Thank you so much Carys what a terrifying book.

Loved the premise of this book.

I love my wife but not this much. This sorry keeps building and slowly builds into something is more than just hearing and talking with eachother. A brilliant ending.

Cannot wait for Carys next book.

Loved this book! The first chapter pulls you in and makes you want to find out what’s happening. The concept of being able to be ‘one mind’ with your partner due to technology is interesting. Unity, the company who invented the chip that enables this, promotes all the positives of it and even suggests it as an anniversary gift. How can the main protagonists, Anna, refuse when it’s a ten year anniversary gift from her husband Elijah? What unfolds from then on, shows you more of their characters and how guilty Anna feels from something that happened when she was at Uni and how it’s affects their lives. Anna starts to see a different side to Elijah, one she’s starting to fear. If you want to read something a little different then this is for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers (Random House UK, Vintage) for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

"You can her his every thought. But he can hear yours too. "

This book follows Anna and her husband Elijah as they get a revolutionary implant that allows them to hear each other's thoughts. However, when Anna starts getting strange side effects, like seemingly being able to see Elijah's dreams that point to a dark secret from the past, she begins to feel trapped with no escape from her own thoughts.

This was a very interesting concept, with a feeling of something that's possible in the near future. While you were rooting for Anna, and sometimes fearing for her safety, she was by no means depticted as perfect, which fitted well with the overall story plot. The middle of the book seemed a bit predictable, but the ending was a great twist whilst being a good continutation of what had come before it.

Overall a good read, I'd recommend it if you like a mystery.

#AlwaysonMyMind #NetGalley

A toxic, suffocating and obsessive tale about love when it takes over everything, showcasing the darker side of relationships that become possessive, controlling and dangerous in a world of advanced, terrifying technology.

I tell my partner everything, but not my every single thought. The idea of never having a single thought that is just mine e ever again sounds almost like death, like losing your sense of self. But here, the adverts show us a beautiful, useful tool to share your life someone- unless they turn it into a weapon, of course. As soon as we met Elijah, I’m scared. He’s clearly deeply in love with Anna, but acts like he owns her, like she’s a part of him, made from his rib and almost doesn’t hear her when she talks. But then Anna lets on she’s hiding something too …

Switching smoothly between our couples history, their current journey and media snippets about Unity, we build a magnificent, clear picture of the world the author creates, adding a new layer when we move between speaking and thinking. Mundane pictures become strange, concerning, reality becoming slightly distorted as things start to go horribly wrong to create an exciting but uncomfortable tension that builds every page.

I had such mixed feelings about the ending, I loved seeing Anna grow but the final reveals, the wrapping up for me almost felt like I desperately wished for something else to happen.

If you loved the universe in John Marrs' The Marriage Act or Helly Actons The Couple, you’re going to love this.

I found the premise of this book so fascinating and couldn't wait to get stuck in but I don't think it was executed as well as it could have been. There were a few holes and parts of the book that you had to suspend disbelief over and as a result, I just couldn't take it seriously. That's not to say it wasn't an entertaining read but unfortunately I'm just not sure the author is skilled enough to take such a big concept on. This isn't helped by some of the basic writing ("She smiled cutely") either. The plot is pretty predictable and not many of the characters are that likeable. Even Anna it's hard to feel anything over than 'meh' about. An easy read but sadly underwhelming.

Anna and Elijah have been married for 10 years.
Anna would like nothing more than a lovely holiday as a gift for their anniversary however Elijah has other ideas.
He surprises Anna with a Unity chip which enables them to hear each others thoughts.
Anna although very unsure about getting the chip implanted goes along with it for her husband.
However both have secrets they don’t want the other to know.

I loved this book! The idea of the chip letting us hear our partners thoughts is a bit scary as it’s something I can see happening in real life! 🙈

I really want to know the outcome of Elijah!!

I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Netgalley, Carys Green & Random House for this ARC.

