I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher Publishing Group – Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is about the recovery process from alcohol addiction. It grabs you in the beginning and takes you through the AA process . If that is new to you it is very informative and you feel the pain of those involved in the process. The story begins when a young woman moves back home with her mother because she has nowhere else to go but her mother insists that she get help and tries to help her through the process. It deals with the daily demons and other people’s reaction to the addict. As the story weaves along it quickly gains your attention as Astrid fears someone is stalking her and does not know who to trust. The characters are well described and you feel like they are people you actually know. The mystery just gets deeper and deeper and I did not see the ending coming. I like that in a book. I usually would not choose a book like this but am glad I did.

Leslie Kara has done a great job in capturing the mindset of a recovering alcoholic. Astrid has returned home to live with her mom after rehab. She’s going to AA, making amends, working on the 12 Steps. But she’s also hiding a secret. And someone appears to be stalking her.
Astrid felt so real to me. She hasn’t quite come to terms with her alcoholism. She’s afraid to tell her new beau and tells lie after lie to cover up her secret. Her constant battle with her addiction just felt spot on. The secondary characters also felt very three dimensional, especially her new friend, Helen, her mother, even determined Rosie, who so wants to be her sponsor.
This isn’t a fast paced book, but it has a great sense of tension to it. Questions concerning not just what Astrid did, but who is seeking revenge and most importantly, can she resist falling back into drinking. There are several plot twists I didn’t see coming. And it was just a great ending!
I haven’t read Ms. Kara’s first book, but after this one, I intend to check it out.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

After leaving alcohol rehab in London, Astrid Phelps relocates to her mother’s home in the small seaside town of Flinstead. Astrid begins to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and attempts to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, even though her urge to drink is still very strong. Astrid is haunted by memories from her drunken past, including the death of her boyfriend Simon. Soon after moving to Flinstead, Astrid begins to smell Simon’s cologne and often feels his presence. Her feelings of guilt over Simon’s death coupled with her mounting paranoia, keep Astrid in a state of constant unease. Her social circle remains very small (a few acquaintances at her AA meetings, a possible romantic interest, and her mother) but she has hope that she can start over and have a good life. Before long, Astrid concludes that someone knows the secrets she is desperately trying to hide and her paranoia increases. Is someone really lurking in the shadows, ready to expose her secrets or are demons in Astrid’s mind causing her imagination to spiral? This psychological thriller keeps the reader guessing until the final pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC.
What an incredibly tough subject to not only read but write about.
I absolutely wanted the main character to overcome this awful addiction and come out on the other side whole.
Without giving anything away this author truly threw me a curveball towards the ending.
I definitely would recommend this book and cannot wait to find more by this author.

This book reminded me of The Girl on The Train. Although the story like was a little different, you get a lot of thr internal struggle. I thought the author did a good job of highlighting the struggle without making it annoying. The end was super dramatic and for the most part, the plot kept you interested. It's easy to sympathize with Astrid so you will inevitably find yourself rooting for her.

Brought me thru so many emotions and directions! Astrid is an alcoholic forced to move back with her mom to her small town in order to recover. She goes to AA and tries her best to go through the 12 steps. She is haunted by her previous boyfriend who she lost and blames herself for this. She smells his cologne wherever she goes and she thinks that she has seen him around stalking her but the dead don’t walk. She tries to put it behind her and move on but when she meets a hot guy on the beach, she can’t bring herself to tell him the truth about her past until the guilt of it all eats away at her and she must reveal her true-self and hope for the best. Astrid also finds that in the small town, she can’t get away from her group members from AA. She sees them everywhere and some she befriends and others attempts to avoid.
Astrid is caught between dealing with her past and trying to make amends while hoping that she has the strength to stay sober and have a new lease on life.
I enjoyed her moments of self discovery and the end when the truths came out and the real Astrid was revealed.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Who Did You Tell? is a decent read, though it's not breaking any ground in the already-crowded niche of female-centered psychological thrillers. Like the seaside town in which it is set, Astrid's story is mild, with a pervasive air of domesticity. While I like the idea of a sleepy town, I'm not sure that it helped the story here because they play off one another, resulting in an overall sense of flatness. When the story finally picks up and tensions grow with the whodunnit (i.e. who is Astrid's stalker, and what does she want?), it becomes confusing. There are too many characters related to Astrid's late ex, that make it feel too coincidental-- or, plainly, plotted.
I think this book is truly middling. It's worth the read, if it lands in your lap, but it wouldn't be something I'd recommend going out of your way to procure.

A suspenseful storyline about a recovering alcoholic and she believes someone is stalking her. A very dark read sometimes because of the struggle with alcohol. A very good read overall.

