I really struggled with this book - whilst it was intriguing it was very dark - and the different voices made it struggle to flow. Unpleasant characters made it hard to engage too.
It got interesting but then felt rather repetitive ... and I gave up about halfway through. Such a shame as I had great expectations for this book given the strengths of its 4 authors.

I was looking forward to reading this book as I have read and enjoyed most of the authors own books, however I just could not get into this at all, to be fair it was probably my expectations rather than the quality of the writing

This took me a few days to get into. But when I did just sit and read it became easier.
I went into this blind hoping it might make me more intrigued but sadly it didn't.
Towards the middle I was more intrigued. I had starting to think of some theories to what was happening. I ended up guessing correctly one person who was involved, just not the motive for it.
All the characters were unlikable. They all had messy lives and secrets. Which is realistic but it also made it hard for me to care about any of them.
The writing styles were obviously different for each author but I feel like if the whole book was written by one of them I might have liked it more. Or struggled less to get into it.
Maybe 3 stars is too high but I also feel like 2 stars is too low.

Firstly I am a huge B A Paris fan and was very excited to read this co-write from her and 3 other authors I have read and enjoyed in the past. The story features four teenage girls - Jess, Ruby, Sadie & Bel - who all attend the Orla Flynn Academy drama school. The girls mothers were once friends until allegations of bullying tore the relationships of all apart and although the girls have, on the surface, patched up these friendships, the mothers have not and lingering tensions remain. On the advice of the drama school Headmaster the girls include a new girl, Imogen, into their friendship group but it is not long before some strange and dangerous happenings occur.
Although a co-written book the writing flowed very well and I enjoyed the conflicting viewpoints of the main characters despite the fact that all were fairly unlikeable - this, for me, completely enhanced the undercurrent of mistrust and danger.
A dark and relatable tale which reaffirmed my belief that in some occasions the only thing worse than teenaged girls are their mothers!
4 stars and thanks to Netgalley UK and publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Understudy is an entertaining, twisty story set in the world of teenage drama school students and their pushy parents. There’s plenty of cattiness within its pages, as we see things through the eyes of four different but often just as unlikable parents. You love to hate them, and their bratty children, as the novel continues, and more secrets come to the surface.

The book is quite unique in that it’s split into sections, which each author writes, and I loved this sense of each author taking their turn – if these sections weren’t marked you wouldn’t know they were written by different people, as they’re all very in sync with their writing, but it’s interesting to know that each auhor had their own chance to put their stamp on the story. When I have read books with multiple authors, it’s usually a collection of short stories, not when the authors all collaborate on the same story (and certainly not when it’s not two or three authors but four!), so it was a different experience for me – but as I mentioned, it all flowed together so well that you wouldn’t know you were reading the work of more than one author.

The story perfectly captures the bitchiness of teenage life as well as the way this bleeds into their mothers’ lives – some more than others. I can imagine their need to protect their daughters, but the way some of them behave is beyond what most would consider normal. Although there’s a lot of high school angst and melodrama, the story stops short of being too much by having a constant, unnerving undercurrent of people not being who they say they are. I definitely rolled my eyes at the characters on multiple occasions, but that feels intentional – as the reader, we’re not supposed to like them, just be intrigued as to what is really going on! There were also some parts which I feel you would have to suspend your disbelief for

I enjoyed this novel – it’s an easy, fun and entertaining read.

Oops I did not get on with this right from beginning .. the repetitions of the different voices going over the same event without really, to my mind , adding anything, just stopped me in my tracks .. as talented as this group of writers are .. and I've read as solo writers before. .. it just got too tedious.

Four co authors is probably two too many and given the heavy hitters involved, this should have been incredible. As it is, you've got a book worth three stars but I gave it an extra one because it was still an enjoyable read, albeit far fetched. A little too much drama among drama students...

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

I love these authors so was really looking forward to this as it sounded amazing! Sadly though I tried to get into it a few times and the last time I did manage to read it all the way through but wish I hadn’t. Weak plot and awful characters meant I really couldn’t care less what happened. Really disappointing.

