This book started slowly and didn’t speed up, wandering through different people’s lives who are entwined in the storyline.
Saffyre, a 17 yr old girl, had been having therapy for 3 years with Roan Fours who lives locally with his wife Cate and their two children. Cate and Roan have been having problems for the last year.
Saffyre lives with her uncle Aaron. has had a difficult life. She becomes obsessed with Roan and begins following him and finds out he is having an affair with a younger woman,Alicia.
Owen, a teacher who lives across from the Fours gets suspended from school for inappropriate behaviour and ‘sweating’ on two girls on purpose ( and this was before COVID ).
He’s singles in his thirties, living with his aunt, lonely and a bit of an oddball
He joins an Incel chat group and meets up with a member called Bryn who is targeting likeminded people as he wants to start a revolution and give men back their place in the world.
Saffyre is still missing and the police interview all the locals on the street they find evidence in a nearby building site and then in Owen’s back garden.
Owen is brought in for questioning and his flat searched where they find the incel chat room on his computer and rohypnol that Bryn had given him.
He seems the obvious suspect but is he?
Having taken several goes at reading this I’m glad I stuck at it as the story now takes a really good and surprising path. Things start to become more interesting and intriguing.
Difficult subjects to write about - done in a mature and sensitive way.
Loved the ending and the build up - totally not what I was expecting.

5 Stars from me

My my Lisa Jewell what must your search history look like!

I have loved previous books by Lisa Jewell so was already anticipating good things as I sat down to read Invisible Girl.

I am glad to say that I wasn't disappointed!

The story centres around a few strong characters and I really like that format. We have a family - mum, dad, 2 children - seemingly the ideal set up. We have a teacher who is seemingly inadvertently in the middle of an accusation of sexual misconduct - I felt quite sorry for him. We have a girl whose life hasn't exactly gone to plan, she is in therapy which explores the things which have gone wrong in her life - yet she manages to keep back the worst thing.

Their paths cross and interweave in a wonderfully crafted way, layer upon layer of gossamer threads sticking where they touch...

This is proper compelling reading and I was quickly immersed in the story and the lives of these people.

Definitely recommended.

Another amazing read from Lisa Jewell! I love her books and this one doesn’t disappoint. We join Saffyre, a troubled teen, and the family of her ex therapist, the Fours. Now Saffyre goes missing. Has she been murderd? Kidnapped? Another victim of the local sex pest?
Cate Four is trying to look after her family and quell her suspicions that her husband is cheating on her.
Why was Saffyre last seen across the road from their house?
Literally unputdownable! I read this book in a day. Sucked in from the first page, it is so easy to invest in the characters as they are so well written and believable. Kept me gripped to the very last page.

I am a fan of Lisa Jewell and I could not wait to get a copy of her latest book Invisible Girl.
This story is told from three characters point of view. Each completely different to each other but connects in some way. There’s 17-year-old Saffyre Maddox who some time ago something happened to her and she now self-harms. There is Roan Fours who has just moved into an influential street in Hampstead with his family and Owen Pink who is an odd character and a 33-year-old virgin.
This story is about Rape, self-harm, and a miscarriage of justice. It’s about stereotyping people on just looks alone and hearsay and not recognising that people may need help in the world.
I found this a bit slow and confusing at first, which each character’s stories, but as time went on, I got to see the clear picture of this story. This is one of them books that will make you think of how we perceive people and not that we believe they are by what we are told. This is very cleverly written.

A brilliant read that I could not put down. I wanted to know what happened. The characters were so cleverly interwoven you could not forcast what was going to happen. The ending was very satisfying.

I’m a massive fan of Lisa Jewell and I’ve been trying to work out exactly why her books are so fantastic. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s her ability to write exceptional characters and this book has them in abundance.

Saffyre is a 17 year old girl with a troubled past. Roan is a therapist. Owen is a 33 year old man who has never been with a woman and doesn’t know why. Cate is a married mother of two trying to run her family home and keep her family happy. Georgia is a typical, self-centred teenager. Tessie is a reluctant landlady. These, and many other characters make up this book. They intersect and intertwine with each other as we try to work out who is committing these terrible attacks and what is going on! The author does a sterling job of making every single character worthy of our attention and there are so many twists and turns that the whole book has a menacing vibe from start to finish.

It almost feels wrong to love a book about such an unsettling topic, but I did. It’s an excellent psychological thriller with a dark and disturbing plot and I completely adored it. Thank you to Lisa Jewell for another fantastic read and to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

Lisa Jewell never disappoints and this is another great psychological thriller from her.

Saffyre Maddox, now 17, has had a challenging life since something terrible happened to her when she was ten. She had many sessions with therapist Roan Fours but never disclosed her whole story and didn’t feel ‘fixed’ by Roan despite him signing her off as he believed she was ready to stop therapy. She still is fascinated by Roan though and becomes the Invisible Girl as she watches him from afar.

