Member Reviews
This is the first book I have read by this author and I will definitely read more books by this author. For me this book did start off slow. However now that I look back at the beginning it was a great start. This book had me guessing who really done it?? Normally I am able to guess who but I could not guess who in this book. I had some suspicions but it had me changing my mind all of the time. One minuet I believe she did do it then another minuet I changed my mind. I have to say I loved how this book ended. I also loved that you had the police investigation interviews as well because it told the husband, daughter, friend, and neighbor's sides and not just the main character Rachel's story. I highly recommend this to thriller/mystery book lovers.
Can You See Her? By S.E. Lynes is a gripping tale of Rachel who feels she is invisible and she is telling her story to her psychologist Amanda. As you read, you feel for Rachel and her fragile state. The further into the book, the more twists and turns happen, with one very shocking one at the very end. An excellent read! Looking forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you to Netgallery and Bookouture for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. All opinions are my own.
Do you know the feeling? Everybody expects you to do everything for them, but the tiniest thing you ask is ignored. People either don't look at you or don't even notice you and when you think that someone is going to look you in the eyes, they don't. They look through you or over your shoulder.
Being invisible might sound like a great superpower to have, but in stead of feeling like a new super hero, you feel lonely, alone and very sad.
If you can't find the warmth you crave within your circle of family and friends, the only thing left to do is wandering the streets and befriend strangers.
You are living in a dream at night, but when morning comes, the nightmares start ...
A good story that keeps you hesitating: to be or not to be the killer ...???
The first half was very confusing (in a good way), the second half was full of more confusion and fortunately also full of revelations. 4 stars.
Thank you, S.E. Lynes and Bookouture
Rachel Edwards feels invisible and unappreciated. She is so unhappy that she begins to go out alone each evening to walk the family dog. She longs to meet up with anyone who can see the real, vibrant Rachel she used to be and who will give her the time of day. As she makes new friends along the way, she feels more like her own happy and kind self and her evenings take on a new meaning to her life. Her husband of 27 years doesn’t even ask her where she has been, in fact he hardly talks to her at all. Their 19 year-old daughter no longer bothers with her and she misses their close, warm relationship. She is pining for her firstborn who is already away at university. She longs to be near him and care for him. She yearns for everything she has come to realises she has lost, with total strangers filling the spaces where once her family showered her with love, recognition and joy. Literally everything has changed for her and she hates the fact that it has.
She reminisces about meeting her husband for the first time. How he thought she was so precious, so beautiful and how he couldn’t wait to marry her. Her son is the apple of her eye and they had such an open, loving relationship. His younger sister thought her mother was like a best friend to her. They used to hang about together, always having fun and laughing. There was always loving, togetherness, and thoughtfulness in their family. Oh how she missed those joyous days.
Strangers in the street become like the family she knows she has lost. They appreciate her and treat her like they can’t believe she has time to listen to them. They are so grateful for her wisdom, her listening to their stories and for the understanding and empathy she gives them so willingly. She begins to feel these fleeting meetings are the only thing that she has to live for now. The trouble is that she seems to have blanks about what happened the time they met. Her memory is letting her down. It’s like piecing together a jigsaw and feeling the disappointment when pieces are missing so that you can’t see the beauty of the whole story.
Everyone is worried about her. Lisa, her best friend tries to jolly her along but Rachel no longer has the heart or desire to meet up. Even their new neighbour across the road voices her concern about Rachel. But no one has the appetite or the initiative to try to do something about it. They let the matter slide, with apathy their only intervention. Rachel is in real trouble. She feels as though she is being followed, she is so confused and she believes she may have done something wrong. She wonders what is happening to her. She feels so alone and afraid.
The lady in the room with her tells her that she is Amanda and that she is a forensic psychologist who wants to hear her story. She listens thoughtfully and quietly as Rachel’s story is gradually revealed layer by layer. Amanda asks only a few questions for clarification. She is patient and her eyes are alight with empathy and understanding. Day by day they talk as the story unfolds in its entirety. Behind the scenes an investigation is building up momentum. Rachel’s family and friends are being interview. Rachel has walked into a police station and confessed. The rest of the story is told in interviews and breaking information told by the newspapers and on TV.