Anna, Elijah, Gavin, Oscar and Helen meet in their first year at university and become friends immediately. Although they must have done something useful at university, we only learn that all they do is drink, drink, drink. I’m astonished about the amounts of alcohol they consume daily and sometimes they themselves think so too. That is, if they even can remember how much they drank.
Ten years later Anna married Elijah and Gavin married Helen. What became of Oscar plays a major role in this extremely captivating book. Besides the fact that Elijah and Gavin are now in business, working at the same firm, and Helen also has a high-demanding job somewhere, nothing much has changed. Anna became an artist but she is still struggling and drinking too much. There is a lot of grief in hers and Elijah’s life although she will tell everyone they’re very happy. We, however, read about Elijah being very controlling; Anna is not supposed to turn her telephone off when she’s out, and the whole house is controlled by an app on Elijah’s phone – including the many camera’s with which he can follow her every movement.
The story is set in a future not too far away; all cars and public transportation are electric, nobody smokes but they vape (apparently they are not aware that vaping is more dangerous than smoking, there is not an ounce of meat to be found in their meals – but people are still fond of alcohol and consume this whenever they can.
When Elijah surprises Anna with the latest, a chip in their brains so they can hear each other’s thoughts, Anna immediately has reservations but she just cannot say no to Elijah. And then the troubles begin. The past is creeping up with them but is it the chip? Or just coincidence?
From the first chapter on the tension is building up, and as more and more secrets are revealed, it’s not easy to say which way this will end. Sadly the characters are not very nice people and they keep making the wrong decisions so at the end, which holds a nice little twist, I could not say I was happy for either of them.
I really loved the book, also because it made me think about the books by John Marrs who also writes very suspenseful and surprising books with themes such as this.
Many thanks to Random House and Netgalley for this review copy.

Elijah surprises Anna with the unity chip, giving them access to each other’s thoughts in the hope of being so close they are almost one mind. But with a secret harboured what could possibly go wrong?

I found the concept of the story line to be highly intriguing but the execution of the idea didn’t quite hit the mark. The writing was good but for me the story lacked substance and it felt a little flat.

I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a standard fiction that doesn’t really fall under a specific genre.

Anna is wary when her husband Elijah suggests getting a ground breaking implant that will allow them to hear each other’s thoughts. Feeling as though she owes him she agrees to go ahead but then she starts to get side effects. Will this be good for their marriage or will hey discover the other person’s secrets that are meant to stay hidden?

I was drawn in straight away to the concept of this one as it sounded intriguing and original. This ended up being a fun, thought provoking story, blending thriller with speculative fiction. The idea presented in the story is a scary thought and the way the character’s handled the situations felt very authentic. I actually felt quite stressed out during some parts!

Although there were no major surprises I liked the way the story flowed and was invested in seeing where it would go next, although at times the pacing dipped slightly. I have to say I didn’t love the ending as it seemed really sudden, however I really enjoyed the majority of the story and would definitely recommend this to someone looking for a very unique, futuristic, interesting story. I can’t wait to see what ideas this author comes up with next! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

An exciting, futuristic tale of technology, control and hidden secrets. As I read on, I couldn’t help but imagine this book being adapted for the screen, with an interesting concept that would make a brilliant mini series! Overall, i really enjoyed switching off and sheeting lost in this book!

An insight into what the future could be like. A thought provoking book that was a huge conversation starter for me at home and in work. I love the premise and the way the whole story was told! Will be recommending this to everyone!

Your partner can hear your thoughts. You can hear theirs. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Before reading Always On My Mind, I’ve often thought that I wouldn’t mind knowing what my husband was thinking but I have swiftly changed my mind. Some thoughts should never be shared.

So, the positives. It was an interesting plot that felt very John Marrs’y’ and I’ve loved his dystopian/sci-fi reads so couldn’t wait to pick this one up. I loved how the story played out and how we were drip fed the flaws and faults of the characters. Nothing was given away too quickly.

I absolutely loved the ending. I can’t say too much without going anything away but I outwardly smirked to myself😏.

Now the reason I didn’t rate this higher is because I found it easy to put down and not so easy to pick up. I wish I could pinpoint why. Whilst I enjoyed being drip fed, I do think it was a little slow at times which may contribute towards me not picking up constantly.

Overall a very good read👏🏽.

I did enjoy this book despite the 3 star rating. I read this copy via Netgalley and I'm afraid the experience was severely ruined by the formatting of the eBook. I'm not solely judging the book based on the formatting but I do think if it had been formatted better, I would have connected more with it.

It's an interesting concept. And I did guess a lot of the twists. The MC wasn't exactly likeable either so I struggled to connect with her. However, it's a clever story. I didn't understand the reasoning behind the husband wanting the unity chip. Surely there were easier ways!

Anyway, a decent story but I'm loathe to call it a proper thriller.

Thankyou NetGalley for this arc copy,
This book highlighted the true factors of narcissism; the futuristic undertone reminded me of John marrs, I loved the concept of the book on how the chip was perceived to make the couples life more better and more stronger. Elijah lived up to his name on being a true narcissist, I devoured this book it was a really good read: the deception the secrets and the mid revenge made the book I would highly recommend

I could not put this book down - which is unusual for me when I don't like most of the characters. Elijah is controlling, Anna is a bit of an easily manipulated wimp, Gavin is dull and Helen is two dimensional.

