Playdate takes every parents worst nightmare and twists it into a shocking and emotionally gripping storyline that grabbed me from the first few pages. When Elisa let’s her daughter Lucia go to a new school friends house for a play date, the girls have so much fun that it turns into a sleepover. Elisa has reservations as it’s Lucias first sleepover but she visits the home, meets the family and is happy that everything is fine and Lucia is happy. But next day when they go to pick her up, house has been cleared and Lucia has disappeared along with her friend Josie and Josie’s mother. What follows is a terrifying search for, not only a young child, but the truth about why Lucia was taken…

Alex Dahl has created a disappearance novel with a difference. It’s not a fast paced thriller in style but more of a slow burning, character based mystery. That’s not to say there aren’t twists and turns-there are!-but it takes its time building up the tension by visiting each of the main characters in turn to discover how Lucias disappearance has affected their lives. So although the pace slows down in the middle section of the book, it gives a greater depth of understanding of how everyone reacts to such a sensitive subject. The last few chapters throw up some unexpected twists and I found the epilogue especially a poignant and fitting ending.

I found it compelling to see how a parents deepest and darkest fears were crafted into this emotional and compelling tale which left me feeling a little sad as really there were no winners here. But Alex Dahl does well to make us care about her characters despite their faults and that’s what I took away with me from Playdate. A worthwhile read.

It’s going to be hard to give much constructive criticism without spoilers so instead I will say the story had me hooked from the beginning and I was loving it but almost lost me at about the three quarter mark. I stayed reading though mainly because the author still managed to hold my interest in the subject of the book Lucia and what would happen to her.
Some of the other characters were less likeable which is fine but Selma the journalist pushed my boundaries too far with her unlikely over the top intuitiveness. The whole area of the “ solving” of the puzzle failed to convince me and could have been managed better.
Lastly I don’t see the point of an epilogue that leaves out half the interesting and unresolved issues the plot left us with.
It’s better than a three stars but not good enough for four stars but as I can’t give half stars a three has it but I would still recommend it. Lots of people would just love it and I will be telling a few people I know to give it a try.

Another first for me, reading work from author Alex Dahl....
Imagine leaving your daughter go on a sleepover with her little friend and she just vanishes...
Turning up at the house to collect her the next morning and finding the house empty and no sign of anyone being there.
Where would you even start in trying to find her?
It doesn't bare thinking about really...
We meet the Blix family in this story...
One day when collecting her daughter Lucia from school, Elisa Blix bumps into her daughters new friend and her mum.
Before she realises, she has agreed to a playdate that evening for Lucia..
The playdate turns into wanting a sleepover and this agreement by Lucia's mum in itself infuriated me.
Would a mum really let a six year old go on a sleepover to a new friends family having only met them for the first time that day...
What happens in this story is every parents worst nightmare..
Who has taken their child and why..
Who are these people....
Elisa and her husband Fred must work together with the police to try find their daughter before she is lost to them forever.
I didn't warm too much to this couple if I'm honest. There didn't seem to be any connection between them. Maybe a little lost to each other and each one I felt was hiding something...
There were so many layers to this story though and the unfolding of each layer gave me many a tense moment..
I loved the timelines, alternating between reading what was happening to Lucia, the kidnapper herself and the parents...
It gave such a wonderful insight and was very cleverly done...
Author Alex Dahl has created such complex characters. I loved her build up of the story and the conclusion will stun you for sure.
Her writing I adored...
So well worth your time 💕

This is the story of a 7 year old girl who is abducted while on a play date.

The pace of this book was so fast and kept me on my toes throughout the whole book. The tension and suspense continued through the pages.

The characters were well developed and relatable. I did feel that the character of the girl who was abducted felt older than 7. Some of the dialogue with her felt more mature than a conversation with a young child.

The ending was good and all the loose endings were tied up. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. A great page turner.

When seven-year-old Lucia begs her mother to be allowed to have a playdate with her new friend Josie, Elisa agrees. When she later asks to have her first sleepover Elisa can’t turn down her excited daughter and drops round her overnight things. But when Lucia’s father goes to collect her the next day the house is empty, there is no furniture and no sign of the family living there. Where is Lucia and why did someone take her?

This story is every parent’s worst nightmare. All I could think of is the many playdates and sleepovers I’ve sent my own children on, getting chills at the idea of them not coming back the next day. This made it easy for me to relate to Elisa and feel everything she did. But from the start I had a sense that she was hiding something important that could be the key to finding who took Lucia, though I had no idea at all what it might be, increasing the mystery and tension.

