Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC.
I requested this book due to the plot.

Natalie loses time and she wakes up in a new location every time. But she has no recollection of what has happened.
This is a problem when her husband is accused of rape as she is not entirely sure what has happened that night.
All she knows is that she cannot support her husband when she was a victim of rape herself years before.

DI Stratton is investigating and she cannot work out if Natalie is the victim or the killer. Natalie gives her the creeps. She plays the victim well. But Stratton also has evidence that Natalie goes to the gym, so what is she really capable of?

It is a clever book, with many different plots and an outcome you won’t see coming.

I loved the various red herrings and I was completely convinced I’d worked out the truth but I was very wrong!

BOOK REVIEW 📖

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#Believe by @sarahgovett @michaeljbooks

➡️synopsis

Ahh this was such a great book and what a debut!!!

Gripping and intense, packed full of twists and turns, with a very emotionally hitting gripping narrative, unsure who or what to believe throughout, I just loved it.

With thanks to author #smgovett #michaeljbooks and @netgalley for allowing us to read this one early!

Publishing: June 19th

-EMILY

@the_book_girls_1

#the_book_girls_1 #debutnovel #thrillingreads #newbookalert #bookscommingsoon #newauthor

This book was great. Could not put it down. The story of being a rape victim while also dealing with your husband under suspicion for a different rape was very well done. The ending was not who I expected either! Great book!

This book is a real page-turner. I could imagine it getting turned into a film or a short series leaving you on a cliffhanger at the end of each episode. There are a lot of twists and turns along the way and I didn't see the ending coming. I'm not sure it's a book I'll remember much of in the future, but that didn't stop it being enjoyable and entertaining while I read it.

Natalie is getting on with life after her former boss is not charged for raping her, only for her husband to be accused of the same crime.

Natalie is written well, her entire life seems to be horror after horror. This was one of the things that meant the book was so gripping.

The book is predictable in parts, and certainly very similar to another novel I have read but it was a good, serious read.

Natalie was raped by her boss some years before but a jury finds him not guilty of the crime. Since then Natalie’s mental health has been precarious. She has episodes where she loses time and wakes up not knowing what has happened or how long she has been out of it.
Now her husband has been accused of the same crime and his accuser has since been found murdered. Can she trust her husband? Her world is turned upside down and she needs to know the truth
Recommended.

This story was very familiar and when discussing it with my wife she was sure that she had read the book as well. None the less a very good story with lots of twists and turns and as I couldn't remember the outcome I had to read on to the end. Natalie Campbell a slightly nervous solicitor suffers blackouts where she has no idea what she has done during these blackouts which are caused by her being raped. She believes the wife of the man convicted of her rape is seeking revenge, but all is not quite what it seems. Her husband Ryan who has a one night stand with a work colleague becomes entwined in a web of deceit that leads to a further murder and a suspected suicide. Well worth reading, a very well written book which i recommend.

I really loved this! The protagonists felt really real - there’s a real skill to writing characters who feel like flawed, imperfect people and S.M.Govett has really hit the nail on the head.
The story itself kept me guessing right up until the final pages, with a denouement that was very deserving of everything that came before. I really look forward to reading more in the future.

A brilliant, suspenseful, pulse racing thriller!
I really enjoyed this debut and was really impressed with the storyline and characters. It kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat throughout. Lots of plot twists too!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC

I loved this book and read it in a day! 10 years ago Natalie was raped by her boss who was later acquitted of the crime. Since then she has really struggled and often gets blackouts and can't remember where she's been or what she's done. When her husband Ryan gets accused of assaulting a work colleague, she doesn't know which way to turn. Then the body of the woman who made the accusation is found in local woodland and Ryan becomes the prime suspect. This is a great story with lots of twists and turns. It will keep you on the edge of your seat to the end.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

This is a gripping thriller with a plot with unexpected twists and turns, making it impossible to predict what will happen next.
The writing is both engaging and suspenseful, with well-developed characters that add depth to the narrative.
The pacing of the novel is perfect, with just the right amount of tension to keep readers hooked without feeling overwhelmed.
The setting is vividly described, creating an immersive atmosphere that enhances the overall reading experience.
Highly recommended!

