Member Reviews
ENVY is the story of Faye, a semi-unsuccessful model who has two young daughters and a loving husband. Faye doesn't know this, but her neighbor, Erica, is watching her every move. Erica is overweight, struggles with issues from her past, and is pretty much a recluse with only one "friend" to her name. She wishes she were Faye...the beauty, the family.
What Erica finds out through her watchful eye is that Faye isn't as perfect as she initially thinks. When she witnesses something unsavory, Erica decides it's time for her to intervene, no matter how extreme her measures are.
ENVY is a dark thriller with plenty of twists. The characters are pretty unlikable, but that did not stop me from devouring it and eagerly flying through to see how everything would turn out. Author Amanda Robson does a wonderful job painting some drab characters and ones who are better off, and keeping the tension rising all the while. A lot of reviews talk about the "weak/confusing" ending, but I actually liked the way everything wrapped up. I was hooked until the very last sentence, and I will definitely be adding more books by Robson to my reading queue.
Thank you to NetGalley, Amanda Robson, and Avon Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Erica is obsessed with her neighbour, Faye. Faye is beautiful and had the perfect life. Her husband provides for her and their two children but Faye has made a mistake that could cost her her whole life. Erica wants to protect Faye’s children and abducts one of them which leads to Faye’s world breaking down.
This was an enjoyable read and the character evolutions were really intriguing. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
An addictive thriller finished it in a day! Would highly recommend this book to anyone plenty twists & turns fast paced. Loved it.
3 stars. A fun read full of twists and turns. Hard to follow at times with the way the narratives were written. It would be one persons POV/chapter but it would switch to someone else talking and I didnt know who. There were many plot scenarios that I wasn't sure why they were there or how they fit.
Granted, I flipped excitedly through this book, so it was good. I just felt like it fell flat sometimes and the ending was disappointing to me.
Thank you #Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.
A good thriller, with an interesting cast of characters. Makes you feel anxious wondering who might be watching you and when!
Tense story, and I loved the different dynamics between characters. Recommend
Erica is so envious of Faye that she stalks her. However, not known to Erica, Faye's life is in the process of a slow crumble. Faye is told that she is too old to model - she has a drunken affair to boost her morale. Even not knowing about the affair, Faye's husband, Phillip, just wants to live a comfortable life with Faye and their children. Faye is self-important - this filters down to her children - and also to Erica. Erica makes foolish mistakes, Faye makes foolish mistakes and the result is TBD by the reader!
A great read! Many thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for a super read!
This was undoubtedly one of the best novels I have ever read!
I just finished it (it's now three a.m.) but I just could not put it down until the very last page. Very different from the usual mystery/suspense novels out there. Not to say that there aren't wonderful novels waiting to be read, but this one is far above everything I have read to date. The plot is absolutely mind-blowing, thrilling writing, characters that are so utterly compelling they could literally walk off the page. I loved loved loved this book and can't recommend it more highly. Ten stars to this author whi REALLY knows how to tell a tale. And the shocking ending is another plus. Do NOT miss this one. If you enjoy mystery and suspense novels, this one has it in spades. . Ten stars!!!,
I adored Amanda Robsons last book, Guilt. I devoured it in a day so when NetGalley approved me an ARC to download of her latest, Envy, I nearly jumped for joy and threw every other ARC aside to start this.
Anyone who has read Robsons work before knows that she has a unique writing style which may not be to everyone's liking. I will say that it does work for me but I completely understand why others will find it off putting. Each chapter is titled by it's narrators name, however, while in those chapters it can change perspective from one paragraph to the next. I kept having to go back to see who I was reading about and I realized that just because it was one characters chapter doesn't mean you won't hear from others. I *think* it's the authors way of keeping the reader disoriented but it could prove frustrating to many.
Do you like unlikable and unreliable narrators? Robson hits it out of the park when it comes to despicable people.
We have Erica who is a lonely, overweight, and shy young woman that becomes obsessed with watching her model neighbor, Faye. She would love nothing more than to exchange lives with this enchanting woman. While she's stalking Faye she witnesses the unforgivable. Now it's time for Faye to learn her lesson.
Faye, is 34 years old and has been told by many in her profession that her days of modeling success are behind her. Her vanity has even begun to takes it toll on her marriage with Philip. While Philip is away and she at a party she has a one night stand with someone who manages to bolster her ego but it comes with a high price to pay.
This book is full of crazy people which I happen to love but the ending really missed the mark for me. It left me feeling that I either missed a piece of the puzzle somewhere or maybe I just didn't fully understand it.
All in all this is a fun book about creepy people obsessing over other creepy people. If that's your thing then you'll probably enjoy this. 3.5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
A very enjoyable read! I was very interested in getting my hands on this one after I read the blurb and I am pleased to say that I was not let down.
The story is written very well and the characters are interesting and jump off the page. I would recommend this read!
Erica is so envious of Faye that she wants to be her and that envy drives her to a crime; Faye's life is not perfect either. She has a wonderful husband, beautiful daughters yet it is not enough. Many admire Faye but where does the real danger lie? Good domestic suspense thriller from many perspectives of Envy and how fate twists and turns.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC!
I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a serious cluster fuck – I have not read anything like this in a long time. You will need a lot of coffee and meditation to get through this, but it’s a really wild ride. No real ending or payoff
Who hasn't envied the woman who "has it all"?
Erica, overweight and struggling for purpose, finds herself obsessed with watching the movements of her beautiful, lithe, model neighbor, Faye. Faye's life looks idyllic and Erica begins to try and fold herself into it but Faye has secrets and problems that no one can guess and those who dance close to the fire may get burned...
This book grew on me and grew on me until I had to see what the inevitable crashing together of the four main characters was going to look like. It wasn't what I expected and it certainly didn't disappoint!
Thank you to the always amazing Amanda Robson, Avon Books, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
We all envy the “perfect” women, the ones who seem to have it all, the ones with the perfect bodies, homes and families. Erica has certainly envied her neighbor Faye, who seems to have it all, until Faye’s daughter disappears, that is. Police question Erica, with all the time she has spent watching her neighbor, surely Erica has seen something. Robson paints an unsettling tale of obsession and jealousy, read it with the lights on