Told in multiple voices, including Lucia herself, we are offered a glimpse into their inner thoughts and fears. The story is very character-driven so this insight into their psyches is what drives the narrative and helps solve the mystery of Lucia’s abduction. Complex, intricate and layered, it is hard to see how all the pieces fit together at first. But through many twists and turns the author slowly unveils the truths being hidden to reveal the answer everyone has been searching for: why.

Gripping, suspenseful and terrifying, Playmate is a cleverly crafted psychological thriller about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. This is a great read for anyone who enjoys character-driven thrillers.

EXCERPT: My mind churns with the possibilities this scenario suggests. Someone watching us - for years perhaps. Planning. Someone studying every detail of my family's routine. Waiting. Someone who hates us. Me. Someone who would do anything, absolutely anything, to get revenge. Someone who knew that when the day came, there would be absolutely nothing I could do to stop them.

I feel the past stirring in me, as if time were running on a loop and I will now be forced to go back there. There are things that if I said them would cost me everything I have left. Fredrik, Lyder, this home, my job, perhaps even my life. Any chance of getting Lucia back. But could it be, if Lucia was taken for revenge, that speaking up could prove to be the only way to find her? And we have to find her. I have always said I would give up anything, even my own life, to find my child. But would I? Would I really?

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Lucia Blix went home from school for a playdate with her new friend Josie. Later that evening, Lucia's mother Elisa dropped her overnight things round and kissed her little girl goodnight.

That was the last time she saw her daughter.

The next morning, when Lucia's dad arrived to pick her up, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia.

In Playdate, Alex Dahl puts a microscope on a seemingly average, seemingly happy family plunged into a life-altering situation. Who has taken their daughter, and why?

MY THOUGHTS: A novel idea, well executed, Playdate had me on the edge of my seat for the majority of the read. As with Dahl's first book, The Boy at the Door, Playdate is an unsettling read. The characters are mercurial, the reader's perception of them constantly being challenged and changing.

It is impossible to know who, if anyone, is telling the truth. Fragments of the truth, yes, but definitely not the whole truth. And as little truths were revealed, my sympathies shifted from one character to another to another. But by the end, the only people I felt any sympathy for were the two little girls, Lucia and Josie, and Selma's father.

The story is narrated from five points of view - Elisa, Lucia's mother; Lucia herself; the kidnapper; a prisoner; and Selma, a journalist who has her own unique way of unearthing stories and the truth. The role of the prisoner intrigued me, and it took me a while to figure it out. Selma was far cleverer than I.

Alex Dahl has written a taut and suspenseful psychological thriller that kept me slightly off balance for most of the read. But the epilogue...did we need it? Or is there more to come?

😲😲😲😲.2

#Playdate #NetGalley

We are all more than the sum total of what we show others, even our spouses and children. There are vast unseen spaces inside us that could be filled with anything at all...

The sun is always shining, whether (we can) see it or not.

THE AUTHOR: Half-American, half-Norwegian, Alex Dahl was born in Oslo. She graduated with a B.A. in Russian and German linguistics with international studies and went on to complete an M.A. in creative writing at Bath Spa University, followed by an M.S. in business management at Bath University. Alex has published short stories in the U.K. and the U.S. She is a serious Francophile and currently lives in both London and Sandefjord.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Head of Zeus via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Playdate by Alex Dahl for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

𝗔 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹.
⠀⠀
Lucia Blix went home from a play date turned sleepover with her new friend Josie. The next day, when Lucia’s father arrived to pick her up, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia.
⠀⠀
“𝐴𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑; 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛.“
⠀⠀
This new novel is set in Norway and my honest first thought was that it was VERY dialogue heavy. It’s a really good premise/storyline and one of the most interesting things I found was that it included chapters from the mother of Lucia, her kidnapped and from Lucia herself.
⠀⠀
The second half of the story saved this novel for me, by starting to see where it was going (first half dragged) and further important character development.
⠀⠀
I’m still recommending this book and as that, going to leave this review here. I don’t want to spoil anything 😉
⠀⠀
“𝑤𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑, 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑒?“
⁣
Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC!

Your daughter goes on a playdate after school with one of her new friends. The playdate turns into a sleepover. When your go to pick her up the next morning she isn't there. No one is there. The house is completely empty. Phone calls go unanswered.

That is the terrifying premise of Alex Dahl's new novel, Playdate. And it works. Well!

This is a very good psychological thriller with many twists and turns, and told in multiple points of view. It kept my interest from the beginning to the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an early copy of this book.

