This was a fascinating psychological thriller. Lots of twists and turns and revelation of the unexpected. Such a true to life story. Some good characters, who could be people you know.

Oh my gosh, THIS BOOK! It is honestly amazing. It's attention-grabbing, will pique your curiosity, and definitely immerse you into a twisted, strange story. It's somewhat a reflection of real-life, as Monks Takhar explains in the author's note. Written from a place of reflection, 'Precious You' is certainly a must-read for everyone. 

The main characters, Katherine and Lily, are multi-faceted and wonderfully crafted. Their differences (generation, views on the world, etc.) and similarities (personality, life experiences, etc.) are highlighted perfectly. Their arcs throughout the novel are wild and wonderous. 

Despite being a bit of a slow-starter, 'Precious You' had me hooked. If you don't read it this summer, you're missing out.

Many thanks to the author, HQ and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I found this a difficult book to get into. I found the writing style good, but found that the main character Kathy was unlikeable and although she was quoted as being 40 the author was writing about her as if she were well past it career wise. I liked the character of her partner Iain good at first, but felt he became weaker and the situation that arose with Kathy’s younger nemesis Lily was somewhat unbelievable.
I liked the twist at the end, however, but I felt that this was a little rushed and could have been played out more earlier in the book.

I didn’t like this book it wasn’t for me there was too much detail  instead of getting on with the story, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it and it was boring.

I thought this would be an easy read and it was insofar as the pages keep turning but it blows out of the water the relationship within business (and life) of the currently middle aged and the new millennial "snowflake" and really makes you think about both ends of the spectrum.
A battle of wills between Katherine, middle aged, partnered off and relatively stable and her "snowflake" intern Lily who we find out has a secret agenda early on as she sets out to destroy Katherine. 
What remains unclear for a good chunk of the story is why.
meanwhile boardroom and office battles ensue and Lily effectively wraps Katherine around her little finger all the while taking her part piece by piece both professionally and personally.
There is some misdirection that I totally followed down the wrong assumptive path and the ending is just excellent!
Thoroughly recommended read for all ages to perhaps open our eyes to other peoples perspectives and help break down the barriers that society builds around age and beliefs.

Forty-one year old Katherine Ross, editor of Leadership magazine, prides herself on her toughness - even if she's had a bit of a mental health wobble recently, and is haunted by dreams of her childhood.

New intern Lily Lunt is the type of person she most despises - a "soft, entitled millennial snowflake" prone to taking offence at everything - oh, and she's the new owner's niece. Lily has her own agenda, though. She has Katherine in her sights, and safe to say it's not going to end well. Nevertheless, there's something fascinating about her and Katherine can't help but be drawn in.

The story is narrated alternately by Katherine and Lily. Katherine is struggling with ageing and her own perceived loss of attractiveness and relevance - "I desperately wanted to collapse the years between someone like you and someone like me". You're only forty-one, Katherine, get over yourself. Lily, well, she's not all she appears.

To say both these women are toxic is an understatement, but it's nevertheless possible to feel sympathy at times. It's hard not to empathise with someone whose workplace has been invaded by a much younger person who's deemed by all to be better than you at everything about the job you've been doing for twenty years. Plus, everyone loves her. Actually, come to think of it I didn't really feel any sympathy for Lily - she's pretty awful. But equally, any I felt for Katherine was regularly kicked from under me. She sees Lily as entitled, but Katherine is no less so, and neither shows a speck of self-awareness.

Despite the workplace setting, the cast of characters is pretty small - Katherine, Lily, Asif and new owner Gemma seem to be the only people ever mentioned as working at Leadership, and I think the only other major character is Katherine's long term partner Iain. It makes for quite an intense and almost claustrophobic feel.

It took me a while to get into, but once I did I was riveted. Precious You is a compelling and at times horrifying exploration of what used to be called the generation gap, women's often needlessly damaging rivalries in and out of the workplace, obsession and revenge. It maybe takes a few too many shocking twists and turns towards the end, but it's an enthralling read.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I could not get into this book. The description sounded really good but about 12% in I just gave up. Nothing I read had any interest to me.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.  This is not my usual genre, I’m more of a crime/thriller reader therefore am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This one was not for me, after reading the first 20 pages, etc. Thank you for allowing me access even though it wasn't to my taste.

Where do i start.  what a read, a spellbinding book that keeps you turning the page....  i just couldn't put this down, a psychological thriller full of twists and turns.....
If you have ever experienced some form of revenge  from another then treble it and take it beyond the boundaries of thought then this is the book 

Kathrine and Lily battle this out in a way that makes you wonder how far somebody would go......... two damaged souls and two very different people, but not that different, are the basis of the book.....this is something that i would compare to Gone Girl and Girl on the Train....a ride of your life with this as it takes you into some dark places.  But also to some places somewhere in there,  brings a feeling like this is like somebody i have met, the one that was jealous of you or the one that wanted to oust you out of the top ten friends list...............

