I read this while we were in Crete and it was a great beach read, being a quick paced psychological thriller that I didn't want to put down. I've read all of Erin Kelly's books and bar one, I've enjoyed all of them. In this one, we're introduced to what seems like a normal thirty-something year old married couple living in the UK. Kit is an eclipse enthusiast and travels to whereever one is anticipated. He's packing to go see one while Laura stays at home, pregnant with their twins. She's abnormally anxious about his departure, given that she has an element of agoraphobia due to an incident from their past. Years previously she witnessed a sexual assault and became a star witness in the case. This one incident brought two potentially dangerous people into their lives- the accused and the victim. But which one should they really be worried about and will Laura be safe on her own? I mean, of course she's not, that's the whole point but getting to her realisation of the truth via flashbacks results in an intricate but absorbing plot that teaches you not to take everything you read at face value.

I have seen a lot of buzz once this book came out, and after reading it, I can freely say, this book is a bestseller, and it absolutely deserved it.
The main characters of this book were Laura, Kit and Beth. The way they met was very unusual; Laura and Kit witnessed Beth being raped (well, aftermath of it). The events after that, brings Laura and Beth really close, but suddenly some things start to happen, which put Laura and Kit into hiding. All the characters of this book are incredibly interesting, and have their very diverse and unique personality, that is why I absolutely adored that. My absolute favourite was Kit. He is this Oxford smart, but at the same time innocent, cute geek. The whole story was told from Laura’s and Kit’s perspectives, and they told this story beautifully, fulfilling each other. Even though, it is enough for Kit and Laura to tell it, I still wanted to hear the story from Beth’s perspective, I think it would’ve made this book absolutely perfect.
The plot of this book was absolutely fantastic. To tell the whole story, characters had to travel between present and the events, which took place fifteen years ago. This book has everything you need for a great thriller: there were unexpected twists and turns happening all the time, the suspense was very well kept throughout whole book, and it was really fast paced, which made it an intense page turner and was very hard to put down. Before reading this book, I was not very much into eclipses, but this book radiated the passion for eclipses so intensely, that I might even try and watch one this year.
I really loved the important topics Erin Kelly was discussing in this book: how hard to convince a rapist in the court of justice; how rape affects victims and rapists as well, especially if rapists are well known; how anxiety can affect people and their lives after certain events. This book is filled with interesting topics, situations and feelings.
As I mentioned before, this book grips you form first pages with very clever writing style, and keeps the suspense going on by drop feeding new information and new findings, plus add short chapters and you are hooked. Language itself is easy to read and understandable, quite relatable to any Londoner. The author kept the interest till the last sentence by throwing in more turns and twists, that’s why it is an absolute must read and I strongly recommend it to everyone.

My review of He Said, She Said by Erin Kelly

Wow - wonderful twisty read, blew my socks off.

It's not often that I finish a book and can't really find words to write a review straight away. But I loved this book so much I had to take a step back and examine what I thought or just babble away senselessly.

Its delightfully different and darkly convoluted. It actually took me a little while to get into it at the beginning as it's deliberately written in several voices from different viewpoints and jumps back and forth several years and it does take a while to get into the rhythm, but when you do boy does it grab you and just won't let go!

We begin our tortuous journey by being introduced to a young couple, Laura who is pregnant and her partner Kit who is heading off across the seas to witness an eclipse. For that is what this young couple do as a hobby, they are eclipse chasers and travel all over the world joing festivals and celebrations and watching eclipses. They've always travelled together but heavily pregnant Laura is staying home this time whilst Kit goes off. It's immediately apparent that something untoward has happened in their past to make them distrustful of strangers, paranoid and both trying to keep a very low profile.

As we whip back and forth over about 15 years, we discover that at one such festival the pair witnessed a shocking and unpleasant event in addition to the eclipse. They stumble across a degrading and violent sex attack and Lauras determination to ensure justice is brought to bear makes her act somewhat rashly and utter words that are set to haunt her.

Back and forth in time we go whilst the noose tightens, events grow more complicated. I began to mistrust folk, then evidence is presented that made me change my mind, again and again until I didn't know who I could believe any more.

This is an extremely clever psychological twister and illustrate that when everything hinges on what he said and what she said, just a few tiny words can make a vast difference to how we perceive things.

