Member Reviews
This book is GREAT!!! A page turner for sure! I haven't read this author before, but I will definitely be reading her other books now! What a great plot twist! I had a completely different suspect in mind. Thanks for the great read!
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher and am voluntarily reviewing it!
Wow, what a ride. So glad my dating days are hopefully over forever. This is my fourth book by Louise Jensen and they just keep getting better. At first I was hesitant because I thought it would be yet another book about a woman with amnesia and a crappy husband. This book brings in something completely new.
Prosopagnosia.
This is something I've never heard of and it's a heartbreaking illness. Anyway, back to the book. Ali wakes up after a date and can't remember anything. She can't recognize anyone and someone is beginning to bring up her past. This had SOOOO many twists and turns and I thought I had it figured out sooo many times, but yeah didn't see that ending coming! Read for a twisty tale that will keep you up all night trying to figure it out!
The Date was a remarkable, gripping thriller! So full of suspense! So many twists and turns! I would highly recommend this book if you are in to thrillers!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own
Really enjoyed this. I did figure out the twist in the end but it was cleverly written and made me jump
I now consider myself a firm fan of Louise Jensen. Having thoroughly enjoyed two of her previous books – The Gift and The Surrogate – I was delighted to receive a copy of her latest. Did it fulfil my high expectations? Yes, on the whole. My only niggle would be that a key element (no spoilers) was flagged quite strongly which meant the ending did not surprise me as much as I'd hoped. Or perhaps I'm getting better at figuring things out! That aside, the story of Alison (Ali) who suffers from face blindness after a mysterious incident is filled with twists and turns. There are secrets to be uncovered, people perhaps not as innocent as they appear and events from the past that threaten chaos. The author's writing style is slick and engaging, and it all adds up to a cracking good read.
I enjoyed this book! I was a Louise Jensen fan going into this book so I had high expectations....she exceeded them!
I found it to be an easy read, suspenful, and I felt for Ali!
I thought I saw the end coming.....but I didn’t.
I will recommend this book to others and I will be on the lookout for Louise’s next novel!
I have previously read and loved The Sister and The Gift by Louise Jensen so I was very much looking forward to her latest release. Louise's writing is so addictive, and throughout I constantly wanted to discover more.
The Date is captivating, compelling and so well written. Louise Jensen has written another truly fantastic book that will have you racing through the pages and I would thouroughly recommend this.
Thank you!
I started reading this book knowing very little about it except that it's by Louise Jensen, whose books I've previously enjoyed. Well, the title suggests that a date is involved, but that's not particularly illuminating in itself. (The date in question actually takes place before the book starts - the plot follows what happens after.)
It's hard to review without giving away spoilers, but I will say the story has a very intriguing and original set-up, based on what has just happened to protagonist Ali, and presents particular challenges for her in trying to unravel what on earth is going on. Ali is quite an engaging heroine with a refreshingly normal job as a care assistant (though we don't really get to see anything of it). It’s clear that someone has it in for her, but who… and why?
I did guess about halfway through who was behind the situation, but it was just a guess. (I think I’m reading too many psychological thrillers these days as I’m getting a bit too good at guessing!) It’s a well written and well plotted story which did keep my attention though I didn’t find it unputdownable – but that could be due to having a lot of other stuff on my mind at the moment. There are a few male characters with short names – Ben, Matt, James – and I kept getting them mixed up, which is ironic really given the plot circumstances… (I did figure them out eventually!).
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.
Alison Taylor, aka Ali, is recently separated from her husband Matt. She is persuaded by her friends, Chrissie and Jules, to go on a blind date. She agrees.
When she wakes up on Sunday, she knows something went terribly wrong. Her clothes are torn, she has a bump on her head and blood splattered on her clothes. She is home, but alone and worse still, she has no memory of what happened to her.
When she looks in the mirror, she cannot even recognize the face staring back at her. She can't recognize anyone, be it her friends and family. She can only identify them from their voices. The doctor diagnoses her to have Prosopagnosia – i.e. Face Blindness.
If she cannot recognize faces, how will she recognize the person who is trying to destroy her.? Because someone clearly is. With no memory of what happened that night and no way to identify her tormentor, Ali is racing against time to piece out the happenings of the night and who is behind her torture?
Well-written, fast-paced and racy, this was a gripping read.
Really enjoyed this one.
4.5/5 for me.
I’d never heard of Prosopagnosia before I read this book. Prosopagnosia, also called face blindness, is a cognitive disorder of face perception in which the ability to recognise familiar faces, including your own face, is impaired, while other aspects of visual processing and intellectual functioning remain intact.
It sounds an utterly terrifying condition. Imagine not being able to recognise your friends and family, and even yourself!
After waking up in a bit of a state after a night out with Chrissie, her housemate, this is exactly what happened to Ali.
