As a warning to sensitive readers -this book includes graphic scenes of child abuse and rape.

In January 2020 Katherine is called in for police questioning regarding an incident from her childhood that resulted in the death of another child. This story flips between current events and the past when Katherine was 10-year-old Kitty.

Kitty used to have a pretty stereotypical life. Then her mother gets ill and her father uproots the family and moves them all to a cottage in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere. With the assistance of his 'friend' Amanda and Father Tobias, Kitty's father attempts to cure his wife of her madness without having to institutionalise her.

When Kitty is kicked out of the house each day and informed not to disturb them, what exactly is going on in the house? What are they doing to Kitty's mother? Does her mother have a mental sickness or is there something more sinister going on?

I liked Kitty's character. She is well developed and quite an intricate weave of personality traits that make her an enjoyable protagonist.

This is a very dark story and is terrifically written and captivating from the first page. However, despite having most of the key qualities of a thriller what is missing is building suspense. When I read a thriller I expect to find myself with an increased heart rate, reading faster, shortness of breath - and that was missing. Additionally, I was not thrilled by the ending. If just one of those had been better, this could have easily been at least a 4 star read as everything else was spot on.

I received this copy of #HoldYourBreath by B P Walter as a free pre-release copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Published by #AvonBooksUk this book is available from 16th April 2020

This was not my type of book. It is not a style that I would normally read. I thought that some of it was unbelievable. I kept reading hoping that it would improve but that was not the case.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Loved this
The plot was engaging and I found it gripped me from the beginning. Also had a good ending. Worth a read.

I have to say this book was completely different to what I was expecting but in a good way. Quite a dark story within a story that had me hooked right from the beginning. A cracking surprise, will definitely be recommending to my family and friends

Hold Your breath - the perfect title for this dark read that will keep you up all night even after you've finished it!
Kitty, a kid with interesting parents. A loner who connects with insects over humans. A child caught up in the worst nightmare of all. When your parents let you down and the world stops making sense who is there to turn to?
As a grown up she's still affected by the trauma of her past just as the police are still delving deep in to what hsppened all those years ago.. The end is a gasp-worthy shock.

This move is so dark and disturbing that I could not finish it. That is seldom something I do...I read to the end. However, the language was off putting and the subject also. For the reader who doesn’t mind these traits, the story might be fine. I found nothing redeeming about th characters, but one must remember this was not my genre. The author has a gift for the mysterious and unpleasant events.

I read the author’s first novel last year and really enjoyed it so when I saw he had a new one coming out and that it was on netgalley I knew I had to request it. It didn’t take me long to read this one at all, thank you lockdown!
This novel for me felt more of a very dark and twisted family drama than a thriller. It had a slightly different structure to it than a usual thriller and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.
The story follows 11 year old Katherine in 1987 as she recalls some horrific memories of her mothers declining mental health and how in the 80s it was not taken very seriously. Her father decides to take matters into his own hands to try and help her in what can only be described as a truly horrifying series of events.
The story reads much like you’d expect a person who’d lived through a traumatic experience to be relaying what happened to them. Katherine decides to write a book about her experiences as a child and that’s when all the truths and untruths start coming to the surface.
I thought all the characters were written well and I really sympathised with Kitty (Katherine). Especially not understanding at such a young age what is going on with her mother. The story kept me gripped in a completely different way to the books I usually read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

How reliable is Kitty as a narrator? After all, she was 10 years old in 1987 when the events she's coping with in 2020 happened. Much of the novel is written from her 10 year old perspective. She's suddenly found herself living in the woods with her mother and father, and her mother has mental health issues. No one, especially not her father, will tell her what's going on (and she's a persistent kid). No spoilers but know that there's a big twist coming. This slowly builds suspense and while you might be as at sea as Kitty is initially, you, as an adult might get it sooner than she does. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A page turner.

Wow! This is an unusual story of being possessed. The story is from the prospective of a 10 year old girl, Kitty, who is uprooted by her Dad and her possessed Mum. Some scenes can be uncomfortable reading but that is what makes this book appealing. You HAVE to find out what's going on and does Kitty finally makes friends with humans rather than little creatures of the animal world.

Although I feel the ending is sudden and could be carried on a little bit more in some more explanation (but I don't know how), I did enjoy the sudden connection between Kitty and the guy who saved her from the river (without giving too much away). Read it and you'll see what I mean.

It's brilliant read so don't miss out

I really enjoyed this book, the characters and storyline grabbed me from the beginning. It didn't take me very long to whizz through it, whereas on one hand I wanted to finish it but on the other hand I wanted to savour it. Really cleverly written and in great detail, the ending was also a surprise to me and left me wanting to know if there is more to come. Highly recommended.