There are so many smoke screens and distractions I didn't see a couple of things coming til they smacked me in the face and even then when I thought smugly I'd sussed everything out along comes another curved ball for me to deftly duck.

Clever, crafty and conniving, a terrific heart stopping novel tackling taboo subjects and with some delightfully unreliable narrators and a final kick up the bum that has my cheeks still smarting!

The following is my review as posted on Goodreads and Amazon.

Kit loves to chase eclipses and his chasing takes him all around the world. Laura comes onto the scene romantically and starts to share his passion for eclipse watching. They go on down to Cornwall where they meet Beth under rather traumatic circumstances. She has been allegedly raped by Jamie, someone she has newly met. What transpires is a tale of who is telling the truth and who is not.

The problem for me was that this tale moves along at a fairly slow place as we're fed the arc of the storyline. Told from different perspectives we get hear to hear the narratives clearly. However, I personally didn't care much for any of the characters and for the most part there is too much slow moving, tedious detail that I'm not convinced brought much to the overall narrative.

Yes, it's atmospheric, dark and sinister in parts but it wasn't enough to keep me really hooked. If you can push through the first half of the book the second half does get better and the ending is a pretty good one with some nice twisty detail. I have to say I did come out the other end with a wry smile on my face so kudos to Ms Kelly for that. It was nicely done!

Overall, it's not a bad book by any means, just not enough to grab me as much as I would have liked. I'm sure many others would love because there's no doubting that Ms Kelly can write. I've read previous books and enjoyed them.

Go there .... see for yourself ...... some of the eclipse detail is pretty interesting.

My thanks to all those involved for my copy. Much appreciated.

I have read a couple of Erin Kelly's books before and really enjoyed them, so I was happy to receive a preview copy of this one from NetGalley. In 1999, Laura and her boyfriend, Kit are in Cornwall to see the eclipse. Just after the event, Laura witnesses what in her eyes is a rape, and she immediately takes control of the situation and involves the police. She and Kit are later called to be witnesses at the trial. The victim, Beth, is very grateful to them and so begins an odd friendship. How stable is Beth? Laura and Kit begin to wonder about what happened. Beth keeps turning up at their flat and Kit is clearly unhappy with the situation. This seems at first to be a typical 'frenemy' story, but there are a number of twists along the way, and it will keep you guessing to the end. Thoroughly recommend.

*Full review available on the blog*

A thriller all about experiencing different sides of the same story and working out who is really telling the truth, this book will leave you questioning what you think you know about the rape witnessed by Laura and Kit. There are some gripping plot twists and I hadn’t anticipated the conclusion, with this book keeping you hooked throughout and desperate to know what will happen next. The added details about eclipse chasing gave the book a unique angle, and might just teach you something new along the way.

He Said/She Said

Two eclipse chasers -a young couple desperately in love - are at a festival celebrating the solar event when they stumble upon an unthinkable crime taking place.

Fast forward fifteen years and the couple are living in fear. Names changed, no online presence and making sure to NEVER being caught on camera. They must not be found.

This story switches between two timelines, telling a story that is intriguing and heartbreaking all at once. I was hooked on this book, even letting my bath water get cold around me because I was so engrossed! Another brilliant read from Erin Kelly, but I expected nothing less.

I was kindly sent a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a long, convoluted story with lots of twists and turns but worth reading to the end. Some likeable and unlikeable characters and a very tense psychological thriller.

Laura and Kit are at a festival in Cornwall, celebrating a solar eclipse, when they witness the aftermath of an assault. The consequences are drastic, as their lives become entwined with Beth and her attacker.

It's hard to say more without giving away the plot but, safe to say, this is a really gripping story with a couple of twists that I genuinely did not see coming! When I started this book I didn't realise this was written by the author of 'Broadchurch' but the plotting and quality of the writing are what you might expect if you're familiar with her other novel or it's TV adaptation. A fantastic and gripping read which I thoroughly recommend, although some readers might require a trigger warning.

Superb. the dialogue
just keeps flowing and it was a joy to read. A cut above the average. Very enjoyable read.

So what makes a good psychological thriller? Ask Erin Kelly, because she has all the right ingredients in her latest book He Said/She Said. For the last few days I have been sucked into a fascinating story with so many twists and turns that have been woven together in such a skillful way. I feel that I know the characters and the tension builds until it was difficult to stop reading. And I was not left disappointed when I finally reached the last page, which can happen so often when reading books in this genre.

