"The Girl Before" is a thoroughly engrossing read. This is not a book that will take a few weeks to finish - a few sittings is more likely.
There's so little I can say without giving away the plot - but I can say I enjoyed "Gone Girl" and "The Girl on the Train" and I'd rate this book on a par with the first and better than the second!
The sense of foreboding essential to any thriller is developed well as the stories of the "Girl Before" and the "Girl Now" are revealed in parallel.
I find the dream of minimalism tantalizing- but always suspect it would take a total freak to see it through.... This book is tantalizing and has its fair share of freaks!

If you had to choose one personal item to take with you and leave the rest behind, what would it be? This is the vein of this physiological thriller. Jane, to secure One Folgate Street with an unbelievably low rental, has to agree to a long list of rules and complete a long questionnaire, which will be submitted to Edward Monkford for his decision. Then on a regular basis, there are more questions that must be completed before this ultra modern house will allow her to have a hot shower or cook.

A concrete staircase without a handrail is dangerous isn't it... but Monkford insists that a handrail would spoil perfection.

At first, she's happy to leave behind all the extraneous stuff of her life.

Jane does her utmost to keep Edward happy in their developing relationship that from the onset is unusual and controlling.

When she discovers that her features are very similar to Edward's dead wife and his last girlfriend Emma, her curiosity is aroused and she sets out

Who is Edward Monkford? Oh yes, we are told he's an eminent architect and a perfectionist, but what dark secrets does he hide? Does every woman who crosses his path want him to bed him? Why did he pick Jane to be the one to move into One Folgate Street, the most austere house she'd ever seen. There's no where to hide clutter and dirty plates. She will have to change her ways.

Who is leaving flowers on the front doorstep all the time?

A concrete staircase without a handrail is dangerous isn't it... but Monkford insists that a handrail would spoil perfection.

At first, she's happy to leave behind all the extraneous stuff of her life.

Jane does her utmost to keep Edward happy in their developing relationship that from the onset is unusual and controlling.

When she discovers that her features are very similar to Edward's dead wife and his last girlfriend Emma, her curiosity is aroused and she sets out to find out more about Emma, and why his dead wife and son are buried at One Folgate Street. What other secrets does this house keep?

This book echoes Daphne du Maurier's, Rebecca. At each turn, Jane is confronted with more of Emma's secrets.

This story is told by an unreliable narrator with an ending that is so unexpected that you'll be thinking about the story for days.

Be warned... graphic sex.

Once I started reading this story, I couldn't stop.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book for review through NetGalley.

When you read a book that has already been compared by numerous other reviewers to Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train, there are certain expectations. One is that there will be a shock twist... and another is that at least one of the protagonists will turn out to be an unreliable narrator.

What makes The Girl Before unique is that just about everyone turns out to be an unreliable narrator. The book doesn't wait until the end to start revealing twists and turns in the story; they start coming from early on and don't stop until the book ends almost back in the place where it began.

There isn't an awful lot more I can say without getting hugely spoilery, but I can most certainly praise the author's powerfully descriptive writing, their talent for drawing with a few words a scene that seems incredibly real to the reader. I absolutely LOVED this book, and I'll definitely go to see the movie.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book for review through NetGalley.

‘Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.’

This is the story of two women, connected by living in one place. The focus moves between the lives and experiences of Emma Matthews (‘Then’) and Jane Cavendish (‘Now’) at One Folgate Street in London, UK. One Folgate Street is a minimalist house designed by a reclusive architect, Edward Monkford. Those who seek to live there need to fill in a lengthy application form, and will need to abide by some 200 conditions stipulated under a restrictive covenant if their application is approved. Very few applicants are approved.

‘It’s an extraordinarily tight contract.’

Then: Emma Matthews likes One Folgate Place: she feels safe there. After a burglary in her last place, she is looking for security. Emma and her boyfriend Simon move in.

Now: Jane Cavendish is looking for a new home. Somewhere to recover after the sudden death of her baby daughter just days before her birth.

The novel shifts between ‘Then’ and ‘Now’, between Emma and Jane. Clearly Emma and Simon are no longer living at One Folgate Street when Jane moves in. But when Jane discovers that Emma died at One Folgate Street, she becomes curious about the girl who lived there before her.

‘It seems One Folgate Street has a somewhat tragic history, he says.’

So, what happened to Emma Matthews and her boyfriend Simon? Why are the tenancy rules so inflexible for One Folgate Street? Who is Edward Monkford, and why has he designed One Folgate Street in such a controlled, minimalist fashion? You’ll need to read the book to try to find the answers to these questions

The more pages I turned, the more I became caught up in the story. My own brief obsession (I read the novel over two days) was to find out what had happened to Emma. While there are many disturbing similarities between Emma’s story and Jane’s, there are some significant differences. And just when I thought I’d worked out what happened to Emma, another twist would have me looking in another direction. It’s claustrophobic and obsessive, and I can understand why Universal has bought the film rights.

