The plot for this book sounded really intriguing but unfortunately despite it being set in the near future it took the oft repeated story of mistaking coercive control for love. It was padded with repetition and really mundane conversations between Anna and Elijah, with her seemingly having no mind of her own even before the Unity device except for her one terrible secret. Women have enough of being made to feel guilty and shame in current times without bringing it into the future too.

She spends pages telling him frantically that she loves him and he reacts by being a boring and quite frankly giant pain in the arse in the name of "love". I read this all in one Sunday morning sitting as I was intrigued enough to want to see where the author went with it, but I was disappointed with the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for this ARC I exchange for an honest review. The views outlined are my own.

I loved this book! I've read many books by this author, but this one has to be the best one yet. In fact it's one of the best books I've read this year. The story just flowed right from the start. I really liked Anna, I was rooting for her, the nursery rhymes took me back to my childhood, there were many I hadn't heard for ages.
All in all I would recommend you read this book now. 5+ stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow do you ever wonder what goes on in your partners head, their thoughts etc? After reading this I no longer will be wondering. What a talking point between couples.

Could not put this book down. Implant behind your ear and the same with your partner and you never have a thought all to yourself again. I thought to begin with that it would be novel, but as the story opened up and the horrors started to unfold, all I wanted to do was to get the chip out of Ann's head myself.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this excellent book.

I loved the premise of this book, it was something really different - a thriller meets sci-fi! But I think I got a bit too much in my head (no pun intended!) around how this world would really work and things not adding up. So it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

So, the story! In a not-too-distant future, where everything is controlled by apps and microchips, Anna’s whole home is digitised and her whereabouts are tracked by husband Elijah at all times. She’s not as into all the techy stuff as him so doesn’t have the apps on her phone (seriously Anna? Not even the one that can open and lock your front door?) Now there is a new techy thing - Unity. And Elijah gets them microchipped for their anniversary so now they can be closer than ever by being able to hear each other’s thoughts.

But Anna has a mega secret she would never want Elijah to know. So why are we doing the bloody Unity thing then Anna?!

What I didn’t get was - you share all your thoughts with Unity, so wouldn’t it just be an absolute cacophony in there? But Anna and Elijah only ever seemed to get the thoughts intended for each other, or when they were really angry. And nursery rhymes. What about the constant chatter going on in there? Or is that just my brain? It would be such a nightmare. And I couldn’t accept that Anna would even be married to Elijah - she seemed a very strong independent woman when she meets him at university and the red flags for controlling behaviour are very much there from the offset. I would think at least her mate Mandie would have said at some point “mate, he’s a wrong un.”

And I won’t spoil but I had a bit of an issue with the ending and whether it worked with what we know about the technology.

However, all that aside, it was a cool concept and I was intrigued by the storyline and felt there were loads of potential ways it could have gone - but I didn’t guess how it did go! I just really hated Elijah and could not fathom why Anna was with him, even before getting inside his head!

4.5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for this ARC. The views outlined are my own.

Plot

When Elijah suggests going to OneMind to celebrate their ten-year anniversary, Anna is dubious about getting the implant that enables partners to hear each other’s thoughts. However, she’s eager to please him, and to make up for the fact she can’t give him what he really wants, she agrees to take this step towards the ultimate intimacy.
What starts out great, ends up escalating as Anna tries to keep old thoughts and memories at bay. Anna's mind becomes a prison she can't escape. How long can she keep the traitorous thoughts at bay before she drives herself mad?

Review
I can see from the available reviews that everyone’s perception is vastly different. The unique plot is what struck me to want to read this book, and I felt it didn’t disappoint. My only criticism would have been that I’d liked to have seen a neater ending, but that’s me being quite petty.
I thought the pacing was excellent, the plot was exciting and the characters were intriguing. I’d definitely recommend this story and I’ll be on the lookout for more books by this author.

