Magpie was a disappointing read for me for a number of reasons. The blurb states it's a 'haunting twisty new psychological thriller' butt while it is haunting and the descriptions creepy, it is not a psychological thriller, it's domestic noir, a story of a marital breakdown caused by a tragic event (the secret was easy to guess but didn't spoil the story for me).

Claire and Duncan are stuck in an unhappy marriage with their son Joe who is 18. They live in a stylish barn in the country where Duncan has his veterinary practice. For years he has been unfaithful to Claire, who gave up her own career and became a SAHM to Joe who appears to perhaps be on the autistic border. This is never clearly explained so the reader has to assume it. Joe is fascinated by metal collecting and one day discovers an unusual coin which Claire recognises.

I disliked the jumping around 'before' and 'after' in the first person from one character and the third person from another. Towards the end the third person narrative went into the first person, leading to more confusion on my part. The ending was rather dark and unusual.

Barely three stars from me, mainly because of the descriptions which even then seemed repetitive, but also because the breakdown of the marriage betweem two rather unlikeable characters was well portrayed. Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The synopsis of this book led me to believe I was going to get a domestic thriller, but I'm not sure that's how I would categorize this interesting novel. While it does have some of the qualities of a domestic thriller, it's a slow burn and there's more emphasis on character than the typical plot-driven thriller.

The story is told in a back-and-forth fashion that occasionally confused me. We're also given the different perspectives from the husband and wife. I was always trying to figure out which character and which timeline I was reading about. (This is clearly indicated in the chapter headings, but I still got confused.) But by the end of the book, when the big revelation is revealed, I regretted not paying closer attention to some of the clues. The twist is actually quite fascinating and made me want to go back to read the book with a different set of expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my unbiased opinions.

The book “Magpie” was hard to follow as it switches between times and characters. I gave the book a 3-star rating because the idea behind the story was good and the characters were equally hateable, but it was slow and hard to get in to. To me, it wasn’t a thriller it was more a story of what happens when life gets to be more than we can handle.

Libby is shocked to find out that she has inherited a huge house in Chelsea from her birth parents on her 25th birthday. She soon realises that the house of full of secrets and a dark history. When Lucy and Henry were little their parents killed themselves as part of the cult, or so it seems. Libby is desperate to find out what happened to her parents.

This story is told in three different points of view, Libby, Lucy and Henry. You find out about the tragic history and dark secrets of the house and the people that lived in it. Even though it is told by different characters it is hard to not get embroiled in the story. The book is fast paced and certainly a page turner. I really enjoyed Lisa's style of writing.

Claire and Duncan are married, but it’s not really a marriage anymore. Their son Joe, now 18, is a difficult child, never diagnosed, but possibly somewhere on the spectrum. He is fascinated by ancient Roman coins which leads him to take up metal detection. The family lives in a renovated, contemporary “barn” along a reservoir. It’s a lovely location, however, Claire and Duncan had two different views of what would be the perfect home. Perhaps that’s where their troubles began.

Duncan is leading what he thinks is a secret second life. Claire suspects and then confirms this second life. She is planning her escape from Duncan when Joe finds a very rare coin on their property, he thinks it’s a brilliant discovery, while Claire disagrees. So many secrets are hidden on the property and in their lives. Can this family be fixed? Once Claire escapes Duncan, will her life improve?

The novel is told in “before” and “after” segments by Claire and Duncan. We are led to believe that the before segments are before Claire leaves Duncan. I was surprised by the low ratings for this book, as I did find it rather compelling. It definitely is slow paced. With the back and forth between before and after, you are slowly building to what is present, and what really happened to this family.

All three people are broken in their own ways. While others found the characters rather unlikable, I found them to all have redeemable qualities. Duncan is a vet and truly cares for the animals, perhaps not the people, he treats. Claire is dedicated to her son, and like any mother, did her absolute best to raise him. Joe struggles, but only because he may have some underlying, undiagnosed issue that makes him less likely to be social.

Magpie is well written and Draper has a way with prose. She is able to describe details in a beautiful way. I was not disappointed by this novel at all and would recommend it to people that aren’t in a hurry to get to the finish. You’ll find some beautiful words along the way.

This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 14 November 2019 .
This review has been cross-posted to Goodreads on 4 September 2019.

The premise for this story sounded great. The first third of the book actually captivated me. After that - I found myself having to look back to see if something was "before" or "after". I don't know who of the three main characters I wanted to hate the most. Maybe it was me, but the Hall and the Estates behind gates was confusing and not interesting to me.

I am sorry to only give 2 stars to this book. Even the ending did not seem as a "thriller" or "suspense" story to me.

I truly appreciate the ability to have reviewed this book.. Thank You to AVON Books, UK and NetGalley for a chance to read and review.

Claire is divorcing her philandering husband. Ever since he has reached the pinnacle of his career he has become a veritable ass. He doesn't have patience with her or with their son Joe. She also knows of the various affairs he's had.
To hold on to her sanity she has moved herself, Joe and their beloved dog to a cottage where Duncan will not find them.
Joe has disappeared. He is eighteen years of age and he has been gone before. This time has been way too long. Traipsing through the supposedly abandoned village near her cottage, she has looked everywhere that she can imagine.
Every so often as she goes through the village she can see people. It is scarce and far between. Odd being that it was said to be abandoned.
A story of intrigue and mystery. With a smashing ending.

Magpie by Sophie Draper sounded like a book that I would love from the beginning. The description is wonderful and I couldn’t wait to see what twist and turns were going to happen.

