A little confusing for me. Rather repetitive. Dark, intense, predictable. More of a love story gone wrong than a psychological thriller Four stars

I really don’t know what to make of this. I enjoyed elements of it and the writing I felt flowed nicely to keep me engaged however there was little intrigue - I had a feeling what had gone on prior and what was to come to make Catherine mute. My biggest issue was that Catherine and Lucien would have this brief relationship in university when they were kids and she would go on like that over him for the subsequent 15 years it felt a bit unbelievable. I would happily read more from this author however as I believe there is potential. Thanks to Orion, the author and Netgalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Catherine and Lucian. Why is Catherine mute in the present and why did she leave her beloved Lucian?
Unfortunately this is a love story rather than the psychological thriller I expectedabd this disappointed me as the blurb led me to believe it would be a thriller.
I did like the fact that it captures the difficulties of starting g university and feeling like you need to be someone you aren't. However none of the characters are particularly likeable which made it hard to connect with the story at times.
The story unfolds using several timelines a device that seems to be much favoured by current writers amd it is used together effect by others.

I've read this book as early release and found the way it written is very good but in the begining I found it slow and very confusing the way it layed out. I would recommend it and enjoy the story with Catherine and Sam.

I expected something more like a thriller with this book, which it was not. That being said, it was an interesting story and cleverly told from multiple POVs. I never really connected with the characters, unfortunately, but it was never boring and well written all the same.

This is Clare Empsons debut book, and what a debut it is! Full of tension and suspense.
I will definitely be on the look out for more by this author in the future.
Some parts of this book left me heartbroken, but it was certainly powerful in places.
A must read in my opinion

This book was not what I was expecting at all and it wasn't for me in the end. I found it very confusing and not the thriller I had hoped for.

Thank you for the chance to read this book

It's interesting that quite a few books billed as psychological thrillers and the "next Girl on the Train" are actually less thrillers or mysteries in the traditional sense but more "bad things happen to a woman". Falling strongly on the "domestic" in "domestic thriller". Him, similarly The People Next Door, is beautifully and movingly written—better than most of the books actually in the genre—but just doesn't really fulfil the thriller remit. In a pre-Girl on the Train world, it probably would have been marketed as a dark, literary love story.

Apart from that—and the title, which is so psychological thriller-y and doesn't really fit the book at all—I liked it. I love anything with a posh group of university friends who have all grown up to be self-destructive in different ways, and the anguish of the characters felt genuine and never too overblown. All the flipping about between timelines could be a bit confusing, and I almost feel the "present" chapters, where Catherine is in a mental health institution, could have been left out altogether ([and aren't they a bit manipulative to the reader, as she reveals at the end she had simply chosen to live inside her head and think about Lucian? (hide spoiler)]) But it was more engaging and well-written than the vast majority of psychological thrillers out there at the moment, and I'd like to see what the author does next.

This book me just over 6 days to finish, and it left me with mixed feelings. This was a new author for me and I started reading this book with an open mind and by end I thought it was an ok read and here are the reasons.

Firstly, this is another book where in each chapter the story jumps to past and present. I don’t know why but recently I have found that a majority of the books that I’m reading are like this and particularly like books written like this, as I get tend to get confused as to what is happening when, and this book was no different in that sense. Also, when it goes back into the past the story is told from the point of different characters which can get a little confusing.

the plot for me was a little slow in places and therefore felt that I had to work harder to finish the book. I also struggled in liking and getting to know the characters.

On a positive note I did think that the storyline is original and there were some interesting parts. Also, for some unknown reason, which I still can’t work out, even while I am writing this review I just wanted to keep reading to the end.

This book has been categorised as mystery/thriller but after reading it I think it’s more of a Romance that covers topics of love, loss, and betrayal.

I do recommend definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoy reading romancey types of books, and if you’re not I still think you should give it ago as you might enjoy it much more than I did.

I would also like to thank NetGalley and Orion for my eARC in return for an honest and unbiased review

This didn’t quite turn out the way I thought it would. I was expecting a psychological thriller and while it does have some of the elements of that genre and a bit of a mystery to solve, at its core Him is a love story gone badly, oh so badly, wrong.

