This was a very intriguing thriller. It was a very slow burn to begin and I did wonder whether it was going to be one for me. However the last half of the book really started to speed up and I began to become sucked into the drama. Gail was a funny character not very likeable but also very quirky. There were many twists that I didn't see coming and I am glad I read through to the end!

I found The Assistant to be an OK read. I found it to be quite slow and the characters quite unrelatable and unlikeable. I did like the format of the book with it being told through interviews etc as this is quite a fresh new approach to storytelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

My Review: Amanda Reynolds is a new author to me, so this was a new type of book. It's interesting, engaging and full of intrigue. Larissa/ Ris was a regular person, working as a waitress and then she became a social media influencer due to her marriage to a rich older man named Miles Fox. Ris reminds me of some of characters seen on TOWIE. You know the perfect illusion type? Add Gail the Personal Assistant and a number of interviews that tell the story of Number 56 set in a rich prestigious home. I love that the Author reminds the reader that we can only ever give 100%. It's a sentiment I share a lot. No such thing as 110%.

This psychological thriller had a lot of potential but ultimately fell a bit flat for me. I truly wanted to like it based on the description of the book, but ultimately I had a hard time finishing it at all.

The story revolves around the protagonist who has landed the job of Larissa's assistant, gaining access to her multi-million-pound home and closely monitoring her every move. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the protagonist has ulterior motives for being there, and as their plan begins to unfold, tensions rise.

While the premise of the novel is intriguing, I found the execution to be somewhat lacking. The characters felt underdeveloped, and I struggled to connect with them on any meaningful level. The protagonist, in particular, felt like a one-dimensional character whose motivations and actions were never fully explored or explained, or at least they had not been when I stopped reading around the halfway mark. I also found the pacing of the novel to be slow in places, with the tension and suspense not quite hitting the mark. I need my thrillers to keep me engaged or I lose interest, which is what happened in this case. I wasn't a fan of the big block of texts writing style, and I found it hard to keep myself interesting in keep learning the story.

Despite these criticisms, I will say that the writing style is not the worst, and there were moments where the tension and suspense did manage to grab my attention. The portrayal of social media and the cult of celebrity was also an interesting aspect of the novel that added depth to the story.

Overall, I would give "The Assistant" a solid 3-star rating. While it had its flaws, it wasn't the worst book I've read. However, it falls short of being a truly great novel in the genre.

Gail has it out for Larissa. She has become her personal assistant and is ready to do some damage. I really liked the premise. social media thrillers can be challenging and this book didn't go as off the rails as I was hoping.

Get ready for a different kind of thriller written by Amanda. This book is written in the form of emails, interviews and texts. I found the first part of this novel slow and a bit confusing as I got used to the format of this book.
The characters were a bit unrelatable but this book was still a good read. I would read more by this author in the future.

Thanks to netgalley and Boldwood books for this ARC! an enjoyable read

This is a very intriguing thriller, highlighting the use of social media and those who want to be ' Insta-famous ' and style themselves as 'influencers'.
Gail is on a mission. A mission she started 20 years ago.
Ris has the life that Gail wants, a life Gail believes she has a right to. Or so she thinks.
Ris's life isn't all it seems. It's all smoke & mirrors, and Ris wants something she can't have until she finds someone willing to give her a price. Be careful what you wish for.

Gail enters Larissa's home to become her personal assistant. Larisa is known as Ris and has a large social media following. I was immediately drawn to the premise of this book, but was doubting a bit before joining the blog tour, as I've reviewed books with people joining families and with social media in their plots that have been great and others that were not so great.

I believe in giving every book a chance though, so I gave this a chance too. The opening paragraphs were mysterious and then it was SLOW. The plot washed over me as uneventful and bland and I wasn't able to feel anything for the characters (who I so wanted to find out more about). I couldn't even visualise anything about the setting in my mind. The characters could have been more fleshed out and the setting and descriptions of people, places and things could have been much more visual.

I felt disappointed by this as I really wanted to like this book. I tried to persevere with it and skipped some parts, hoping it would get more interesting. It didn't though.

I felt the pace was quick, but the writing style was too wordy. I didn't like the POVs. The interviews didn't grab my attention and I didn't glean any information from the texts.

I felt disappointed by this as I really wanted to like this book. I tried to persevere with it and skipped some parts, hoping it would get more interesting. It didn't though.

This book just wasn't for me.

Thanks to Amanda Reynolds, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for my eARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

3 stars.

