Fantastic book , kept me hooked from beginning to end , such a great page turner . I have read many books by this author and they are all so good. I love a book that keeps you guessing right to the end and this certainly did not disappoint. Great story and characters. Highly recommend reading this book.

K.L. Slater’s Message Deleted is an unsettling psychological thriller that hooked me from the synopsis. When Saffy receives a mysterious, deleted text from her life-long friend Leona, she rushes to help, only for Leona and her family to disappear shortly after. As the police start to suspect Saffy, her world begins to unravel.

The novel alternates between the present day and flashbacks to Saffy and Leona’s past, slowly revealing their complicated friendship. Saffy’s character is relatable, navigating trauma, family strain, and her desperate attempts to maintain control of her life. The sibling dynamic with her younger sister, Poppy, adds emotional depth and felt believable.

Whilst I found the pacing quite slow, the story’s twists and suspense kept me engaged, although I felt the ending was a little disjointed. Overall, Message Deleted offers a solid, twisty read that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers.

Rating: 4/5
N.B. A trigger warning might’ve been nice for people who have been in abusive relationships or have dealt with psychological abuse.

Unsettling and twisty read.

Saffy is just about to enter a job interview when she receives panicked messages from her best friend, Leona, which are instantly deleted. Sick with worry, she rushes to help, only to find she denies sending the messages.

The next thing she knows, Leona has disappeared along with her family, and the police have their sights set on Saffy as their number one suspect.

Saffy's sister, Poppy, is 11 years younger and was treated much more favourably ever since she was born shortly after their father died. She continues to be carefree and entitled while Saffy is filled with anxiety prompted by years of conditioning. When their mother died, Saffy became Poppy's legal guardian, a responsibility which she takes very seriously, and which Poppy is impatient to escape.

Having experienced a mental health crisis which was followed by a divorce, Saffy is desperately trying to cling onto her job and to continue being allowed to see her son. Her ex-husband is now engaged to the nanny, living in their former home, and Saffy seems to have little control over her own life, while the former nanny can do no wrong. The continued police interest puts everything that matters to her in jeopardy, while she is consumed with desperately worrying about her friend and young daughter.

Through a series of flashbacks, as well as uncovering the motive for the abduction, we learn about Saffy and Leona's school days and how they came to drift apart.

I loved this book. It grabbed me from the first paragraph and it didn't let go. Loved the plot, the characters and it has plenty of twists and turns. I have loved all of this authors books, I can't wait for the next.

This book was a very enjoyable read. Gripped me from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. Many thanks for the arc!

KL Slater is a great author so I was excited to read this book
I was not disappointed

Brilliant psychological thriller
Well written
Gripping

I always get that thrill of excitement when a new book by this author lands in my TBR pile. From her very first book Safe With Me, they have always been ones to go straight to the top of the pile and this was no exception.

Sadly, this wasn't my favourite of the bunch 😕 I'm not sure whether it was the real slow burn, so it never fully gripped me from the start or the sporadic hits of suspense and tension, it just didn't quite hit the notes I was expecting. The build up was there, when it finally kicked in but then it sort of statics and the ending was just bizarre.

Whilst waiting to be called into a job interview, Saffy recieves a text from her childhood friend Leona... 'can't speak, don't text or call... just come', she drops everything to rush round. Arriving at her home, Leona denies ever sending a text and looking at her phone Saffy realises the text has gone, deleted.

Hours later, Leona and her daughter Rosie are missing with blood trails left at her home. Saffy is now a person of interest.

The beginning and end of the book, in my opinion, felt completely disjointed, as if they were two different books altogether.

3.5⭐️ based on the good stuff being good but the bad stuff being awful.

Thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random Books for the ARC.

Perfectly thrilling. Loads of twists and turns.

A proper psychological thriller.

Nail biting and plenty of intrigue and drama.

Highly recommended, 5 stars from me.