Did I enjoy this novel? Yes, mostly. I had envisaged a slightly different ending, but I’m not disappointed. I’d like to know more about the author, though: J.P. Delaney is, apparently, a pseudonym for an author who has ‘previously written bestselling fiction under other names’.

Note: My thanks to Hachette Australia and NetGalley for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

What begins as an intriguing mystery ends up nothing more than a dull, Fifty Shades of Grey clone in this underwhelming effort.
Already commissioned for a major release film, it’s hard to understand the appeal of this one for the big screen.
The novel follows two separate sets of characters who agree to rent a strange, high-tech property laden with a history of death and laden with hundreds of lease conditions terms.
Split between Emma (before) and Jane (after), two woman recovering from personal traumas, it follows Jane’s investigation to find out what happened to Emma and prevent her from becoming the house’s next victim.
Enter a rich, attractive, controlling landlord and so begins a twisted sexual relationship that’s neither sexy nor interesting.
It’s a thematic mess that appears to have only been written to cash in on the success of Fifty Shades and Gone Girl but fails to capture the essence of either novel.
Forget the hype and give this a wide berth.

The fad for contemporary thrillers with “Girl” in the title seems unstoppable. As these have proved to be about females who are either too immature and/or psychologically-disturbed to be called women, when I was given the opportunity to read and review this latest offering I decided to see whether the genre had anything new or more positive to offer.

There are two parallel female narrators. Emma, who was Then, and Jane, who is Now. A useful device that distinguishes these two is that Emma can’t be bothered with quotation marks but Jane is more grammar-conscious (might be a subtle clue once the plot starts to unfold).

At different times, the women take out a lease on the unique house at One Folgate Street. Designed and owned by a minimalist perfectionist architect who imposes a vast number of conditions on his tenants from not permitting books, rugs or cushions to not leaving cups in the sink or allowing clothes to lie on the bedroom floor, it is a technology fanatic’s dream as the house is fully computer-controlled and attends to your every need. A bangle on your wrist operates the locks, the lights and tells the shower how hot you like it.

For Emma, who is recovering from the effects of a violent burglary, it is a sanctuary of safety for her and boyfriend Simon. For Jane, struggling with the grief of a stillbirth, it is a place of calm and reflection. But both women increasingly come under the malign influence of its owner, Edward Monkford, who controls not only the house but also its occupants.

The writing is fast-paced and through its progressive twists and turns you have to decide which narrator is the more “unreliable” (another fad much beloved of modern contemporary thrillers) and which other benign character is going to give you a shock. With a minimal cast as well, there are only so many ways this can possibly end although I must admit to Jane’s final words giving me the biggest surprise.

Although of course he’s a fiction, Edward’s character reflects another cliché in that handsome, wealthy leading men will treat such women as objects to be pitied or abused; that they will use their charisma to manipulate them into willing participation in violent sex. His fondness for Japanese precision that includes eating live food and his clinical obsessiveness about his buildings ought to send any self-respecting and rational woman running for the hills, but the message here is that Emma and Jane may both be damaged and irrational and therefore they are bound to invite their victimisation. Not a pleasant implication even if it has some truth in real psychology. (As an aside, I couldn’t help wondering why anyone with Monkford’s extreme monkish fastidiousness could even deal with the messiness of sex!)

Like One Folgate Street itself with its pristine callous angles that either protects or imprisons its tenants, this book will either appeal to you or completely repel you. I appreciated its snappy pace and often cleverly twisting narrative, but ultimately it is yet another “Girl” book with too many dark layers that I'd prefer to forget. Three stars (with reservations).

​(Many thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for the ARC.)

It's been a while since I've read a good thriller, I've read a few that have been a little less than gripping, so I've been put off for a while. Fortunately The Girl Before grabbed my attention from the first page and I polished it off in just two days.

Told in alternating view points, we learn about Emma, an old tenant of the house and Jane, the current tenant. As the story unfolds the similarities between the two women becomes apparent. Not only do they look very much alike, but similar things seem to be happening to them. Jane becomes more and more interested in what happened to Emma and who was to blame for it.

I did guess some of the plot as it unfolded, but only as the story progressed, it was not predictable. The story was well written and fast paced. I was never totally sure what was going to happen next, although I had guessed who was to blame before it was revealed.

I didn't like the way that rape was used in the story line. I get what the author was trying to do, but I think that something else would have been just as effective, if not more so.

I really enjoyed this book and would be keen to read another by the same author.

I enjoyed this book. This book poses a number of moral questions. I liked this about it. It also got me thinking about whether I would want to or be able to live in a house like One Folgate Street where many rules are put in place by the owner.

I found the book easy to read and I read it very quickly because I was keen to find out the ending.

I found some of the character relationships a bit unrealistic. For example, would a woman really sleep with the owner of her house, especially so soon after meeting him?

What a page turner this was... Since the popularity of books such as Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, this sub-genre of thriller novel has soared in popularity with many authors writing similar stories of differing quality, this is one that is indeed a winner. Very fast paced, interesting characters and plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.

This was a fantastic read, I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the story line and the characters, it flowed beautifully and I just had to keep reading to see what happened. Loved it!