I loved Diana Wilkinson's previous novel, The Girl in Seat 2A and I was looking forward to another book by her

The Girl in the Window is full of details about daily life, and it really focuses in on the minute details of what every single character is doing and feeling.

I found that the short chapters helped move the story along yet, as a contradiction, the story felt quite slow, and there were parts where I felt that nothing much was happening.
In a way, this seemed quite realistic and representative of real life and the situation that the main character was living when she was looking out the window waiting for something to happen.

I did feel a real sense of mystery about where her husband was after the accident, and so that was really unnerving, and very well done.

I also felt that the story seemed to long, and I would have preferred a shorter novel or even a short story. When the twists came, they were unexpected.

The characters were realistic and it kept me guessing.

3.5 stars

Thanks to Diana Wilkinson and Boldwood Books for my eARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.
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1⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advanced copy of The Girl In The Window.

Izzy sits in her favorite coffeehouse at her favorite table in the corner while she watches people doing their daily routines. She has been going there for months now watching her husband from the window have an affair. She does not want to confront him but she decides to investigate and she starts to see that maybe her husband has been lying from the beginning.

I feel like this book had absolutely no plot or storyline and instead talked about multiple different people and how they were possibly connected. I honestly could not tell you what the book was about. I was not a fan of the writing style and the characters were not likable at all. Not a fan of this book.

She likes to sit in the cafe, sipping her coffee. She likes to silently watch others, but is fine with not speaking or talking.
One day, after watching a girl across the street through the window of the girl's dwelling, she is completely shocked by what she sees.
The storyline unfolds slowly, creating tension. Something seems off. The tension builds.
Wow! What a read! Ordinary things become important. Reality seems to shift to the left, then the right. Where does the truth reside?
This is a must read. The twists and turns at the end made me keep reading until the last word.. I will definitely read more by this author.

Thank you to the publisher and author for a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this eCopy to review

The Girl in the Window centres around Izzy, an agony aunt, who spends her mornings at a café, watching the world go by. Her routine takes a dark turn when she notices her husband, Jed, visiting a mysterious woman in the apartment across the street. This discovery sets off a chain of events that unravels secrets and lies, leading to a tense and dramatic climax.

Izzy, who has been married to Jed for two years, starts to suspect him of infidelity when she sees him regularly visiting another woman. As she delves deeper into Jed's secret life, she uncovers more than she bargained for, including a past filled with deceit and betrayal.

While the premise of the book is intriguing, I found the plot to be quite predictable. The twists and turns, although well-written, were often easy to foresee, which took away some of the suspense. The characters, especially Izzy, were well-developed, but the predictability of the storyline made it less engaging for me.

Diana Wilkinson, The Girl in the Window, Boldwood Books, December 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

I was disappointed in this novel, despite some clever writing and twists.

Starting with those, the way in which the main character, Izzie, moves between watching her husband, using her column to investigate his and others’ motivations together with an attempt to unravel the truth is absorbing. The juxtaposition of Izzie's demand for truth and explanations from those she investigates, but persistence in maintaining her own silence and lies, is an excellent device. It also provides insight into her character as well as those from whom she makes such demands. The way in which the various characters were exposed as innocent or guilty, contrary to Izzie’s assumptions (or what we think are her assumptions) is clever. However, I found Izzie quite unappealing, and none of the other characters is particularly engaging. The continual references to Izzie’s angst about her past, although that past was horrendous, dragged. Overall, the writing was not engaging enough to sustain the rather long-drawn-out narrative.

Izzie is married to Jeb, and both have issues. He is floundering as he tries to deal with economic difficulties, his past dependence on his mother and current neglect, and desperation to keep Izzie in the marriage. Izzie has a past that impinges heavily on her attitudes and behaviour, making her ready to feel guilty about her own actions while trying to justify them. She, like Jeb, is very dependent on the marriage. Jeb’s changed behaviour undermines her faith in him and the marriage, and she is drawn to investigating Jeb and his relationship she observes from her coffee shop window. Izzie’s advice column serves as part of her investigation and provides a mystery contributor that adds to the plot.