In spite of this I was completely drawn in to this story set in the near future where tech can be so seductive that people are happy to have a chip inserted that means that you and your partner can hear each other's thoughts - surely a terrible idea! What could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot as it turns out. The story rattles on at a rollicking pace with secrets being uncovered as the story moves on.

Some of the story doesn't quite ring true but it is written so well that I read late in to the night and finished it in a couple of days. I would definitely recommend it if you fancy an entertaining read

This sounded perfectly thrilling and really unique. I read A LOT of thrillers, it's probably my most read genre, but after a while they do become a bit samey, but this was completely new for me.

What was worrying is how real this book could be. What with more of our lives being online, there's not much privacy anymore, and so our mind and our thoughts are sacred. And with the inventions in technology and AI, it feels like this sci-fi future could very much become fact.

This is freaky and unfair. It doesn't matter how much you love someone, I wouldn't want them reading every single thought, and that's not because I have anything to hide. It's just an invasion of privacy. Whether it's my friend, my partner, or my Mum, my thoughts are mine alone.

It is mostly set in the present time, but every so often there's a flashback to Anna and Elijah's younger years, as well as testimonials from other people who have had the Unity chip added. This helps add context and backstory to the novel.

It's a slow, careful, psychological thriller. It lulls you in, you get to know these characters, how happy they are, and how surely nothing can go wrong. But slowly, you start to read between the lines. And you realise things are just slightly off. Not enough to notice initially. Like, when you walk into a room and immediately notice something has moved but you're not quite sure what, but it's thrown everything off.

A very strong theme in this book is that of coercive control. It's not that physical violence that we all perceive abuse to be, that isolating fear. But Elijah always wants to know where Anna is, who she's with, what she's doing, and it was him who suggested getting the chip. It's seen as a loving, caring way, that he's worried about her. But it's very subtle, as it can be in real life. It's very powerful and very uncomfortable.

We have four main characters I would say:

Anna is our main woman; I flipped and flopped with her. I felt for her as she was clearly struggling in her professional life and personal life. She's quite subdued, controlled (but she doesn't always realise it). She's a bit naïve and clearly hiding something. But in all, I did feel sympathy towards her.

Then Elijah is Anna's husband. He was a charming, slimy little man. He's charismatic, oozes charm, he worms his way in, but has a short fuse and is clearly very controlling.

And then their friends Helen and Gavin. Gavin was unredeemable for me, for reasons I won't spoil. He tried to win me over but I wasn't having any of it. Helen is Anna's friend and she's like the devil's advocate, questioning everything, not always supportive, but I think her heart is always in the right place.

It's not always believable, and if you focus on those elements then you'll drive yourself mad. Some bits worked better than others and in context of what is a fantasy sci-fi thriller, it works. Just don't think about it too much (pun very much intended).

It is paced well. It's slow enough to let you in, get to know the characters, and feel comfortable in their world, but fast enough to be exciting and frantic.

I read some reviews that said they didn't like the ending, and I'm not sure why. I support it does all end rather abruptly but I'm not sure that's a negative, at least it wasn't for me. I felt the plot interested me and carried on this great storytelling right to the end. A very promising debut.

i was gripped from the beginning with this book straight away you are concerned for the safety of anna and automatically dislike elijah even though you dont know whats going to happen to get to the point in the prologue - the whole concept of unity is interesting hearing another persons thoughts i dont think i could do it.
I am sorta happy with the end but still fearful.

This was super chilling and interesting food for thought, in our world of advancing technology.

Anna and Elijah have been married for ten years. Elijah is…well, not exactly controlling, but he always wants to know where Anna is and what’s she is doing, to the extent that he has installed cameras all around their high spec tech home. For Elijah, this is simply because he adores Anna and wants to know she is safe, but for Anna, Elijah’s behaviour is stifling.

On their anniversary, Elijah’s gift to Anna is for them to take their relationship to the next level and to have chips inserted that allow them both to hear the other one’s every thought, Anna is horrified, but how can she tell her husband that? She has no choice but to go ahead.

Trapped in a prison she can’t escape, Anna starts to have unusual dreams, which she realises are Elijah’s memories and which are also deeply disturbing. Does this mean he can access her memories? And therefore her secrets? Who is this man she is married to and is she in danger?

The book is really well written and the plot is fantastic!
Refreshingly original, this compelling read is highly recommended.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Carys Green and Random House Vintage for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I really liked the concept of this book, but I felt it lacked a cohesive plot. It was a lot of repetitive dialogue between the main characters, and I don't agree that saying something out loud means you aren't thinking it. It was a good idea but maybe too difficult to put into practice.
Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy.

I liked the premise of the novel but not the theme of coercive control and the unlikable characters. The relationship between the two main characters was unrealistic and lacking in chemistry. I failed to finish.