Read it in 48h, couldn't put it down. The story of Kitty's disturbing few weeks in an abandoned cottage with her parents in the 80s reminded me of The Loney and Pine as well as a bit of Woman in the Window and Atonement. It's a creepy cabin-in-the-middle-of-the-woods set up, with Kitty's mother experiencing some sort of psychotic episode and Kitty left to roam the surrounding woods by herself, letting her imagination run wild as she tries to understand why she's here and the 'treatment' her mother is receiving. Alternating between Kitty's present-day interview in a police station, and her memories of that time, the uncomfortable truth of those few weeks and who was harmed during them, slowly comes to light.

For the most part, this book was fantastic. I couldn’t put it down. The twist was good and I didn’t see it coming, but I did feel like the story didn’t really go anywhere and the ending was a bit flat.

This book kept me wanting to know more and more. The start doesn't start off too well but when it does it does . !
The ending was superb. It is written in the perspective of a 10 year old girl. and it takes you on a journey. I really liked this book.

4-5 stars, this was quite the book, which unfortunately I can’t give a full five stars because I almost gave up in beginning! If you find yourself thinking it will not be fast enough, or even a bit confused in the beginning don’t give up, I promise it’s worth continuing. It’s a very gritty book, which gets very good after the beginning and starts to be unputdownable. The author writes in a way that is dark, chilling, and twisty! I thought it was intriguing and really gave me a little shock at the end. I really recommend getting a copy and giving it a chance!
Will make sure to buzz it up on all the different platforms!

Thank you NetGalley for this novel, Hold Your Breath.

This book was so easy to read as the narrator of the book was 10 year old Kitty. Her and her family were leaving their home to go live in a forest to change/help her mother.....

I do not really know where to start nor do I want to give away any information. I have never read a thriller like this one and I do not know at this point if I like it or if I do not. It was just very weird to me but that is only my perspective.

This book was not very gripping to me. It didn't hold my interest, I read it to complete it but I never read it because i wanted to know more.

The book shifted from 2020, 2018 and to the 1987.

Once again, thank you. I hope to try another book from this author but this one was not for me.

The book begins with Kitty, now an adult, on her way to a police station where she will need to relive the moments that have tormented her all her life. The action alternates between 1987 and 2020, as we learn what happened to Kitty all those years ago.

Katherine/Kitty's tale is a disturbing one, and no wonder she became a traumatized adult. As we learn more and more about her past we cannot help but feel for this child, who had no one to rely on.
At the same time you cannot help to relate to her highstrung father, especially if you are a parent. Nathan had such a huge responsibility on his shoulders and was merely human, after all. The readers who have children of their own can surely relate to how being hammered with questions, when you are dead tired, feels like. And Nathan does have a couple of moments when he realizes he is not being the best father, nor dealing with things the best possible way by far.
As I was reading, even though I flinched through the eyes of Kitty, I believed he had her best interests in mind. However, the fact remains that, when trying to shield her from all the nastiness, he pushed her away in such a way that you cannot help but wish you could help her.

For the most part, there is little I would have changed in this book, except for the title, I found it much too generic.
It is quite well written. You really feel like you are seeing things through the eyes of a 10-year-old, and not just any 10-year-old, but Kitty, who has a very unique personality. And you cannot help but feel for the adult Katherine as well.

However, during the last fifth or so of the book, things radically change, the focus dramatically shifts and you have to start requestioning all characters in your mind. This break of pace was intimidating at first, but I could have gone with it, had it been differently approached. However, as the book comes to an end, the last 10% or so, I couldn't help but feel I was just wandering around with the character which, granted, was much to the point, but that last scene killed me. It just made no sense for me whatsoever.

Still, for most part of the book, I was extremely engaged in reading this, and would have finished the book in one sitting had I had the chance. It was something different, all right.

A fantastic thriller which had me holding my breath as the pages turned.

Told in dual timelines from the POV of Kitty, I was pulled into the book from the beginning as she tried making sense of why her parents shifted to an isolated cottage in 1987.

My first book by this author, I was overtaken by the creepy atmosphere when sinister things started happening. The author's writing made my fear come to the forefront. The plot was intriguing, the clues were hidden well in the prose. And the ending was quite unexpected.

Quite a twisted mind the author had ...

Rather a strange topic......the main character's mother is possessed by evil. Don't let that put you off it's not supernatural hocus pocus.
Story flows well explaining the strange goings on in the woods. Little twist at the end.
Rather enjoyed it

When I first started reading Hold Your Breath by B P Walter I wasn’t sure if this book was really for me. Then suddenly I was 25% through, then half way. I became drawn in and couldn’t put it down. It’s set between the present day and events that happened in 1987 and that premise works really well. It’s billed as a gripping and suspenseful thriller and it certainly lived up to that. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

As I started reading this book I really did not know what I was expecting. At first I was intrigued, but the more I read the more I was hooked. A dark creepy thriller which had me sat on the edge of my seat. What are Kitty's parents hiding? Why did they have to move? All in all a really good thriller which I found very hard to put down. For me it felt unfinished as I wanted to know what happened next????
Thanks to Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the ARC.