I guess everyone has heard about this book by now. There has been quite a buzz surrounding it. I tried to ignore it despite all the glowing reviews from my favorite bloggers. However, curiosity finally got the better of me.

The story is narrated through two POVs by sisters, Rosie and Laura. Laura went on a date with a stranger that she met online. Rosie started panicking when Laura failed to get back home after her date. She was worried about her sister. Who is the stranger that she went out with? Why is her phone off? Is she safe? And interestingly, given Laura’s history, is the stranger safe?

The Night Before is a suspenseful, well-crafted read that will have your head spinning. I didn’t know where the story was going. I couldn’t even guess since my mind was working too fast trying to keep up with Laura and Rosie’s narrations. The pacing was well-balanced with no dull moments. Laura’s narrative explained the events of the night; naturally, this POV interested me more because that is where the answers lay. The red herrings in Rosie’s story had me turning pages faster in search of answers.

What an intense, thrilling, captivating read! I can’t wait to read more books by Wendy Walker.

Laura, age 28, is staying with her sister, Rosie, along with Rosie's husband and young son. Laura has a good education and a job on Wall Street. Laura goes by the last name of Hearts, so people don’t connect her to the person she once was. She is taking a leave of absence from her job after a bad breakup.

Laura, Rosie, her husband, and another neighbor all grew up in the same area and stayed there. Laura’s mother tended to ignore her leaving her without parental love and affection. This led to her being easily angered by people. There is a memory of a fall evening when the local teenagers were partying and something bad happened leaving Laura’s boyfriend dead.

Now, Laura has decided to try online dating. Her first date is with a man named Jonathan Fields. She goes out to meet him, but does not come home. Her sister finds her car but not her. What has happened to Laura?

I hope this is enough to whet reader’s appetites to want to read this book. There are a lot of twists and turns as the past is slowly opened to reveal things that happened to Laura to make her the woman she is today. I enjoyed the book and think that others will as well.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This psychological thriller centering on 2 sisters, Laura and Rosie, started off in a weird way and honestly didn't improve for me from there. When we meet Laura, she has moved back in with Rosie and her family after "something" happened to her and we're told she has a bad history of choosing the wrong men. So it's pretty confusing that she's headed out to a date with a man she met online in the opening scenes. Her sister, Rosie, has always been her savior and picks up the pieces of her sister's messes along the way. I wasn't feeling these characters and I really didn't care for the back and forth structure of alternating perspectives. That might work for some people and if you like that and aren't bothered by repetition of being told "something bad happened" in the past and then waiting forever to be given any indication of that is, then this could be for you. I don't like that trope and this story wasn't for me

Suspenseful book! Keeps you guessing to the end. Laura has never been lucky in love. After her last failed relationship she decides to stay with her sister Rosie, her brother in law Joe and nephew Mason. She’s back at her hometown and possibly ready to date again. She goes online and finds a man to go out with. Is he the one?

This book was so good. It’s a mystery/thriller that you will love from start to dramatic finish. It has it all. All the feelings you like in a good thriller.

Take two sisters and throw in a husband, best friend, a few deaths, online dating and kidnapping and you have a good story. This one is actually a great story. I was drawn in from the beginning and could not put this book down. I wanted to know what was coming next. I thought I had it figured out but I was so wrong. I did not see it coming at all. I usually get close, but this time I was so far off I may as well have been on another planet looking.

This book will take you from Laura and Rosie’s childhood to their adulthood. Back and forth between the two. From both of their lives. They alternate chapters and keep you wondering what is going to happen next. Who can you trust. Who did what to who and will they survive. It’s one roller coaster of a ride that you will not soon forget. It contains the thrill, mystery, love, hate, relationship and friendships. It truly has it all. It’s not a huge tearjerker but you will feel for the characters. For all of them actually.

They characters are so well developed and your feelings for each of them will change at times but throughout I truly like them all. Even the villain when he is finally exposed. My heart broke for Laura for all the things she went through trying so hard to find love.

I felt like the ending of this book was well done. It didn’t leave any major loose ends and certainly didn’t keep you wondering. It was my first book by this author but won’t be my last by any means.

I have to thank #NetGalley, #St Martin’s Press for this awesome book in exchange for my complete and honest review.

It’s another 5 stars from me. I loved it.

