Great read for anyone that experienced the hell that is postpartum depression. The book is a slow burn at first, building up all of Veronica's feelings. After a point, the book reaches it's tipping point and twists take over, redeeming and justifying the slow burn start. While I can see how some would struggle to understand or like Veronica, for those that have been through PPD, it's much easier to sympathize with and understand her.

I really wanted to be able to give a positive review, but unfortunately I could not bring myself to finish this book. It felt to me like the author couldn't decide what she wanted the mystery to be so she just dumped all her ideas in together. I got about a third of the way in and thought "Where are we going with all this?", and I wasn't engaging with the characters. I am open to trying this book again in the future but for now I have to pass.

A true suspense novel that kept me guessing. While it was slow in parts overall it was great. I kept trying to figure it out and it kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Definitely a great read for those that find the same old stories predictable and boring. Great writing and suspense building!

Written by Emily Bleeker — Children’s book illustrator Veronica is settling into family life in North Carolina with her new baby, Sophie, and it’s wonderful. Her husband Nick is supportive and pulling his weight and things are looking grand. Then, Veronica awakes one night to find both husband and baby gone. She decides he must have taken the baby with him to do some late night shopping for nappies. But then a text from Nick sends Veronica’s blissful world into free fall…

By chapter two of The Waiting Room, the ecstatic high of early motherhood has been replaced by the depths of postpartum depression. Veronica is now living with her mother, and the older woman appears to be doing all of the baby minding while Veronica seethes in another room. Where’s Nick? It’s going to be a while before we find out. Meanwhile, be prepared to weather the storm with a central character who is both unpredictable and unlovable.

It’s a hazardous move to give the woman at the heart of your story so few redeeming features. Veronica is snappy, needy, self-centred and obviously broken. Her mother convinces her to go to see a therapist, but even here Veronica seems reluctant to bare her soul completely. She feels like a failure as a mother and a human being and she takes out her feelings on anyone who tries to get close to her – even her long-suffering mother. She can’t even pick up her beautiful baby daughter. For a good 50 per cent of this book, Veronica is shown at her very worst and it’s hard to resist the pull of putting it down and trying something else.

That feeling isn’t helped by the snail’s pace of the story. Early on, the narrative wheels grind exceedingly slowly, lulling you into a soporific state at times. But beware that false sense of security – this bestselling author has a trick or two up her sleeve yet! Just when you’re likely to be feeling depressed too, Bleeker finally shows some writing chops and The Waiting Room sparks into life. But is it too little, too late?

There’s a break-in at Veronica’s house. She is deeply disturbed by this and is at a loss to work out why the police aren’t as bothered about the home invasion as she is. But the final straw comes when Veronica suffers yet another setback. Sophie is taken from right under her nose and she’s distraught when the police seem more interested in blaming the disappearance on Veronica herself. Which is where things finally get interesting and to reveal anything else would be a spoiler.

I get the feeling that The Waiting Room is destined to be one of those Marmite books you will either love or hate. The characters are nicely developed, if somewhat clichéd at times and the twists, when they come, are dramatic, but everything takes too darn long to gel cohesively. In Veronica, Bleeker offers a sadly realistic portrait of a woman in deepest turmoil. She’s a tortured soul and I felt bad for not finding it within myself to like her.

It’s certainly a different take on the psychological thriller, but the grindingly slow build up to any denouement is likely to put off some fans of the genre. If you can stick it out to the end, you’ll be rewarded with a neat bit of plot work which is likely to come as a complete surprise, but it’s scant reward for so much effort on the reader’s part. Emily Bleeker has already gathered a big fan base, but I doubt The Waiting Room will do much to add to it.

An infant is at the heart of A Baby’s Bones by Rebecca Alexander, and a mother with a baby takes centre stage in Claire Mackintosh’s Let Me Lie.

Lake Union
Print/Kindle/iBook
£1.00

CFL Rating: 3 Stars

The Waiting Room is a thrilling ride and kept me up til all hours of the night to finish! Emily Bleeker does it again!

Thank you so much for this ARC.

Unfortunately, I was not able to read this book completely as it did not capture my interest.

The Waiting Room was definitely not everything I wanted--particularly after reading and loving Emily Bleeker's Wreckage. While I appreciated the concept of the novel, the ending was definitely lacking; readers got so much build-up, only to disappointed in a mediocre ending.

Audiences don't like or trust almost any of the characters--which only leads to some disinterest and a lack of interest in their story lines or conclusions.

I hope this Bleeker's next novel is more like Wreckage--with a satisfying ending.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I figured out some of what was going on, but there was still some surprises.