This is a novel full of mystery and menace. Horrific murders have been committed and the victims were all befriended by Rachel. There are witnesses as well. Piece by piece the information is assembled until and beyond Rachel’s confession. This thrilling novel is not so much a ‘who done it?’ as a meticulous, multi-agency investigation of the facts and the evidence. It has very dark undertones, shocking revelations and red herrings by the bucket load. It is beautifully written by an author with a massive talent for this genre. The themes and issues in this novel are topical with bang-on relevance to modern society and criminality, including knife crime, revenge, menopausal psychosis and stalking. It radiates with meticulous research vital to the authenticity of the story. I really enjoyed reading it and loved the tension, twists and turns, shocking findings and brilliant plotting and planning that kept the most startling of revelations until the last few pages, so what you think is the last jaw-dropping shock really in not and there is one more close by that you certainly never expected but adds cohesion to the story. I did find the first section of the novel quite slow going but the ending was dynamite with a capital D and made it a terrific, exciting read.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. This is a masterful novel that will keep you on the very edges of your seat and longing for more. 4.5*
A very thought provoking read. I am sure every woman has at sometime thought that she was invisible but this book is so much more. Once I started reading I could not put this book down. I was gripped and had a front seat watching the main character gradually unravel and as for the ending OMG!!! A really clever story, very emotive and definitely deserves five stars and highly recommended.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC.
This was an original, captivating and thought-provoking book.
What would you do if you became invisible? Rachel Ryder has been married for twenty-seven years and has two children. One night she walked into her kitchen and realized that she has become invisible to the people in her life. No one in her life pays attention to her anymore, they don't listen to her, can they even see her at all? She has been busy raising her children, taking care of her household that even she has lost sight of who she was years earlier.
Plus, she has an interest in violent crimes that have been happening in her area. She keeps track of the news and crimes. She even devotes a book to them. She feels for the victims and all who have been affected by the crimes. They are not the only ones she feels for. She also feels for a homeless man, and others who like her are invisible in society.
Further complicating her life, a skinny young woman has moved next door, Rachel's daughter is moody, her husband is not paying attention to her, and she is losing periods of time where she can't recall what occurred.
Rachel narrates her section of the book while the other sections are notes/transcripts of Amanda, a forensic psychiatrist who is interviewing Rachel. She is not the only one interviewed in this book, Rachel's husband, her daughter, her friend Lisa and Ingrid, her neighbor are interviewed as well. These sections were my favorite sections of the book.
It might seem as if I have told you a lot about this book but there is so much more. If you feel the beginning is slow as I did, I assure you that if you keep reading, you will see the brilliance of S.E. Lynes storytelling.
Original and thought-provoking, this book started a little slow for me but once I hit my stride around the halfway mark, I could not put it down. There are some twist turns and revelations and it becomes apparent that Rachel is not the only invisible person in the book.
Well written, well thought out, interesting and thought-provoking.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
I don't quite know what to say! Although it was quite clear that Rachel was severely depressed, I certainly didn't expect what lead to her depression. I felt so, so sorry for her. And just when you thought everyone was recovering well, there was another shocking moment. Excellent book.
I really enjoyed this book! A great story line that kept me hooked and excellent main characters. I would highly recommend this book.
Thank you to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
S.E. Lynes does it again - this book looks at complicated issues and how life can manipulate us into believing things true that have no foundation in reality. The storyline starts out very slowly, almost meandering, and gives us the gist of the protagonist's inner thought life in interviews with an undefined person, who identity is later revealed (don't want to give away too much), interspersed with police interviews with the other characters.
It took me a while to warm to the protagonist, but I ended up really caring for her, and the ending was very satisfying. I love that every book this author writes is totally unique - this is the third book of hers I've read and can highly recommend.
Can You See Her blew my mind!
I’ll be honest it took me around an hour to get used to Rachel’s need to ramble. That’s the worst thing about this book and I’ve got it out the way In my second sentence...you know you’re on a winner when I have little complaints lol!
I felt so sorry for Rachel, living an invisible life and feeling every moment of pain without being offered help or support must really suck. I can’t imagine that life. S.E Lynes has such a talent for writing and I loved how unique this book felt.