It's a good novel, but I sort of saw some of the end coming with one of the characters, so that let it down a touch.

Otherwise I enjoyed the twists of the story and it was quite a quick read.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

this thriller was exactly what i needed at the time.

It was filled with predictable tropes and a nice plot. It was exactly what I needed at the time and acted as a great filler read.

Ten years ago, Natalie suffered a traumatic, life changing experience at the hands of a colleague who got away with it. When her husband, Ryan, gets accused of the very same crime, Natalie starts to question everything she knows, made especially difficult given her periods of black out.

Told from the points of view of Natalie and the female investigating officer, this is a really compelling and thought-provoking read, with lots of twists and turns along the way. It's fast paced and really draws you in. And a debut novel to boot - can't wait to read more from this author.

The first thing I need to say is that I read a shi, erm, shedload of these types of crime/mystery thriller novels and I NEVER get the bad guy/girl right. There could be CCTV footage, eyewitness testimony, DNA, a murder weapon, means, motive and opportunity and I swear I still get it wrong. This is the first book in a long time where I actually had it sussed pretty much from the start so I am not sure if that means it was obvious, or whether after 30 years of reading these types of books, I am finally getting the hang of it.

Anyway, this novel tells the story of Natalie who is reeling from a major trauma in her life - when she accused her former boss of sexual assault and he was found not guilty (this isn't a spoiler, its in the synopsis). Natalie is then horrified when her husband is then accused of the same crime. Surely he couldn't be guilty, not after what happened to her, but Natalie feels that women do not lie about these crimes.

What follows is a gripping story, a page turner but ironically its called Believe (Goodreads has it as Believe Me Now but my ARC is Believe) as the suspension of disbelief is necessary to enjoy this one. Not that it wasn't pleasurable and a quick read, it just didn't grip me and a few parts of the story were just past that point of being difficult to believe.

If there were half stars then this would be 3.5 but I'll round up to 4

Thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Michael Joseph publishing and NetGalley for a copy of “ Believe” for an honest review.

Wow what a brilliant debut book by S M Govett
This was a rollercoaster read that had me guessing right to the end , and what a total surprise it was !
The characters, in particular the two main women, were well written and the storyline was suspenseful and fast paced.
The book is equally as good as any other psychological thriller, written by well established authors,, and hopefully there will be more to come !

A fast paced crime procedural that kept me guessing til the end. The female protagonists were well written, their back stories interesting. An enjoyable read from an author I will look out for in the future.

5* A police procedural with excellent flawed characters, including the DC, and an 'I didn't see that coming ending'. Great intro to this author.

Well, I have to repeat myself - I didn't see this ending coming at all. The author had me convinced - trying not to spoiler here - that a certain person must've been out if their right mind when doing the things that a deceased had confessed to, to a person who very plausibly didn't turn up until the very end if the book. Things really went down to the wire here, especially where the actions of a certain detective were concerned.

You don't really get to know the characters well in this, just enough that you get a feel for their lives and I think that that's deliberate on the author's part, to make their supposed crimes/misdemeanours believable. Bottom line is he/she/they had me totally believing that a certain person had to have committed the crimes, only for the stunning reveal that in hindsight perhaps I should have had an inkling about. An excellent read, my first 5* of 2025.

A twist you won't expect!

Two strong female characters with stories to unfold.
Natalie, the victim? Stratton, the police investigator (with a past that is unresolved).

This is fast paced and makes you guess the whole way through as to who is telling the truth. The ending was a big surprise

Believe is a story about Assault and what it leaves behind.
While I enjoyed reading this, I did find it was dragging on a lot near the end, and I was hoping for a more original resolution