I stepped out of my usual comfort zone and decided to read a thriller/suspense novel. Overall, I liked You and Me and found it to be a solid 3-star read:

Let’s start with the aspects I really enjoyed about the novel:
1) The beginning throws you immediately into the suspense and impending drama.
2) The author’s writing-style is well crafted, providing an atmospheric and thoughtful reading experience.
3) You are left guessing about each character's motivations and who could be the killer (...and if they were even murders or just accidents).
4) Loved the plot twists.

Aspects I didn’t like (which notched down the star rating for me):
1) The author used 50% of the book to establish the psychology of the main character (Fran). I didn’t think it needed to take that long, because I developed a good idea of who Fran was in the first 25% of the book.
2) Some of the flashbacks of Fran’s high school days didn’t drive the plot forward for me, so I was left wondering what the relevance of them were.
3) Fran. Boy, what can I say? Not likable at all. For the most part, she was rude, selfish, and creepy. She redeemed herself only in the last few pages of the story.

So would I recommend this book to fellow readers? Sure. As I'm a novice to thriller/suspense novels, I can't compare them with many others, but this book, on its own, is worth reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the opportunity to read and review You and Me.

I do love a crazy stalker genre and this didn’t disappoint! I gave it 4 stars purely because the 5 stars I have read this year have been outstanding! Loved the flashbacks to high school! A great read

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the arc of You and Me by Nicola Rayner.

It centralise and focuses on Fran whom is a 30 year old woman whom is lonely.. and has harboured this crush on a boy since high school called Charles. She ends up seeing him and his friend whom is called Dickie on the platform for the subway, she is also witnesses dickie falling onto the tracks... but she dont want to mention that she was actually there when it happened so her curtiosity gets her pulled into all whom are related to dickie like his wife and the rest of the family...

Id rate this 3 stars as its a bit slow to actually get into the book but apart from that it was a great book, mysterious and a bit wierd but liked it a lot. well done.

Fran has always loved Charles, since they were at school together, he may be married to someone else, but Fran will wait and Fran will love. She wishes her sister Ellie was around more and that they had never fallen out. The poison from their time at boarding school sends ripples through their lives but Charles was always there. the sudden death of one of their old school friends sends up a lot of questions for them all, but the answers are unexpected. I really enjoyed this one. I haven't read anything by this author before but will certainly look for her other work. The characters were easy to warm to and the quirkiness of Fran's character is brilliantly written. The twists were clever and I didn't see the final twist coming which I think is always the sign of an enjoyable plot. Thanks to netgalley and Avon Books UK for allowing me to read this book and thank you to the author for a great book.

You and Me by Nicola Rayner is a thriller that was slow to start but can go an exciting conclusion. I wasn’t sure which way the story was going at times and couldn’t really connect with the characters. Overall good book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books and Nicola Rayner for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have read a lot of thrillers this year, and each time a new one comes along, I hope it will be enough to push me to the edge of my seat. I enjoyed how this book threw me back in high school for a bit. I always enjoy books that go back in time to some huge high school drama event. The novel builds suspense incrementally, with Fran as an unreliable and sometimes unsympathetic, but intriguing heroine. Nothing is quite as it seems and the plot is twisty and unexpected throughout.

While this wasn't a total 5 star read for me, I did enjoy it amongst my other thriller selections I've read in 2020.

This is my first book by Rayner. It won't be my last. I read it super quickly and I enjoyed the premise. Freaky Fran is a WEIRDO. Gosh... she is obsessed with Charles. She was teased a ton and he was always kind to her. Something that I am constantly trying to instill in my kids. This makes it easy for Fran to fall in love. The main reason this book was 5 stars for me was because I didn't expect the ending. I did figure a small part out, but not all of it and rarely does that happen. When you've read as many thrillers as I have you almost always figure them out. I was pleasantly surprised by one of the twists!

The Unintentional Unreliable Narrator


You and Me, written by Nicola Rayner is a contemporary psychological thriller due for release later this year. The protagonist, Fran, lives a relatively simple life. She lives alone and works in a bookshop. Her mother is dead, and she misses her sister and niece who both live abroad. This all seems normal; however, Fran has a twenty year long obsession with a former school classmate, Charles.

Some reviewers feel that the story is slow to start; however, I disagree. The prologue is sinister, atmospheric, and like all good prologues, it subtly echoes the end. Chapter one begins in the middle of the action when a tragic accident occurs. I think rather than a slow start, there is a bit of a lull in the narrative drive while the focus is on the protagonist, Fran.

Fran is a first person narrator who is defined by her lack of credibility to the reader. Her version of events is unreliable. While her unreliability is apparent early on, Rayner still takes time to handle Fran delicately by allowing these traits to build and surface gradually. As she narrates the story, Fran begins to contradict herself and it becomes obvious that her obsessive behaviour towards Charles is worsening. She views him through ‘rose tinted glasses,’ so therefore, her fallibility of perception may misdirect the reader. Fran’s unreliability as a narrator is unintentional. She is an outsider and appears to have other issues, which garners the reader’s sympathy or empathy. The reader doesn’t really understand the true version of events—only Fran’s—so their expectations of the narrative may be upended.

The unreliable narrator is not a new phenomenon, but it is current. I enjoy reading psychological thrillers, and I often read so many that they all blur into one. However, I don’t believe this will be the case with ‘You and Me.’ The narration reminds me to think critically about the unintentional, unreliable narrator in order to question events.

I highly recommend reading ‘You and Me.’ If the beginning of the story seems slow, like others have suggested, or you experience a lull, stay with it. Rayner is developing psychological depth in Fran’s character which is essential to the narrative.

