Watching Edie by Camilla Way.
THERE ARE SOME FRIENDS YOU’LL NEVER FORGET…
NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY
BEFORE
Edie is the friend that Heather has always craved. But one night, it goes terrifyingly wrong. And what started as an innocent friendship ends in two lives being destroyed.
AFTER
Sixteen years later, Edie is still rebuilding her life. But Heather isn’t ready to let her forget so easily. It’s no coincidence that she shows up when Edie needs her most.
NOW
Edie or Heather?
Heather or Edie?
Someone has to pay for what happened, but who will it be?
Really good read. I liked the story. 4*.

I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read it.

I thought this was well written over all but just didn't really connect with the characters and it didn't draw me in.

I received this ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Ive posted a full review on Goodreads, I'm looking forward to reading more from this author

At first this book seems to be following a familiar and well used story plot. Beautiful, popular teenager Edie befriends school "weirdo" Heather. Beautiful, popular teenager gets boyfriend (Connor) and Heather gets jealous and possessive. However the story jumps from the 'before' and 'after' stories and it is only at the end of the book that you find that the story is not as straightforward as expected. What did happen at the quarry that summers night when Heather, Edie and Connor and his friends met up? Whatever you think happened, I am pretty sure you would be wrong! Definitely a book you can't put down!

Digging deep into the depths of the human psyche, with a haunting look at how events change our lives, make us different, lead us to tragedy, Watching Edie is a gorgeously insightful, rollercoaster ride of emotional turmoil.

EXCERPT: I have imagined this, dreamed of this, dreaded this, so many hundreds of times for so many years that the reality is both entirely surreal and anti-climactic. I see and hear life continuing on this ordinary London street on this ordinary afternoon - cars and people, children playing down the street, a dog barking - as if from far away, and as I stare into her face the sour taste of fear creeps around the back of my tongue. I open my mouth but no words come and we stand in silence for a while, two thirty-three-year-old versions of the girls we had once been.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Beautiful, creative, a little wild… Edie was the kind of girl who immediately caused a stir when she walked into your life. And she had dreams back then—but it didn’t take long for her to learn that things don’t always turn out the way you want them to.

Now, at thirty-three, Edie is working as a waitress, pregnant and alone. And when she becomes overwhelmed by the needs of her new baby and sinks into a bleak despair, she thinks that there’s no one to turn to…

But someone’s been watching Edie, waiting for the chance to prove once again what a perfect friend she can be. It’s no coincidence that Heather shows up on Edie’s doorstep, just when Edie needs her the most. So much has passed between them—so much envy, longing, and betrayal. And Edie’s about to learn a new lesson: those who have hurt us deeply—or who we have hurt—never let us go, not entirely…

MY THOUGHTS: Just as the long awaited reunion between Edie and Heather was anti-climactic, so was my reaction to Watching Edie.

The book alternates between Before and After and is told from both Edie and Heather's point of view. However, it is not always initially clear whose point of view you are reading...and I found this frustrating.

There are lots of little twists throughout the book, but early on I had my suspicions of just how this played out, and I was mostly right. Now, that is not always a minus in my ratings, but in this case I found that the book dragged in places, particularly where the author was trying to skirt around some event or fact which would have given us a clue as to what was going on.

I didn't particularly like either of the main characters, and while I really wouldn't classify this as a psychological thriller (a. it is not particularly thrilling; and b. the only real psychological aspect is that both these people need psychiatric help), it does have an element of mystery to it.

I found it difficult to connect to this book and the whole reading experience left me feeling... grubby. 2.5 *

THE AUTHOR: Camilla Way was born in Greenwich, south-east London, and studied Modern English and French Literature at the University of Glamorgan. Her father was the poet and author Peter Way. Formerly Associate Editor of the teenage girls' magazine Bliss, she is currently an editor and writer on the men's style magazine Arena. Having lived in Cardiff, Bristol, Bath and Clerkenwell, she now lives in south-east London.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harper-Collins via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Watching Edie by Camilla Way. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own opinion.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my webpage sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

Watching Edie is the kind of book you're better off reading with the lights on... and completely blind. I went into this not knowing much about the story itself, and found myself sat on the edge of my seat, completely enraptured.