I was really hoping to like this book. It seemed like it had all the right stuff to make it a real corker of a book. However, after the first couple of chapters, the book fell flat for me and I had to force myself to continue. There are sections of the book where my pulse quickened for a few beats, and my hopes were raised that it would turn into a meaty story but these were quietly dashed - several times. I think the overall premise is good, but some of the characters fell flat for me and I also felt their mannerisms were off. Maybe others will like this book but it wasn't for me.

Thank you @stmartinspress for providing me an eARC via @netgalley in exchange for my honest review! 💙

THE NIGHT BEFORE is your pretty standard psychological thriller. It features two sisters Laura and Rosie, and their childhood friends Gabe and Joe (Joe happens to be Rosie’s husband). The story begins with Laura trying out online dating after having a few strike outs with men. Her last love interest actually broke up with her via text. (How thoughtful). The book touched on daddy issues, a random murder from their childhood, and a disturbing secret that finally comes to light. 💙

The book was a fairly quick read and I did enjoy it for the most part. One of the primary problems I had was with the character, Laura. The author presented her with a random voice that would pop into her head from time to time. Especially when she encountered Jonathan (or any man for that matter). This voice would flip back and forth between being angry, frustrated, etc.... If it was just her regular conscious then that’s fine, but I felt like it could have made the story that much more chilling if the author would have developed it a little more. The author touched on how she would “snap” and possibly kill but it was no depth to this personality. Maybe I’m reading too much into it?

I gave this book 3 ⭐️. It was a decent read for a relaxing weekend.💙

🚨S T O P R E A D I N G 🚨Mini Spoiler - The whole time, I thought Jonathan Fielding was a relative of the Mitch Adler guy. I thought he came back to avenge his family member’s death. Anyone else? Lol I seriously was waiting for the ball to drop. Maybe that would have been too predictable?

I've read other Wendy Walker books that I preferred to this one. This book is confusing and not particularly gripping. The characters aren't especially likeable

The Night Before by Wendy Walker is a head-spinning psychological thriller that will keep you up way past your bedtime in order to finish it. Laurie and Rosie are close-knit sisters. Rosie has married her longtime childhood friend and is thrilled to see Laura ready to move forward with forming a relationship after a heartbreaking breakup. However, Laura does not return from her first date with a man she met through an online dating site. Rosie begins the search for her sister while secrets from their childhood are revealed. Lots of family drama, great plot line, and some unpredictable twists. Read and enjoy!

Actual rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Laura Lochner goes on a first date with a man she met online. The next morning, her sister, Rosie, finds her bed empty and the search for troubled Laura ensues. The pace of the story was slow and seemed to drag on. I found both sisters unlikable. Laura spent the whole book psychoanalyzing herself and her inner dialogue was just annoying. How many clues do you need before you bail on a first date? However, the ending had some interesting elements and unpredictable twists.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of Wendy Walker's "The Night Before" in exchange of an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for allowing me to read and review this book. I really enjoyed the book and it had many unusual twists. My only complaint is that I really didn’t like the main character. Such a self- involved person that I had little sympathy for her. I liked the story line and most of the other characters. It was a good read and I’m certain others will love this book!

Thank you St Martin's Press for sharing a copy of this book with me - all opinions are my own.

This was a book that as I started, I wasn't sure of. I wasn't sure how the voice of the book was going to work for me, as off the get go it felt like it might be frustrating to read Laura's confusion and self doubt on repeat. I had nothing to fear, because this book clicked for me just a few chapters in, and once it did I could not set the book down.

Completely riveting, the story moves back and forth between the current day when Laura's sister and friends frantically search for her after she fails to return home from an internet sourced date, the night of Laura's date, and several months prior as Laura meets with a therapist to discuss her questionable past.

You know that something happened in Laura's past that leads everyone, including her, to question if she once killed a man. You know that she is now missing after a date with a man who may not be who he claimed to be, a scenario that may have pushed a delicate Laura over the edge. You know that someone is lying.

I won't say more than that - what I will say is that Wendy Walker knows how to unravel a story so that you are never going to want to set that book down because you are 100% invested in seeing how it will play out, and who is ultimately hiding the biggest secret. I will also say that I love when I can't guess what the twists might be, and this one caught me WELL off guard.

Perfect summer reading! Be sure to get this one on your pile!