This read as a typical family drama, that i was really looking forward to, after seeing all the reviews with the words 'thrilling' involved. I found it to be anything but. As i said - typical. The ending was also a bit of a let down.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This had a twist that I did not see coming. I think the title mislead me a little bit, I imagined the book would be different than it was. However, I loved this book. It kept me hooked and had twists and turns that were both unexpected and well written. I barely put it down, just racing to figure out what was happening. The only downside, for me, was that there were a few questions I had unanswered when I finished, I just wish the story and some of the characters were a little better developed. I would definitely recommend to a friend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I could not put this book down. Lots of twists and turns. It kept me wanting to read more. You felt the emotions of the characters and knew them personally. I look forward to reading more of Emilys work. I would highly recommend it . You wont be disappointed.

The story goes like this, since her husband's death, Veronica has post partum depression. She couldn't touch her daughter. Her mother looked after the daily needs of her daughter till one day the child disappeared. And Veronica had to go searching for her daughter since police were doing nothing but suspecting her mom and herself.

I read a majority of this book while I was nursing my baby, so there were moments when I could sympathize with Veronica, who had some struggles as a new mother. I have certainly not experienced it to anywhere near the extent she did, but I could understand where she was coming from.

This was not my first book by the author, and like her other books, it did not disappoint. I can’t wait to read another!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

So, I knew something wasn’t right, but I wasn’t prepared for the kind of crazy that unraveled. I was completely immersed in this book every possible second of the 20 hours it took me to wolf it down. I loved getting to know Veronica and her mom, her friendship with Gillian was refreshing and the book had so many intertwining elements that I was entertained the whole way through. Love where the ending leaves you, too. I drew my own conclusions on what’s coming next! 😉

Thank you Lake Union and Netgalley for an ARC in return for my honest opinion.

This was a great book, I was engrossed from the start and enjoyed loosing a day swept up in the story.

Veronica wakes up in the middle of the night and finds her husband and newborn missing. Her husband, Nick, has been killed in a car crash and her baby, Sophie, spends time in the hospital. Veronica is not only dealing with post-partum depression, but she is now scared to touch and pick up her baby. Her mom moves in to help her with Sophie as she decides to seek help. She meets two people in the waiting room of her therapist and this is where the book takes off and becomes really good! A great psychological thriller from Emily Bleeker and a super quick read!
Thanks to NetGalley for the Advanced Copy!

Thank you to netgalley I received this as an ARC. I enjoyed it very much was good solid read. Solid 4 Stars for me!

what an amazing book. Loved it from beginning to end
I loved the authors style of writing and will be looking for other books by this author.
I would recommend this book to friends and family

Emily Bleeker's The Waiting Room was one of those novels that was disturbing and made me feel uneasy, particularly as a mother myself. The novel covers Veronica, a widowed mother whose infant is kidnapped. Veronica struggles to reunite with her baby and come to grips with figures in her life who are not what they seem. I honestly thought I had figured everything out, but Bleeker did an excellent job of slowly releasing snippets of information that eventually left me shocked. Overall, this novel was a fun, fast read. I look forward to reading more of Bleeker's work in the future.

Great book. I was having a hard time with the main character, Veronica. She was difficult and hard to like, but in the end it all made sense. A little “twist” at the end that I did not see coming really made me like this book. I’m someone who likes all the ends tied up nicely and Emily Bleeker did this very well.

This is one of those books that have to be reviewed without saying much about the story-line. Veronica is a mother who is struggling to connect with her baby after her husband died. Through her story, the author tackles the theme of postpartum depression. Needless to say, it was hard to read about this condition. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for women who experience it. At the same time, the author helped in making it possible to understand PPD from the POV of someone going through it. I could understand and sympathize with Veronica’s struggles and I found myself getting emotional a couple of times as the story progressed.

Apart from postpartum depression, there is also another heavy theme of grief. Veronica lost her husband and through her support group, we also meet other characters who are coming to terms with their personal losses. These themes made this an even heavier read.

The mystery in the story was interesting and well developed. At first, I had no idea where the story was going. However, at some point I had my suspicions about one of the major twists and it actually turned out that I was right. However, there is more than just 1 twist in the narrative so I couldn’t have predicted everything. In particular, the final twist really surprised me.

The pacing of this book does take some getting used to. It is really slow at the beginning but picks up around quarter way and the remaining chapters are fast moving and thrilling. I think what I appreciated most about the story is how well the author managed to portray the themes, especially about loss and postpartum depression. By the time I turned the last page, my heart was completely broken by Veronica’s sad story.