Andrea Mara is a must-read author for me, and while It Should Have Been You wasn’t my favourite, it’s still an accomplished thriller with more twists than a rollercoaster.

My Rating ~ 3.5*

It Should Have been You by Andrea Mara published May 8th with Transworld and is described as a ‘gripping, unputdownable new psychological thriller’.

Andrea Mara is known for her twisty, addictive and very readable novels with many number one bestsellers under her belt. It Should Have Been You stormed the charts on publication and is currently number one in Ireland garnering great acclaim from fellow writers and readers alike. With a seriously dramatic prologue, the reader is immediately put on alert and left on edge intrigued to discover more about how this frightening predicament developed. I wasn’t completely sold on parts of the novel as I did find some of the behaviour a bit too far-fetched but I thought the basic concept of the plot was smart, cementing Andrea Mara as a writer who can turn something very domestic and ordinary into something much more malevolent and dark.

Susan O’Donnell is a normal suburban new mother on maternity leave, stressed out and tired with each day morphing into the next. Her constant in her life are her two sisters, Greta and Leesa, with the three of them a close-knit group who always have each others’ backs. They provide a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on and all freely rant about life and the folk they cross paths with. One day, Susan unwittingly sends a message to the wrong WhatsApp group with the most unexpected and shocking results. Her intended audience were Greta and Leesa as she bemoaned the carry-on of a neighbour, Celeste Geary and her ‘pointy comments‘ in the residents chat. Irritated and exhausted, Susan has no idea of what she has done until she receives an urgent call from her sister Greta shouting at her to delete her message immediately. With a sick feeling in her stomach and a realisation of what she has done, Susan quickly hits delete…but the damage is done.

The screenshot of Susan’s message is shared beyond the residents’ WhatsApp group and the online chatter becomes relentless with the most shocking ripple effect to follow. Susan is full of remorse and regret for her mistake. As a primary school teacher, her reputation is now very much on the line. She turns to her husband and her sisters for support but as things get a little more sinister Susan’s panic levels increase by the minute.

The discovery of the body of a woman who has the same first line address as Susan, but in another part of town, causes much concern and fear. Was Susan the possible target? Does she now have a price on her head for a silly mistake?

Tensions rise between neighbours, and the police investigation ratches up a notch, as the waters get a little murkier and suspicions filter across a community. An innocent mistake leads to murder. A neighbourhood rife with speculation and hearsay is afraid. How can such a genuine and, some would say, harmless lapse in judgement bring so much terror and fear into a Dublin suburb?

With an intriguing concept It Should Have Been You takes a deep dive into the consequences of an innocuous mistake on a social media platform. We’ve all been there when the realisation kicks in of what we have done. That moment of pure panic. That feeling of stupidity and guilt. Susan O’ Donnell made a mistake and she paid a very high price for it.

An entertaining fast-paced read It Should Have Been You contains a very important lesson for us all. Be very careful of what you share on social media. Be very careful who you share it with!

I loved this book. I’d never read any Andrea Mara books before but had always had people recommending them so I thought I’d try this one.
There were good twists and turns and I was kept guessing until the end.
I liked the characters and how the story was told.

Look what you started.

You press send and your message disappears. Full of secrets about your neighbours, it’s meant for your sister. But it doesn’t reach her – it goes to the entire local community WhatsApp group instead.

Now everyone knows what you did.
As rumour spreads like wildfire through the picture-perfect neighbourhood, you convince yourself that people will move on, that this will quickly be forgotten. But then you receive the first death threat.

And someone wants you dead.
The next day, a woman has been murdered. And what’s even more chilling is that she had the same address as you – 26 Oakpark – but in a different part of town. Did the killer get the wrong house? It won’t be long before you find out

I was hooked from first page to last as the twists got twistier and all of the characters squirmed while waiting for their darkest secrets to be revealed.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in return for a fair and honest review

✶ PRE-READING ✶
Thrillers set in small neighbourhoods are often fascinating! The most exciting thing that happens around here is kids putting their basketball hoops in the wrong place, so it's always interesting to see what happens in fictional neighbourhoods. I haven't read Andrea Mara before but I know she's highly regarded as a thriller writer.

✶ POST-READING ✶
As I thought... The book delivered on the tension, with the social media mistake snowballing into something far darker than anyone anticipated. The pacing was quick and engaging, keeping me on edge as the situation escalated.

It surprised me by...The depth of the psychological tension really took me by surprise! What started as a simple “oops” moment morphed into a terrifying spiral. The whole "wrong house" angle was especially unsettling and kept me guessing. I didn’t expect the murder to hit so close to home in more ways than one, and that final reveal was chilling in a way I didn’t anticipate.

I was also a little surprised at how many connections there were among this small group of people! It really seemed surprising to me, but maybe I'm just an old Hermit.

✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦
Book Recommendation:
If you enjoyed the suspense and social media-driven drama in It Should Have Been You, I’d recommend The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. It’s a similarly tense story where the characters' secrets—and their seemingly perfect lives—take dark turns.

TV or Movie Recommendation:
The TV series The Sinner would resonate with fans of this book. It’s full of psychological twists and the kind of slow burn tension where you’re never quite sure who to trust or what’s going to happen next.


See the full review at https://readandreviews.blogspot.com/2025/04/it-should-have-been-you-by-andrea-mara.html

Mara has such a brilliant way of creating chilling situations with innocuous origins that take the reader on a twisty and compelling journey.

It Should Have Been You brings new meaning to the butterfly effect, as an innocent texting mistake sets off events that ricochet within a small community. This story hooked me in so quickly, and the quick chapters and fast paced storytelling kept me engrossed.