Izzie eventually becomes stronger, solves some of the mysteries, and improves her life, but getting there is a lengthy journey. That this journey includes some clever twists does not detract from my unease about Izzie’s character and that of the other protagonists, none of whom were people with whom it was easy to identify or warm to, and the lengthy exposition which dwelt too often on Izzie’s past and its impact.

I felt hooked by this book right away, it was very suspenseful and intense the whole way through, the twists made it even more gripping.

★★★★

Izzy has discovered a new coffee shop where the coffee is great, the staff is kind, and the people-watching is superb. Since finding it a few weeks ago, she makes sure to arrive right after it opens to watch the woman across the street welcome a man into her home. Like clockwork, he appears and leaves every morning at the same time. What’s Izzy’s obsession with the stranger across the street? Well, the man stopping by every morning is Izzy’s husband, Jed, who is supposed to be on the train to work.

Known as Auntie Bella, Izzy is an advice columnist for a local magazine, where she helps her readers through a rational yet empathetic approach. Since the magazine is available in both print and digital formats, readers can respond and engage with Izzy through the magazine’s Facebook page. Though she excels at advising others, Izzy struggles with her own problems. When she finds the weekly inquiries from readers too dull, she decides to turn her personal experiences into a series of readers’ letters, curious to see what advice her actual readers might offer her.

You might find this odd, and while I tend to agree, as we learn more about Izzy and her upbringing, it becomes clear that she is dealing with the effects of childhood trauma. As a result, she is keen to avoid conflict. And so the story unfolds: Izzy is trying to figure out who the woman across the street is and, more importantly, who she is to her husband, Jed.

Did I like Izzy, our protagonist? Not particularly. Did I find her actions understandable? Not really. Did she frustrate me? Yes, most of the time. Did her messy problem-solving skills and the train wreck she created draw me in? Absolutely!

At this point, it’s clear that I didn’t fully trust Izzy’s retelling of events. I didn’t think she was purposely misleading; rather, I doubted her perception and interpretation of what was happening. While I was trying to make sense of Izzy’s story, her unpredictable actions kept me guessing. Most of the other characters didn’t seem all that trustworthy either, for various reasons. These elements all created a great pace for the story and kept me glued to the pages.

If you’re looking for a fresh spin on a domestic drama, I highly recommend checking this one out!


Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and author Diana Wilkinson for a copy. All opinions are my own.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Girl in the Window by Diana Wilkinson is a thriller packed with lies and pretends, topped up with stalkerish behaviour.

Izzy knows her husband lies but she refuses to confront him, instead, every morning she sits in a coffee shop and looks at her husband visiting other women. Now she must come up with a plan because there is no way this can carry on like that!

No jumping in time, and no multiple POV, so it is easy to follow. The main character Izzy is likable but so confused! I believe there will be readers who will feel for her or will be annoyed by her.

There are some unexpected turns and twists that I didn't see coming and some good heart-pounding moments will make you sweat!

In general, I really liked it but something was missing to reach five stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the copy!

Izzy has a front row seat to view her husband visiting another woman. She begins gathering intel and forms a plan to figure out exactly what’s going on. This had some great twists and kept me interested from start to finish!

Izzy's morning routine of coffee at Angelo's cafe gives her a clear view of the apartments across the street. Her surprise to see the man who comes out of the front door one day and who waves goodbye to him from the window above gives her impetus to keep watching.

Unfortunately, when things get too close to home, and her personal life gets involved, Izzy's questions pile up and she is determined to find out the truth. Someone dies along the way, but she is there as a witness.

Izzy, the watcher of the girl in the window across the street, seems to me a scatty sort of personality at the beginning, until she begins to make sense and her fears become reality. Izzy is not a believable person and it surprised me that her conjectures turn out to have some truth. Her use of her advice column to search for facts is a brilliant part of the plot.

I was intrigued by the ending of this psychological thriller which puts Izzy in character as the watcher who sits and observes from a cafe, fluffing out secrets, once again of someone else in her life who has secrets.

