Member Reviews

This novel explores the disappearance of Edie Piper. The book is through the eyes of Edie's sister, Tess, who returns to her family home after receiving news about Edie, who disappeared many years ago. Tess begins to look further into the disappearance of her sister, and, in doing so, unearths some hidden family secrets.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I thought the characters, especially Tess and her father, were well crafted and developed, and I enjoyed the mystery of Edie's disappearance. The author blends the past and the future well and explores the months leading up to the disappearance through Edie's eyes.

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Fast paced book from the beginning. I love the twist and turns in the story. I will definitely be reading more from this author

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This book will keep you guessing right until the end, a really good psychological thriller. The story is about two sisters, Edie and Tess. They are fourteen years old and have very different personalities. Edie is wanting to make new friends involving drinking and boys. Tess is the smaller, quieter sister and not as bright as Edie and this causes quite a few problems between them. One day Edie goes missing and is never found. Twenty years later Tess is still looking for Edie and she still believes she is alive. Then comes the bad news that Edie’s body has been found and Tess is devastated and is determined to find out what really happened to her. Her investigations reveal secrets, lies and deceits which could put her life in danger. The story is told by Tess in the present and by Edie in the past. Then tension slowly builds with plenty of twists and you won’t be able to put this book down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon publishers for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

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The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

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A story full of family secrets,lots of red herrings and twists. A totally,for me anyway, surprise ending.

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*5 Stars*

ARC kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book surprised me with the ending. It shows what jealousy will do to some people. This was an interesting read with great characters.

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Someone You Know is the first book that I have read by Olivia Isaac-Henry but unfortunately I did not get on it with as I found it a bit too cliched for my liking with the crux of the story nothing that new.

Not one I would revisit

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Someone you know is a taut psychological thriller that you don’t want to miss . The characters are complex and the story takes so many twists and turns . This book takes you on a ride you never want to get off .

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First let me say that I loved this book. The basic premise is the story of twins Edie and Tess and each chapter is devoted to them alternately.. all the reader knows at the start is that Edie is missing and Tess thinks she is still alive. The story has many twists in it and some sub stories as well, all of which kept me reading avidly. The ending was unexpected and certainly none of the red herrings led to it. Great book.

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Always known as the twins but so very different and at first glance a wonderful loving close family laced with the love of Northern Soul but all on a path of self destruction and so many secrets - what’s not to love about this book

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Aah, family! As Tolstoy said, 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way'. The difficulties of family have filled countless books and I have read a fair few of them across a wide variety of genres. But it's thrillers and mystery novels that really excel to bring out both the best and worst about family, which is why I am utterly loyal to novels like Someone You Know. Thanks to Avon Books UK and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A lot of the themes in Someone You Know are staples fot he genre. There are a lot of family secrets/scandals, a beloved twin/sister/best friend/mother is missing/has been missing/is dead and now our protagonist, who always has self confidence issues and drinks/smokes too much, has to find out the truth if she is every to truly live her life. If it is set in the UK then she is currently working creatively in London but has to return to her small home town to solve the mystery. (Her co-workers are almost always horrible people.) I'm not going to lie, I love those kinds of stories. I read them avidly and no matter how often the tropes and twists and turns are repeated, they still delight me. I think part of the charm of thrillers and mystery novels is exactly how predictable they are, while constantly shocking us.



Someone You Know is a roller coaster ride, but one where you're never entirely sure you trust the ride. The novel has a lot of promise and I was very intrigued by the blurb. Unfortunately it didn't quite meet my expectations. It follows all the expected tropes and does so quite interestingly, but the novel is confusing. I was never entirely sure just how much time was passing, I'm pretty sure there were timeline errors here and there, and many of the characters didn't feel entirely fleshed out. There are some great plot twists towards the end, but while one of them wasn't presented with the gravitas it deserved, the other left me utterly disappointed since there had been no build up. In the end I feel Someone You Know would have benefited from a harsher editor, who would have taken some gardening shears to parts of the novel. Isaac-Henry creates some interesting moments with her characters, most of which are not likeable but realistic. But in the end I didn't find myself connecting to any of them, which meant I sometimes found myself continuing to the end just for the sake of it, not because I was absolutely intrigued.



