Astrid is a recovering alcoholic who moves back to the traditional small town where everybody knows your name and everything you’re doing. Struggling to maintain her sobriety and not disappoint her mother yet again, Astrid attempts to find her new normal, when an unknown person from her past threatens her fragile existence. While at times predictable and a somewhat glossy version of what substance abuse recovery really looks like, Who Did You Tell is an enjoyable psychological thriller that will appeal to all of us who sometimes wonder if things in our past will really stay in the past.

Great book! Well-developed, flawed characters draw the reader in and the fast paced story keeps them engaged!

Picture being a recovering addict, reduced to living with your mom as there is nowhere else to go, no one and no job to rely on, but your mom. Recovery alone is very hard, but add a guilty conscience and a lost love. Bad, huh? Then add some scary notes, odors of his cologne and situations where drinking seems overwhelmingly to be the only option. Anyone want to put yourself there?
Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

I loved The Rumor, which is why I chose this book. And, while they are very different books, they both made me think about life beyond the pages of the book. About what lives unlike mine might be like. The main character, Astrid, is very complicated and troubled, with a good heart. She tries so hard and would have had a much easier go of it if not for the people who are messing with her mind. And since the book is all from her perspective, we discover what's going on along with her. I really enjoyed reading Who Did You Tell.

Who Did You Tell by Leslie Kara completely sucked me in from the first page. The story centers on a young woman, who is an alcoholic haunted by her demons. Leslie Kara's depiction of alcoholism and recovery is uncanny! It's so believable, so sad, so true ... and she chronicles various myths about AA and alcoholism itself. This was an excellent novel.
Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This novel is about addiction and the trail of destruction that can be left in its wake. It's about redemption and the price that one must pay to find forgiveness. It's a novel about forgiving one's self. And it's a mystery on top of that. Told from the point of view of an alcoholic who is making her first real attempt at recovery. Her name's Astrid and she's living with her mom in a sleepy little town where everyone knows everyone. She meets a great guy, but chooses to keep her past a secret...and that's when her past begins to catch up with her. Who is stalking her and leaving letters with criptic messages? Why does she keep smelling her ex boyfriend's distinctive cologne. What's with the over-eager lady from AA who is too persistent?
The layers upon layers of intrigue had me turning the pages furiously, but the realistic view of a recovering addict are what made me fall in love with the book. This one is a heavy read at times, but it's also worth every minute, especially if you know someone who has been in Astrid's shoes...or her mother's.

This novel told the story of a young girl who was a recovering alcoholic.
She was fresh out of a rehab and went to live with her mom/ it was her last chance.
There was mysterious events going on in her small village, most of it geared to sabotage her recovery.
It was an interesting read.

I’ve discovered that, while it’s easy to find a mystery or thriller that’s good enough to entertain me for a few days, it’s rare to find one that truly knocks my socks off. Who Did You Tell? falls into the first category, which doesn’t mean it’s a bad book. It just means that it isn’t making it onto my list of favorites.

Unlike some mystery and thriller readers, I’m not the least bit sick of the now-cliché “female protagonist with a troubled past.” On the contrary, I actively seek out books that fit that particular mold, which was the reason I requested Who Did You Tell? in the first place. And Astrid was without a doubt the highlight of the story. Her struggles as a recovering alcoholic felt incredibly real: the constant temptation, the loneliness and isolation, the lies. She was a sympathetic and well-developed protagonist; I was rooting for her to succeed in avoiding a relapse.

I also really enjoyed this book’s setting: a small, coastal town in England on the North Sea. I’ve read plenty of small-town mysteries and thrillers, but most take place in Middle America; this was the first I’ve read that takes place in the UK. I spent a few days in a seaside English town in the summer of 2016, and even though I was only there as a tourist and it was in a completely different part of the country, Lesley Kara’s descriptions still conjured up memories from my time there and I was able to vividly imagine the town of Flinstead.

