If the blurb of While You Slept grabbed your attention, I’ll not ruin the suspense by giving you yet another summary. But what I will tell you is that this story is like riding a roller coaster…with each turn of the page, it’s like the next click of the car on the ascent up…up…up…causing your heart to race and not quite sure just how terrifying the descent will be or how many twists and turns you’ll face…until the very end…

While the ending did come to quick and abrupt stop, I found the plot nail-biting and frightening. Would recommend to fans of this genre!

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

I can't even review this one without spoilers, so let's just say for the spoiler-free comments: I hated this so much.

Okay! Spoilers ahead. Trigger warning for rape.

Lily is checking her security camera from work one day and sees someone standing in her garden wearing a mask of her young daughter. Creepy. She, of course, calls the police to check everything out and despite a creep being in her yard, there's nothing else amiss. Filler, filler, her and her daughter go to bed but when they wake up the next morning, they're in a replica of their home.

The concept was interesting! I don't recall ever reading something with this plot concept, so I was intrigued. Of course, you have to suspend disbelief for a story like this but hey! It's quarantimes, let's do it!

Y'all... where do I start. Roughly 85% of the book happens in this replica home, and despite a few conversations with their captor and a sighting of a random person, nothing happens. Around the 80% mark, they found a way to escape (an alternate entrance/exit), and then there's another probably 10% of total book length describing them trying to run away, but it could've been SEVERAL pages shorter and conveyed the exact same scene.

The reason for their captivity? Lily's father was a psychologist and took a patient of his captive for nearly a year. During that time, he was raping the patient, and eventually impregnates her (with the man who was assisting in this plot - the man from the garden). Lily's ex-husband eventually shows up on-scene, they kill the woman, the man is injured but alive, and Lily, her daughter, and ex-husband all make it out alive.

The last paragraphs of the story is Lily thinking back over the times in the replica house where she was likely drugged, and wonders if her half brother was raping her the way her father raped his captive - we end on her taking a test, no result.

I can't. I sat through all this nonsense, which was mostly unnecessary filler - literally if you cut this book down to the NECESSARY pages that develop the plot, it could've been maybe 30% of the content that made the cut - and then you LEAVE US ON A CLIFFHANGER? I haven't been this angry at a book in a while, so that's something!

This. Book.
Imagine waking up in what seems like your bed, your house, but as you explore further it turns out you and your daughter were taken and are now in an exact replica of most of your house - right down to a look alike cat - while being watched and locked in! I could NOT put this book down! It was so different, and had me on the edge of my pillow. Highly recommend!

A rather slight thriller. The build up to the capture of the Lily and her daughter is so quick that the characters aren’t fully formed and we have little understanding on their background. The twist at the end comes out of the blue, you literally couldn’t have seen it coming. It makes for a rather unsatisfactory and rushed ending, and no sense of satisfaction in having guessed who the captors are and why they are holding them.

This book started as off the scale creepy and I was intrigued and hooked for the first hundred pages. It's hard not to get emotionally involved by the beginning of this story. A man appears in Lily's back garden while she is at work and she is alerted to the danger by an app on her phone. What really gets Lily's attention and mine is that the intruder is wearing a mask and when she looks closely its the face of her daughter Maisey. The masked intruder even had the audacity to wave at her.
Lily calls the police but as the intruder has gone by the time the police arrive she goes to bed that night worried and confused.
Fast forward to the following day - when Lily and Maisey wake up they think they are waking up in their home. Think again! they are actually waking up in an exact replica of their home down to the bedroom,clothes, ornaments and what they eat in the fridge. They find out in horror that the man in the garden is holding them captive.
So as you would expect I am now invested in these characters and I am wanting to know what the hell is going on. Unfortunately I felt that the story lost it appeal over the next hundred pages. The dialogue is completely wrong, the five year old, Maisey behaves in a way that no five year old I have ever met would and the ending felt like it had been plucked out of thin air.
The action descriptions at the end of the book are really confusing and hard to understand and the reason behind "the who done it" was underdeveloped and unanswered for me.
Having said all of that, the premise of the book is thrilling and with some amendments would make a great thriller.
I really wanted to like the whole of this book because of the goosebumps you got from the first chapters, I wanted more from the kidnappers and the main characters. Great idea, unique and creepy. But was highly repetitive and poor resolution.
Thank you for the advanced copy.

