Good book, hooked from early on and keen to finish to ascertain what the ending was.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

I didn't finish the novel. I couldn't warm to the main character or understand her decisions. In the end I did not finish the book

This book was ok but it was not the thriller I was expecting; I found the lead tedious and saw the ending coming. It was a good look at MH issues.

I really struggled with The Blind. I persevered as I hate not reading books to the end but I was just not enjoying it so I gave up. Sorry not for me.

Having just finished The Blind, I don’t know what to say.

Highly qualified Doctor Sam James is a psychiatrist in a mental institution. As we all do, she has her routines. But she’s an addict, we all are at the end of the day; but we all aren’t psychiatrists responsible for the mental health or medication of others. Sam gets drunk every night either in private or in a bar where she is the life and soul of the party. But as we peel back the layers of Sam’s life, we see even more of what is going on in her life and her head.

I was intrigued by Sam. She becomes more unreliable as her relationship with her boyfriend deteriorates. She’s messed up, vulnerable but in a position of power which is dangerous. Is she on the road to self-destruction?

The character of Richard is so fascinating, I wanted so much to know his secrets. What was he hiding? As he starts to open up to Sam in his one-to-one sessions, he gives tit-bits to his life but we don’t find out everything until the very last pages; talk about keeping you hanging!!

This is a slow burner of a book but packed with tension. I wanted to know whether Sam could save herself from self destruction, I wanted to know Richard’s story. As the story went on, I became an addict to the story. This is an impressive debut from A.F. Brady. Will definitely be looking out for her follow up!

This started out so well – I loved the description of the functional alcholic's daily life, and the hypocrisy (acknowledged by the character) of her telling others how to fix their lives while her own was a mess. But the book quickly fell apart. When the plot should have escalated, it stayed static. When the characters should have developed, they didn't. When new elements should have been added, they weren't. So much potential, but it just didn't work for me.

Thanks to Net Galley and HQ for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
A very interesting read.
Sam is a clinical psychologist and works in an institution , her patients have different types of disorders. She is very good at her job. The question is though is Sam in managing her own life. She is in an abusive relationship, cheats on her partner Lucas, drinks too much and depends too much on alcohol. Sam can see traits of borderline personality disorder in her own behaviour.
Richard is her new patient and a very challenging case, he doesn’t talk to anyone, there is no background information in his file, he has been in prison for a long time but why is not known, he has specifically asked for Sam as his therapist. Sam spends each session trying to get him to talk but progress is slow, they do however reach an understanding which enables Richard to tell parts of his story.
A good read even though the ending was predictable.

Could not finish. Unable to leave review - sorry!!!

Outstanding suspenseful thriller. I can not recommend A.F. Brady enough to mystery lovers. This one is sure to be a hit!

I really loved the premise and synopsis of this book and I jumped at the chance to join the blog tour. I'm extremely interested in psychology and Sam's profession drew me in before I'd even opened the pages.
I quickly found myself immersed in her world and swept up in her life and work. It was fascinating to see into her mind and hear things from her point of view. I thought that this style of narration worked perfectly for the book.
As for the storyline itself, it was quite different from what I had been expecting and wasn't really my usual genre. If the synopsis hadn't made it seem like a thriller, I probably wouldn't have given it a go, but I'm really glad I got the opportunity to read it because although it didn't feel like a thriller, it was a great read which I enjoyed.
For me, the pace could've been a little quicker, but that's just my personal taste. It still had me reading on and engaged.
I think that it's important to note that this book deals with various sensitive issues which could potentially be triggering and is quite heavy in places. For example, there's a conversation (which I wouldn't say is a spoiler as it occurs quite early in the book and isn't part of the main plot) about an animal which if you're anything like me, is worth skipping over. So do be warned.
Despite the quite heavy content, I kept coming back for more of this book and liked the way the story unfolded to reveal more and more about the characters. It felt to me like a character driven book which I actually really enjoyed.
I must admit that I did guess the ending and the twist, but this didn't make it any less enjoyable.
Overall, I'm giving The Blind 4 out of 5. It was a fascinating read.

