This one will wring you out emotionally! Poor Astrid is an alcoholic who is trying to overcome her addiction and deal with the regrets of her previous life. Holed up in her mother’s house she tried hard going to AA meets and keeping a low profile - it wouldn’t be a story if that wasn’t good enough, suffice to say her past is not so easily put aside and a future happiness might not be easily won.

A terrific description of alcohol addiction, the daily never ending fight to stay sober, and the impact on the lives of those around you. Compelling and heartbreaking- a worthwhile read .

Astrid is back home living with her mother and she's an alcoholic. She has a secret. And it seems like someone knows...

I really struggled to get in to this despite loving Lesley's last book. Thank you for the advance copy.

A great book showing the ups and downs of struggling with addiction, lies and secrets.

Astrid, a recovering alcoholic moves back to her home town to live with her mother. She attends AA meetings and soon realises that you can’t keep a secret in a small seaside town.

Astrid is convinced someone is following her, her ex boyfriend Simon ? But then she remembers he’s dead, isn’t he ? We also know that something else is bothering Astrid, a secret she only shared with Simon but paranoia means that Astrid is convinced someone else knows what happened, do they ?

This is a great story of addiction, lies, secrets, guilt, relationships and so much more. I really warmed to Astrid and really wanted her to succeed in finding the truth and staying sober. This book has plenty of twists that keep you guessing and hooked right to the very end.

Thank you to Random House UK and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Unfortunately I struggled with this one, the storyline just didn't hook me.
Some interesting ideas but they all felt a little bit contrived and didn't gel together.

Astrid is trying really hard to turn her life around,having recently come out of rehab,she has reluctantly moved back home to live with her mother in the quiet seaside town of Flinstead. Asked is focusing on her recovery,going to alcoholics anonymous meetings, confessing her misdeeds and trying to make amends for the mistakes she had made in the past.

But someone knows Astrid's secret,the tragic event that she is running from. Someone who will not stop until Astrid learns that some mistakes cannot be corrected.

Some mistakes,you have to pay for.

This is a story about the dangers of addiction,the realistic fact that temptation is always out there somewhere waiting for the perfect opportunity to put you back under your own personal addiction's spell. This is a story of paranoia, anxiety,guilt,self forgiveness and about learning that you are worthy of happiness despite the mistakes that you made in the past. And realising that very often events and people are not what or who they appear to be. Far too often in life who have to be really careful who you share your secrets with. Astrid was a complex,flawed character whose own personal addiction was alcohol and she spent every waking moment fighting not to be tempted by anything containing alcohol. She also had a rather acrimonious relationship with her mother. Feinsted was the sort of small town where you couldn't sneeze without the news getting around town faster than you can send a text. So she knew that if she did something that her mother disapproved of,it wouldn't be long before her mother found out what she had been up too even if she hadn't done anything wrong. And then,just when it appears that her life is finally improving and she might have a chance at happiness, she starts to feel like she is being followed,smells from her past linger in the air and then the letters start arriving. Who knows her secret? Who is terrorising her? Could it possibly be her new boyfriend Josh or his father Richard? One of the diverse individuals who attend the AA meetings with her? Over friendly Rosie? The mysterious girl in the puffer jacket that Astrid keeps seeing around town? Or could it even be her own mother?

Who Did You Tell is a well written mix of thriller and mystery with a added dash of romance that keeps the reader guessing. I personally would have preferred there to have been more thriller elements and a bit less romance but I'm sure other readers would probably feel the exact opposite. I loved the mystery,thriller elements of this story and would happily read more books written by this talented author.

Well written, compelling and emotional at times, this is a vivid portrayal of self-deception and the lies we tell ourselves so we don't have to face the truth. This is my second book by the author and is very different to the first. Written in first person present, you spend the entire book in the head of an alcoholic and although this is incredibly well portrayed, it's not a pleasant experience and does get a bit repetitive! I think it also got in the way of the story at times, slowing it down to a standstill in places until the plot resurfaced between the yearnings for drink. Personally, I would have liked more focus on the threat and feeling that build and less on the booze because the plot is great, and despite guessing a chunk of it, the red herrings work a treat and the final twist is a goodun!

