. She sees millennials like new intern Lily Lunt as soft, overly emotional, easily offended and way too politically correct. For Lily, Katherine is a has been, clueless, old fashioned, still thinking she's 'down with the kids'. As Lily and Katherine are drawn towards each other more and more Katherine begins to suspect Lily of planning to bring down and even take over her life. Is Katherine simply paranoid? Jealous of Lily's youth and beauty or does Lily genuinely have nefarious plans for Katherine? 

Wow! That was a whirlwind! One of those tense gripping thrillers that are addictive to read while leaving a nasty taste in your mouth at the evil of the characters! Precious You stands out as one of those page turners that feel impossible to put down, those ones where you can see the train coming off the track and feel like screaming at the characters to get out, get away, runnnnnn! 

Lily and Katherine were both fantastic characters and the wonderful writing allowed you to at times hate and sympathise with both of them. Katherine was very set in her ways, living in a world which has left her 'past it' and while you could disagree with some of her behaviours she was definitely the character who evokes the most sympathy. Lily meanwhile came across vindictive, patronising and sneaky. But don't set your heart on your opinions of the characters because boy oh boy are there some twists! 
Precious You Is one of the best books I've read in a while. I'd recommend for fans of Mark Edwards, Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen, and Kathryn Croft.

I can't say I liked this book because it is dark, disturbing and twisted. It is so much more than a power struggle between two women - Katherine, past her prime as the lead journalist of a magazine and Lily looking to bring the magazine into the 21st century. Neither of these characters are good people - they are both the result of their upbringing and use that as an excuse to use up and spit out people as they climb their ladders to adulthood and success. They both leave a bad taste in the mouth where there is little room for sympathy and definitely much to dislike.
Somewhere in the middle there is a sound message about mental health problems and how they should be addressed and acknowledged in today's society.
A well written, and compulsive debut!
Many thanks to Netgalley/Helen Monks Takhar/HQ for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sorry this book was not for me. I could not get into the story at all. I did not feel any warmth or empathy towards the characters and struggled to keep reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is a difficult book to review... original and tense on one hand, a bit far fetched and full of horrid characters on the other.

I thoroughly enjoyed trying to figure out why Lily (one of our narrators, the 20 something intern) was so obsessed with destroying Katherine's life (our other narrator, a 40 something journalist). However, I felt there was too much emphasis on the aggravation between the two being purely down to their generational stereotypes. Lily hates the supposed privilege of women Katherine's age and Katherine hates the political correctness of Lily's generation. Katherine is also deeply envious of Lily's youth and is having a mid-life crisis/mental breakdown. I didn't like how often Katherine was so vehemently against 'snowflakes' and she came across as so harsh and oppressive of a young woman who she really should have mentored and nurtured. It's not even that Lily has forced Katherine to be an enemy rather than a friend, because Katherine had this attitude to begin with. Lily, in turn, is a horrible woman and has so many issues I wouldn't know where to begin.

What began as an intriguing plot (with this inter-generational hatred ruining it slightly) slowly started to feel more and more implausible. Katherine's actions towards the end don't tie in with how she felt about certain things or people throughout. Sometimes I wanted to scream at her for something she did, or did not, do.

There was a great twist - I was so focused on the dynamic that I didn't think too deeply about motivations. The writing is pacey and good quality.

Real mixed feelings but if you can deal with unlikable characters, who are perfect stereotypes, and some out there events then you'll love it.

I read this book via Pigeonhole over a nine day period. I felt as if I was the wrong age group reading this storyline and it just didn’t resonate with me. Although I am sure there will be other readers who thoroughly enjoy reading this book, Precious You by Helen Monks Takhar.
With thanks to Pigeonhole, Netgalley and the publishers for the read of the book.

My thanks to HQ for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Precious You’ by Helen Monks Takhar in exchange for an honest review. It is available now as ebook and audiobook with its hardback edition released on 23 July. 

Thank you also to The Pigeonhole for hosting a group read with HQ and Helen. It was a lot of fun commenting with my fellow pigeons on our daily chapters. 

“She’s got your job. She wants your life…” - cover tag line.

‘Precious You’ is about toxic female rivalry. It is dark, twisted and a compulsive read. 