It seems like all the mysteries and thrillers I’ve read lately feature the same romance: the outrageously attractive yet non-intimidating and well-adjusted male love interest with exactly one sad life story (a dead parent, an abusive parent, his parents’ nasty divorce). Who Did You Tell? was no exception, with Josh, who was so forgettable I had to go back and look his name up. Shockingly enough, I don’t read mysteries and thrillers for a series of identical, feel-good romances with little-to-no substance, so I could have done without that.

Although this book was an easy read, with short chapters that kept me turning pages, it wasn’t particularly suspenseful. Astrid slowly realizes that someone is following her around town, someone who knows her dark secret, but not much actually happens. She gets a few creepy letters in the mail, regularly has the feeling of being watched, and keeps smelling her ex’s aftershave. The build-up, in other words, was lukewarm and poorly executed. Some of the dialogue was clunky and awkward. The ending was a mixed bag, with multiple reveals of varying quality, none of them as satisfying as I would have liked.

WHO DID YOU TELL? Is the follow up to author Lesley Kara’s first novel, The Rumor, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

In her second novel, we meet Astrid, a recovering alcoholic who is back to living with her mother and trying her best to get her life in order and succeed. She’s attending AA meetings, staying away from temptation, and even finds the possibility of a relationship and an art job, which was her passion. Then someone sends her something in the mail to remind her of the past, and that she hasn’t paid for the trouble she got involved in.

This is a gripping character study, and Kara does a great job of fleshing out the characters and documenting the struggles of addiction and trying to move on from it. I would say this is more of a suspenseful drama than a full blown thriller, but it definitely kept me gripped as I read about Astrid... what she was currently going through to stay on track, and intrigued as moments from her past were brought up. Action-wise, this is slower paced, but that did not deter me at all. I would recommend to fans of Kara’s previous book, as well as to those who like richly written characters and storylines even if there is not a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter.

Thank you to Lesley Kara, Transworld Publishing, and NetGalley for an ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of Who Did You Tell.

I’m sitting here trying to find the right words to describe this book. I did really annoy it but it was also sad to see what Astrid, a recovering alcoholic, goes through on a daily basis to stay sober. When she starts receiving threatening letters and feels as though she’s being followed, she knows it has to do with her ex boyfriend Simon. She confides in a new friend from AA, Helen, who tries to help her make sense of things. But is she really a friend?? And what about Rosie, another frequent attendee at AA. She asks a lot of questions and kind of creeps Astrid out. Is she being overly paranoid or is there another reason why Rosie is trying to insert herself into Astrid’s life?? Overall, another good book by Lesley Kara. It definitely won’t be the last one I read by her.

This is a rather hard book for me to review. As a woman in recovery, it’s difficult to read a story with so much addiction and craziness when you can see exactly what will happen next if things don’t change for the better. Well written, with a protagonist you can relate to in many ways, and a mystery you think you have all figured out but one which turns out slightly differently. I adored Kara’s previous book and this is certainly a gut wrenching, heart pounding novel which stays with you long after it’s finished. . I read it in two days but needed to wait five before I could review it. With a little distance, I can say it’s excellent.

Who Did You Tell by author Lesley Kara is another dark and twisty thriller novel with lots of character and a great plot line! I would definitely recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I am blown away by Who Did You Tell. I felt like I could actually feel the emotions of the main character, a recovering alcoholic with a secret past. It was an intense, thrilling read, that I will never forget. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read more from Lesley Kara

You can't help but get pulled into this book and Astrid's story. A recovering alcoholic who struggles every day, she's living with her mother and attending AA meetings. She makes a new friend, starts seeing a man and gets a job, but all the while she's haunted by her past and a man named Simon. It's rare that a thriller can make you really feel the main character's pain and fear. Most writers concentrate on the action, but this was really head and shoulders above the pack

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

Very unique and unusual storyline, just the pacing is a bit off I don’t know if I can be improved with editing before publication because this thriller is an interesting one and the writer can tell a story.