A slow burn of a book that picks up pace and starts running! If you like a good psychological thriller, you won't go wrong with this one!

This book was so dark and Resort but in a way I really struggle with. I find it hard to explain, so I doubt this review will be succinct in any way. I struggle with physiological, thriller type books like this when I don’t really have any idea what’s happening during it and this is one of those instances. Granted, it could just be me not really understand it but I feel it spoiled the book for me a bit. I didn’t hate it by any means, I was just confused the whole time

I was lucky to get to listen the new audiobook Safe and Sound by Philippa East. However, It took awhile for me to get into this audio, as I wasn't sure of the narrator Josephine Arden at the beginning but I warmed to her and enjoyed the way she told the story. This new book by Philippa covers many topics associated with Anxiety, Postnatal depression, and Thanatophobia - Fear of death. So in the end I enjoyed this book.

Thoroughly recommended and don't give up on the narrator.

I would like to thank NetGalley, HQ and the author Philippa East for my ARC audio Safe And Sound in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story a lot! The plot was complex and really sad but also extremely interesting and thought-provoking. Hearing about similar real-life cases - it makes you realise how possible it really is.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me on my seat and had me wanting more and more. I think I guessed where it was going about half way through but that didn't detract from it in anyway. Thoroughly recommended

Audio ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review



Audio review - the narrator was a good choice, infusing the jittery, illogical voice of the MC with just enough emotion and managing variations in the voices of other characters, as well as a convincing childish voice for the sections from Prin's pov. Would happily listen to her again.



Review of the story - this is different from other thrillers in that it gets the entirety of its impetus from the MC's own fears; her interpretation of events as she desperately runs from her own past. It's a compelling read, and despite not really liking the MC most of the time, I did want to follow her and find out what was going to happen next. Jennifer Arden suffers from anxiety. Her life is closed, self contained and excludes everyone except her eight-year-old son, Charlie. The portrayal of severe anxiety is very accurate, however it made for an extremely claustrophobic read. We're pretty much locked in Jen's head with her for the entire book and her head is not a happy place to be. I felt sorry for her - most of us will experience clinical anxiety and/ or depression at some point, and it's not logical; you have to make logical choices when it's happening even if you can no longer make sense of why. That said, I also chafed in her pov - perhaps that was the point? I will advise that if you suffer from anxiety you proceed with care in reading this because the portrayal is so realistic it may be triggering to some people.



Anyway, Jennifer works as a building manager for an agency that lets out flats. When a tenant fails to pay rent for months and does not respond to notices for payments, Jen is forced to attend the sight as bailiffs break in. The tenant has died and as Jen finds out more about her life, she realises how much it parallels her own. Something has finally broken through Jen's bubble and she's determined to find out how and why the tenant died in the circumstances she did.



It's clever how the thriller aspect of the book is driven by Jen's anxiety - it really is a different psychological thriller in that respect. But as previously mentioned, it makes for uncomfortable reading at times. I don't want to spoilify anyone so I'll stop there. Suffice to say that this was well plotted, fast paced and very internal in its character journey. I enjoyed it. Recommend if you want to try a different sort of thriller.

Jenn is a housing manager who discovers one of her tenants has lain dead in her flat for 10 months and nobody missed her. The woman, Sarah Jones, seemed to be a happy and sociable young woman and so Jenn decides to try to find out what happened, whilst also dealing with her own issues.

This is a slow burner which grew on me throughout the book. It is beautifully written on two timelines with two different stories, and it isn't until the very end of the book that we discover how the two stories are linked. The book deals with the difficult subject of mental health, and how quickly it can deteriorate with catastrophic consequences. This is a gripping and heartbreaking thriller that deserves a read or listen.

I really enjoyed the narration by Josephine Arden.

I particularly enjoyed this as an audiobook, the narrator was great and definitely bought the story alive.
The story itself is complex, enjoyable and keeps your attention.

A woman's body lies undiscovered in her flat for 10 months. When Jen, her housing officer, discovers the macabre scene when issuing a payment notice she becomes embroiled in a search to discover how this terrible thing could have happened. How is it possible for no one to have missed this woman? Where are her friends family, colleagues? How can someone be so completely alone in the world?

Although the story is a slow burner I was utterly gripped from the first page. As Jen loses herself in the search for this mystery woman's life, her own life begins to unravel. The tension that builds throughout the novel is unbearable. The strength of emotions that the reader encounters ranges from outrage, disbelief, sympathy to soul wrenching sadness.

The novel takes you on a journey through violence, mental health issues from anxiety to post natal depression to dealing with abject loneliness.

Jen's story affected me incredibly deeply and will stay with me for a very long time.

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review "Safe and Sound".

To begin with I was really gripped, finding a dead body that has been there for months, that's crazy, very gripping. But as the story went on I found it completely lost me attention unfortunately.

A gripping thriller that kept me guessing until the end!

I enjoyed how the present and past storylines were presented together; this was an effective way of keeping the suspense as more and more information was revealed.

I listened to this story as an audiobook and thought the narrator perfectly captured the characters.

Not sure if it was the fact that I listened on audio, but I really struggled to focus with this book.
The narrator was good, but I felt the book was lacking something.
Great research done and the author obviously used their work experience in the story which was obvious.

