I read this book because I so much enjoyed Emma Healey's first novel and this looked intriguing. It is a slow-burning psychological thriller that turns on the relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter, won or lost following a cathartic holiday. It seems to take a very long time to build to any sense of action, but maybe that's the point. It allows the characterization of Jen and Lana, and later Meg, to develop and they are all three-dimensional, fully fledged characters. Jen is infuriating; all my sympathies were with Lana and Meg (the one that got away). Really, Jen, if you hadn't been so self-obsessed and controlling, you would have come to this conclusion much earlier.
So, exceptionally well crafted and narrated - I enjoyed the unusual narrative structure - and seemingly either very well researched and transcribed, or authentically reflecting an intense adolescent experience.

This book was too grim for me. The main story thread involves a teenager who self harms so it might be good to start a discussion but it hadn't moved on much by a third of the way through so I stopped reading it. Lana was not a character I felt any sympathy for at all.

Emma Healey tackled the subject of teenage depression and the effects on the whole family/friends very sensitively in this novel. It follows the life of Lana, a teenage girl suffering with depression, who goes missing for a few days whilst on holiday with her mother, Jen. Lana is found but does not know where she has been or whom she has been with....or does she? Jen is trying to help her daughter to cope with the emotions she is feeling and to help her with her feelings and her underlying depression. You are drawn into the story and as a mother of a teenage daughter I could understand all the emotions Jen was going through.

"Whistle in the Dark" begins with an ending, of sorts. Lana, a depressed fifteen-year-old who has been missing for four days, having disappeared from a holiday in the Peak District, has returned safely, much to the relief of her frantic parents. But Lana won't say where she's been, only repeating rather unhelpfully that she "got lost". The story follows Lana's distraught mother Jen as she struggles, mainly unsuccessfully, to communicate with her daughter and unravel the alarming mystery of what's happened to her during those four days,

I loved this book, Emma Healey's second after the highly successful Elizabeth is Missing. "Whistle in the Dark" is very different but, for me, an equally compelling read. It's a difficult story to categorise - not a psychological thriller, not a family drama although there are elements of both, along with a definite dash of the dark and sinister. It seems everyone has their own ideas, some very bizarre, about where Lana's been. Where does the truth lie, and what has the effect on Lana been?

There's a hint of the unreliable narrator about Jen, who admits to having apparently hallucinated people and conversations in the past. Random appearances of a cat they don't own, overheard conversations in Lana's room - what's real and what's imaginary?

Ultimately Jen's distress and frustration at her strained relationship and failure to communicate with Lana are very believable - the situation she's in is awful and it's no wonder her imagination runs riot at times. Some reviewers have complained of finding Lana unlikeable - I don't think she's meant to be all that likeable for much of the story, as she certainly doesn't act in likeable ways, even if we can sympathise with her mental distress. But maybe that's the point because love never falters, even when constantly challenged.

The story is written in quite a fragmented way with lots of little interludes and ruminations on various things, and I really enjoyed this style of storytelling. All in all, a great read which I found very satisfying,

This seemed like a rather long book, with mostly annoying characters! I felt I’d like to shake Jen, the mum, more than once, to tell her to be less irritating to everyone - no wonder her spoilt daughter, Lana, got so annoyed with her!
It seemed far fetched too, although I suppose some families must be like this...all talking, no listening, and no discussion.
All in all, a frustrating read.

I had listened to the authors first book ‘Elizabeth is missing’ and was pleased to see her second book on Netgalley and requested it . Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the book in exchange for an honest review. I was eager to read her book about teenage girls and the relationship with their mother, it isn’t an easy book to read and it starts with the disappearance of Lana from an art workshop which mother and daughter attend. Lana eventually reappears after 4 days and can’t say where she has been.
The book goes into great detail about the mother/daughter relationship between Jen and Lana and also the older daughter Meg. It is a serious book about family relationships and how each member responds to other family members. It is only at the end that the truth is known about Lana’s disappearance.
An interesting read about teenagerdaughters and mothers relationships.

This was a bit of a tricky one for me. I loved Elizabeth is Missing and part of the problem for me with this book was that I picked it up thinking it would be on the same lines. And in some ways I can see some resemblances, but it just didn't grab me. I enjoyed this book, and I wouldn't tell anyone not to read it, but I also wouldn't be singing from the houses about it.

Mental health is a really complex issue, and I think Emma Healey for the most part tackles it incredibly well. I just don't feel that it was incredibly captivating, and based on other reviews I think I'm in the minority. But for me, Lana was quite unlikeable, Jen was quite unlikeable and Grace was incredibly unlikeable. I feel it's one of those stories that you really need to gel with the characters in order to get the most out of the book.

I think it said it all when I had less than 5% of the book to go and I didn't stay up to read it, and just waited to the next morning. I wasn't disappointed as such, it just wasn't really what I was expecting.

What is going on? You ask this question right from the start and it continues for much of the book. Normally this is the type of plot for me. One which I cannot put down and finish within a few days. However I found this script hard to get on with. It was very 'wordy' with longer sentences and more description than the narrative required.

Having loved Emma Healey's first novel, I was very much looking forward to reading this one. As a genre it is difficult to pinpoint as it is in part a thriller and in part a family drama. The concept was really intriguing since we meet the characters when Lana - a fifteen year old who has been missing - has already been found. As she settles back into her turbulent life, we begin to unravel where she may have been and meet her family with whom her interactions are awkward. The relationship that she has with her mother is central to the story and provides some of the more tense moments in the book. I love the idea but whilst I was hooked at the start, the pace of the book was a little slow and therefore lost me a bit. The characters were not always easy to engage with and whilst they pushed one another away, I felt distanced from them as a reader too. The book felt a little bleak and although interesting, for me it lacked some of the charm of the first novel. Having said this, I would read work by this author again.

