I listened to an advanced readers copy of the audiobook of Karen King's Girl Next Door thanks to Bookouture Audio and Netgalley. This was a fun twisty thriller telling the story of two families and a tragic accident. The basic premise is that Suzie's family moves in next door with her young son and 14 year old daughter Rachel. Neighbors Vanessa and Aaron live in the house next door, and the two boys Jacob and Lucas are both smitten with Rachel wanting her attention. Then, all of a sudden there is an accident, and Rachel falls out of the window of her second story room, and ends up in a coma. And then the question of how she fell takes over the story -- Suspicion falls on both Jacob and Lucas when Ben (Rachel's young brother) says he saw someone leave in a hoodie. Were the boys responsible? Which one? The police get involved. The story then twists and turns, and there are soon other potential suspects (saving that for the reader, to not spoil anything). And from there, we end up on a roller coaster trying to figure out who was responsible.

The book was well written and the narrator was excellent. It kept you interested, and while the middle section, after the accident seemed to go a bit too long, the story picked up its pace and then came to a conclusion, with still more twists. The book's end gets wrapped up fairly quickly. - as happens in a lo of novels, but it is satisfying. I enjoyed listening to Girl Next Door and think it will be a good read for folks.

REVIEW posted to Amazon and Goodreads. Bookouture - keep these great stories coming.

I liked most of the book. The intrigue and the blame was making sense for how the author was trying to pin it on Aaron even though we know with Thrillers it is most likely not the obvious suspect. However, the last 20 minutes kinda soured the book. The blackmailer was introduced in the last 5%. That was out of left field and nothing I could have tried to sleuth out myself. Ben being the pusher was more acceptable in my opinion but still felt like something to throw in. I wish we had a little more clues to that being the answer. I also wish I could have seen Susie and Carl's opinion of Jacob after saving Rachel. as far as we know, they still hate the brothers.

The audio was good. I did play it slower than normal for me because the narrator spoke faster than other audios. That is totally fine. Her man voice wasn't my favorite but it also didn't harm the audio.

I will be sharing this book on my instagram, today 7/10/24. I will come back and share the link as soon as I have it posted.

Thank you Netgalley, Karen King and Bookouture for the audio arc of Girl Next door.
Narrated by Tasmin Kennard.

This was my first book of Karen Kings and I really enjoyed it. Girl next door tackles the complexities of a blended family, the secrets we keep and how these secrets can destroy, not only us but other people too. This makes for a great medium to fast paced domestic thriller. I felt like the characters and the plot line had a nice balance and well fleshed out. I felt like this could be any family living down any street. Tasmin Kennard narrated this book and I always love her voice.

4 stars

This was very well narrated and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Why I have marked it down is that I would have liked more exploration of the end bit it just felt rushed ( I really dont want to spoil it ). Looking forward to more from author and narrator.

Girl Next Door by Karen King is a good book. I enjoyed the whodunnit aspect of it and had three suspects, one of which is in fact noted in the epilogue [only because I'm a mom was it picked up on]. I love that we hear from multiple people, including Rachel, but do feel like we are intentionally misdirected (not in a red herring way), which I did not like. It almost makes it seem like it was decided halfway through who is tormenting Rachel and going back and editing it was too much. This is why I deducted a star.

Tamsin Kennard is one of my absolute favorite narrators! As usual, she is amazing in this book.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio for providing me with an ALC.

Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio version of this book in exchange for my review.

I'm sorry, but I really didn't like this book. IT didn't feel like the same book in the summary, and was overly long and drawn The ending felt rushed, and I was so bogged down by the details with fixing cups of coffee, cups of tea, etc, that I really didn't care what happened to the Girl Next Door anymore. The ending felt wrong and rushed. Had the book been half as long, maybe I would feel differently, but there were just too many mundane details that added nothing to the story except word & page count.

I didn't see the ending coming, though! I'll admit that. So I'll rate this one 2 stars, for it was ok, since I did get that surprise there in the epilogue.

This was my first introduction to Karen King. I was happy to listen to the audiobook of Girl Next Door narrated by Tamsin Kennard.

Vanessa and her family become immediate friends with the new family that moved next door. Her boys become fast friends with Rachel until the day she ends up in a coma. She fell or possibly was pushed from her bedroom window, two stories to the ground. Fingers are pointed and the police are looking at Jacob, Vanessa's son. She knows it couldn't be him, or could it? There are questions all around until you finally get to the truth at the end.

