I will start by saying this is a generous 4 star review, I thought about giving this 3 stars but there are moments of shock and thrills so I boosted to 4 stars. Where to begin? Well I really liked the character of Jenna. Hunter starts the book by explaining that Jenna is neurodivergent and may present differently and act in ways we are not expecting. I appreciated this and kept this in mind, as yes, the events are at times completely bonkers. Jenna is a likeable character and I enjoyed getting to know her and her family.
There were parts of this read that really frustrated me, whether that was the odd behaviours, frustration at the characters or the slower parts. However, there was something abut this that kept me reading and there is a thrilling side to it as well.
This has moments of dreariness but also sheer brilliance. However, I really did not like the ending. It came out of nowhere, left a lot of things unanswered and I just felt disappointed by it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy.

"The Woman on Platform 8" by M.A. Hunter presents a dark and twisted psychological thriller that will have readers in suspense. The book has you reading from the beginning with an interesting premise: a run-of-the-mill commute takes a darker turn when the main character meets an enigmatic woman. At first captivated by "Lucia's" elegant perfection, the heroine's interest soon turns into a lethal promise when the woman, now identified as Allie, frantically pleads for assistance, insisting that she is in grave danger.

The writer skillfully weaves a growing sense of tension as the heroine, who has her own imperfect life, becomes caught up in Allie's treacherous predicament. The trailer suggests a tangled web of lies and concealed truths, with appearances misleading and vows turning into unbearable weights. Fans of plot twists and fickle narrators and an underlying thread of tension will devour this book. The question of who is really "pretending" guarantees a wild ride into the more shadowy aspects of human nature.

Thank you Boldwood Books and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Jenna is on her way to work via train as she does each day in the UK. Today however, she sees a highly distraught female, Allie, and decides to approach her to ensure she is ok.

MA Hunter’s latest novel takes us on the journey that follows this encounter, resulting in Allie moving into the home of Jenna and her husband.

Told through the eyes of Jenna we live the paranoia and anxiety that follows.
Taken in face value this was a great thriller, however I did question how an autistic and socially anxious Jenna would have come to get in this situation in the first place. Not entirely believable but an enjoyable read from a new to me author.

I have mixed feelings about The Woman on Platform 8. It was fast paced with lot of twists and turns, many of them unbelievable and had a very shocking ending which I am still not sure how I feel about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

I thought this might be another fast-paced train thriller, but it was sort of generic. I probably read too many thrillers.

Honestly the ending to this book had me shocked I really didn't expect it at all

I enjoyed this story and how it was written, however at times I felt I would skim through as not enough seemed to be going on and certain points


But the ending wasn't expected at all

In a jungle of thrillers you need to stand out. This book is doing that. I loved this and wnjoyed the read very much.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jenna meets Allie on a train when she is travelling to work. Jenna notices how distraught this woman is so decides to ask her what the problem is. This is where I thought I knew what would happen and was not wrong until the ending. The ending I did not guess at all and it really shook and slightly upset me.

Jenna regularly takes the train to work but one morning she spots a fellow passenger looking upset. She offers to help and invites Allie into her home but can she really trust a stranger...?
The Woman on Platform 8 is a psychological thriller set in the UK.
Jenna is a vividly depicted character. The book is written in the first person so that we can understand her thought processes which underpin her actions. She is autistic and has trouble with sensory overload and social anxiety. She is also haunted by her mother who has mental health issues and she fears that she may have inherited the same condition. Her character felt authentic and I felt invested in her story.
Plot-wise I had to suspend my disbelief entirely. I didn't trust Allie at all and couldn't believe that Jenna would invite her to live with her family or that her husband would put up with it.
The tension builds successfully over the course of the book with Jenna's fears and paranoia worsening. Allie takes over all aspects of her life and Jenna is powerless to maintain her control. I felt so sorry for her trying to battle her demons and really cared about her. The ending was very abrupt but what a shocker! The final chapter literally made my jaw drop. Very clever, heartbreaking and horrific all at once.
The Woman on Platform 8 is a tense novel with an authentic lead character.

I wanted to love this book but unfortunately I only liked it. What I did love about it was the ending. There were things that happened that were just too unrealistic for me.

The Woman On Platform 8 is an intriguing and fast paced read. The mystery of Lucia’s past is kept right to the end of the book. I had many theories and wasn’t correct about any of them. The spiraling of her mental health was palpable and the tension was strong throughout.

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I always enjoy the author’s books, you never know what’s next, you think the story goes one way and then you find yourself wondering what happened.
In The Woman on Platform 8, a chance encounter brings one woman to confess to the other a crime she committed where she killed her abusive boyfriend.
Jenna sympathizes with Allie’s life and tragedy so she opens up her home to the distressed woman.
Great story for suspenseful fans

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This shocking & chilling psychological thriller follows Jenna who when travelling to work one day comes across a woman she has seen before in distress.

