One of the best psychological thrillers I have read in a long time, I read this book from cover to cover in less than 24 hours, unable to put it down, sucked in right from the outset with the prologue which caught my attention and encouraged me to read on. Full of twists, turns, and suspense that left me second guessing my own predictions throughout, The Bride kept me hooked the whole way through, right until the ending, which was an unexpected and perfect conclusion.

Alice and Joanna were best friends that haven't seen each other in 10 years but spent every living moment together when they were young. In the present day, Alice's life has hit rock bottom. Her fiancé has left her for another woman, and she's lost her job as a teacher. Her Mum passed away when she was young, and her Dad has a new partner, neither of whom want to know. She's feeling incredibly low, when out of the blue she receives a text from Joanna - announcing that she's getting married!! She has only known her fiancé a month, and she wants to get Alice's blessing!

With nothing to stop her, and desperate to see her friend after all these years, Alice drives down to see her and her fiancé, but when she arrives at their lavish apartment, Joanna isn't there. She is MISSING. Mark seems worries sick, and asks for Alice's help to find her, but can he be trusted? Where IS her best friend and is her fiancé the hospitable gentleman he seems?!

I really enjoyed The Bride. It's been a long time since I have read a book that captivated me quite so much. I will definitely be checking out Wendy's other releases - What She Saw and We Were Sisters, having never read any of her novels before.

I was sent this book via Netgalley for my honest review.

What a suspenseful read this was!

I quite enjoyed the story and the twists kept me at the edge of my seat, begging for more.

All in all, this was a gripping read and I'll definitely recommend it to all fans of psychological thrillers.

I would like to thank the Publishers, NetGalley, and the Author for sending me a copy of this book.

I was intrigued by this book from the moment I saw the cover. This thriller had it all...broken relationships, friendships and missing persons. I enjoyed the bits of history revealed of Alice and Joanna's friendship, but I sadly struggled to really connect with Alice's character. Just as I felt my attention slipping, Wendy Clarke threw a monkey wrench and everything I thought I knew, I didn't, and what I read I couldn't believe. Forced to put the book down, I was truly excited to pick back up the next night and read her whirlwind finish.
Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and Wendy Clarke for the opportunity to read this ARC for a honest review

Alright, so this book is really nothing about a bride, at all.

It's about a whiny, pathetic character, that I just could not, for the life of me, like, named Alice. Her best friend from growing up, that she hasn't spoken to in 10 years, invites her to meet her fiance and stay for the weekend. Alice has just lost her job and her fiance, so she jumps at the chance to reunite their friendship.

The whole beginning moves like molasses and the second half is quicker paced, but not all that believable.

Unfortunately, I just did not enjoy Alice or the story. I think if the story was revamped a bit, it would pack more of a wallop.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Wendy Clarke for providing me with an ARC.

Alice and Joanna used to be inseparable best friends. However, they haven’t talked in 10 years due to a falling out and then out of the blue Joanna text Alice and tells her to come meet her fiancé. Alice, who’s life is an an absolute rut, decides why not and goes to visit her. The problem is only the fiancé is at the apartment and her best friend is MIA. I really like the prologue, it definitely grab my attention right off the bat. There wasn’t a whole lot of action in the first half of the book, but there was this constant lurking unease. You know something is off, and you’re just waiting for something drastic to be revealed. The book really took after the midpoint and then it just got kind of crazy from there. There was definitely a constant mild level of suspense and twists to keep my attention. Alice was a character that drove me crazy. I’m never a fan of super naïve, malleable, weak characters. The book definitely grabbed and held my attention. However, I did not care for the ending. To me it just kind of came out of left field and it felt kind of scattered going in all directions.

Thanks to NetGalley & Bookouture for the opportunity to read this and offer my honest opinion.

The Bride was a mediocre read. Much of the writing seemed general and unfortunately, I found that the majority of the story did not grasp my attention. As I read through the novel, it seemed as though sentences were repeated and it felt as though Joanna’s name was mentioned at least 5 times per page (although I do understand that she is one of the main characters and perhaps there was no other way to reference her). I was disappointed that almost half of the novel did not carry any substantial progress and felt as though I was stuck in the exposition for the most part. At times, I did find it difficult to grasp the plot and was a little confused by some details that lacked further explanation.