Ioved the concept of this books. So original. It did make me want to gather pace of my reading just so I could read more, know more. And then I wanted to go slower because I didn't want it to all be over!
It was so cleverly written.
I wouldn't say any of the characters were likeable. But the I didn't hate them either. There was just so much going on under the surface.
I was trying to guess every next move of the story. And was surprised at every turn.
A brilliant read and I now need to go research what more she has written because she is going straight on my toread books.

A gripping, well-written psychological thriller. Izzy writes an agony aunt column for a magazine. One of her daily habits is to sit in the window of her local coffee shop and watch the world go by as she enjoys her cappuccino. But Izzy is not mindlessly observing the world outside the coffee shop, she is watching a young woman in the flat opposite and her regular meet ups with a cyclist who happens to be Jed, Izzy’s husband.
This is a fast-paced, easy read, full of secrets, lies and deceit.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley UK for the ARC.

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This gripping psychological thriller follows Izzy, an agony aunt for a magazine, who every morning sits with a cappuccino at the window of Angelo’s looking out at the world around.

Every day she sees a man knock on a woman’s door, and intrigued she continues to watch every day, as she knows who this man is, it’s her husband.

Soon secrets and lies build, and Izzy must decide what she is going to do.

Will she confront her husband? What secrets will be revealed?

This psychological thriller is a gripping read, and it had me hooked throughout. The chapters are not very long, but not only does this make it easier to read, but it also builds the tension of the storyline.

Izzy is a strong female lead, as although she takes time to decide what to do with the secrets, she never lets it get in her way.
With added mystery, along with the secrets and lies, this is a read you won’t want to put down.

Overall, a gripping psychological thriller where a wife’s shocking discovery leads to a web of lies and deceit.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I read it in one sitting because it was such an easy read. The writing wasn’t too complex and the story just flowed.

It was a story of lies, deceit and revenge. It followed an agony aunt, her husband and secret he has been hiding that unravels. It had twists and turns that I didn’t guess but I didn’t try to. The protagonist may have a bit of unrealistic life at times but I read for escapism so that never bothers me. I just went with it and enjoyed it.

If you like a quick and simple read then definitely pick this up. If you like Freida McFadden then you will like this.

Overall 3.75*

The story has plenty of twists and turns although I am not sure that I liked any of the characters ! I have read all the author's previous works and maybe because she has set the bar high, I felt a wee bit let down by this one - sorry Diana. It is still a good read especially if this author is new to you.

Thanks to Netgalley / Boldwood books for the ARC to review.

A new author for me and I will be looking for more. Short chapters meant it was just read one more. Twists that I hadnt expected made this a very enjoyable read..
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

The Girl in the Window is Diana Wilkinson’s latest thriller. Izzy goes to a little cafe and she sees her husband across the street with another woman and a child. Is he seeing her? Is that kid his? Secrets, lies, twists and turns throughout. I felt it was a little long but it kept me wanting more. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published December 13, 2024.

I can only guess that the author came up with the title and had to write the plot around it. Thus finding it hard to make it sound even reasonably like the plot of a thriller. It was almost a comedy by about the half way point with unlikeable characters and a nonsense ending to boot.

Izzy enjoys having cappuccino every morning at her favorite cafe. She enjoys taking the time to relax and people watch before beginning her work. She is shocked and horrified when she sees a man, her husband, Jed, regularly visit the woman across the street! He claims he is out cycling, and sure he does cycle to the woman's home, but why all the secrets and lies???????

This was an interesting, entertaining, and dramatic book which proved to be a fast read for me. At times I felt for Izzy and her suspicions, while at other times I found myself shaking my head at her actions. Izzy used her job as an advice columnist to work out some of her issues and reading those sections was fun. At various times in the book many characters went from being likeable, to unlikeable, to likeable to you get the picture.

This book was full of secrets, lies, twists, and turns which kept me turning the pages. Just when I thought I had things figured out, another twist came into play. The Girl in the Window proved to be a fast and engaging read.


Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW by Diana Wilkinson.
Release date set for the 13th of December.
This book had me intrigued after the first few chapters.
The chapters are short and sweet which many people love.
If you enjoy books that are full of lies and deciet then this is the book for you.
This is the first book i've read by this author and ill be reading more.