I really enjoyed listening to Tamsin Kennard. This being my first Karen King book, I was surprised when it started with a British accent, but that is something I can always listen to. She did a fantastic job of narrating by character allowing you to know easily who was talking and who's thoughts you were in. I found it very soothing to sit and listen and was able to get through the entire book in three evenings. I'm not sure if I had been reading, I would have been able to read it as quickly.

The description of the book caught my eye. It sounded like something I would enjoy, a bit of a mystery. While the storyline was good and kept me listening to find out the answers, I still struggled a bit with it. Everything felt very simple, I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next thing to happen. Things kind of came and went, you thought it might be this person, then maybe that person, or maybe it's going to be someone entirely different. Mostly just because of a simple comment at the end of that chapter. I can't say it was a bad book at all, I did like it. It just didn't quite give me what I was looking for.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would tell others to give it a try.

Love me a good domestic drama! I also think I found myself a new author to follow their work.

Meet Vanessa, Aaron and their 3 children - two teen boys and a little girl. Life seems perfect until a new family moves in next door, Suzy and Carl with their 2 children - a teen girl and a little boy. Cue in teenage drama and sibling rivalry...what could go wrong?

The story captivated me from the very beginning. Tamzon Canard does an amazing job narrating the different POVs, easily distinguishing characters' personalities and traits. As secrets started to reveal themselves, I enjoyed the guessing game I played with myself - no one was innocent by the end. Loved the mysterious atmosphere that enveloped the two families and the fast-paced flow of action.

Thank you to the author, Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy for an honest review

A well written and very enjoyable book with a steady build up of tension, lots of motives and some great red herrings thrown in to keep us guessing!

Vanessa and Aaron are delighted when Suzy and Carl move in next door . The two families connect instantly and the children also get on brilliantly.

When Rachel falls from her bedroom window and is in a coma, a boy in a black hoodie is seen running away. Devastated Suzy is convinced it must have been one of Vanessa and Aaron’s boys, and so are the police.

I was totally absorbed as Vanessa struggles to prove the boy’s innocence and Rachel fights for her life.

The ending was a huge disappointment though, when it was revealed what had been happening to Rachel and it was nothing to do with any other character we had already got to know. It came from nowhere and did spoil it for me, sadly.

I absolutely loved Tamsin Kennard’s narration, she is brilliant and bringing the characters to life.

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Karen King and Bookouture, for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Really good domestic/psychological thriller. I wasn’t sure what to expect at the end and what had actually happened to Rachel. Plenty of surprises. Decent characters. Great narrator. I finished this within two days and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was a very fast-paced, edge of your seat read. In my opinion, this book gives off "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" vibes. By chapter 47 I thought I had it figured out. By chapter 57 I was confused again. The ending was shocking and I didn't expect it at all!

Girl Next Door is an excellent psychological thriller that is full of twists and turns.
There are some great characters and a couple of very suspicious ones that had me wondering a lot about them. After a few chapters I had it all worked out and knew who had ‘pushed’ Rachel from the window. To be honest I felt a little disappointed that I had it all worked out so early on. I should have known however with this wonderful author that things don’t always work out the way you think. And boy did I get a huge surprise at the end . Turns out I was completely off track with my theory and I was so happy that I actually hadn’t in fact worked it out. This was such a brilliant read with an utterly super ending.
I listened to this via audio and the narrator was excellent. She really made the book come alive

This perfectly narrated high quality audio tells the story of how new neightbours can affect your life beyond recognition . 2 families become friends then teenage daughter Rachel is found after falling from her room and the boys next door are under suspision.
The narrator as always engaging easy to feel and distinguish characters. She is the best I've heard totally engaged and determined to find out what happened. Especially as the secrets of the other characters came to the front. The multiple pov kept it going. It was a fab domestic thriller.
The only disappointment was the ending after all the action and build it . It felt like it was explain in a very matter if fact way and I gueese because it was the reason why I wanted to know me and felt let fien.
All in all a cracking domestic thriller. Thank you netgallery and publisher and author and narrator.

Girl Next Door will keep you guessing! I thought i knew what was happening & the twist was out of nowhere. Really good mystery!

