This book was a dark, chilling rollercoaster of a read! Wow is all I can say I read this in one night and I’m already itching to read more by this author!

To sum up this book it was gripping, tense, suspenseful. edge-of-your-seat and pulse-pounding and I could go on! I truly enjoyed every single word that made this book a perfect one! It had everything that an adrenaline junky looks for in a thriller!

oooh what a tangled web Helen weaved for us with this book. and i enjoyed every second my increasing intrigue.
the tensions ripples off the pages to us readers from the start. i love how complex Helen wrote these characters. but so believable because of it it. humans are far more complex than we first let ourselves think or assume. these two certainly had some "things" going on though. i'm trying to think how to write the brilliant parts to this book without giving it away haha. lets just say things aren't what they seem. and who's side might we be on if anyone's? is there a side to be had here? does that mean one of them has done something wrong? i certainly liked how different these sisters were but they also totally interacted like only sibling can and do. there is a weighted note to the tension between siblings the emotive weight always feels closer, heavier and more important and involved. and also it can often be effortlessly irrational!
im trying to think what id do if my sibling who i hadn't seen for years just turned up. and turned up with a baby and a feeling of mystery about her and her story. of course you'd still want to help right? especially if she is fleeing a bad and horrible ex.
there is a sense of foreboding to come with this. the questions you ask of the two woman, the need to know more or to fill in the gaps gets really exciting. and you just end up needing to know how this will play out.
the pacing was done so well with this book. the woman have such individual voices and personalities and i loved that difference. it felt like we were really into and watching these two real characters lives play out. but what WAS playing out?
the unease and the tension is subtle but always there on the edge of each moment you come to in this book. and wow it took me right to the edge where i wanted to be able to read quicker than was possible for me. but also then when i finished i was mad because then i wanted to let it spread out to enjoy it for longer!
a great read. id love to be able to read more from this author and what comes next for her. it was really clever writing but always with just the right element of writing about the characters and then writing around the plot.

Tessa is suffering from long COVID and when her estranged sister turns up on her door with a baby Tessa wants to help. Then her sister disappears and she is left caring for her nephew. This is a tangled web of unknown mystery and secrets. I absolutely loved it! I started reading thinking I would read a couple of chapters and before I knew it I had read the whole book.

An excellent fast moving page turner. Lots of twists and turns. Loved some of the unusual topics covered in this book, such as the surrogacy and the long covid, very thought provoking alongside some tense storytelling. Some of the characters were particularly unlikeable whereas I found myself routing for others. I like how the book explored lots of relationships such as that of the siblings and how different their lives had been. Enjoyed reading it thank you

If I Were You is a taut, intimate thriller that thrives on the uneasy space between sisterly loyalty and the creeping suspicion that someone you love is pulling you under. Tessa, still reeling from long Covid and the depression that has reshaped her life, is already fragile when Maddie turns up on her doorstep with a baby and a story that doesn’t quite hold together. What begins as a reunion edged with hope quickly becomes something far murkier, and the novel captures that shift with a beautifully slow, unsettling precision.

There’s a quiet claustrophobia to Tessa’s world — the suburban stillness, the isolation of her illness, the way Maddie’s presence both comforts and destabilises her. As Maddie’s account of Zak, the controlling partner she claims to have fled, grows more tangled, the tension tightens. Flashbacks flicker like half‑remembered dreams, and Tessa’s instinct to protect her sister begins to clash with the dawning fear that she’s being drawn into something she can’t see clearly. The line between truth and manipulation blurs in a way that feels painfully real.

What makes the story so compelling is how deeply human it is. Tessa’s vulnerability isn’t a plot device — it’s the emotional core of the novel. Her longing for connection, her guilt, her need to believe Maddie even when the facts don’t quite fit, all make her an achingly sympathetic narrator. So when Maddie disappears and leaves the baby behind, the stakes shift again, and Tessa is forced into a choice that feels as dangerous as it is inevitable.

A gripping, atmospheric exploration of trust, trauma, and the stories we tell to survive, If I Were You keeps its tension simmering right to the final page.

With thanks to Helen Matthews, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

Tessa is stuck at home for months on end suffering from long covid. Her lawyer husband Adam is supportive but keen to see Tessa try to get herself back to some level of normality. Both of her parents are deceased, and she is estranged from her only sister, Maddie after a drunken argument at their mothers funeral. Maddie has a habit of hooking up with men who are unreliable, and in turn, this makes Maddie unreliable and unpredictable.
One day there is a knock on the door and Maddie is outside with her 5 month old son Leon. Tessa is shocked and surprised to see how well her unreliable sister has adjusted to motherhood. But drama seems to follow Maddie once more when she tells Tessa that she is running away from another boyfriend, Zak, and needs to lie low. The next day she borrows money from Tessa to visit a solicitor, while Tessa minds baby Leon. When Maddie fails to return home, the alarm is raised.
What has happened to Maddie? Is she missing? Is she dead? And where is Zak? And can Tessa keep Leon safe?
Told from two POV’s this fantastic domestic thriller delivers on all fronts. A real page turner.
A brilliantly gripping read! Thanks to the author & publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me hooked from the start.
Love the cover so new I had to read it and im so glad I did.
Really good storyline and characters
Thanks Netgalley for letting me read this book for an honest review

I wasn't sure about reading this book due to the Covid issue but so glad i did.
It is chilling and creepy and i was so sucked in that i read late into the night.
The characters are well written and so believable.
This really is one not to be missed.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

If I Were You had me hooked, mostly because I wanted to see just how messy these sisters could get before someone (probably me) needed therapy. Twists hit like family secrets you definitely didn’t need to know. Gripping, sarcastic, and emotionally addictive, basically my life belonged to this book the past few days.

