This is the first book I have read by Vikki Patis. I really liked her writing style going back and forth between the 2 characters of Beth and Isla. An unfortunately accident brings these ladies together at the scene of a hit and run leaving a jogger dead. Beth quickly instills herself into Isla's life but are her actions those of a lonely woman trying to find a friend or is there something sinister. As we get to know them both we learn they live very different lives but aren't all that much different from each other. Isla on the surface has the perfect life, or does she? What happens as these two become best friends, and why does Isla's husband have an issue with her having friends, especially Beth? These are all questions that are answered during this roller coaster up and down thriller of a book. While I really enjoyed the ending, I was longing for more as I became attached to Beth and Isla.

Beth and Isla form an unlikely friendship when they both witness an accident. They're of a similar age but from very different backgrounds and find they have several things in common. I read this really quickly and found it gripped me from the start. It's a bit twisty but nothing completely ridiculous or unbelievable and I did find that I really enjoyed it.

Isla witnessed a hit and run where a young man has died. At the accident scene she was helped by Beth a local waitress who lives down the road. They feel tied to each other and a slow friendship starts. Both women are in the same domestic situations but their lives are so vastly different. Things are slowly getting worse for both of them and they need each other more than ever.

I really enjoyed this book but the link between Jake and Beth bugged me a little, like it could have been a lot darker than it actually is perhaps? Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Girl Across the Street was a very quick read with so many unlikeable characters. I really enjoyed The Diary by this author so I jumped at the chance to read her next book. A story of abuse, of friendship and differences between people. I enjoyed this read even though I figured out who not to trust early on.

Isla and Beth live close to each other but have never met until the night that they are first on the scene when a jogger is hit by a car. They are from the opposite ends of town and completely the opposite of each other and yet a friendship is formed. Beth is a struggling waitress living with her dead beat boyfriend Kylie. Isla is stuck in a loveless marriage with Jake. There are secrets held by all and when they are revealed their lives will be changed forever.

Thanks to Bookouture and. NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

I loved this book. It leads up to the main story line slowly, until you are completely reeled in without even knowing it. A real page turner, utterly gripping. I am going online right now to check out this author's other books. Wonderful read. Highly recommend

Thank you NetGalley for the privilege of receiving this advanced copy to read and review.

This book is a fast-paced, page-turner that hooks you early and keeps on reeling you in until the very end. There was some predictability, but all of the foreshadowing and hints along the way just kept me making guesses about what I thought was going on, and devouring the story to see what does end up happening, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The only negative in my opinion is that I prefer more solid endings with definite closure, but I know that doesn’t always happen in this genre but I still love this type of book. Will be an excellent beach read.

Great book will be reading other books by this author.
Will also recommend this book to others.
Great work

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC.

Two unhappy women in awful relationships are involved in the same incident, a man was hit by a car. The writing was not bad, but I do feel as if there should be a trigger warning with this book. Despite the turbulence this book made me feel, it was not a bad thriller to read. It is a super fast read with moderately developed characters and men you can hate.

Review: 2.5 Stars
This one is a hell of slow burn, yet a quick read. The plot keeps getting thicker but nothing is happening! There is a lot of suspense and drama, and the plot seems like a domestic noir. It’s interesting and you want to find out more but even by 50% you have no idea what is going on or where this is headed. You can certainly make some guesses but there’s hardly any basis to what you are guessing. Beth alludes to ‘knowing’ Jake in her narrations but we don’t know how. Why Isla is married to Jake is beyond me. Her narration portrays him as a controlling, judgmental and maybe even slightly abusive husband. There are enough red flags there to make you wonder what is making her stay married to Jake. Same is the case with Beth and Kyle. No apparent reason for them to be together except habit.
The thing with a slow burn is that once it’s all heated up it starts to boil over pretty quickly and a lot of things happen rapidly. Yet the mystery remains and the pieces don’t fall in to place very quickly. Hiren how little movement there is in the plot the reader can easily guess what’s going on, there is enough confusion there to not be 100% certain right till the end but most readers of this genre will have figured it out. The last 15% of the book is where everything comes to head and you know what’s going on and how accurate your guess was.
Overall this isn’t a book I highly recommend. It’s pretty boiler plate and there is nothing that particularly stands out. It’s an average read.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley, #TheHousewife

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

The Girl Across the Street by Vikki Patis is a riveting psychological thriller with a fantastic, explosive ending!

