I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

In the beginning Sylvia seemed so predictable, I wanted to shake her and really didn’t think she had it in her to change. All the time I was reading I had an impending sense of doom and I was really worried about what she was capable of doing in the name of protecting her deluded relationship with her boss.

I really enjoyed this book and the end surprised me. Read it in 2 days, reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant. Would recommend as a book club read as Sylvia’s behaviour/personality and the choices she makes, would be great for discussion.

When I first started to read this book I thought it was going to be a struggle. The main character, Sylvia, is a really unlikeable spinster, but as the story progresses, the complexity of her life story makes you start to warm to her. In the end I was sad that it came to an end. Persevere and you won't be disappointed.

Sylvia is as prickly as the hedgehogs she helps to care for at a local sanctury run by Jonas Entwistle. She works as a PA in the university for Professor Carl Lomax whom she is hopelessly in love with. She reads all of his papers and books and dreams that one day she will be in a position to take care of him 24hrs a day.
With no friends to call her own she only socialises with her Mother - an unaffectionate kind of lady, her younger sister Millie - a free spirit who wears floaty dresses, her brother inlaw Kamal - a surly man who detests Sylvia as much as she detests him and her niece Crystal - a young artist who is quiet and likes to be alone, much like her Aunt!
The Professor or Prof as Sylvia calls him has begun to take an interest in a PHD student called Lola. Sylvia will not stand for anyone, let alone a pushy, large chested, single mother, floozy like Lola come between them and she hatches a plan that goes very badly wrong. In pieces at the fear of loosing Prof she storms round to confront her brother inlaw as to why they hate each other. His aunts overhear and all hell breaks loose. Sylvia ends up alone and has to find a way back to her family.
A fantastic read for lovers of Eleanor Oliphant. You begin detesting Sylvia, but finish up rooting for her.

A perfect read which I devoured in one sitting !!
Telling the story of Sylvia who has for many years loved her boss ‘Prof’ from afar. A charming character, deep down lonely and looking for love. We see her family relationships and that with Jonas a dear old fruend who runs a hedgehog sanctuary where Sylvia helps out.
As life spirals out of control the hedgehogs become her sanctuary.

A book which I found was similar to Eleanor Oliphant. The main character, Sylvia, was well drawn and was quite spiky, like a hedgehog to start with but mellowed towards the end. She wasn't particularly likeable at first and quite annoying with a huge inferiority complex with accompanying aggressive prickliness but slowly slowly throughout the progress of the book this changed with a few set backs along the way. The initial setting in an administrative office was spot on and a perfect background for Sylvia at the start.

A very enjoyable read as the reader gets totally drawn in as the book unfolds.

An excellent book.... lovely to know the origin of Needlemouse! I shall never think of hedgehogs in quite the same way again!. What a tangled web Sylvia wove....a complicated life with hidden issues....love, jealousy, a past that haunts her. The characters really come to life and what starts out as irritation with Sylvia becomes more sympathetic as you begin to understand her life, family and friend Jonas.
I liked the way the book is divided in to seasons with an explanation at the beginning of each season about hedgehogs. Also each "chapter" is written under a diary entry.
A clever tale, brilliant debut novel. I would highly recommend and hope that another novel follows!

A really nice read. I did enjoy this book,
Thank you to both NetGalley and Penguin Random House for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Being honest, it took me a while to decide if i liked this book or not,as i was not so keen on Sylvia. However, reading on and giving her a chance, i came to enjoy the book. Its worth giving it a chance.

I really liked this book, it is a great example of what real life can be like for some people and where it can all go wrong but also the reasons behind people and their attitudes!

I wasn’t sure about this book. Sylvia was a prickly character just like the hedgehogs she cared for. I can’t decide if I like her or not, it seems a similar character to Eleanor Oliphant which I’m not sure is a good or bad thing.

An absolute delightful read.
It was funny, sad and beautiful. I loved Sylvia and now I’m finished I think I might just miss her a little..

52 year old Sylvia is in a rut of her own making. PA to a professor, she has been in love with him for the past fifteen years and her life has been on hold during that time. She lives for Monday mornings and jealously guards him from students so that he can continue his work uninterrupted. She longs for the time when they can be together at last. This isn't just a pipe dream, after all they once shared a forbidden kiss. So when he confides that he and his wife have split up, she is ecstatic. However this doesn't last long with the arrival of new PhD student Lola and Sylvia's jealousy leads her to do several things which lead to disastrous consequences.