I wasn’t sure how 4 successful writers would be able to write a story together without interrupting the flow and taking the reader out of the story with their different styles but It actually works well. As the story is told from the perspective of the mothers of 4 girls at a stage school, the slight differences in story telling works here. The only problem I did have with this is the authors repeatedly using American spelling for characters who are supposed to be British.

The story itself is a bigger issue. The schoolgirls and their mother’s are all pretty unlikeable. There was no one to root for, therefore I wasn’t at all gripped by the story. I think the ending is pretty easy to work out early on too.

I would like to see the authors create another story together, but with more interesting characters and a more thrilling storyline that I know they are all capable of.

I was looking forward reading The Understudy by Sophie Hannah, Clare Mackintosh, B A Paris and Holly Brown as I just love these authors. This book is a collaboration between four writers of psychological and thriller books, it will interest many readers because of this.
However, sadly I found it very hard to get into, I tried several times and I found it was dragged out and I found it rather predictable.
Sorry.

Big thank you to Netgalley and Hodder and Staughton for this ARC in exchange for and honest review.

The Understudy is the first collaborative novel that I've read in a long time. Written by four amazing authors, I had been looking forward to it's release for a while, and I wasn't disappointed.

Carolyn, Bronnie, Elise and Kendall are four very different women, with only one thing in common; each of their daughters attends the Orla Flynn Academy for the Performing Arts, and wants to be a star.

Unfortunately is it impossible for all four girls to get the female lead role in the academy's productions and this causes natural rivalry and jealousy amongst the girls (and the parents).

In the opening chapters of 'the Understudy', we learn that the previous academic year was difficult for two of the girls, one's natural talent far outshone the others limited ability and caused some rather nasty bullying.

In the present day, things seem to be ironed out between them, the error of their ways learnt, and reluctant apologies accepted. But then a new student arrives, and old insecurities and jealousies arise once more.

One Mother calls for the exclusion of one of the students, but she is adamant that it wasn't her. The finger points to the new girl, but what could she possibly have to gain, when she doesn't know the other girl's history. As incidents escalate and no-one is found guilty, the girl's mothers must all pull together.

The majority of the characters in this novel are not particularly likeable, but I think that is intentional on the authors' behalf. They do not want, or need our sympathy, they just need to figure out what the hell is going on!

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed 3 of the 4 authors of this book I was really excited what they would produce working together. The first and last chapters are written by them together and then they each write the chapter pertaining to each of the four main mothers and daughters. This does sometimes cause a little repetition but nothing to spoil the plot and it is interesting to have a slightly different writing style for each different mother and daughter. There are a lot of unpleasant traits to all of the mothers and most of the daughters which is not always pleasant reading, but as mothers of performing children are often described as pushy this is true to type.
The book is very readable with its twists and turns but without causing a spoiler I am disappointed with the ending.
Three and a half stars for me - I am not sure these authors brought any more to the story than their solo books give the reader.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Sophie Hannah et al./Hodder & Stoughton for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Four girls all in competition for the role of leading lady in their end of year drama school showcase, but how far will one of them go to come out on top?

I must say that the premise of The Understudy – 4 authors each writing a chapter of a story from a different perspective, didn’t really enthral me. To someone unfamiliar with any of the authors it just felt a lot like a vanity project – something you’d perhaps do with your friends at school, or a marketing gimmick rather than anything that actually gave justice to telling a good story. Great authors can make you believe that you are in the head of multiple different characters without the need to actually get someone else to write it for them! That said, I’m not sure whether it’s a good or a bad thing that the chapters didn’t really feel as different as they could have done – had I not seen the cover I don’t think I would have noticed – the mothers all have different personalities but they are all written in a very similar way.