Roan, his wife Cate and their teenage children, Josh and Georgia, are living temporarily in Hampstead while building work is being done on their family home in Camden. They thought Hampstead was upmarket and would be an interesting place to live but then attacks start happening in the neighbourhood and people are getting nervous.

One of the residents, teacher Owen Pick, aged 33, is under suspicious as some think he looks creepy and he has a couple of potential black marks against his name after allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour from girls in his class at school. Owen becomes involves in the Incel (Involuntary Celibate) online subculture which gets him in further bother when the police start investigation the attacks.

This is a well written story with dark themes but also one that hopefully makes the reader question any prejudices about judging others and how society reacts to those who don’t fit into our own personal norms.

There were plenty of twists and turns and secrets revealed as we found out more about each character. It was very well told and came to a satisfying conclusion. As always, I look forward to many more novels by Lisa Jewell.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another great read from Lisa Jewel. Relatable and well rounded characters in an intriguing storyline which gradually builds into a real page turner. This book will make you constantly second guess who is bad and who is good - and hopefully serve as a reminder that the judgements and assumptions we make about people are very often wrong.
An excellent and really enjoyable book which I rated 5⭐️

Cate, her husband Roan and their two children move into a flat and shortly afterwards they find out that women are being attacked in the local area.
When a teenage girl goes missing suspicion falls on their neighbour who lives with his aunt in the house opposite them.
A slow moving story with some very unsavoury characters.
This thriller is about secret, lies and not being able to fit into modern society.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa Jewell returns with another dark, intense, creepy and twisty psychological thriller set in London that examines a wide range of complex flawed characters, many of whom comprise of societies oddballs and socially awkward misfits, and the quick to judge perceptions of the police and the public, heightened to unbearable levels with vilification through the questionable medium of social media. At the tender age of 10, Saffyre Maddox underwent severe trauma that has haunted her ever since, leaving her self harming. She has been seeing a therapist for some time, Roan Fours, but he has scarcely touched on her trauma, believing she is no longer in need of help. A sexual predator is roaming the Hampstead neighbourhood, attacking women, contributing to an unsettling atmosphere of fear and unease.

On Valentine's night, 17 year old Saffyre goes missing and the finger of suspicion from the police and the public falls on 33 year old geography teacher, Owen Pick, a man who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pick lives with his aunt, opposite to Roan and Cate Fours and their teenage children, Josh and Georgia. Owen is the archetypal social oddball and weirdo, isolated and alone, with no friends and never having had a girlfriend, upset at having been suspended after complaints. In a slow burn of a creepy immersive narrative, relayed from multiple perspectives, there are twists and levels of tension and suspense that make this a gripping and compulsive read.

This is a story of deception, secrets, trauma, revenge, mental health issues, the rush to quick and erroneous judgements, and injustice. Jewell thoughtfully explores how societies real monsters walk blatantly amongst us, hiding right in front of our eyes, rather than those demonised, who all too conveniently fit the picture that a delusional society believes n and how lives are all too easily wrecked, people who are often afflicted with a plethora of problems and issues. This is a disturbing and unsettling read that will appeal to Jewell's fans and other psychological thriller aficionados. Many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for an ARC.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have liked everything this author has written and this was no exception. It had me hooked from the beginning, great storyline, great characters and a great ending.

I have read a number of Lisa Jewells book and this is up there with one of my favorites. It is well written with plenty of twists and turns. Great main characters and a storyline that keeps you tuning the pages and definitely keeps you guessing.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy to read and review.

I have never really picked up this authors books before as the covers made me think she was a romance writer. This however is not the case with the Invisible Girl. A really well written tale about 3 intersecting lives that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Saffyre is seeing child therapist Roan. Something bad happened to her when she was 10 and now a teen she needs help. After 3 years, when the sessions come to an end she feels abandoned and becomes fixated on Roan and stalks him, spying on him. During this time she makes some startling discoveries about Roan and his family. Roans wife Cate and children Georgia and Josh are living in temporary accommodation while their home is being redecorated. It’s not far from where Saffyre lives and across the road from Owen, a 33 year old odd ball who lives with his aunt. When Saffyre goes missing Owen is taken into custody and then arrested.
The story is told through Saffyre, Cate and Owens eyes and it really is a darn good read. The characters are interesting and vastly different and it’s each of their stories that really makes the book come alive.
#invisiblegirl #netgalley

Another great psychological thriller from Lisa Jewell, who never fails to deliver.

A mixed-up teenage girl with a painful secret in her past that she can’t tell anyone, even her therapist, a family of four who each have their own secrets and a thirty-something lonely male virgin. At first, seemingly unconnected, all these lives eventually connect or collide in some unexpected way.

Fans of Lisa Jewell will love her new book, I’m certain.

This book centers around the Fours family who appear normal to everyone around them but underneath they have many secrets that they are hiding. The father Roan is a child therapist who in the past treated a girl called Saffyre who cannot forget the terrible trauma that happened to her when she was ten. The characters become connected when events start to happen in the local area and Owen the reclusive lecturer who lives opposite the Fours is accused of the crimes. Past secrets start to emerge and everyone starts to question how well they know anyone. Will the truth emerge in the end? Will justice be served?