This book kept me guessing until the very end. I was pleasantly shocked and found myself wanting to keep picking up the book to finish it and find out what happened and who killed Dickie. My only problem with this book is I feel like it can be a how's to guide on stalking. Fran has stalking down to a science and this book put in the wrong hands could teach someone how to be discreet. I really enjoyed the twist at the end because it was not an easy conclusion to come too. Thank you to Avon and netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a decent read, and a new take on the "obsessive girlfriend" genre. It centers on Fran, a lonely woman in her mid-30s who has harbored an obsession with a boy, Charles, from high school for years now. When she witnesses Charles and his friend Dickie on a subway platform and sees Dickie fall onto the tracks, she doesn't want to admit she was there but her curiosity allows her to get pulled into the web of people related to Dickie, including his wife, and Charles' family. There is also another plotline woven in related to Fran's estranged sister, Ellie, as well as her relationships with all of these key players.

Fran herself is not a likable character. It's pretty sad that she has spent her whole life chasing after this guy and hasn't really done much else. She also let her relationship with Ellie fall apart and she reeks of desperation whenever anyone shows the slightest bit of interest in her. That detracted from my enjoyment of the book for the most part but Fran shows some unexpected strength at the end of the book which changed my opinion of her.

The book is a bit of a slow burn for most of it, and I find myself annoyed by Fran's constant obsession over things that happened so long ago. However, things start falling into place in the 2nd half of the book, leading to some unexpected twists and an ultimate surprise showdown at the end.

Overall, I think I'd recommend the book because of the ending- the rest of it was just OK but the end was unique and exciting- if you love the book anyway, you will love the end, and if you don't, love the book anyway, you should stick with it and you may change your mind.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Woah! This was kind of creepy in a weird way.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review. To start this book was incredibly slow and I was unsure of the direction it was taking, however, about 2/3rd of the way through the pace really picked up but I am sad to say I quickly realised the directions so it wasn't a surprise which took away the surprise. I did end up enjoymg the book but I feel it could have been a shorter story and still had the same impact.

I loved Nicola Rayner's "The Girl Before You", so when I saw she had a new book coming out, I couldn't wait to read it. And I was not disappointed! This book is so good. The entire atmosphere of the book is so well done. I spent the whole time both sympathizing for Fran, as well as not being sure if I could believe her. I knew something wasn't right, but was never able to put my finger on it. It made it so I couldn't put it down! The story development was so well written and the twists and turns were unpredictable. I'd definitely recommend this book!

This was a good book to me It started off pretty slow but definitely picked up. I found the main character to be relatable - wanting something she could never have- the forbidden married man. There was an unexpected twist that I didn’t see coming so it was a different take on this type of story. Great book overall and I would definitely read others by her.

A slow starter, and the first 60% was a really slow read and then boom! Addictive reading from this point on.

I felt like a good portion of this book just kept plodding along, and then the ending flew by and was resolved very quickly with everything neatly wrapped up.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book and really enjoyed it!

Books told from a stalker's viewpoint seem to be in vogue at the moment, so although I liked the description of this one, I was afraid it might turn out to be a little generic/'more of the same'. But in fact it was something more gripping and sympathetic than I was expecting.

Fran, the narrator, is still obsessively infatuated with her school crush. She follows his friends on Facebook so she can find out where he'll be and sometimes travels to his house to sit and watch it from the outside. She's the epitome of an unreliable narrator … or is she?

I usually find myself empathising with the POV character in a book, even when objectively they are doing terrible things. So when I found that I'd developed a great deal of liking and sympathy for Fran despite her habits, I kept waiting for the rug to be pulled from under my feet. Yet as the plot gradually unfolded with the filling-in of both present clues and past actions, I realised that the author had successfully played with my expectations.

A well-written and twisty book. The publisher compared it to The Girl on the Train, but I'd also recommend it to fans of Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

This book-it made my head hurt with all those unexpected twists.You think you know what's going to happen in the end but then,you might want to think again. As a breath-taking suspense full of twists and turns,it's sure to stay with you long after you read it.I personally felt that the beginning was kinda slow paced,however the second half was totally worth it.The synopsis makes it sound like it's a sappy romance but it's far from that.To be honest it's kinda creepy in a few ways but nonetheless I loved it.

Wow. This book is a hot mess in a good way... is that a thing? Some seriously good twists in this one that I didn't see coming, and a fast-paced plot that had me constantly saying "Okay, just ONE more chapter."

Hooked from beginning till the end!

Definitely found myself a new favorite author and that right there is worthy of an extra star! If an author has the ability to captivate me from start till finish, then what is not to love, especially in these times, when a book that can capture and hold my attention and distract me from the outside world is pretty much a necessity if only to keep me sane?

The characters were well fleshed out, the plot was complex, engaging, and although I saw some of the twists coming, the story was built up and well rounded enough to still keep me captivated and intrigued.

Highly recommend!

As all thrillers usually do, this one had me turning the pages! However, what I did not expect was the wide range of topics I felt this book covered with each twist and turn making me fall victim to the “I know who did it” syndrome; I was wrong every time. Some of the ideas in this book do not appear in other thrillers, which I thought gave it a nice touch and mades it stand out in my mind.

Fran, the main voice of this book, gets thrown back into her high school days when one of her old classmates dies. As many can probably relate to, Fran has some fond memories from high school and some not so fond memories. Throughout the story, you meet old classmates and some new faces who all bring up memories from the old days. Most importantly, we hear about Ellie, Fran’s sister, who is traveling abroad. Their sisterly love is one only sister can relate to. But something seems off...

I would definitely add this to your TBR list for all you thriller lovers out there. The story had a lot to build into, so I read the beginning slowly. But once I started getting deeper into the story, I found myself thinking “I just need to find out!”