I’d like to thank Avon Books UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Weekend Away’ by Sarah Alderson in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Best friends Orla and Kate are in Lisbon on a girls’ weekend away. After clubbing on their first night Orla wakes in the morning with only a limited memory of what happened after they returned to their apartment. She’s expecting to spend the day with Kate sightseeing but Kate’s disappeared and can’t be found. Orla reports her disappearance to the police but as they don’t seem interested she joins forces with Konstandin, the Uba driver who took them to the club, who helps Orla piece together what happened the previous evening and together they come up with some dramatic conclusions.

‘The Weekend Away’ is a gripping thriller that’s slow to start but then increases in tempo until it’s difficult to stop reading. It has an intriguing plot, an abundance of twists and turns, and so many suspects it’s hard to decide who’s had a hand in Kate’s disappearance, not to mention the cliff-hanger on the final page that’s taken me completely by surprise. This is a novel that’s an enjoyable and easy read and is one I can recommend.

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for this digital arc !
Imagine waiting for what seems like forever to finally be able to go away with your best girlfriend and forget about all your troubles !
Sounds perfect right !? Well not so fast .... what if this little getaway weekend had one you drugged, accused of murder, left alone in a strange country AND had you discovering such ugly truths that you yourself would want to disappear.... would you still go?
Oh this was a fantastic mind blowing ride with an ending that had me like NO!!!!!!!
I loved this one - you just have to read it ! I can not wait to read more by this amazing author 💕

This was an underwhelming read for me. The premise was good, but I just couldn't stand Orla. I found it to be slow going until the last 30% or so, but even then, all the action & drama couldn't make me care.

Hopefully, the reader will have a few hours with this read as you will not be able to put it down! Orla, a mother with a nine month old baby, is invited to join her best friend of many years, Kate, for a weekend in Lisbon, Portugal. Kate is divorcing her husband and wants to get away. So many twists and turns later, everything is upended and the reader is left gasping and voraciously reading to determine what is going to happen next. Well paced with a compelling plot, this read is addictive. Many many thanks to Sarah Anderson, Avon, and NetGalley for affording me the pleasure of reading an arc of this soon to be published thriller. Add this one to the top of your “next read” list.

When I read the blurb I was immediately drawn to this story, as it sounded right up my street.
This starts off as quite a slow burn, with it taking some time to seriously get into this.
Then when everything does start to take off, it gets pretty unbelievable.
You almost have to suspend belief, taking it from feeling like a book set in reality to complete fiction.
I'm not sure how to feel about this as at certain points I was flipping through the pages happily. And then I struggled with how it was written, in terms of the flow.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Weekend Away is a mystery/thriller, full of twists & turns.
Orla & Kate are old friends but they are at quite different points in their life. A girl’s weekend away to Lisbon should be a time to reconnect. Orla has packed a suitcase of sensible shoes & jeans for the planned sightseeing and bike tour, whilst Kate has a suitcase full of glamourous clothing and a desire to hit the nightclubs. After dinner & drinks, Kate collapses into bed and when she wakes the next day Kate has disappeared.
With the local police not interested, Orla, with the help of the taxi driver who took them to the club on that fateful night, tries to piece together the little evidence that she has – and in doing so she uncovers a variety of secrets that widens the suspect list and makes her question what she knows about those closest to her.
There are times when you have to accept that this is fiction not reality, and some of the twists were very predictable but it is still a book with some surprises and a reasonable read.

Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book free from the publisher via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher & author for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Orla and Kate go on a girly weekend trip to Lisbon with Orla leaving her husband and baby at home. Whilst away the go out for a meal and then onto a club., where they meet 2 men who Kate asks back to their apartment. When Orla wakes up the next morning to find that she can’t remember much about the night before and Kate missing she is terrified. She attempts to find out what happened to Kate and contacts the police. Orla starts finding out some things about Kate that she doesn’t want to believe. The police then find a body in the river, will they find out what happened to Kate or will Orla be charged with her murder.

A great book of twists and turns, thought I figured out what happened and then sometime else would come me to light . Keep me hooked from page 1.

A slow burn mystery about two girlfriends who go away for the weekend and one of them mysteriously disappears, then there’s a rush of over the top, not very believable crazy stuff until all is eventually revealed at the end. I really wasn’t crazy about this book and would label it as just okay. I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Lots of twists and turns in this fabulous little thriller. Put 2 old friends together in a foreign country, add some booze and drugs, along with a few good looking men and you have lots of questions and mystery. I have never read a book by this author but I did enjoy her writing style. The book flowed along quickly and had a satisfying ending. I would recommend this book and I will definitely be looking for more books by this author. Enjoy this perfect beach read!

friends go on holiday. Only one comes back.

