This book was utterly amazing. The twists and turns kept coming. And that epilogue made me go what the heck?!??!?! Highly recommend for anyone who likes psychological thrillers!

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

OMG! What a fantastic yet creepily disturbing read this is! I could not put it down! The book twisted about half way through and then again twice after this and each twist was believable and crazy at the same time. This is an amazingly constructed spine tingling read that will have you gripped way after you should have turned off the lights!

Twisted tale of a mother and a daughter which takes the definition of a dysfunctional family to another level.

To be true though, I did spot some of the plot twists miles ahead and dysfunctional family dramas are normally not my cup of tea. So I was in two minds whether I should rate it 3. That doesn't take away from the fact that John Marrs is a master story teller and managed to keep me engrossed till the very end, despite this not being not one of my usual genres.

Maggie is Nina’s mom. They still live together, even as Nina’s an adult, but the two of them hate each other. Sounds like a typical toxic mother-daughter relationship, but it’s far from it.

Nina is holding Maggie captive in their attic, shackled to her prison. Nina holds her mom responsible for the sins of her past, but Maggie has always had her daughter’s best interest at heart.

We follow Nina and Maggie (past and present) and see how one or both of them are seriously twisted.

What Lies Between Us by John Marrs is an addicting thriller that I couldn’t put down. I didn’t want to go too much into the plot, as I think this is best gone into blind. I’ve read two other books by this author—both sci-fi thrillers—but this was a domestic and psychological thriller hybrid. If you want to read something wild, definitely pick this one up! 5/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, John Marrs and Amazon Publishing UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOW what a great read! I''m loved every minute of the two point of view book. Nina's character was well developed and thought through and Maggie's character was just as thought thru. I had no idea 3/4 of the book through what was going to happen next! It was a great ride! Both characters are unlikable but the story meddled into a great dark thriller. Loved it.

Thank you to netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for my review copy.

Dear God, please help me find the appropriate mental health professionals needed in order for me to recover from this book!!! It doesn't happen often, but sometimes I come across a novel that once I am finished, I will set it down, close my eyes, and ask myself (and I mean this as the highest form of praise),

"what in the hell did I just read?" 

What Lies Between Us is the deliciously dark and twisted story of Nina and her mother, Maggie. The novel opens with a prologue about someone no longer mattering and it sets a very creepy tone right off the bat. Nina is a thirty-something single woman that works in a library. Her mother, Maggie, is in her sixties and lives upstairs in the attic of their home. When I say she lives in the attic, I mean that she is held captive wearing chains cuffed to her ankle and only gets to come downstairs for dinner with Nina every couple of days. 

This story is told from both Nina and Maggie's POVs and alternates between the past (ranging from 2 to 25 years earlier) and the present. I enjoyed the format and the flashbacks to the events leading up to the present but quickly suspected that neither Nina or Maggie was a reliable narrator. At first, it seems that Maggie has done unspeakable things to Nina throughout her life and this is Nina punishing her. However, as the novel progresses, each woman's truths slowly start to reveal themselves. 

Did I mention how dysfunctional these women are? 

Besides touching on the blurb and the extreme psychological issues represented in this book, I can't say much more about the overall premise without spoilers. But what I can say, is that this is without a doubt one of the most entertaining and surprising novels that I have read in quite some time. Every time that I found myself thinking something was true or thinking that I had figured something out - I was wrong. Every single time. John Marrs took me on a trip through crazy town with a ton of stops I wasn't expecting. This novel isn't fast-paced, per se, but it is so addictive you will not want to put it down. With every chapter and honestly, every page, things just continued to spiral into more dysfunction and madness. And it was absolutely brilliant!

I highly, highly recommend What Lies Between Us to fans of domestic and psychological thrillers. There is not a happy ending and it will certainly make you pause and take a breath several times, but it is fantastic. John Marrs is a new-to-me author but I now plan on checking out everything this man has written.

Oh yes - I read that Renee Zellweger's production company purchased the TV rights to this novel and I am already losing my mind with anticipation imagining this as a nice, long series on Netflix! Congrats to John Marrs!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book takes us through the stories that bind Maggie and her daughter, Nina, together. Alternating between points of view, and jumping throughout the timeline, we slowly build a picture of how each character feels, and what’s happened.
I have to admit, this is not a pacey read (or maybe I’m just struggling because I’m on lockdown with an insane amount of children, and don’t have time for coherent thought), but that doesn’t detract from it all. Instead, it was a fascinating read, that built up gradually over time, and allowed you to fill in the blanks and marvel at precisely how sinister the whole thing was.

This is a family that definitely puts the fun in dysfunctional!

The main characters are so well written, and the associated issues well researched, I didn’t find any of the storyline too far-fetched. Whilst this is the first book I’ve read by Marrs, it most definitely will not be my last!

The Stars: A very rare, and brilliantly earnt 5 stars! I have nothing to fault.

WOA WOA WOA. WHAT THE FREAKING SH*T DID I JUST READ!!! I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO START THIS BOOK REVIEW BECAUSE IT JUST ROTATED MY SENSES AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO FEEL ANYMORE!!!

