I still don't know what I thought of this book!

I was enjoying the main story from the beginning. The suspense was building around The Confession Room forum, as well as for Emelia's relationship with Ciaran.

However, this part of the story finished about half way through, so I was wondering where things might go next.

I understand the conclusion of the story is probably more true to life than fantasy but I was sad. I was hoping for a happy ending but it came in a way that I wasn't expecting.

I would recommend this book to others, it just wasn't as I thought it might be.

This is a really well written book. That will keep you engaged all the way through. It is about a forum that people can go on and tell all of their secrets. No matter how deadly they are. Its a bit mystery, bit crime, bit like saw the movie, a bit of an escape room. Basically it has lots of different things thrown at it to keep you reading and on the edge of your seat all the way through.

Welcome to The Confession Room. An anonymous internet forum where everyone is welcome to come and confess anything they want - affairs, stealing, lying … even murder. Former police officer Emilia always keeps her eyes on the room, always hoping for a clue about the one crime she never solved. But instead, she finds something worse - a confession of murder, and they keep coming. Someone has started a dangerous game, and nobody knows the rules.

Emilia knows she needs to get the bottom of the secrets of the room - before her own name appears.

"That's the true pain of this place. Who will be the survivor? Who will be the victim? And which would you prefer?"

A deliriously dark, feverish story about secrets and death that you definitely shouldn’t be reading before bed (even though I did exactly that.)

Immediately we are given a glimpse into a horrific series of events, dripping with tension and fear so palpable it’s suffocating — before ripping us away back to normality and a false sense of security as the world is carefully built up, introducing Emilia and letting us build a bond with them. A former police officer turned PI with a troubled past and deep-rooted anxiety — but a little too much morbid curiosity. She was undeniably endearing and her passion and wit made her so charming.

All the while we’re slowly learning about Emilia, we jump between perspectives of her and a stranger, who’s already realised how deadly the Confession Room can get — and we’re left anxiously waiting with the dramatic irony of seeing the depravity before Emilia knows. All that’s left is to to see how all these potential victims connect — and what the end game really is.

As the action starts, it moves into a fast-paced cinematic thriller with high stakes and loaded intensity. With a saw-esque, hidden villain everybody is a potential threat, everybody a potential victim. It carefully dissects not only how panic spreads through the public, but the strange obsession we can have with the dead and the disturbing things that go bump in the night.

Escape room meets saw meets battle Royale — this is a high-stakes, explosively nerve-wracking thriller with chilling settings and searingly sharp twists.

"The Confession Roo left behind many victims. Not all of us dead."

The Confession Room is an online forum where people can post confessions ‘without consequence’. Many do, including Emilia Haines, ex-police, now a PI. Some posts are confessions to affairs, some are more chilling, especially the last one on a particular day in November. Nobody would publicly confess to a murder, would they??

From the very scary start, Lia Middleton rarely takes her foot off the accelerator in this blow your mind read. I’m all in from the beginning and it’s one of those books that are hard to put down as it’s so gripping. It’s a bloody freezing, fearful, dread inducing chiller of a thriller with calculated cold bloodedness that shocks to the core. Just as you think the tension and suspense couldn’t get any higher, it ramps up several notches. Twists? Oh yes and several that will blow your socks off and they keep coming right to the end.

This has a fantastic and original premise, it’s very well written, so it fully engages your attention and the storyline flows smoothly. The characterisation is very good with Emilia’s perspective and state of mind being very well done. Varied and understandable emotions swirl around her and despite it all you feel empathy for her. Ciaran, her ex, is a very likeable calm in the centre of a storm.

This is not just an outstanding thriller as it gives much food for thought such as on justice and there’s a commentary on what constitutes entertainment.

Overall, this is one cracking read to remember and if you like your thrillers that stray onto the darker side then this is for you. Fantastic!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed The Confession Room by Lia Middleton it is a first time for me reading anything by this author.
Someone is confessing to murders online and ex detective Emilia stumbles across these and gets caught up in it all. Lots of twists in book and a very interesting ending. Would be interested to see if their might be another one.
Thankyou for advanced copy.

Wow! I devoured this book! I could not put it down.

The story follows Emilia whose life fell apart when her sister was murdered. Riddled with guilt and feelings that she could have saved her, Emilia lost the job she loved and begun trying to help people as a private investigator.

Emilia stumbles across a webpage called ‘The Confession Room’ a place for people to confess to their deepest secrets, infidelity, betrayal, robbery… until one day someone confesses to murder.

The way the story built up to this unfolding was treat, the pace of the book kept it interesting but also avoided it feeling rushed. I felt myself hoping that Emilia was on the right track to helping solve the case and hoped that she would be able to rekindle her relationship with Ciara. It was frustrating as a reader knowing Emilia was into something but kept being told to stay out of the investigating to now make it worse! Until her name was mentioned and I was desperate to find out what happened to her.

I did not see the ending coming and wonder if it leads us into a second book!

Someone is confessing to murders on an anonymous online forum and ex-police officer Emilia is trying desperately to help find the culprit. But then she is named as one of the victims and suddenly it’s her own life she’s trying to save, as well as the lives of her loved ones.

This book dove straight in with the drama in the first chapter and didn’t let up until the final page - I LOVED it! This isn’t a book filled with unseen twists that come out of nowhere and take the reader in a different direction; instead the author creates a train-wreck situation that just continues to worsen with every chapter, a wreck that I just couldn’t tear myself away from watching.