This was a good read. It centers on Tessa, whose sister Maddie shows up out of the blue after 3 years of no contact, with a baby and telling a story about how her partner is a bad man. Maddie has been unreliable in the past, and when things quickly don't seem to add up, Tessa and her husband are skeptical. Tessa has been off work with a long illness for almost a year, ,and needs to gain the energy to figure out more about what is really going on. The first part of the book is told from Tessa's POV, the 2nd from Maddie's, and the last part alternating between the 2,

I liked the style of narration, where the POVs switched and the reader got to see multiple sides of the story. The mystery was sound, and just when a revelation would occur for you to figure it all out, you'd realize that it wasn't really that simple. I liked all the primary characters, including the elderly man named Stanley who Maddie was helping out, and felt that they behaved (for the most part) like actual people would. The relationships between the characters were complex and messy, but real life is like that and I thought the author did it well. The ending came as a bit of a surprise, but I thought all the loose ends were tied up nicely and that it worked with the rest of the book.

Overall, I thought this was an engaging read that had both believable dynamics and good suspense. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I first saw the book’s title, I imagined a different storyline, and until about halfway through, you have no idea where it’s headed—but then comes the plot twist: a little surprise. Almost every chapter ends on a cliffhanger. You can’t help but keep reading. I felt a mix of unease and worry, but my heart was racing quite often. All in all, really exciting!

The story is about Tess, who is suffering from long COVID and wants to fight her way back to a normal life with the help of her husband. When her younger sister Maddie suddenly shows up at her door one day with a baby in her arms, looking for help, Tess can’t believe her eyes at first. Their relationship hasn’t been good for a long time. Maddie distanced herself from Tess when Tess criticized her life choices and her tendency to be drawn to the wrong men. And now she’s standing in her house with a baby, running away from the child’s father. But she seems to be hiding something, and Tess believes she doesn’t know the whole truth. When Maddie goes to an appointment and doesn’t come back, Tessa believes that Maddie would never abandon her child and start a new life using Tessa’s passport. When the police begin their investigation, they discover her abandoned car near the water and suspect suicide. But Tessa doesn’t give up searching for her sister. She has no idea yet how dangerous the search for her sister will be.

I found it particularly interesting how the sisters’ strained relationship is portrayed here. How so much can be destroyed by miscommunication. I might have liked to see a bit more background on Zak and why he is the way he is, even though you can figure it out for yourself. In the end, I found myself thinking a lot about the themes presented here and whether I would have acted like Maddie did at first. Probably not, but essentially, she was manipulated in a moment of weakness and by her desire for love, and later she acted solely out of love for her son. Through this, she underwent a major transformation and gained maturity. Even in the end, I couldn’t quite understand her decisions, but it seemed that she wanted to stand by her actions for once in her life.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was very entertaining and took me on an emotional rollercoaster. It covered important topics like motherhood and sisterhood, as well as manipulation, toxic relationships, and a secret topic that I don’t want to spoil here. The ending isn’t really a happy ending for both sisters, but it’s also a new beginning for them.

I was kindly provided with a review copy from dp books via NetGalley. Thank you so much! The opinion expressed is my own.

It is chilling and creepy and i was so sucked in that i read it all night. Sure I sacrificed sleep but it was worth it!!
The characters are well written and actually believable.
This really is one not to be missed.

Already struggling with health issues, the last thing that Tessa expects is to have her younger sister Maddie - whom she has not seen for years - show up on her door step with a complicated story about a dangerous ex-boyfriend and a baby she had no idea her sister had.

But as if that weren't bad enough, Tessa then finds herself quite literally left holding the baby when Maddie disappears as suddenly as she had arrived...

The ties that bind can sometimes end up leaving us trapped in knots. So, what should the already besieged Tessa do in this unanticipated situation?

This is an entertaining story about sisterhood, secrets, and the stories we tell ourselves and each other about who we are.

This book is diabolical in an amazing way. Obviously all psychological thrillers are dark but this one was even more disturbing than most. Without revealing spoilers, I will just say that there were numerous parts of this book which left me feeling uncomfortable. That's how psychological thrillers should be! If a book doesnt grab my attention right away, I have a hard time focusing through out the rest of the book. I love the fact that this story had me in its grip the whole way through. Great work.

I genuinely couldn't put If I were You down. I am absolutely shaken, having spent a while staring at the wall, pondering at that ending. Just WOW!

Before we start, thank you Netgalley and also dp books for this ARC!

I think it was an interesting book and I did enjoy reading it. My only point of criticism would be that it was... well, a little less of a thriller than I would have been hoping for. It was for sure eerie, and suspenseful, and the pace picks up after being a little slow in the beginning. A decent story I can still recommend!