Member Reviews
A deliciously twisted take on adultery. It kept me up way past my bedtime to find out everyone's secrets!
Thank you to netgalley and Macmillan for an advance copy
I received an early copy of this book in return for my independent honest review.
What a thoroughly enjoyable psychological thriller. Imagine you agree to enter a survey that is conducted by an eminent psychologist thinking you are safe and part of an ethical trial when all might not be as it seems.
If you like thrillers with toxic relationships which are full of twists and turns then this book is for you.
It has an easy to follow writing style that soon draws you into the story.
I didn't quite have the emotional pull to this book for me to award a 5*, however still an excellent read for all psychological thriller lovers
If you want to read a truely psychological thriller then look no further, as this is definitely it !!
Jess, a make-up artist, overhears her client talking about a survey that she has been invited to but won’t attend. It will pay $500 to answer a few questions, Jess decides to make a note of the details and go in her clients place as she could really do with the money.
Jess takes part in the survey and is known as Subject 52. The survey is a Morality and Ethics research project run by Dr Shields. Some of the questions lead Jess to be suspicious but she answers as honestly as she can. Dr Shields then announces that they should meet up for some further research. But is everything quite as it seems ?
This really is a true psychological thriller that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat !! This is a book that will have you thinking one thing one moment and then completely changing your mind the next. A book that really needs to be added to your pile, but make sure you put it on the top !!
Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.
I loved this one! I work in a mental health setting, so the environment was addictive and fun to see unfold. I loved the manipulative aspects in play and the ending was a banger! Five stars!
With thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.
Jessica Farris worked as a make-up artist in New York. Money was tight because she secretly paid for a speech therapist for her disabled sister Becky.
During a make-up consultation Jess overheard her client had been offered $500 to complete a psychiatry survey the following day. The girl told her friend she would not be going. Jess decided it was an easy way to earn money for Becky`s therapy and decided to attend the appointment herself. The survey was being organised by a Dr Shields a lecturer at NYU.
The next day Jess was accepted in the study, she was led to a room empty but for a chair and computer. Dr Shields assistant explained all she had to do was answer the questions on screen honestly. The questions were about ethics and morality - Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?, Describe a time in your life when you cheated?
Dr Shields was actually watching Jess`s reactions behind a camera as she typed. Dr Shields decided Jess was the perfect person for future study. As Jess started seeing the doctor their demands became more twisted, when she starts doubting her best friend and her family she knows she has to stop the study. So much more happens but I don't want to write any more spoilers.
OMG This book was so good, I'm shooketh! An Anonymous Girl was told from the POV of Jess and the Dr. It was an addictive tale of jealousy and betrayal. The plot was so taut you could cut the tension with a knife. As the story progressed I was actually scared of what Dr Shields would do to Jess and her family.
I liked Jess who was hard working and would do anything for her family. I recommend this dark, twisty book.
Jessica has always felt responsible for the injuries her sister sustained 20 years ago. With her parents not being very well of and struggling to pay hospital fees, she tries to help them out as much as possible. When she hears about an ethical study questionnaire that pays good money, she decides to take the place of a girl who mentioned it.
Little does Jessica know, this study will spiral out of her control when she is befriended by the Doctor who has set it up. Jessica seeks comfort in a stranger but later finds out he is the husband of the Doctor. Does she do what is ethically right and confess or is it best to lie?
Her job, her relationship with her new boyfriend and her relationship with her parents is in jeopardy. Will she find a way out or end up dead like her predecessor?
I found this book a bit hit and miss. One minute I was captivated, the next my attention started to wane.
3.5*
I struggled to finish reading this book which I am sorry to say I found rather boring and the format somewhat tedious.
There were some twists but nothing too thrilling and so I was glad when it came to the end..
Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.
Jessica is a make up artist working in New York, trying to make ends meet and helping her parents out financially with her younger sister's medical fees, when she hears about a clinical study that is taking place on ethics and morality via one of her clients. She is accepted on to the program and becomes 'Subject 52', but the questions are more in-depth than Jessica ever imagined and, after completing her two sessions she is contacted by the intriguing Dr Shields, who asks her to continue her participation in the study for a much higher monetary payback, she thinks she has nothing to lose by continuing, but does she really know what she's getting involved in and how it will end?