My thanks to Random House U.K. Transworld Publishers/Bantam House for an eARC via NetGalley of Lesley Kara’s ‘Who Did You Tell?’ in exchange for an honest review.

This is Kara’s second novel following on from ‘The Rumour’, which I read last December and enjoyed very much. I was very pleased to be approved to read her second novel.

Astrid is struggling with her sobriety. Even though she’s been sober for 192 days, seven hours and fifteen minutes each day is a challenge. After leaving rehab she has reluctantly moved back in with her mother in the tiny seaside town of Flinstead. She is going to meetings and working the AA program. Yet there is someone lurking in the shadows who appears to know about Astrid’s past and is determined to make her pay for her mistakes.

This novel started off quite slowly but its pace gathered momentum as it progressed. Having never had an issue with alcohol, I did find it difficult to relate to Astrid’s situation at first. Still, she grew on me and I felt by the conclusion that I emerged with more understanding of those who find themselves in the grip of alcohol addiction.

I felt overall that Kara had explored this difficult issue with sensitivity and compassion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lesley Kara and Random House UK for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first novel from Kara, but I am so excited to now have The Rumor in my hands as well! I really enjoyed this novel and how paranoid and troubled our main character was throughout this entire novel. I love a flawed character and this one is a doozy. I did find the middle part of this novel a bit long, but you do need the information for further into the novel and once you get past this, the novel flies! The little notes and other things to make Astrid feel crazy are done in a lot of novels, but it really never gets old and works amazingly for this novel especially. I loved the twist at the end and the nice tidy ending of the whole story!

Out January 9th!

Astrid is a recovering alcoholic. She’s moved back in with her mother in a sleepy seaside town. A town where everyone knows your business and your secrets. She’s going to AA and confessing her mistakes but there’s something else Astrid is running from and someone knows what that is.

Gripping and compelling, I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and the author for the chance to review.

Another good read by this author. I enjoyed her first book The Rumour, and once I got into this one I couldn’t put it down.
Hopefully there will be more to come.

I was a huge fan of this author’s first book so I was very excited to read more from her. I was definitely not disappointed as I thought this was a gripping and emotional read which dealt with quite a difficult topic.

Astrid was a very interesting main character which took me a while to like as she seemed very angry and prickly at the start. As the story continues and we get to know her more I warmed to her, especially as she seemed genuinely remorseful for all her past mistakes I found I wanted to keep reading as I wanted her to succeed.

The topic of alcoholism is discussed in this book in a sensitive and informative way which I found very interesting. I didn’t know much about the AA and the effects that alcoholism can have on a person and their families. This helped me understand Astrid more and some of the reasons why she acts like she does.

I thought this was an absorbing read which gripped me from the first chapter. The reader is aware from the start that there is something shady lurking in Astrid’s past and I enjoyed following her throughout the book to try and discover what it was. There are lots of secrets revealed and lots of twists that kept me guessing who was behind the notes. The ending was brilliant and took me completely by surprise despite having lots of theories. I liked how things ended up for Astrid and was sad to leave her behind.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Alison Barrow from Transworld for my copy of this book. If you’re a thriller fan I highly recommend this author!

Having thoroughly enjoyed The Rumour, I was very much looking forward to Who Did You Tell? and it did not disappoint. A well-written and engrossing psychological thriller it tells the story of Astrid, a recovering alcoholic who is fresh out of rehab and back home with her Mum. Some of her past life is a blur but unfortunately she is not allowed to escape from it. The array of characters is impressive and the plot surprises on many occasions. Excellent!

Lesley Kara is fantastic at shock twists and surprising endings! I loved her first book.

