Member Reviews

I'll Never Tell follows Julia, a lawyer, and Paul, her stay-at-home husband, as they try to find out what happened to their daughter Chrissie who's gone missing.

The book is told from two diferent point of views -Julia and Paul- and is both present and past tense as the mystery unfolds.

I have come across Philippa East's work before and when I saw the chance to read I'll Never Tell, I was elated. There's something about the way Philippa writes that makes the words flow easily, and the pages turn themselves.

As someone who reads mystery and thrillers, I can say that it was relatively easy to figure out what was happening but the writing was so good that it didn't matter. I'm used to novels with various twists and turns and this book was a rollercoaster of emotions!

Without spoiling the ending, I had so much sympathy for both Julia and Paul in the beginning, and then it diluted into a million "how could you?" and "seriously??" I found it very hard to like the characters (especially Julia) and then, the ending came and explained it all, bringing some absolution to the choices Julia had made.

This wasn't just a domestic thriller to me but a lesson on not juding people based on their choices.

To say that I enjoyed this book is an understatement!

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Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and author for my advanced review copy of the book. This is my honest review

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First of all, the cover is gorgeous! I've only ever read Safe and Sound by the author and I wasn't a fan of that one but the cover for this really attracted me and the blurb was intriguing so I thought I would give it a go.

On the whole this was an enjoyable read. I did find it a bit slow to start off with, and I found Paul's relationship with his step-daughter borderline creepy, but I was interested to see where the plot would go.

I think the second half is much better when the pace picks up and all the clues start coming together. I liked the writing style - it was pleasant to read and all interactions between characters felt natural.

I would rate the book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. It didn't blow my mind and it took a while to get into the story, but I found the plot interesting.

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Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. Julia and Paul accompany their daughter to some sort of musical competition. When the fire alarm sounds, she is nowhere to be found. They rush home thinking she is there, but she is not. They find clues left behind, but did she leave on her own? Was she kidnapped? I thought this book was good but not great. Some of it held my attention well, while other parts were just slow. I wasn't overly excited about the ending.

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