Three stars. Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for sending me the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In a Nutshell: Can’t reveal much without spoiling it, so all I’ll say here is: it takes a long while to get going but the ending is worth it. Better suited to those who prefer character-driven reads and aren’t fussy about genres. I am an outlier once again, but on the positive side – Woohoo!!!

Plot Preview:
Harriet Kealty, a police officer, has just been suspended. As she tries to clear her name, she discovers a second-hand book with an inscription: “Help me, he’s trying to kill me.” Backtracking to the last person who borrowed the book from the library, Harriet discovers that Elizabeth Asha, the woman who possibly wrote the note, died a few months ago, followed soon after by her husband David, who jumped off the cliffs, leaving behind their six-year-old son Elliott. Harriet feels compelled to check on Elliott, when she discovers, to her great surprise, that his new guardian is Ben Elmys, the love of Harriet’s life who broke up with her after just three dates. Is this all just a coincidence? But there are no coincidences in police work, right?
Ben was just a colleague of the Ashas. Why is he the guardian of their son? Why did David jump off the cliff when he knew there was no one to look after his little boy? Why did Elizabeth write the note? As Harriet scrambles to find the truth, she realises a horrifying possibility: Ben Elmys might be a murderer. Can she leave her one-sided feelings for him aside and dig out the truth?

PSA: Go in blind!

Bookish Yays:
🔥 As you might have guessed from the synopsis, Harriet is the key character of this book. But the story comes to us…. Now this is going to be a surprise… in David Asha’s perspective! It takes ages to understand how and where from and why and when David is narrating this tale. I enjoyed the unusual path taken as well as the discovery of the truth.
🔥 As David’s narration is the frame story, the plot gets a lot of structure and support. David uses various resources such as court rulings, newspaper articles, Harriet’s journal, as well as his own memories to tell us the truth sequentially, even if the characters in that particular timepoint don’t know yet what happened. His own interludes add to the depth of the storyline.
🔥 A character-driven story always needs complex characters, who might not be all good or all bad but are people you want to know more about. The key characters all fit this requirement. They aren’t likeable but they are realistic.
🔥 I am not going to utter anything abut the storyline beyond what I have said above. But just know, it goes much beyond an ordinary murder investigation. I can’t remember the last time I was caught so unawares by the direction taken by a story.
🔥 There are some excellent quotable quotes herein.
🔥 Didn’t expect to find myself thinking about free will vs. determinism while reading this. Read the book to know why. Loved this aspect!

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🎆 The pace is much hampered by philosophical rambling from David. To be fair, the reason for his musings becomes clear later and even makes sense at the end. But the problem is me. I have an allergy against philosophy: even a few sentences of it makes me break into eyerolls and yawns.
🎆 The story changes direction in the final quarter, a transition so drastic that the publisher had to add a special note to ARC reviewers about not leaking any spoiler in the review. Your enjoyment of the book will depend heavily on what you think of this transition. It worked excellently for me, though it did leave me with a few minor questions as well.
🎆 You do require to engage in suspension of disbelief but I guess that’s a taken for most contemporary thrillers anyway. Some of the reveals are too big to digest immediately, but many of them make sense in the story flow. Better if you just go with the flow.

I confess, the low rating on Goodreads didn’t exactly motivate me to get to this book soon. But now that I have read it, I understand why so many readers had trouble with it. The plotline needs a lot of patience. Unlike typical mystery stories, this is a slowburn, and is also character-driven. So perhaps, it would help to go into it with the right approach. Don’t read it as a mystery or crime thriller because these would automatically make you expect a faster tempo and regular twists/surprises. Rather, treat it as a literary fiction or a character-oriented drama. FWIW, it is officially promoted as ‘general fiction’.

Definitely recommended, but not to all readers. This is a niche audience book, and might work better for those who enjoy character-driven storylines and aren’t constricted by genre preferences. It’s not for those who like insta-everything. I am enjoying being on the positive side of Outlier Island for a change; rarely am I on ‘the other side of night’. 😉

4 stars

Pro tip: Read the preface again once you have completed the whole story. You will discover greater meaning in it, especially in its very first sentence. Reading it the second time around is like a light-bulb-turned-on-above-head moment!

My thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Other Side of Night”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

An enjoyable read, well written and entertaining. Hadn't read this author before but would consider reading again.

