The story centres around Rachel Edwards, mother of two late-teenage children, and wife of Mark. As she battles the menopause, and the mediocrity that comes with “domestic bliss”, Rachel understandably feels invisible, unappreciated and terrifyingly alone. Clearly struggling with her mental health, Rachel finds herself becoming increasingly obsessed with the local crime stories, and it soon becomes clear she may have a more pivotal role to play in the recent spate of stabbings than originally thought.

What follows is one woman’s battle to make sense of her world, her life and her changing self and balancing that against the people she loves, and the damage we all cause to one another.

Having never read anything by SE Lynes before, but only hearing positive things, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. All I can say is that this was a brilliant read. Although, in places, it was a little slow, it wasn’t difficult to keep reading, and actually, I think the book lends itself to a less-pacey style.

I instantly warmed to Rachel, and really have to commend the author for the way this was written. The changes in perspective, the now versus the past, and the transcripts with other characters, really gave this a depth that would have been lacking with any other approach. Absolutely brilliant, and deeply thought provoking on many levels.

This will undoubtedly not be the last book I read by this author!

The Stars: A brilliant 5 stars – a very enjoyable and well written book.

Well, what can I say about this book? Very much doubt my review could even come close to doing this complex but compelling story, the justice it deserves.

The story clicks between the main story and interviews that have been carried out in the police station. To start with, I was intrigued as to the why’s of everything that is going on. Rachel is a very complex character who I was desperate to know more about to try and better understand what was happening.

I had absolutely no clue where this story was heading. The more I read the more gripped I became as the story unfolds with some seriously twisted revelations. The more I got to know Rachel, the more empathy I had for her even though I found it frustrating that she couldn’t quite remember things. Mainly because I had to wait for the author to then reveal them and I’m not the most patient of people. Of course this had me racing through the pages for what I have to say is one ultimate reading climax!

Can You See Her? is one mess with your head read. It’s a story that will make you sit back and reflect on what a very clever story line it is. No idea where the author gets her ideas from but this is one stand out novel that deserves the highest of praise. Phenomenal read!

I really loved this book, I did love the beginning to middle more however and nearing the end I just wanted it to be over because I had it figured out pretty much. Originally, . In the beginning of the book I thought it was going to be one of my best reads of 2020, and it still may be. I love how S.E. Lynes writes. Very clever.

This. book is about Rachel, middle aged with two kids, one off to college, Keiron and one taking a year off before starting college, Katie and her husband Mark. She seems to have a great relationship with her son, a terrible relationship with her daughter and her husband has seemingly lost all interest in her. And it's no wonder she has really let herself go.

It starts out with Rachel either in a psych ward or prison for multiple murders, mostly stabbings. She is talking to a forensic psychiatrist through the whole book and she's very humorous and also very confused. Before the psych ward or prison, Rachel liked to take walks and connect with strangers, who wind up dead. And Rachel has confessed to the murders.

The book has excerpts of interviews of police questioning Rachel's neighbor, best friend Lisa, her husband and daughter throughout and it seems something is really wrong with Rachel and they are trying to find out why she's confessed to all these murders of people she seemingly liked.

The book was really I interesting for me and going somewhere, but I figured out tho who, when and why before the end of the book or halfway through, which was a shame because I really would've liked to have been surprised.

I want to give the book 4 stars for the first half and 3 for the second half of the book but I very well cant, can I? So I am giving it a 3.5 rounded up to 4 for the sheer enjoyment it gave me in the beginning. It does have a twist at the end. Will you figure it out? It's worth a try and if you have more than Ohhh 5 brain cells, you will.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Publishing for this ARC copy in return for my honest review. Also thanks to S.E. Lynes, a wonderful author. I would love to read her past and future works.

*4 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting read with interesting characters. It kept me thinking and on my toes. Would recommend.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I will definitely read more books by this author. For me this book did start off slow. However now that I look back at the beginning it was a great start. This book had me guessing who really done it?? Normally I am able to guess who but I could not guess who in this book. I had some suspicions but it had me changing my mind all of the time. One minuet I believe she did do it then another minuet I changed my mind. I have to say I loved how this book ended. I also loved that you had the police investigation interviews as well because it told the husband, daughter, friend, and neighbor's sides and not just the main character Rachel's story. I highly recommend this to thriller/mystery book lovers.

Can You See Her? By S.E. Lynes is a gripping tale of Rachel who feels she is invisible and she is telling her story to her psychologist Amanda. As you read, you feel for Rachel and her fragile state. The further into the book, the more twists and turns happen, with one very shocking one at the very end. An excellent read! Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to Netgallery and Bookouture for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. All opinions are my own.

Do you know the feeling? Everybody expects you to do everything for them, but the tiniest thing you ask is ignored. People either don't look at you or don't even notice you and when you think that someone is going to look you in the eyes, they don't. They look through you or over your shoulder.

