Kate’s elder sister disappeared when she was nine years old. She adored her and she never got over it. Fact is, nobody seems to know what happened to her but everybody thinks she just left and never looked back. Her family never recovered and as a result their parents kept Kate close to them. At twenty-five she still lives at home and her parents monitor her every move. When Kate gets a tip that her sister was seen by somebody at the Camden Market in London, Kate finally manages to get away from home. She lives in a share and works in a shitty café and she hardly makes end meet. One day a woman approaches her while she is at work and seems to sense Kate’s misery. She invites her so join her self-help group. Della, that’s her name, seems to take a special interest in Kate. Kate is flattered and gets more and more involved in Della’s picture perfect family with a handsome husband and two adorable children. Della then invites Kate to join them on their annual eight weeks holiday in their house in France as a nanny. Kate needs the money and she definitely wants to spend more time with Della and her family. But soon it turns out, like always, that not everything is as it seems.

I read some books with really annoying characters lately. Kate surely is among my top three of stupid female protagonists in a book. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a character making one stupid decision after the other. Kate is so naïve, so not prepared for the real life, it is unbelievable. Nothing makes sense in this far-fetched story. I will not get into much detail because it would be full of spoilers then. But seriously, this story makes no sense. Kate’s family, especially her mother kept some secrets and I really don’t know why. At least telling one of them would have helped Kate to understand the disappearance of her sister and therefore with her mental health. I really can’t understand why her mother kept her suffering like that other than to keep her under her wing as long as possible. And that is pathetic. Della stayed a secret for me. She is cold and manipulative and shows clearly signs of being a psychopath. But Kate really is the annoying factor in this book.

The story also dragged a bit and I never found myself captivated by it. It is so unlikely and, I am repeating myself, Kate is so stupid, I never connected to any character. I saw the twists coming and was not surprised by the end. I found it unsatisfying that not all is tied up at the end. There are a lot of loose ends after the last page. What annoyed me as well was, especially in the first half of the book, every chapter ended with some kind of foreboding sentence like “if I knew then what I know now”. That got boring after a while. Also I wondered if Kate was not able to use a mobile phone properly. She uses a laptop for skype but obviously she is not able to make some internet research or stay in contact with family and friends via WhatsApp or text message. She never seems to have heard of Facebook etc. These are such normal things for most people it seems fallen out of time that Kate did not even think about it.

I must say I did not enjoy this book. I found it almost boring, highly unrealistic and predictable. It promised more that it could fulfill at the end.

Kate has been trying to find her sister and not living her own life wrapped up in her desperate search. Then she comes across Della and her group. Maybe this will give her the start she needs. Soon though she gets far too involved and learns things are much worse than she could ever have imagined.

This was an interesting and dark thriller. Its a slow burn story but slowly draws you into the plot. I enjoyed it but I found Kate and her actions hard to follow at times. Maybe I'm too cynical or have read too many stories like this but her actions just belied belief at times. I couldnt find a way to like or feel sorry for her, despite everything she went through. The ending was interesting but again her actions leave a lot to be desired. The writing is good and the character of Della is written really well. A good thriller if you look past Kate's behaviour.

I was up until the wee small hours finishing this because I just had to see how it ended. Really creepy, insidious vibe to this as the main character gets sucked in to the life of someone who seemed to have it all. Great thriller.

I knew Della shouldn't be trusted but as with all good psychological thrillers it was hard to put your finger on exactly why to begin with. The adoration of Della by "The Janes" and the competitive nature of their supposed life coaching sessions makes you want to scream at them for being so gullible but at the same time they step off the pages as people who just want to fit in with the in crowd.
Kate's desperation to solve the mystery of her sisters disappearance, her own fragile mental health and her naivety over the strings being manipulated by Della lead her to make some really bad decisions.
A real one-sitting page turner!

I LOVED this. Such an original story, very dark, psychological, twisty thriller.

A very, very impressive debut novel from Charlotte Northedge, I will definitely look out for future books from her.

**potential spoiler at the end of review**

Kate trusted Della, Della’s motives aren’t quite what they seem!

I found this a very cleverly written and thought out story. The storyline is quite different and yet thrilling. There’s something suspicious about Della’s motives for her life coaching sessions!

As the story unravels things started to slowly become clearer and you could sort of see how the story was going to pan out. But I couldn’t help but feel so frustrated with Kate!! Could someone really be that naive!? I wanted to jump in and open her eyes.

