This was by no means a happy book. It was dark and depressing, and at times, hard to get through. Laura was a believable character, which made her characterisation all the more difficult to read, especially since I found her mother to be rather too dismissive at times. Emma Healey seems to have a flair for writing about mental health. She does a fantastic job, but unfortunately, the topic she chose for Whistle in the Dark made it difficult to really engage with the characters. Whether that be because we don't understand what they're going through, or we do, and it's difficult to see it put to the page like that, it's a book that I feel will be quite divisive. It was well written, and definitely one I'll be recommending, even if I can't say that I 100% enjoyed it.

This isn't a bad book at all I'm afraid it just didn't suit me. I really disliked Jen as the main character which made it almost possible for me to enjoy the story. Perhaps I'm not "literary" enough, perhaps that's the point? I'm not sure.

Following on from “Elizabeth is missing” Emma Healey has written an extremely readable story depicting a believable version of family life, following a traumatic incident. Teenage Lana goes missing for four days. When she turns up safe and well everyone wants to know what happened, but she’s not telling. The story continues from the perspective of Lana’s mother Jen. As she tries to find out what really happened, we go with her on her journey seeing into the fragile relationship between anxious mother and troubled teenage daughter. Some elements were so true to life that I laughed out loud and read them to my own (now grown-up) daughter. I found this a thoroughly readable and enjoyable book and highly recommend it - especially to mothers of teenage girls!

I enjoyes this book but thought it was a bit drawn out. The characters are not particularly likeable but I did want to know what the ending brought.

By the author of Elizabeth is Missing, this is another beautifully written book. In Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey depicted dementia extremely well, and Whistle in the Dark portrays mental illness, in particular depression, superbly in a similar vein.
After 15 year old Lana went missing for 4 days, her anxiety-ridden mother Jen tries desperately to uncover what happened to her. She continually asks her questions, refuses to believe her answers, and stalks her online hunting for clues to the lost days. Emma Healey does a great job of making you sympathise with both mother and daughter, even as both act pretty horrendously to each other.
The denouement where Jen finally discovers where Lana went and what happened to her was touching, terrifying and heart-rending all at once. This book deals with mother-daughter relationships really well, and makes you think about boundaries, privacy and secrets. I enjoyed the book immensely and will be eagerly awaiting the next book by this author.
I received a free e-ARC of this book via Netgalley but all opinions are my own.

Lana is missing for four days before being found. She won't say where she has been or what has happened but it has changed her.
Jen, her mother, feels that Lana is slipping away from her and the family and wants to find out what actually happened to her daughter. However, she is unprepared for what she finds.

I absolutely loved the first novel by this author, but I'm really not sure what I thought of this book so I am sitting firmly on the fence. It does tackle some tough subjects such as depression and the fur lined ruts we all fall into within relationships which may have made the storyline trickier to write.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This is a story about a mother and daughters relationship and the ups and downs that this brings,. I would recommend this book to other readers

This was a very good book but it is dark and rather depressing so you need to be in a good frame of mind to read it. If you aren't ready for a story like that you can struggle to enjoy it no matter how good the story or interesting the characters are. It portrays a very realistic view of teenagers and mental health.

I quite liked her first book so was looking forward to this but was sorely disappointed. It was fairly boring for the most part.

I found this book quite hard-going, unlike Elizabeth is Missing. I didn't really engage with the characters, nor did I care what happened to them. I think this was in part to do with the extremely short 'chapters', if you can call them chapters. I did find the ending satisfactory but felt the whole thing was too stretched out. A pity!

* disclaimer i received a free copy of this novel through netgalley in response for an honest review*
initially, i excited to read this after loving Emma Healey's debut novel "Elizabeth is missing" and it did not disappoint!
it follows Lana and Jens relationship after 15 year old Lana has been found days after going missing, unable to explain what has happened to her. The relationship between mother and daughter is explored in this book, with a teenage daughter that is unable to express her feelings, and goes between outright contempt for her mother and affection that she struggles to communicate. It felt real to me, that was a major advantage to the book, the characters seemed so real.
this book was a great book a family that utterly drew me in.
I give this book 4/5 stars and would recommend it!

I am a little torn with reviewing this book, as on the one hand it is very well written, but on the other hand it isn't a book that I would rush to recommend to anyone. For me the book isn't really about the mystery of where Lana disappeared to for 4 days, it is about the relationship between mother and daughter and the impact that Lana's mental health issues have on her entire family.
The book has odd little leaps between past and present that creates a somewhat blurry sensation. I felt that this really let me get inside the mind of the mother, Jen, and experience her day to day existence. The impact of the stress she is dealing with on a daily basis is staggering, and she is so far out of her depth trying to cope with the mental health issues of her daughter, that not only was I (as the reader) unsure what was real or imagined, but Jen is also clearly struggling. Whilst this demonstrates the authors talent, I have to confess that it became something of a burden to keep returning to the book, because it really was hard work living through someone else's fears for her child and the stress was so bloody relentless.
Thanks go to the publishers and netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I was sent a copy of this book for my independent honest review from the publishers.
After enjoying Elizabeth is Missing by this author I was really excited to get into this.
Now don't expect a past paced plot. The writing style, the same as Elizabeth isn't like that. That's fine with me, as often books that tell important messages are slower and really get the salient points across. Unfortunately I found this book very similar in plot content to many others out there at the moment and just didn't feel it was as impactful as Elizabeth was. It felt too slow at times that I became bored.
I couldn't particularly relate to the characters either.
I would recommend this as a beach read it was OK but certainly wasn't the wow I was anticipating. Sorry

I liked, but didn't love this book as much as I had hoped. I found the first book I read from this author to be more readable, in that it hooked me where this one didn't. Maybe it was the teen character in the story that I couldn't relate to? It was good, but not quite great.

I regret to say that I struggled to get into this one, the blurb sounded great but sadly wasnt for me.

I was looking forward to reading this book, and was so disappointed when I just couldn't connect with any of the characters and couldn't care what happened to them.I did try but it just wasn't for me.I hope others will enjoy this book more than I did.thanks to the publishers and netgalley for the ARC.

I expected to get the same warm feeling as I had reading Elizabeth is Missing. Sadly for me I didn't engage with the main characters of Jen and Lana. Shame because by the time I got to the end it all made sense. Normally I look forward to returning to my current book and this didn't happen.
Whistle in the Dark was slow going for me but by the time I finished the book I decided it was an OK read.

Lana, a teenage girl, disappears for a number of days and returns, non-communicative and apparently changed. Her mother slowly drives herself almost mad trying to establish what happened to her daughter. The clumsy exchanges between the desperate parent and the sullen teenage daughter are well observed. I empathised with the mother as she tried to kerb her curiosity and parental desire to know everything as she appreciates this will ensure that her child will shut down if pushed.

That said I found I also felt a lot in common with the daughter, I got tired of the mother's endless ramblings, paranoia and general ability to drive away everyone around her. The theme of mother-daughter relationship was well and truly hammered home.

The finale did provide a little redemption. I don't really believe that the mother could find herself suddenly in the Peak District in exactly the same position as her daughter, but hey, the claustrophobic cave experience certainly explained why Lana was unwilling to explain her whereabouts to all and sundry.

I very much enjoyed this book, and thought the characterisations and family realtionships were particularly well done. Only the last section where Jen returned to Derbyshire felt a bit too drawn out for me.