A heart wrenching story of a recovering alcoholic, Astrid, and her deepest secrets. What happened when she was a full fledged alcoholic has consequences for her sobriety. Someone is stalking her and who did Simon tell are the main storylines. Well written and insightful on how an alcoholic lives day to day. The ending ties everything up neatly. Enjoyed this authors writing.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced reading copy.

Although this wasn’t my favorite type of mystery book, a bit depressing at times, I did enjoy the suspense of who was following her at times wondering if it were all in her head. A fair amount of characters and suspense kept me reading to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

While I didn't LOVE it, I really did like it. It is a very interesting story about a girl who is an alcoholic and keeping secrets from everyone she loves. But are her secrets the truth or what she was led to believe? Astrid is trying to get her life back together after a series of tragic events. But someone does not want her to. I think you should read it, definitely worth it !

This was such an edge of your seat book! I highly recommend this book to curl up by a fire, with a drink in hand and read from start to finish! You won’t want to put it down!

This book about Astrid/Hillary is one of overcoming alcohol abuse and addiction. I felt like I actually learned a little bit about how addicts feel and it is heartbreaking, though I know that’s not the main point of the story.

It is suspenseful and a bit creepy at times - psychologically mind wrecking!

I enjoyed the sections that explain how someone is stalking Astrid long after her escape from her addiction.

I thought the ending was a bit far-fetched and a little too over the top.

This wasn't the gripping thriller I expected, but it was a suspenseful story about recovery.

"It doesn't make me a bad person just thinking about it. In fact, l'd go so far as to say it's normal to have the odd violent fantasy about someone you hate so much every muscle in your body contracts when you think of them."

After reading this passage in the first few pages I was excited to get into the far depraved mind of that person--only their thoughts are far and few between. The main character Astrid is much more whiny and melancholy as she struggles with not drinking and trying to remember what she did do when she was an alcoholic.

If you like reading about people fighting to better themselves and want a suspenseful story with a little mystery this could be the book for you.

I wanted a darker story with actual murder and this was not that.

4 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books books for allowing me to read this novel for an honest review.

Astrid, a recovering alcoholic has moved home to live with her Mother in her small village. She is trying desperately to leave her past behind but it won't be that easy. Astrid thinks someone is following her, at first she thinks that maybe she is imaging it. Just maybe it is her imagination but then she swears that she sees her ex boyfriend's shirt in a consignment shop and she starts getting threatening letters. Astrid keeps it to herself at first because she doesn't want to upset her Mother and doesn't want to risk messing up her new relationship.

This was a very well written novel with a likable character that you really want to root for.

Recently sober and trying desperately to make it stick, Astrid has left her life in London behind to come and live with her mother in a small seaside town, off-season from the tourist. With a slower way of life, and her only new “friends” being those from her AA meetings, Astrid feels she should be calmer and better able to resist any temptations. But she feels like someone if spying on her, and she’s constantly smelling her old boyfriend’s cologne. And when she starts finding notes left for her, along with tempting bottles of alcohol, she afraid someone knows all of her secrets. I’ve never read anything by Lesley Kara, and this story/setting isn’t exactly new or original, but I still enjoyed it very much. I came to like Astrid and found myself rooting for her to come out of her situation ahead. I’ll definitely read more book by this author.

Note: A special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

A good thriller about a recovering alcoholic with a faulty memory who feels responsible for her boyfriend's suicide. While Astrid's self-flagellation and critical self-talk got to be a bit repetitive, I did commiserate with her constant yearning for a drink and fighting off the impulses. It was a painful reflection of how difficult it must be for a recovering addict.

The last section of the book left me with a bit of OCD as I questioned whether all the revealing details made sense in terms of characterization and previous scenes. I'm not sure I bought into the resolution of all the red herrings. That is to say, when a writer attempts to tie up all the loose ends of the story, believability can be stretched a little too far. At least that was the feeling for me when I finished this book.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

This was an enjoyable read even if I guessed who the stalker was. A recovering alcoholic in her thirties moves back in with her mother in a small seaside town in England. She attends AA meetings and tries to get her life back on track. All seems to be getting better slowly but then she realizes she is being followed and receives horrible messages reminding her of the things she did while drunk. The temptation to turn back to alcohol is very strong and not everyone turns out to be who they seem to be. A good book dealing with the many aspects of alcoholism with a good plot.

This book was not I could get through. That being said, for those who like dark mysteries, it might be a good read. I hope to read more by this author to see if perhaps I might enjoy her writing. It does appear that she knows her craft, and the characters are written with a knowledge of knowing how they are thinking...I just don't like the darkness and the subject.

Thank you #netgalley for the advanced copy.

Astrid is a recovering alcoholic who moves back in with her mother in a small beach town. While there, the struggles with the demons of her past while trying to move forward. Astrid meets a unique group at her local AA meetings along with a nice young man who ends up finding her a job. Though she was taking steps in the right direction, her ex Simon still continues to play havoc on her life.