This is difficult for me to review because while I liked the plot and the messages the book had, I was not a fan of the rambling on! I understand Rachel’s point of view and her story but every time
I had to read her narration I had a hard time keeping up with her train of thoughts it was too all over the place for me. It helped understand her situation no doubt but it was a bit too much for me. If you can put up with that then this book was great! It tackles the subject very well and the plot twists are surprising enough.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my advanced copy!
I was excited to read this book as I absolutely loved The Lies We Hide.....I had to trudge through this book and I mean made myself push forward because I knew this author is an amazing author...... finally at about 55% it started to get good..... and yes it was GOOD but if it wasn’t because I loved the author’s other book so well I wouldn’t have finished it. I wish I could give this more stars and it breaks my heart to not.
Rachel feels like she is begging ignored by everyone including her husband and family. Now she thinks she may have done something terrible.
A slow moving story that I didn’t engage with as much as the previous books I have read from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
Good to have this, the 7th book from the author to read and at a time of low concentration on anything but ‘it’ I found it a great comfort to take myself away from ‘it’ and fall into this book, even if for just a few minutes whenever I wanted to
Rachel is invisible, well she thinks she is, working in a pub and married to Mark with 2 teenagers she feels her ‘best years’ are over and she serves no real purpose to anyone, least not herself
That is until she starts to meet people when out and feels she can ‘understand’ when someone needs to talk to someone, she can ‘see it’ so that’s what she does and she makes connections and she really does help, job done and everyone is happy, unfortunately these people end up dead or badly injured a few minutes after meeting her, Rachel realises she is attacking them and confesses
But of course there is more, much much more to this story than that and if I even hinted it at it would ‘give it away’, so I wont suffice to say the double, nay triple whammy ending is quite outstanding and had me foxed on all 3 counts
As always this author writes for the reader and I love how Rachel’s feelings are described and how she chats on to herself replicating what we all do in our mind, the authors use of language is wonderful
A really good, intriguing, emotive, real and true book that you wont forget and in parts may relate to
10/10
5 Stars
S.E. Lynes is one of those authors that rarely disappoints. Her strengths lie in her characters, who are always very real and relatable, and the way she can pull you into their story.
Can You See Her? is a brilliant example of a well-written, perfectly paced novel full of depth and poignant observations of the world around us. Of women, and how we navigate through the different stages of life. A very clever, intricate story that gripped me throughout.
This book was read in one sitting!! I could not put it down! I have read this Author's other books and this one was just as twisty turny as the others!
Rachel thinks she has done something terrible. She doesn’t understand how her life has changed so much, as when she was younger she was the one who made other people’s heads turn. Her husband who once told her that she was well out of his league seems to look right through her, her daughter Katie doesn’t seem to want to spend time with her either. She feels incredibly lonely. If she can walk into a room without anyone knowing she is there then she can get away with murder can’t she?
Rachel’s story is told by her talking to a forensic psychiatrist because she is worried about some things she has done. Then we see transcripts of interviews with the police from people who have been around her.
I have read a few books by this author and this one didn’t disappoint me. I enjoyed the way it was written and I enjoyed the twists and turns which kept me guessing until the very end.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Gripping, fast paced... just wonderful!.
I'm not even sure where to start with this book, as I enjoyed it so much and devoured it in one sitting!.
Throughout this story we follow the life of Rachel Edward's and her family. Rachel is struggling to come to terms with the things in which she believes she has done. We are introduced to a variety of characters throughout, all of which are relatable in one way or another....but this book is full of many twists and turns that will keep you guessing throughout.
There were moments that had it sitting on the edge of your seat, followed by moments that overwhelmed you with sadness, which shows the fantastic writing style.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but this book was almost impossible to put down. I couldn't recommend it highly enough.
This book has been impossible to put down! This is my first read by this author, but it definitely won't the last. I have enjoyed the twists and turns and couldn't predict where this one was going. This is told from the perspectives of the different characters which was something which managed to keep my attention. This gripping and unpredictable read pulls you in from the very beginning. The book has kept my interest and I have really enjoyed reading this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Thank you to net galley for the ebook! I really enjoyed this book especially that you have not idea what’s going on. You are just as unsure as the characters. Brilliantly done!