I so wanted to like this book, it is set in a world I used to work in.I was a forensic social worker working in a secure mental hospital as part of a team working with seriously ill people who had committed very serious crimes including murder.I have to say that some of the things in this book, a patient with no notes etc is completely unbelievable .the first thing you do when you are given a new client to work with is fetch the copious notes usually several volumes to read to find out who you are working with the idea that some one would have no notes is really not correct.There were other discrepancies too and for me it took the shine off the book,I was looking for flaws instead of just reading.I know that other people who do not have a background in mental health work may not have been as critical as me and maybe would have enjoyed it more.I didn't really like the main character either and didn't find her believable ,all in all I am afraid it wasn't a good read for me.I honestly cannot give this book more than 3 stars and can only hope other readers may enjoy it more than I did.Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I’ve had The Blind in my eyeline for quite some time now (no pun intended), but if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was sprung on a blog tour with only a few days notice, I probably wouldn’t have gotten around to this one so quickly. Although I’ve been looking forward to it, I kept seeing bad or average reviews from Goodreads friends and that obviously made me worried to read a book I had so been looking forward to. It turns out I had nothing to worry about!

This book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting it to be, and yes, I’ve said this for every goddamn book I’ve been reviewing lately, but that’s just the way my book choices are going lately. If this book was marketed with the words “alcoholic,” “sex”, “demons” etc, on the back, I definitely wouldn’t have picked it up, but the book is sly enough to avoid using those descriptions and so I did. I expected this one to be much more of a fast-paced psychological thriller, but in fact it was reasonably slow and not really anything like a thriller.

This book is a very deep and brutal look into Sam’s confused and exhausting life. It tackles lots of delicate topics, so at times can be quite disturbing and difficult to read. I know lots of readers read to get away from reality but I’m not one of those sorts of readers and can happily enjoy a book that tackles the harsh reality of some peoples upsetting lives. Which this one does. It’s not a light read by any stretch of the imagination. It’s definitely should come with a trigger warning.

Personally, I thought the writing was done well, even though I know other reviewers have had issues with it’s simplicity in places. Knowing what I know about this book now, the way it’s written works so well for the plot. One minute it’s simple, it’s says what it is with no dilly-dallying, but next thing you know you’re in the most vivid and trippy of descriptions. So much is going on, it can be hard t wrap your head around it.

Characters in this novel are fantastically done. Sam is a character I would never normally read about, but I thought she, and the way she was written about, was fantastic. Considering the characters in books I normally read are deceiving husbands, hysterical women or angsty policeman, this arrogant, head-strong, selfish woman was a breath of fresh air.

This is a story of growth and healing, in my eyes. It’s about learning how to cope and coming the terms with the truth. It’s far from the thriller I imagined it was going to be but it was a terrific and different read. I would definitely recommend this to any readers who are into dark literary fiction.

Thank you HQ for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sam is an unusual character. She is a functioning alcoholic, slowly spiralling out of control when it comes to both her work and personal life. She has dysfunctional relationships and needs constant reassurance from the men in her life. She definitely prefers men as friends, although she does like to keep Rachel (her boss) on side.

It is pretty ironic how Sam works as a doctor in mental health when she clearly has issues herself. Other characters are starting to pick up on this. Will her problems jeopardise her career?!

Sam has taken on a new case, a man named Richard. Now, Richard comes across as pretty cocky. He sits in their sessions reading newspaper after newspaper, virtually mute, refusing to answer any personal questions. His character most certainly doesn’t have any mental health issues (he was self admitted) and Sam is trying pretty darn hard to get to the bottom of who he is. To begin with I was constantly second-guessing where this relationship was going to lead to, and how Richard will impact Sam’s life, if at all.

Brady uses mental health as a central theme, which is a subject she hasn’t taken lightly. You can tell she is a professional in the industry and uses her knowledge and past experiences to create a very unique, detailed, mind-opening novel about illnesses that people face daily.

