Alison has split up with her husband although she really didn't want to. For the last few months she has put her life on hold in the hope of them getting back together but friends keep telling her she needs to get out & date again. She is persuaded to meet a man in a local bar on Saturday night. On Sunday morning she wakes up with a large bump on her head. She staggers to the bathroom & looks in the mirror and sees a stranger looking back! The bump on her head has damaged her brain in the area that recognises faces. If this isn't bad enough she begins to get threatening messages from her date. Soon Alison is scared to go out, knowing someone is after her but having no idea why.

I did enjoy this book although at times I found my credibility being stretched a bit more than I was comfortable with, which was why I couldn't give it five stars. It was still a book where I had to find out what it was all about!!

OMG! This book was super creepy. My heart started racing very early in on this book. I had to keep putting the book down for a few minutes just to let my heart beat slow down.

I seriously enjoyed reading this book and sped right through it (well, when I wasn't in the time out pattern mentioned above - Ha!). This is definitely one that you don't want to start at bedtime!

Thanks to Bookouture and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Excellent read!!

Loved this book, even when I was not reading it I kept thinking about it and couldn’t wait to pick it up again and I finished it in a day. Would definitely recommend to others and can’t wait to read other titles from this author.

Highly recommend!!

I think we can all admit to enduring some disastrous dates at one time or another. Some more than others! Namely, poor Ali, who just had one doozy of a bad date that she now can’t distance herself from.

Ali is, in fact, still married and recently separated from her husband. With the encouragement and (not so gentle) prodding from her friends, Ali reluctantly decides to take a chance and try her luck at online dating. Big mistake!! – Thanks friends!

I am definitely in the minority on this one. I was so excited for the chance to read this book. But it just didn’t work for me. Most of the twists were too predictable. I patiently waited for something shocking to grab me and take me on a wild thrill ride, but it just fell flat.

There are a number of five star reviews for this book so if it’s on your shelf, OR thinking of adding it to your shelf, don’t let me sway you! This may work as the perfect thriller that just floors you. Just wish it would have done that for me!😞

A buddy read with Susanne that took me about twice as long to read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Louise Jensen for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This book pretty much sums up why I would never go on a blind date. A recently divorced woman goes out on a blind date and wakes up the next morning basically a hot mess. She can't remember what happened nor can she remember what people look like (including herself) due to face blindness

This is a awesome psychological thriller that provided the right amount of suspense and she tries to figure out what happened that night and why they keep harrasing her. She starts to receive messages along of the lines of "Enjoy the date" and all around generally creepy. I actually wanted to stay on the train and finish the book or at least try to sneak it in a work.

Thank you Netgalley for the ArC!

Something bad has happened to Alison Taylor.

Her Saturday night started normally. Recently separated from her husband, Ali has been persuaded by her friends to go on a date with a new man. She is ready, she is nervous, she is excited. She is about to take a step into her new future.

By Sunday morning, Ali’s life is unrecognisable. She wakes, and she knows that something is wrong. She is home, she is alone, she is hurt and she has no memory of what happened to her.

Worse still, when she looks in the mirror, Ali doesn’t recognise the face staring back at her. She can’t recognise her friends and family. And she can’t recognise the person who is trying to destroy her…

All I can say is wow! Read in one sitting this morning. Gripping from the start and an intriquite plot that unravelled and then tied together at the end. When trying to work out the villain I flitted from one character to another, going back and forth.

A worthy 5 star read.

4.5 stars to the thrilling mystery novel, The Date, written by Louise Jensen and published in 2018. I always look forward to savoring a creepy and well-written suspenseful story, and this one definitely delivered a strong and fantastic punch. Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy.

Have you ever woken up and forgotten what happened the night before? I'm sure it's happened to all of us at some point. Most of the time we recover those memories. Then again, most of the time we also recognize our own face in the mirror. Unfortunately for Ali, neither is happening when she wakes up one morning after a date with some online mystery man that her friends convinced her to finally take a chance with. She's separated from her husband, trying to figure out how to move forward after some problems, and suffers from something traumatic in her childhood. All three of these things remain center stage as Ali tries to piece together the night without telling her friends or brother that she doesn't have a full memory or can't recognize people's faces anymore. Something happened to her and the blood and head wound must be the place to start.

This is a psychological horror of a novel -- in a good way. It's well-written and not medically technical on any level. Enough details are explained so readers know why she can't remember and what type of reality this is in the world. Although rare, if a certain part of the brain is injured, it's possible to not continue to remember what someone looks like. Ali's other senses need to step up, but it doesn't seem to be happening quickly enough. When her roommate disappears, Ali starts wondering if maybe she's the one who did something bad and not the other way around. Even the police grow suspicious, but she continues to receive support from 3 or 4 people. We all know one of them is lying, but it's not easy to tell what's happened behind the scenes. Is it the brother? The aunt? The best friend? The guy next door? The hypnotist? The soon-to-be husband? Or someone else lurking in the night and scaring her with notes and messages all over the house.