The Night Before was my favorite Wendy Walker yet. I loved the sisters, Laura and Rosie and how different they were, yet they were bonded so well. I loved getting into the psychology of how a parent's words and lack of attention can damage a child and define how much value they see in themselves all the way into adulthood, sometimes permanently. The longtime friendships between the sisters and Joe and Gabe made me wish I had friends I was that tight with from such a young age. The mystery surrounding why Rosie was always so worried about Laura was a good plot in its own right, but then just getting deep into Laura's head during her alternating chapters really set this book apart for me. So many books get damaged women wrong. I felt like this one wrung very realistic and true. I will be recommending to all my dysfunctional friends. (They make the best friends.)

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I loved the setup of this novel. You are introduced to a woman who is missing from her blind date and her sister the day after. as she looks for her. The journey to the resolution is great! I felt it lead me to a so-so ending, which made this a 4-star book versus a 5-star one. As always, Wendy Walker gave me a great reading experience, regardless of the end.

Wow, what a suspenseful novel! I read this one in a day and stayed up late to finish. The ending wasn't at all what I predicted, but in a good way! I appreciated the twists and turns and was truly left guessing, which is always what you want in a suspense novel! This was my first book by Wendy Walker but certainly won't be the last.

The night before is the first book by Wendy Walker I’ve ever read. I know, I know. I’m late on her. But can I say .. WOW. I’m hooked. I’m a fan. I will be reading her previous books ASAP now. The Night Before was a page turning thriller. You may think you know what’s coming, but you don’t. I read mostly thrillers. The twist don’t surprise me often Anymore. I can say this one did! I finished this in one reading flat. Didn’t get any sleep but HEY can you blame me? I will be thinking and talking about this one for awhile to come!!

In this thriller, Laura moved away from her hometown after she graduated from high school to get away from the cloud left by the murder of a boy she was dating. 10 years later, she has suddenly left NYC to come home to live with her sister Rosie who still lives in their town, and won't really say much about why. The book starts with Laura preparing to go on an internet date, and then alternates between Laura on the night of the date, and Rosie the next day when Laura doesn't come home. This was a real page turner with 3 different mysteries to unravel - not just where Laura is and what happened on her date, but also what happened back in high school and why she left the city and came home. The end actually got a little too bonkers for me, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. 3.75 stars, rounding up to 4.

I really enjoyed the author’s previous novel EMMA IN THE NIGHT but am sad to say that this one missed the mark for me. However, this may have more to do with my current out-of-love affair with thrillers in general than the book itself. It was off to a very slow start, mainly because I found it difficult to relate to any of the characters, so I put it aside for a while and tried again.

More luck the second time around, and I found I enjoyed the middle part of the novel a lot more, especially Rosie’s POV. Her love and worry for her sister were very touching, and I was intrigued by her concern over what trouble her sister may have gotten into. I also enjoyed the dual timeline and the flashbacks to an event in Laura’s past that cast doubt over her character and her reliability as a narrator.

However, Laura remained a thoroughly unlovable and unrelatable character for me, which ultimately made me lose interest. Maybe I am in an age group where online dating and her penchant for one-night stands with wrong men are so far removed from my own experiences that I simply could not relate. Even though the thread of danger underling the dating “game” had me intrigued throughout and had a lot of potential. Laura though – ugh! No sense of self-preservation, and certainly not a plucky heroine to look up to. I questioned throughout whether she was meant to have some sort of mental illness but no, this was just her, a total lack of judgment and some questionable morals to boot. Which made last quarter of the book a hard slog to finish and I persevered mainly because I had invested so much time already that I wanted to find out the answers – which were fairly predictable and a bit hard to swallow.

Sadly not the right book for me at this time, but I look forward to seeing what the author comes up with next.

When I started this book, I was immediately hooked. The story is centered around two sisters, one of whom has deep secrets in her past that may have come back into play, as she doesn't return home after a first date. Her sister is determined to find her, and through flashbacks and two POVs, the readers are there along with the characters, learning just enough information to keep the suspense high.

This book was so suspenseful. Walkers is an expert at dropping little hints as to what is going on. The reveals were all completely shocking and I didn't see a single one coming. I highly recommend this book.

Laura is a woman with a traumatic and confused past. Confusing to herself, her family, and her friends. When Laura goes home to escape heartache, which she fails to communicate the details with those closest to her, her life begins to unravel again. Will Laura be able to put her life back together again as she aspires to do when she moves back to the safety of her sister, or is home what will eventually tank her for good?

This is my first read by Wendy Walker, and this book was recommended by a friend. It certainly did not disappoint. It had so many plot twists that kept me reading way past my bedtime. I cannot wait to read Walker's next book!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of such a great thriller!