But don't take my word for it, get yourself a copy now.

The psychological thriller category is choked full of books with good twists and turns but I found He Said/She Said to be just that much more intelligent and interesting than many. Though Laura and Kit's combined story is compelling in its own right, I was most drawn to Laura. She is a complex character with real brains. Something found less often than you might think. She's not silly and weak but has a moral strength and brains to see her through the difficulties to come.

I don't know what it is exactly that drew me to this book but I am glad I read it. Laura is a stand out character, for me, but the relationship she has with Kit is also rather special. They deal with their roller coaster existence as it comes and don't mope around like victims of circumstance. The twists in this book are stellar and caught me by surprise. Brilliant stuff delivered in a 'oh, wow!' way that made me very happy.

He Said/She Said was a solid, engaging read that will stay with me especially as I look forward to more works by this talented writer.

This read certainly has quite a few surprises in store for readers. I liked the concept, perhaps because it is a hot topic and a core setting people really need to take on board.

To be perfectly frank I think the author could have kept the plot as the simple he said/she said scenario and still delivered a thought provoking read. As it stands it evolved from whether a rape actually happened, to a story with the tense undertones of a psychological thriller.

With that in mind I actually enjoyed the read, but wasn’t as enthralled with the ending. I liked the way Kelly drew the story out and created this shadow of doubt around every single character, but was especially interested in the way Beth was perceived.

I know other reviewers found the whole eclipse sub-plot a little tiresome, however I felt it was an intriguing way to show how predictable we are and how easy it is to find someone in this day and age. We leave behind huge digital footprints, so big that they can be followed by anyone with the most basic digital skills.

I felt as if the crux of the plot was how easily Laura was eventually swayed in her opinion of the event. Her instincts told her what was happening, and she called Jamie out for what he was, a rapist. Then suddenly it only takes a trickle of a doubt for her to question what she saw with her own eyes.

Kelly makes some very valid points about rape. The victim is almost always shamed and blamed, whilst the perpetrator is treated like an innocent person in the middle of a set-up to destroy their lives. Even when there are eye-witness statements, it seems as if the victims always have the scales of justice weighted heavily against them.

Kelly does an excellent job of sewing the seeds of doubt in this story. Before you know it a certainty becomes a maybe, and then you may start to question not just the one person who needs the support, but also everyone in her vicinity.

Oh and by the way, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it is probably a duck. Just saying.
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of He Said She Said.*

I really couldn't get in to this book at all. It started off well then just seemed to drift back to the past and i couldn't get into the future of it again. A shame but just my personal feeling

I loved this book - interesting great characters and unputdownable - I found myself reading slower at the end just so it didn't finish!
The eclipse information is not my usual thing but I enjoyed it - a great story

Let's twist again...

Laura and Kit are newly in love. Kit is an eclipse-chaser, travelling the world to experience full solar eclipses as often as he can. So they've gone together to a festival at Lizard's Point in Cornwall to witness the 1999 eclipse – Laura's first. Still on a high following this semi-mystical experience, as they make their way back to the festival site Laura comes across two people who at first she thinks are making love. But then she sees the girl's face, frozen in shock, and reassesses what it is she's actually seeing. Now she's going to be the major witness in a rape trial. Fifteen years later, Laura and Kit are still together, awaiting the birth of their twins, but hiding from the world. The book tells the story of how the events after the eclipse have led them to this...

The beginning of the book is excellent, with a very realistic portrayal of an attack and subsequent trial where the whole thing hinges on the matter of consent. Jamie, the man accused of raping Beth, comes from a wealthy, respectable family who can afford the best lawyers. He said she gave consent/she said she didn't. It's up to the jury to decide, and Laura is the only witness who can give them an independent account of what she saw.

Kelly writes very well, even when she's using my pet hate first person, present tense for the parts of the book relating to the present day. Laura tells most of the story, both of what happened back in 1999 and now, while we also hear Kit's point of view on the present day events. Kelly shows how difficult these cases are by letting us see everything Laura saw and yet leaving some small area of doubt as to whether Laura has interpreted it correctly. She shows not only that we bring our own beliefs and prejudices to things we witness, but also how a good lawyer can chip away at a witness until doubt creeps into even the witness's own mind, much less the jury's.

