Member Reviews
Liz has recently married Adam Dawson having known him for a relatively short amount of time. The newlyweds are currently living in Adam's recently deceased father's remote house in Australia, which is only accessible by boat. With Adam at work the majority of the time, Liz doesn't have much contact with the world outside and spends hours watching the three house across the creek. One of them in particular fascinates her - the home of Delilah (Dee) Waters and her little baby girl, Ruby. But then Dee and Ruby disappear...
I loved this well crafted tale of suspense and doubt. The reader was drip-fed tidbits of information by author Ingrid Alexandra throughout the book and I felt a pressing need to read on to fit the pieces together. The characters were well drawn and all had a relevance to the solid plot, even if I did not particularly like them. I suspected many people of Dee and Ruby's disappearances, each of whom were plausible culprits. A very engaging and fulfilling read.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from One More Chapter via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.
3-4 stars! I couldn’t get info this one at first, it took me a few tries, but once I did I loved it! I couldn’t give the full 5 stars, because initially it just did not grab me, but as mentioned after a few tries and it did, I was hooked and needed to know exactly what was going to happen. It provided me some great chills, thrills, and shocks! I thought it was well written, a bit slow burn in the beginning and odd, but overall a good read! I think if you like the type of story that someone witnesses, but because of problems doesn’t know what to believe, you will enjoy this one! Give it a chance, might take a bit to get into it, but worth it! Overall, I was quite happy with the shocks and story after my initial lack of interest, so I definitely recommend!
Will make sure to buzz around and use low Amazon reviewer on release date!
Liz has briefly moved to a secluded area in Australia with her husband Adam after his father dies and they need to sell his house. The house stands on one side of a creek, with three other houses on the other side; one belonging to Dee, Rob and their baby Ruby, one is Erica and Samir's and the third is Zac's, who works in the local bar.
Liz passes the time in the evening, whilst her husband is commuting to Sydney for work, by looking across the creek at the goings-on of the houses she sees. She becomes familiar with these people then one day, Dee and baby Ruby go missing. But what has Liz seen? What does she know?
It took me a while to get into this and it took to almost halfway into the book to finally get somewhere but when it did, I was hooked. We learn that Dee is struggling with being a mother as it's never what she wanted and Erica is struggling with the loss of four babies.
We are given little breadcrumbs of information throughout the book and I felt desperate to read on to put all the pieces together. You suspect so many people of Dee and Ruby's disappearance and the ending was great. I did end up guessing a little of it but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Liz is a newlywed with PTSD and too much time on her hands. While her husband commutes into Sydney to work, she spends her days spying on her neighbors, most notably Erica and Dee. All three women tell this story of what happens when Dee and her baby Ruby go missing. It's a bit back and forth in time and occasionally not synced up but the ebb and flow makes sense, once you catch the rhythm of where Alexandra is going. Is one of these women an unreliable narrator? Liz is more than a little annoying but that fits. Did Dee kill Ruby and then herself? Or did someone else do them in? No spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
After a whirlwind relationship, newlyweds Adam and Liz temporarily settle in a remote cottage with boat only access. As Adam spends more and more time away, Liz spends more and more time watching the houses of the three neighbors across the river. When Delilah and her baby, Ruby, disappear one night, Liz realizes that she was the last one to see Delilah. What happened to Dee and Ruby? Everyone believes that it’s a murder-suicide, that is everyone but Liz and Liz is willing to risk everything to find out the truth. A Rear Windowish tale told in the voices of three women helped flesh out the overall story. The story does jump around time wise making it somewhat confusing at points. It would have been easier to follow if the headings had actual dates instead of just months. All in all a good read, but the ending was a bit of a let down after such a big buildup through out the book.
Liz and her new husband settle into his family home in order to get it in order to sell it. As you would guess from the title it is across the water from other homes, making it somewhat isolated. With nothing else to do, and still dealing with PTSD from a recent trauma, Liz has little to do but people watch. And what she sees will bring everything into question. When Delilah and her baby disappear late one night, Liz realizes she is the last person to see her alive...or was she?
While entertaining and easy to read, the "twists" could be seen a mile away. it wasn't bad, it wasn't great. I'd call this a good beach read
It took me a little while to really get in to ACROSS THE WATER. The movement back and forth in time was intially confusing and seems illogical. But once I got into it, I was fully invested and found it to be an interesting read with plenty of suspense.
I would like to thank NetGallery, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and author Ingrid Alexandra for the opportunity of receiving a free E-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book was well written and kept me on the edge of my seat so much so that I finished this book in one sitting. I enjoyed the layout of the book especially the author's use of different character povs and the use of time and dates. The premise of the story is what first drew me in and ask for an E-Arc copy in order the read the entire story. The story involves a newly married woman named Liz and her husband. They come to his father's house in order to sell it so that he and Liz can start a new life together. As Liz's husband spends a lot of time away on business trips, Liz finds herself watching her neighbors across the lake. As Liz watches her neighbors more and more, the sudden disappearance of Dee and her child has Liz questioning all the weird things she keeps seeing in her neighbor's house. What really happens behinds our neighbors closed doors? I believe the characters were developed well. Each of these women had a complex past full of traumas that had me feeling sad for the situations that brought these women together. The build-up throughout the story had me guessing who exactly Dee's daughter's father was and what she might have chasing her from her past. I thought the ending was a little of a let down, but was able to pull all the strings together well. This was my first book by this author and it will not be my last. I look forward to looking up some of the back list books by this author. I would recommend this book to those who love the movies like "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle."
