Simone Campos' "Nothing Can Hurt You Now" is a powerful and suspenseful psychological thriller that delves deep into the complexities of trauma and resilience. Campos skillfully weaves a gripping narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats, exploring the lives of characters who are bound by a dark and tragic event. The novel is structured around multiple perspectives, providing a multifaceted view of the incident and its aftermath on each individual.

Campos' prose is sharp and evocative, masterfully capturing the emotional landscapes of her characters and the haunting atmosphere of their shared experiences. "Nothing Can Hurt You Now" is an intense, thought-provoking book that explores the depths of human vulnerability and the indomitable spirit required to overcome it. It's a compelling read for those who appreciate thrillers that not only entertain but also challenge and resonate on a deeper emotional level.

DNF at around 40%
The issue with this book is that it takes too long. I'm almost halfway through it and I feel like I haven't learned anything about either of the main characters. Lucinda doesn't know her sister, in any capacity, and the self-inflecited guilt and responsibility of being a second mother to her sister doesn't make any sense considering their age and the distance they have between themselves both geographically and socially.
I still have no clue what happened to Viviana, and at the rate the book is going, I won't find out until the very end.

I was able to get this book through NetGalley and I really enjoyed it. I’d give this book a 4.5 stars. I thought it was very interesting and the view of the character being autistic was very profound because the author is autistic as well. I highly recommend this book, it was really good.

This book gave me the impression that it would work better as a screenplay, for like a 6 part netflix series or something. Enjoyable, but not so deep on paper and a little bit unbelievable.
I imagine sex workers going missing in Brazil is not overly uncommon, which was evident by the lack of help and support for the main character when her sister goes missing. But she is relentless, along with her sisters lover. And when they track her down it turns out it is just in time. Fun, but a bit mad.

This was one of those books I thought was spill chilling. You never know what is going to happen next and everything had this air of suspense to it. I really enjoyed it and wasn't expecting the ending at all.

This book was quite the ride. It is short and sweet, minus the sweet.

We are following Lucinda, she has lived most of her life in the shadows of her sister. But suddenly her sister goes missing and then Lucinda drops everything to figure out what happened. This is a classic case of someone hiding secrets, and the loved ones really know nothing about her.

I was bored and would not recommend.

Holy crap this took a turn. It's a short fast paced thriller that follows a sister uncovering secrets on the hunt for her sister following a mysterious disappearance.

The premise of this book really intrigued me. I enjoyed the first part but I couldn't really connect with the story overall. I've seen reviews on the writing style but it's worth remembering that this wasn't written in English.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the arc copy in exchange for an honest review.*

Check the trigger warnings before reading!

This book had the potential to be so much better than it was. I think it was a solid premise and a good idea, but maybe some of the emotion was lost in translation.

It felt almost stale. I think if my sister was missing and I was finding all these things out about her life I would feel more emotion than Lucinda did. There needed to be more descriptive emotion for me to make that emotional connection with the character.

There was a very abrupt change from Lucinda’s pov to Viviana’s pov. I wasn’t really prepared to go from one sister to the other that fast. While I did appreciate also getting Viviana’s pov, I think there should have a been a bit more buildup.

Viviana’s pov was surprisingly not the best part of the book. I still enjoyed it and am glad I got it, but I liked the investigation and discovering secrets with Lucinda more.

If this book was a little longer, with more details and descriptions, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. It’s still a good story that I would recommend to someone who is looking for something short and tense, but it could’ve been so much more. I haven’t read many translated works, so I’m not sure if things get lost in translation, but that’s kind of how it felt here.

This is a great option if you like to be on the edge of your seat and get multiple povs into a dark story.

An intriguing thriller with a terrific setting in Brazil and a unique protagonist, This might have familiar themes (missing sister) but it's distinct in its tone and the details. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, A good read.

Lucinda has lived her whole life in the shadow of her glamorous and outgoing high-end model sister Viviana. But when Viviana suddenly goes missing on a trip to São Paulo, Lucinda drops everything to track her down. Met with indifference from the police, Lucinda starts her own investigation with the help of Viviana's girlfriend Graziane. The deeper into Viviana's life Lucinda goes, the more she realizes that she doesn't really know anything about her sister. When Lucinda discovers that Viviana has a thriving career as a sex worker, the list of possible outcomes widens. A cryptic text from her sister suggests she is still alive, but is being held hostage by a mysterious person. Lucinda has seen enough crime dramas to know that time is of the essence in kidnapping cases, and with the minutes ticking by, she and Graziane must track down men from Viviana's past to figure out who might want to do her harm. An acerbic and propulsive thriller that crackles with fury at a society that treats women as property.