Draper writes about Claire and Duncan, two people who are married but living separate lives and then living separately. Duncan has been unfaithful to Claire, and Claire take care of their son Joe full time. Joe goes missing and the main focus of the book is finding him.

This book is told in multiple perspective. Claire, Before and After and Duncan, Before and After. Each change is labeled clearly but keeping the story straight and jumping between the before and after between 2 characters is difficult at times. I feel as this format really detracted for the overall story. I did get used to the formatting by the middle of the book and my pace of reading was able to pick up.

Overall the writing is decent, the story is haunting and will give you the satisfaction of a decent twist at the end.

Thank you to Avon Books UK via Netgalley for sending me an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2* is being generous.
I really enjoyed the first book by this author but this one falls below par massively. I skim read chunks because it's repetitive and much of it irrelevant. It's a bit of a confusing read too, far to many quick changes of time and narrators. The worst book I've read in sometime.

Claire and Duncan have the worst type of relationship, it is angry and resentful. This book was fast paced, twisty and turny. I would definitely read another of her books. She is a great author and they was she wrote the characters sucked me in. All the characters were terrible, and I love feeling like I hate someone in a book. The author can write, I will read anything else she puts out.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest review.

Magpie is a slow read and I would not put it in the thriller category. I struggled to finish this book because the writing didn't flow and the characters were unlikable. I was looking forward to this book, but was disappointed.

OMG...what a disaster of a book! I'm one of those annoying readers who NEVER leaves a book unfinished, EVER. However, this was a first for me. Got to approx the halfway mark and threw my ereader down in frustration. It was billed as a thriller - and I can assure you that I waited and waited and waited for the thrills and suspense to make an appearance but alas, in vain. It just took sooooooo long to get nowhere that in the end I wrote it off as a lost cause . Very seldom do I rate a 1 star for any book but this book has just been awarded that. So, so sorry but in all conscience I cannot justify it getting anything more that 1 star.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

Magpie is an unusual and in many ways compelling read which I feel has been misrepresented by the synopsis as a thriller - it’s not, in my view, a thriller, and some of the negative reviews may stem from that. It’s a layered, hauntingly atmospheric story with, yes, a mysterious and even mystical thread running through it. But thrills, no.

We see events from the viewpoint of wife and husband, Claire and Duncan, “before” and “after” an unspecified event. “Before”, Claire plans to leave her serially unfaithful husband; their marriage has broken down over many years amid bitter recrimination and anger. “After”, Claire seeks with increasing desperation her missing eighteen-year-old son Joe - who spent his time searching obsessively with his metal detector for a fantasised hoard of ancient coins - while Duncan, a vet, deals with work and visits from the police.

It’s a slow and at times unavoidably confusing read which demands, and rewards, close attention from the reader. It took time to read and I wasn’t always sure what was going on. But by the end, I wanted to go back and read earlier parts again and in retrospect, it all made sense.I

I loved Sophie Draper's debut novel 'Cuckoo' and was looking forward to reading her second book 'Magpie' which I had high hopes for. I can't only hope this book is a blip in her promising writing career because I couldn't wait to finish it but for all the wrong reasons. The book starts ok but the tempo never picks up until the final couple of chapters.
The main character Claire lives with her husband Duncan and son Joe in a glass house overlooking the water. Their marriage is waning with her husband leading a double life with affairs. She wants to get away with her son Joe and leave Duncan. All Claire's plan are thrown into turmoil when Joe goes missing and she struggles to piece together the events of the night that tore them all apart.

The plot is extremely slow, repetitive, uneventful and such a disappointment after 'Cuckoo'. I find it difficult to write such a poor review but I promised to give an honest opinion.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and Avon Books for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book was received as an ARC from Avon Books UK in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thrillers are not usually my cup of tea and at first I thought I was not going to enjoy this book but a lot of our regular patrons have been asking about this book so I had to preview it. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of this book and I can see what all the hype is about this book. Everyone needs a safe haven to not only escape a defying situation like Claire had with Duncan but to think of ways to fix the situation before it becomes life or death. I have read and seen some stories and movies with people living double lives and things not always being what they seem. They always do not end well in the end and this story was no different. Fans of Psychological Thrillers and Supernatural will appreciate this book and I know a lot of our community members are looking forward to reading it too.

We will consider adding this title to our Adult Fiction collection at the library. That is why we give this book 4 stars.

I very much enjoyed this book. It’s so well written and interesting but the end means everything to me. As someone who has been through this I thank the author for writing my own feelings so perfectly. A must read

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

Oof, Sophie Draper! What happened! Cuckoo floored me. But Magpie dragged forever. I couldn't get into it, I couldn't follow along, and I couldn't figure out how such a stellar book like Cuckoo was written by the same author as Magpie! It was slow and repetitive and though I admit to having horrible pregnancy brain, I found myself questioning if I had already read this. Yes, but pages ago. Yes, but a sentence ago. I wasn't going crazy after all. Truth be told, I didn't even manage to finish this one.

Claire is in an abusive marriage and decides to leave her husband.
Her eighteen year old son goes missing and she is trying to find him.
I found this book very slow and it did not hold my interest.
It was told in a before and after format that did not work for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nope... The description caught my attention and seemed just like the type of book I normally gravitate towards so I requested it right away. I soon realized shortly after starting the book that this was going to be a slow slow read. O also disliked the characters but the more I read, I began to dislike them to the point that I just didn't want to continue. Still, I gave it more time hoping something big would happen. By 52% , still moving too slow for my liking, now hating the characters, and feeling that the book was extremely repitisious, plus I had a definite idea of how it was going to play out in the end, I had to stop.

I want to thank netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.