A very strange book that I struggled with. Elizabeth's brother Joe dies falling from a bridge. She is convinced he has been pushed by her other brother Callum. In an attempt to prove this she ends up murdering an innocent woman and anyone else she feels may have been involved in anyway. Finishes with a clever twist but I cheated to get there. Not one for me I'm afraid.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Secrets, Lies, Misdirection..
It starts with a killing but what is the real truth behind the confession to a murder? Secrets. lies and misdirection galore in this entertaining and engaging psychological suspense with a wholly unreliable narrator and a slow burn narrative that gives rise to unexpected twists and turns. Tension is nicely broken with threads of dark humour and a well crafted cast of characters populates a tumultuous plot which may well appeal to a YA audience.

I really wanted to like this book, the synopsis immediately pulled me in. I would Re-categorize this as A YA mystery (I felt no suspense or thriller piece to it). The overall writing was hard for me to navigate. 1st it was not written in the US so the terminology was a bit off and hard to decipher at times. The slang and use of f-bombs between parents, grandparents, and teenagers also threw me for a loop. The MC “Elizabeth” I liked, she was a tad sassy, and put her foot in her mouth, to which I could relate. Making jokes at inappropriate times broke the tension in the story. With the other characters, I had a hard time relating to as they never actually gave the background for until much later (and in my mind would have built up the suspense). Elle’s brother Joe died, and she is on a mission to avenge him, to kill everyone who didn’t help in the end to save him. Mysteriously Elle never gets to take the blame in any of the murders. People keep confessing before she can work up the nerve to say anything. Who is doing it & why? 2 twists at the end make me gasp and chuckle, but there wasn’t enough there for me to give it 5-stars.

Im not sure why this story didn’t quite grab me. It’s great at the start, but then becomes a little repetitive, however the ending is very good. Maybe it needs a sharper edit?

Rating: 3.0/5

I haven't read Charlotte Bigland's debut novel, but was attracted to this follow-up by the synopsis and the claim that it would appeal to fans of Alice Feeney. Now, I know from past experience that it can often be quite misleading when the marketing blurb suggests such comparisons with the work of other authors, so I always hope for the best, whilst preparing myself for the worst. This one fell somewhere in between.

It certainly did not particularly remind me of Alice Feeney. It has more of a C.J. Skuse feel about it, as it is quite "Sweet Pea-esque" in many ways. The synopsis didn't really prepare me for the nature of the story either. In common with the aforementioned "Sweet Pea" and a number of other publications over recent years, this turned out to be far more of a darkly humorous female serial killer novel - a descriptor that has really now become a sub-genre in its own right.

I enjoyed "The Confession" - it contains some fresh ideas and there are sections that really are very good. That said, overall, it didn't quite grip me as much as some of the better examples from this emerging sub-genre such as Katy Brent's "How to Kill Men and Get Away With It" or Joanna Wallace's "You'd Look Better as a Ghost" (publishing 21st September 2023), or, of course, "Sweet Pea" itself, which could perhaps lay claim to being the book that kick-started this genre in the first place. It is not necessarily easy to say why it didn't grab me in quite the same way - there is nothing blatantly poor about the way that it is written or constructed - but there were times when the pacing felt a little off and other occasions when it came across as a little bit too much like "young adult" literature ... and I long since finished falling into that particular target audience!

Nonetheless, this is still a perfectly enjoyable read and I would quite happily return to read more from Charlotte Bigland.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a fab read, full of twists and turns, I was blwon away at times! I was drawn in from the first page and raced through it, never knowing what to expect!

This book is a wild ride you’ll never want to get off of!

The Confession

I cant even tell you what I thought I was going to read compared to what I actually did read but I can tell you, this book is one that I will never be able to stop talking about and it deserves every bit of the hype it is about to get..

Here we go...

The Confession, had me addicted to each turn of the page. I was squealing in delight as each secret was revealed . I was completely consumed and transported straight into the book. The characters came alive before my eyes and I felt every emotion they felt. The narration was executed with perfection and the plot twist was not only incredible but believable too! When everything came together I was left in sheer disbelief with my jaw on the floor.

Teaser :

They said they killed her. But they didn't - you did.

I should never have gone to her house. But I was desperate to ask her some questions about that night. About what she saw when Joe fell from the bridge.

All I wanted was some honesty, for someone else to have seen what I saw.

I never meant to hurt her. To push her.

As she lay at the bottom of the stairs, blood pooling around her head, I knew it was the end for me too.

I kept expecting the knock on the door, the police, the handcuffs. But it never came.

On the news, they are reporting someone has come forward and confessed to her murder.

But that can't be true. Because her killer is me...