First of all I want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for approving me with this book. I will forever be grateful that I am introduce to this wonderful author that has a great way in messing me up so bad. (Of course in a good way.)

This is the first book that I have read from John Marrs and I am so obsess! Why the hell did it took me too long to find him? Like whyyyyyyyy?????

First, let’s talk about the synchronization of the POV’s and the two POV’s that I am so grateful for! It’s such a great effort but thank the heaven’s for the villains POV. This book reminds me a lot of VERITY. It was the first book that introduced me into a villain’s POV but I am not even sure about VERITY since it messed me up also. However, this book has two POV of people whom the reader will think as villains. I am just so messed up with this. It’s just the way these POV’S make the readers dive intimately inside a person’s mind is the best thing for me than any third POV can even express. It’s just a different feeling when it’s a first POV, not to mention two. My gosh what a great treat!

Then let’s talk about the twists. I am never going to spill any spoilers in my reviews. But… THE TWISTS OMG! They said the best writers are the ones who gives a shock to a reader. Well hey I’m here! I have anticipated a lot of things as to what happened and the truth always turns out to be a thunderbolt. A literal one that will disperse your whole being into the things that really happened. I am literally struck! These truths are more horrifying than I can ever explain and it always scatter my emotions! I don’t even know what emotion to feel on the truths revealed while reading. Though each truth have some relation but the emotions will always be different on so many levels.

The setting is not a unique one since there are many movies about things like this. Still, I can’t imagine about this situation. It’s just so horrible locked up in a room with little access to freedom or even none!

Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. I can’t express how utterly shock I am with the truths. I have a lot of why’s more than anything else. I think I will never understand the things you do. How can you be like that? Why did you choose to be like that? I am so heartbroken, full of pity and sadness. I can never freely express what I feel about you since I don’t want to spoil anything with the people reading my review. (Only if there are people who read them.) Nevertheless, you broke my heart Maggie, more than anything else. You know the truth, but why? Love will always have depths in them that I can never understand.

Nina! NINAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I am sincerely mad of you. I need a book two of this because of the ending. I am totally more shock of you more than Maggie. If Maggie broke my heart, you ruined me! I can never understand you even though I have been into your head. How can these things even happen? How can you define love that way? How come you still haven’t figured it out? Why can’t you try harder in figuring it? Why does being stuck there gives you satisfaction that this is what life is suppose to be? That it’s what love is suppose to be? You were a teenager then, you despise Maggie but why to that extent? I will never understand it. NEVER. It left me a lot of question marks about the cruelty, compassion, numbness, care & love you’ve shown. I’m speechless and I give up understanding.

This book has given me a roller coaster ride. It’s confusing, surprising, shocking, nerve wracking, hurting, heartbreaking, just everything! I’ve seen love, care, pain, solitude, desire, sacrifice, & death! Like literally! The ending tightens my chest. I am left speechless. How can the ending be like this. I am left unsatisfied. Though I think it is a proper ending for a tumultuous story like this. No further explanation, just that.

John Marrs has a great way in playing with your emotions and anticipations. I have no idea a book can even do that to me! This book gives a humungous impact. The heaviness of the emotion especially at the end will always remain in me. I think I will always be reminded of this story and how it stirs all of the emotions I never imagine would occur all at the same time. It’s just great. Standing ovation.

Thank you @netgalley and @amazonpublishing for this ARC.
PUB day: May 15 2020 🎉
Wow this book by @johnmarrs.author is amazing!! ❤️❤️ It’s a fast paced book with chapters alternating between the mom and daughter in the past and present. They have a messed up and dysfunctional relationship. It’s a disturbing and dark read but at the same it kept me intrigued on what is going to happen next. I couldn’t put this one down and I am in shock on how it ended. I have seen so many good reviews on this one and it definitely deserves 5 stars. If you like a good thriller with many twists and turns. This one is for you! I’m looking forward to read more from this author soon. This is definitely a five star read for me.

I might be a little bias when it comes to the books and writing of John Marrs. He is one of my favorite authors when it comes to thrills and suspense. Andddd he has done it again with What Lies Between Us. I mean the first page is so engaging like, 'GASP, what did I just read'!! The story is really who is right and who is wrong during any particular circumstance of what life throws your way. You can see each side (at times) of the way the mother helps the daughter and what will be good for her future. But things are never what they seem, right? I highly recommend this book! 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author John Marrs for an advanced copy for a honest review.

Wow, John Marrs has once again delivered a knockout book. He has a way of writing makes you second guess yourself constantly. I'd say that it's more of a thriller than a mystery, featuring more tension than twists, but goodness me was it addictive!

Some people will do whatever it takes to keep their loved ones close...

This book is a thrilling story about a mother and daughters relationship. It is dark and twisted. I was intrigued until the end. I read so many thrillers that I usually can predict plot twists but this book constantly had me guessing. John Marrs writing is great and he comes up with such original story lines. I gave this book 4.5 stars! I knocked off half a star because of the ending. I can't say what happened without spoiling it but I wish things would have played out a little better for one certain character. Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers, and this was one of the best. Just when I thought I had it figured out--boom! Another twist that left me guessing and yearning for the next chapter.

