Well this certainly kept me on my toes... a book full of many twists and turns, stories old and new and relationships that connected the six characters.
It was a fairly easy read and well written with a good use of words and character descriptions. I enjoyed it and it left me with wanting more...

Loved this book a lot. 3 couples ask with secrets that mix between them all and none of them ready to share.. Great story, great characters and enough intrigue to make me read this book in 2 sittings.

Initially I found this book slow but once the characters were introduced, I was hooked. The underlying theme of secrets in the characters lives was thoroughly believable. As the book gained momentum, I couldn't put it down. The storyline behind each character was so well thought through and how the author then pulled it all together was so clever.
I would highly recommend this book. I'm not quite sure of a specific genre as it is quite unique but I loved it.

I was not sure about this book to start with but it was well written with believable characters.

It didn't really keep me on the edge of my seat and I wasn't keen on the descriptions of physical abuse etc.

I am not sure I would recommend this book but thank you to Netgalley and Agoro Books for allowing me to read this.

This is an unusual story taking place on one afternoon with flashbacks and then a 'tidy up' at the end.
I found it difficult to get into as there is no early information given about the characters and the situation. It all seems rather weird as the time unfolds and still the reader doesn't understand what is happening. As the facts emerge it becomes clearer and a need to find out what has happened did develop.
I found it difficult to feel engaged with the characters with was disappointing and for me there was an element of annoyance with their behaviours which affected my enjoyment.
The end of the story is shocking and disturbing but it gels with the facts earlier in the book.
Recommended.

All the events in this novel take place on one fateful Saturday, as three couples meet and change each other’s lives in ways that they could never have predicted.
The novel opens with an act of shocking violence as a man named Edmund takes a sledgehammer to a playhouse in a suburban garden in an affluent London suburb.
In the meantime, Edmund’s brother Jasper decides to drop in on him to announce his engagement to Holly. He brings his friends John and Anne. They’re all looking forward to sharing a bottle of celebratory champagne ‘on an ordinary spring morning’.
So it’s clear that Jasper and his ‘merry band’ of friends aren’t going to receive the welcome they expect.
But Jasper’s fiancée and friends should have guessed that something was amiss. If Jasper is as close to his brother Edmund as he claims, why doesn’t he know his address? Jasper has told them that Edmund lives in an immaculate, shiny new penthouse, yet the
taxi drops them off at a Victorian house which, despite expensive renovations, looks neglected and uninhabited. Jasper has described his brother as ‘a man of poise and finesse’, yet Edmund is slumped in his chair, staring into space. His appearance is dirty and dishevelled, and he is still in his pyjamas.
And who is the mysterious young woman in Edmund’s kitchen, whose sight threatens to unhinge Jasper? How does he know that her name is Ovidia?
The two happy couples should have assessed the situation and run a mile. Instead, they choose to ignore the fact that Edmund barely registers their arrival and wait, insensitively, for champagne.
Reluctantly stirring himself to search for the champagne in the kitchen, Edmund moans to Ovidia: ‘Oh god, why today of all bloody days?’.
‘We’ll put on our brave faces; we’ve certainly had plenty of practice at pretending everything is okay’, replies Ovidia.
The scene is set for drama and, later, tragedy, as pretending that everything is okay proves to be impossible.
The theme of ‘pretending’, as indicated in the title, resonates throughout the novel. Every character has something to hide, and can therefore be described as ‘a pretender’; but by the end of a day during which everyone’s secrets are gradually revealed, no one will be able to pretend any more.
The day after finishing this novel, I found myself thinking about the characters as if they were real people. It is perhaps unusual for an author to create characters who are so flawed, but nonetheless sympathetic. Ovidia is a particularly complex and intriguing character who doesn’t conform to any stereotype. I like the fact that in this novel, as in real life, there are no easy solutions to the characters’ problems.
Whilst most of the novel was well written with authentic sounding dialogue, I found that some passages were overwritten, with redundant details that interfered with the flow of the narrative. The destruction of the playhouse would have had more dramatic impact, for example, with less detail.
Sometimes the flashbacks weren’t clearly signalled, leading to confusion. I also felt that there were too many minor characters in the flashbacks, some of whom didn’t add anything to the story.
There were quite a few errors in the novel such as wrong tenses, missing words and sentences that just didn’t sound right. However, the ARC I received was a proof copy, so hopefully all the mistakes will be corrected before the novel is published.
As the writing wasn’t as polished as it could have been, I’m going to give the book 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really wanted to like this one because the synopsis was so interesting but I was confused majority of the time and didn't feel like the book had any flow. I am really bummed about this.