This story painstakingly explores a parents' worse nightmare. The suspense builds from the first pages and increases to an almost painful intensity. Elisa loses her child, but she's hiding something making her difficult to empathise.

This story is told from multi-points of view, but are any of the viewpoints reliable? The intricate plot is slow-paced in keeping with the Nordic Noir genre. It's possible to work out the motivations for Lucia's abduction, but the plot keeps its mystery until the end. It's absorbing and atmospheric with a realistic ending.

I received a copy of this book from Head of Zeus via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I’ve enjoyed Alex Dahl’s previous two books so picking up Playdate was an obvious choice for me. Though I would not necessarily lean towards storylines that seem more family oriented (just my quirk) this one certainly held my attention well throughout.

The premise is a good one. Elise Blix an airline steward, meets a rather good looking woman called Line and her daughter Josie as she is dropping off her own daughter, Lucia at school. Josie and Lucia are clearly good friends, so when Josie’s mum offers to have Lucia over for a playdate, Elisa is happy to agree and drops her off at a rather swish house. When Lucia’s mum calls to say the pair are having a great time, confirmed by Lucia, Elisa agrees to extend the playdate to a sleepover. But when Lucia’s dad goes to pick her up…there’s no trace of the child or of the family she was staying with.

For Lucia and her husband, Fredrik, this is the start of a nightmare. It becomes clear that Lucia’s disappearance was part of an orchestrated plan and the police are on the lookout for a gang of sex traffickers and people smugglers who seem to be implicated in Lucia’s disappearance.

Now this storyline immediately starts to remind you of cases of children who have been abducted in real life, but the emphasis of this story is much more on the characters involved. Fredrik and Lucia have a happy marriage, but each keeps secrets from the other. And one of them is keeping a secret that may make the difference as to whether they see Lucia again. What is more important than finding her, the reader is constantly asking, as that secret threatens the whole fabric of their marriage.

As the police launch a massive manhunt, recently redundant journalist Selma is trying to get her career back on track, and she thinks she has found a lead that no-one else has spotted.
The reader is able to follow the plot through the perspectives of three characters and Lucia herself and we are treated to the inner thoughts of these characters as the narrative arc develops. It is this psychological insight that makes the book special for me and allows you to understand what is going on in the minds of the principal protagonists.

There are quite a few plot twists and in the last third of the book the pace of the action picks up to allow for a rather dramatic and intense finale that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Verdict: A well-written psychological thriller that takes the reader in unexpected directions and isn’t afraid to lob in a few curveballs. I liked it best for the insight into the character’s minds and the intricate plot twists which were nicely woven into the storyline.

As a Scandi noir, this is as slow moving as you'd expect, although it's not as self indulgent as other examples of the genre. There's some nice twists in here, but overall, I found it difficult to warm to any of the characters and the vaguely hinted at mystic abilities of the journalist strained credibility. The plot pushes the limits of believability at times and does require a certain suspension of disbelief.

Still, there was something about it that kept me reading and I did quite enjoy it overall. It's not a bad book, it's just not the greatest I've ever read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

4.5 Stars

Alex Dahl returns with another chilling slice of Nordic noir with Playdate, an unsettling thriller that brings a parent’s worst nightmare to vivid and shocking life.

When her seven year old daughter Lucia asked her whether she could go to a sleepover at her friend Josie’s house, Elisa couldn’t help but be apprehensive. Not only is her daughter too young, but she has only just met Josie and her mother and Elisa is not share how comfortable she would feel allowing her young daughter to spend the night at a stranger’s house. After a lot of cajoling and persuading, Elisa reluctantly relents, but little does she realise when she drops her daughter off for her sleepover that this will be the last time she will clap eyes on her daughter ever again!

The following morning, Lucia’s father goes to pick his daughter up and ends up getting the shock of his life. When he knocks on the door, the house is completely empty. There isn’t a single personal possession, all the furniture is gone and there is no family. But even worse, there is no Lucia. As alarm and fear charges through Lucia’s parents, they vow to leave no stone unturned until they find their daughter and rescue her from certain danger. What happened to Lucia? Why was she taken? And will she ever be found?

You will not get any sleep after racing through Alex Dahl’s addictive psychological thriller, Playdate. Scary, sinister and twisted, Playdate is a spine-chilling tale of secrets, vengeance and deception that kept me completely glued to the page. Full of shocks and surprises you will not see coming, nerve-twisting plot twists that will make you jump out of your skin and heart-pounding danger that will have you double-checking whether you’ve locked all your doors and windows, Playdate is Nordic noir at its terrifying best.