This book was a completely impulsive request from NetGalley just based on the description of the book and I was not disappointed in this. I love this style of thriller books which is very Criminal Minds-esque because it is all about having to play along with a deranged mind in order to figure out how you can escape. And this book really delivered.

Lily's home intruder app sets off an alarm for her one day and it shows her a picture of a man in her back garden wearing her daughter's face as a mask. She is, understandably, very freaked out and calls the police. It only gets worse when she and Maisie wake up the next morning in a house that looks like theirs but isn't at all. Everything has been replicated but they can't leave and every move is being watched.

This was an extremely tense book. It flew by so quickly for me and it felt extremely well-paced. Sometimes I get a little fed up of thriller books because I'm fed up with the building of the mystery, I just want to know what the big twist is at the end and end up skipping half the book and reading the last chapter to find out what happened. But not so with this book! We got to the action very quickly, no spending a quarter of the book getting to know the characters before the action starts (always the most boring part for me) and when things started to happen, they happened at a good pace.

I sympathised with Lily right off the bat. The way she talked about her ex-husband and her worry over her daughter was good and made it obvious that while she wasn't the perfect person or mother, she did care about her daughter most of all. I would have liked to have seen more of Maisie's character, especially in the house, but I know that would have been hard to fit in. I did like the bits where Maisie's understanding of the situation and Lily's understanding didn't match up because child and adult and I would have liked to have seen more of Maisie acting like a child outside of the scenes where they are trying to get out.

The bit where this book let me down was the twist. When there is a twist, I want there to be some more foreshadowing that we got in this book. I'm not a fan of these twists where the author is obviously trying to shock you so much that they don't mention it at all and to RJ Parker's credit, he didn't seem to be trying to do that. However, apart from a throwaway line, we didn't get anything else about it in the first half of the book. Truth be told, I thought it was one of two other characters due to certain things mentioned at the start and the end of the book, but neither of those options came about. There was also a character mentioned about halfway through the book who wasn't mentioned before and wasn't mentioned afterwards, so I was a little confused about their purpose in this story and didn't particularly like the addition.

That said, this is definitely one I would recommend for this summer when you want something quick to read.

4 stars!

This book is rather disturbing, I’m not sure if I will be able to get a good night’s rest the coming days.

When Lily sees a man in het yard wearing a mask of her daughter Maisie’s face she is disturbed an rushes home. After going to sleep she wakes up in what seems like her bedroom, but something is off. She is groggy and blames the glass of wine she had, but it doesn’t feel right. Feels more disturbing. It takes a little while until she realises she and her daughter are kidnapped and held in a prison that is similar to their home. Including all the little details of cups, toothbrushes and clothing. As Lily and Maisie try and escape you also try to figure out who is behind all this. Half way through the book I thought I knew, but I didn’t. I didn’t see the ending coming. And I am not sure if I am happy with it, but it some how does fit the story.

I am not sure if I liked the writing style, but I did like the story. Somehow did feel a bit like the movie Room, but I guess that happens quickly when a woman is held captive somewhere. I found it an enjoyable, but disturbing story.

While You Slept by R.J. Parker had so much potential, but it fell short for me. The premise of the book was great, I just felt like it was lacking in too many places. I felt the main characters not well rounded. At times I felt the child Maise was more of the adult then her mom Lily. There is also too many places that go into way too many unnecessary details, while other places need more background. The ending seemed too rushed, and a WTH just happened moment that left me scratching my head. Overall, an okay read. Just feel it could be cleaned up and lengthened a little to fill plot holes.

Thank you to Netgallery for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. All opinions are my own.

Nice character development, pacing and plot. I think this was well balanced. It had the creepy factor mixed with great imagery for a thrilling tale.

Wow, what can I say about this book? I only wish I had the peace to read this in one sitting. It was super tense and you actually felt you were in the house with Lily and Maisie. The synopsis of this book drew me to this story, and was the main reason I requested to read it.