As far as I can tell, Someone You Know is Olivia Isaac-Henry's first novel. The main points where this shows is in the many sub-plots throughout the novel. Her main story is solid, but so much else is going on that you end up unable to care about any of it because you're overwhelmed. Isaac-Henry tells the story of the twins by flitting back and forth between the past, told by Edie, and the present, told by Tess. This is a great set up that could have brought a lot of emotion to the novel, showing us the deep bond the twins might have had despite their differences. We didn't really get that, unfortunately, but the idea is there. There are a lot of great ideas in Someone You Know, which I would say is the most important thing. I hope that in her future novels Isaac-Henry improves on the execution of those ideas, at which point I'm confident she'll give us a great novel. For now, Someone You Know is a great holiday read, a book you can race through and experience the thrills without getting to invested.

Someone You Know had a lot of promise and a great set up. Unfortunately Isaac-Henry loses the way here or there, which means I walked away from her novel slightly disappointed. For those looking for a quick read, Someone You Know will give you exactly what you need. Meanwhile I'll keep an open mind for Olivia Isaac-Henry's next novel!

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If I could give 4.5 I would!
This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I found it quite drawn out at the beginning and believed the story could have been told in half the time,,, and then I realised the scene was being set all along for the last few chapters! I was desperate to find out what happened to Edie, and felt extremely sorry for Tess, but the past/present switching just kept building on the suspense! I can only describe it like a total rollercoaster - where you chug along quite nicely, then suddenly you just reach the top and whoooosh! I really enjoyed it and definitely recommend.

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I received a free e-copy of Someone You Know by Olivia Isaac-Henry from NetGalley for my honest review.

Tess and Edie are twin sisters. Tess is very quiet and Edie is very outgoing and very smart. One day, Edie doesn’t come home from school and no one can find her.

Twenty years later and Tess receives a phone call. Tess, who never stopped believing that Edie is alive, hears that her sister's body has been found. Tess has to return home and stay with her father while the police investigate her sister's death and re-open the case. The police also seem to be focused on the family and friends of the family. Could someone they all know and love, have committed such a horrible crime?

Tess decides she is going to investigate things herself but will this put her in danger as well? I loved how the story was told from two perspectives (Tess in the present and Edie in the past). A wonderfully written who-done-it that kept me guessing till the end.

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Tess, age 34, and Max have been together for nine years. They live together in the same flat, but are no longer a couple. She tends to stay out late at night partying with her friends and is about to lose her job due to her lack of participation.

Tess had a twin named Edie. When Edie was young, she went missing and now, 20 years later, Tess gets a call from her father saying the police have found her. Her body had been found in a canal wrapped in plastic and weighted down. The last time Tess saw Edie was when she slipped through a hedge by their school that led to the canal. She had been murdered.

Back home with her father, Tess is faced with waiting for the police to prove this is actually Edie’s body and finally bring closure to the loss of her sister. Her father is a beaten down man who spends his days smoking and watching television. Her mother had died many years ago when she was hit by a bus. Some question that it may have been suicide but the woman had always seemed happy.

After the loss of their mother, the girls’ Aunt Becca and Uncle Ray were there to help them. They also had a nice neighbor lady who baked cakes for them and helped care for them.

The story follows Tess and Edie as children and the friends they had and schools they attended and Tess as she searches for the person who could have killed her sister.

This book desperately needed an editor with large scissors. There is way too much extra verbiage and scenes that made it drag out. I didn’t find this book to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller but more of a sad commentary on the lives of people.

