3.5 stars
The description of this story had me wanting to read it asap but unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.
The first half of the book is a fast-paced read with a lot of scary and edge of your seat moments, a lot of questions like Who and Why and How? And Is this for real? I don’t think I’ll be having the same behaviour as the heroine especially having my daughter with me and not knowing what is actually happening and what to answer to her questions. In my opinion, the daughter felt a bit older or more mature in her interaction with her mother. The second half of the book felt dragging a lot and quite repetitive in many moments but the end was a surprise as it has an unexpected twist.
Overall it’s a good book, my first by the author and I’ll definitely try other stories by her.

The premise of this book sounded absolutely amazing and I definitely think the first half of the book was thrilling and exciting. The action started right away and kept me on the edge of the seat until about the halfway point.

My issue with the book is that it got really slow and repetitive around the 50% mark and then didn’t pick up again until the last 10%. The ending was so far-fetched and out of left field that I couldn’t help but be disappointed with the conclusion. The ending also felt really rushed and I would have liked to see more closure for the characters.

Overall, this one was just okay for me but I’d definitely try more books by this author in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Lily and her five year old daughter Maisie are trying to get over the divorce. Maisie misses her daddy, but Lily is glad he's gone. She has been hypervigilant and placed security cameras all over her home. The app of her phone lets her know if anyone has entered or been around her home. She can't trust Ewen, he was extremely angry when she was given full custody of Maisie.
One day her app alarm goes off on her phone. When she looks at the cameras around her home she sees a man in a mask in her yard. The mask is a photo of her daughter with the eye holes cut out.
She rushes home but the intruder is gone and the police don't find anything.
She wonders how a recent picture of her daughter was acquired by the intruder and used as a mask.
The terror is just beginning for Lily and Maisie. They will have to fight together to survive the trauma and torture they will endure.
A thriller of a read! I couldn't put it down!
Excellent!

Gosh! But this has an amazing beginning! A woman and her young child wake up to find themselves in a replica home. Everything internally is the same, but, they are prisoners and they don't know why.
It's a well written, gripping, terrifying beginning. From there, I found it a 'good read' but there were some things that let it down. Firstly, the storyline became as claustrophobic as the experience as, for chapter and chapter, you only have the voices of Lily and Maisie (the mother and daughter) briefly interspersed with input from the kidnappers. Secondly, there is little or no backstory, so, you are left with no reasoning until the last pages and then it's unsatisfying. It's definitely set up well for a sequel and there are parts to the ending I enjoyed.

Overall, it's a well written decent read and I'd recommend.

Solid 3*

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

Unfortunately the depth of this novel can be summed up the synopsis. Parker delivers on the premise but ultimately failed to fully develop the plot line or characterization. Readers are held close and walked through the storyline with kid gloves. Overall, pretty benign and underwhelming. 2 stars.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC which was read and reviewed voluntarily by @wayward_readers

This book turned me into pillow biter, feather choker, heavy breather and high pitched screamer! While You Slept by R.J. Parker is everything you crave in a top notch thriller; addictive, edge of your seat tension that does not let up, even for a moment, and a conclusion that you will never see coming. You will want to devour this one in a single session.

Lily is at work and her security camera alerts her to an intruder in her garden wearing a mask of her 5 year old daughter’s face. When she wakes up the next day Lily and her daughter, Maisie, are in a home but it’s not their house it just looks the same!
I have read Richards books before and enjoyed them but this was a DNF for me. I gave up quarter through as it was just not working for me.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Lily and her daughter, Maisie, have had quite a scare. A hooded stranger had been videotaped in Lily's inaccessible back garden while Lily was at work.

Lily rushes home from work and replays the tape - the stranger is wearing a mask of Maisie's photo!

The police do not think Lily has to worry as they check her home and talk with the upstairs neighbor.

Divorced from Ewan, she hopes this is not HIS prank. She calls him and she doubts it is him.

A number of people are introduced (aside from Ewan) who could have had a possible reason for this "prank". Eventually, Lily and Maisie are drawn into a much more drastic situation...

One of this year's best!

HIGHLY recommend!!!

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for a suspense-filled read!

I really enjoyed the story and the authors way of writing . Entertaining and twisted , everything I love In a book !!I would like to read more by this author !!

This book was creepy from the beginning and it will keep you guessing until the end.

Lily and Maisie wake up in a replica of their home as prisoners not knowing how, when or who did this to them. You have to stay up late to finish this so you know the who and why.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This was an impulse book for me. The blurb really caught my eye. And I have to say this book kept me up until late in the night! It was creepy and definitely made me a touch paranoid which I mean as a complete compliment! I would definitely recommend this one!

Lily and Maisie are kept imprisoned in their own home... they think. This story mainly tells us how they react and of course, how they plan to escape.
I liked the plot but it turned out to be a bit thin and the ending could have been worked out much better. It feeled rather rushed and I would have wanted to have more signals during the story as to who their enemy is and why.
Also, this is the second book in a row that I read with a whining child and a whining mother. The child is only five. One moment Lily expects Maisie to act like a grown up, the other moment she wants her to be even smaller than her age. You cannot expect a five year old, frightened as she is, to react like you think is necessary at that moment.
All in all a nice read but it could have been much more.