Mara is generous with both her characterisations and twists, making for a truly satisfying read that keeps you guessing. Perfect for fans of authors such as Claire MacKintosh, Lisa Jewell, and Mara’s other works. I’d highly recommend for anyone looking for a creepy, imagine and creative urban thriller.

Thank you Transworld Publishers for an advance copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

This is only my second book by this author and I have to say I'm really enjoying them. Being a bit behind the curve means I have more to look forward to.

I'm a sucker for a twisty psychological thriller but often feel they are pretty much phoned in, not the case with Andrea Mara who is a bit of a craft master, creating characters you can easily relate to then basically throwing them off a cliff.

Twisty and intriguing, an easy one sitting read.

Wow this was great! A whatsapp message is mistakenly sent to the wrong group and this acts as the catalyst for total carnage in the neighbourhood.
Its something everyone dreads, sending a message to the wrong person, but it doesn't usually cause this much chaos.
I love the Irish setting and the fact that so many people had secrets which were about to be uncovered due to the message. Really cleverly written, everything ties up wonderfully.

This is a good psychological thriller.
A message sent by mistake to a large group of neighbours causes some huge problems for Susan.
She thinks she’s shared her thoughts with her two sisters but soon realises it’s been seen by the people she’s been talking about.
When a woman is found dead at the same street address as Susan, but in another area, she starts to panic.
The death threat and the brick through the window makes her truly realise the trouble she has caused.
There’s several characters in this book who are affected by the message and it’s a bit confusing at times keeping track of all their stories.
This is a good read that I really enjoyed.
Thanks to Transworld Publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

"Ten days is all it took for my world to implode. Ten days, four deaths, one teen in hospital, one in police custody, my family destroyed. And all because of a text."

Hey, we've all been there, right? Sent a text or email without proofreading, then oops, wrong person or group! That's what happened to Susan, but instead of a little laugh, it blew up in her face.

It's a crazy story, super fast-paced, and keeps you guessing. I had one tiny problem with a scene, but otherwise, it was awesome!

Thank you to NetGalley and Transworld publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Fun and Engaging read. Short chapters means the story moves along quickly and each chapter is told from the perspective of another character. Lots of interwoven stories underneath. Fast paced. Exploring the secrets that are behind those nice front doors. Impact and pervasive nature of social media in everyone's lives and the lack of control over it. Whatsapp group 'open the popcorn' moment is so 'now'. Slightly disappointing ending but still a really good read nonetheless.

Another stand-out thriller from the amazing Andrea Mara. The story is dark & suspenseful & full of twists you'll never see coming. The characters are very well written & it is easy to follow multiple points of view. I will definitely be recommending this to customers & friends.

Ever sent a text/message to someone by mistake, I have and once to the neighbour email group telling them we couldn’t wait to move as disliked them all ( was meant for a friend ) caused quite the rumpus…

Back to the book and Susan sends a text by mistake to a WatsApp group that is flowered with gossip and scandal…about the very people in the group now reading it

The effects are immediate and far reaching but actually horrifically end up with people dead and lives forever changed

Now there are a lot of characters and I did get some of them mixed up along the way and also for some reason always pictured the book set in America and then was surprised every time realised again it was Dublin…but that aside it is a good, sturdy, imaginative story which pretty much every reader can put themselves in the various situations and be glad its not them…

My excitement at seeing Andrea Mara was releasing another book was child-like. And so, once this hit my Kindle I absolutely could not put it down. It was thrilling and twisty in equal measures. Some predictability but when you read on you realise the twists and curveballs this story poses.

Oh my goodness what a twisted tale, absolutely loved it!

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

A novel that keeps you on edge, not able to read and turn the pages quickly enough! Lots of unforeseen twists.

Susan is new mum to four month old Bella and she's tired and grouchy so, when she sees a comment from an annoying mum on the community whatsapp group she's so wound up that she screenshots the comment and forwards it to her two sisters, Greta and Leesa with some rather damning comments of her own added to it, except it doesn't go to her sisters, because she's sent it back to the community group and now everyone else has seen it too and they're screenshotting it and forwarding it on too. Susan thinks it will lose momentum and people will move on but then she receives a death threat, the following day a woman has been murdered and what's even more worrying is that she lives at 26 Oakpark the same address as Susan but in another part of town, was it a case of mistaken identity or is something else going on?

It Should Have Been You is the latest domestic thriller by Mara, in this one we discover what can happen when a message meant for one person mistakenly gets sent elsewhere and is seen by hundreds of people and the chain of events that follows that mistake has far reaching consequences. This is a fast paced story told from the perspectives of many characters within this book, but it's not hard to keep up with the changing voices and the plot flows very well throughout. It's an edge of your seat, intense and compelling, thriller with some great twists along the way which kept me gripped and, of course, Mara saved the best twist till last, you won't see that one coming! I've loved all this authors books so far and this one was no exception.

I'd like to thank Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for inviting me to read this, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

A fast paced story with many twists and turns. Everyone has secrets and these begin to unravel when Susan sends a message which was meant for her sister, to the community WhatsApp group. A lady with the same address (but different post code!) as Susan is found dead in her house. A bit far fetched but very entertaining.
Thank you to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers for the advance copy of this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed this but it was just a bit too far fetched for me

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of It Should Have Been You by Andrea Mara. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Andrea's other books, so I was thrilled to get an advance copy of this book. The story gripped me easily in the beginning. There were a lot of POV's in this book and that took a while to get to grips with and made the story a little jumpy at times because it flips from person to person very quickly. There was a bit of a lull in the middle of the story but the last third of the book had me totally enthralled. I would definitely recommend this for any thriller and crime fans out there.