Edge of my seat from page one! I love psychological thrillers and this book did not disappoint! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

Another solid story by this talented author. Enjoyable psychological thriller with some pretty unlikeable characters that kept me entertained throughout.

Fast paced and fabulous. A great story which pulls you in from the very first page. Gripping and intense. Such a great read and a definite 5 stars

Oh my this is an absolute belter of a book. I think I spent the whole last chapter holding my breath. I cannot make my mind up if the ending is total genius or total torture or possibly both!

K.L. Slater is a hit or miss author for me. I've rated her books anywhere from 4 to 1 stars. This book, however, is the worst one I've read by her. I thought the plot was weak, the characters were awful, and the ending just didn't make sense to me. My friends have rated this book high, so clearly I'm in the minority.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Closer
by K.L. Slater
Bookouture


Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 24 Oct 2018


I am reviewing a copy of Closer through Bookouture and Netgalley:


She's still friends with her ex husband Shaun and they would do anything for their daughter Maisie. Now Shaun has moved in with Joanne and Maisie has a new family, but something is not quite right about it..

Joanne isn't everything she says she is but no one is listening so she must find out for herself what she is hiding. If she doesn't find out her daughter may be in very real danger.

I give Closer five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Absolutely stunning book, couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Had me gripped from the first page and kept me engaged right through to the end. Full of twists that kept me guessing and that ending, just wow! A seriously good book! I don’t hesitate in giving it five stars I loved it,.

This is the second book by KL Slater I've read, and I didn't know what to make of it. The book started slow, and I couldn't really get into it. I persisted, and just kept on going.... and it was worth it!! The book picked up speed through the middle and I couldn't wait to see what the evil (or was she?) step mother planned next and what happened to Maisie. Well written and worth the effort!!!

This book had me hooked from the beginning. It was written in such a way to grab your attention and demand it the whole way through to the end. 

Emma is concerned that there is something upsetting her daughter Maisie but she is not quite sure what it is. She has tried talking to her ex-husband Shaun about her concerns, but he simply will not listen. She has even confided in her boss, Joanne, only to later find out that he boss Joanne is her ex-husband's new girlfriend! As if that wasn't awkward enough, things get worse!  Emma suspects that Joanne and her daughter Piper are to blame for her own daughter Maisie's change in attitude and behaviour. But what could possibly be going on?

Emma suspects that Joanne's daughter Piper is bullying Maisie and making her feel the way she does, but Joanne is adamant that her "perfect" daughter wouldn't do such a thing. So what is truly happening? Who can Emma believe?

I did not see the ending coming! Wow what a great twist!

If you like a book that will keep you turning the pages and guessing to the very end, then look no further! This is the book for you to read.

3.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I believe I have read all of this author’s books and have really enjoyed some and found others to be just alright. I think I have to put this in the just alright category because it was so slow until about 85%. The ending was definitely one that I didn’t see coming, so points for that but it just took too long to get there. I will still look forward to reading this author’s next book.

This is the chilling story of a woman whose husband Shaun is leaving her for her boss Joanne who has a daughter Piper. The wife and Shaun have a daughter Maisie. The wife is trying to do what's right for Maisie. Shaun is infatuated with Joanne. Piper is a spoiled brat who bullies Maisie. This can not end well for Maisie or her mother.

EXCERPT: She knows it's her. She knows this before they even pull her tiny body out of the oily black water.

Dread squirms in her stomach and she wills herself not to vomit at the side of the quay.

Not here. Not in front of all these people.

Someone drapes a scratchy pale blue blanket around her shoulders. Someone else presses a plastic cup of hot tea into her hand. But neither kindness stops her from shaking.

There are concerned, hushed whispers all around. The sounds blend into one swishing echo in her ears, like dry leaves swirling against asphalt on a breezy autumn day.

She holds her breath against the ripe smell of the water, closes her eyes against the rawness of the hopeless dread that hangs above them all.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: I know my daughter better than I know myself and if there’s one thing I know for sure at this moment: it's that Maisie is not ok.

My ex-husband Shaun and I are still friends.
We would do anything for our beautiful little girl, Maisie.
But now Shaun has moved in with Joanne and suddenly, Maisie has a brand new family.
And there’s something not quite right about it…I know Joanne isn’t everything she says she is. Yet no-one will listen.
I need to discover what she’s hiding.
Because if I don’t, my daughter will be in terrible danger.

MY THOUGHTS: Closer, by K. L. Slater, starts at the end but still manages to give nothing away on its journey to the conclusion. By the end of the prologue, I was gripping the edge of the chair, my eyes sticking out on stalks, saying 'OMG!' over and over.

Both women in Shaun's life have secrets in their pasts, secrets they don't want revealed, secrets that could damage their present and their futures. Only one knows the other's secret, so it's a bit of one-sided warfare, cleverly disguised, of course, for some time. It's complicated. . . but not too complicated. It is intriguing. And clever. And a child is the pawn in this game of power that is a lot more twisted than the participants are aware. Very clever Ms Slater, very clever indeed. I never saw that coming, not for one millisecond!

And at the end, are we still really sure. . . ? Read it, and you'llsee what I mean.

😍😍😍😍

THE AUTHOR: After years of trying to get published and never getting further than the slush pile, I went back to university at the age of 40 where I studied for an English & Creative Writing degree followed by an MA in Creative Writing.

Although I also worked full-time during the five years I studied at university, the courses gave me the time and space to try different writing and increased my confidence and belief in my writing. Before I graduated from my MA, I had secured representation with my agent, Clare Wallace, at the Darley Anderson Literacy, TV and Film Agency and had my first book deal.