Catherine doesn’t talk. She suffers from elective mutism after witnessing a traumatic event. It all has to do with “him” but the why takes a while for the reader to discover.

Fifteen years ago, Catherine met the dashing Lucian at university. Theirs was a passionate love affair but then Catherine breaks up with Lucian. No explanation or anything. She just disappears and refuses to talk to him ever again, leaving Lucian utterly devastated.

But her obsession with him and what life could have been like by his side continues through the years, through a marriage and the birth of her children. This is a love that can’t be forgotten or denied, but also one with devastating consequences. What exactly happened when Catherine met Lucian again four months ago?

This story switches back and forth between events from fifteen years ago, four months ago and the present day. This may sound a little all over the place but it’s really not. It’s done incredibly well and never gets confusing. Slowly but surely, the pieces of the puzzle come together.

I found the characters hard to connect with though. Lucian and his friends are an elitist and snobbish club of rich and privileged people that Catherine never really quite fits into. Yet some are drawn to them like moths to a flame. And while Catherine wonders what her life would have been like had she stayed with Lucian, I was wondering how different her life with her husband, Sam, could have been had she been able to let Lucian go. To be honest, Sam was the only person I was able to muster up any kind of sympathy for.

Him is a dark and tragic tale of love, obsession and guilt. Despite it’s relatively slow pace, this character-driven story is rather gripping and at times incredibly sad. I was desperate to know why Catherine stopped talking and if she’d ever utter another word again. I enjoyed it but I found the psychological thriller label a tad misleading so my advice to you is to go in with an open mind and let Catherine take you on a moving journey through her memories.

This book will take you through a roller coaster of emotions and all the while, you’ll be desparate to know what happened to Catherine.
The story is told during different time periods - four months before ‘it’ happened, from two points of view, fifteens years ago and now.
We learn that Catherine is in hospital as she is unable to speak since ‘it’ happened. Her family and best friend visit her but nothing seems to help.
We’re given an insight into Catherine’s thoughts and you really do feel for her and those around her.
I’d love to tell you what happens but I won’t spoil it for you as you need to enjoy every chapter as the book steadily leads up to what happened.
This is a gripping read and I highly recommend it if you enjoy mystery thrillers with a love story at its heart.
Thanks to Orion and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Catherine can’t speak. She has witnessed something so traumatising that the only way to look forwards is by going back into her past.
Fifteen years ago Catherine met Lucian and they had a passionate love affair, they were going to be together forever but something happened and destroyed them. Catherine is now married to Sam with two children and has moved on, or so she thought because Lucian is back and her life can still be very different. Will going back change anything?
The story is told through two main characters Catherine and Lucian, they are in flashbacks of four months prior to the event and fifteen years ago.
A good psychological thriller full of obsession and lies. Very enjoyable, but a little drawn out for my liking.
Many thanks to Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

Woah, this story is an emotional experience. It's like experiencing every emotion related to love, from the simple happiness to the dark obsession, out there.

This is exactly the kind of story that will stay with me for quite a while.

This is a book about relationships, love, lies and friendship. There is a lot to this story and I found it be an addictive read. The only thing that annoyed me about the story and the plot was that it seemed to take too long to reveal what Catherine had witnessed.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

OK.....where to start?

This is the story of a woman who finds she cannot speak and is in hospital. She's married to Sam and has children. However, her first and only love is Lucien. The story takes you from back to when they were all at University together (Sam, Catherine, Lucien and his friends) to 4 months ago (which is when she lost the ability to speak, due to an incident) and present day.
Those time switches keep you reading and certainly kept my interest. However, it did feel a little like hard work, keeping up with which time frame about which was I reading.....and the repetitive endorsement of her love for Lucien.

It's an OK read and I did like the premise of the story. It was just more difficult to read than it needed to be.

Thanks to netgalley and Orion publishing for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I read Him as a love story. Catherine meets wealthy golden boy Lucien at Oxford and they fall in love. Lucien is the figurehead of a small group of bright young things and Catherine never quite fits in. When something happens that causes her to drop Lucien she offers no explanation and instead marries another student, Sam, with whom she has two children.