Filled with characters that you’ll both love and hate, it is a deeply moving story about domestic abuse, family relationships, unlikely friendship, and how your life can be saved by the most unlikely of adversaries.

The narrative alternates between Beth and Isla, two unlikely friends from opposite sides of the street (and life). Both have secrets. Some they keep well hidden, some they share with each other. These secrets are revealed slowly and methodically, and with the tension running beneath the pages, makes for compulsive reading – you won’t put it down.

The character development happens at a great pace too: you get to know enough about them to understand their motives, just not enough to know what’s coming next.

I’d certainly recommend this novel for fans of this genre!

When Isla an insomniac is having a late night walk, she witnesses a jogger killed by a hit and run driver. She tries to save his life along with Beth who lives locally.

Isla and Beth become friends. Isla has not had a close friend in years, what harm can it do? From the outside they have nothing in common, Isla lives in a nice house and has no money worries whereas Beth lives in a council flat struggling to make ends meet.

The chapters alternate between Beth and Isla. Seems like both of them have secrets. All the time there is a darkness hiding amongst this story. I was totally addicted desperate to find out what the connection was between the characters and how it would all end.

Beth has a plan to get close to Isla. But she wasn’t expecting to actually feel sorry for her and start to see her as a real friend, will she be able to carry on with her plan?

Loved this book and did not want to finish it. You never really know what goes on behind closed doors!! I really wanted Beth to be a true friend to Isla who I felt very sorry for!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

The tension in the thriller starts as a slow boil and builds, compelling the reader onward. Onewoman trapped in an abusive marriage, another trapped in a dead end life of her own making. Both have secrets and regrets. Two women, seemingly so different, bound together by murder. The Girl Across the Street is a taut thriller with a satisfying ending.

The Girl Across The Street
Vikki Patis
Description
You’re hiding a secret that only she can see.
Her name is Beth. She came into my life when I needed her the most. We lead very different lives, but she’s the only person who understands me.
She was the only other witness to the terrible accident on the street between our homes. The only person who saw the cracks in my perfect life before I had the chance to cover them up.
It’s been so long since I’ve had a friend. Someone to talk to, to listen to, to laugh and dream with.
Beth would never do anything to hurt me.
She only wants what’s best for me, for my marriage.
Doesn’t she?

Holy Moly. This book was brilliant. Seriously, I had to read it front to back. What a wild ride. Not a book to just read...you have to at times remember to breathe. Best book in a long while. I never saw it coming. What can I say without a spoiler? It would be a movie to see as well. Hell yeah, I was involved and connected. Just amazing.
Thanks to NetGalley and the writer for the pleasure of an advance copy.

Well! I started off enjoying this despite feeling it was a little silly with nearly all the male characters being horrible and nearly all the women characters being victims, used by men and very weak.

I stuck with it and despite my initial misgivings and I found myself swept up in the story of Isla the wealthy but utterly unhappy housewife, who is terrorized by her husband Jake, and Beth a struggling young woman working all hours in a restaurant to make ends meet while her pot smoking layabout of a boyfriend spends his days in bed, getting high ans playing video games with his mate.

When they both witness a fatal traffic accident, their lives are brought together and they find out that they have more in common than than they think. Both have secrets and slowly but surely they find that their worlds have collided indirectly in the past as well as the present.

As I said at the beginning, I had initial reservations about this one. Despite being immensely readable from the get go I was a little worried about the rather two demensional “women victims” and “horrible men” characters. However as the book went on I just got totally swept up in it and went with it. These stereotypes do subside somewhat as the characters are fleshed out.

What this book does have going for it is the fantastic storytelling. It’s precise and engaging with just enough character development to let it breath. It’s not a long book at under 300 pages but despite this, we have quite a few long chapters in here and this format works extremely well to keep you engaged. The editing on this feels near perfect as I’m sure this could have ended up a much longer read in the wrong hands.