A totally addictive psychological thriller with a killer twist you just won't see coming. Fans of Alice Feeney, Netflix's You and B A Paris will be hooked from the very first page.

Felt this book was good but not quite polished. I thought it could have been a little more of a younger adult genre than adult. That being said I did enjoy it.

This book was a bit too far fetched and unbelievable for me. I found it a little bit of a struggle to read and almost lost interest in it at the start.

It’s easy reading albeit the language and the way in which the story is delivered is a bit underdeveloped. I spent a large proportion of the story not understanding why none of the characters had names, where they were in the UK and what their relationship with each other was based on. There was a lot of things being eluded to but not truly explained or understood until the end. It was all a bit strange!

The way in which the plot unfolds becomes slightly ridiculous and I couldn’t decide if she was an accidental version of CJ Skuses’ Rhiannon or if the delivery of the plot was just not quite right.

Had it not been an ARC I probably wouldn’t not finished it. But thank you NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

A good read when you want to indulge in a good mystery with
plenty of bite.
Good pace
Really enjoyable

I absolutely loved this novel, an antihero you can't help but root for. Dark and funny and yet also very sad it's a page-turning, intriguing thriller with an ending that will have you pumping the air. Lots of twists and turns, it took me a while to get into it but 1/3 through i was hooked. Great characters that are well drawn in a well-placed plot. Unmissable.

I loved the premise but i didn't really get into it and it felt a bit more of the young adult vibe than an adult thriller. It wad a decent enough quick wee read if you didn't overthink or pick at it too much. Realistically, it's a bit far fetched but whatever. Its fiction so why not lol

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this arc.

I had a hard time getting into this book, hard time relating to the characters, as well as, the plot which was a bit far fetched.

This book was just OK for me- though an interesting concept, I found much of it to be unbelievable and thought it read more like a YA novel. It centers on Elizabeth, who starts avenging the death of her younger brother, Joe, by going after everyone who could have helped but didn't, or were mean to him in general.

I had trouble relating to Elizabeth and thought many of the decisions she made were over the top, but I did kind of like her in her own unreliable, odd way. Much of the book takes place in her head and there were parts that I thought moved a bit slowly. The murders themselves seemed way too easy- no one gets that lucky! There was a twist at the end that was interesting, though the end was the most unrealistic of all and I walked away thinking about how it was all going to work out.

Overall, not my favorite but was a unique story. If you enjoy an unreliable narrator and don't mind suspending your disbelief, you might really like it. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Confession is a great book to binge read- an unreliable narrator, plenty of mystery and a reasonably unpredictable ending.

I read it all in one go, the only reason my rating isn't higher is that I personally didn't relate to the characters too much and did work out things fairly easily- however having said that it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the read.

Fast paced and twisty as psychological thrillers are supposed to be.

The Confession
A totally addictive psychological thriller with a heart-stopping twist
by Charlotte Bigland
I thought the book was ok. Of course, I am in the U.S., it was difficult in some sense. That was not the writer's fault, but my own. It was a slow read for me. Hard to get past at times the feeling it was a Y.A. read.

2.5 Stars!

This book was a bit of a struggle to get through and by 40% I was considering leaving it at DNF however I pushed through.

The writing style really wasn’t for me and came across very juvenile considering it’s marketed as an adult mystery/thriller I really didn’t find myself immersed in the story. It felt like it was written for teenagers by a teenager (I have no clue of the authors age and is no way a personal attack) but that’s how the writing came across

The story itself was a little bit silly, rather far fetched and over the top. Every elaborate plan went off without a single hitch and started to become predictable.

There were a couple of twists that I thought were pretty good and some parts of the ending were a nice touch (the names…) however overall, If I hadn’t been reading this ARC in exchange for an honest review I would have given up around 35-40%.

I’m very much a psychological thriller fan and this just missed the mark for me personally.

Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

A not to be missed book.
A fabulous easy read with plenty of murder, mystery and twists.
Take this to the beach and get engrossed.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
Easy 5 stars.

Great book which had me gripped through out. It had a bit of everything in it suspense, Action, intrigue, murder, mystery and a bit of revenge. There was some fantastic crazy twists and turns which had me up late in the night reading could not put it down. Definitely a unique story with well developed characters.

I highly recommend this book definitely worth a read. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

What a wild ride! Full of twists and turns. We first meet Elizabeth when her brother ends up dead. She is on the hunt to find out if he fell like the police think or was pushed. The journey we go on is full of crazy twists! I really liked the main character (even though it turns out she’s not as innocent as she seems) and the author’s writing. The ending will have everyone in shock! Don’t miss this one! 4/5 ⭐️


Thank you Embla books, netgalley, and Charlotte Bigland for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.