Was a fan Robson's Obsession so I was looking forward to reading Envy. Pretty standard psychological thriller - wasn't terrible, wasn't great. Quick, fun read but overall nothing to write home about.

2.5 Stars
I’m really hoping that with this book done I’m at the end of a triad of books I haven’t liked.
This was an average, predictable and banal read. The plot by itself is nothing very unique. The characters are all unlikable. The ending is disappointing.
When you first start reading this book you think there are 2 narrators but as you read further you realize that there are more! Each narrator unfortunately had a very similar voice and you had different people’s commentary in another person’s narration, making it hard to remember whose narration you are reading! However the chapters are short enough to go through them fairly quickly. All the narrators are unreliable but the fact that you can’t empathize with even one of them makes this book difficult to enjoy.
About the plot, well to sum it up: Erica stalks Faye, wants to be like her, then sees that Faye is far from perfect, keeps stalking her, craziness ensues, we find another sinister stalker who knows what Faye is up to, more madness, ends unrealistically.
I did like the author’s writing style but all in all this was something I was tempted to quit reading multiple times. I didn’t simply because it was quick enough to get through.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley, #Envy

Also shared on: https://romasharma.blogspot.com

Aristotle defined envy as “pain at the sight of another’s good fortune, stirred by those who have what we ought to have.”

Erica’s picture, or better stated - mugshot, is the illustration you’d find beside the definition of envy. Yes friends! Erica wants what she can’t have; that being everything that the fateful Faye has. How far will Erica go to get what she wants? You gotta read to find out!😘

Envy was an enjoyable read; not as good as Robson’s book, Obsession. However, I must say it’s still a read deserving of 3.5 stars to which I’ve rounded up to 4 due to the love of her previous work! ❤️

Overall I enjoyed this book but it kept switching point of views without saying what character it was...very confusing. It wasn’t the most well written book I’ve ever read either. The storyline saved it for me. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for review.

3/5 stars

What I thought was going to be some sort of Single White Female type of plot turned into a crazy warped book full of even more warped and crazy people. There are a lot of things to like about the author and the style, but for the book itself, it just didn’t come together in the least. The ending was a let down and the dizzying effects of the back and forth weren’t anything more than a distraction to the plot. I just wished it had come together better:

Pretty standard start and then goes off the rails. At the beginning it seems to be your standard “grass is always greener” story. It’s not though because Erica isn’t going to envy from afar forever. She is quite the character along with her neighbor, Mouse.

Faye is self absorbed. She isn’t a horrible character but makes some pretty bad choices. But not everything is poor Faye’s fault you’ll see...

This story gets pretty crazy and then ends on an even more crazy note. Entertaining for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Avon Books UK for a copy in exchange for a review.

Envy by Amanda Robson has a premise that I immediately connected to.

Take a look:

She wants your life – and she’ll do anything to get it…

Erica has always wanted to be exactly like her neighbour, Faye: beautiful, thin, and a mother. But Faye’s life isn’t as perfect as it seems – she has a terrible secret, and slowly but surely, it is threatening to destroy her and everything she holds dear.

When Faye’s daughter Tamsin goes missing after school, the police turn to Erica. But is Erica the only one who has been enviously watching Faye? Or is there another threat hiding in the shadows…?

Obsession leads to envy in this story of a woman who has been stalking her neighbor. This is a creepy, fun read that is full of twists! If you enjoy an unreliable narrator who witnesses her “perfect’ neighbor doing some imperfect things and is determined to teach the object of her obsession a lesson…then this one is for you!

Due April 4.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was not for me. There were some crazy formatting issues in this. Each section is divided by one of the main four characters' names. But, within their section, another character's POV would suddenly appear. It made it difficult to follow along. It was throughout the whole book. Hopefully, that can get fixed.

Erica wants to be beautiful, blonde Faye. She follows her and her children around. Faye wants to be a model, but at the age of 34, her time seem for that seems to be passing. Philip, her husband, wants her to care less about her looks and modelling. Enter Jonah, whom Faye makes a huge mistake with one night and turns out to be an even crazier stalker than Erica.

None of the characters in this book were likeable and all were crazy. I would not recommend this book.

Envy is about a couple named Philip and Faye. They live with their two girls. Unknown to them Faye has someone obsessed with her by the name of Erica. Philip has a long time friend that also seems to be obsessed romantically to Faye. One night something happens and Faye’s world is turned upside down by a secret. Very good book. .

Erica likes to watch her neighbour Faye; she thinks Faye is perfect. With her husband, two children and a body and looks to die for, Faye seems to have the perfect life. When Erica discovers Faye is not quite as perfect as she thinks, she sets in motion a plan to teach her a lesson. Jonah is also watching Faye and he will do anything he can to have Faye permanently in his life.