This book is brilliant. Multilayered and an emotional rollercoaster. As with Emma's other book Elizabeth is missing you are following 2 plots that intertwine and come together. Very clever writing. I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed Elizabeth is Missing. This book is not as good but I still enjoyed it. When Lana goes missing and is found again everyone is trying to work out where she has been. Lana is refusing to answer. This is a parents worse nightmare. Jen tries to get information from her daughter and tries to work out what has happened. The characters are all believable and so is the story. It is obvious that a lot of thought has gone into this book.

A strangely frustrating book but one that stays with you. I veered between thinking it was Jen, the mother, who had all the problems to completelysympathising with her fears and the need to keep Lana safe and know what happened to her. Lana is a complex girl child struggling to cope with modern life but her almost biblical rebirth when she was lost but found again has profound effects on all those who know her. It is a sad tale, a funny tale, a meaningful tale. And a conclusion that brings hope and understanding.

I've tried three times but I just can't get into the story. It's not often I do not finish a book but I'm finding this book so hard to get into even though I've got over 1/4 of the way through I'm going to have to given up. The write up sounds fantastic so I'm sad that this book just didn't do it for me.

Thank you to Penguin Books (UK) - Viking and Netgalley for an opportunity to offer my free unbiased review.
This book is very good it is not a speedy read nor does the story line jog along - it is a slow burn. I also found it frightening - not is the BOO got you way but the narrative drew me in and I began to feel part of the sorry and the darker it got the more fearful I grew. I have to admit had I known the effect it would have i might have shied away. Do I regret reading it - No. It was an experience but not one I want to repeat. It deserves the 5 stars i have awarded and the writer deserves heaps of praise I am just a little worried about what is said to me.

I tried, I really tried, but I couldn’t get in to this book at all.

It was disjointed to a point I didn’t enjoy and I couldn’t stand either Jen or Lana.

I was hoping that the end result would be more thrilling but I was left very underwhelmed.

I am clearly in the minority and I think this was just a case of not being my cup of tea. That said I’d still recommend to others - I'd be keen for a friend's perspective.

2 stars

Thanks to NetGalley, Viking and Emma Healey for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lana is 15 and goes missing whilst on an art course with her mother. She has previously had depression, and so is watched very carefully by her protective mother. She reappears 4 days later wet, covered in bruises and scratches, but no evidence of sexual assualt, and is adamant that she has been “lost”,, but can’t say where or with whom, if anybody. We watch the family try and come to terms with this mystery, particularly her mother Meg, who sees everything and everybody with anxious suspicion, over analysing every word and action, whilst her husband and other daughter try to hang on to normality. Very sympathetic characters and a great sense of place,; also thought provoking. We do finally find out what happened to Lana. So a satisfying read.

This was absorbing and interesting. The relationship between Lana and her mother Jen was convincing and the supporting characters of Hugh and Meg were well drawn. I thought that there was going to be a twist at the end which didn't happen (can't say what in order not to spoil the plot), but the ending was very satisfactory. There were also some funny bits which cleverly lightened tension. The writing was tight and and accomplished, a worthy successor to Elizabeth is missing.

I admit I don’t usually don’t read this style of book but was drawn in by the blurb.
Lana has been found after going missing for 4 days, her mother Jen has been frantic and here starts the story of a mother fighting for answers.
There are marks on her ankles that could be rope marks and Lara is bruised and bleeding. Jen steers towards the negative with what may have happened whereas her husband Hugh feels the other way.
Jen is truly obsessed and while Lana tries to convalesce and keeps repeating nothings happened Jen won’t let it lie.
Lana’s depression and past actions make Jen question everything.
I found the story really slow the start and the flashbacks felt disjointed to begin with, I feel Jen may also have some mental health issues.
A families struggle to find out the truth with Lana refusing to open up. A good strong story.

Eerie story of the aftermath following a vanished girl's mysterious reappearance. Seemingly unharmed, the teenager can't or won't reveal the events leading up to her discovery.

I was a huge fan of “Elizabeth Is Missing” which has taken on a whole new level of poignancy since my Mother started suffering from dementia, so I was intrigued to read another novel from Emma Healey. This time it’s a different central theme but just as beautifully written and emotionally resonant.

Whistle in the Dark is a story of family – especially of the mother/daughter relationship – we follow Jen as she struggles to connect with daughter Lana, especially after Lana goes missing for a few days and nobody knows what happened. Lana is silent on the subject, Jen feels inadequate, this has a beautifully realistic sense of parenting and a subtle exploration of teenage depression.

I related to Jen on a very basic level – she is baffled, a little clumsy both in word and deed and genuinely distraught at being unable to find the right words and the right actions to bring Lana close to her and understand her issues. She is funny, wryly ironic, realistically flawed whilst Lana is both engaging and infuriatingly perplexing, you can see why Jen struggles but at the heart of this is a relevant and intelligently woven theme.

This is less the story of what happened to Lana during those missing days and more a family drama that works wonderfully on many levels – the wider cast, including Jen’s long suffering husband, her oddball best friend and her mother all add to the whole and build an intriguing picture of the struggle to make sense of things. The finale when it comes is elegantly achieved and will linger in your thoughts for a good long while.

Whistle in the Dark is moving, whimsical and astutely authentic. I loved it.

Highly Recommended.