I read this book all in one day. I started in the morning before the gym and assumed I'd read 30 or 40 pages to see if I liked the book. Next thing I know, I'm 200 pages in and late for the gym. I had to finish reading later in the afternoon and I've held off writing the review because it's so hard determining what to say without giving away the plot. I kinda figured out what was going on, or at least who was behind it all. But the reason blew me away. I wasn't expecting to find out the true details of the past so late in the game, but as soon as they were revealed, the whole story made sense to me. Great job, Jensen. I'm definitely going to be reading more of your novels.

Norma and I were lost in a coulee reading The Date with two of our Traveling Sisters and for the first time ever Norma was left in a coulee all by herself feeling quite differently from the rest of us about this story.

The Date was a fast-paced, entertaining yet frightening - the good kind we love in thrillers that left us on the edge of the coulee ready to jump out in fright and run and hide from some of the chilling scenes our main character Ali was up against. Nothing is the same for Ali after she wakes up the morning after a date that she remembers nothing about and things are not right for her.
Louise Jensen does a great job creating a terrifying situation here for Ali with her not knowing who she is being terrorized by but knows they want to destroy her. Not only does she have no idea who it is or why she is now unable to recognize anyone.

Norma who was on vacation at the time we were reading this one couldn’t fully engage with us in our discussion and she ended up not feeling the same way about the story as we did. She felt the story was written a little too frantic but that could have just been because things can get a little frantic when you are visiting family. Thinking this one might not be the best vacation read. We recommend finding a nice quiet place maybe with a blanket to hide under while reading this story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Lousie Jensen for a copy to read and review.

This is Traveling Sisters GR Reading Group Review and it can be found posted on our themed book blog Two Sisters Lost In A Coulee Reading.
https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com
Coulee: a term applied rather loosely to different landforms, all of which refer to a kind of valley. Coulee references are symbolic to our reading experience

OMG, such a great book, keeps you on the edge of your seat and loved it!!!

I have never been on a blind date and after this book I don’t think I ever will.

A suspenseful psychological thriller that will keep you guessing to the end.

Alison Taylor wakes up battered and bruised after a blind date she does not remember. She wakes up questioning herself on what happened. She can no longer recognise her own face or those of anyone else, including her family and friends. She is diagnosed with Face Blindness (Prosopagnosia) after that fateful night. Who can she trust?

As the suspense builds you are not going to want to put this book down. You will say to yourself "just one more chapter" but you won’t be able to leave it there. You are going to be in for the long haul so make sure you are not going to be disturbed.

Louise Jensen you are a master of psychological thrillers, you know how to hook your readers and keep them coming back again and again. You are just Brilliant!!!

I don’t know how you did it but you had me second guessing myself throughout this book. I thought I knew then (slap me) I was wrong.

I would highly recommend this read without a doubt!!!

Why are you still reading? You should be already going and getting yourself a copy of this book and seeing for yourself what you have been missing out on.

This has had to go into my top reads 2018.

A massive thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have read a couple of this authors other books and really enjoyed them. Unfortunately I really struggled with this one. It didn’t keep me gripped and I found it a bit slow and boring. I would still read more by this author though in the future.

Another slam dunk from the talented Louise Jensen. Ali wakes up one Sunday morning unable to recognise herself in the mirror. She can't recognise anyone else either, including friends and family. She knows that her friends had encouraged her to go on a date on the night before to help move her life forward after separating from her husband. She has no recollection of the date, the new man, or anything else.

This was a terrifying and tense read. Truly an exceptional novel, it had me turning those pages frantically trying to discover what was about to happen or be revealed. I appreciated the misdirection as well as the intelligent plot and emotional pull. An easy read, perfect for the summer months or any other time of year if you're a fan of psychological thrillers.

Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

3 Stars.

When Alison Taylor wakes up from an online date she has a helluva headache. Then she touches her hand to her face, it comes away bloody. As if that wasn’t shocking enough - when she goes to look in the mirror, she doesn’t recognize her own reflection. Whatever happened to Ali Taylor on her date, it wasn’t good. She can’t remember a thing and she doesn’t recognize any of her family or her friends and as it turns out, it’s permanent. WHAT the HECK?!

Upon her return home, things go from bad to worse, as Ali receives a text message from an unknown number which says “Enjoy the date, B&tch?” It gets worse and worse and she knows she’s in big trouble. Who is targeting her and why? Ali is scared to find out and the problem of course is that she can’t trust anyone.

“The Date” is a fast paced suspense novel with a very unique storyline, which I personally felt was a bit far-fetched. Though I guessed part of the ending I tore through it. This is a good mystery/suspense for anyone looking for something a little different.

This was a buddy read with Kaceey. :)

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Louise Jensen for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 7.8.18.

About: The Date is a psychological thriller written by Louise Jensen. It was recently published by Bookouture on 6/21/18, 320 pages. The genres are psychological thriller, mystery, and fiction.

My Experience: I started reading The Date on 6/29/18 and finished it on 7/7/18. This book is an okay read for me. I like the suspense of finding out who is behind it all. I like the ending because I couldn’t guess who it was. I like that there are many potential suspects. The story started out interesting but it fizzles out for me.