Orla and Kate have been best friends forever. Together they’ve faced it all – be it Orla’s struggles as a new mother or Kate’s messy divorce. And whatever else happens in their lives, they can always look forward to their annual weekend away.

This year, they’re off to Lisbon: the perfect flat, the perfect view, the perfect itinerary. And what better way to kick things off in style than with the perfect night out?

But when Orla wakes up the next morning, Kate is gone. Brushed off by the police and with only a fuzzy memory of the night’s events, Orla is her friend’s only hope. As she frantically retraces their steps, Orla makes a series of shattering discoveries that threaten everything she holds dear. Because while Lisbon holds the secret of what happened that night, the truth may lie closer to home…
My review
Two friends go away on a weekend break what could go wrong this book had me grip from the first page to the last page it is very fast paced and very easy to read the story gripped me you didn't really know went on that night what happened it is a very well written story and had a very interesting plot I liked all the twists and Turns in it it kept me guessing it kept you wondering what happened that night orla and Katie are very strong characters I like both of them something wasn't quite right but I can't put my finger on what until was above half then I guess you'll be shock what happen it's very good do you really know your best friends I'm not sure about that do you really know what's going on in the mines do you know what what's going on in their life or do you just go with what they tell you ? always stand up for what you believe in. A very good book it a page turner it grips you your pulled into the plot your trying to work it all put i recommend you all read 4 stars

What a fabulous read. A real page turner.
I suspected everyone right up to the last page and even then.............it still keeps you guessing & suspecting.

I was given a copy of The Weekend Away by Sarah Alderson by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The book is about Orla who goes to Lisbon for a weekend with her old friend Kate. The Girls him out then in the morning Orla discovers Kate has disappeared. The book is well paced. Orla is likeable character. A great psychological thriller

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I actually really liked this book, it was not fantastic but enjoyable. Good storyline and good characters, give it a go other readers.

Orla goes away for the weekend with her friend who she has known since uni. Then her friend disappears. We journey with her as she scours the city looking for her. Full of twists and turns, occasionally expected but more often not this is an intriguing tale with interesting characters.

This was my first book by this author, and it did not disappoint. It was easy to get into from the start and kept me on my toes with the twist in the plot.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

An excellent physiological thriller! Kate and orla go on a weekend away to lisbon which results into kate going missing, great twists keeping me hooked wanting to keep reading the book. I feel the ending could of been better it felt as though it could of continued but other than that a good read!

I love a good psychological thriller so I was so excited to find I was accepted to review this book!
Best friends Orla and Kate take a trip way to Lisbon, but when Kate disappears this is not the getaway they are expecting.
Although slightly predictable this book was very enjoyable and had the right amount of twists and turn to entice me into reading and picking this book up again and again.
Both characters of Orla and Kate were relatable and well constructed and I enjoyed the differences between them even though they are best friends.
I was suspecting nearly every character we came across in this book, a great testament to the author that I could not guess the ending!

I really enjoyed this book - Sarah Anderson packed a lot into a novel set over a long weekend in Lisbon, and it had a very intriguing premise. The main character of Orla was three-dimensional and sympathetic, and I was rooting for her the whole way through as she tried to find out what happened to Kate, who disappears on the first night of their girlie weekend away.

The mystery of Kate’s disappearance was very well drawn out and the tension kept me hooked as Orla followed the clues with the help of Konstandin; in that aspect it would make a good film or TV series. The long-standing friendship between the two women was also complex and true to life, along with the relationship with Orla’s husband Rob.

I genuinely didn’t know who the killer was (I thought it was someone different) and liked the way the book wrapped up, but was expecting a more dramatic and less ambiguous end.

I’ll be looking out for more books by this author.

A gripping , fast paced thriller , full of twisted plots that will have you hooked from beginning to end

It’s the story of two best friends , Orla and Kate who have been friends for more than 20years decide to take time off and travel away for a weekend to Portugal
But as Kate goes missing and later found dead , Orla is suspected for her murder she struggles to clear her name and ends up unleashing some secrets from the past that will lead to her murder

This is a book I’d highly recommend to others as I enjoyed it to the fullest

Fun, fast paced and twistier than a rollercoaster. I got on well with the characters and could relate to Orla a lot as a mum to young kids.

The snappy descriptive paragraphs together with what feels like real life dialogue and a storyline that messes with your head (in a good way!) makes this a phenomenal read and leaves you wanting more...