I gave up on this book about 25% in. I was bored and I felt like I had read it all before. It was not what I was expecting at all. I see that there are so many glowing reviews so I know that I am in the minority. I may pick this one up again down the track and give it another go but at the moment it just isn't for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

Well, i've come to accept now that finding an original story in the crime genre is like finding a needle in a haystack, and this one is no different. Another addition to the "You don't know your mother as well as you think you do" collection, which admittedly doesn't have as many subscribers as some of the other crime fiction tropes, and it did have some spark and energy to it which I very much enjoyed. The plot itself is of the slow-burn variety and is well thought out. I also found the writing easy to live with and ultimately compelling. There was certainly some suspenseful and unpredictable moments throughout the duration, and you never quite knew who to trust or what would happen next.

Although the overarching concept, reveal and slow unfurling of the characters lives was similar to many other thrillers i've had the pleasure to read recently, it does have a unique and unusual way of telling the tale. It is written from multiple perspectives and shifts between various people including mother, Barbara, and daughter, Helen. It also features a dual timeline - one of the present and the second of the past. These shifts can often lead to a convoluted story and confuse the reader, but I genuinely felt that it worked very well here, with no obvious drawbacks. The characters are written in such a way that you feel sympathy for both of their situations, and the author creates an atmospheric and beautifully written novel that pulled me in right from the very beginning, despite it being a steady start it terms of pace.

Her attention to detail deserves a special mention. I particularly appreciated the parts about how the law has evolved over time, and that what used to be acceptable perhaps no longer is, this definitely appealed to me being a law graduate myself. Sefton can definitely be trusted with the legal points in the book, seeing she's a working barrister as well as a mother and a writer (how does she fit it all in?!). An accomplished debut - I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Many thanks to Avon for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Barbara has been recently diagnosed with breast cancer. As a result her daughter, Helen, and her 2 grandchildren move back to the family home to help Barbara’s husband, Neil, take care of her. Mother and daughter, however do not have a normal relationship, as Helen has always felt that Barbara has kept her distance and the love and affection has always come from her Dad rather than her Mum. Is there a reason for this ? Is everything as it seems ?

The story is told from various people’s perspectives and also from various timelines. This can be confusing but I didn’t find that in this book and I genuinely felt that it added to the story.

I also have to say that the characters are very well written and I really felt the emotions of various characters and found them very believable.

This is quite a slow burner to begin with but rest assured the pace is very much speeded up as you continue in the book and there are plenty of twists to keep you interested. All in all a great psychological thriller.

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Thank you Avon Books for an e-copy of If They Knew in exchange for an honest review. Available September 3/18, If They Knew is a twisty compelling drama.
Another in a line of what if you don't know your mother as well as you think dramas, I did not see where this one was going. The premise and reveal is quite similar to the others, POV shifting between mother, daughter and a few others, and shifting timeframes between the present and the past.
When Barbara is diagnosed with breast cancer, newly separated Helen packs up her children to help her father and mother cope. While Barbara starts getting ominous sounding anonymous notes, it becomes clear that Helen doesn't know everything about her mother.

I can't speak highly enough about this extraordinary book. It's exquisitely written - atmospheric and absorbing from the start. I was entranced by Joanne’s lovely, clever prose and each chapter left me wanting more. The plotting is flawless with incredible attention to detail. I was desperate to find out what happened and felt myself very much invested in the fates of the characters. There wasn’t a moment I doubted I was in the hands of a great storyteller. The style and genre reminds me quite a lot of Liane Moriarty’s work (which is high praise indeed!). I loved this book and was genuinely enthralled from start to finish. Joanne Sefton is certainly an author to watch! IF THEY KNEW deserves every success. Thank you so much for allowing me to read in advance.

This is one you just have to try because it's hard to review due to spoilers. What is easy is that Barbara has been keeping a big secret and now her daughter Helen (who has enough on her plate already) is going to untangle it. Know up front that there are multiple narrators and the timeline moves around, which can make for some confusion until you settle in. Barbara is not the most likable woman but Helen is quite sympathetic. There's a twist at the end which you will either love or hate. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Firstly thank you to Netgalley for letting me review this title. If I’m honest it was a bit of a slow burner but I did like the way you got other characters perspective during each chapter. I stick with it and couldn’t quite believe the ending, I certainly didn’t see that coming

If They Knew started slowly and built up the tension throughout. I found the ending nail biting and didn't for one minute imagine what would happen.

Helen has always known her mother to be secretive but she never could guess why. When Barbara, her mother, becomes ill the terrible truth is finally revealed.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy.

There were so many really good parts of this book that I really liked but there were a few I really didn't like (which I won't talk about because they would be spoilers). And, funny thing, I was happy and unhappy about some of the same things! Now, that is the mark of a crazy turned around story! I loved that the center of the mystery is an older woman. Nice to see that these books are being more inclusive. I will admit to getting a bit confused with the multiple characters in multiple timelines. But, in Ms. Sefton's defense, I am not sure how else she could have done it while still developing the characters so well and getting the reader invested. Thankfully after a few times in each timeline I was able to set on the characters and bounce back and forth. This was definitely a book that held my interest until the end! I believe this is Ms. Sefton's first book. I will be on the look out for more.

Thanks to Avon Books for this great Thriller. It kept me haunted for days after reading the book. A great plot narrated through sensible writing skill of the author. 4 - Stars from me!