There's no beating round the bush when it comes to this story. We are thrown head on into the action. Imagine being away from your house, and your security camera app pings to life. In your garden is stood a stranger with a mask of your daughter covering his identity. And, he's just staring at the camera, knowing you can see him and do nothing about it. From that moment we already feel uneasy about what will happen next, and this anxious feeling is carried throughout.

The tension ramps up when Lily and Maisie wake up in what they believe to be their safe sanctuary of their home. But, it soon dawns on Lily that all is not as it seems. I love how the development of this realisation pans out. Firstly, the view from the window. Then Lily realises that everything is an exact replica of her house. This all gave me the creeps, just the fact that somebody has gone to all this trouble to recreate the house. Not just the décor but the little objects and items that make up a home. It all gets too much when Lily looks in her photo album. That is when I had goosebumps and chills down my spine.

I loved everything about this book, a definite 5 star read for me. I couldn't swipe the screen quick enough to find out what was happening next. A truly epic masterpiece in thriller writing.

Thank you Netgalley and One More Chapter books for my gifted digital copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book sounded really intriguing and I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, it was not the book for me. The beginning was thrilling and hooked me immediately. So much so that I managed to read this book in a 2-hour sitting. It would be hard not to get hooked by the description and opening chapters. A man wearing the mask of Lily's daughter's face stands in their backyard staring menacingly at the security cameras. From there, the plot dissolved and I was left in total confusion.

My first issue is that Maisie, Lily's daughter, is completely unbelievable as a character. Throughout the entire book, I had to remind myself that Maisie was supposed to be a 5-year-old. Her actions and dialogue with Lily were indicative of an adult. It were moments when Lily helped bathe Maisie and put her to bed that I was reminded this was a small child.

For much of the plot, Maisie and Lily are navigating around a replica of their home. They are being held captive by an unknown kidnapper and must do everything they are told to stay safe. The book lost much of its thrill in the middle as I read about Lily trying to convince Maisie to eat and them attempting to live a somewhat "normal" life. When the backstory was presented, it was kind of thrown into the middle of the book while Lily was trying to figure out who had kidnapped them. Some supporting characters would appear for a few pages and that was it.

The ending was where the book lost me. I had kept reading because I really wanted to find out who was holding them hostage. The ending was over-the-top and out of nowhere. I was not expecting a realistic ending after reading the rest of the book, but I was hoping for more plot and character development that would explain everything. Instead, it felt like characters were thrown back in to have a neat resolution while also being an unexpected twist.

Finally, the cliffhanger ending. It was frustrating because I prefer everything to be resolved, but even more alarming was that the final pages hinted at a dark, and traumatic event that may be extremely triggering to read. With more development and a restructured backstory, this could be a great read. For now, it's very disjointed and ultimately uses the perceived vulnerability of women to drive the entire plot.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and girlie books therefore am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.

I enjoyed this very much. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Lily's terrified when she sees a man wearing a mask of her daughter's face on her security cam. This strange occurrence is magnified when she and Maisie wake up in their home...but it's not their home.

I knew pretty much from the first pages this wasn't a book for me. There was something about the writing style that threw me, but I hung in there. What really killed this book for me was how unbelievable it was. It was wildly improbable, the ending twist was just weird, and nothing fit right. Characters were dropped (like Sam) only to last about 2 pages before disappearing again. By the end, I really didn't care what happened, it was all too crazy.

This one is a mixed bag.

The premise and setup is deliciously creepy and kept me reading. I enjoyed the fast pace, and I liked both Lily and Maisie, their relationship and their will to survive and escape.

Maisie is an unrealistic five year old (a real five year old would have way more tantrums and be far less good at acting/keeping secrets) but I was able to overlook that.

For me, though, the book has two main problems:

1. The resolution comes out of nowhere. For this sort of thing to work, there have to be clues seeded through the narrative so that readers can retrospectively join the dots. It felt like the author was so keen to get into the action that they didn't include the back story that would make sense of the whole thing. (In fact, I did wonder if I was missing some vital chapters – the numbering seemed to jump unexpectedly early on.)