Forty-one year old magazine editor, Katherine Ross, is about to meet her magazine’s new owner, Gemma Lunt. At the same time she is introduced to her new intern - the young, beautiful and confident Lily. Katherine had (seemingly) coincidentally shared a taxi with Lily that morning and already branded her as a  ‘snowflake’. Yet oops turns out Lily is the niece of Gemma. It’s going to prove awkward being mean to the new girl. That doesn’t stop Katherine though. 

Fairly quickly an obsessive power struggle develops between Katherine and Lily. Gen X vs Millennial. Katherine and Lily narrate their own chapters and drop hints of dark secrets in their pasts.

I have a bit of an ambivalent relationship with this novel. It is certainly readable though I found every character despicable. Iain, Katherine’s partner, was extra vile. Still there is something fun about reading a novel where you are screaming at its characters. 

Without spoilers I did feel that Helen Monks Takhar did bring her various threads together by the final pages. In her Author’s Note she details why she decided to highlight this generation gap. As those entering mid-life mock Millennials as “thin-skinned, avocadomunching, precious ‘Snowflakes’. Yesterday’s ravers mock today’s young adults for being ‘woke’, for their ‘triggers’, ‘safe spaces’ and sobriety.” In the other direction anyone of a certain age is considered washed up and irrelevant.

The novel opens with the official dictionary definition of the Snowflake Generation and some relevant quotes about the same. 

In my eARC there is blank space at the end marked ‘Reading Group’. I would expect that this would make for a fun reading group selection, entertaining and full of characters that you can love to hate as well as highlighting social issues for discussion.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This one wasn't for me I'm afraid. I am thinking I don't fall into the age bracket the author was aiming this story to. None of the age issues explored have ever affected me. The 2 main characters had no redeeming features and to be honest were both downright vile - I had very little interest in what happened to them. I preservered and finished the book - and the last couple of chapters did bring the story together - but it was a struggle at times.

I have to say that this book had two of  the most unlikeable characters I've come across in quite some time. I couldn't engage with either of them and for that reason did not really enjoy the book. The plot was dark and twisted with some truly vile moments.  Not for me, sorry.

Precious You is described as a thriller about Lily, an intern at Katherines place of work (magazine publishing) who is a relative of the boss, a millennial and is charged with modernising the brand.
Both characters have secrets and hidden agenda’s causing a power play and is told from the point of view of both Lily and Katherine.
I struggled with this book. For me there felt like too much filler and not enough nitty gritty and as a result the book could have been much shorter than its 400 pages. 
Both characters were dislikable, whether that was the authors intention or not I don’t know but it meant that I didn’t care who came out on top and in the end what each of them was hiding. 
I wanted to like this book but I struggled to finish it and in finishing it was left not caring how it ended. 

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly this book wasn’t for me I could not finish so I won’t be reviewing on goodreads or amazon as I feel that’s unfair I will leave neutral review here

If you want a book that will keep you on your toes until the final page then look no further...

If you want a book that makes you question everything you hear about both main characters almost the whole time then look no further...

If you want a book that will astound you continually and make you think wow by the end, then look no further. ..

If you want a book that features a character in her 40s, who is really anti millennial snowflakes then look no further.....

If you want a book that takes on all sorts of issues head on, in a clear way then this is for you...

And finally if you just want an all around fabulous book that will get under your skin then without a doubt this is the book for you....

Precious You is one spectacularly impressive debut novel that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.  I really can't say much more for fear of giving spoilers, but I can stay the book is written from two viewpoints, both really strong female characters who have their determination and cunning in common.   There are many layers to both of them and it was fascinating to see how the secrets they are hiding are revealed slowly. 

Basically I was incredibly impressed by this and think you should if you like the sound of it, give it a go and go in as blank as me to it, so it can surprise you fully! 

Thank you to HQ and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

According to its description on Amazon, Precious You 'delivers an unsettling, provocative take on the contemporary workplace, turning the professional roles women play on their heads in a razor-sharp, revenge-driven thriller for our age.'

This may be true to an extent; the novel certainly pits women against women. Katherine Ross is selfish, bitter, and resentful of her younger colleague. Lily is no saint either; she behaves in deliberately provocative, entitled, and disrespectful ways towards Katherine. If you like dislikable characters, you may love this book.