Told from two perspectives both in present time and in the past, of Maggie and her daughter, Nina, every chapter was filled with another unexpected twist. I am not normally a late-night reader, but for the first time in a long time, I found myself staying up WAY later than I should have wanting to finish this book.

As a mother and daughter myself, I have not been able to stop thinking about the intriguing characters and relationships that were developed in this book. HIGHLY recommend, but be sure you have some time set aside to read, as you won't want to stop! This is my first read by this author, and I'm definitely going to read everything he has written or writes!

I love John Marrs and jumped on this book as soon as it appeared as have been so excited to read it.

It was 100% worth the wait, what a storyline! He introduces the characters and I'm like this can't be right, everyone is a good guy. It totally led me into a false sense of security and wham he knocks me off my feet with a revelation.

This book was Twist upon twist, you just get your head around the twist and its off in a different direction again. I read this gripping the book tightly, keen to read what happens next and wham....there's another unexpected twist. I loved it and just couldn't get enough!!

Read this book, you will not be disappointed.

I LOVED THIS FREAKING TWISTED BOOK!!!!

I was so ecstatic and NetGalley approved me for and ARC of this copy. And it's crazy, because this was my first John Marrs book, but I felt, while reading it, that I had jumped on this bandwagon ages ago.

Ok, this story was the craziest story I've read so far this year. Picture this, the first narrator was an older woman, and she started telling us about her days at home, her boring daily routine, and about her dinners with this other person who lives with her, Nina.
Nina was the perfect picture of a woman in her mid thirties, whose life was dedicated to her job at a public library. Nina also told us a bit of her living habits and how it was to live with Maggie, the older woman.

Normal, right? Not in the slightest.
Because Nina showed a total disregard for Maggie and soon we found out that Maggie each day, after dinner time, needed to go to the attic to be put in chains...

WTF????

Yes, that was me through this whole story. It was completely insane and in the most awesome, captivating and intriguing way ever. John Marrs was able to keep me hooked to this plot for the entire time, I simply couldn't put it down.

I was reading and then, out of a sudden, he was revealing such a crazy piece of information, that my brain would turn into mush. He didn't stop there though. When I was starting to get used to that piece of information, connecting with the story, he would go and BAAMMM, another crazy reveal to make me go insane.

I think it's correct for me to say that he is "The King of The Plot Twists", because he was not shy in that department and although all those revelations could've turned this story into a senseless one, that didn't happen in here.
John Marrs was so crafty when weaving all those reveals, making everything fall into place with the plot. My jaw literally dropped to the freakin floor with that ending.

Definitely a 5 star book for me and I simply cannot wait to read his other books... some I already got and I'm really excited to start.

Wow wow wow... yet again John Marrs treats us to a fantastic thriller.. cannot recommend all of his books enough. What lies between us is a page turner that will have you reading until the small hours!

5 star! I love John mars and his latest offering is no exception. A dark and very twisted tale about a mother and daughter relationship - there’s so many twists and turns in this book and if I discuss the plot I could easily give away a spoiler! Just read it - you won’t regret it! Due out may 2020. Thanks to John marrs and netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

For fans of Peter Swanson, make this your next read! If you've read Lisa Jewell but wished she'd go just a bit darker, this book is perfect for you.

Woah. This book so twisted and every chapter I had myself guessing who to trust. Twisted family relationships, decades-old secrets, and unreliable narrators made this book a wild ride. I enjoyed, but I bumped down a star because I thought it was wildly unrealistic (as almost every thriller is). Overall, this was a fantastic read that was hard to put down!

4.5 stars

No, I don’t know why I would read a book about a woman whose keeping her mother chained in the attic when I’m being on a quarantine for ten days now. Yes, I know, probably not my smartest move.

This was such an intense, dark, and disturbing book with two dysfunctional characters that completely messed with my mind. They drove me crazy when they start acting so chilly like nothing is wrong. Like “YOU GUYS ARE FREAKIN INSANE!” I loved how fast paced this book was and how it was filled with twists and turns. The book doesn’t give you a time to take a break. The storytelling is amazing. I loved the writing style and how it got my complete attention. It definitely got me glued to my seat nervous as hell while waiting for what’s going to happen next. It felt like you find out a new revelation by the end of each chapter. And while some things weren’t completely surprising to me for I’ve guessed it already, it surprisingly didn’t affect my enjoyment for this book. It was a good book. A really good book.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for sharing this copy with me in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I was so surprised and excited when I got an early copy for this book

What Lies Between Us is my first John Marrs book and he's made a huge fan out of me!
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Honestly? Wow. This is the story of Nina and her mother Maggie - a domestic cat and mouse tale, who is doing what to whom and why? Whose motivations are legitimate? We are told the story through three timelines and two narrators, and all reliability is up in the air!
I'm hesitant to say much about it as I went into reading this relatively blind and so glad I did. I was completely off-kilter throughout, which is really the point. It's twisty and tense and awesome. Just read it!
For release May 15, 2020.