The plot itself is nothing very special – I had guessed the perpetrator very early on and the whole book felt very drawn out – by about 40% I was crying out for the resolution of the plot. As someone who actually works professionally in theatre, I was also a little surprised at some of the errors. For example, one sentence reads ‘the theater dims, and the house lights go up. The first student begins to sing’ – if the theatre dims then the house lights (the lights above the audience) go out, not up! Also the idea that Cameron Mackintosh, Sonia Friedman and Nick Allot would all go in person to see a drama school end of year showcase was pretty laughable. There was also a really odd portrayal of Brixton in the book, where a character is terrified of heading there and as soon as she steps off the bus in the middle of the day gets almost raped and then meets a drug dealer and his client. This seemed like a very unfair stereotype of an entire area of London! I also found it a bit strange that a book written by two English authors and set in London would use the American spelling of ‘theater’ throughout.

Having four mothers with four teenagers plus a newcomer and headmaster all as key players it was a little hard to work out who was who at times and I did get who was mother to who mixed up quite a bit. The snapchat style dialogue between the girls was irritating, thankfully brief and added nothing to the story.

Overall The Understudy could do with some ruthless editing and a good proofread, the long winded story just didn’t have enough drama to hold my interest I’m afraid. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued to read this book written by four writers, three of which I have previously read and enjoyed. Although initially I had been sceptical about this collaboration, I didn't need to worry - it worked really well. Each chapter was written by a different author, apart from the first and the last one that have been written by all of them. All chapters fitted seamlessly together and the story flowed. The characters were interesting and realistic (even if not particularly likeable), and the plot was suspenseful, with plenty of twists and reveals to satisfy the reader.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

The first thing to mention about 'The Understudy' is that it was written by four authors with them coming together for the final chapter. I was a bit apprehensive as I have read collaborative novels in the past & found that they don't really fit. However with this book, as I was a fan of all four of the authors, I thought I'd give it a try- & I'm glad I did.

Featuring the Orla Flynn Academy of Performing Arts, the book deals with four mothers & four daughters who are 'friends' of a sort! In the past Ruby had been guilty of bullying Jess. Although it caused a lot of trouble at the time it seems to have settled when a new girl arrives & it looks like it has started again, although this time it looks like Ruby might be getting a taste of her own medicine!

I found most of the characters dislikeable, ranging from the merely irritating to the downright unpleasant but the story kept me glued to the page.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book & proving to me that novel collaborations CAN work well!

I wish I could say I enjoyed this more. I was drawn to it because it was written by some of my favourite authors and yet I couldn't really get into the story. While the plot is intriguing and twisty, I found the characters highly annoying and I couldn't symphatize with any of them. There are four friends, teenagers, fighting for being the best in the school, there are their mothers at war for their daughters (even when the daughters are getting along), and then there is the mysterious new girl, a bit creepy, who it seems everyone is afraid of.

I liked the claustrophobic atmosphere and the tension is always high so I was eager to see how it ended. There are themes of bullying, parental pressure, drugs, and obsession that make for a good story. Even though I didn't like at all the characters, all in all, the story is interesting and suspenseful.

I voluntarily read this ARC in exchange for an honest review - all thoughts and opinions are mine

The premise of this book was something I found intriguing - each writer took charge of a chapter

I really enjoyed this - the story is told from different perspectives which I enjoyed

Each author has a very different take and certainly kept me guessing

A great read

So good! Was really excited to read this collaboration from such brilliant authors! Didn’t let me down either, flowed well and just an all round great read!

I was intrigued to see that 4 great authors had co written this book. How did that work I wondered? It appears that they took it in turns to write a chapter. The result is a good psychological thriller about a group of teenaged girls all studying at a school for performing arts. The story is written from the points of view of 4 of the girls' mothers. There has been bullying, friendship issues and lots of secrets and lies. Then a new girl arrives and everything is thrown in to disarray. This is a good read which will keep you guessing! Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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I was really excited to see this book on NetGalley, I've loved previous books by B A Paris and also Clare Mackintosh so this sounded great!

Even though the book had multiple contributors it didn't affect the flow of the story line - that said with four daughters and four mothers it took a few chapters to grasp relationships.

Unfortunately I found the book quite underwhelming. I'd guessed a plot twist early on and then it was just a race to get it wrapped up.

I'm always going to look forward to titles by Mackintosh and Paris, I'll also actively seek out work by Hannah and Brown as a result of this book.

3 stars,

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my ARC.