I loved the premise of this book, and I was hooked from the beginning. I felt for the main character but the police interactions I found far fetched and the ending was a let down for me after what had been an incredibly enjoyable book. As a fan of K L Slater I did enjoy the book but the ending was a disappointment for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Message Deleted by K L Slater in return for my honest review.
The bio of this book had me intrigued and I was hooked from the beginning there are some interesting twist and turns in this story, although I did find it a little bit slow in places it was an interesting read that I recommend reading.

Cleverly written and kept you guessing. A great story teller and you warmed to the characters and the twists and turns kept you gripped throughout.

A great read and will read more by the author.

This modern day thriller was full of mystery, twists and turns - I enjoyed the multiple POVs and flashbacks, and felt that they really added to the suspense.

Without spoiling the story, I did figure some things out before they were revealed, but there were still enough surprises in the story to keep me on my toes!

Definitely recommended for thriller fans!!

I was really interested in this one based on the description but unfortunately I think it just wasn’t for me.

The interactions with the police didn’t make sense to me. The characters were annoying so I struggled to champion any of them.

I’ve read other reviews and I definitely seem to be in the minority with my feelings on this one and I hope the book does well.

Many thanks to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Messaged Deleted..

I regard myself as one of K.L Slator biggest fans. So for me picking this book up is like Christmas. It literally took me a matter of hours to read this as I get so addicted.

The amount of twists, lies and secrets in this book is crazy. No matter what you think you know is going to happen then bang they all come and shock you to the core.

Roll on the next KL Slator book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really enjoyed this great book from KL Slater. Her books always pull me straight in at the start and keep me hooked throughout the storyline with the perfectly crafted characters. The storyline in this one was really engaging and I loved those twists. Fabulous as always and can’t wait til the next.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book. I've read a good few of K.L Slater's books and she always writes a great page turner! Message Deleted had my head spinning by the end! I was hooked from the minute Saffy received that text. I thought the characters were well developed and some of them unlikeable but that added to it! I found the pace slowed a little in parts but there was alot of tense moments that kept me turning the pages. This was definitely my favourite K.L Slater so far.

Huge thanks for the opportunity to read and review!

I haven't read any books by K.L. Slater before so didn't know what to expect but I enjoyed this pacy, tense, psychological thriller.

Initially, I found it hard to get into and had to re-read the opening chapters a few times and also felt the setting could have been stronger, however I liked the premise of the deleted messages so kept going. I was glad I did, because Saffy was an interesting character with a traumatic past and I was rooting for her to find out what happened to Leona and Rosie, as well as overcome her anxieties. The police certainly didn't give Saffy an easy time, and it feels authentic that once they'd made their minds up about what they thought happened, they were single minded in their determination to pursue one suspect, because you hear about this happening in real miscarriages of justice. I also enjoyed Poppy's viewpoint chapters, and the complexity of the sibling relationship between her and Saffy.

The story was multi-stranded and woven together neatly, with a satisfying ending that surprised me slightly (I'd guessed quite a bit of what was going on as I read a lot in this genre, but hadn't put everything together).

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Quite an interesting storyline and characters. I wasn’t sure of which character I liked and kept changing my mind. Quite different from others!

I'm not sure what I expected with this one, but I struggled through it.

When Saffy gets a message from her friend Leona, she's about to head into a job interview but is so unsettled with the 'come now' text that she leaves and heads to her friend's home fearing the worst. However, Leona insists that everything is fine and she knows nothing about any text. Returning to her own home, Saffy frets over what's going one until, that is, a police detective turns up to inform her that Leona and her daughter are missing, leaving blood trails behind - and Saffy was the last person to see her alive . . .

I found that, for me, this one dragged a bit; I was constantly thinking 'get on with it' and annoyed when things kept changing. If you're innocent, why lie to the police? I think, perhaps, it just wasn't one for me. 3.5*.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

While waiting for a job interview, Saffy receives an urgent and troubling text from her best friend, Leona. Rushing out of the interview, Saffy heads to Leona’s house, only to find Leona denying she sent the message. Later that day, Leona, her husband Ash, and their daughter Rosie vanishes, leaving behind a scene marked by blood.

This psychological whodunnit is a gripping thriller that keeps you guessing and second-guessing. From the very first page to the final twist, the story is full of unexpected turns and twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

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