Envy is the story of obsession and jealousy which spirals out of control. A good thriller with several twists which was a quick and easy read.

again the blurb drew me in!

Erica, overweight , finds herself obsessed with watching the movements of her beautiful, lithe, model neighbour, Faye. but Faye has secrets and problems that no one can guess...

it certainly didn't disappoint! and made a quick fast paced read as i HAD to know what happened!!

Thank you to Amanda Robson, Avon Books, and Netgalley for this DIGITAL ARC in exchange for an review!

This started out well for me but then as I got further on with the plot it just seemed to lose it somehow. It didn't hold my attention and I found myself doing a lot of skim reading.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I really liked the sound of this book and was very keen to get started.
This started as a gripping read, centred around a jealous woman, obsessed with the life of an attractive mother who is a neighbour. In short, she begins to stalk her! Throw into the plot a man (oldest friend of attractive mothers husband) who is also obsessed with the same woman.

I am not sure if it was because I wasn't reading the final edited copy, but I found the story jumping all over the place with the four main characters! In between sentences it just seemed to jump and I had to go back and re read who was actually telling the story.

The plot had good potential and for the first half of the book, it was gripping and interesting and punchy but then it really started to loose its memento and didn't flow and became so unrealistic that it was rather annoying. I did read to the end which I found really disappointing. It just didn't work for me sadly :(

Envy is your run-of-the-mill psychological thriller focusing on obsession, stalking and well, yeah...envy.
__________________________________
Meet Erica, the stereotypical overweight woman with major issues from her past.
▪️
Insert beautiful, thin, self-absorbed Faye who seems to be and to have everything that Erica has ever dreamed of for herself.
▪️
Commence stalking.
▪️
Inevitably Erica discovers that Faye isn't without faults afterall. Shocker.
▪️
Erica gets even stalkier.
▪️
Insert an equally stalky dude.
▪️
Throw in some unrealistic cray cray shit for good measure and top it all off with a "really?" ending.
▪️
The End.
__________________________________


I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a mystery you can read in one setting on a short-haul trip, leave in the seat pocket on your way out, and forget as soon as you leave The characters are as one-dimensional as possible, the plot is threadbare, and it's only slightly more interesting than the printed instructions on what to do in an emergency

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved the cover for this book and the description sounded awesome.

Then I started reading it. I got an advanced reader's copy from NetGalley, so I'm thinking that some of the difficulty following along may be because the book wasn't edited in its final format. The POV flips around between 4 people and sometimes it would switch but it didn't advise you it did, which could be very confusing. I'm sure the final format will have fixed this.

Aside from the confusion regarding the flipping POV, I found the book a little hard to get into. You have 4 characters who it goes between, none of which are particularly likable. That being said, Robson is talented at painting a picture of someone who is not likable - as well as finding good qualities in dislikable people. You find yourself actively disliking some of the characters (at least I did).

The book peaks several times and has you thinking its the end, only to have something else happen and it continues on.

Overall, I can't say that I would recommend this book based on the version I read. That being said I am intrigued by the writer and would like to read something else by her to see if maybe it was just this storyline I didn't connect with.

I liked the plot and the obsession part of the story, but I found it kept flip flopping all over the place and the ending was rushed, with no real conclusion. The main character was potrayed as a stalker type who wanted to be the beautiful model neighbor, but after the twist part of what happened, it just kind of became unrealistic. I still plan on reading all of Amanda Robson's other novels.

Gripping thriller ..... Erica wants to be Fate wants to look like her wants her life ... she watches her every move until one day she takes things further
Erica is married to Philip ... she is beautiful woman want to be her men want her and one of these men is Philip’s best friend Jonah
A great story which keeps you guessing until the very end - slick with great characters where things aren’t always as they seem

I really enjoyed this thriller about obsession. Looking at how one mistake can spiral into a nightmare and how jealousy can control someone’s whole world. It was gripping.

Erica has always wanted to be exactly like her neighbour, Faye: beautiful, thin, and a mother. But Faye’s life isn’t as perfect as it seems – she has a terrible secret, and slowly but surely, it is threatening to destroy her and everything she holds dear.

When Faye’s daughter Tamsin goes missing after school, the police turn to Erica. But is Erica the only one who has been enviously watching Faye? Or is there another threat hiding in the shadows…?

This was a dark, twisted psychological thriller and I loved it!! "Envy" is about an obsessed neighbor, and envy is something I think everyone has delt with but this took envy to a whole nother level... Great book!

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of Envy by Amanda Robson
Pub Date: 04 Apr 2019