Something had clearly happened last night, she was battered and bruised. She just couldn’t remember anything. She recognised people by their voices, but didn’t know her nearest and dearest by sight. And where was Chrissie?
Was someone watching her/following her? Was it her imagination? Then things started happening and she didn’t know who or why. She was feeling very paranoid.
It was a suspenseful read, very twisty-turny. There were a lot of secrets and lies. Red herrings thrown in to throw me off the track. I was suspicious of her friends/neighbours Jules and James. I even suspected her Aunt Iris at one point. In fact I suspected all the female characters!
I was suspicious of everyone, wondering if they would be the missing link. As the conclusion was reached I never guessed at all. None of my theories turned out to be correct, wrong on every theory.
A psychological thriller that I just couldn’t put down.
Again I loved the cover, complementing her previous books perfectly.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the review copy in which I give my honest review.
An absolutely compelling and gripping read from beginning to end. Superbly written this is a nail biting, on the edge of your seat thriller which I have no hesitation in awarding 5*.. Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this cleverly written mystery.
Wow! The cover states an unputdownablebook - I would wholeheartedly agree if it wasn't for life getting in the way! Due to the genre of being a thriller and how the beginning of the book is set up I was expecting a twist or two however, everytime I thought I knew who the culprit was, another twist told me I was wrong!
A very moving story with the threat of tears near the end, Jensen had me gripped and in need to read to see how the story unfolded. It has left me with a question at the end which I know will bug me but overall I'd highly recommend the book. This was the first book I've read by this author and it has left me wanting to read the others which I always see as a great sign. Definite 5 stars from me. Thank you Louise.
I have read all louise’s Books and have purchased them aswell. I have enjoyed all the other ones and this one wasn’t a let down! I have already recommended this many time! Wonderful
Yes, very much yes. I want to read more from this author. While it didn't have quite the suspense factor I hoped for it was still a good book. Didn't see it coming and you could feel Ali's genuine confusion. There's a real feeling of sympathy evoked for her condition, especially when the villain finally comes to light and you know he's been there all along and she couldn't recognize him. Matt seems like a jerk, I realize that his "issues" are attempted to be explained by depression but no, he's just a jerk. I really don't like him as a character. There's good character building, everyone seems well developed. The plot is good and I enjoyed the ending.
Wow! what a fantastic thriller! It was the kind of book that I wanted to know more but was scared to read on too, kept me totally gripped from the start and read it one sitting. 5 stars!
"Those little white lies that bind a family together. The lies told to reassure. The lies we tell because the truth is just too ugly."
All because of lies buried long ago, as you will soon see.
What am amazing suspense thriller!
I had no idea who was to blame here, but I knew I couldn't stop reading it until I found out!
Well written, and amazing character detail are in each and every page.
This book had me dreaming of the plot, trying to figure it all out and yet I was so wrong.
If you like suspense, this story is definitely one to read. You sure won't forget it!
I’m a huge fan of Louise Jensen’s after reading her debut novel, The Sister! Check it out if you have never read of it! I think I read the last few chapters with my mouth wide open just because I was so shocked about what was happening!
Now on her 4th novel, Jensen proves that she can write and she can give a mystery that will have you second guessing and her last scenes are super suspenseful. I really liked the ending of The Date, it really delivered.
The problem that I find with Jensen’s novels is that they are never realistic. In The Date, Alison wakes up and doesn’t recognize herself and she doesn’t have any memory of the previous night. Before this novel, I had never heard of face blindness and found that it was an interesting take on a mystery. Who is at the door? It looks like a stranger, but it could be my husband, brother, best friend, etc.
I also found that the novel was too descriptive for my tastes. I like a novel to move along at a quick pace and found that there was long paragraphs describing something and I ended up just skipping over those parts.
I had never heard of Prosopagnosia until reading this brilliant and suspenseful book. It’s a fascinating topic for a thriller and the story is written with insight and compassion. Although, there were times when I wanted to slap Ali with my hairbrush when she made silly choices, (be honest with the police woman!) I genuinely liked her and cared about what she was going through. The fear and isolation of looking at everyone, family and friends, and seeing strangers is a compelling basis for the story. Everyone is a potential suspect.
A gripping, easy to follow psychological thriller about love, loss, betrayal and hope. The story sucks you in from the beginning and takes you on a seamless who-done-it journey. While I had my suspicions throughout the book, my opinion of who was genuine and who wasn’t changed with every page leaving me with no idea who was who by the end.
Louise has a perfect knack of intertwining the characters past and present in her stories to give the book depth and the storyline as believable as if you were right there with the characters. My second book from Louise, she just keeps getting better.
A brilliant book by a brilliant author!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this in advance.
A five star thriller that I would recommend to anyone. The story is fresh and original with lots of twists and turns that keep you intrigued throughout. Another great book by this author.