It's a creepy psychological suspense, following two women whose paths cross after their teenage friendship ended messily. The hows and whys don't come into play much later, but the story slowly starts to come together as you read.

I highly recommend to fans of Gillian Flynn's books.

I remember when this book was first published and how much love there was for it.  It was one of those books where everyone was talking about it.  I was even asked by a few blogger friends if I had read it.  The answer of course was I hadn't but oh boy, did I want to!  I received a free copy of Watching Edie from the publisher which has in no way influenced my review.

Watching Edie is a tale of friendship and obsession which I found totally riveting.  Edie was one of the popular girls at school; beautiful, rebellious and everything Heather wanted to be.  So imagine Heather's surprise when Edie starts talking to her.  After all, Heather doesn't consider herself to be special in any way.  The girls strike up a friendship which is probably a little more one-sided than it should be.  But something terrible happens and the girls part ways under a dark cloud.  Several years later Edie is still trying to quieten the demons from her past so when someone knocks on her door the last person she expects it to be is Heather.  Heather seems to have not changed, does not mention their past and is keen to revive their childhood friendship.  But Edie is wary.  Something just doesn't feel right and she would prefer to avoid Heather, and memories of their past, at all costs...

This is a great story and I enjoyed reading Watching Edie.  I found myself taking sides (which probably makes me a terrible person) and I wanted Heather to just leave Edie alone and just let her get on with her life.  The reader doesn't discover until near the end of the book what catastrophic thing happened to the characters and the cause of Edie's shock at seeing Heather again.  The build-up to the reveal is done so very well with a palpable sense of unease from the start of the book to the end.  My mind was creating all kinds of scenarios and I frequently asked myself what could have happened to these two characters.  By the end, I was absolutely kicking myself.

The story is told in 'Before' and 'After' chapters.  It was interesting how we only hear from Heather in the 'Before' and Edie in the 'After' chapters giving the reader a great insight into both of these characters lives, thoughts and feelings.  Heather's obsession with Edie made my skin crawl at times but I guess many of us can relate to that.  Wanting the popular girls in school to be our friends, to be accepted (or maybe that's just me!).  Despite not liking Heather I really did sympathise with her after I had met her mother.  What a horrible woman!

Would I recommend this book?  I would, particularly if you like a character-driven psychological thriller.  There are characters to love and hate in this novel.  The ending was shocking and I'm glad the author took the story in the direction she did.  It's a compelling read and I will make a point of reading more from Camilla Way in the future.

I chose to read and review an eARC of Watching Edie.  The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Wow i had this book brought for me as a present aswell as a netgalley book i really enjoyed this book i enjoyed tge stortline and the plot its a must read

Edie's former best friend Heather tracks her down after a long estrangement. What follows is a brilliant teasing out of what poisoned their friendship, with flashbacks of their adolescence, that builds to an explosive finish.

With thanks to the publishers for allowing us an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley.



Intrigued by the blurb billing this as “The most unsettling psychological thriller you’ll read this year“, we couldn’t not check this book out. Watching Edie brings us Edie, living what can be described as a dead end life in a cheap flat, working a dead end job, she is haunted by something from her past. When an old friend Heather turns up out of the blue it’s clear there is a history between the two women and one which Edie may want to forgot.

Edie it soon turns out is pregnant following a brief encounter with a co-worker who has since left never knowing about the baby, when the baby is born thoughts of her past stop Edie from bonding with the child and somehow Heather steps in, but in turn further pushes Edie away from her friends and remaining family, but also closer to her new neighbour.

Edie and Heather’s history is told in a second narrative of flashbacks, which slowly reveals a story of teenage drama, of a friendship which is challenged by a poisonous relationship which Edie is blinded by.

You’ll find yourself gripped by this plot and desperate to find out the truth of what happened between Edie and Heather. It’s clear that Heather has an unhealthy obsession with Edie, but the twist the end will leave you shocked and stunned!