This novel by Lisa Jewell exposes the shocking decadence of modern society - how people think and behave in such shameless, brutal ways. I found it distasteful when the INCELS group was exposed and how frustrated, deranged men can become howling dogs ready to bay at defenceless women. It struck me as a twin-group of the Klu Klux Klan who couldn't cope with a specific group of people like black folk. Thank you to NetGalley.

I loved Invisible Girl. It’s a captivating thriller, where a reader’s instincts are vital to uncover the real suspects. It deals with sinister themes and some of the darkest pits of human nature. With a final bone-chilling revelation, it’s best not to lay bets on one person. Everyone is a suspect because everyone has something to hide.

Set in north London, Saffyre Maddox is seventeen and still carrying the scars of an assault that occurred seven years prior, and at an age too innocent to comprehend the damage done to her. The therapist she once used lives nearby and through her interior monologue we see secrets in his life and a brewing deceit which Saffyre feels she must unravel. Camping out in the wasteland near his home at night, she watches him and is well-attuned to his comings and goings. As women continue to be attacked and sexual assault crimes are on the rise, someone in Saffyre’s street must be guilty of these crimes, especially after Saffyre disappears.

Cate is married to Roan, the therapist who once treated Saffyre. Cate appears to have the perfect life, but her striking child psychologist husband won’t forgive her for an incident a year ago, and yet here he is with secrets of his own. Cate’s paranoia over Roan’s life is well drawn, and there were times when I wondered if I were being led down a rabbit hole with more surprises at the end of the trail. Suspense is maintained throughout this novel and it’s hard to tear yourself away even for a moment.

I have to say one of my favourite characters was Owen Pick, who is in his thirties and lives with his aunt. His relationship with his father is tainted by memories of what happened between him and his mother many years ago. But with the incel culture at its heart, he is flung into an online friendship which delves into the haves and the have nots, beauty and not so beautiful, and the dangerous manner in which they protect their genes from dying out altogether. Although a reader can resonate with many of the qualities, exclusions and rejections of this type, the subject matter is so dark, it’s frightening. Owen Pick is subjected to such intrusive scrutiny, you wonder if he will ever recover. If reporters can report whatever they like, we know the target of their articles is permanently blacklisted.

Other favourite characters: The fox, whose hunger and curiousness is scattered throughout the narrative, and Josh for understanding Saffyre’s homelessness and pain. Descriptions of urban nature are ones to savour. It was a solid five-star read for me from one of the best writers in this genre.

Thank you to the publisher, Random House, to the author, Lisa Jewell, and to Netgalley for the privilege of reading this book.

Saffyre Maddox suffers traumatic incidents aged 10 and self harms as a consequence. She receives therapy from psychologist Roan Fours for three years but her deep seated issues are unresolved. She’s an invisible girl hiding her innermost self to fit in with her peers and acting a role. Owen Pick is a teacher who is suspended from his job after allegations of inappropriate behaviour are made against him. He is regarded as ‘odd’ and is disliked, misunderstood even by his Aunt with whom he lives and the real him and his issues are invisible. Coincidentally, Owen lives opposite the Fours family in leafy Hampstead. When a number of women are sexually assaulted in the area and Saffyre disappears on Valentines Day, Owens life is turned completely upside down. The story is told in multiple perspectives by Saffyre, Owen and Cate Fours, Roans long suffering wife.

This is a story of outcasts and misfits who carry pain and trauma but who try and blend in by wearing cloaks of invisibility to mask their deep seated feelings. Others are masking their true nature under cover of respectability. This is a character driven story which delves deep into Owen and Saffyre to try to get to the essence of them and while there’s no denying that Owen makes mistakes there are others who emerge as the demons of the tale. Both characters demonstrate that people are covering up all kinds of psychological damage but are trying to put one foot in front of the other and they are judged. Owens treatment raises many issues not least that suspects are often named and shamed on various forms of media and are found guilty in the court of public opinion. I like the element of justice and revenge which is sought by several characters, in particular Saffyre.

Overall, this is a well written novel, with a good pace, a solid storyline, it’s very thought provoking and keeps your interest throughout. There is tension, suspense, shocks and plenty of twists. The book definitely takes you into uncomfortable areas but does so for valid reasons.
Ps. Love the fox imagery too!

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the ARC.

Invisible Girl
Author: Lisa Jewell
Publisher: Century
Publication Date: 6 August 2020

My favourite Lisa Jewell book so far and one of my best reads of 2020.

Gripping and totally believable, at times i felt like I was reading a true story unfolding in a newspaper. A story of people on the fringes, social injustice and how we judge others purely on how we perceive them at a glance. “Well, he looks a bit odd right”. I felt quite breathless as it built to a stunning climax. Then I had to read the end again slowly, just to make sure.

I can’t recommend this enough.

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.

Well written book full of secrets and twists and turns! I’ve loved all the authors books and this one is no exception. Definitely recommend