Watching Edie

Edie and Heather are both teenagers. Heather is unpopular and Edie is new to the area. Heather has never met anyone like Edie and idolises her she will do anything for her best friend. Edie meets a man called Connor he is a bad influence on Edie and she starts taking drugs and drinking. Heather is very worried about her and keeps trying to help her. Till one night things go to far.

The book splits between the past told from Heather's point of view and the present told from Edie's.

We meet Edie again about 18 years later she is living in London now and pregnant. Heather finds her and takes care of Edie when she has her baby and suffers post natal depression. But once better Edie seems scared of Heather and wants her out of her life.

This is a fantastic book and well written and keeps you guessing till the end

I don't know why I didn't get to this book sooner. I certainly wish I had of done. It's a great premise, fabulous plot and twists that kept me spinning.

The thing is, the author drips enough that you need to keep reading and sniffing where the final trail leads you. It's a guessing game what "happened" so you're shouting " come on, what was it".

Edie is new in the area. Happy in her own skin. A social kind of person, fits in with anyone, pretty too and attracts attention although she's not aware of this and neither does she use it to her advantage.

Opposites attract.

Heather is the first friend she makes.
Not very social, doesn't mix easy. Over weight and she has some background.

Edie is happy with her new friend.
Heather is too.

It's a dark complex read for many reasons. It certainly kept me awake reading into the early hours when I should have been asleep.

I'm trying very hard to not give spoilers away. Once you have read this you will understand why.

The last book I read by this author I loved. I wondered if she could at least nail it again for me.
Yes! She did.
She can't write fast enough for me. I just loved it.

My thanks to the Harper Collins UK via Net Galley for my copy and also to Goodreads for my paperback copy which I shall treasure.

Hmmm, I'm not too sure on the tag-line of 'The most unsettling psychological thriller you’ll read this year", as it was most certainly not. I never really felt that Edie was ever in real mortal danger and what happened to the other character, well you could see that coming a mile off. The writing from two characters perspective and going back and forth in time, was written in such a way that was not confusing. I have seen many other books fall into that trap. All in all, a very easy read but maybe not quite as disturbed as the authors publishers think.

Fast paced, well written thriller with realistic characters, that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the end.

Brilliant psycological thriller - loved it!

Heather and Edie were best friends when they were 16 but then something happened which destroyed everything. Years later Edie is alone and pregnant.... when Heather appears Edie takes her back into her life. However things start to spiral out of countrol....

Told in two timeframes - Heather tells the story when they are 16 and the events leading up to what ended their friendship. Whilst Edies story focuses on the current day and what develops as Heather and Edie come together again.

This is great story, fast paced and I couldnt put it down. The characters are well developed and at times the reader sides with one and then the other as the story unfolds.

There are several twists and turns which keep the reader guessing right to the end...

This clever and suspenseful book is about a toxic friendship between two outsiders. Something bad has happened, and years later they are reunited, much to the horror of one of them. There are lots of twists and the outcome is not what you expect. A good read for psychological thriller fans.

Three and a half star rating.
Edie, the popular one and Heather the loner become friends at school. All Heather wants is to look after her friend and keep her safe, even more so when Edie finds herself a boyfriend. Something happens and the pair lose touch - jump forward to the present time and Edie is pregnant and Heather is here again, to look after her and we discover what went so wrong before. Written then and now by both girls, we get to see what made them be the way they are. The pace of the story was good as we get to know more about these characters who are sadly not too likeable but I did empathise with them at times and could see why they behaved the way they did. There were some creepy moments and the subject was dark, especially towards the end. It was compelling enough to keep turning the pages and I would definitely read other books by this author.

I found this dark phycological thriller quite thought-provoking. Switching between past and present, it is tense and full of twists, with unlikable but well drawn out characters.

This story is totally absorbing and full of twists and turns.

Absolutely stunning novel. I felt myself leaning forwards, and holding my breath. Highly recommended.

Watching Edie
The title suggests a plot connected to stalking but it turned out to be about an unwanted encounter of schoolfriends after 20 odd years.

The swapping of narrator with no signposting makes it hard to figure out what's going on. Plus it jumps around from past to present in an almost stream of consciousness style which makes it even harder to engage with the novel.

The content is very modern and I'm sure if it had a different structure would be more successful.

I simply was not invested in the characters or the subject to persevere to the end after 3 chapters.

I'm sure this style suits some readers and I would recommend it to them as it is well written.

I received a free copy from net galley.com for my fair and honest review.

Started slowly with me wondering which way the book was going to go. Gradually picked up the pace until I couldn't put it down. Will be looking for more titles by this author.