So, every parent has been there, you get to the school gates and right in front of the friend that's invited them back that day, they plead, 'can I go and play, they said I can, please?' And make you feel awful when you know you have to say no, as you still have to get home, cook the dinner, help them with homework etc. The other kids parent who've you've never met, feels awkward saying 'sorry sweetie, not today, maybe next week'.... yes, two sulking kids right there. But ... even before I read this, its what I would and have done, many times.

Sadly, Lucia's mum Elisa, gives in and lets her go and play at her new friend Josie's place. Her Mum rings later and asks if she can stay over for a sleep over, it's Friday, no school the next day, they are playing so nicely and so excited to be doing a sleep over - if Elisa says its ok. She does, despite her reservations about it being the first time Lucia has really been away over night, she agrees to go over and drop her night bag off and her toy that she can't sleep without. Josie's Mum, Line seems really nice and their house is lovely. What could go wrong?

Well, when Lucia isn't brought back home when they expect her, her Dad Fredrik becomes concerned, Line called and said she'd take the girls swimming and that was hours ago now. Elisa is a fight attendant and he's been waiting for her to land, as he doesn't know where Line and Josie live. Elisa feels panicked but stays calm, until they reach the house and its clear, they aren't there. Where is her daughter?

The Police are called, search teams set up, by now she's been gone more than 24 hours, she could be anywhere. The quiet town of Sandefjord is anything but right now, in that moment, it becomes the town everyone the world over knows the name of and will know that its where Lucia Blix was abducted from.

Alex Dahl has written strong chapters, each from the perspective of the difference characters contained in playdate from Elisa and Fredrik, Lucia and later her abductor and also Selma Eriksen, a local journalist that has the feeling that Luciais still alive, months after the trail for her has gone cold and almost all hope is lost of getting her back alive. Selma has a back story that provokes these intuitions. A sense of place is strong and the forest and mountains create images for the reader.

Elisa and Fredrik go through every emotion known to man, they have to admit to secrets they've kept from each other and ultimately, to them selves, Karma? Payback? Redemption? Kidnap, human trafficking gangs. It's haunting them, they would do anything to get Lucia back and Elisa and Fredrik are desperate to find her, will they get her back alive?

A gripping and timely novel, with emotion and great characterisation.

BLOODY BRILLIANT, I would say. Author Alex Dahl took my breath away replacing it with unbridled thrill and suspense where reading this book became my highest priority.

A first sleepover of child Lucia with her best friend Josephine became her last sleepover as the next day Lucia’s parents found the house vacant with no sign of anyone. Then came the long years of waiting to bring the child home. Will they?

My first book by this author, I was so addicted to the writing. Every clue given had me analyzing it in detail. The human behavior and the secrets that the psyche could hold hit me hard. I was gripped to the point that I forgot the world. In fact, this story became the focal point of my sight, and I could se nothing beyond. It was that thrilling.

Written in multiple POV along with the one from little Lucia, it showed me a world where things were set in shades of gray. The author’s talent at inserting the different nuances to bring a depth to the storyline, which would often appear familiar, had my heart racing.

Pulse spikes were the norm as the pages turned. I just needed to know the truth. There were so many secrets buried deep. This was one book which made me want to read faster yet go slow to savor every word and try to work out the truth. And no, I couldn’t.

Tension raced into me as I reached the end; the prose was smooth, well defined; the characters grew with their secrets in every chapter. I was completely immersed in this atmospheric thriller. I could only let go once I was done.

One of my best breakfast reads.

Playdate by Alex Dahl.
A twisty suspense read. Emotional too. Very good read. Good story and some good characters. 4*.

I was hooked right from the start when Elisa let her daughter go on a playdate that turned into a sleepover. Knowing that something terrible is going to happen and feeling that great sense of dread, I found myself yelling at her not to let her sleepover. I was tapping my kindle as fast as I could to find out what happens.

Alex Dahl creates some great suspense here with the different POVs from the characters that kept me guessing and asking myself so many questions. I enjoyed all the narratives; however, I struggled a bit with 7-year-old Lucia, who's POV felt older to me, and I kept forgetting how old she was. She did add some emotional depth to the story and suspense, so overall it worked for me.

The story is well-paced with the suspense to it, and I had no idea what was going on in the first half. The tension increased with every page, and the pace picks up even more in the last half. All those questions I had entertained me, and I enjoyed trying to figure things out. The pieces started to come together for me in the last half, and I thought I had it all figured out, then I was disappointed when I didn't. lol

Things wrapped up well for me, and I enjoyed this thrilling and entertaining yet unsettling page-turner that had me in suspense from start to finish. I highly recommend it.