My first adult psychological thriller for Bookouture is called ‘Safe with Me’ and it actually started life as my dissertation on my English & Creative Writing degree.

The creepy voice of Anna came to me strong and insistent . . . she wanted to be written, she wouldn’t go away.

I live in Nottingham with my husband, Mac. Between us we have three grown-up kids; my daughter, Francesca and Mac’s sons Nathan and Jake.

I also write multi-award winning YA fiction under the name Kim Slater.

(From author's website)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Closer by K.L. Slater for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://wordpress.com/post/sandysbook...

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my review based on my honest opinion.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. That being said, I read all of it and I must say the last few chapters were my favourite. The ending of this book was great, I loved the final plot twist, the lead up to it was uneventful and the book felt like it would never get interesting. I wish the whole book was as good as those last few chapters.

DNF; I tried.

This is the first novel I've received from NetGalley that I legitimately could not finish due to its writing style. The premise may sound catching and dark and right up my alley, but the format was just too cringe-y for me. I made it to chapter 14 (21% into the novel) and even read the first five chapters twice. I simply could not get into it. I mean, look at this snippet from the summary.

My ex-husband *Shaun* and I are still friends.
We would do anything for our beautiful little girl, *Maisie*.
But now Shaun has moved in with *Joanne* and suddenly, Maisie has a brand new family.

Huge portions of the book are written like this, with the protagonist mentally talking to the reader in her head - I shit you not.

"Today is Monday, which in our world means ballet. It's jazz and tap on a Friday and she's just started freestyle disco on Wednesday nights, which my mom has reluctantly agreed to pick her up from."
(Chapter 1)

Who thinks like this? Do people randomly go about their day narrating their life on the off chance some powerful being is tuning in on their thoughts? Unless the main protagonist is suffering from magical thinking, I don't want to be directly told as the reader what she's doing and how her life has been. That should either be inferred or gathered from the character's interaction with others or her environment.

The main character also has the habit of contradicting herself and identifying the contradiction which makes reading certain sentences a complete waste of time.

i.e.

"I pull up outside the dance school in my shiny bright new red Toyota. Well, not exactly brand new. My budget wouldn't stretch to that, so it's second hand."
(Chapter 1, first sentence jfc)

Umm, why not just automatically state it's second hand then? Also, who gives a shit what car you pull up in? Not I.

This style of writing made me dislike Emma (the main protagonist) immensely. I was frustrated with her by the end of chapter one and was already routing for her child to be taken away from her - that's how fed up I was with Emma. Discounting the fact that you can already tell what direction this story heads based on the prequel, the novel becomes even more predictable and somewhat tedious to read because of the over-explanation of Emma's actions. Up until chapter 14, nothing is truly left to the reader's imagination, which is a personal writing pet peeve.

I cannot state whether or not this novel gets better or finishes with a bang, but the writing style made me genuinely not care to even spark note the ending or read reviews for spoilers.


Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with an ebook version of this story. I may not have enjoyed it, but it definitely made me learn more about my personal dislikes as a reader.

WOW WOW AND WOW!
A must read and also made it to my list of best books of the year. An absolute must read for any fan of this genre!

Closer was not quite what I had expected, although I was pleasantly surprised. From the very beginning, I was hooked and began to speculate a conclusion, but I missed it every time. Quite often I can figure out the ending before the close of the book. Things were different with this one. I was astonished at the wrap up!

This was such a thrilling and suspenseful read, though I feel it was not quite a psychological thriller, it was definitely a suspense thriller, I would highly recommend this book to anyone. I look forward to reading more of The author’s works. 5/5

This book was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This review or portions thereof, will be posted ( when able) on Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, Litsy, Pinterest, Kobo, FB, BAM, and my own blog. Unfortunately I am unable to provide links to all of these as I am utilizing my phone.

An engrossing, exciting read with a painfully contrived ending. I was entirely on board with this book for the first 90% of the story, but the final chapters felt rushed and poorly written to me. Emma's character was interesting and her backstory was well-developed, and Maisie's rapid decline was written in a way that inspired dread and suspense in the reader. While I realized who the villain of the story was around two-thirds of the way into the story, I expected the conclusion of the drama to be much more developed and fine-tuned. To have Emma discover Miss Diane explaining her back story (in painfully obvious detail) to Maisie while wielding a knife in the dance studio felt like a bad episode of Scooby-Doo, complete with the line about the 'meddling kids.' Add to this the fact that Joanne is revealed to be a murdering psychopath with a penchant for revealing her plans in a bald and unrealistic way, and I was left dissatisfied and annoyed. To end a nuanced psychological thriller in such a way did a disservice to the rest of the story.

Are you f-ing kidding me?!? There better be a sequel to this book! Great read, but I need to know more, and I need it pronto!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Closer is told from several points of view. Emma is the main character and the story is about her. She and her husband have separated but have decided to live together because of their daughter Maisie.

While everyone thinks that it's a strange arrangement it works for them, until Shaun declares that he is in love with Emma's boss Joanne. The relationship is hardest on Maisie who is bullied and turns into a shell of herself. The bubbly girl who loved dancing is no more. Joanne's daughter Piper is a spoiled brat who Emma despises but now is forced to be around.

This book is an interesting look at mother-daughter relationships, communication, the break-up of a marriage. The shocking twist part of the book comes at the very end.

Wow what a fantastic book. I have read a few of this authors other books and loved them all and this one was just as brilliant. It had had me hooked from the start and I read it in two sittings. What a cracking ending as well. Would definitely recommend