Sam HepburnRecensioni

Maya Duncan went missing when she was five years old and there has been no trace of her since. That is until fifteen years later when Phoebe turns up at Kay Duncan’s door claiming she is Maya...
This book was so gripping; I was utterly immersed in it.
Although I had guessed what would happen at the end that didn’t stop me reading, I needed to know for sure.
There were so many twists I felt like I was in a tornado, awaiting the next twist and so much suspense too.
It was very well written and researched, kudos to Sam Hepburn for this gem of a book. I'm glad I found it.
I have been thinking about it ever since reading it.

This was gripping!
Nicola had a rough childhood, growing up in foster care, making friends with one of the girls who joined her in care but led her into some awful situations. Now she is rebuilding her life, she is a dentist’s receptionist but also works for a charity helping kids just out of foster care, she doesn’t want kids to go through what she did. She is married and a mother.
She is putting the past into the past. But the past can’t stay buried forever and it isn’t long before it starts catching up with her.
From the first few pages I found myself absolutely loathing Ian her husband and feeling for Nicola, I was invested in her, even when secrets were revealed I was still rooting for her throughout.
There were several twists and turns along the way. The characters and story were completely believable, which made me feel even more strongly with the detesting of some of them. This can and does happen sadly.
Sam Hepburn wrote a compelling read that will reel you in from the moment you start the first page.

This was a pretty good psychological thriller. The story was interesting enough to keep me going but there were just too many facets that weren't in line with the plot that had me constantly questioning what was going on.

Nicci was fresh out of the foster system with her best friend, Donna, and they were both heading straight down the wrong path when she became single mom to Finn. Finn changed her life and she fought for them both to survive leaving Donna and her old life behind. Along the way she married Ian, a successful dentist, and is suddenly living the good life - except that her husband is a jerk. Out of the blue Donna appears with a plot twist and threats of blackmail to bring down Nicci's new seemingly charmed life. And that's when things just get weird. Nicci's actions don't make a whole lot of sense from this point and she doesn't garner a lot of sympathy. Ian's character is abusive, when he's supposed to be subtly gaslighting. The bright spots in this book are the characters of Finn and Leon.

All in all, I was entertained while reading. I would like to thank #NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me an advance copy of #AGoodMother in exchange for an honest review.

Hold a grudge much? One Bitter, conniving, manipulative woman whose life is a wreck envies another who seemingly has hers altogether. There are successes, stalking, lying, faking and infertility but there are also surprises in store.
I thought I had it figured out, truly, then the switch flipped and OMG! Just when you think you know a person! The gears all lined up and I realized I’d had no idea all along. One intensely permeating mystery!
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review

Clunky and clichéd but readable enough.

I'm a long time in finishing "Her Perfect Life" hailed as A gripping debut psychological thriller with a killer twist by Sam Hepburn. Is it? I'll be honest, I struggled to get through this and picked it up several times to start again. It's not that is it written badly, it just doesn't sound right when I hear it in my head, which may only be me, but this stilted voice put me off and kept taking me out of the flow. It was disjointed. And if that isn't bad enough, the plot was confusing and I had to re-read scenes to make sure I'd understood it correctly. This totally saddens me, because I loved the whole idea of this story's theme, but can't say I enjoyed the read as much as I had hoped. I'd even worked out the twist in the end...
We hear alternating viewpoints from both Grace and Juliet, whilst there's a third girl's point of view that also pops ups randomly through her diary entries. I was intrigued enough to keep reading as the pace did get quicker later on and I wanted to know who this other girl was and how she fit into the picture, but I think by this time I'd already lost interest and just wanted to get to the end. Always disappointing when that happens.

3.5 stars
~Arc Review~
Well, what a pleasant surprise!
I can honestly say I didn't know what to expect of this book (my first physical Arc!), what with the short blurb and everything.
So, I was quite surprised to find I actually really liked it; Chasing the Dark is a young adult/middle grade take on the old detective story-line of solving a mystery, and I've got to admit, I enjoyed Joe's young perspective of things, and simply had to know how this particular mystery ends.

The book started kind of slow. Not boring-when-do-the-interesting-bits-come-into-play?! kind of slow, but the kind of slow you get when you're learning to know the main character, his situation and the painful circumstances he finds himself in. Also, the kind of slow you get when the main character himself still hasn't figured out there's something off going on.

But once Joe smells something fishy...

To read the rest of the review, go to my blog, here