Cover Image: Both of You

Both of You

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

As always this author does domestic darkness really well - and loved the detail. I found Kylie slightly hard to sympathise with and I did guess Fiona was behind her disappearance and I found it frustrating that the ending felt a bit rushed. But the writing was as pacey as ever and her characterisation and descriptive passages were excellent.

Was this review helpful?

I have read a few of Adele Park's books and found them all very entertaining. This one is no exception. Her characters are not likable but the plots are well-paced and gripping. The story is not really believable and the resolution and twist at the end is predictable, but I stayed up half the night reading it!

Was this review helpful?

Leigh Fletcher loves her husband Mark and her two step sons. Mark knows she would never willingly leave them. He is convinced something has happened to her. DC Clements is sent to look into her alleged disappearance but can’t find any reason to believe there’s been foul play. A few days later, she is sent to deal with Daan Jannsen, who is reporting his wife, Kai missing. Again the husband is convinced she wouldn’t just leave him. DC Clements begins to feel there could be a connection between the two disappearances only a few days apart, but her boss isn’t convinced they are even missing.

This is an interesting read. You start off being a bit sorry for Leigh, a second wife, step mum to two growing boys who are beginning to test boundaries, but as the story goes on opinions begin to change. Mark should have been easy to like but he seems all surface nicety with dark and brooding moods that make him more a villain than a victim. Kai appears to have it all, lives for the moment and appears to be living her best life. Daan is obsessed with her but I still couldn’t really empathise with him. The writing as always is excellent, the story gets darker the longer it goes on. The relationships of the two couples is complex, yet both seem superficial at times. I liked the twists, even though I worked them out fairly early on. However the ending was still unexpected. Worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Was this review helpful?

What a twisted read! I’ve never read a book by this author before but I definitely will be checking out more of her books after reading this one.

I went from feeling bad for Leigh to disliking her. The same with Kai. I was quite shocked when I thought I’d figured out who had done it but the author kept me second guessing and twisting the plot until I was left mouth gaping. The ending is left quite open so we can decide what comes next for ourselves. I loved this! I questioned everything and everyone as I was reading it. The author did a marvellous job of confusing me so I had no idea who was the bad character or characters.

My recommendation is to go into this one totally blind! Five stars from me!

ARC kindly provided by Netgalley.

Was this review helpful?

Adele Parks is one author that I have never got around to reading and I don’t really understand why. ‘Both of You’ is a genuine page turner and I read it very quickly as I wanted to know what was going to happen. Good characters, addictive plot and plenty of suspense. I did actually guess the ending but I didn’t see that a a negative thing.

The happily married mother and stepmother Leigh Fletcher goes missing leaving her two boys and husband Mark devastated. That same week a wealthy Dutch businessman Kai Janssen reports his wife has also gone missing. Both men are shell shocked.

DC Clements is investigating and is suspicious of two women living completely different lives going missing in the very same week. Are they connected, DC Clements suspects they maybe.

This was a very good thriller and I am already looking for the next Adele Parks book to read.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and HQ for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Set in London in late March 2020, the country is starting to go into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic when two married women mysteriously disappear, leaving their partners distraught and a case for PC Clements to investigate which becomes increasingly puzzling and suspicious. I found this whodunit quite entertaining but overly implausible.

Was this review helpful?

I was very excited to read a new book by Adele Parks, and this one had a great story. However, I found the book much less compelling than her other novels. All the main characters were completely unappealing, which made it hard to care about them. I quickly guessed the plot, and the whole thing felt a bit half-hearted. Even the references to Covid felt a bit forced. I hope the author's next book is back up to her usual standard.

Was this review helpful?

Both Leigh and kai happily married living in London both go missing in the same week is this just a coincidence!

Well this kept me hooked all the way though, I was totally invested into the lives of Leigh and Kai.

I really enjoy Adele's books they never let you down, gripping with a fantastic ending.

Highly recommended
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Was this review helpful?

Phew – I’m drained! I enjoyed this book right from the start, but when it got to a third of the way through it REALLY kicked off. I haven’t read an Adele Parks novel before this one, but it certainly won’t be my last. What a sensational writer! I love it when you just know a story is going to be good, and you do absolutely nothing else until you’ve finished reading it. I don’t repeat book descriptions – you must have read it otherwise you wouldn’t be reading the reviews. All I want to know when I read a review is ‘How good was it/were you gripped/was it exciting/did it keep you guessing/was it well written?’ The answer to all those is ‘Yes!’. The writing was amazing (raunchy in places), and so was the idea behind the story. The characters were so well described that you felt you knew them all personally. I had sympathy and empathy for them all (except for one), and the ending was a complete shock (sort of!). I was a tad disappointed that everything wasn’t exactly ‘wrapped up’ - you’ll know what I mean when you read it – but it didn’t spoil the experience at all. So many twists and turns and heart-wrenching moments. Just fabulous!

Was this review helpful?

I really struggled to finish this book because I found all of the characters to be self centred, self absorbed and completely unlikable in every way.
While the concept is clever and the writing good you have to care about the characters to engage with a story and unfortunately I just didn't.

Was this review helpful?

So intriguing, so immersive, so gripping. Tense and oh so clever. A real story of our times; I absolutely loved it.

Was this review helpful?