Thanks to Netgalley for this digital review copy.

This book was wild, and not a good way.

It just jumped right into the story without really building anything up. Unfortunately the pacing and the writing style was very beginner. It honestly distracted me from enjoying the story.

This was a very clever and engrossing story which kept me guessing all the way through. Well written characters, very readable, each time I put it down I looked forward to going back to it. With so many people writing books you would think that all the ideas had been taken and done before but this book gives a unique twist on the suspense thriller which I congratulate the author on achieving. Definite 5 stars.

Oh my goodness!! I LOVED this booked. Had me gripped right from the beginning I just could not put it down. And what a twist at the end! Fab book!

Thank you, NetGalley, Harper Collins UK, and One More Chapter for providing a digital ARC.

The beginning starts out immediately intense and sets you up with all the characters you need to know. Lily is a newly single mother who gets a notification on her cellphone that somebody has broken into her back yard. The police are called but they are unable to do anything because overall, no harm was done. They believe it was her estranged husband, but Lily isn’t so sure.

The next day Lily wakes up in a replica of her house down to every detail. It is clear to Lily that whoever has replicated their house has been in it many times. Even her junk drawer is full of the same miscellaneous items. After the initial shock of being in a replica of her house and the captor communicating with her, the book starts to get…boring. Small peaks of intensity occur but nothing is nail-biting worthy. The dialogue between Lily and Maisie makes you forget how young she is so some of her actions are confusing and messy.

The ending felt like it was originally meant for a book with completely different characters. The ending would have been better if we could have learned more about her captor’s past before the last few chapters of the book. Maybe a swap dialogue style would have aided in the reader's understanding of what was about to happen. Some of these plot twists were revealed so quickly and then dropped for the next plot twist. There could have been more development with them that would have made the ending more satisfying.

I loved the idea of this book the synopsis is incredible and intriguing but the book itself did not live up to my expectations. I would recommend this book to a friend with a disclaimer to push through some of the boring parts. I read a lot of thrillers and I recognize that this can make you desensitized to plot twist because you always know something crazy is going to happen. Even though the plot twist came one after another it did help start pushing the book forward again. I was not satisfied with the ending but I did feel that it left me as intrigued overall as the beginning of the book originally had.

To be honest, I can't fully decide on my rating on this book. I enjoyed it and sped through reading it - while my heart was pounding - but it was pretty messy. I'm hoping the messy part is because I received an advanced reader copy and it still needs to be edited.

From the beginning, it grips you and makes your heart stop. It's chilling and creepy, and you can't just read one chapter. The end of each chapter had a good hook, and I had to force myself to put it down.

There were just a lot of times where the writing was underdeveloped. Sometimes, I felt like something was repeated (it seemed accidental, not intentional), or the description of movements didn't fully explain everything. Toward the end, I was having a hard time picturing everything that was happening because it was so fast-paced and the apartment surroundings wasn't matching up with how I had imagined it previously.

The daughter, Maisie, was annoying and poorly behaved. She never listened and it just kept getting them into trouble. That part was frustrating for me. She was supposed to be 5, but most of the time she seemed older.

I also felt like the ending was random and didn't really add up.

*Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins UK, and One More Chapter for the ARC, for which I have given an honest and unbiased review*

twisted, pulse-increasing book that is part thriller, part psychological masterpiece.

There were times that I found myself literally on the edge of my seat....stressful, but in a good way. Definitely a few twists, turns, and surprises and it kept me engrossed until the end. And wow, what an ending.

While You Slept started off very promisingly. Lily Russell is at work when she checks the security app for her home on her phone and sees a man standing in her garden. What makes this even more disturbing, he is wearing a mask with her daughters face printed on it. Lily lives alone with her daughter Maisie after an ugly divorce and custody’s battle. She doesn’t want to believe her ex could be responsible but cannot imagine who would do such a thing. Police are called and her sister comes by but no conclusions can be reached.
The following morning she awakens to a terrible headache and feeling sick. When she gets up to check in Maisie she discovers that she is not in her home, someone has moved them into an exact replica of they’re apartment during the middle of the night.
This premise was intriguing but the story itself missed the mark for me. There were several characters introduced briefly that had no purpose. I also like when clues have been part of the story so the reader has an aha! Moment when the motive is revealed. This was nothing the reader could relate to because there was no backstory at all. There are other areas where the story just didn’t work but I can’t discuss them without giving away part of the storyline.
There are readers who will enjoy this book, it just wasn’t for me.
Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my opinion.

Lily loves her daughter Maisie and tries to keep her safe from harm including from Maisie's dad, Ewan after their relationship fell apart.



So when she wakes up with her daughter in a home that looks but isn't theirs with everything replicated, she fears for their lives as their stalker has stolen them while they slept, but do they know their captor as they're watched by CCTV and messages and called just who is it?



This book had a great plot twist at the end with two random characters coming in and blowing the plot to pieces which soon added up and made sense completely the setting was bizarre and I wouldn't have thought of it at all but it added to the guessing and mystery of the story and worked well.



If you like to be kept on your toes this mystery is for you!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!