The Confession Room revolves heavily around the subjectivity of the term ‘justice’, constantly making me question what I would do in Emilia’s situation and whether I thought various characters throughout were truly served - or deserved - justice in the legal sense of the word.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I will defo be recommending this one once it’s published in August!

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinukbooks for my arc copy of #theconfessionroom 🫶

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I am a fan of Lia Middleton’s books so I was excited to read the new one. I have to say that I absolutely loved it! Her best book yet in my opinion. It was a fast paced, edge of your seat thriller with a brilliant ending. I would definitely recommend this book. 5 stars from me.

An online forum where people can confess…to whatever they wish to confess. For me it quickly became quite tedious. It was a good start but didn’t carry though.

Thanks to Netgallery for the ARC

An online forum for people who want to confess to anything, then a confession is posted on two murders.
Emilia is a ex police officer and now a private detective she finds the chat room and finds a connection but will anyone believe her?
This is a fast paced story that had me from the start and all the twists keep me reading to the end.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

Many thanks to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for the Arc of ‘The confession room’ by Lia Middleton

I liked the concept for this book, a detective turned private investigator after the murder of her sister follows the anonymous confessions posted on a website.
Confessions to murder are posted, and the detective in the mc Emilia can’t help but get involved in trying to help find the victims before they are killed in the confession room.
I found the character development weak, and there was some mid book switching between first and third person narrating.which was confusing.
The story however, really makes you think about the justice system, was it right how the victims were treated and how you would react in the victims position when faced with the choice of life and death.
An enjoyable read if you like crime/suspense thrillers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

My first book by this author and what an introduction from the beginning it kept me hooked right through to the brilliant ending,the storyline was in a class of its own,really original a must read for lovers of psychological thrillers.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph Books and Penguin Random House for the ARC.

A Terrifying Premise..
A terrifying premise indeed and, here, well executed in this novel of frightening suspense. The confession room - an online forum for expression and, well, confessions. When one poster begins to confess to murders, seemingly, before they are committed one wonders who exactly will be next. With an unpredictable and rather reckless protagonist, an edgy narrative and twists aplenty this is a fast paced, breakneck suspense which will leave the reader entirely unsettled.

Wow, I haven't read anything from this author before so didn't know what to expect. But I can say I will definitely be reading more from them.
This book is fast paced, the character development is fabulous. The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. And I couldn't put it down, I read it in a few hours.
There was a few spelling errors but very much expected with an Arc.
Cannot wait to read more from Lia Middleton.

3.5 stars

I enjoyed the last 2 books by Lia Middleton, so I was really excited to get my hands....eyes...on The Confession Room.

This has an interesting premise and I was immediately taken by it. Emilia lost her sister tragically a few months ago. She used to be a Police officer, but quit soon after her sister's death, because she just could not be in that environment anymore, and she also blames herself for not saving her sister. Emilia is now a private detective and spends her nights trawling the internet and specifically a website known as The Confession room, where people post all sorts of confessions.....from stealing, to cheating....and then one day....to murder.

This was the opposite of a slow burn....heck, even faster than a page turner, because I could not swipe fast enough to the next page. There was a lot of tension and I enjoyed that about the book.

Emilia though....I was frustrated with her and her desire to just cross boundaries, to act recklessly and to just have zero regard for the decisions and the consequences of those decisions.

That aside, this was an interesting read and I think it really gives the reader a lot to think about when it comes to justice and what that means to you.

A class above most of the thrillers I've read lately.
This one had a lot of decent hype and it absolutely lived up to it.
Certainly all action with likable characters and a twisty plot.
Read this over a bank holiday weekend and felt it was an excellent use of my time.
Many thanks.

Online forums are a great breeding ground for people to confess their deepest secrets, at a potentially great cost, since there can never be full secrecy… This is the premise of this excellent triller which takes the reader on a wild ride, trying to solve several murders.

I loved this book! Its multiple POVs added so much to the story. Such a fast paced thriller/mystery. Kept me engaged throughout and was on the edge of my seat.

I would like to thank NetGalley for this arc

This took me a little while to get into, I’m not sure if I just didn’t get a feel for the main character or it lacked pace but once I was hooked I was truly hooked. The confession room website was a bit of an addiction for former police officer Emilia who was lost in the wake of her sisters murder however it took on a chilling twist when confessions of murder start being posted on it. Emilia’s obsession with the site amplified as she was keen to get involved with the investigation however when she is named as a murder victim that’s when I really became engrossed. There were so many dilemmas in this and some horrifying moments it was hard to tell what Emilia would do and what the repercussions would be. I loved the twist in this and the whole concept of the confession room was fantastically thought out which made for a chilling read. 9/10

First of all I would just like to thank, NetGalley, Lia Middleton, Michael Joseph and Penguin Random House for an ARC of “The Confession Room” in exchange for an honest review.

Here we find an online forum called “The Confession Room”, a place were anyone can anonymously post their darkest confessions. However, someone has now started confessing to murders before they’ve happened, and they seem to be targeting pairs of people with plenty of secrets to hide.

I absolutely loved the concept for this book, it’s such a wonderfully terrifying idea. As well as this, it is scary to think that people do often find violence entertaining when it’s not happening to them.

Unfortunately, after leading with a strong start, I’d sort of lost interest by the second half of the book. I don’t think this was helped by the fact that I struggled to empathise with the protagonist, Emilia. I found her to be infuriating at times and her decisions slightly irritating. I unfortunately also felt that the ending was slightly predictable.

However, it does a really good job of twisting your sense of right and wrong, whilst forcing you to ponder what does justice actually look like in a situation like this? It is a very well thought out investigation of justice and how it is interpreted differently by everyone.