This was a well written, dark, twisty debut novel that reminded me a bit of the British version of You. Enjoyed it a lot, will read more from this author for sure.

Wow - what a beautiful and moving book. Constance is a great character, well rounded and fleshed out, I felt like I really knew her, and it made the book easier to read and get into because of this. I wanted her to be happy! I loved it - perfect for fans of You.

With thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC.

An excellent debut novel, I look forward to what comes next.

Full review to follow...

Wow. What a fantastic novel. Had me hooked throughout. Loved the way that each character was developed and the parallels drawn between them

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Great book. I loved reading it. Very interesting and covers alot of information

A gripping, thrilling read, filled with a surprising amount of heart. I just loved the way the story developed.

Struggled with this to start with as, altho it sounds ridiculous now, there are no chapters - it's just one long book and therefore the breaks are limited.
I understand why it's written in that way and it doesn't detract from the book at all.
Once I got my head into it I couldn't put it down (which is why I'm writing this at 3:40am!)
Constance is a character you can do nothing but love, and I certainly empathised with her.
This is a story of unrequited love at its purest form and I would definitely recommend.

If I Can't Have You is a well thought out and tightly written story about a spurned woman becoming obsessed with her colleague. I found certain parts of this utterly creepy, and yet I still sympathised with the central character, which is testament to Levin's writing ability. A brilliant debut thriller which kept me reading!

The book was interesting, twisted and made me stay up late just to see what happens next. I will definitely recommend it to any reader.

Charlotte Levin's novel is by turns serious, disturbing and funny. As well as the four cracking leads (a fine old motley crew comprised of the increasingly unhinged Constance, her desperate boyfriend, her feckless lover, and the unfailingly splendid Edward, a game but frail neighbour), the book contains a refreshing assortment of well observed minor characters. Cads, colleagues, bores, ne'er do wells, good 'uns and damaged kinfolk all playing their parts in Constance's unravelling.
Its a highly readable, interestingly written, entertaining and twisty tale of love and hate which I thoroughly recommend

An utterly compelling story of unrequited love, devastating loneliness and an uncontrollable obsession....

The ways in which the author portrays the characters makes them unlikable, which is exactly how you should feel about them in my opinion. The story has the perfect pace, twists and turns you dont always expect and an incredibly strong storyline.
A beautifully written, totally captivating psychological thriller.

I loved this book!

Constance, mid 20’s receptionist in a doctors surgery embarks on an illicit secret affair with one of the Doctors. For her lust becomes love, then infatuation.
For him, it’s the complete opposite. An object used for his gratification.
This is fantastically written... from the view of a woman in love to the disillusioned to the irrational woman scorned.
The spotlight on the doctor, selfish and manipulative, cruel with his coercive behaviour.
Characters so believable I felt the same as Constance; albeit not the crazy bits - and have encountered men like Dr Stevens.
Other characters superbly written, the creepy greasy, thrifty roommate Dale.
The adorable old man Edward, who grows a friendship and a bond with Constance.
This book is brilliant on showing how a normal relationship can slightly tip in balance from curiosity to stalking. How seamless that transition is... how behaviour can be justified in ones head.

I’d definitely recommend this book - thoroughly enjoyed it

Thank you NetGalley for my free Copy in return for a full and honest review.

If I Can't Have You is an incredibly debut novel. Charlotte Levin perfectly captures loneliness, obsession, and unrequited love throughout. The writing is dark and sharp. The characters are unlikable, yet intriguing. I'm curious what Levin will write next. Highly recommended to those who enjoy strong psychological stories.

If I Can’t Have You is Charlotte Levin’s debut novel and what an addictive first novel it is! The start hooks you in immediately (the main character sitting on the train in a bloodied wedding dress) and pulls you in to read more. I sped through this book in two days, desperate to see where it would go.

Constance works in a doctor’s surgery as a receptionist and quickly falls for Samuel, their newest doctor recruit. In the beginning, it feels like the feeling are mutual between the two but things quickly turn sour and the story captures all the ups and downs following this.

Told from the point of view of Constance, it’s an engaging and pacy domestic thriller and despite not warming to either of the main characters, I found myself wanting to read more and more! I think my dislike for them made it all the more intriguing as to how the story would end. Some of the secondary characters are brilliant and Levin weaves them in well to help keep the story fresh and varied.

A brilliant debut and an author I will definitely be keeping an eye out for in the future. Love, passion, obsession, hurt, sadness, jealousy - this book has it all!!

