Thank you to net gallery and the author for this arc copy. Wow the cover of this book is what made me what to read it as a love the diamond ring with the blood dropping down it. This is one of them books that totally make you forget that you’re reading it as your so hooked and gripped from the moment you start reading. . It is so well written and it’s also so fast paced and the plot kept me interested all the way through the book to the very end. I really liked how the chapters were so short but well packed with information. The only tiny bit that I didn’t really like was the court scenes as they were a bit unrealistic and not very true to what happens in the real courts. The ending shocked me in such a good way.

This book begins with a woman called Claire going to her fiancés workplace, only to discover that he has not worked there for 4 months, and follows the events that occur.

(Also, going to be honest, I was sucked in by the book cover - it’s stunning !!)

I did enjoy this book! I thought the writing was easily managed and readable but the pacing did get a little bit slow at times, especially in the first half where it was a lot of the same things repeatedly. I think that the little vignettes of her reliving her mother’s harshness on her were well done even if her mother did come off a little flat sometimes - and her diary entries also helped to break up the text and keep it interesting.

After the dramatic reveal of Lilah’s death, the court scenes were my favourite part - it felt tense and I was still rooting for her (so naive of what was to come). When the realization dawned on me of what actually happened, it felt clear, and when the actual reveal in the text happened it was haunting and none of the suspense was lost on me.

The last page caught me off guard!! It does sound a little rushed, but it was a cracking ending to the book.

I do think that this book has potential to be popular in the future on places like social media, as it has an easily marketable twist. But, I do think that marketing it as a thriller is just not that applicable because the majority of the book was just plain crime/her wandering about being angry in the first half.

Anyway, I will still recommend this to people when it’s officially released and I look forward to more releases after this!

Disclaimer: This ARC was sent to me through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All of my review is my own opinion.

Thank you to the publishing house for granting me access to this book! 😌

Once this got going, I really enjoyed it. It has some unexpected twists and turns, and keeps you guessing until the very end. It is well written, it’s got good pace, and the short chapters leave you wanting more, and you’ll find yourself immediately reading on, even when you promised yourself, ‘just one more chapter’.
Not only would I recommend, it’s also made me want to read more books by this author.

With thanks to NetGalley, and the publisher, for an e-ARC to read and review.

This is one of those books that make you forget that you’re reading. It is so well written, paced very well and the plot keeps you intrigued all the way through. I loved it!

The only issue for me as, as a criminal defence solicitor, is that the court scenes were so unrealistic. If there were only a few it could be forgiven but almost everything was incorrect. Poor research into something that covers half the book! This won’t be an issue for most people who don’t know the inner workings so it will not detract from anyone’s enjoyment - but if you work in the criminal justice system it might.

Overall, really enjoyable. This will be a best seller when it comes out.

Thank you to netgalley, author and publisher for this advanced copy.

Brilliant book! I love how immersed we become in Claire’s life. The book is perfectly crafted to tell the story from Claire’s perspective. We see this story told from her childhood, and from when she met Noah. I think the twist was predictable, but that didn’t take away my enjoyment from reading this book. It also didn’t make me want to stop reading.

Wow! This is a rollercoaster of a book! Twists and turns and just having no idea what will come next. I’ll admit. , The writing is fantastic, and you really don’t know just what will happen from start to finish. I liked most of the characters, one is absolutely horrible, but really ties in with everything happening in this book. Thank you for the opportunity to red nd rate. I look forward to the author’s next book.

A great read …. We are introduced to Claire who is engaged to the love of her life Noah, on the day of their anniversary Claire turns up at Noah’s work only to find he no longer works there … the life that she thought she was living is not so for many reasons . I loved the way this book was written a mixture of dusty entries from Claire which gives the reader background around her troubled upbringing and toxic relationship with her mother as well as telling the love story of her and Noah. We then get real time that unfolds a great story that captures the reader

4* Not what I thought, in a pretty shocking way. Sad, creepy, shocking and what a twist.

Well, this tale starts off with a seemingly happy engaged couple, before he does the dirty on her and she discovers his litany of lies, and goes on a mission to track him down and make him admit he's done her wrong, and try to win him back, though he's no prize. Right? Wrong!! To say more would give the tale away. I didn't suspect the outcome, thinking a scorned woman whose actions resulted in something very sad would actually get a decent outcome (desperately trying not to Spoiler here) but the author turned the tables pretty much at 95% of the tale gone. Totally did not see that coming. Uhuh.

I was attracted to the premise of this book, although it ended up being slightly different from what I expected -in a good way! I read this book twice and edited my review on second read.

The book is told via the POV of Claire's journal and her present storyline around her issues with her Mother. She is living a happy life with her fiancé Noah, but when she goes to visit him at work with her coworker Shuki, she is told he hasn't worked there for almost a year.

The book is worth 5 stars in my opinion. I read it twice and got better the second time. I honestly believe this book is going to be huge on booktok.

This was a really engrossing read which I got into very quickly however there was a constant feeling of unease as I was trying to figure out what was going on and was never quite sure of the reliability of the protagonist. The details of her childhood were painful and the impact on her very apparent. I like how this was split into two parts, that worked really well in explaining the relationship and the ending was in parts expected yet in other ways shocking. Overall though I found this a real page turner with an intriguing protagonist especially as her life gradually disintegrated as she tried to find out the truth about her fiancé resulting in her taking increasingly desperate actions.

I was drawn in by the description, Claire goes to visit her fiancé for lunch only to find out that he hasn’t worked there in many months.

This wasn’t what I was expecting but we will get to that.
The story is told from Claire’s perspective, interspersed with her memories from her childhood and journal entries from her life since she met Noah, her fiancé.

Claire is written well, but the greatest character in this book is her friend Sukhi, who both supports Claire and who adds a level of calmness to the situation.

Then, there’s the twist. I’m pretty sure most will see it coming, and the only downside of this otherwise brilliant book, is that I’m not sure it’s played for anything but shock value and I would have hoped for a little more sensitivity especially given the detail put in to Claire’s childhood.

Aside from that, this will be a bestseller.

This book was a ARC from netgalley, which I was provided with in return for an honest review, which this is.

I enjoyed this book. I read it very quickly and found it easy to get into. The “Mother” character I absolutely detested - so well done to the author for creating such a challenging person. The plot revolves around Claire discovering her fiancé having another life she knows nothing about and it spurs Claire on to try and find out what happened. I didn’t see the plot twist coming at the end. I liked the book’s take on the psychological aspects very much. Will recommend to others to read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reading copy.

I absolutely flew through this book! I enjoyed it so much! An absolutely stonking debut! Just brilliant! Think everyone will be talking about this one when it releases next year. Feel very privileged to have read it so early so thank you for the advanced copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for early release. Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this book. I got about half way and couldn't finish.

This thriller by debut author Callie Kazumi is well worth a read if you enjoy shocking twists and turn throughout your novel. The ending had me shook! Highly recommend