Being invisible might sound like a great superpower to have, but in stead of feeling like a new super hero, you feel lonely, alone and very sad.

If you can't find the warmth you crave within your circle of family and friends, the only thing left to do is wandering the streets and befriend strangers.

You are living in a dream at night, but when morning comes, the nightmares start ...

A good story that keeps you hesitating: to be or not to be the killer ...???

The first half was very confusing (in a good way), the second half was full of more confusion and fortunately also full of revelations. 4 stars.

Thank you, S.E. Lynes and Bookouture

Rachel Edwards feels invisible and unappreciated. She is so unhappy that she begins to go out alone each evening to walk the family dog. She longs to meet up with anyone who can see the real, vibrant Rachel she used to be and who will give her the time of day. As she makes new friends along the way, she feels more like her own happy and kind self and her evenings take on a new meaning to her life. Her husband of 27 years doesn’t even ask her where she has been, in fact he hardly talks to her at all. Their 19 year-old daughter no longer bothers with her and she misses their close, warm relationship. She is pining for her firstborn who is already away at university. She longs to be near him and care for him. She yearns for everything she has come to realises she has lost, with total strangers filling the spaces where once her family showered her with love, recognition and joy. Literally everything has changed for her and she hates the fact that it has.
She reminisces about meeting her husband for the first time. How he thought she was so precious, so beautiful and how he couldn’t wait to marry her. Her son is the apple of her eye and they had such an open, loving relationship. His younger sister thought her mother was like a best friend to her. They used to hang about together, always having fun and laughing. There was always loving, togetherness, and thoughtfulness in their family. Oh how she missed those joyous days.
Strangers in the street become like the family she knows she has lost. They appreciate her and treat her like they can’t believe she has time to listen to them. They are so grateful for her wisdom, her listening to their stories and for the understanding and empathy she gives them so willingly. She begins to feel these fleeting meetings are the only thing that she has to live for now. The trouble is that she seems to have blanks about what happened the time they met. Her memory is letting her down. It’s like piecing together a jigsaw and feeling the disappointment when pieces are missing so that you can’t see the beauty of the whole story.
Everyone is worried about her. Lisa, her best friend tries to jolly her along but Rachel no longer has the heart or desire to meet up. Even their new neighbour across the road voices her concern about Rachel. But no one has the appetite or the initiative to try to do something about it. They let the matter slide, with apathy their only intervention. Rachel is in real trouble. She feels as though she is being followed, she is so confused and she believes she may have done something wrong. She wonders what is happening to her. She feels so alone and afraid.
The lady in the room with her tells her that she is Amanda and that she is a forensic psychologist who wants to hear her story. She listens thoughtfully and quietly as Rachel’s story is gradually revealed layer by layer. Amanda asks only a few questions for clarification. She is patient and her eyes are alight with empathy and understanding. Day by day they talk as the story unfolds in its entirety. Behind the scenes an investigation is building up momentum. Rachel’s family and friends are being interview. Rachel has walked into a police station and confessed. The rest of the story is told in interviews and breaking information told by the newspapers and on TV.
This is a novel full of mystery and menace. Horrific murders have been committed and the victims were all befriended by Rachel. There are witnesses as well. Piece by piece the information is assembled until and beyond Rachel’s confession. This thrilling novel is not so much a ‘who done it?’ as a meticulous, multi-agency investigation of the facts and the evidence. It has very dark undertones, shocking revelations and red herrings by the bucket load. It is beautifully written by an author with a massive talent for this genre. The themes and issues in this novel are topical with bang-on relevance to modern society and criminality, including knife crime, revenge, menopausal psychosis and stalking. It radiates with meticulous research vital to the authenticity of the story. I really enjoyed reading it and loved the tension, twists and turns, shocking findings and brilliant plotting and planning that kept the most startling of revelations until the last few pages, so what you think is the last jaw-dropping shock really in not and there is one more close by that you certainly never expected but adds cohesion to the story. I did find the first section of the novel quite slow going but the ending was dynamite with a capital D and made it a terrific, exciting read.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. This is a masterful novel that will keep you on the very edges of your seat and longing for more. 4.5*

A very thought provoking read. I am sure every woman has at sometime thought that she was invisible but this book is so much more. Once I started reading I could not put this book down. I was gripped and had a front seat watching the main character gradually unravel and as for the ending OMG!!! A really clever story, very emotive and definitely deserves five stars and highly recommended.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC.

This was an original, captivating and thought-provoking book.

What would you do if you became invisible? Rachel Ryder has been married for twenty-seven years and has two children. One night she walked into her kitchen and realized that she has become invisible to the people in her life. No one in her life pays attention to her anymore, they don't listen to her, can they even see her at all? She has been busy raising her children, taking care of her household that even she has lost sight of who she was years earlier.