I was drawn into the story right from the off and didn't want to put it down. It's a story about trust, deceit and jealousy and questions how morally ethic a person would be in certain situations. I really enjoyed the previous book by these two authors, The Wife Between Us, so was looking forward to reading this one and I wasn't disappointed, it was everything I expected it to be and more. I love the way Hendricks and Pekkanen write so well together, their work is beautifully crafted, keeping the reader intrigued from beginning to end. If you like a suspense filled edge of your seat thriller this is one for you.
I would like to thank Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the approval and will post my review on Goodreads now and on Amazon on publication day.
What a twisty, dark read this was. The storyline seemed to have so many strands to it that I found myself so confused. The twists the author introduced had me totally second guessing where the story would go, but I didn’t manage to predict it correctly at all.
A great psychological read. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.
This is the first book I have read by these two authors but after reading this 'The Wife Between Us' will be put straight to the top of my ever growing TBR pile!
This is a brilliant chilling and suspenseful psychological thriller which was impossible to put down.
Absolutely loved it and would highly recommend.
I have to firstly admit that although I have older books in my to read list, as soon as I read about this book I could not resist taking a peep which then led to me devouring it in one night!!
When Jessica Farris 28, a make up artist, overhears her clients Mandy and Taylor talking about a survey that Taylor was going to participate in that pays 500 bucks to just answer a few questions. Jessica would need to have 10 clients to earn that amount of money, so takes down the details so she can go instead.
Jessica takes part in the Morality & ethics research project, she become subject 52 and at first the questions seem innocuous, but she is soon telling her secrets that she has never told anyone else. This is worth it for the money or is it?
Dr Shields who is running the survey wants to meet Jessica and continue asking questions. Jessica who Is intrigued by Dr Julia Shields and the prospect of making more money agrees, but these sessions will be face to face and will include assignments where she is told where to go and what to do.
I was totally addicted to this book. I have read quite a lot of psychological thrillers but this was refreshingly different from the rest.
Just when you think you know where this book is going it surprises you with another twist. It kept me frantically turning the pages to find out more.
A must read book that will keep you on the edge of you’re seat!! Will definitely be reading their other book ‘The Wife Between Us’ as I need another fix of their genius work.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for my review.
I enjoyed An Anonymous Girl. I haven't actually read The Silent Wife, so I didn't know how the dual authorship would work, but I didn't feel it at all. The pace was good, the therapy setting interesting and well drawn.
I am really sorry I could not get into this book at all. I kept reading but I felt I could not relate to any of it.
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.
‘An Anonymous Girl’ was twisted, intriguing, and thought-provoking – all in one. Such a page-turner that I couldn’t put this book down for anything.
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The Plot:
Meet Jessica Farris, makeup artist struggling to make a living in New York, while supporting her family and her self-perception of a karmic debt. She doesn’t think much of signing up for a psychology study, just a bit of extra cash. But we readers know best. Something is wrong with that experiment… but what, exactly? As soon as Jessica Farris (or Jess) turns into “Subject 52″, it starts getting difficult to put this book down because you can’t wait to find more!
The great thing about the plot is that very little is unveiled right away. It comes to a point that it even feels a bit “inconsistent” with all the lack of reliability of the narrator in Dr Shields PoV. You want to trust all of these characters, you really do. The fact that one of them is a narrator doesn’t help you reach out to any conclusions either. It is that intriguing.
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The Characters:
What an impressive cast of untrustworthy characters. It’s difficult to sympathize with them, even with Jess sometimes. But that doesn’t mean feeling less connected to them, their emotions, and their stories. No matter how disturbed or illogical their actions and thoughts, they feel something, and they’ll ensure you’ll feel something too.
The less you know about them the better, so you can draw your own conclusions. One thing I can say though is that they’ll make you reflect a lot. Not only about who they are, and what they could possibly hide but also people’s hidden motivations – and humanity, overall.
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The Writing Style
The narrative is told from two PoVs – The doctor and her subject. The writing styles are quite distinct which helps a lot to differentiate the characters and get into their skin. I especially enjoyed Dr Shields’ second-person stalkerish narrative which inspires an interesting duality – on the one hand, you feel closer to Dr Shields, but on the other hand, she’s talking to you “Jess” which automatically transforms you, the reader, into her subject.