2, ***SPOILER*** Ewan's appearance at the end and the fact that Lily started living with him again was thoroughly implausible, given that she'd only recently felt the need to take out a restraining order against him. I didn't buy the reasons for his being there or the resurrection of their relationship. It would have made more sense if he HAD been involved with the kidnapping.

Fun enough, but flawed.

Wow this is a terrifying concept! Being kidnapped and having to survive and having a child involved too. A mother’s worst nightmare. I love how the story unfolds and starts with seeing someone on the camera and then turns into this whole nightmare. Good plot development and liked the ending (but won’t ruin it:)

I really enjoyed this book and especially liked how it was slightly different from a lot of the psychological thrillers out there. My only criticism is that the book was too short. Some parts, particularly at the end, became hard to follow because it was so rushed and I had to check back a few times when I found it missed how characters had ended up in a particular place. I also felt that the middle section of the book could've lasted longer - it's hard to explain without giving anything away - I recommend reading it yourself.

I had such a hard time getting into this one. I was so intrigued by the synopsis - how insanely creepy to wake up in an identical world to the one you just left but then finding out it's not actually the world you thought it was. Instead, you're being held captive by a crazy person who has replicated your life but is holding you hostage. I mean...c'mon!! I was so excited to read this but I just couldn't get into it. The story was so all over the place that it almost wasn't coherent. At one point, the main character is talking to a police officer over the phone and during that same conversation, she's talking to her in person with no explanation as to how that happened. One minute she's in her office and in the same sentence, she's outside her house. It just felt too confusing and I didn't have the patience to try and work out what was going on. Bummer!

I gave this book 3/5 stars.

I loved the plot of this book so much that I read it in one sitting.

One day, while Lily is at work, she gets a notification from her home security app. On the video footage, she can clearly see a man, standing in the middle of her garden, wearing a mask made from an enlarged photo of Maisie, her young daughter. Creeped out, she called the police and pick up her daughter from school. Who is this man? What did he wanted? Could this be a sick joke from her ex-husband?

The police check the whole house but there's absolutely no sign of effraction and her closest neighbor didn't see anything. That night, before going to bed, Lily double checks that every door in her place is locked tight. The next morning, she wakes up feeling a bit nauseous but starts her day as she normally would. But somehow, within minutes, something feels off, way off. While her place looks exactly like hers, it feels so different. The view from her kitchen has changed overnight. Instead of overlooking her garden where the man stood yesterday, it now seems to be high up, with an unknown view of rubble. Suddenly, her phone rings and she realizes that she and her daughter have been kidnapped and are now in an exact replica of their home.

Who did this to her? And why? Where are they, and will they be able to escape?


Let me tell you that within the first 50 pages, I was hooked. My heart started beating a bit faster and I couldn't turn the pages quicky enough... I was truly one the edge of my seat but, as soon as I could see the story wrapping up, I couldn't help but feel like I didn't have enough yet.

While this could have easily been a 5 stars thriller, the ending was a big let down for me. I wanted more from Lily, Maisie, and their kidnapper but the last few chapters felt a bit over the top for me. I especially didn't like the ending, which felt far too unrealistic in my opinion.

This was a fast paced, psychological thriller that had such a promising premise.

While this was somewhat an enjoyable read, unfortunately I didnt love it.The pacing seemed quite off; it started out slow and then felt extremely rushed towards the end. Some sections lacked detail while others seemed to have an unnecessary amount put it.

Thank you to the publishers who provided me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

ARC kindly received in exchange of an honest review

While You Slept by R.J. Parker is a very fast-paced read that I finished in a couple of hours.
It kept me guessing from the beginning till the very end.
It was a smart thriller, more psychological than crime. The writing style was so fast-pacing and kept me interested. The characters were well-developed and you understood their behavior, especially from our protagonist.

The plot is very engaging and super creepy and tense.
I kept guessing till the very end, but I didn't see the twists and turns coming. I liked the daring story and how the author didn't hold back. We need more thrillers like this one. It is so interesting and creepy at the same time to read stories about these sort of crimes. They hit closer to home, especially around these times.
The mystery surrounding the story made me kept reading it until it was finished.
4 stars.