I loved this book. The character of Sylvia is very well drawn. We all know people like her, people with a chip on their shoulder who fill their days with acts of petty passive aggressiveness. She narrates her story with brutal honesty and we watch in horror as she crashes and burns. It is only when we learn about some of her past that we begin to understand and forgive her. There are some slightly unexplained things: I have known several professors in my life, not one of whom has had a personal assistant and the turnaround of Sylvia's niece to being on her side needs further explanation. But these are minor quibbles, overall this is a very good read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

In the same vein as Eleanor Oliphant the main character of this book is initially quite hard to like. Her rather anti-soctal behaviour makes her aapear very similar to the Needle Mouse or hedgehog of the title. However with the revealing of Sylvia's big secret I began to warm to her & her awakening to the character flaws in those around her made for a sweet ending up o the book.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Was not sure whether or not I would like this book but I did. Could not work out whether I liked or disliked Sylvia

What an interesting book. Needlemouse, the title, is Jthe apanese translation of the word Hedgehog, and so much of the story revolves around hedgehogs. Jonas has a little hog sanctuary where sick hedgehogs are cared for . i think I liked Jonas best of all the characters!
Sylvia, the main character, has been in a sort of hibernation, tied up with an imaginary love affair with her boss, Professor Lomax. She would just about die for him, protecting him fiercely from all comers, babying him with tea and sympathy, and simply not realising that the whole thing is one sided.
I found her prickly, of course, to begin with , but it was fascinating to see how the story evolved and how her character changed.
Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'Needlemouse'. Sylvia, the central character has been alone for too long and as a result, has forgotten how to connect to people. Her prickly nature was realistically described, her infatuation with her boss was believable and sadly, his treatment of her was plausible.

The Hedgehog Rescue centre is Sylvia's salvation and Jonas provides wise counsel. Sylvia's transformation is heart-warming and I wonder if there is the opportunity for a sequel to this book.

I'm afraid I abandoned this book after reading 22%. I just didn't like the protagonist, and the story felt too much like it was an "Eleanor-wanna-be" (after the fabulous Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine).

Sylvia Penton is 52 and quite happy with her life, or so she thinks. An administration job at a university, an unrequited love for her boss, a strained relationship with her sister...Sylvia is alone and doesn't mind. She helps out in a hedgehog sanctuary and spends her spare time fantasising about when she will be with the Prof, her true love. It takes a pretty undergraduate to steal him from under her nose for Sylvia's life to start unravelling, but with change comes opportunity and Sylvia's life will not be the same again.

Marketed as being a bit like 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine', this book is quite uplifting and an entertaining read. However, the protagonist is quite unappealing - she is superior and genuinely prickly, like the hedgehogs she looks after. In fact, she can be downright unpleasant, as evidenced by her behaviour to the poor admin girl in her office. Although she does change, it takes a while for that to start to happen so there is a lot of the book where you really don't like her.

I'll admit that I found the first half of the book a little slow going - I was waiting for something to happen. When it does start moving, it's a pleasant read and one I would recommend that you stick with for the end. Good, but a character that takes a lot of warming to, which makes the first half of the book quite tricky.

I think I'd have found this a lot more compelling if I hadn't read something very similar, very recently. The 'broken human' trope seems to be gaining in popularity; but this didn't stand out enough for me.

Anyone who has worked in a school, faculty or department (they are interchangeable and change frequently) of a university will immediately recognise fifty-two year old Sylvia, the spikey personal assistant to the Prof. Sylvia guards the Prof’s time and space with the dedication of a rottweiler and she has been in love with him for the last ten years (the Prof not the rottweiler). When a glamorous new PhD student appears on the scene Sylvia fears her dreams of ‘happy ever after’ with the Prof are damned. She decides that she has to take action and this leads to her complete downfall.

Sylvia lives alone and divides her time between her job at the university and volunteering for the local hedgehog sanctuary run by widower Jonas. She has no close friends and only just tolerates the company of her mother, her sister Millie, her husband Kamal and their daughter Crystal.

To be frank, at the beginning of the novel, Sylvia really isn’t a very nice person and I was sighing and tutting at her spiteful and underhand actions. However, as her story starts to unfold I found myself liking and understanding her more and more. Whilst Sylvia’s action lead to her world imploding in the short term they also make her re-evaluate her existence and, like a hedgehog at the end of winter, come out of hibernation and begin to live her life.

Jane O’Connor has crafted a lovely story with delightful characters, straight-laced Sylvia, scatty Millie, thoughtful Crystal and philosophical Jonas to name just a few. Sylvia’s journey to self-awareness is told with poignancy and care. I loved this novel and would highly recommend you read it, especially if you are a fan of Ruth Hogan and/or Gail Honeyman. Fun fact: needlemouse is Japanese for hedgehog. How cute is that?