Slow and Steady wins the race...............

This phrase is definitely created for this book, The Assistant by Amanda Reynolds. The plot is too slow right from the beginning, but do not lose patience. The real drama starts at the third half of the book. Full of thrills, the twists are going to drop like a bomb. From the beginning the plot is going to be mainly between two characters, Ris and Gail. I was totally confused and flipping through the pages for some thrill. And after I reached halfway, my patience was rewarded when a new character Mia enters. It was absolutely a mind blowing thriller.

Definitely, 5 stars for the book. Thanks to Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for providing me with an opportunity to be a part of the blog tour.

What an intriguing, twisty, and dark thriller. Mind blown!

I was hooked on to this story and I couldn't put it down till the end. It's so twisty, so damn twisty that I was restless and eager to know Gail's motives.

The story is told from two PoVs. The interviewer and interviewee. The former plays a minor role, sending emails of the proceedings to a friend (who works in the TV/Movie industry) while the latter, is Gail's narration.

Gail tells in detail, what brought her to where she is today - and how it all started. From her interview with Ris to not wanting to go back to damp bedsit during weekends to every new development in Ris' life. The second half of the story gets intense - something to do with a new twist in Ris' dramatic life.

This isn't your ordinary cat-and-mouse, or stalker story. There's drama, there's crocodile tears, and there's a lot of jealousy.

Then we come to the denouement. The final act where all secrets are revealed. Gosh, this was so intense and twisty. Opening a Pandora's box kinda moment. One after the other, things fall apart. Should I call it closure? Hmm!

The Assistant by Amanda Reynolds is one of the best thrillers I have ever read. This book is making its way to my best reads of 2023.

Ris is a social media influencer in need of an assistant. Gail will stop at nothing to become her assistant. Ris is hiding something, and Gail wants to expose it, but she needs to be crafty so she doesn't get caught. Unfortunately, putting up with Ris's attitude is a full-time job. She isn't very nice, and her strict rules are baffling. But Gail is going to test them every step of the way.

What didn't work for me: The pacing is a little shaky at times, as some of the storyline within the emails can be slow to get through and don't necessarily move the plot forward.

What worked: Reynolds wrote Gail so well that I didn't like her from the very start. She's an unreliable narrator, and you distrust everything she says. I enjoyed how the story was broken up between email conversations and the interview with Gail. I liked how this one unfolded, and overall, this came together nicely.

This. Book. Was. So. Good. So. Good!
I loved the way it was told – a mix of different stories/narratives/timelines, different voices. And then it all starts coming together, and then again falling apart, and then comes together again, and it makes sense, and then it doesn’t, and then it is confusing, and then there are twists, and then, I had no idea what was coming, really. I did not predict the ending in any way while reading.

This book was so so good . Hadn't worked out the end which was a surprise. This book is well worth a read even if a bit confusing at the beginning you get used to it .

4 Stars from me

Full of intrigue for the reader from the first few pages, this book is told in a mix of  interviews, diary entries and emails, mainly from the viewpoint of 'the assistant', the slightly - shall we say - unhinged unusual Gail.

Playing on Ris' insecurities from the very beginning in order to secure the prized role of being her live in assistant, it is left to the reader to try and work out why a 50 something lady would want to live in a basement flat and be the 24/7 skivvy to a social media diva.

Through the mixed medium in which the story is revealed, the reader learns a lot about Ris' life and what Gail does on a daily basis. I really felt like I was sharing the space with them, the intimacies of their domestic existence was really well shared.

But life isn't as mundane and straightforward as would first appear. The old adage that money can't buy happiness sure rings true in these pages and I wavered many times as I tried to work out what was in in for Gail and why she put up with Ris' self-centered behaviours.

Things really ramp up towards the last parts of the book and life unravels pretty quickly for all concerned and we find out the truth behind Gail's motives and why there are interviews being conducted.

Overall, this is a great psychological thriller with a fast paced and clever ending. I really enjoyed reading it as part of the blog tour and thank the author, Rachel's Random Resources, Boldwood Books and netgalley for my review copy.

She's in your house...she knows your secrets...

Gail is on a mission...to take down Larissa. Why? I'm not sure I could really work that out. But even so, she wants her revenge on Larissa so much that she becomes her personal executive assistant. And as her assistant, she knows all her habits and her secrets.

