A great psychological thriller with a lot of twists, turns and some gasp out loud moments. It had everything I wanted from a book and kept me reading until late at night with "just one more chapter" until the next cliffhanger.

I can't wait to read more by Rachel Edwards.

A really interesting political/racial/family drama set during the Brexit referendum. The characterisation was great and the twist was so interesting - I would have loved a deeper dive into it.

This was genuinely THRILLING and had me gripped throughout. The strong narration supports the edgy pace and is brilliantly written. Recommend!

I did enjoy this book after the first few pages.
It was a little slow to begin with but then got very interesting, I devoured it.
Twists & turns.. just as you think you know, you realise you don’t!

A story of blended families as step mother and step daughter clash, secrets and racism raise their ugly heads.

A Brexit Thriller? Sign me up!

Darling meets Thomas in a Supermarket and the two hit it off after he stands up for her against some racist Brexit supporters. The two begin a tentative romance, but Thomas' teenage daughter Lola is not impressed by Darling. This romance is going far too fast for Lola's liking, and she will not make Darling feel comfortable.

I wrote a line in my notebook about 15% into this book that said "I stg if this is a [redacted] book it can f*ck right off" and unfortunately that's exactly what it was. I felt it was just a really cheap road to go down, especially when so many others have done the same. It's a shame, because it could have been great, if only the author hadn't gone for the most obvious twist.

There was no chemistry between Thomas and Darling whatsoever, so as ridiculous as Lola was being I was right there with her. Her association with people involved in a far-right group would have been such a great narrative to explore, especially with so many people now getting caught up in groups like that.

Really disappointing.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

This was a slow book - not helped by the fact I really didnt like either of the two main characters.

It also covered a LOT of issues in one plot line... Brexit, race, family relationships... which meant sometimes, what could have been an interesting thread, gets lost in the clutter.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This book was a good read. A great plot with strong characters.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Rachel Edwards for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Well this is a fab read, so Darling wants Lola’s Dad but doesn’t want Lola, and Lola doesn’t want a new stepmum!

Let the fun begin haha as there’s no love lost between these two! I hated both characters and found them just as I likeable as each other, it’s a very good read even though it’s full of conflict and pretty tense, I’d recommend it if you enjoy this kind of genre!

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I really struggled with this book. Whilst it was an easy read, I found both narrators to be thoroughly unlikeable, although Edwards captures their different voices well. To its credit, I didn't predict the ending at all, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

I can't give this book a rating and remain fair because I only managed to read just over 40% of the book.

This author has a very distinctive voice, but it wasn't one that I could engage with. I also felt that there was too much crammed into the novel for me to really latch onto the story and invest in it. The book opens like a thriller but then progresses as a social commentary. There should have been a delicious tension in the dynamic between Darling and Lola, but I quickly guessed the manipulative nature of Darling, and that Lola might be a spoiled brat, but she was also a teenager having to cope with massive upheaval in her family life in a very short space of time.

So, not one for me, but that's largely because of my reading preferences rather than a criticism of the book.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

# Darling # Netgalley
I must have well and truly gone off with the plot on this book, I was almost 100% that I had already reviewed this book. It’s twisty fairly fast paced turny, in some parts emotional and others some things that get said could be almost on the edge of cruelty. There’s certainly no love lost between step mum and daughter. In fact I really think the author has definitely gone to town with both of them.,it’s most definitely a book worthy to be read, thoroughly enjoyed the book, I think you would too.

3 for neutral! Was not for me. Will update later, if I can get into it and enjoy.
Will post a challenge in Chapter Chatter Pub!

Wow sat down to read a few pages never got up till I read the last page.Thriling haunting chilling .Run get this book. The relationship between a stepmother &stepdaughter trouble from the first hello first sight.This book touches on so manny topics emotions blended families life even Brexit tense original grab this book,#netgalley #harpercollinsuk.

This book just . . . it didn't work for me. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. The book felt as though it was trying to do too much, juggling genres that didn't quite gel together. I also didn't like any of the characters, and I just couldn't get behind the story. I couldn't finish this - I failed to grip me and instead just left me confused and annoyed

Wow this was a brilliant & thrilling read everything I could want from this type of book. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this prior to publication.
There’s no escaping the fact that this is almost two books in one. One aspect of the book examines race and attitudes to race in post-Brexit England, through the eyes of Darling (a black woman) who gets a stepdaughter, Lola, when she marries Thomas. The other aspect - which doesn’t come to the fore until later - focuses on the relationships between the characters and the events that develop once they’re all living together. They were both of interest but neither really felt fully done.
Darling was quite a confusing character and the way her story is narrated means I’m still a little uncertain as to how much her tale was to be trusted. Too many details were left rather loose for my liking, which was a shame as this was an interesting idea.

Very confusing story which I couldn't get to grips with. It is a story in two parts but they didn't really fit..

I loved the premise of Darling so was very excited to read this, and this was truly a binge-worthy read to be consumed in one sitting.
Told from the POVs of Darling, a black woman who marries Thomas, a white widowed middle-class father of a teenage daughter, Lola, after a whirlwind 3 month romance, and Lola, a 16-Year old who resents her black stepmother, this is is a mix of post-Brexit and domestic noir using race to create tension in the home. The writing is easy to read and pacy with some poignant and sharp lines like:
“I had learned from a young age that there were those who would look at me and assume I was poorer, less intelligent, less cultured, a quandary solved upon sight; sexually incontinent, insanitary, ill-mannered and ill-educated for good measure. Not everyone, not most , even. But for those who saw colour and wanted you to know it, these were the cudgels with which they daily tried to crack your thick black skull.“
Despite this I give Darling 3.5. While there is lots of tension and conflict I found the ending unsatisfying and that certain plot strands don’t tie up. In the end I felt like Edwards was cramming into too much and with another edit this could’ve been a better and tighter read. Having said this Darling does stand out and if you want to read something new in the psychological thriller genre then give this a go.