I always find protagonists who have addictions or are alcoholic a little difficult to read, as you know that they could be unreliable narrators and it's hard to trust such a character. However, I think Kara does a great job at something that is really, really tough to write. There are a lot of storylines and threads that wind neatly together. I do agree with others that it can take a bit longer to get into, especially compared to The Rumour but I do think that this is a book worth reading on. I think these books would make for a great tv series.

I enjoyed this book. Astrid is a recovering alcoholic attending AA and living back with her mum after many years of heavy drinking and a stint in rehab. Who is the mysterious Simon and what happened to him? Who keeps following her? Are they even real? So many threads pull together very nicely at the end without suspending one's disbelief. Recommended.

Prepared to be shocked. I did not see that coming!! Fantastic ending.

Who do you turn to when there are no friends to talk to? Just your mother who doesn't want you to return to the booze so you hide everything, including secrets.

Loved all the different paths the story sends you down only to be bamboozled by the ending.

Brilliant. I'd actually give this 4.5 stars

This was a story of a recovering alcoholic who moves to seaside town, to live with her mother. A very slow start to the story and it was very emotional.

This is the first book I've read by Lesley Kara and I will definitely read more after really enjoying Who Did You Tell. Due to the subject matter this is sometimes a difficult read but it has been handled very sensitively and I applaud the author for this. We get to see both sides of the story and the wide reaching impact alcoholism can have.

I was totally caught out with the numerous twists in the story and didn't see any of them coming.

Highly recommend.

This book was a difficult read at times, our main character Astrid is a recovering alcoholic, she’s been sober for almost 200 days and has moved to a small town to be with her mum after successfully completing rehab.
She’s still coming to terms with the death of her ex boyfriend Simon, we know there is a secret surrounding him, there are lots of Astrid hinting towards it and this is the main crux of the story as Astrid starts receiving little notes and photos saying that they know what she did.
This book is mainly told from Astrids perspective, but we do get the odd paragraph from the person who is following and tormenting Astrid and those ones honestly gave me goosebumps and made me shiver, especially the opening paragraph.. WOW.
Astrid is just starting to get her life together, she’s getting back into painting and has fallen in love, but can she stay on the straight and narrow long enough for her to enjoy the happiness she’s creating?
This book had me hooked from the beginning and I honestly couldn’t put it down.
Would definitely recommend to absolutely everyone.

After enjoying The Rumour so much earlier this year, I had high hopes for Who Did You Tell? And boy, were those hopes satisfied and more!

Who Did You Tell? is the story of Astrid, a woman who is concerned that her past will catch up with her when she moves to Flinstead to live with her mother following a stint in rehab. As an alcoholic, Astrid's accounts are not always reliable, which definitely adds to the sense of tension in the novel; however there was something about her that drew me to her and made me wish that everything would work out for her. I was gripped to her story, and once I started reading, I couldn't tear myself away.

Alcoholism and addiction is obviously a central theme in Who Did You Tell? and Kara has researched it in great depth. The struggles of Astrid, and those she meets through her AA meetings, feel very raw and I could feel their need for something to take the pain away radiating through the pages. I learnt a lot about addiction through reading this novel and I was blown away by how real each story seemed.

Like The Rumour, Who Did You Tell? is set in Flinstead. It's a small town where everyone knows everyone and having grown up in a town like this myself, I could really feel Astrid's fear and frustration when she felt people were keeping tabs on her. I loved the nod to the events of The Rumour too.

As the novel progressed, it was very difficult to work out which characters I could trust and this brought with it many twists and turns. I was shocked by several of these and I was frantically turning pages to find the answers.

Who Did You Tell? will stay with me for a long time to come.

I really enjoyed Lesley Kara's first book The Rumour so was very excited to read Who Did you Tell. Unfortunately I found it a bit of a slow burner, and it took me a really long time to get into it.
I liked the character of Astrid and I thought her battle with addiction was written very well. Once the story picked it more I enjoyed it and found myself more engaged. There were a couple of twists I didn't see coming! Overall it was a good read but personally I found it took a little too long to grab my attention.