This workplace conflict - and the themes of resentment, revenge, and a generational divide - then continues outside the workplace, as Lily worms her way deeper and deeper into Katherine's relationships and social life. 

However, despite this plot, I disagree with the statement that Precious You turns anything on its head and provides a 'provocative take'. On the contrary, it, in my opinion, merely perpetuates the notion that women are their own worst enemies. The book does not challenge this notion, nor does it offer any solution - by the end, Lily has destroyed Katherine's life and Katherine resents her for it.*

* I don't believe this is not a spoiler; Precious You is written in retrospect which means we already know the ending when the book starts, and simply have to watch events unfold.

In short, I wanted to like Precious You, but I simply couldn't see what point the author was trying to make and, for me, it missed the mark.

Precious You by Helen Monks Takhar is set against the backdrop of magazine publishing. We have Katherine Ross an established editor and Lily blunt an intern in her charge or charged with bringing Katherine Ross into the modern age. The clash of the millennial and the baby boomer produced friction from the start. As the story progresses we learn that both ladies have dark secrets that threaten to derail their futures as they struggle to outdo each other. This book is a psychological thriller but the various twists take this debut novel to a different level of suspense that makes it hard to put down. Katherine Ross is typical of the generation piqued by the fact that what she has worked hard for seem to come easy to Lily blunt, the millennial, with an attitude of entitlement. The book is engaging from start to finish and can be compared to a game of chess where either Katherine's or Lily's every move produces an advantageous/disadvantageous outcome. Reading clubs and individuals will enjoy reading and discussing this book due to the many issues that are tackled.

In this dark and dangerous psychological thriller, Katherine Ross is a fiesty magazine editor (albeit for a niche trade mag, Leadership) who one day finds her job is on the line due to new magazine owners wanting fresh new blood at the helm to spice things up. This is where Lily comes in. She may only be the intern, but she is well connected and an overly confident millennial who has a not-too-subtle obsession with Katherine. But why does she?

This book is a power-play between Katherine and Lily and I zipped through the fast-paced plot. Often feeling sorry for Katherine as Lily gaslights her and whips things out of her control. Not that Katherine is a saint, as we soon discover. Lily wants everything Katherine has and she will stop at nothing to get it.

I was really enjoying pinging between Lily and Katherine's chapters, but just as the plot reached its climax and you're all amped up for the twist / reveal / great reason we've been taken on this narrative journey, it fell a little flat for me. I wanted more from the ending and from Lily's reasoning, so was left feeling a little unsatisfied by its conclusion.

I am not sure what to say about this.  I found it rather unsettling and it was written about two rather horrible characters.  I did not find that I could enjoy the story in any way, I finished it, but more to try to begin to find out what exactly was going on, to find at the end that it was a bit silly.  Fiendish plots to create an unstable life for a magazine editor, by a young girl.  I did not find it entertaining, sorry

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

If you want some pure escapism in your nightly read, then look no further than 'Precious You'. This book is undoubtedly one guilty pleasure you won't want to miss. Admittedly, I loved it an devoured it in one fevered sitting. It is true that the storyline is a little OTT at times, particularly in its representations of generational conflict between Gen-X's and Millennials, it does hold a kernel of truth to it, particularly in light of the current coronavirus crisis. The idea that previous generations not only had it better, but are now simultaneously less useful, out-dated in their views and unable to grasp the nettle of 21st Century life and living, has been exacerbated in debates about how we return to a 'new normal', post-Covid-19.  The height of intergeneration conflict is now, and this novel captures the essence of the zeitgeist which pitches generation against generation. There is an element of caricature here, too, in the interactions of the main characters, Lily and Katherine, a Millennial and Gen-X, but in a wry and slightly postmodern, ironic way. But I doubt the novel would have been as effective and entertaining without this certain satiric element. As a bang-up-to-date, social realist, yet tongue-in-cheek postmodernist thriller, Helen Monks Takhar has proved masterful in her unerring eye for what is topical and current in the distorted, conflict infused world of social media. Lest I forget, 'Precious You' is also a highly addictive and compelling read that grabs you by the throat and simply won't let go. I devoured every page in one sitting. Fiendishly clever and deliciously wicked - a must-read for 2020.