The pace is great with all the appropriate moments of tension and uncertainty as the plot develops.
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Overall, ‘An Anonymous Girl’ is a suspenseful and addictive read, one that could easily lead you to ignore everything and everyone around you while you finish this gem.
My thanks to Pan Macmillan for an ebook edition via NetGalley of this tense psychological thriller. It’s available now as an ebook and published in hardback on 7th February.
Twenty-eight year old Jessica is a freelance makeup artist. While visiting a client she learns of a study on morality being conducted by a prominent NYC psychiatrist. Anonymity is guaranteed as well as a generous fee. Constantly in need of money Jess gets herself into the study. However, as the study continues the questions became more intense. Then Jess is invited to attend private sessions. These then are supplemented by outings where she is assigned tasks.
I won’t say more regarding the plot as I find it is always better to approach this kind of novel with minimal information to allow for the shocks and twists to have maximum impact.
The novel alternates between chapters narrated by Jessica and the mysterious Dr. Shields. In the latter the reader gets more insight into her motivations. I found Jess very sympathetic. As for Dr. Lydia Shields, she is a very memorable character.
I was completely gripped by this novel and found it extremely hard to put down. It’s the first novel that I have read by these talented authors and I plan to read their earlier one as well as remain on the lookout for future projects.
Just a note that the ARC did have some spelling mistakes and as the ebook was low-priced I bought it and read from that text. Pretty much all errors had been corrected.
'An Anonymous Girl' is a tale of cat and mouse, wherein an intercepted invitation to participate in a research study on morals leads to the subject questioning every held value and norm.
Beautician Jessica, who is hiding the fact that her drama studies dream never worked out, is living hand to mouth on proceeds from house calls. A chance encounter leaves her with the opportunity to bluff her way into a paid clinical trial that she thinks will be easy money.
Dr Shields is observing the interloper, well aware that she was not the girl invited, and find her answers fascinating.
Before long the dr is going off grid and devising questions that would not bear looking at too closely by any ethics panel, this is because Dr Shields has an ulterior motive and subject No 52 is going to be the exception that proves the rule-let's just hope that this time the subject survives the process...
Twisty and turn-y,but., I felt, overly long, I really enjoyed 'An Anonymous Girl' and would definitely want to read more by the same authors.
If it had been a bit shorter it would have made the suspense more heightened but as it was, I enjoyed it and found it interesting how quickly people cast aside their morals or shift their thinking when money is at stake, even if it is for a good reason.
Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for this copy in return for an honest review.
This book had me totally gripped. What a thriller!
Jessica, or shall we all her ‘subject 52’ has a secret that haunts her, one she should have disclosed to her parents years ago. This secret is slowly and treacherously pulled from her heart and mind by one person, Dr. shields.
What started out as a quick and easy money making plan by Jessica, weaves it’s way through twists and turns, unearthing some secrets that she would find disturbing and menacing. Secrets that unwittingly drag her into some sort of malicious plan created by Dr. shields. Just who is this Dr. What is the purpose of all that unfurls in front of both Jessica and all who are close to her. Even worse and more unsettling is how can Jessica get out of this tragic mess.
Sarah Pekkanen is brilliant and creating tense and gripping chapters throughout the book. A fantastic page turner which has become one of the best thrillers that I have ever read.
Mmm don’t know how to feel about this
It was good but not the best and for the first 100 pages it didnt really catch my attention but decided to carry on through it and it did get better but it’s just ur average thriller in my opinion.
Only really shocked me one time that’s it
If you hear a lot of hype surrounding this book, it’s not just jibber jabber, this is a smart, chilling and suspenseful novel that doesn’t let you off the hook until the very last page. The tension builds with every chapter - I even found myself thinking about possible outcomes while I was cooking dinner for heavens sake!
But it’s more than that it’s intelligent, unique and interesting and absolutely worth your time. Give it a go.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Jessica Farris is a make up artist who loves her job but it doesn't always pay the bills, so when a opportunity appears to take part in a ethics and morality study for $500 she jumped at the chance.
Little did she know that Dr Shields was conducting a study of her own.
Jessica finds herself paranoid about everything she has ever done and can no longer trust anyone including herself.
The only negative about this book is the constant spelling errors that appear throughout the book.