This is definitely not a story to read when you’re feeling emotionally fragile.

While it’s partly about the circumstances which led to the tenant dying alone with no friends or family to raise the alarm, it’s also about Jennifer’s circumstances. Due to Jennifer’s guilt, she’d missed some routine check-ins with the tenant because of a personal situation, she becomes very invested in finding out what has happened. However, her personal mental health means she’s not necessarily in the best place to cope with that search. This has a knock on impact for Jennifer and her eight-year-old son as she struggles to cope with the past.

Everyone in this story has secrets. They put on a public face which hides their personal anxieties and guilt. While the circumstances may feel more extreme in the novel, the desire to hide your worries and perceived failings certainly felt familiar to me. This story shows how secrets leech into all areas of life, and how hard it can be to ask for help.

Well-written and absorbing this is a great read. It’s not gory or spooky, but it is unsettling. Well worth adding to your reading pile.

📚 BOOK REVIEW 📚

Safe & Sound - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars.

This had me gripped! I just couldn't work out where it was heading.
The books main character, Jenn is suffering with her own mental health and anxiety. When, in her job as a housing officer she discovers the body of a young women, one of her tenants, who has been dead for 10 months. 
This books flicks back and fourth between present and 'back then'. You are taken on a journey with Jenn, who wants to get to the bottom of why nobody discovered the body sooner, her own mental health deteriorating, becoming anxious over her son and finally the truth about her own past.

This book involves mental health, loneliness and grief.

I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from the author, Philippa East. Thank you to both author and @netgalley for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Safe and Sound. I found it well written and fast paced. Each chapter gave enough information into the story to keep me wanting to read more but not enough to make the plot obvious. I thought the twists and turns were fantastic and I did not want to put it down. 

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for my ARC.

I really enjoyed Safe and Sound by Philippa East. It is the story of single mother Jenn who discovers the body of a young woman that has lain undiscovered for 10 months. Jenn takes it on herself to find out how this could happen. It was a slow burner to begin with but there were plenty of twists and turns along the way which kept my interest to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for my ARC.

Follow the world of Jennifer as she stumbled from one problem to another. Is it her imagination or is someone else playing with her life and why. A really good read.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. At first, I found it very slow and ponderous. The passages where it went back in time to Prin and Jane flowed better and the pace picked up towards the end. The subject matter of mental illness leaves you wondering what is true and is very disturbing.

I’m sorry to say I could not finish this story.  The story  never seemed to get anywhere and unfortunately Jennifer is not a particularly attractive person.  She is trying to look after son Charlie and do her job with the Housing Association but during the course of her duties finds a body in one of the apartments which has been there for some time.  Jennifer has history but we don’t quite know how this has made her the character she is and by the time I had reached halfway in the story I no longer cared.  Sorry!

The book starts with Jenn (a housing manager) along with bailiffs, going to a tenant’s flat to try and recover an outstanding amount of rent which is arrears.  Their horrific discovery sets off a chain of events which are graphically explored as the story unfolds.
Jenn lives with her son Charlie; both are complex characters and I found it interesting how the author draws in events from Jenn’s past which have bearing on her life today.  Several chapters are written by characters from the past, and as the story builds up it’s intriguing to discover how these characters link into the plot.  From finding the tenant in her flat, Jenn’s mental health starts to deteriorate but she is reluctant to seek the help she desperately needs.
I found this to be a gripping and absorbing story in which the secrets of Jenn’s past are uncovered and their relevance to her current life.  The author has skilfully drawn a picture of a troubled woman and it was interesting discovering the events which led to Jenn becoming the complex woman she is now.  Although, occasionally the story lacked pace, I felt empathy for her character and enjoyed reading the book.  Recommended reading.

Safe and Sound by Phillipa East
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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When single mum Jenn attends a routine check on a property her company manage, she wasn’t expecting to make the horrifying discovery that tenant, Sarah Jones, had passed away many months before. Jenn, clearly struggling with her own anxiety battles, takes it upon herself to investigate why this young woman had no one who missed her in the 10 months she lay dead in her bedsit. Weaved amongst this is a story from the past of two young girls, Prin and Jane, who’s connection is revealed late into the book. A clever story, well told by East. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.
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Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the ARC
#books #booknerd #bookworm #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstack #bookchallenge #booklover #reader #read #2021reads #readersofinstagram #reading #bookswithcookandacuppa #safeandsound #phillipaeast #NetGalley

This was initially a slow burn, but the story did keep it's hold on me and the pace picked up.

A good story, with lots of nice little twists and the end didn't disappoint.

This was my first Philippa East and I would certainly read another.

First read of 2021, and I’m not sure how I felt about this one. It deals with interesting themes of mental health, however to me the book felt unsure of what genre it wanted to be in. 