Anna thinks she has a wonderful marriage - high-tech addict husband Elijah goes out to work while she paints pictures of cats and has boozy lunches with her friend. When he suggests they get microchipped in order to hear each other’s thoughts, she isn’t keen in case he hears secrets from her past which could ruin everything.
This is an enjoyable book, although a lot of the story was the same. However, it did have a really good ending. I just thought Anna was a really pathetic woman, while being presented as a victim. She chose to have a safe marriage where she was financially propped up but I felt we were meant to feel kindly towards her. A decent read.

A potentially interesting story about a married couple, Anna and Eli, and the implant which Eli buys for them on their tenth wedding anniversary. This implant will mean that they can read each others thoughts which, with Eli's coercive and controlling tendencies, can only lead to trouble for Anna.
Unfortunately, the plot didn't live up to my initial interest and I struggled to engage.

The pacing for me was very slow. At 10% in, the plot has barely moved and, by 20%, I had lost much interest. Breadcrumbs are trailed relating to Anna's past, their attempts to have children and a friend she no longer speaks to but, with the slow pace of the story, these attemps at intrigue fell flat.

Every now and again a book will come along that has a more unique plot to it that sets it apart from all the other thrillers out there which follow the same plots and tropes. This one sounded really intriguing but unfortunately it dragged on just a little too much. The vast majority of the book was padded with mundane conversations between Anna and Elijah with not much happening. The last quarter of the book did pick up a bit but was all very predictable. In general it was interesting enough for me to rate it what I would class as ‘good’.
I really struggled with most of the characters as they were all pretty unlikeable. The only exception to that for me was Mandie.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Anna and Elijah are happily married. Approaching their tenth wedding anniversary, Anna has high hopes of a holiday somewhere warm, but tech mad Elijah has other plans. Enter Unity, and the Executive Package.

I enjoy this author and having read her previous books I had high hopes for this one.

Dystopian in its premise, the plot idea was good. However, the repetition was extremely annoying. The whole narrative appeared to consist of headaches, meetings, muting and the dreaded endearment ‘hon’. The repeated doubt expressed by Anna that Elijah’s chip was working properly was just filler.

I prefer a shorter book that sticks to the plot, expresses itself well, and satisfies the reader. Too much filler and repetition is a no no for me.

With apologies to the author.

2 * purely for the idea and the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK.

First of all thank you my early access in exchange for a review .
The cover shown on netgalley did make me think it was a non fiction book!
So was suprised when I googled for more info .

I finished this tonight in a long bath and wow it blew my mind ! This is one to look out for in 2025 .
This is a new author for me but definitely recognised them from social media

This book will have you questioning and thinking what if all throughout the book.
Incredibly thought provoking and culturally relevant in a world where it’s not easy for women .
Why oh why would you give a man access to all your thoughts that you have freedom to have !
Scary and unnerving as this couple go from seemingly having a great marriage to maybe something darker .
Excellent writing and pacing this had me hooked to unravel the secrets that were buried deep .
Highly recommend if you’re a fan of John marr who is a great thriller writer with a touch of dystopian science fiction/suspense

I tried really hard, but it was hard to get into this book. The premise is intriguing, but the execution was very predictable and flat. The internal monologues, the conversations, the relationships—everything felt stale. I decided to give up at the 40% mark (when nothing was happening), and skipped to the ending. I'm giving the star for the unexpected ending! It was also really depressing to read that even in this near-future world, most women feel the need to get this chip to feel "safe", or feel that it's okay for their (male) partners to keep tabs on them!

This was something different from what I'd normally read, and it sounded like an interesting idea.
A lot of the book was repetitive with Anna spending 3/4 of the book questioning if her partner Elijahs implant is functioning properly and him checking if she is coping OK,and then you have Anna's numerous head pains and Elijahs work thrown into the mix which didnt help me engage with the story,so this wasn't really for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK Vintage for the ARC.