Safe and Sound was an average read for me. The beginning was promising, with a build up of mystery and suspense, which unfortunately didn’t develop into anything. The pace was slow and I couldn’t relate to the characters as there was no depths to any of them. There’s not much happening in the middle of the book apart from the main character’s constant elucidation. Two main narratives didn’t quite connect and the whole book seemed a little disjointed as a result. There were quite a few inaccuracies which also put me off. I listened to this on audio and perhaps I would’ve have enjoyed reading the story more as I didn’t particularly like the narrator.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy.

I felt this book dragged on a bit although the storyline was good with a nice twist. I did not like the main character. 3* from me. Review posted on Goodreads.

My thanks to Netgalley for my audio copy of Safe and Sound. This is an interesting book which keeps the reader guessing right up until the end. Unfortunately that end seemed a very long time coming. The narrator was easy to listen to but I would have preferred her to use her lispy child's voice only when a child was speaking rather than narrate the Prin and Jane chapters in that manner.

Jennifer Arden is just doing her job as a Housing Association worker. The time had come for the bailiffs to be called, so here they all were outside the flat. What Jennifer finds inside sends her life into a downward spiral. How could a young woman's body lie undiscovered in a flat for 10 months? Did she, Jenn, let her down? Where were the woman's friends and why was the table set for 3? The police were happy with natural causes but Jennifer just couldn't settle.
This book is primarily told from the point of view of Jennifer. We are very much inside her head which is quite confused for much of the time. Jenn has her own mental health problems, family problems, a young son to care for and the obsession around Sarah Jones, the young woman found dead in her flat. At times this was actually quite uncomfortable and difficult listening.
There are small sections of this book which are from an unspecified time in someone's past. They tell of 2 children, Prin and Jane, and what happens in their young lives. We are not privy to who these children become until the end.
I did enjoy this book despite feeling very uncomfortable in places. The world was just so hard for Jenn and seeing inside her mind was quite upsetting. The struggle making friends, the professionals who were there to help her but allowed her to slip through her fingers. Her strange and irrational behaviour was difficult but understandable when seeing it from inside Jennifer's head. Sometimes I just wanted to hug her.
The story itself was well constructed. What do we know of other people's lives? Usually just what they tell us which isn't always accurate. This book was definitely a bit different.
I listened to this as an unabridged audio book. I found that the narrator's voice worked very well with the character of Jenn. The anxiety that was inside Jennifer's mind really came through.
I would certainly read another book by this author.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

‘ Safe and Sound’ is a novel that really works as an audiobook. I found myself really looking forward to delving back into it at every opportunity.

The plot centres around troubles Jennifer, a property manager who has the misfortune to discover the corpse of a tennant who died several months previously. Strangely the morbid scene is set for a dinner party laid out for guests who seemingly never appeared. Jennifer becomes curious to discover more about the life, and demise of this person, she later discovers is a young woman called Sarah.

Not satisfied with the police’s attempts to discover the truth behind Sarah’s death Jennifer starts her own investigation, meeting significant people from Sarah’s life along the way, each of whom offer breadcrumbs which ultimately uncover the truth behind this suspicious death.

What makes this novel unique is that there is relatively little connection between Jennifer and Sarah meaning that as the book continues you have absolutely no idea where it will lead! This made the book utterly gripping.

There are ‘back then’ chapters alluding to the childhood of one of the main characters (we dont learn who until the conclusion of the story), and throughout the book I found myself trying to work out who this related to! I wasn’t keen on the little girl voice used to narrate this, but have to concede that it did help distinguish from the main voice of Jennifer used to narrate the rest of the book.

We are also privy to the inner life of Jennifer, who suffers from mental health issues, as such we are never really sure what is real, and what is perhaps embellished in the highly stressed mind of single mum Jennifer. She appears very concerned about the wellbeing of her son, Charlie, is this justified or paranoia?

Overall this is an audiobook I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend and I look forward to enjoying more from this author.

My thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this audiobook in exchange for an advance copy.

What a book! I found it impossible to put down for the two days it took me to go through it.

It feels as though this book covers so many topics in it's story, from anxieties to the shock of finding something you never thought you'd see. It's a roller-coaster of a ride and I spent my team both willing the main character to succeed in finding the truth, whilst also willing her to stay well away from the chaos it was clear it would bring!

Unforgettable.

Narrator
5 stars!! Josephine Arden was absolutely brilliant!!! I would gladly buy audiobooks narrator by her. Josephine has such a soothing and stunning voice!!

Story
4 stars!! This is my first book by Philippa East and at around the 50% mark I went to Amazon and brought her first book (which I'll promptly be listening to after this review)
The story was really good and engaging, however I think It would have been 5 stars if it progressed just a little quicker.

A good story, all tied up neatly at the end. Intriguing look at mental health and you feel for Jen.

The premise is a good one, body found in a flat Jen looks after the tenancy for a housing association. The body had been there months laying undiscovered and there begins the mystery that for Jen is like an itch she struggles not to scratch.

All the while battling demons of her own.

The only slight criticism for me, would be that the narrator had a very sing song voice, perfect for an uplifting book or romcom for instances, but didn't lend itself to a thriller I found. Didn't distract from the story, only with creating atmosphere for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Philippa for an advance copy of Safe & Sound