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

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Tess and Edie are twins, Edie has been missing for over 20 years and Tess has never really moved on....but then Edie’s body is found and the story revolves around ‘whodunnit’ amidst a web of lies, deceit and family secrets...
Tess herself, their Dad, Uncle, Former Lovers, Friends and Enemies all come under suspicion and of course at the end the culprit is unmasked after a few false starts...the ending did surprise me and I hadn’t even considered the killer as a possibility
This story is one oft told, albeit different circumstances but the layers of lies, deceit and families tied in with a long lost family member are regular themes, some are told fantastically, some poor and some like this book are adequate...the story is just believable, the characters ( mostly unlikeable ) unchallenging and I felt no kinship with any of them, the style of writing easy to follow if repetitive at times and some basic ( well imo ) errors in script nattered me, for example when Tess arrives to see her Dad she says its midnight then they have a few drinks and chat then later Tess excuses herself to go to bed on the pretext of an ‘early night’
I have also never read a book where characters smoke so much and each cigarette is addressed
I seem quite picky on this book but I do read a lot ( as you know ) and while all the ingredients were there it just somehow missed the potential

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After 20 years of refusing to believe the disappearance of her twin was the result of death, Tess is called home by her father when the police finally confirm they have found Edie's remains. The story takes up from here and is described in alternate chapters from the past to the present much of it from the point of view of Tess who has always been an unhappy character from being a child and has grown to lead an unhappy adulthood with an unsatisfactory relationship and too much alcohol. The unhappy family background unfolds and finally we learn what led to Edie's disappearance. The premise of this story is good and the writing is reasonably engaging but I felt the story was too drawn out and laboured. Not convinced by how we learn the truth in the end.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Olivia Isaac-Henry/Avon Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

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A slow burner that soon picks up the pace with lots of twists and turns until the truth is finally revealed.

Tess was 14 years old when her twin sister, Edie, went missing on her way home from school. For twenty years Tess has been convinced that her sister is still alive somewhere but then a phone call reveals her sister body has been found. Tess must now return to the family home to stay with her Dad while the police reopen the investigation into her sisters death. Who is responsible for Edie’s death ? Tess decides to start her own investigation but will this put her in danger and will she get to the truth ?

The story is told from the perspective of Tess, in the present day, and Edie, in the past. I really enjoyed this style of writing and it definitely added to the suspense as we are deip fed information. I have to admit that I suspected most of the characters at least once during the book !!

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

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Tess is living a pretty sad life. Still living with her ex until the lease runs out. Failing at work. Out all night drinking. And then the call she has always hoped never would come. Her twin sister, missing since they were fourteen, has been found. Tess has to travel back to see her family and face the investigation into her family and herself that began 20 years ago. Tess learns that everyone has something to hide, everyone keeps secrets, and she doesn't really know anyone as much as she thought she did. Not even herself.

This was a one day, did not put it down book. Parts seemed very familiar: a 30 something woman who is drinking herself out of everything important in her life (do so many people really drink straight vodka a bottle at a time?), returning home and struggling with everyone you know seeming to keep secrets, young girls desperate to grow up and get out. But the fact is that it was intriguing and touching. I look forward to more from the author and appreciate the opportunity to read this book before publication.

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Alternating between the past and Edie's perspective, and the present which gives Tess's perspective, this is a story about a missing teenager and the impact this has on a family that is already reeling from grief. Tess has been profoundly effected by the disappearance of her twin and the discovery of her body means that she is going to have to confront her grief head-on if she is to understand what happened all those years ago and finally lay ghosts to rest.
Tess makes a wonderful unreliable narrator as it is clear the combination of her self destructive behaviour, unresolved grief and the teenage resentment she has never relinquished have coloured her memories. As she starts to look at those closest to her in a different light, determined to discover what happened to Eddie all those years ago the tension slowly builds and there are some good reveals and twists along the way. However, not only is the book a great thriller, I thought that it worked particularly well as an exploration of grief and family tragedy and how this can manifest itself in strange ways and distort memory.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

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What happened to Edie? Tess, her twin, has been wondering that for 20 years. She's shocked and devastated when her dad calls to tell her Edie's remains have been found at the bottom of a reservoir. That doesn't answer her question, it only raises more of them. Told in dual time line by both Tess and Edie, this is classic secrets and lies but with a big twist. The twin aspect of this made it more interesting than the usual and I liked reading both girls perspectives. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. There are enough twists to keep you guessing!

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