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.

Absolutely loved this book! It's a fairly slow burner, and very good at answering small questions along the way while adding more to the plot. I didn't find the main character particularly enjoyable or relatable, and totally didn't understand her until the very end. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the book I felt the ending was rushed and predictable.

This book is so intense, it literally feels like you are on the edge of your seat sometimes. This is an extraordinary psychological thriller, the writing is so incredibly immersive. The story is good but it is the writing that makes it so good. A real sense of anxiety and that something bad is going to happen is there all the time as you race through the pages. The ending wasn’t what I was expecting but to be honest the ending is far better than anything I could have imagined and is actually quite emotional. This book is so relevant at the moment for the times in which we are living not just because of the pandemic but because of social media and people’s busy life’s and gets you thinking would anyone really notice if you just disappeared...

After reading Phillipa's debut Little White Lies {which was gripping} I didn't think this new book would be as good, but OMG! WOW!WOW!WOW!, what a bloody brilliant thriller/psychological/mystery read. I can't find words good enough to explain how much I loved this book. Yes, it's very sad in parts and it has a lot to do with how people deal with mental health problems. Jenn is a driven woman who wants to do her best for her son whilst trying to find out what really happened to her tenant Sarah Jones. Her relationship with her son little Charlie is amazing but I was asking myself all the way through the book "what happened to Charlie when he was a baby? and why is Jenn acting in a possessive manner?". It all comes together in the end with a mind blowing conclusion. There is a few twists along the way and all the characters are relatable, the plot is consistent throughout and to be honest there isn't one boring page in the whole book.
Watch out Cara Hunter and K L Slater because Phillipa East is going to be on the bestseller list without a shadow of a doubt..
Awesome read, totally gripping and now I can take a breath after finishing this unputdownable read.

"Safe and Sound" is the story of Jennifer Arden, a single mother grappling with mental health issues, who happens to be present in her role working for a housing association when the body of a tenant is found on the sofa in her flat, where she has been for the last ten months. The table is set for visitors, there are flowers - so why has no-one reported her missing?

Jenn quickly spirals into an obsessive relationship with the deceased woman, digging into her background using whatever means necessary. But what is Jenn really trying to find? Is it the truth about the dead woman - or the truth about her own sad history?

The novel started out slow, with a lot of internal dialogue as Jenn went round and round wondering about the dead woman and what sad set of circumstances might have led to her lying undiscovered in a bedsit for ten months. As a literary device it's claustrophobic and crafty, though at times I did feel like it stalled the plot.

I enjoyed the complex character of Jenn, and her relentless need to ferret out the truth, and her mental health issues were portrayed realistically and with sensitivity. I also enjoyed the narrative switching back and forth between present day Jenn, and then the two little girls in the past, Prin and Jane, whose identities remain concealed until fairly late in the novel.

This is a deftly written thriller by an author who knows how to hook in a reader - it does take a little longer with this one, but do persist as the pay-off is worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Safe and Sound is a very different read .A young woman is found dead in her flat so you would imagine this would be a Police Procedural but it is not .Jenn the Housing Manager who found her is deeply affected and saddened that nobody missed her as she had been dead for months so she decides to find out why .There are a lot of questions to be answered throughout this gripping story but they are all answered finally .This book is about mental health issues as well as dysfunctional families so sometimes I found it quite a difficult read .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my free copy in return for an honest review .

Jennifer Arden is a single mother living in Brixton and works as a Housing Manager. On the day where the story begins, Jenn has the task of evicting a tenant who is in arrears. When she arrives with the bailiffs, what she discovers in the flat that morning triggers an obsessive need to make sense of what has happened; even if it means destabilising the equilibrium of her mental health and revisiting the dark secrets of her past.

This story hooked me from the beginning. It's structured in the format of a dual timeline where we are in the present day following Jenn and 'back then' where we follow the story of a young girl called Prin and her family. I liked this format because I really became invested in finding out how these two storylines were connected, especially because both were equally as mysterious, eerie and thought-provoking as the other.

We learn early on that Jenn struggles with her mental health and this heavily influences how she processes and responds to different situations. She is portrayed as an unreliable narrator and this really gets your head spinning because one minute you are supporting her and the next, you are suspecting/doubting her. Also, seeing the intense relationship she has with her young son leaves you uncertain of how to feel about her.

The author creates so much doubt over the true intentions of nearly all the characters in the story that you struggle to trust anyone. I couldn't even trust my own memory of what I'd read in earlier chapters and kept saying to myself "did they really say that?". This kept me turning the pages - wanting to know why a particular character was acting so shifty and trying to figure out if they can be trusted.

I definitely recommend this book for its suspense, twists and exploration of mental health and dysfunctional relationships. This is the first book I have read by this author and I would definitely be interested in reading more by her.

Thoroughly enjoyed Safe and sound. The story of Jenn finding the body of a tenant who had been dead in their flat for months... something resonates with Jenn about Sarah - does she know her? Why would no one notice her death? There are secrets In Jenn’s past and some similarities to Sarah. The tension ramped up from the start and at times I was almost afraid to turn the page, I was so worried about Charlie! I felt myself holding my breath, dreading Jenn’s next move - willing her not to get involved. And... Who is Prin and what happened to Jane? The novel sensitively explores issues around mental health and Jenn’s ability to self manage her behaviour.

This is the first book I have read by Philippa and it certainly will not be the last. Very different form my normal detective reads as the main character is not a detective but a housing manager.
It is an interesting premise and though it is a little slow to start once it des I was hooked. A brilliant read and I will be looking back on the authors previous book to see if it is as good as this.

It’s the first time I’ve read this author and it certainly won’t be my last I found it very addictive and couldn’t wait to read more, poor Jennifer a very complex person who was a housing manager for Housing Association when she had a terrible and shocking discovery but nothing is as it seems which you will soon find out it was very enjoyable and can’t wait to read more from this author and want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy.