"If I Can't Have You" is the story of Constance, who works as a receptionist in her local doctor's surgery and is romantically unfulfilled - until, that is, a handsome new doctor arrives at the surgery. Constance quickly falls for Dr. Stevens, and it seems he feels the same way, at least to begin with. But when he decides their fling was just a bit of fun, Constance will stop at nothing to convince him otherwise...

I loved this darkly comic, smartly written novel. Constance is every woman, magnified, and the author has done a wonderful job of making her relatable when she could have ended up a caricature in less deft hands. The escalating obsession is handled wonderfully, and the tension increases gradually throughout, building to a nail biting climax. 

The characters are well written, and the story takes some unexpected turns - I didn't want to put this one down, and was annoyed that work kept getting in the way of my reading time! A really exciting debut - I will definitely be recommending this one, and can't wait to read more from this author. 

Thank you to NetGalley, who provided me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A creepy story of obsessive love, this first novel is extremely readable and very believable. Constance is a receptionist in a doctor's surgery. The story begins with the death of one of the doctors and the introduction of his replacement, Samuel. Constance is smitten with him and very soon they begin to have sex. She wants more, but he is just using her and dumps her quite cruelly, telling her he never promised her anything, they were just 'having fun'. He is the perfect example of an entitled prick and very unlikeable. Constance, who is grieving for her mother who died earlier that year, is shattered and so the obsession begins.

My heart went out to Constance at times. She is a lost soul, drowning in grief, desperate for love but not desperate enough to marry Dale, her boyfriend. The relationship she builds up with the elderly Edward (who is still mourning his daughter after many, many years) is touching and offers some hope to her. My only problem with the book is the handwritten note at the end. It's impossible to read on a Kindle so I hope it didn't contain any great revelation. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow. What an ending. Obsessive love, complicated relationships and deep seated pain. This book is a rollercoaster of emotions. Absolutely brilliantly written. (I love Edward)

"If I Can't Have You" is a striking debut from Charlotte Levin. Despite the dark, discomfiting nature of the story, there are moments of real sadness and humanity. Constance made me feel a bit conflicted because, as much as she is clearly unhinged, I couldn't help but feel some sympathy towards her. With the creation of this complex character, Levin has produced a worthy contender for "Likeable Nutjob of the Year' - a title previously held (in my mind) by Joe Goldberg from Caroline Kepnes' "You". Imagine those two got together? Waaaaaah! I enjoyed the plot and the cast of characters to both love and hate. Overall a very good read.

#IfICantHaveYou #NetGalley
Constance works as a receptionist at a doctors surgery. Samuel is a new doctor at the practice.
An affair.
Something went wrong. Told from Constance's POV, this story is brilliant and fully did justice with its premise. Its s creepy psychological thriller with emotions at the right places.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for giving me an advance copy.

If I Can’t Have You is intense. It’s dark, it’s creepy but it’s also a story that had me in tears at the end. I can’t believe this is a debut novel.

My only issue with the story was the beginning, I had no idea what was going on. No explanation, nothing. Constance works as a receptionist at a doctors surgery, when a new doctor starts working there it doesn’t take long for things to go wrong...

I loved Constance. Obviously she’s incredibly flawed but she felt real. Samuel is a piece of shit. He irritated me so much that I actually &Lund myself rooting for Constance for the majority of this story. A special shout out for the character of Edward. I loved him and I’d like to be his friend!

I was on edge reading this, I’ve read You but there’s something different about an obsessive woman. Something scarier,

A strong 5/5. The tag line is correct this is “The must read hit of summer 2020”

Samuel is a new doctor at the practice where Constance works as a receptionist. The immediate spark between them quickly leads to an affair that for Samuel is just what it is, a quick affair. But Constance's different outlook on their relationship doesn't allow her to let him go.

I was really taken by the blurb, offering the promise of a sinister story of an abandoned woman stalking her ex-lover, but I'm sad to say that it didn't deliver.
The story is told by Constance who addresses her lover and recaptures the events that led to her present state that indicates that she had partaken in some kind of a violent encounter, the reason behind which we're left to speculate about.
All of that got me very intrigued, but as the story progressed, I found that not much was happening, and there wasn't enough suspense. I kept reading in the hope that it might be a slow burner, but it eventually turned out that this wasn't the case.
I was battling with myself whether to rate it 2 or 3 stars.
I liked the form of narration, Constance writing a letter to her lover, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to push the rating upwards, and as the ending didn't provide much of a shocking twist, I couldn't justify giving it 3 stars.
Regardless, I'm still willing to check any future book from this author.