Many thanks to the author, publishers and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
This is a very well crafted book, the author has pulled out all the stops in bringing the characters to life. It's not an easy read and touches on difficult subjects such as domestic and child abuse, dysfunctional relationships and so on. I can't say I enoyed the book, but this was more to do with my frame of mind in these difficult times rather than any fault of the book itself. Because of this I would not wish todisrespect the author by giving this book a low score, hence a solid 4 stars is what I'd give.

6 people who lives are intertwined in a way that cannot be undone. Anne is married to John who is blithely
unfaithful. Jasper still cannot deal with a past relationship (PTSD) but has asked Holly to marry him. Then we have Edmund, Jasper's big brother who for 4 years has been carrying on a relationship behind closed doors and unknown to anyone. We enter their lives on a fateful day, a sad day and a horrific day when you realise how it all ties together. A stonking good read thank you!

This is an angsty book about relationships. I tend to like this kind of book and I really like the couples in it they’re very believable. I highly recommend it.

A story that the reader pleads with to develop as the desire to know what happened and how all the characters intertwine pushes on and on. The characters seem very real and the writing is an uncomfortably enjoyable setting of the scenes that all come together in a brutal finale. The reactions of the characters cleverly portray that modern-day stereotypes are often misguided and ill informed. The struggles that Jasper encounters both for himself and others are very well illustrated and lets the reader know that life is just never as simple as it should be. Moral dilemmas also make this book keep you turning page after page.

This was definitely a guilty pleasure page turner for me and was able to finish it in two sittings.

This is a story of three couples coming together to celebrate Holly and Jasper's engagement with their friends and family but as the day goes on so many secrets are revealed. A story about how far one will go to hide in order to preserve oneself and their family.

What I loved about it:
There are so many bombshells in this book and the secrets are unlike anything that I've read before. I liked the unpredictability and the fact that they highlighted issues that aren't often talked about. I loved how Agatha dropped smaller tidbits of each character's background and would just leave them daggling like bait until she would revisit them later in the story. Like I said, a page turner.

What I didn't like:
I would have liked more character development for Holly, John, and Anne. I also felt like the book ended somewhat abruptly which was fitting for the way we were thrown into the story but I wanted more information instead of a quick wrap up.

I would definitely recommend this book especially if you love trying to make predictions. This one will challenge you and I promise you won't see the end coming.

It should be a normal, lovely day. Two couples visiting a family member, with happy news to tell. But while Jasper wants to surprise his brother Edmund, the latter has other plans (along with another loved one). Anne and John aren’t married but with daughters and a hectic life, feel as though they are. She doesn’t want to miss out on the celebrations, while John seems to have other plans. But everyone’s got a secret that they’d prefer not to tell… Over one day, there are big announcements and not all of them happy. This is a carefully layered read that draws you in – you are almost blinded by its simplicity but there is layer upon layer of revelation and the characters are written so beautifully. I had my heart in my mouth throughout.

** spoiler alert ** This was a really well-written book with an excellently weaved storyline. It follows the lives of different adults, through flashbacks as they sit together having a conversation. I thought the way that Zaza wove together the stories was seamless, and very compelling. That kind of book you don't want to put down. The stories themselves were surprising, which I loved, because I never feel surprised by books anymore, I often feel like authors are just doing the same things over and over. This however, was completely new, and every twist had me shocked.

[spoiler alert] I didn't give it a 5 stars because I was sooo unhappy with the ending! I just wanted Jasper to be loved long-term by Holly, and her leaving him... well I literally wanted to scream at her. But a good emotional reaction is how you know it's a good book!

TW: I wouldn't recommend this book to you if you're sensitive or vulnerable to descriptions of physical abuse, domestic abuse, miscarriages, or child abuse. The descriptions are intensely detailed, but they are there.