Brilliantly gripping book about a mistake anyone could make - sending a text to the wrong WhatsApp group. Kept we engrossed until the very end.

#ItShouldHaveBeenYou #NetGalley
One impulsive text. One fatal mistake. A woman sends a message full of scandalous secrets about her neighbors—meant for her sister—but instead, it lands in the entire neighborhood WhatsApp group. Panic sets in as the gossip spreads like wildfire, but she reassures herself that people will move on. Then, the first death threat arrives. The next day, a woman is found murdered. The eerie part? She lived at the same address—26 Oakpark—but in a different town. Did the killer target the wrong house? Or was this murder meant to be a warning? As fear tightens its grip, the protagonist must uncover the truth before it’s too late. Because someone is watching. Someone knows the truth. And they aren’t finished yet.
Overall, It Should Have Been You is a chilling, expertly crafted thriller that explores the dangers of modern communication, small-town secrets, and the devastating power of a single mistake.
I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers Bantam for giving me an advance copy.

I loved the start of this book! We've all faced that mortifying moment when we've sent a screen shot to the wrong person. I was so sucked in and excited to see where it went. I think from there, it kind of felt like too much was happening with too many people. It all tied in, and although there were lots of POV characters, it was easy to follow who was who. It just felt like a lot. If the moral of the book is to think before you 'speak' online, and to be careful what you post, then it's achieved that!

Have you ever sent a message to the wrong person? Now everyone knows that you did, and someone wants you dead.

It should have been you is the latest from thriller from the bestselling author Andrea Mara

I really enjoyed this, had been dying for the new book to drop and thankfully got approved for an early copy from NetGalley.

This certainly didn't disappoint, if you're a fan of her books then you'll feel right at home here. As with all of her stories , there's some great twists that keep you turning the pages. And if course, a variety of intriguing characters and to invoke emotions of love, hate, and everything in-between!

Thanks to NetGalley & Bantam for providing me with a copy to read .

Keep your eye out this Mays full release for another great thriller to add to your TBR

Rating: 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Susan O'Donnell is on maternity leave after giving birth to her daughter Bella who is now 4 months old. She is sleep deprived and a not thinking straight. So, when she sends a text on WhatsApp to her sister about one of the families in the local community. She mistakenly send it to the local community group instead. At first, she thinks that they will recognise it as a mistake. But she doesn’t realise the consequences of this text to the people around her. The effect is one of her neighbours ends up dead.
I have been looking forward to this as this as the 5th book from the author I have read and really enjoyed them. This story is told in several points of view about the local area of Oak Park. I did find this story intriguing, but at a very slow pace. I found it quite overwhelming with the several points of view and their effects on the text in their lives, which at times felt it overshadowed the main part of the story. I thought about giving up, but I am glad I stuck with it as enjoyed the last quarter of the story. 3.5 stars from me.

While Susan is on maternity leave she makes the mistake of sending a message to a neighbourhood group instead of her sister, from there 3 murders happen and various other crimes.

While I enjoyed parts of this book it was so entirely far fetched that you would think everyone was in a 1980’s soap opera. It was hard at times to try and just take the book as it was, rather than reminding myself that the real world isn’t quite as full as huge daily coincidences.

Broadly speaking this novel will be enjoyable for anyone that wants a light, huge suspension of disbelief novel that does everything at 100%

I received this eARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review, which this is.

When Susan sends a bitchy text meant for her sister group chat to the neighbourhood WhatsApp she sets off a chain of events she or anyone else could never have imagined.
Andrea Mara is one of my all time favourite crime authors and I’m always so excited to read her next book. I love the cosy Dublin suburb setting of her books, the drama and suspense and the fact I never have any idea how the story will end. The latest is an absolute cracker with great characters, more twists than you could ever get your head around and a slow burn ending that I absolutely loved. I can’t recommend this, and all her books enough!

Just a simple text to her sister's criticising the street's "golden family" sets off a chain of events that Susan O'Donnell could never have expected. Because with a slip of her finger she sends the Whatsapp message to the neighbourhood group by mistake. The consequences of these are far reaching and tragic.
Oh my goodness, this is an edge of your seat novel. From the enthralling prologue the pace is blistering. It's intense and filled with twists. There are lots of characters voices but this doesn't detract from the story, it's easy to keep track of who's point of view you're reading about.
I absolutely loved it. I think it would make a great TV drama series.

OMG.. I have done this.... sent a message to a wrong person.... thankfully it wasn't serious but this is a story that is modern and relateable.

I loved this book. It is an intriguing and engrossing read and I cringed, worried and by the end I was amazed by how good this book was.

Well worth a read.

This is another fast paced gripping thriller from Andrea. A WhatsApp message sent to the wrong group escalates until it leads to deadly consequences! There were several storylines all going on at the same time but I found it easy to keep on top of and couldn't stop reading, wanting to know what happened.

I'd definitely recommend this book.

Andrea Mara doesn't faff about in It Should Have Been You. By page 35 we know that Susan sends a message which is filled with secrets, that was meant for her sister, to the community WhatsApp group. Shortly after, a lady with the same address as Susan is found dead in her house. But that's certainly not where it stops. The revelations keep coming, thick and fast.

An utterly popcorn-worthy, jaw-dropping read with a speedy pace.

It Should Have Been You starts with a bang, with an attention grabbing, gripping opening line. Then the story backtracks a few weeks, to show the events leading up to this dramatic moment.