Kathrine's long standing partner Iain  makes you wonder if he was controlled to be the puppet and to keep him in place or was he just doing what he wanted to do? He is  manipulated from one and then the other as he thinks he is starting to be himself again.   

Work and power go hand in hand, as there is always somebody ready to take your place, the subtle discrepancies, and the malleable way that lily can twist somebody around her finger is brilliant. The stress to be on top of the game shows and how easy it is to fall from favour 
  
The ending was a great twist and i loved the book from beginning to end....... If this isn't a number one best seller then i would be very surprised,  but for me this is what a good book has for it to succeed......so highly recommended

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and Netgalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for a unbiased review of these works.

Review will be on my blog soon!
Join me at :- https://booksandemma.wixsite.com/blog

A brilliantly creepy psychological read which I did not want to put down. What made this stand out, was that Katherine was aware very quickly that Lily was a dangerous individual. The suspense came from trying to second guess whether she would succeed in outwitting her or not. Well worth reading.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I’ve heard lots of positive things about Precious You, and was drawn to the premise - I’m absolutely hooked whenever I hear about psychological thrillers about toxic female characters, and this one completely knocked me over. A gripping read, with a fresh and compelling voice. 
This follows Katherine Ross, a 41-year old editor at Leadership magazine, which has been brought by a new boss. Katherine is grateful she even has her job, but resentful about new young interns buzzing around and slightly threatened that her time may be nearly over. One morning she meets Lily, an intern at Leadership, but also the boss’s niece. Lily is 23-year old, beautiful and ambitious, everything Katherine once was...so begins a complicated relationship between the two women, and is it Katherine’s paranoia or Lily morphing into Katherine and stealing her life...
This was a compelling read. I couldn’t put it down. I loved the voices of both characters. What made this such a complex, gripping read was how realistic and justified the interiority of both characters’ narration was. Katherine and Lily are equally fleshed out, flawed yet relatable. Katherine’s POV is in second person; she talks to Lily in past tense with the foreshadowing that something awful has happened, which creates a suspenseful, ominous and a somewhat claustrophobic mood. I raced through this, unable to put it down. My only minor gripe was that last 20% had far too many twists and reveals that were familiar, predictable and a bit cliched. On the whole this is a compelling and intense read you won’t be able to put down with two complicated, complex and flawed women, prose that is razor sharp and a well-weaved plot. 4.5/5

Precious you focuses on Katherine and Lily. Katherine has been an editor for a long time but has recently been off. When she returns to work she find that the management has changed. Not only is she struggling with the new management she finds herself entangled in a game of power with Lily, the new intern that seems to always be one step ahead of her. 

This novel was a really interesting read, not only because of the fantastic plot twist that seemed so effortlessly but perfectly written but also because it provides an interesting perspective of feminism, generation differences and also workplace dynamics. 

I thoroughly enjoy their cat and mouse games and it kept me on the edge, always trying to figure out who would get the advantage and what plots were they going to create next. 
There were parts that I found a bit too far fetched but overall I quite enjoyed the plot. 

I really enjoyed to see such strong lead characters and my favourite parts were probably the diary entries from Lily as it turned the reading more intriguing and intimate. 

I was impressed to find out this is a debut novel and can’t wait to see what this amazing author does

Thanks to Helen Monks Takhar, HQ and Netgalley. 
I found this a difficult read. Kathy sounded like she was pushing sixty, not forty one. I regret to say I found her cliched and a bit of a kickback to the seventies. I worked for a newspaper group years ago and I encountered women like her, but surely forty isn't old? These days women like her are in their prime and give millenials a run for their money. Also why didnt she cotton on to what was happening? She should have kicked her perceived nemisis into touch. Not sure on this one.

When I read the blurb about this book at first I wasn’t sure, but after the first paragraph I was completely hooked and before I knew it I had finished this amazing story!!

Katherine is 41, she is an Editor for the magazine “Leadership”. After having time off for depression, going back to work is stressful enough, but added to that the magazine has a new owner who wants to modernise.

Lily’s Aunt Gemma has bought the magazine. Lily is pretty, ambitious, confident and YOUNG!! She soon muscles in with her wonderful fresh ideas, while Katherine is failing to impress Gemma. 

Without giving too much away!!Lily plays cat and mouse with Katherine, one minute wanting to be her friend the next stabbing her in the back, befriending and flirting with Katherine’s partner Iain. Why does Lily want to destroy Katherine’s life.

This was an amazing book to read. I was so angry at one point that I nearly threw my beloved kindle out the window!! This is a sure sign that a story has connected with you emotionally!!

A must read book. I would have given it all the stars in the sky!! 

Excuse me while I have a lie down in a dark room so I can process what I have just read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

I gave up on this book.  It was slow moving, cliche characters. A great idea from the author.  But for me, sadly it didn't work.