This book is told in the first person point of view following Alison (Ali) Taylor as she prepares to go on a date with a guy she found on a dating app. She has been separating from her husband Matt and been living with her friend Chrissy. Her younger brother, Ben, comes to her rescue and takes her to the hospital for examination the next day after her date. Something happened on her date but Ali could not remember it. When she wakes up the next day, the visible signs left on her body appears to tell a story and worser is when she couldn’t recognize anyone’s faces including her own. This book is organized by days of the week following her date. There is a mystery italicize narrative after every few chapters and a mystery to Ali’s past that she keeps it a secret. Following the days after her date, she started receiving threatening messages in different forms: a package, texts, notes, etc. It scares her but she couldn’t report to the police because of her secret.

The Date is well written and it introduces readers to a new but not rare medical condition that will keep readers turning the pages. I haven’t heard of Face Blindness before so it’s interesting for me to read about it. I like the mystery with Ali’s family. At first I didn’t think the daddy issues would have anything to do with the story and the read was not very interesting to me. Ali’s friends, neighbor, and Matt are mundane as well. I do like the twists though so it definitely helps spin the story around.

Pro: fast paced, cover, suspense, mystery, medical condition, dating

Con: too much narrative for my liking

I rate it 4 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to the publisher Bookouture, author Louise Jensen, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

The Date Louise Jensen
The first time I have read this author and I wasn’t disappointed. A gripping story full of unanswered but fascinating questions right from the start. The main characters, a group of young people, each with their own issues, which are gradually revealed through the course of the book, become very real people. I was empathising with them from early in the book. An alternative ‘voice’ features throughout and keeps you guessing at many alternative theories. I loved it and was gripped - finished it at 2am! Had to reread the ending twice, the 2nd time a bit slower. Fabulous book!

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

I am not sure how I felt about this book, I liked it but I didn't as well. Everyone in the book was a suspect to me and I was surprised by the reveal, but I just don't know how I feel about it. I liked Ali, the main character and the disorder she has, Prosopagnosia, I had never heard of it, it was a neat story twist. Overall, I liked the storyline, I just didn't care for the the way it ended.

I have read several other books by this author and really enjoyed them, so I will definitely read more books by this author.

The premise was good, as was the concept of Ali having prosopagnosia, but the pace was too slow for me until about the 60% mark. Louise Jensen definitely knows how to tell a story and infuse it with a creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere.

It is my first book from the author, Louise Jensen, and I must say, I am more than impressed. The blurb alone is intriguing and it immediately drew me in. I knew it will be one crazy ride and I wasn’t disappointed. The Date is one gripping novel that will seize your attention from the first page until the end. Going into the book, I wasn’t aware that face blindness condition exists. And so was Alison. That’s why everything is so intriguing and fascinating. I was hooked right from the start. There’s a right amount of suspense and mystery that gets me reading until the end. The mystery surrounding Ali’s date, not to mention the person tormenting her, is a puzzle that keeps me guessing from start to finish because the author managed to cast doubt on every character around her. It started pretty solid with Ali’s condition laid out early on and the mystery was immediately presented. It got a bit repetitive after that, though, everything still unfolds smoothly. The twists and turns totally caught me off guard and the ending is truly fantastic. In all, The Date is a unique psychological thriller and definitely a page-turner. A thrilling and exciting read that most would surely enjoy. Props to the author, Louise Jensen for weaving this remarkably gripping novel.

The Date is a thrilling, addictive read. I particularly loved the childhood memories, they really gave a sense of what Ali’s life was.
A real page turner and one that kept me guessing throughout.
Beautifully crafted, excellently written, Louise Jenson is fast becoming a go-to author for me.

Well I can hardly believe that little ole me is sitting all by my lonesome in the Coulee!

All of the other Traveling Sisters absolutely loved this one except for me as I ended up thinking it was just okay. What’s up with that you might say? (or that is exactly what I said....LOL)

For me this was just not a good fit and it might have been because I was reading this book while on vacation and maybe I just wasn't totally getting it. I very much enjoyed the premise of this novel though and I quite enjoyed the twist. At the end I was left a little bit puzzled and underwhelmed. I wish I would have felt the desperation and frantic behaviour more from our main character here instead of feeling that it was more of the writing. I just didn't feel it and it did bother me a little bit.

I definitely still would recommend this novel though as I think it might have been just me and timing.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Bookouture, & Louise Jensen for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review

This is the first novel I have read by Louise Jensen but will now be seeking out others as I found this compulsive reading.

‘The Date’ is about one night, which changes the life of Ali forever. Waking the next morning with no recollection of anything from her date, bruised with her head smashed she finds she has also developed prosopagnosia. This gives every aspect of her search for the truth an added eerie feel.

I loved the plot and twists although I managed to fathom a couple out but there are many, right to the end. I’m a sucker for imaginative endings and this had one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Louise Jensen for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Excellent Read. Highly recommended.