The last few chapters really amp up the tension and excitement to near unbearable levels. Flying through the last part of this book I realized I was totally engrossed in the book and thoroughly enjoying it, and at the end of the day that’s what readings all about right?

My first read of Vikki Patis, her name is now on my radar and I look forward to what she comes up with in the future.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Vikki Patis for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant plot, excellent main characters that you invest in. I read this book in one sitting and I would highly recommend it.

This is such a roller coaster of a novel. Isla and Jake are living their best lives, when a man is killed by a hit and run near their home. Isla tries to save him, and meets Beth. Through happenstance, Beth and Isla become friends, and when Beth moves in with Jake and Isla, she realizes things aren’t right in their marriage.

This is a quick paced thriller I’m glad I was able to read early, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

This was one of those reads that took a bit of time to get into. After the prologue, which sets up some kind of “event to come,” the opening begins in the midst of another event in the past that sort of matters, I guess. From that point on we meet the main players through tedious passages of minutiae about their day-to-day routines. At first, this bored me to no end, but as I read on, I realized it was purposeful. I was actively turning the pages midway through, engaged and interested in how things would turn out. I was waiting for the “thriller twist” at which the story seemed to hint.

But … for me, it just didn’t pan out. I suppose some readers may find the inner workings of one of the characters a shocker. Maybe? I can’t say I was gripping my seat by the end. It all sort of fell flat. There is a fine bit of escalation in the main story, but nothing truly interesting happens here. It’s pretty obvious early on how things will play out, which makes it a disappointing read because you’re kind of expecting … well, something more interesting to happen.

Otherwise, the writing itself is fine, if plain, but the flipping back and forth between characters seems merely a convention to have an omniscient narrator for part of the story. One of the characters’ chapters are in first person, the other third, which I found jarring at times. Perhaps Patis was going for a particular effect. If so, it slipped past me.

Really enjoyed this book. Keeps you guessing & plenty twists. Would highly recommend it & look forward to reading more by this author.

Isla suffers from insomnia and frequently wanders the streets of her neighborhood in the wee hours hoping to tire herself out, but on one of these nightly jaunts she is surprised by a jogger and then a crash. While she struggles to process what has happened, another woman, Beth, runs across the street to the accident. In the days following, Beth begins to insert herself into Isla's life and begins to see the pain and suffering Isla has been hiding for so long. But what has Beth been hiding, and how does she know Isla's husband, Jake?

Truly thrilling and unputdownable!! Highly recommended!

A Hit and Run Accident.

Two women, one struggling to make ends meet, and one affluent, both trying to save the victim.

Seemingly they have nothing in common...or do they?

Isla (excerpt) “Jake is leaving to visit his mate. Is that really where he is going? I realize that I don’t care. I only care that he isn’t here. I fall asleep quickly, drifting into a dreamless sleep. I always sleep better when Jake’s not here.”

Beth (excerpt) He’s finished within minutes. He flops down on the mattress beside her, eyes closed, a smile on his lips. She wants to punch him, smash him in the face with her fists, grab a knife from the kitchen and stab him in the throat. But she doesn’t. She can’t even speak.

The hit and run accident may have brought the two women together, but it’s been a long time since Isla had a friend-someone to talk with, and listen to, over a shared cigarette or glass of wine. Each of the women can use a friend.

“We’re in this together”

But, are they? Can Isla trust Beth?

Again we have the premise that “all is not what it seems, behind closed doors”, but this time there is an added dimension to the story. I knew there was something just beneath the surface of what the author was allowing us to see, secrets and motives, yet to be revealed, in this dark story.

It held my interest and I seemed to be turning the pages quickly, wanting to know more, and hoping that these women had finally found someone, in each other, that they could count on...but knowing that this is not always the case in psychological thrillers........

Could Isla trust Beth- “The Girl Across the Street”?

Find out on March 8, 2019!

I would like to thank Netgalley, Bookouture, and Vikki Patis for the digital ARC I received in exchange for a candid review!