Wow! Everyone has issues with their mother at some point, but if your mother is Barbara . . . look, just be really glad your mother isn’t Barbara. This is a twisted family drama that alternates perspectives from troubled teenage Barbara and her adult daughter Helen, a fragile, newly single mom of two young kids. Addictive and highly recommended. Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve never read any Joanne Sefton novels. I enjoyed the present tense story. The characters were well developed and the story line promising. I found the flash back chapters to be confusing and lacking direction. The sequence was odd and hard to follow. I was almost 75 pages in and had no clue what the backstory of the main character was. I felt as if I was reading two entirely different books. I pushed on and found the end of the story to have no resolution.

See my review on goodreads.com

The novel is divided into three timelines: June 1963, December 2014, December 2017, which lends itself to some confusion and awkwardness in following along. It's also divided among a few different narrators, like Helen and her parents Neil and Barbara. It just became too much to follow these timelines and alternate point of views.

I would like to thank Avon Books UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘If They Knew’ by Joanne Sefton in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
When Barbara Marsden is diagnosed with cancer her daughter Helen travels with her children Barney and Alys to stay at the family home with her father Neil. Whilst there Helen discovers some threatening letters addressed to her mother. Barbara has always been a secretive person never giving any information about her family or upbringing, but Helen needs to discover what secret she’s hiding from them before the lives of herself and her family are put at risk.
This is a gripping dramatic thriller where the horrific events of the past catch up with the present causing heartbreak and despair to all involved. The plot is intense, fast-paced and chilling, the characters interesting and believable. I was hooked from page one unable to put it down and when I reached the end it was a big surprise and totally unexpected.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was enjoyable enough up until the end. If a dues ex machina is a God from the machine that was just a God from nowhere. WTFDIJR.

Thank you NetGalley, Joanne Sefton and Avon Books UK for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

No one in Barbara’s family has any idea about her family or her past, but when she’s diagnosed with cancer her secrets are no longer safe from her daughter Helen. Someone wants everyone to know who Barbara is and what she has done. Helen will stop at nothing to protect her mother and find out who is trying to hurt her and her family, but in doing so, is Helen putting her own family at risk?

I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this novel and I was pleasantly surprised with the pace of the novel and all the unexpected twists that came along with it. I really enjoyed the characters in this novel, especially Helen. She was easy to relate to getting divorced and trying to find out how to deal with the custody of their two children while dealing with her sick mother. I enjoyed that the main character was the one with nothing to hide, but had to investigate to save the ones she loves. The synopsis on NetGalley didn’t have much information on the novel, and now I’m glad it didn’t because the surprises were just that, surprises.

There was just the perfect amount of character development in this novel so that I felt like I knew the characters enough to understand what they were going through without being bored. I loved how the novel went back and forth between today and the past of a character named Katy. I also loved that the past wasn’t always in order so that you had to put the pieces together yourself without having it all handed right to you. The ending shocked me, but in such a good way! There were so many twists at the ending that I didn’t see coming and I loved the way the author fit them in and made them so shocking.

Pick it up September 3rd!

IF THEY KNEW By Joanne Sefton

Boy, what a book. I read that this is actually a true story. Their writer pulled me in and did not let go until I finished the book. Even then I still thought about it. We have Darren and Barbara who are married with children. One day Barbara gets bad news from the doctor and so hey call their daughter Helen to tell her the news.... Cancer. Helen goes home and finds a letter on the doorstep. The letter is threatening towards Barbara who is sick. Helen will stop at nothing to save her mother and keep her away from danger. There are several other issues that are going on on the sideline that continue to make you wonder who is doing this and why? It is a great read and the author has a wonderful way of weaving the story and keeping to the facts.


I give this one 5 stars ⭐️ out of 5

Thank you netgalley as well as the author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book centers on Helen, a mother with two children going through a separation from her husband. During this trying time, Helen is called back home by her father with news that her mother has cancer. Upon her arrival, Helen finds a letter on her mother's doorstep, threatening harm to her mom. As her mother, Barbara battles her illness, there are more notes and random acts that has Helen searching into Barbara's past. Will she find the answer to the secrets that have been hidden all these years?

This book is told with the use of flashbacks. The flashbacks gives bits and pieces of the information you need and kept me reading to get more. The characters were well created each with their own determination and realistic flaws.

I enjoyed the plot of this book, and most of the actual story, but there were things that were problematic. I thought the characters were full and well rounded, each with their flaws and struggles. The actual story was very good. If They Knew is a book about a family whose lives are shattered when a cancer diagnosis brings to light secrets from the mother's past. I liked the slow build of the book, but I did think at times it took a little too long to get to the main part of the narrative. I also liked the different points of view from the characters, as well as the shifts in time. However, the ending was disappointing. I felt it was a little lackluster. The novel, for its length and breadth, felt unresolved, as though it was setting up for a sequel. Still, I would have loved some sense of resolution to this book. The ending is what made me give this book 3 stars instead of 4. I just really wanted the ending to be more than what it was, especially with how fast things happened from the middle of the book on.

Wow, wow and wow absolutely brilliant, just loved Joanne's style of writing, how the story developed and I was very soon hooked. She draws you in straight away and I found myself really involved with all the characters.

I read this over two days, full of twists and turns with a great ending. I have nothing negative to say about this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and can definitely recommend. I will certainly be recommending this to my Facebook Book Groups on publication day.

I eagerly look forward to Joanne's next masterpiece and well worthy of five stars, wish I could give it ten!.