There's a major plot twist about four-fifths into this book, which up to then has been a really interesting mystery-thriller, and it morphs into a more sci-fi genre. While the book's subsequent denouement raises some interesting questions about fate and destiny, and the nature of love and family, it just didn't work satisfactorily for me, whereas the bulk of the narrative I enjoyed.

Three and a half stars.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fascinating book, which seemingly begins as a straightforward story of a possible crime and a disappointed relationship and becomes something much more unusual.

We see events unfold through the character of Harri, an ex cop who lost her job through a scandal, which we learn more about as the book progresses. I found her a really likeable character. She's quite vulnerable, having been in a brief but intense relationship with Ben, and after thinking they were meant to be together he suddenly ended things with no explanation.

Harri gets pulled into investigating the apparent deaths of a couple, who left behind a son, Elliot. She discovers that Ben is now caring for Elliot in the absence of his parents and begins to uncover a very complicated set of relationships.

Ben's character is mysterious. Much of the time it seems he has mental health problems, and is possibly a threat to Harri. There's a spate of him leaving notes for her as she looks into the deaths, which feels creepy. But in reality he is hiding a huge secret and is in fact a much better man than Harri thinks.

The love story aspect of this book is really nicely done, and the plot is pretty incredible. It's a great mix of what seem like very ordinary aspects of life with extraordinary events. I would recommend it.

Wow, wow and wow again - tears, anger and so emotional - I cannot recommend this highly enough this is an unbelievable book.

A dark and intimate tale. An unexpected event sends a discredited policewoman on a hunt to uncover a mysterious secret involving her ex-boyfriend. The ending will totally blew you away.

I finished The Other Side of Night with tears in my eyes but a book which explores life and love in such an original way left me with a real challenge. How on earth am I supposed to express what makes this such a special read without giving anything away?! It's a lovely problem to have, however, and I'm grateful to have spent time with this perceptive, thought-provoking novel.
As the author of a number of crime thrillers, The Other Side of Night is a very different book for Adam Hamdy but all the ingredients which made his previous novels so exciting are still present. After an intriguing prologue which takes the form of a preface written by a novelist called David Asha, the first part of the story follows Harriet Kealty. It quickly becomes apparent that she is a disgraced former police officer and after being vilified by the media and trolled by members of the public, she is in a bad place. A plea for help in the margin of a second-hand book may seem like an unlikely place to start an investigation but Harri needs to find herself again and in that context, it makes sense for her to try to find out more.
This is really a story about how our lives become connected and intertwined and Harri's complicated relationship with Ben is fascinating. They only had three dates together before Ben abruptly called time on their love affair but it's clear there's a deep bond between them – which makes the consequence of her actions even more agonising. She learns that Ben is the guardian of a young boy called Elliot but after digging into the deaths of his parents, she uncovers some disconcerting details which seem to suggest Ben is hiding some dark secrets. The marrying of a compelling mystery with the emotional baggage shared by the two main protagonists ensured I raced through these pages but as much as I love a tense thriller, it's the latter part of The Other Side of Night which really makes this such a memorable, heartfelt read.
As well as being a gripping mystery and a moving romance, The Other Side of Night is also wonderfully inventive speculative fiction and Adam Hamdy explores concepts which are both incredible and yet entirely believable. As a long-term Doctor Who fan, there are elements to the storyline here which were like nectar to me but although familiar, it never felt derivative. As the intricately layered plot gradually gives up its secrets, I wanted to go back to the start to spot the clues I missed; the clever weaving together of all that takes place is breathtakingly good.
There are some esoteric topics described here but the science behind the revelations is really only the catalyst for what, at its heart, is a captivating, beautifully written paean to the power of love. Adam Hamdy's unique look at grief and hope is poetically melancholic and yet profoundly life-affirming. It's a story that deserves to be savoured more than once and I will undoubtedly return to it in the future. A stellar read.

I won’t be able to describe this book and do it justice and even if I could it would spoil the story anyway. What I will say though is that I loved this book. It is such an enjoyable read. And it has 100% made onto my list of favourite reads of 2022.

Unusually for me, I’m not going to say much about the plot of The Other Side of Night as it is best to read it with no preconceptions. Having read and enjoyed Black 13, I did not even read the blurb for this one as I was expecting something similar. I was very wrong. It is one of the most unusual books I have read, and uses a mix of genres that make it difficult to categorise, but it is well written and thought provoking.
It is told from several points of view, but the constant hinting at some great mystery about to be revealed got a bit wearing after a while. The final reveal when it came was not at all what I was expecting, and I struggled to make sense of it all. The characters were believable but not necessarily very likeable. The cover art is striking, though I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

Don’t you just love it when a book unexpectedly blows your mind? I can honestly say this book blew my mind and it was completely unexpected. There is a theme that runs throughout this one, which is a spoiler and some readers may want to be forewarned about - check out at the end for more information.