I was rooting for Edie through most of the book and somewhat wary of Heather who comes across as a strange obsessed figure, but the truth behind the plot really makes you rethink at the conclusion and will stay with you a long time.

Definitely one of the best psychological thrillers this year to date!

This book starts as a very slow burn. I will be honest at first I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it with events hinted at in ways that by less than halfway through I had already figured out what had happened, what was going to happen and that was that. Of course for the purposes of reviewing this book I had to finish it and I'm glad I did because I was completely wrong. So much for me being Mr smart guy.
Watching Edie is told in two ways alternating throughout the book. The After told by the titular character set in the present whereas the Before is told by the mysterious Heather, an old friend who seems to be the source of whatever problems happened.
Now I started off this review by stating that this book was a slow burn and indeed that is how it starts for maybe a third or half of the book. But today I sat down and read from just after the halfway point and finished it. The second half of the book is where it finally comes alive and the slow burn, used for creating fleshed out realistic characters. I do mean realistic as well seeing as how I could name several people I’ve known over the years that I could place in this book.
This book would definitely be on my recommend list for people especially those that like stories of long-term friendships and hidden pasts.

Thank you to netgalley and Camilla Way for allowing me to read and review this book. This book was a brilliant read and will definitely recommend to others

I was unable to finish this book, I didn’t like the characters and couldn’t connect to them.

Watching Edie is the debut novel by Camilla Way and I have to say that it was an astoundingly good and thoroughly addictive read. This was one of those books that once started was truly impossible to put down and I found myself racing through it at an incredible speed, devouring the entire book in just one sitting. Relatively creepy in nature, this was a book that got right under my skin in a way that I was not expecting and in a way that no book has done in a very long time.

Within the book, Camilla Way introduces us to Edie and Heather, two women who formed an unlikely friendship when they were at school. Having gone their separate ways many years ago, Edie is now thirty-three years old, heavily pregnant and living alone with a lot on her mind so is a tiny bit surprised to open her front door one day and find Heather on the doorstep. Not knowing what to say to Heather, someone who Edie hoped never to see again, memories of the past come flooding back. Just what happened all those years ago that kept these girls apart for so long and why has Heather come to find Edie now?

Whilst I wouldn’t say that either of the characters that we met throughout Watching Edie were particularly likeable, one thing that can definitely be said is that they were thoroughly intriguing. With both Heather and Edie being fabulously crafted, I quickly became involved in their story and was so keen to discover just what happened between them all those years ago. From the very start with Edie’s shock and surprise at Heather arriving at her house being so incredibly palpable, I knew that something signifant had taken place between the two and as the book progressed it delved further into the minds of each of the characters, revealing exactly what made each of them tick.

Watching Edie by Camilla Way was a book with an extremely compelling plot that contained so many twists and turns that I did not see coming and were truly impossible to predict. Camilla has written Watching Edie in a truly fabulous way, with each chapter being told from the perspective of both Edie and Heather, alternating between the past and present day. As the tension built at an incredible pace, you just knew that something big was going to happen and I found that I was both impressed and shocked by what was truly a spectacular ending that will stay with me for a long time to come.

As a book that deserves an incredible amount of both attention and success, Watching Edie is a book that I absolutely adored from beginning to end. A true psychological thriller, written by someone who I feel is an exciting new voice in the genre, I’m thoroughly looking forward to discovering and reading more from Camilla in the future. If I could give this book more than five stars I would!

I did enjoy this book and have just started reading another by the same author.

I enjoyed this book and enjoy even more an unreliable narrator. In thus book you get two of them. This was a gripping book that twisted so much, I felt dizzy! Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book, and towards the end had it been a movie I don't think I'd have been able to look, my heart was racing. However, I felt really let down by the ending, which was a real shame.

Quite a clever book in terms of the subject matter, characterisation and structure. The ending was both unexpected and satisfying in terms of the 'right' outcome. Definitely worth exploring.