The book is structured well and can be quite humorous in parts which is necessary, otherwise it would be a pretty depressing read. Brady’s writing is fluid and powerful, although the plot can be quite lacking in parts. Plus you can see the end coming as well which is a shame. This is the reason being why I have only given it three stars. It is interesting though to see a different take on a novel about mental illness, seeing as this is a modern day problem.

The Blind is a piece of fiction where a reading group would have many paths to explore and a lot to discuss. I wouldn’t really class it as fast-paced, or a thriller, it is just its own little book with its own little mind.

Thank you to HQ Stories and Netgalley for this alternative read. You can buy it now on e-reader and hard copies will be available from 5th October.

Sam is the best psychologist in a psychiatric institution in Manhattan. She struggles to fit everything in, work, social life and love. This book does cover a lot of mental health issues, drug addiction and alcohol abuse, so you have been warned. This book is wrote in a first person style so everything is I, I, I. I have read books before in this style and enjoyed them but unfortunately this one I didn't. It made Sam into being a far needier person than I think she was meant to have been, well this is my point of view anyway you may disagree. Sam unfortunately came across as very self centred but maybe you have to be to do that job but this resulted in making Sam an unlikeable character for me. As this is from a first person style I found I didn't get to know other characters well at all, I don't know if this was done on purpose as this is how Sam felt but I didn't like that detachment.
The thing that really bugs is there were very obvious clues to the ending early on making the second half of the book pointless in a way as the ending had been guessed way, way before it should have done.
I would like to thank netgalley and HQ for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review

The blind by A F Brady
Sam James has spent years carefully crafting her reputation as the best psychologist at Manhattan's most notorious psychiatric institution. So when Richard, a disturbed patient with a mysterious past, is admitted to her ward, Sam is determined to unlock his secrets. But Richard is far from the deranged man she was warned to expect. How can someone who seems so sane have been committed to a mental institution? Is Richard truly a dangerous patient? And is it really a coincidence that he has found himself on Sam’s books?
As she gets pulled into Richard's past, Sam can't help but examine her own life. And she is terrified by what she finds.
Let the mind games begin.
This was a good read with good characters. Although I couldn't get into it I still read it. 4*. Netgalley and hq.

DNF at 25%.

I... just couldn't get into this one at all. The writing was incredibly simplistic, and the characters were flat and quite ridiculous. For example, Richard tells Sam that his mother's least favourite day is Friday because he was born on a Friday, and like 2 paragraphs later Sam asks him about his family history and gets confused when he closes up again??? She is literally like "what did i say?" UM he just told you that his mother hates him and you're wondering why he doesn't want to talk about his family background?? You don't have to have a degree in psychology to figure it out, Sam....

There was also this really confusing part in which Sam was with her boyfriend one minute, and literally in the next line she was at a party. It literally seemed like a bunch of paragraphs had just been removed, and maybe it was an editing quirk and the paragraphs really had disappeared idk, but with the quality of the writing I wouldn't be surprised if that was just how it was written.

One quarter in and I was beginning to skim and I had no interest in anything at all, which is never a good sign, so I DNF'd. Just wasn't not for me at all.

This was such an interesting and unusual book, I really enjoyed it. It shows us the fine line between sanity and madness, and is very sympathetic towards the wide variety of characters. I didn't see the twist at the end coming at all. A sense of foreboding is subtly built up. Occasionally I felt frustrated with Sam, but on the whole I liked her, and I've definitely met similar people, though not so extreme. I recommend this book. It would be particularly good for book clubs, I think, as it should generate a lot of discussion.

Excellent book. Great storyline and characters. A real page turner. I would recommend this book.

Amazing book! I've worked in mental facilities before, so I was very hyped for this book with the setting being something I've been exposed to, and WOW! I loved the main character of Sam and especially her dynamic with Richard. This one kept me guessing and I just loved it. 5 stars for sure!