The ending shocked me, I wasn’t expecting it although it does kind of hint throughout that Della knew more about Scarlett than she let on!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

When an old school friend contacts Kate to tell her that she has seen Scarlett, Kates sister that disappeared fifteen years ago, she feels compelled to look for her. Once Scarlett had gone, it felt like the rest of the family could not move past it. Kate had only been ten at the time but had since suffered from depression. There had been a time when she had to stay in a psychiatric unit for a while. Kate did not want to raise her parents’ hopes, so had kept the sighting to herself. Kate moved to London to try and find Scarlett and got work there.

Della Hunter, a well-known life coach, had called into the cafe where Kate was working and suggested that Kate looked like she needed to talk to someone. Della invited her to join her ‘Janes group’ where women could open up to each other, without knowing their true identity. Kate soon felt a strong connection with Della, and a strange relationship began.

I thought that this book sounded good, but I was wrong. It was brilliant. I must admit to feeling quite smug thinking that I knew where this story was going, but I was PC Plod at the side of Sherlock Holmes, where solving this mystery was concerned.

The characters are transparent in so many ways, and yet we all play different roles to people and depending on who we are with determines the role we play. There are some great characters in this story that you see many sides too. It has its shocks and wow moments that I had to read again. I do like twisty chapters that take me by surprise, and this has more than its share.

A highly recommended read. Excellent story.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book, which I have reviewed honestly.

This book begins when Kate, new to London, meets Della a glamorous life coach and begins attending her self help groups. Kate hears warnings from the other groups members but chooses to ignore them and quickly becomes immersed into Della's life.

I really enjoyed this book and liked how the plot got quite dark at times, I found it quite original and I was gripped throughout. Northedge included so many twists and a lot happens in this book which left me unable to predict what would happen next. Northedge has a really good writing style, the plot was easy to follow and I was able to picture the characters and setting clearly which added tension throughout.

I both liked and disliked the main character Kate. I found I could sympathise with her but also found her actions frustrating, nearer to the end I felt like shouting at her and was willing for her to be ok! I did find some parts of the plot a little rushed however, I did still really enjoy it and was left wanting more as the ending was very clever.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller including those written by Harriet Tyce, Claire Mackintosh and Heidi Perks. A huge thank you to Netgalley, Harper Fiction and Harper Fiction UK for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unedited feedback.

This was a dark and twisted read. It hooked me from start to finish. It has very sinister vibes throughout and I had no idea what was going to haooen next.

This book was so original! I have never read a storyline like this and it was so refreshing for a thriller/mystery sort of book.

Throughout I just wanted to push on and see exactly what was going on. I could have never guessed the twist in this book and Charlotte did such a great job of creating this story you couldn’t put down.

Based on the ending, I do hope there will be a follow up book.

I’m obviously not going to go into detail as I would hate to spoil this wonderful book for anyone else! Thank you so much to Harper Collins for gifting this to me

The idea behind this story was good, and it is well-written, but I found it hard to get into. I found the main character rather irritating, and a lot of things just seemed unbelievable. It would probably be a good holiday book but I wouldn't recommend it.

The story is told from the point of view of the main character, Kate. It’s split into four parts. It is well written and I liked the writing style. All through the early chapters there are hints of what is to come, which keeps you interested and curious as to what will happen next. The story flows well and has a good ending. Thank you #netgalley

One of those thrillers where you just can't put your finger on what's happening, so close to working it out and then a twist...

Della is a successful life coach and invites Kate into her coaching group, but are her motives all that they seem? Before long Kate is spending more and more time with the family, even sharing their holiday. Why?

A great new thriller.

In The House Guest, 25-year old Kate is invited to France for the summer by Della, a charismatic life coach, ostensibly to look after Della’s children. But Kate is also encouraged to see herself as a guest, and the boundaries continue to blur as she becomes embroiled within the family, eventually crossing a line from which there’s no return. In one scene, Kate is expected to serve drinks to the family’s guests before being invited to join them for a casual dinner. In another, she is left to rescue Della’s son from the swimming pool, while Della sits by, preoccupied, on her laptop.

Kate judges Della for her lack of interest in her own children, just as Emira judges Alix. Though at least Emira is allowed to wear her own clothes to the Thanksgiving dinner – usually, as her boyfriend points out, Alix makes her wear “a uniform”. In Alix’s eyes, the embroidered polo shirts she leaves lying around are a handy way for Emira to keep her clothes clean, but he accuses Alix of “hiring black people to raise your children and putting your family crest on them”. A gritty, sinister and deeply compulsive thriller featuring a master manipulator. Highly recommended.