I juste finished it. I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked it, The mystery, the scenery as well, I was fascinated by this little part of australia, where just a feww people live. Liz and her new husband adam are staying in a cottage for a short period of time and the disapearance of a mother and her infant brings liz to start spying on her neinbors to find out what happened that night... I tough , firts of all that liz was very very nosy... i think the only reason why i did not like this book completly was because I did not like the main character.. but it was intriging and i kept reading to find out what happened
Well written involving.A dark book that drew me kept me reading.late into the night,A book I will be Recommending the book and the author#netgalley#harperuk
Across The Water by Ingrid Alexandra was an ok book for me. The characters weren't that likeable and I didn't feel connected to any of them. Sometimes keeping the history of the characters until later in the book hurts the story and I felt that was happening here.
Thanks to netgalley, Harper Collins UK, One more Chapter Books for the arc
Well written story. Kept me engaged the entire time. A page turner for sure! Looking forward to reading more books by this author!
Across the Water by Ingrid Alexander 🖤
Thanks @netgalley
@harpercollins @harpercollinsuk for my arc. Out 9th July --------------------------------------
I read and loved Ingrid Alexanders' debut The New Girl and so was delighted to receive this arc. So if possible this book may be better than its predecessor. Absolutely blooming brilliant. I literally couldn't put it down. Creepy Lake houses, fascinating neighbours and lots and lots of secrets. If you loved Rear Window you will love this. This book will appeal to the voyeur in you all. Highly recommended xxx
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the arc of Across The Water by Ingrid Alexandra.❤️
Thank you to Ingrid Alexandra for writing this page gripping book❤️
This follows Liz and Adam who have recently wed after being romantically connected before marriage, they decide to settle down together near a river with a cottage nearby. After a traumatic event while working Liz is starting to heal from these events as she is severely , her husband works away each day so thus gives Liz a change to be the spying on her neighbours across the river, the neighbour is Dee Dee and her baby whose name is called Ruby❤️, Mysteriously a horrific event happens and Dee Dee and Ruby disappear and go missing which worries Liz a lot and she think something horrific and frightening has happened to them😩, but the question is as because she is really stressed can she really be so called trusted? and what did really happen that night? 😩
It switches between three perspectives of Liz, Dee Dee and Erica, I really like the deep darkness of this book. I really enjoyed this book with all the darkness, twists and turns, it was a well written and structured book.
Well done Ingrid Alexandra! Will review on Amazon and other retail sites once published!
Definitely Recommend
5 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.
Liz and her new husband settle into his family home in order to get it in order to sell it. As you would guess from the title it is across the water from other homes, making it somewhat isolated. With nothing else to do, and still dealing with PTSD from a recent trauma, Liz has little to do but people watch. And what she sees will bring everything into question. When Delilah and her baby disappear late one night, Liz realizes she is the last person to see her alive...or was she?
While entertaining and easy to read, the "twists" could be seen a mile away. it wasn't bad, it wasn't great. I'd call this a good beach read.
This one for me just didn’t do it for me. I was intrigued by the blurb and I felt that it really wasn’t what the book was about at all. I couldn’t really connect with the characters which can be tough. This one was just “ok”
This description sounded great. I just had to read it . But sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations. It just didn’t bring to the table that it had described.
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐
PUBLICATION DAY: July 9, 2020
Life gets a little crazy across the water...
PLOT SUMMARY:
Liz and Adam have recently married after a whirlwind courtship. Settling down temporarily in a remote cottage near a river, Liz begins to heal after a traumatic episode at work. With Adam away each day at work, Liz has lots of time to spy on her neighbours across the river...especially Dee and her gorgeous baby Ruby. When Dee and Ruby go missing, Liz is afraid something sinister may have happened? But can she be trusted? Or is she suffering from too much stress? What really happened that fateful night?
PROS and CONS:
I really like the setting in Across The Water. The remote, dangerous location of the cottage adds a suspenseful element to the story. Liz’s obsession with her neighbours also sets the scene for some tense moments.
The flow of the story was a little difficult however. There are a lot of dates, days, and times to keep straight, as well as the switching of POV’s between Liz, Dee and Erica. I really like how it switched between the three women in order to flesh out the story, but I must admit to finding the multiple dates and times hard to follow. As such, it took me a little while to get into the story.
Having said that, I enjoyed the dark, menacing tone that infiltrated this book, where everyone is a suspect and you wonder if anyone is ever truly safe.
YES or NO:
It’s a MAYBE - seasoned thriller lovers will have no problem working things out, but for those new to the genre, you’ll enjoy it!
3 Stars
Liz and her husband, Adam, lives in Pearl Bay temporarily in order to sell the house there. However, Adam needs to commute to Sydney daily to sell his father's business. While Liz spends most of her time alone, she met Erica and Delilah, her neighbours. Though there's no friendship connection among of them, when Delilah and her baby are missing, it really pushes Liz to dig further, especially after she saw Erica and Delilah had an argument, after Delilah came to her house unexpectedly late at night.
The storyline is pretty flat, there are a couple of things that I can predict where this story will go. It's an Ok read, but for me the plot is too bland.
"The Woman in the Window meets The Hand that Rocked the Cradle" says the description, so I immediately requested it. I really liked The Woman in the Window, therefore I thought this was going to be an interesting story. Moreover, the description also points out that the book "explores the darker side of motherhood, the pressure to conform, and how women's choices shape their fate", which called even more my attention.
Nevertheless, I'm disappointed. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. I couldn't connect with the characters, because I felt like something was missing. I understand we can't know everything about them, but I think we must know enough to get us intrigued. And that's what was missing.
Anyway, the fact that this books was just OK for me doesn't mean you won't enjoy it. This is just my opinion, as a reader and nothing more. I'm not expert, so please, if you're curious, go on and give it a try.
Thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.