Plus, she has an interest in violent crimes that have been happening in her area. She keeps track of the news and crimes. She even devotes a book to them. She feels for the victims and all who have been affected by the crimes. They are not the only ones she feels for. She also feels for a homeless man, and others who like her are invisible in society.

Further complicating her life, a skinny young woman has moved next door, Rachel's daughter is moody, her husband is not paying attention to her, and she is losing periods of time where she can't recall what occurred.

Rachel narrates her section of the book while the other sections are notes/transcripts of Amanda, a forensic psychiatrist who is interviewing Rachel. She is not the only one interviewed in this book, Rachel's husband, her daughter, her friend Lisa and Ingrid, her neighbor are interviewed as well. These sections were my favorite sections of the book.

It might seem as if I have told you a lot about this book but there is so much more. If you feel the beginning is slow as I did, I assure you that if you keep reading, you will see the brilliance of S.E. Lynes storytelling.

Original and thought-provoking, this book started a little slow for me but once I hit my stride around the halfway mark, I could not put it down. There are some twist turns and revelations and it becomes apparent that Rachel is not the only invisible person in the book.

Well written, well thought out, interesting and thought-provoking.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I don't quite know what to say! Although it was quite clear that Rachel was severely depressed, I certainly didn't expect what lead to her depression. I felt so, so sorry for her. And just when you thought everyone was recovering well, there was another shocking moment. Excellent book.

I really enjoyed this book! A great story line that kept me hooked and excellent main characters. I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

S.E. Lynes does it again - this book looks at complicated issues and how life can manipulate us into believing things true that have no foundation in reality. The storyline starts out very slowly, almost meandering, and gives us the gist of the protagonist's inner thought life in interviews with an undefined person, who identity is later revealed (don't want to give away too much), interspersed with police interviews with the other characters.

It took me a while to warm to the protagonist, but I ended up really caring for her, and the ending was very satisfying. I love that every book this author writes is totally unique - this is the third book of hers I've read and can highly recommend.

Can You See Her blew my mind!

I’ll be honest it took me around an hour to get used to Rachel’s need to ramble. That’s the worst thing about this book and I’ve got it out the way In my second sentence...you know you’re on a winner when I have little complaints lol!

I felt so sorry for Rachel, living an invisible life and feeling every moment of pain without being offered help or support must really suck. I can’t imagine that life. S.E Lynes has such a talent for writing and I loved how unique this book felt.

This is difficult for me to review because while I liked the plot and the messages the book had, I was not a fan of the rambling on! I understand Rachel’s point of view and her story but every time
I had to read her narration I had a hard time keeping up with her train of thoughts it was too all over the place for me. It helped understand her situation no doubt but it was a bit too much for me. If you can put up with that then this book was great! It tackles the subject very well and the plot twists are surprising enough.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my advanced copy!

I was excited to read this book as I absolutely loved The Lies We Hide.....I had to trudge through this book and I mean made myself push forward because I knew this author is an amazing author...... finally at about 55% it started to get good..... and yes it was GOOD but if it wasn’t because I loved the author’s other book so well I wouldn’t have finished it. I wish I could give this more stars and it breaks my heart to not.

Rachel feels like she is begging ignored by everyone including her husband and family. Now she thinks she may have done something terrible.
A slow moving story that I didn’t engage with as much as the previous books I have read from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this one! I loved hearing the different opinions within the story, and particularly loved Rachael's perspective of life as an "invisible" woman, as opposed to the young woman she had once be. I don't want to say too much as I am aware of spoilers but I will just say I struggled to put it down!

Good to have this, the 7th book from the author to read and at a time of low concentration on anything but ‘it’ I found it a great comfort to take myself away from ‘it’ and fall into this book, even if for just a few minutes whenever I wanted to

Rachel is invisible, well she thinks she is, working in a pub and married to Mark with 2 teenagers she feels her ‘best years’ are over and she serves no real purpose to anyone, least not herself

That is until she starts to meet people when out and feels she can ‘understand’ when someone needs to talk to someone, she can ‘see it’ so that’s what she does and she makes connections and she really does help, job done and everyone is happy, unfortunately these people end up dead or badly injured a few minutes after meeting her, Rachel realises she is attacking them and confesses

But of course there is more, much much more to this story than that and if I even hinted it at it would ‘give it away’, so I wont suffice to say the double, nay triple whammy ending is quite outstanding and had me foxed on all 3 counts

As always this author writes for the reader and I love how Rachel’s feelings are described and how she chats on to herself replicating what we all do in our mind, the authors use of language is wonderful

A really good, intriguing, emotive, real and true book that you wont forget and in parts may relate to

10/10
5 Stars

S.E. Lynes is one of those authors that rarely disappoints. Her strengths lie in her characters, who are always very real and relatable, and the way she can pull you into their story.

Can You See Her? is a brilliant example of a well-written, perfectly paced novel full of depth and poignant observations of the world around us. Of women, and how we navigate through the different stages of life. A very clever, intricate story that gripped me throughout.