Unfortunately, the book also follows many of the on-going identikit features of the domestic thriller that drive me crazy: skipping between past and present, multiple points of view, the aforesaid present tense – the full ticklist. Worse, it's another one of those where the narrators know all kind of stuff which they carefully conceal from the reader in an attempt to build false suspense. Some dreadful incident or incidents have happened in the intervening years, changing the course of Laura's life and leaving her suffering from extreme anxiety. But we don't learn what until nearly two-thirds of the way through, by which time I was so annoyed I didn't care any more. It's a pity, because there is a suspenseful element as to how the story is going to play out which would have been sufficient, so it really wasn't necessary to clumsily withhold stuff that had already happened.

Having said that, when the book finally reaches the point of beginning to reveal all, it becomes progressively less credible with each passing twist. And my, there are a lot of them! Too many. And the final couple are so silly and pointless they take away the last shreds of realism, leaving me sad that a book that began as something thoughtful and well-written ended up like every other trashy domestic thriller of the last five years. Oh well, no doubt this trend will end one day - can't come soon enough for my liking. I'd like to see writers of the undoubted quality of Erin Kelly produce something with a little more heft and originality, and less reliance on false suspense and incredible twists. As these things go, though, this is as good as most and better than many, which I'm afraid is as much praise as I can give it. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton.

When I first started reading He Said She Said by Erin Kelly I was surprised that this book had so many five stars and rave reviews , I found it to be a slow starter and the constant changing between narrator and time lines took a while to get used to, but around the 120 page mark everything clicked into place and this turned from a mediocre read into a book that actually made for an intriguing read.

At the centre of the plot are four characters whose live’s become entangled after a chance meeting during an eclipse, the story is told from two perspectives, Kit and Laura’s. After witnessing a brutal attack during an eclipse, the couple do what anyone would do if they found themselves in a similar predicament and call the police, but little do they realise life will never quite be quite the same for them again. As events unfold it soon becomes apparent that nothing is quite as it seems, the characters credibility plays a major factor in this tale, and the reader is led a merry dance to get to the truth.

I’m sure at this point I’m going to get some shocked gasps but here we go, although I enjoyed He Said She Said I did have some issues with this book. At times the plot felt drawn out and there were chapters that didn’t necessarily add anything to the read, but actually distracted from the story, if I’m honest I actually found the whole eclipse thing a bit tedious after a while, although in the authors defence I can see why it was included in relation to the plot, it just didn’t work for me.

On the positive side come the last half of He Said She Said I was pleasantly surprised at how crafty Erin Kelly had been, I don’t want to give anything away that might spoil the read for others, but suffice to say the conclusion to this book absolutely threw me, as did the surprises along the way. If I were to sum this book up I would say it’s got a great premise, a brilliant second half, but I’m afraid this one struggled to keep my attention. I definitely think I’m in the minority with my thoughts on this book as it’s received so many fabulous reviews and in this case it maybe one you need to read for yourself.

Kit and Laura love watching eclipses together, on one occasion in 1999, they witness what looks like the rape of Beth by Jamie, who were also attending the event. The book is told over two timelines, 1999 to 2000, and 15 years later, in 2015. Laura is now heavily pregnant so Kit goes off to watch the latest eclipse on his own. For some reason Kit and Laura are hiding away from Beth, and the reasons for this become apparent later in the book.

Loved it, kept me in suspense all the way through with some unexpected twists and turns.

5 stars for this one.

Oh, there are just some topics in books that are hard to read about and I’m guessing even harder to write about. In this case, that topic is rape. In He Said/She Said author Erin Kelly writes about a case of rape whereby both parties argue different things. He says it was consensual, she says it wasn’t. It is said that in most crimes you are innocent until proven guilty. With rape cases it is the victim who is seen as a liar until proven otherwise. Kelly shines a light on this debate in He Said/She Said.

It wasn’t the fastest paced book which for a thriller I was expecting much snappier timing what I will say is that Kelly has plotted some excellent twists and turn that did leave me gasping out loud with shock.

The paranoia that her character Laura possesses was excellently executed. In fact Kelly’s characterisations across the novel were brilliant. He Said/She Said is just a dark portrayal of how lives can be ruined by lies….but also by the truth.

He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly is available now.

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A man who has a passion for total eclipses, plans and travels his trips with precision. Eventually he finds a lady to share his life with and his passion..
Attending the 1999 eclipse in West coast of England changes their lives forever.
A great page turner of a book.