Creepy, chilling and so scary because this is an everyday situation most of us could find ourselves in!

Elisa Blix agrees to her daughter Lucia heading over to her friend Josie's house after school for a playdate; when it turns into a sleepover she drops off her nightwear and has a glass of wine with Josie's mother. When Elisa returns home from work the next day however, it is to find her husband panicking as Lucia is now missing and Josie's family has disappeared.

Missing children is usually a topic I avoid but I chose to read this one having heard great things about the author's work. The start of the story is very exciting and heart-wrenching but then the pace eases off and I freely admit to struggling to keep going. The ending was totally shocking and stunned me coming completely out of the blue. I had no idea where it was heading but I did lose focus several times through the main body of the book. I'm not sure I would go for another novel featuring missing children - perhaps that's my nemesis, but that doesn't take away from this author's skill at producing a thrilling and heart-stopping conclusion. For me, this is a four star read.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley and to Vicky Joss for my spot on this tour; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

3.5 Stars! Suspenseful, unsettling, and interesting!

PLAYDATE by ALEX DAHL is available on July 9, 2020!

Norma’s Stats:
Cover: An intriguing, ominous, dark, woeful, and fitting representation to storyline.
Title: I love the apprehensive and edgy feel that this title immediately gave me which definitely enticed me in wanting and needing to read this book. You just know that something horrific is going to happen on a Playdate and gives you that intense feeling of having to know what exactly.
Writing/Prose: Classic atmospheric Nordic Noir suspense that was well-written, steadily-paced, easy to follow and readable.
Plot: Intense, edgy, suspenseful, distressing, emotional and entertaining.
Ending: A fast-paced, intense, open-ended, and bittersweet ending with an epilogue that I found to be a little unsatisfying and slightly problematic.
Overall: This was a very good and twisty thriller that had some likeable and unlikeable characters. I thought each of the characters perspectives were interesting and compelling but definitely had me questioning some of their motives though. Would recommend it!

This book had quite the hook with a premise that immediately grabbed my attention but the middle part stalled a bit for me and I found myself wanting to skim to the end. Once I reached somewhere around the 80% mark then the pacing totally picked up for me again.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with an eARC.

4.5 stars

Well, this is how you do Nordic Noir. Elisa Blix makes a huge mistake. She allows her seven year old daughter Lucia to go on a playdate and sleepover with Josephine, no big deal you’d think. Except Elisa has literally just met mother Line but after pleading from both little girls she relents and allows it. By the following day Lucia, Josephine and Line vanish and what unfolds becomes a Norwegian cause celebre. The Blix family are not rich so what lies behind Line’s motives? The story is told from several perspectives including journalist Selma who becomes obsessive about the case.

There is much to praise in the storytelling which I find gripping. Elisa’s emotions, as well as that of husband Fredrik, are captured so well and there is unsurprisingly a whole gamut of those. Both have secrets in their past that they’d like to keep buried and these emerge slowly but surely. The characters are very good and at times you feel like a fly on the wall observing them. The mysterious and intriguing case affects the whole country as it’s such a rare crime and so including a journalist is an excellent idea and her perspective is fascinating. You have no idea for much of the book whose ‘truth’ is the actual truth and that doesn’t emerge until the end and does so very dramatically. There’s a good sense of place in the descriptions which allows you to visualise the various locations. Elisa’s point of view I find the most riveting as her story and background in her birthplace of Lillehammer adds an intriguing dimension and she has a lot to hide.

This is an excellent and well written psychological thriller however, I have some issues with Lucia’s perspective as she doesn’t sound like any seven year old I know. Whilst it’s vitally important to the storytelling to hear her voice I think it needs to have a more authentic feel although it does make for interesting reading.

Overall though this is a superb, twisty thriller which keeps the interest throughout and I really like how the differing perspectives tie up so effectively at the end. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the ARC.

Elsia had agreed to her daughter, Lucia fomon a playdate with her new friend, Josie. Ut when her dad goes to pick her up the next day, she's vanished along with the family. Selma is a journalist whom quickly becomes obsessed with Lucia's story. Shes convinced the family re hiding something and Selma wants to get to the bottom of it.

This is a gripping psychological thriller from beginning to end. We all worried when our kids were on a sleepover wondering if they're ok, ate their meal willmsleep ok etc. The story is full of twists and suspense. Its told from multiple points of view. I can't say too much about the storyline as I would spoil it for potential readers. The pace is good and steady. Thismis a well written book that will keep you guessing.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Head Of Zeus and the author Alex Dhal for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.