Publisher's summary
My darling son is accused of killing the girl next door. He would never do this… Would he?
I have the perfect family: my loving, devoted partner. Our sons, so thoughtful and affectionate despite their teenage angst. But everything changes when our friendly neighbours move in.
Their daughter Rachel is so pretty and bubbly. Her giggles float over our garden fence. I can see our boys are falling for her, fighting for her affection.
Then Rachel falls from her bedroom window. Her life is hanging in the balance. And to my horror, her parents think my son Jacob pushed her.
I know my sensitive son would never do such a thing, but he is hiding something. A mother always knows, doesn’t she? And who is spreading nasty rumours in our neighbourhood about me and my partner, about history repeating itself?
Then I find Rachel’s broken sunflower necklace in my home, and my world falls apart. It’s unbearable, but I must face the truth. Someone’s child is fighting for their life. And someone in my family hurt her.
With Rachel at death’s door, is Jacob in terrible danger too? And how far will I have to go to protect him?

Thanks to NetGalley & Bookouture Audio for the ALC of this book!

Girl Next Door
By: Karen King
Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
Publisher: Hachette UK - Bookouture
Release date: 07-09-24

Girl Next-Door by Karen King and narrated by Tamzon Canard is about two families one is Vanessa, Aaron they’re two teen boys Jacob and Luke in the toddler girl Chloe they each brought a son to the relationship but Chloe is what brings the family together. The new neighbors are Susan and her husband Carl and their children Rachel and little brother Ben. At first the kids as well as the moms get along like a house on fire but when teenage Rachel falls out her window and they start to believe Jacob had something to do with it her family‘s claws come out and let Vanessa know her family is the enemy with no sugarcoating it. Vanessa is taken aback because she thought she had a nice normal family with two teen boys that for the most part were really good kids. At first she doesn’t know what to make of her new neighbors attitude but as the cops investigate and then and then her own son Jacob goes missing she has more things to worry about then the neighbors opinion of her and her little family. Just like the other book I read by Karen King I thought this was super interesting and definitely held my attention I even thought it was better than the other but I’ve read by her and despite there having some chapters I thought could’ve been left out I still listen to every minute of it and not just because Tamzon canard is my favorite British narrator because OMG she definitely is, she is so good! This book did something that I love when books do and that is at first I thought oh I bet ABC but then something else would happen and I would think oh wait it must be 1 to 3 but at the end I am just like OMG I didn’t see that coming! This book was really good with great narration an awesome plot in a book I definitely definitely recommend!#BookoucherAudio, #NetGalley, #KarenKing, #TamsonCanard, #GirlNextDoor,

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read this book if you constantly question everyone or everything, you are part of a blended family, or you enjoy having neighbors.
I’d probably have given it a higher score, but was frustrated that the villain was an off screen character I couldn’t have predicted. Finished in a day though, so a very engaging book!

Ummm what? Wow 🤯 <- but only kind of LOL

This was borderline five stars just for the wrench that was thrown on the very last chapter. The story starts out kind of slow and boring, then it gets kind of weird because it’s about minors and then it gets really twisty and interesting and has a couple of oh 💩 moments and then you think it’s over and you’re like wow all of that for this crappy ending? And then the author slaps you in the face. 😂

I will say that earlier on in the book I did suspect a certain something that I ended up being right about, but she convinced me I was wrong for a long time ha!

Audiobook was good!

Enjoyed the story. Finished it in one day. Not many hints in there about the actual villain of the story. Wish I was able to know the characters a little better. Wasn’t super thrilling but still a solid book.

This book had a lot of build-up and development, only for the twist to unfold unexpectedly that didn't leave me gasping as much as I'd hoped. While twists are a key element in thrillers and mysteries, these didn't quite hit the mark. Despite being a multiple-POV book, I found it easy to follow the different characters. The character development made sense along the way but ultimately didn't contribute much to the main plot. The ending felt like a letdown; given the story and character development, it had the potential for much more impactful twists and shocks.

The narration by Tamsin Kennard was excellent. Despite there being only one narrator for multiple characters, I was still able to easily distinguish between them.

Recommend (Yes/No/Maybe): Maybe. This could be a good read for someone looking to get their feet wet in this genre. However, if you’re well-versed in thrillers, you may not enjoy it as much.

Give me a good family thriller with a great narrator and I'm set for the day! If it's Tamsin Kennard, all the better. I've listened to several of hers now and enjoy her pace and interpretation of lots of characters. She always enhances a story in my opinion. Girl Next Door had an intriguing premise and did not disappoint with twists, keeping me guessing until the end. I'm still not sure what to make of the ending and what might happen next. Maybe nothing is meant to, but I'd love to see a sequel to find out.
This is my first Karen King novel but will definitely not be my last.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC! All opinions are mine.