Rounding up to 3 🌟

This was one of those fun reads that I just can't take seriously.
Quick paced and perfect for packing for a day at the beach type books.
From the premise, inserting chips and hearing each others thoughts??? I just knew things were going to go wrong.
I had issues with why you would agree to this if you've got things to hide, but that's where the fun comes in.
I can probably.live without hearing about Anna having a headache ever again, she had too many from various causes, and Elijah and his big meetings seemed to be on repeat too.
Saying that, if all you're after is solid entertainment, this delivers.
It had tension, and towards the end had me smiling as things don't turn out quite how people thought they would.

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley & Random House UK, Vintage for the opportunity to read Always on My Mind in exchange for honest feedback.

Looking at other reviews, I'm definitely in the minority here but, I'm so sorry, I really didn't enjoy this book. I forced myself to keep reading, thinking it would get better, but I ended up skimming a large chunk of the book.

Up until about 80% the story was just Anna asking Elijah if his chip was on mute, Anna speaking to Mandie (who loves to say 'hon') about her chip & concerns, Elijah asking where Anna was & whether she was okay and Anna singing nursery rhymes. The end was a bit more intense but, again, it flopped for me.

The reviews for Unity in some chapters were a bit random with no pre-face to show 'Customer Review'. They just blended in to the rest of the chapter and it took a second to realise they were a Review and not just part of Anna & Elijah's story.

We think everything we say so I thought the partner would hear absolutely everything - in my head, it would be like white noise it'd be so noisy!

Nothing surprised me in this book - it was predictable with nothing that gripped me. I also didn't click with the characters which probably didn't help.

I feel bad writing negative reviews but, unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for the ARC

Such a fascinating and mind-blowing sci-fi thriller. I've always found the concept of mind reading fascinating, but I think I might reconsider after reading this haha. It was a unique concept and I loved following our protagonist, Anna. She was a real sweet heart which made it easy to root for her. A great novel

Ever wanted to be inside your partner's head, able to access every waking thought? No, me either! But that's exactly what our protagonist, Anna is gifted by her husband on their 10th Wedding Anniversary.

This book had me on the edge of my seat right to the very end! The book covers some deep topics but these are handled with care and really show the depths of emotion of our protagonist, Anna. Anna is a really likeable character and you can't help but feel for her as the story unfolds. Full of twists and turns, right to the very end. This book has great pacing and a real "just one more chapter" feel to it.

Highly recommend, thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, for this ARC. Always on My Mind publishing date is 13th February 2025.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. The publication date is the 13th Feb 2025. I liked the concept of this book I thought it was mind- blowing and chilling at the same time!

I liked the character of Anna and didn’t like her husband Elijah much at all! A great plot with many twists and twists to keep you engaged!

I’d highly recommend this book it was a great!

An invention called OneMind allows couples to read each other's thoughts. Perhaps it could be fun - imagine attending a boring dinner party and you can trade your honest thoughts about the people at the table without anyone knowing. But really, when you think about it for even a moment, you realise how awful and intrusive this has the potential to be, especially if you're already in a toxic and controlling relationship.

That's the situation Anna finds herself in. She is a full-time artist struggling to make a living, leaving her dependent on her successful husband Eli, a very paranoid man who obsessively tracks her whereabouts on his phone. He is also a massive fan of gadgets, meaning that OneMind combines his two loves - new tech and effectively stalking Anna - so he is naturally keen to have the procedure done. Except, soon after Anna agrees and they both have chips fitted, she is not only hearing his thoughts. She is sharing his memories, and they turn out to be more than sinister...

I was really excited by this concept and I quickly started reading when I was approved for the ARC. I was on the train home in the evening when I started reading. I figured I'd read a few chapters on the journey and then go straight to bed when I got home. Nope! After I got home, I kept reading, utterly spellbound, and finished it by midnight. This book really keeps you guessing with its twists and turns and Anna is a great protagonist - sympathetic, but also flawed. I don't want to give too much away, so I'm going to end the review here, but suffice to say, I highly recommend!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and and Vintage Books for the ARC!