Leigh Fletcher and Kai Janssen and both happily married but they go missing in the same week. Did they suddenly decide to walk out on their husbands? Have they been abducted? Are they dead? It is DC Clements job to find out. As she begins her investigation into what happened to Leigh and Kai she discovers a shocking connection between them. As the country is about to go into lockdown can she discover their whereabouts before it’s too late?

A compulsive read with a great twist.

Was this review helpful?

I have absolutely loved reading Both of You by and still keep thinking about the ending! It was just so clever!

This story focuses on two women who have been reported missing by their husbands on the same day. Leigh Fletcher is happily married to Mark and step-mother to Oli and Seb, who travelled away for work as usual, but never came home. Kai Janssen is happily married to wealthy Dutch businessman Daan. She has left their luxurious penthouse behind and seems to just have vanished into thin air. When DC Clements is informed of both disappearances she is of course very aware of how, far too frequently, people disappear. Although Leigh and Kai are from very different worlds, she cannot ignore her gut instinct that their disappearances could be connected. After all, how could the two women walk away from their families, their husbands and their homes so willingly? DC Clements is therefore determined to uncover the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may turn out to be.

I was immediately intrigued by the opening of this book, set on Tuesday 17th March 2020, where a woman is lying on a concrete floor, chained to a radiator. Who was she, where was she and how had she ended up there? I really liked how the story then went back in time to Sunday 15th March 2020 where we got to meet Leigh and gain an insight into her life and how she met her husband Mark. A little while later, there was then a chapter from Mark’s perspective on Thursday 19th March 2020, when he reports Leigh missing. This was then mirrored when we got to meet Kai and learn what she was doing on Sunday 15th March 2020, details about her life and also how she met her husband Daan.

Right from the beginning I was invested in both characters and why they had disappeared. It was really effective having their different chapter perspectives. As the story evolved I also liked the insight chapters from the perspective of DC Clements, Leigh’s step-son Oli and her best friend Fiona and Kai’s husband Daan, gave. There was so much depth to all of the characters in this book too and their emotions, thoughts and feelings leapt of the page.

I absolutely loved the twist at the end of Chapter 15! It totally blew me away and I just didn’t see it coming at all. It was one of my favourite moments in the book! There were so many more great surprises as the story continued and I loved how I didn’t know what to expect next! The little references to the pandemic and impending lockdown given the week in which this story was set, were also clever to have been included.

I also really liked how Adele’s incredible writing kept me wary throughout and my suspicions were constantly changing as the story progressed. As more and more details were revealed I found myself constantly making u-turns on my beliefs about certain characters. Nothing could have prepared me for the ending and the truth that was revealed though! I was shocked as I had only ever had a very fleeting suspicion about this person and then dismissed it again! It was just so incredibly clever!

This intriguing and at times dark and tense story has had me hooked from beginning to end. I cannot recommend it enough!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. This one didn't do it for me. I usually love her books so was very disappointed. I felt it dragged on, there wasn't a lot of suspense, and utterly predictable. This was a wonderful idea for a book but I felt she gave up the plot way too early. She should have left the big reveal about the two women until the end. Just not for me.

Was this review helpful?

Adele Parks had totally outdone herself with this incredible thriller! The seemingly unrelated disappearance of two women is the crux of this story, and there are plenty of twists and surprises along the way!

Was this review helpful?

I loved this book. It was so compulsively readable and hard to put down. Adele's writing is just absolutely brilliant, I've been reading her books for about 15 years now and always know I'm going to get something good when I start a new one.

The characters were really well described and I could picture them all easily. I thought the balance between background and current action was just right and allowed us the perfect insight into how the characters found themselves in the positions they were in. It's hard to say much about the story without spoilers, but it really was gripping and I was desperate to find out how it all worked out. I can't say I liked the main character as I thought her choices were selfish and unjustifiable, but she was definitely interesting to read about. I loved how the author worked covid into the story as well, it's the first book I've read where it has been acknowledged. I understand that it is easier for an author to pretend it doesn't exist but it definitely added that layer of realism.

My only negative is that the ending was left a bit too open for me. I get that the reader is supposed to draw their own conclusions but I personally favour more closure than that.

I would absolutely recommend this book, I thought it was fantastic.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed this book & will definitely read more by Adele Parks. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Was this review helpful?

Leigh is a very happy stepmum and wife – she has two boys she’s raised from their young childhood and a husband, Mark, who adores her. But Leigh hasn’t returned home from work in a few days and no one has heard from her, leaving the family at a loss as to what to do. Meanwhile, Daan Janssen’s wife, Kai, has also gone missing. The police are aware that people disappear all the time, with many choosing to leave their lives no matter how perfect they look on the outside. But when DC Clements is tasked with the two cases, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Are they connected? And if the women haven’t chosen to walk away from their lives, what could have happened to them? As always with Adele’s books, the writing is tightly written, tense throughout with various twists and turns. You won’t want to take your eyes off the book.

Was this review helpful?

I have not read many of Adele's books but I certainly will be from now on, I flew through this book and couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen. The story is about two women who go missing but in strange circumstances, there is nothing to say they would of just upped and left. They are both happily married and Leigh has two step sons and loves them dearly, so why would she leave? I like how the stories run parallel together, Kai vanishes in the same week Leigh does, what has happened to the two women? will they ever be reunited with their families? Lots of questions remain unanswered until for the police, but time is not on their side, can they find the women before it is too late? A very tense and gripping read that you wont want to put down, I certainly didn't.

Was this review helpful?