After trying to comfort the woman she discovers a dark secret, but going against her usual routine agrees to help her and even invites her to stay in her home.

With tensions rising in her home and work life, Jenna struggles to find the solution to resolve all the issues, along with trying to work out the mystery behind the stranger she has invited into her home.

Who is the stranger? What effect will she have on Jenna’s life?

Wow, there hasn’t been a book for a while that has played on my mind so long after reading. This is in a good way, but I just couldn’t shake the chill I had from the storyline I had just been involved in reading.

I think that the reason it had such an effect is as Jenna is a relatable character to many, and although many wouldn’t take some of the actions she takes, they can relate to the characters feelings and worries.

An amazing read, and I would love to read more from this author.

Overall, a shocking & chilling psychological thriller where an encounter with a stranger leads to mystery, secrets & lies.

Thank you Netgalley, MA Hunter and Netgalley for the eArc of The Women on Platform 8 .

I've read a few of M A Hunter's books and have really enjoyed the psychological side of her writing. Her style of writing builds with some great foreshadowing and The Women on Platform 8 has all these elements and more. M A Hunters character building feels realistic and her characters evoke different emotions which I like. Within this book, we have Jenna who as an autistic women who thrives on routine and takes pity on a women who is really upset on the train. This sets off a series of events that really get you guessing on what direction this book is going to go in. I particularly liked how his author portrayed her autistic character. ( I have a family member with autism ) and really bonded with Jenna. I think that it made the story more compelling in a psychological sense as the social communication most some take for granted, makes life very difficult for neurodiverse people. I also feel that Hunter wrote this character with dignity and grace.

Overall, the pacing of the book was smooth and consistent , building up to the finale and definitely kept me invested . I also had the pleasure of listening to some of this as an audio book. Claire Storey narrated this book and she added continuity to both the characters and the tone of the book itself. Wonderful!

4 stars

I enjoyed the premise of this book. I appreciated the forward by the author to explain the main character. It helped to see things from her perspective and allowed for me to believe some of the plot twists and why she did the things she did more clearly. This was a new author to me but I will be going back to read her other published works. I will be recommending this to my reading group and on my social media.

I loved the premise of this book, as someone who used to commute to work and regularly see the same faces, wondering what some of their backstories were.

I didn’t like how trusting Jenna was of Allie, I found it a bit frustrating. But she is neuro-divergent which I guess could explain a different thought/decision making process.

I read the book in one sitting, very easy read.

4.5*

Jenna is doing her best. She’s a working mum (aka superhero) with a kind of stay at home husband who is a writer as well. Two kids and on top she’s neurodivergent. She’s got alot to handle in my mind. Then life throws a curveball in the shape of Allie and Jenna’s life becomes less organised and routine as Jenna needs it.

Spending time in Jenna’s head, I got on board with her quirks, her need for order in life – I’ll admit, I need a little of that. I can be a little scatty so Jenna’s organisation is something to aspire to.

But as life around her changed, the more erratic her narrative became. Was she becoming an unreliable narrator? Could I trust her mental state? I fully get being in that state of mind when the world around you is too much – I’ve been there without a neurodivergent condition and paranoia is a biatch.

Hunter has written another brilliant thriller that made me question my narrator and those around her. I wasn’t sure who to believe but that climax made it perfectly clear before the knife was twisted at the end.

Thank you M A Hunter and Boldwood Books to allow me to read this ARC via NetGalley.

📍 England
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Vibes: 🚆😵‍💫👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏼‍👦🏼💻🔪😈
Rating: 3.25 ⭐
Tropes: autistic fmc / stranger with a secret / blurred reality / gaslighting and manipulation

Started off reading thinking one thing about the main characters, and as the plot progressed, I thought I would able to predict what was going to happen but definitely was a wild ride.
Hard for me to really get my thoughts together for a review. This one really messed with my brain.

I appreciated the forward by the author but the book as a whole didn’t work for me. It seemed I was re reading other books where a good deed goes very wrong. and the whole plot relied on a very unrealistic premise of how a person would behave.

2.5 stars.

This story has an interesting premise. But I think the whole random woman shows up and inserts herself in someone’s life then takes over is an over done plot line.

Also, the character is autistic which the author mentions constantly. However, her behavior seems very counter to what you would expect. The author wanted to write a neurodivergent character which they expressly stated bud for me it just did not work. You can write about it without having to point it out constantly.

I disliked the ending greatly. If left way too many unanswered questions. It was done for shock value - which it was that but it did not match with the story or tie things in.

It was also a similar ending to the first book I read by this author so I’m thinking it’s maybe time for a different focus from him.

I’ve read 3 books by this author. The first one I thought was awesome, second one “meh” and this one was painful. I do not think I would read additional stuff from him at this point.