I received this book via NetGalley and give it my honest opinion.
This book had me gripped from the first page! I never normally read thrillers however, recently I have been getting in to them and this one did not disappoint!
A summer thriller that proves what is in the past may affect your future! I must read in my eyes, great characters and settings a perfect poolside read! I will definitely be looking for more books from this author.
Happy reading!

Rachel has gone to work at the Villa Medici in the Tuscan Hills before going to Cambridge to study.
She meets a group of wealthy teenagers who are there to party away the summer but before long there are falling outs and sexual tensions.
Then one night it goes to far and the consequences last for two decades. What was the truth of that night and who remembers what and who will pay the ultimate price?

The Italian setting is beautiful but I couldn’t get along with the privileged characters. Their lifestyle grated on me and the differences between them and Rachel made for uncomfortable reading. I also found it hard to empathise with a main character (Rachel) who has so much going for her but is still anchored to an event that happened twenty years ago. I really enjoyed many elements of the book, but as a whole it’s not for me.

Loved the sense of place and felt the vibe of the Italian riviera. The characters were all very real and although young and naive, still very relatable. The tension built up and the writing very thrilling. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Definitely recommend.

I received this advanced copy of this novel from the kind people from NetGalley
I have to say this author had me gripped from the very beginning of the story till the end , the characters are believable , so is the story, I highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves fiction, ratings : story 10/10 , characters 10/10

I have mixed feelings about this book. It started off really well and kept me right on the edge of my seat. Someone died 20 years ago, and Sebastian was imprisoned for their murder. He has always insisted he is innocent. Who died? What on earth happened? Two of the three main characters – Sebastian and Diana – are very wealthy and privileged, whereas Rachel is from a much more normal background. Whatever had happened 20 years ago, I found myself rooting for Rachel ... but eventually her thoughts and actions began to get on my nerves. Towards the end the plot became just too implausible and a little ridiculous and I lost my enthusiasm for the whole thing. I thought the writing was excellent, with beautiful descriptions of Tuscany, but my overwhelming feeling is that the author just tried too hard – and the storyline suffered as a result. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Rachel is ready to go to Cambridge University. She is gifted and clever, and has great plans for her future. Coming from a normal working class family money is tight, so when a teacher offers Rachel the opportunity to spend the summer before uni working in a small hotel in the Tuscan hills, which a friend owns she’s is eager to go. In exchange for light housekeeping duties, Rachel will be housed and fed and be able to immerse herself in the language, ready for when term starts. Whilst at the hotel, she meets up and befriends Diana, who comes from a very different background . To Diana, money is no object and Rachel struggles to keep up. Then Sebastian arrives on the scene. He is the hotel owner’s godson, and his family own a nearby villa. Sebastian is also very wealthy. All three friends rub along nicely, though there are undercurrents of coercion and control. Due to the popularity of the hotel, extra help is taken on, and Valentina arrives. The dynamics of the friendship change and the plotting begins!

Reading the blurb for this book I thought it was definitely for me, suspenseful, thrilling and psychological, all set in beautiful Florence. Sadly the blurb did not live up to its promise.

Reading the other reviews I realise that I am very much in the minority here, but I found the story slow and laboured, with some odd narrative (un-stale as a description?), and a very predictable plot and ending. The action was slow in arriving, with the first half being far too long.

I did like the descriptions of Tuscany, which was the star of the book. All the characters were very shallow and unpleasant, even the saintly Valentina!

Not one for me, sorry, but I appreciate the beauty of the setting.

2.5* rounded up to 3*.

Thank you NetGalley.

I really enjoyed the story. The main character Rachel can be annoying sometimes (older Rachel) as she looks back on time. There is chapters on the ‘Then’ and ‘Before’. I preferred to hear about the current story about the past so it would make more sense that the novel would focus more on the past instead of a split even amount.

Older Rachel obsesses over a thing that happened in the past. Younger Rachel is obsessed with getting this guy Sebastian to like her even though he is clearly not into her that way (no spoiler as it is very obvious). It doesn’t seem that she has grown up at all in this way which I found annoying. I don’t know why it is being compared to We were Liars as it isn’t a group of friends that knew each other previously – it is just a few kids who happen to meet when Rachel is on holidays.