Susan O’Donnell is currently on maternity leave from her job as a teacher. She adores 4 month old Bella, despite having some difficult times following the birth. One evening she is distractedly scrolling on her phone, when she spots a group message from the local Queen Bee. Celeste is one of those women who seems to have everything, or likes to project that image. What happens next is a simple mistake, a momentary lack of concentration. This one action, sets in place a chain reaction of darker and darker events.

I was drawn in by the premise of the book, it’s deliciously horrifying. I think many of us will understand the panic, caused by thinking you’ve sent a message to the wrong person. That feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach. Years ago, a friend of mine did exactly this. Sent me a text about her ex-husband, but as his name was just below mine, it went to him instead. The fallout from that wasn’t pretty, but it’s not a patch on how this books plays out thankfully.

As the book progressed, I became increasingly uncomfortable. All the characters were compounding bad decisions, with dreadful decisions. Emotions running high, secrets and mistrust clouding judgement. Clearly none of the characters understand that two wrongs don’t make a right.

It is a fraught, tense read, which gripped me until the end. I wondered how badly the spiralling situation would end. 4.5 ⭐️rounded up.

OMG what a book! I love Andrea Mara books but this one is the best I've read! Literally couldn't put it down, lots of twists and turns to keep you engrossed! Highly recommend this book!

Have you ever sent a WhatsApp to the wrong person? Fed up with a sanctimonious fellow school mum, Susan does just that. She only means to vent to her sisters but instead fat-fingers her grievances to the whole neighbourhood group. It doesn't matter how quickly she hits delete, things like that always get out. Susan's careless words have a knock-on effect that ends with people dead and her family in danger.

This is a twisty thriller of mistaken identities and an almost Shakespearean comedy of errors. Every action has an unintended consequence for this tightly-knit family that finds they don't know each other as well as they thought they did. I love outrageously improbable thrillers like this. Yes, there is a certain amount of 'convenient coincidence' that you have to be OK with to let the story come together but I've always been willing to accept that in exchange for a wild ride. The only thing keeping this from being a solid 5 stars from me is that I found the set-up a little slow to get going. Perhaps that was unavoidable as there is a large cast of characters that need to be introduced organically to the plot. The pacing ramps up, though, and I flew through the final 100 pages!

Another fantastic read by Andrea Mara. I was hooked from the first page.
Susan lives in Oakpark with her husband Jon and four month old daughter Bella. You have the usual mix of neighbours. Some nosey, some who think they are better than everyone else. So when Susan sends a message bitching about the neighbours to what she thinks is her two sisters' group chat, she has no idea the repercussions and chain of events that follow when she discovers that she has actually sent it to the Oakpark chat group. Whoops!
This draws you in straight away. I loved the short, snappy chapters. It keeps you reading to find out what happens next.
There are plenty of interesting characters, and we hear from each one as we go back and forth. As each drama unfolds, we get a bigger picture of what leads to each conclusion.
Tense, gripping, everything you expect from Andrea. Loved it
Thanks to Netgalley and Transworld Pulishers/Bantam for the invitation to read this.

Susan a sleep deprived teacher and first time mum sees a message on her neighbourhood whatsapp group that annoys her specifically Celeste who seems to have it out for her. Intending to send a message to her two sisters to complain about Celeste, her husband and her kids, she soons releases she has sent it to the public group. Deleting it quick after isn't enough, it has been seen by everybody and turns into a viral moment that soon gets out of hand. Soon after the woman who shares the same address as Susan is found murdered as well as two other people who Susan who mentioned in her message. Did the murderer get the wrong address and was Susan meant to be the victim? Soon everything gets out of hand and trouble brews with everybody.

It should have been you is a suspenseful mystery that was full of twists and turns, everytime you think you have sussed it out i was proven wrong and at the end i had an idea who the murderer was. Some events i predicted whilst some came as a shock to me. Full of mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end. I finished this book in a matter of hours and enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and Transworld Publishers | Bantam for the copy of this arc in exchange of my full honest review.

4.5 stars

I was hooked from the first page and couldn’t put it down!
Andrea Mara expertly took an easy mistake anyone can make and turned it into a nightmare. Imagine that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize you’ve send a message into the wrong group chat. Then your message goes viral, screenshotted and shared online, spreading through your small community with deadly consequences.
Fast paced and addictive, this story was full of twists and turns that kept me guessing right up to the end.

Andrea Mara is the queen of the domestic thriller. This one was a twisty outing filled with unlikeable characters. Smart twists, excellent writing! Mara is one to pick up.

Andrea Mara is one of my absolute favourites,and never fails to draw me in by the first chapter. If she put a book out every month I'd buy it!
Anyway,onto the story...
We've probably all been there at this stage of fast paced or tired typing...and sent a message to the wrong person. Sometimes it's harmless..then there's examples like Susan - A teacher intending to send a scathing message about a parent to one of her sisters on WhatsApp..but instead,sends it to the neighbourhood group,which said parent is part of! No amount of back peddling is going to fix this. That night,a brick is thrown through Susan's window. Just kids being vandals...or something more sinister? When a woman is found dead things start to look the latter,especially since this woman has the same address as you in a nearby part of town(You always get her post by mistake).
Surely one awful message can't have triggered these life threatening events?
Not to give too much away but this is the queen of the hook and twist so be prepared....and enjoy!

Absolutely amazing! I loved, loved, loved every second. I really can't speak highly enough of this. Its so well plotted out and brought to life. The characters are well fleshed out and given oriental personalities. It's a premise I hadn't ever come across before and it starts with a bang and keeps you hooked throughout. What a delight this was to read