I went into this one knowing that there’s a twist, and the publisher is keen for this twist to remain a surprise. So I’m going to keep this one vague. But it’s huge. And it’s mind blowing. And I totally didn’t see this one coming. And did I mention it’s mind blowing? This book is so bloody good!

I loved the characters, the mystery, the premise, the plot and the pacing. It had me hooked. This is one of my favourite reads of the year! Recommended reading! Please read this one.

Thanks to NetGalley, the team at Pan Macmillan and the author for the opportunity to read this review copy.
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⚠️Content warning/potential spoilers: repeated reference to suicide ⚠️

Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, but tragedy grounded his dreams. Now the dust has settled, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home.

I liked this book, but did not love it. There was something about the way it was written that I can’t put my finger on, that made it a bit laborious to read So I dipped in and out of the book, which lessened my enjoyment. At some stages I considered not finishing, but I was interested to see how it would end.
The storyline was quite interesting and the characters good. Although the sci-fi aspects not really my bag.
Overall 3 Stars

This is a mash up of genres with a central puzzle designed to keep you guessing. There’s crime, there’s love, there’s other stuff I can’t tell you about without spoiling the story. There are multiple voices and ways of telling. It reminded me a little of David Mitchell, but more lowbrow. I wanted to love it but, honestly, didn’t. This could be me. It fell between my sweet spots. Not quite genre enough, not quite literary enough.

I really enjoyed the concept and lay out of this book. The other side of night is told from different points of view one being from an author David's point of view regarding a true crime story, as well as court transcripts and other characters as well.

The book really made me think about life, time and death. It follows Elizabeth, David, Elliot, Ben and Harri who all seem to be linked and caught up in a mystery when Elizabeth passes away from cancer and David commits suicide, but all may not be as it seems.

The book did take on a slightly sci fi twist towards the end which I wasn't expecting and which isn't usually my type of thing however I can see how it fit the book and storyline

Intriguingly twisty mystery that's best experienced with as little prior knowledge as possible. A bit much at times, but still worth checking out.

A very difficult book to review because however I try I’m giving away too much. It wasn’t a hit with me and I think mainly because of the mixture of genres. The poetic exchanges left me cringing early on and I don’t believe anyone says those sorts of things to a new partner. The reveal was good but so long in coming I found I wad tired of waiting.

This is such a clever book and so, so cleverly delivered!
The whole story, the way it is narrated through the trascription of different media, the characters, the twists (they will actually blow your mind), the mixing of different genres: all of it is just genius. You will be hooked by the story, completely gobsmacked by the twists and absolutely satisfied by the ending. I will be thinking about this book for a while, I couldn't reccommend it more!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ex police officer Harriet Kealty picks up a fallen book in a bookshop, entitled ‘Happiness, a New Way of Life’, after bumping into rather an odd old man who has just lost his wife. In the book she finds some notes in a margin, one of which is ‘He’s trying to kill me’. Curious, Harriet decides to try to discover who the previous owner was and this leads her on a magical mystery tour.

Well, I’m not sure what to say about this book. It’s really rather strange. It’s like Dr Who meets Groundhog Day. You’ll have to read it to understand what I mean. I don’t want to give away any spoilers. It starts off like a normal novel and then ends up in fantasy/sci fi land. Don’t get me wrong, though, as I actually quite enjoyed it. It’s interesting if a little confusing and some of the scientific jargon went over my head. It’s quite compelling and definitely thought provoking. It’s also well written and I liked how the ending brought it all together. I would rate it 3.5⭐️.

The story wasn't what I was expecting, but it definitely kept me interested until the very end. Unfortunately, I think this book was bogged down by excessive exposition and explanations for the character motivations, when just letting them do something and leaving the reader to ponder why would have worked better. Definitely more telling than showing, but I can't tell if that is just the way this author writes, or if it's a choice he made because of the narrative device, which is kind of a book within a book. David Asha, a writer, is the one supposedly telling us this story. He introduces the book, after which we get multiple chapters from Harriet's perspective, and then interrupts it during the climax to take over the telling of it again. I wasn't a huge fan of the structure, and I think it's part of what dragged the pacing down in what should have been the most exciting part.