A summer read with an interesting plot. Wasn’t too mysterious for me to keep reading at a grips pace though.

Thank you to the publishers for sending me this in exchange for a fair review.

I really enjoyed this book. Rachel comes from a quiet London suburb. Before starting her degree at Cambridge she spends the summer working at the lovely Villa Medici near Florence. Here she meets Diana and they become firm friends. However, Diana comes from a privileged, moneyed background. Rachel is soon lured in to a party mentality, especially when she meets the handsome Sebastian. The story is told in 2 time frames, but we quickly learn that Sebastian has just been released from a lengthy prison sentence for murder, that happened that summer. Eventually we find out what happened and there is a dramatic conclusion! Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Took a bit of getting into and to be honest I nearly gave up as I’m not a patient reader. But I am so so glad I stuck with it. Well written with fleshy characters and scenes. Just so worth a read.

This was a good read, enjoyed the story from start to finish! Loved the characters which goes hand on hand with the setting of the book! The twist and turns make the story more enjoyable!

This is definitely a slow-burn type of drama but one that is done very well and kept my attention the whole way through.
It was a great take on the toxic friendship trope too.
I liked that it really did transport me, in the most wonderful way and it was the perfect spot of dramatic escapism.
There were times when I really felt like I was in Italy.
This is the first book that I've read by Lizzy Barber but it certainly won't be my last.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A simmering summer thriller about the choices you make as a teenager, and what happens when they go horribly wrong. This book transported me to another world… fascinating… I found it difficult to put the book down.

This was definitely a slow burner but it picked up pace in the last third. I didn’t feel engaged until the latter half either. The ending was predictable but I enjoyed the lead up to it. The toxic relationship between Rachel and Diana was excellently portrayed.

I loved this book, it was well written with well developed and likeable characters and a well executed and gripping storyline.and a sun soaked setting. It was twisty, unpredictable and mysterious and had e turning pages at the speed of light. A really enjoyable read.

I found this novel to be both a fascinating and a cautionary tale, describing the story of a group of young people caught in some very tragic circumstances in the most beautiful of settings.

This is one of those totally addictive psychological thrillers that has you reading 'just one more page' and ignoring everything else you need to do until you finish it and are then disappointed there are no more pages to turn!

Rachel takes a summer job in Italy mainly to improve her Italian and escape her family. There she meets the vivacious, confident and scheming Diana, and Rachel becomes fascinated with her and her careless, entitled 'rich kids" attitude to people and life. Throw in the hedonistic and handsome Sebastian, lots of booze, drugs and the yearnings of youth and you have the perfect breeding ground for resentments, jealousies and manipulation.

Told from Rachel's perspective in alternate chapters between 'then' and 'now', the reader follows the events that led up to the reason Sebastian has spent the last 20 years since then in prison.

I was totally absorbed with the characters and trying to figure out the mystery behind it all.
Excellent!

As a huge fan of psychological thrillers involving toxic friendship when they are done well - with real sense of character and place and talented writing - I had high hopes for Out of Her Depth and I was not disappointed.

Set over one hot Summer in Italy and then decades later, Out Of Her Depth is a classic take on the unreliable narrator, a terrific page turner with themes of those with privilege versus those without.

Lizzy Barber has a keen eye for character detail and a great sense of place that hovers in the background , you get sucked into this tale immediately. The twists and turns are character driven and intriguing and overall this was excellent. I won't forget Rachel or Diana anytime soon.

Delicious….
A heat haze of a Summer in Tuscany, the sumptuous Villa Medici sits in glorious grounds outside Florence, champagne flows and people laugh and enjoy life. All is well. Or is it? A tantalisingly written suspense with an underlying undercurrent of simmering tension, a cast of realistic but mostly unlikeable characters and a premise that delivers. Delicious.

I absolutely love this book. Really believable characters, a great plot, a wonderful setting, and there were times when I felt like I was in Italy soaking up the Sun. I would definitely recommend this book to other people.