Interesting story from start to finish.

This one was not for me. It was slow paced in the beginning and I had a hard time connecting. The writing style was not for me but I can see that others will appreciate it; especially those into dark and grittier stories.

Great story, couldn’t put it down. Story of two sisters, one who is kidnapped by an obsessive lover and her sister who looks for her.

I read this story in a few hours on a Tuesday night. It was a quick read and to be honest, I am not sure that I know what the author wanted to achieve with this short novel. It was interesting enough to keep me reading, but I must have missed what the author wanted to communicate. However, it gives an oversight over the world of sex work, the disdain some have for it despite participating in it and the dangers of it.

Thank you NetGalley & Pushkin Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

While Lucinda is trying to find her sister, we discover the secrets Vivi has tried to keep hidden. While I wasn't a complete fan of the writing style, I did enjoy the story and almost happy with how it ended.


Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press, Pushkin Vertigo for access to this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A thrilling story about a Vivianna who is missing so her older sister and girlfriend journey to find her. This book was very good, I did find the plot to veer off topic a lot and go on to describing other things that weren't much related to the story. I was hoping for a little bit more from the ending but all in all I enjoyed the book, was curious as to what would happen and get me engaged throughout the whole story. 3/5 stars from me.

This is a translated Brazilian thriller by Simone Campos. Following Viviana’s disappearance, her sister Lucinda goes on a mission to find her sister before it is too late. Lucinda uncovers a web of secrets about her sister’s modeling career, and Viviana’s relationship with her girlfriend, Graziane. The plight of searching for Viviana takes Lucinda on a reflective journey of their lives growing up.

Curating Edits Book Review
This was a page-turner, “Nothing Can Hurt You Now”, which had us on the edge of our seats. Lucinda finds out her sister lives a double life as a sex worker. She also finds a book Viviana has been writing about that aspect of her life. Can the pieces of the book lead Lucinda to find her sister? Will the police take the disappearance of Viviana seriously before it’s too late? Another favorite we have about this book is that we have Lucinda’s perspective, a part of Graziane’s perspective, and then we get a perspective from Viviana.

Nothing Can Hurt You Now -Simone Campos (translated from Portuguese by Rahul Bery)

Thanks to @netgalley and @pushkinpress for a copy in exchange for an honest review! This book is published on 5th March.

Luciano and Viviana are two sisters who have started to grow apart. Luciano can't help but feel envious of the beautiful successful model her sister has become, but she still a jolt when a friend of Viviana calls to say that she didn't turn up for a date.

That jolt becomes a full on electrocution when it's revealed that Viviane is less of a model and more of a high class escort. Moreover, the friend might be more of a girlfriend, a fellow escort, and someone who desperately wants to find Viviana as well.

The book attempts to be a subversive noir, laden with thoughts on the sex industry, gender power imbalance, colourism, and family values. At times it's far too heavy-handed with its politics, especially when it's combined with a view of queerness that feels very voyeuristic at points.

I could tolerate this if the plot held up, but there’s no sense of tension in the first half of the book. While this changes with a different perspective about halfway through, the pay off is just not worth what came before. It's frustrating and doesn't really fit with the themes that came before.

This is a debut novel, and there’s promise here, but I can't recommend this book. There's better thrillers out there.

Do you have a favourite translated crime or thriller book?

This is a book I’d probably like but I can’t read the ARC. The paragraphs aren’t broken up and dialogue is mixed up and it’s all a wall of text.

Nothing Can Hurt You Now is a relatively short novel but don’t let that fool you – this thriller packs a powerful emotional punch. Following the story of two sisters Lucinda and Viviana in Brazil. When Viviana, a sex worker, goes missing on a short trip to São Paulo, Lucinda joins forces with Graziane, her sister’s girlfriend, to track her down. As Lucinda follows her sister’s trail, she begins to realise there’s a lot she doesn’t know about Viviana’s life.

I very much enjoyed this incisive, dark and subversive thriller that felt really quite refreshingly unusual from any other thriller I’ve read recently. The story is pacy and compelling – but more powerful and intriguing is the revealing and biting narrative on the way women are perceived and the dangerous complexities of what beauty and femininity mean in modern society. I found Viviana’s sections particularly strong and authentic feeling but all three of the female voices in Nothing Can Hurt You Now have their own individual power. Tense, raw and unapologetic – I’d highly recommend this to anyone looking for a slightly unconventional thriller.