What a chilling read!! Precious You is an exploration of attitudes towards the Snowflake generation and the perceived invisibility of the older woman, in the workplace and society in general. Through Katherine and Lily’s story, women are seen as manipulative, devious, ruthless and revengeful and I felt a rollercoaster of emotions reading this. The toxicity between these two women is off the scale and whilst this is a piece of fiction it also made me feel ashamed to be female, if this is to perceived as a true representation of how some women treat each other. ( Lets be honest, it probably is!). Katherine is the older of the two, editor of a magazine that has recently been saved from going under by new owner Gemma Lunt. She is immediately portrayed as a woman struggling with her mental health but also keen to regain her status amongst fellow colleagues and interns. Lily, Gemma’s niece is the ‘snowflake’ woman, beautiful, clever and most importantly young and visible with all the best years still in front of her. Without divulging much more of this tense and gripping storyline, it’s obvious these two women’s lives are going to become inextricably linked when it transpires Lily is the new recruit at Katherine’s magazine.
What follows is frankly shocking, with these two women caught in a complicated and sophisticated game of cat and mouse. My feelings towards Katherine seesawed constantly, at first feeling empathy for a woman clearly lost amongst these bright new things,unsure of her place in the world and jealous too of Lily and all she represents. But then she shows her true colours in the way she treats her interns and her appalling sense of entitlement. The further into the narrative you go the more unstable she becomes due to Lily’s underhand and manipulative actions. Katherine herself is caught between conflicting emotions towards Lily, wanting to befriend her yet expose her for the conniving woman she really is. Living life like this, constantly on alert and having to watch your back is what adds to the horrifying yet compelling nature of this thriller. Not once did I like Lily (how could you??) despite the fact the inference of a troubled childhood is there at the beginning. She has honed the art of manipulation and deviousness perfectly over the years and is single minded in her one goal to ruin Katherine’s personal and professional life. Nothing is off limits, including Katherine’s partner Iain, and although it pains me to say it you do have to admire her ruthlessness. 
I was glued to this, fascinated but at the same time appalled by the behaviour of these women. I didn’t much care for Iain and Katherine’s open relationship either as that too feels toxic and neither of them are happy;he is bottling alcoholism and unemployed and they are damaging each other. The big question is why does Lily want to destroy Katherine and who exactly is the cat and who the mouse??
Overall I found this to be an addictive read with shocking twists that are clever if not slightly complicated and once they start coming they come thick and fast. I can guarantee if you love dark,twisted characters you will enjoy this debut thriller.
Highly recommend and my thanks to the publisher HQ and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I had mixed feelings throughout reading this book but it was only when I finished it that I sat back and realised how much I had enjoyed it. You won't find a single character to like in this story but that just didn't bother me at all. The deep dives into magazine editor Katherine and her intern Lily were completely fascinating although I would have been interested to have more flashbacks from Lily's perspective. I did guess a couple of the twists (and quite a lot was revealed pretty early on in the book anyway) but there were others I didn't see coming but that completely what I had assumed would happen on its head. Katherine's constant bashing of 'snowflakes' gets a little dull after a while (and I find it difficult to believe anyone actually thinks like that) but the story did present a really interesting dialogue regarding women of different generations and I really enjoyed the authors note at the end of the book on the subject. While parts of the plot felt very far-fetched and even a little unlikely at times, the book is written incredibly well, almost poetically at times yet it still felt like a really easy read to fly through.

'Precious You' is an engrossing and compelling read. Right from the beginning we have a glimpse of the professional and personal downfall of Katherine and then we embark on the story of how it all came about. There are two first person narrators, the 41 year old, force of nature, Kathryn, whose viewpoint predominates and the younger, yet equally hard-headed intern, Lily.

At first, I thought the book was going to follow the pattern of an embittered or vengeaful character, set on destroying and usurping the life of some-one more successful. However, it is more complex than that and the methods Lily uses to carry out her plan make compulsive reading. On several occassions I thought that I had worked out the twist but I was wrong and the author kept moving along the plot in ways that I wasn't expecting, which I liked.

There were moments in the book when I cringed and felt embarrassed or uncomfortable for Kathryn and another, near the end involving Iain (I don't want to give spoilers) when I recoiled, so it's a positive sign when a writer is able to elicit those feelings in a reader.

A recurring theme in the story is the conflict between the old and the new guard, with regards to women and their careers. Kathryn's behaviour reminded me of a male stereotype of the pre 'Me Too' era but Lily is no innocent ingénue, indeed she has self-confidence beyond her years. Helen Monks Takhar indicates in her author's note at the end, that women should be supportive of each other, not destructive and that the 'Snowflake' generation should be valued more highly. I personally found that this message was lost slightly in the story, however, due to the main characters being so nasty. I appreciate they were both damaged as a result of past experiences and poor upbringing but I did not warm to or empathise with either of them. I thought that the destructive relationship between Kathryn and Iain was portrayed in an authentic manner but I wasn't always convinced that Kathryn was the sort of woman who would have been deceived by some of Lily's actions, for example the massage instead of 'copy camp' but this did not spoil the story.

Finally, I really enjoyed 'Precious You' and recommend it to others. Thank-you to Netgalley and HQ for my advance copy.