Kate is working in a low-paid job – waitressing in a very ordinary café in London. She isn’t paid much but it has allowed her to leave her parental home and come to London. It is clear from the outset that Kate is unhappy and lonely. She had hoped to find a better job, and she had hoped to find a better place to live – currently she is house-sharing with Liam and others. The house sounds awful, mould on the walls etc. She is barely making enough to feed herself. Her hopes and dreams was to find a way to further her writing career whilst in London. Her other, more pressing need is to find her missing sister, who had left home when Kate was a child – without explanation, without getting in touch. Kate is convinced that she will be able to find her. Plus she is worrying about her parents, Dad has Parkinson’s Disease and Mum is his carer – but they will eventually need funds for more help. Kate had hoped that she would be able to provide. Clearly she has plenty on her mind.

At work she watches the yummy mummies. Groomed, glossed, confident – the have-it-alls, emphasising her lack, her failure. Then one day she is approached by one of these dazzling women. Slowly Della, who is a bit of a celebrity, a life-guru persuades Kate to join her classes with other similar women – classes to be held in her magnificent North London home. Poor Kate is mesmerised by the perfect home, perfect family, perfect husband. How does Della do it?

Wow, I loved this book. I couldn’t wait to read it, didn’t want to stop reading it. I was intrigued and whilst I queried decisions Kate made, I didn’t project forward enough and try to figure out what was going on. Sure, it was clear Della was not the gorgeous person she projected, but what was the agenda. As for Kate. She needed a good dose of reality – not the reality she was thinking – but good sense. Working my way through the book I would think ‘well that’s a bit odd, why would he/she/they do that’ or ‘Kate, think what you are doing’. Or ‘why doesn’t Kate tell Della ‘that’s not on’.

One, tiny, tiny niggle. I was surprised at the twists and secrets that were exposed at the end of the book, and I can see why Della did what she did, but I couldn’t understand it, didn’t understand how she would want to do that.

Would not hesitate to recommend it and I think it would make a brilliant film.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I struggled to get into this as the build up was quite slow with little to hold my interest. I persevered and the pace and promise picked up during the middle section. An interesting idea of how a person can be easily manipulated when they truly believe that their life can improve and that they can escape the drudgery of their mundane existence. A rather sad tale that may have become rather far fetched in places and had an ending that left many questions unanswered. Far too many suggestions, characters and ideas were not returned to in the final pages and for me, this left me quite unsatisfied.

This book didn't really work for me. I just couldn't get in to it and didn't really relate to or like any of the characters.

When Kate moves to London fifteen years after the disappearance of her sister Scarlett, she’s in need of a friend. A chance meeting leads Kate to Della, a life coach who runs support groups for young women, dubbed by Kate as ‘the Janes.’ Della takes a special interest in Kate, and Kate soon finds herself entangled in Della’s life – her house, her family, and her husband. It’s only when she realises that she’s in too deep that Della’s veneer begins to crumble.
A well written debut novel, which I found to be compelling reading, it wasn’t a comfortable read but I was loathe to put it down. The characterisations are good & Della goes from being likeable to well read it to find out but a cat toying with a mouse sprang to mind. There are twists & turns in this engrossing read. An accomplished first novel & I look forward to reading more from the author
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

This is a story that changes from a group of women discussing their problems with Della their group leader in to a creepy mystery.
Motherhood and the kidnap of a child features strongly. A lost sister in London brings Kate to the group but she feels the creepy atmosphere immediately but sticks it out to find the answers she needs. These answers to the mystery when they come are shocking and there are no happy endings for anyone but Della who controls them all.
This is a dark story with obsessions and dysfunctional families at the heart of the mystery. Brilliantly written and creati8ng believable characters make this a must read thriller

Relatable characters and a well thought out plot make this psychological suspense an absorbing, chilling and sometimes poignant story.

Kate's sister left home when she was ten, and she never saw her again. She spent her subsequent years making up for her sister's disappearance whilst never recovering emotionally from her loss. As an adult, Kate is in London pursuing a lead about her missing sister. She is vulnerable when she meets life coach Della, who draws her into her life like a spider capturing prey into their web.

The story takes many unexpected twists seen from Kate's viewpoints but remains believable because of unreliable protagonist Kate's sense of abandonment and susceptibility to manipulation. Themes of societal expectation of women, social class, family relationships, obsession and loss are recurrent. As the story progresses, the noir elements dominate, making it both addictive and disturbing to read.

The ending is impactful and offers hope and a sense of closure for both Kate and Della.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.