I was never sure where the story was going, which is sometimes a good thing, however the main character was so scatty and unlikeable I didn’t really care. Felt like a chore to read at times however the conclusion was satisfying and unexpected somewhat. 

Others have been raving about it so perhaps just not for me.

Really great story showcasing some real life mental health sufferers and how this can impact on them and everything they do. 

Well written and gripping!

A great story about a mother's love and families and how the mind works.  Kept me guessing until the end.

This is a slow start but stick with it as it’s incredible. It gets better and better and I was absolutely hooked right till the end! I a real page Turner

I found this to be a slow book and one I didn't really get on well with or enjoy - although I finished it to see what the outcome was...the book isn't one that took me on a journey. The main character, Jennifer has her own issues and from the start...I'll be honest - she irritated me. She isn't a character that I felt empathy for as I found the story and how it unfolds to be bitty and self centred and it felt as if Jennifer was making a big deal out of nothing most of the time due to her own issues...which is more than likely one of the points of the book...but it just didn't sit well with me. A few points in the book surprised me because if they'd been real-life, I would have expected to see proper boundaries and implications because of certain actions which Jennifer had undertaken.

I think this isn't a comfortable read as it deals with mental health issues and also doesn't give the reader enough answers in a short space of time. I felt there was a lot left unknown at first, to try and build the suspense but it didn't work, and for me the book felt very one sided and not realistic that an outsider would go to such lengths and undercover details that the police hadn't managed to bring to light. I could see this playing out at the cinema, but as a book it didn't manage to capture my imagination.

I wanted to like this book, but it wasn't for me.


Source - I received a digital copy in return for an honest review

📚BOOK REVIEW📚⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#safeandsound by #philippaeast @hqstories 

This is a very well put together thriller. I was completely hooked after a couple of lines of page one. The book uses a duel timeline which is executed cleverly to come perfectly together at the end. 

I thought the voice of ‘Jenn’ was excellent; you really got sucked in deep to her world and felt the anxiety, confusion and often desperation alongside her. 

The story was pretty unique and easily blurred the lines between reality and fantasy to the point I wasn’t sure who or what to believe and therefore it kept my interest but I did find myself disappointed with the overall ending. 

There was such a build up and I felt it didn’t really amount to all that much - I wanted an extra twist or just something to catch you out rather than just a slow plod to the end....

Overall, it was definitely a gripping and spellbinding thriller which plays with your mind and is well worth a read but I was left feeling like something was missing in the end.

➡️for synopsis 

This one is a #arcread so thank you to author #philippaeast, #hqstories and #netgalley for allowing me to read this one early! 

Due out Feb 18th. 

Book 1 of 2021 completed! 👏

-Emily

📖Book Review📖
Safe and Sound by Philippa East
Publication date 18th February 2021.

Thank you to @netgalley and @hqstories for my advanced readers copy, in exchange for an honest.

I couldn’t read this book fast enough (and I’m fast 🙈). 

I loved this book and I’m hoping subsequent books keep up with this standard as it’s my first five star of the year.

I liked ‘Jenn’ from the start and enjoyed reading about her interactions with others and following her journey in finding out answers to what happened to Sarah.

I thought I had the story figured out, but I completely went down the wrong path 😂.

I would highly recommend this book, I haven’t read the authors debut novel but it has already been added to my TBR pile.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
#safeandsound #philippaeast #netgalley #netgalleyreview #bookreview #arc #bookstagram  #booksofig

I absolutely loved this book and was engrossed from beginning to end.  It’s the best book I’ve read in a very long time.  So beautifully written – what a talented lady.  Very relevant for people who are suffering mental health problems, or who are from a dysfunctional family.  I felt sad and emotional at times, but I was gripped throughout and couldn’t stop reading.  A really good plot with a few twists and turns which kept me guessing to the end.  I loved the two connecting stories, the totally believable characters, and the way everything came together in the end to give us the answers.  A brilliant piece of writing that left me emotionally shattered!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC copy.

Sarah Jones. Pretty and full of life. Just how did she end up dead and alone in her bedsit, undiscovered for months?

Jenn. Single mum to Charlie, living in their small flat in London, trying to cope with her job and the pressures of life. Jenn's job as a housing officer means she is the one who finds the sad, lonely scene in Sarah's bedsit.

A back and forth between past and present into the lives of both women and the struggle they both face with mental health. A sometimes uncomfortable but important read with some surprises along the way.

Well New Year's Day is a good time to start a new book but I didn't think I'd finish it on the same day.  Great book and twists & turns all in one so it was a great start to my new book challenge on Goodreads.  The main character was very relatable and you wondered what was going on in her mind throughout.