Larissa, a social media influencer, married a much older and very wealthy man Miles Fox, who incidentally gained the nickname "Air Miles" due to his love for hostesses and waitresses and the like. Together they bought an eighteen room five story mansion house at number 56 Lexington Gardens, an exclusive address on millionaire's row in London's affluent Belgravia.

Gail knows everything about Larissa. She knows what she eats, what cosmetics and perfumes she uses, the price of each carefully selected piece in her multi-million pound home. She even knows the value of each stem of flower freshly adorning the rooms of that home that Larissa discards weekly for a fresh bunch.

Being a social media influencer, Larissa likes to share. Everything.

And now Gail is in her home, as her personal executive assistant, watching her every move.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Well, that's about all it sounds because believe me it isn't. Told through a series of interviews with Gail (mostly), emails and diary entries, THE ASSISTANT is a slow burning psychological thriller...a very slow burn. It's a tale of revenge that was a so glacial I began to wonder if anything was going to happen. Because all that was happening was a disgruntled ex-employee mouthing off to a a journalist about anything and everything, complaining about her lot. It was clear Gail hated Larissa. Honestly, I didn't care. I skipped to the end and you know what? I still didn't care. The story went absolutely nowhere.

I hate DNFing a book and leaving a negative review. But I was bored and Gail irritated me no end with her endless waffling. I am really sorry but I did try. I wanted to like this book...but I just couldn't.

I would like to thank #AmandaReynolds, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheAssistant in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

Thanks to boldwood books and netgalley for inviting me to review an early copy of this title.
I kept getting confused as it seemed to switch from past to present, then interviews with characters.. Ris hires a new assistant to run her diary and keep order, but who is she and why is she there? whilst the plot was good, i kept having to re read pages before., and it kept confusing me. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me, but other people will love it. im sure.

The Assistant is told through a series of interviews with the eccentric assistant of the title, Gail Frost, who has managed to wrangle her way into a position with social media influencer Larissa (Ris). As the story unfolds, the journalist is excited to pitch it as a great true crime episode for TV.

Although she's only in her 50s, Gail reads to me like a fusty older woman, one who has lived a life of disappointment and regrets. With her downtrodden clothes, her moldy apartment, and her subservient manner, I was torn between feeling empathy for her, and outrage for her actions. Similarly, Ris is flawed, trying to overcome a failing marriage and inability to get pregnant through likes and comments on Instagram.

The book bogs down in the middle and is very slowwww, and we're told that it's Gail's desire to tell the story at her own pace. I do wish she would have sped it up a bit, and the twists at the end almost make up for the bogged down middle.

It's worth noting that the author's first book, Close to You, is now a major TV series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advance reader's copy.

This book was written in an interesting style, through interviews, diary entries, and emails, but I found the first 3/4 of it to be somewhat boring. The book centers on Gail, who applies to be an Executive Assistant for Ris, making it clear she has some kind of plot in mind to which the reader isn’t privy. All is revealed (slowly!) as the book leads up to the current time.

I liked the style of the book and I even kind of liked Gail (though I am clearly in the minority) but, as mentioned above, I found most of the book to be boring and slow. Lots of day to day happenings and repetitive inner thoughts. That being said, the last 25% of the book was really good and moved at a much faster pace. There were a couple big twists in the story- one that I figured out early, and one that came as a surprise. The end was OK- I didn’t have a strong opinion on how it all wrapped up.

Overall, this was definitely a unique storytelling style and an overall good story, but I wish it had been shorter and more crisp for the majority of the book. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fresh new format. This was a slow burn and did a good job of putting the reader right smack in the middle of the story. Lots of money, deception and outrageous antics. I feel like the storyline was indicative of our society and it’s obsession with people being famous for being famous. Lots of good insight into shallow people. Author did a great job of creating flaky characters.
This just fell short for me.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

I found The Assistant really creative and unusual, both for it's style (it's narrated through a collection of interviews, messages, emails etc) and for its plot, which is quite twisty and unpredictable. I agree with some other reviewers that the book might have been slightly shorter.

I loved the protagonist, Gail, she has a way with words (well, the author definitely has), it's funny, witty, smart and entices compassion. The use of social media as backdrop for the book action is really nice and makes the story more vivid, and contemporary.

The Assistant by Amanda Reynolds is a great psychological thriller.
Ris needs someone to help her maintain her life, enter Gail. Gail is a fifty something women who would do anything to work for Ris. As Gail gets her dream job it seems that she may have a different motive for wanting to work with Ris.
This story has an amazing twist that you never see coming. Highly recommend to those that enjoy a good whodunit story.