When the story begins Catherine lies mute in hospital, it turns out as a result of a shocking event that is revealed near the end (and it was an absolute shock to me when I read it) . With the assistance of her psychiatrist, her story is pieced together and we learn that Catherine and Lucien remeet after many years apart and rekindle their love affair with tragic results.

A very good read and I highly recommend Clare Empson's writing. Many thanks to NetGalley and Orion for the opportunity to read and review Him.

I have just finished this book, having only started it today! Yes, it really is that much of a page turner!

I can relate to Catherine, the huge love and misunderstood loss, making do with a lesser but ultimately safe relationship, the desire never fading and the opportunity to reconnect inevitably grabbed with both hands. This accurately describes my year so far!

So I really wanted to read this book and see how the author developed a story what is actually very similar to my real life! Although I hoped for a different outcome it was still a very cleverly written, captivating and rewarding book to read.

This deserves to be a huge seller, and if I were a film director I would be buying it for the big screen without hesitation. Loved it. Thank you so much!

HIM......HMMMMMM
Firstly this book took me 5 days to read ( inc weekend where I dont read much mind you ) and thats the longest a book has taken me to read for months...however I did want to finish it and at no time, even when it frustrated me, did I contemplate not finishing it...this book had ‘something’.......
Its NOT a full on mystery/thriller as is billed but more of a modern day Romeo and Juliet set in opulence and ‘old money’,there are elements of mystery and thriller in it but basically it is a love story, gone wrong, gone wrong again and then gone disastrous
I enjoyed, as previous lived there, it being set in Somerset and call me shallow but really enjoyed the ‘money no object’ that ran through the book, the mansions, the food, the lifestyle was fabulously described and you could taste the wealth throughout
Of course with this comes an array of objectionable characters and their whims and fancies and a life far removed from reality, certain characters ( well portrayed ) got on my nerves!!
The story is Catherine and Lucien fall in love......something happens that Catherine cannot cope with and she leaves....marrys someone else and has 2 kids.....then after re meeting they briefly rekindle their love and the ‘secret’ comes out with a horrifying result......Catherine then goes mute with disassociation with the shock and that is how the book starts.... it then ( at times confusingly ) goes back and forth between now, 4 months ago ( when she went mute) and 15 years ago ( when they first met ) and you have to be on the ball to keep up with this constant changing of time zones
I felt there was quite a bit of repetition in the book and in the end I was shouting ( in my mind ) ‘we know’ to Catherines protests of love
It has a surprising end and one I didnt see coming
As I say I did enjoy this book, very different to what I normally read but it pulled me back to the story time and again and by the end felt I knew them all well and was glad had invested 5 days ‘with them’
4 stars 8/10

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
Him by Clare Empson is a book about mistakes and addictions, love lost and love betrayed, friendship and lives lost.
It isn’t the happiest of books and it is set in a world of wealth and waste, compared to an easy life of families and ordinary lives. It is about betrayal, intended and unintended, truth and lies, choices made and mutism, elective or not.
Recommended.

Intense & profoundly moving.

This is an astonishing debut. Character driven, intense and profoundly moving.

Catherine is suffering from Elective Mutism - unable to speak, she tells us her story through her memories. Memories of a time fifteen years before when she first meets Lucian and they enter into a relationship that is all-consuming. With breathtaking prose and more than a hint of nostalgia Catherine’s recollections show us exactly what Lucian means to her and the impact this has on the very essence of who she is.

As the story unfolds Lucian is given his own voice and fascinatingly the narrative shifts between the two, flitting backwards and forwards in time, past, present and four months before. Every word, every sentence, captures the intensity of the love they have for each other. As we view events from two perspectives the tension builds as we realise that there is only one truth - a truth so shockingly awful that it has stolen Catherine’s voice.

Him is a beautifully written, cleverly constructed book that filled me with a myriad of emotions. It is a book that will stay with me for a long time - highly highly recommended.