If I Can’t Have You
Author: Charlotte Levin
Publishers: Pan MacMillan Mantle
Publication Date: 9 Jul 2020

Cracking debut novel. Disturbing and intense tale of obsession and unrequited love. I really enjoyed the darkly humorous style of writing and liked the quirky Constance even if I wanted to shake her at times.
Not really a “mystery/thriller” but an engaging dark story which left me wanting to read more by this author.
4.5 ⭐️ out of 5 Highly recommended.

I’d like to thank the author, publisher and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Constance is a medical receptionist in London. Her dad did a disappearing act when she was young and her mother died of cancer earlier that year. She is a very lonely person who firmly believes that everyone she loves, leaves her.

When dishy new Doctor, Samuel. They hook up quite early on, and Constance falls instantly in love and is fully blissed out. However, when Samuel gets bored and is ready to move on to the next (in a long list), he drops Constance in a really shitty way and makes out like it’s because he’s ‘such a nice guy’.

Constance remains obsessed with Samuel. While he uses her when he feels like it, and then drops her and acts like nothing happened the next. Constance becomes more and more addicted to him and resorts to some quite inventive stalking.

The writing in this book is fantastic! You’re sure that Constance is going to get caught out at any moment and it’s thrilling to watch unravel. I was gripped from the first page which is Constance at the end of events on a tube. The rest of the story is in the style of a letter she is writing to Samuel, at the advice of her therapist.

What I loved most about the story, was the unfolding of the beautifully sweet relationship between Constance and her friend Edward. I also loved how relatable the characters are. They feel like real people and not figments of imagination.

I admit this is a book that is hard to judge. I was mesmerised by its premise and the voice of the main character, Constance - a young woman in clutches of grief, falling in love hard, making the wrong choices in her life. This is a story of love and obsession, of loneliness, but the main character is much more complex than the usual heroine of a well written thriller. Constance falls in love for the first time and her love makes her obsessive, makes her lie and cheat, but at the same time makes her very vulnerable to other people who want to use her. But she also strikes up a friendship with an old man and cares for him deeply, she carries with her a heavy burden of guilt and unhappiness, that taints her view of the world. I was equally horrified and sorry for her, understanding in one minute, disturbed in the next one. I also really appreciated the humour, dark and ironic, Constance’s flaws and funny side, which counterbalanced the dark notes in the book. I am not sure what to think about the ending, which although satisfying in a way, also left me with a sense of issues left unresolved – perhaps that is why the book made me think so much about who is the real bad character here and why.

This book had me gripped from the very start as we follow the tale of Constance and her emotional and psychological roller coaster life – its certainly not your usual psychological thriller, which made it a welcome change. Whilst it deals with very difficult, often dark and disturbing, subjects, there was humour in the characters as well as heartbreak, loneliness and loss. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and it’s a story that will stay with me for sometime to come. An excellent first book by Levin – a real page turner and I eagerly await her future writings. I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I Cant Have You by Charlotte Levin is one of those books that just grabs you and doesn’t let go. A tale of love, betrayal and obsession, it’s the kind of, addictive, “read it through your fingers” book that I LOVE!

The book’s opening scene thrusts the reader straight into the action with some extremely vivid storytelling: Constance Little, on a Tube train, covered in blood. We are then propelled back into the past to discover the chain of events that led up to that point.

The first person narrative took me a good few pages to get into, but once I had been inside Constance’s head for a while I was totally hooked. We learn how she falls for the new doctor at the surgery where she works as a receptionist, and she falls hard. As she spends more time with him he consumes more of her thoughts and her actions begin to be almost entirely driven by her desire to win him over.

Clearly a deeply troubled character with extremely questionable decision-making skills, I nevertheless really quite liked Constance. Her internal monologue and verbal exchanges are full of dry wit and dark humour, and I particularly loved the dynamic of her unlikely friendship with Edward, the doctor’s elderly neighbour. As some other readers have observed Constance is, for me, a little reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant but Levin takes this book in a significantly darker direction!

The tension really ramps up in the second half towards the absolutely gripping ending; I stayed up way too late to finish it as I had to know what happened! And let’s just say I found it pretty shocking and very satisfying.

If I Can’t Have You is an extremely accomplished debut and I can’t wait to find out what Charlotte Levin has in store for us next. With thanks to Mantle (Pan Macmillan) for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A good read that was easy to follow. I would like to see more from this author. I read this within a day!