Being fond of psychological thrillers, I really wanted to enjoy this book. I was captivated by the synopsis yet the story straying away from it. Needless to say, I did enjoy the eerie ending. It’s exactly those kinds of endings that make psychological thrillers what they are, especially considering that it leaves the reader thinking “well, the protagonist is screwed”.

If the beginning was accelerated a bit quicker and held more intrigue, I think I would have enjoyed this book more, especially if there were parts that held a little more zing.

What a book !! Absolutely loved this , kept me in the edge of my seat all the way through . Couldn’t figure out who was doing what all the way through . Will be reading a lot more from this author and will highly recommend this book

The Bride by Wendy Clarke described in one word - TWISTED! Alice and Joanna were long-time best friends. They haven't seen each other for years and now Alice's life is turned upside down. Her fiancee was cheating on her and she recently lost her job. When Joanna sends her a message that she wants Alice to meet her soon to be husband, Marc, Alice jumps at the chance to see her.

When she arrives though, Joanna isn't there. Marc doesn't know who Alice is. Isn't that strange? How can her best friend's fiancee not know who she is? Marc offers to let her stay and wait for Joanna, but what will happen when Joanna fails to return? Is she staying with a man who may have killed her best friend?

Alice is becoming a little too oddly comfortable in Marc and Joanna's home. Should she stay while Joanna is missing? The police think it odd that she's there. Stuck in an apartment building that was an up and coming that never came up, she can't decide if she can escape Marc. Will Joanna ever come home?

The Bride was a roller coaster ride. Alice's mental health issues and insecurities really did a number on her. She becomes more and more scared of her own shadow with Marc watching. Will she be able to find Joanna? Even scarier is the question, will she like the Joanna she finds? Riveting book, I couldn't put it down!

Stopped reading at 89%. Did not finish.

The Bride has all the ingredients for a great book, unfortunately Wendy Clarke forgot to turn the oven on....

If you love thrillers then stay away from this story, I literally fell asleep while reading this. Lack of tension, terrible characters and a stupid reason for everything happening. Not worth my time.

4 stars!!! I would of said 5, but for me i found some parts were predictable. Written well, kept me guessing to who was the one not to trust. Slightly slow to begin with, but found that's what helped with the suspense!.
And I love the front cover!

I liked this book, but I did not like Alice so it was hard to read for me. For me, it wasn't quite a thriller that I expected.

The Bride by Wendy Clarke is about a woman named Alice who goes to meet her best friend from childhood year's fiance. Things in her own home have recently become complicated and although she has not seen this friend in ten years she sets out to meet with her so that she can regain some of that comfort found in her friendship with the woman, Joanna. When she does arrive, Joanna is nowhere to be found. What she does find is the hospitable fiance (Mark) and lots of secrets.

Unfortunately, I almost put this book down at one point. I remember thinking: this is nothing I haven't read before. I pride myself at knowing my thrillers and can often guess what happens next before it does. I'm so happy I didn't put it down. The twists come out of nowhere and will take you by surprise; just as any good thriller should.

I really loved how Alice is a very relatable character. The author does a thorough job detailing how anxiety affects her. Because of this, Alice feels very real. A lot of what kept me reading when I thought I already knew the ending was because of how I personally related to Alice and because how real her character was.

The only negative thing I could possibly say about this is that I wanted more information on the other characters. There are a few characters that leave the book almost as quickly as you read about them. I would have liked a little more insight into their personal lives that could have made them just as relatable as Alice was to me.

All in all this is a great read if you love psychological thrillers. If you think you know what's coming, you don't.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

I’m really not sure how I feel about this book.

I’ll start with the fact that the writing is great. I really enjoyed the creepy feelings and fast paced writing of this book.

However, the actual characters were terrible. I could not stand Alice and her character was just confusing. She made decisions based off her friendship with Jo but then completely flip flops on her the first chance she gets. It was really mind boggling Alice as a character as a whole. She was this dependent, overly trusting woman who decides to trust a man she doesn’t know over the woman she’s idolized since she was a child? That’s one thing I couldn’t get over, it totally went against her character.

I’d love to read other novel by this author, as I enjoyed the writing so much.

This has potential but I just didn't understand the motivations of the characters . THe first half was paced a little too slowly and the second a little too quickly. Felt contrived. Sorry.

A brilliant read from this author, very well written with well developed characters and a great page turner.

I th0ught I had this all sussed out but turns out I was wrong.

I can thoroughly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more from Wendy in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This was a nice quick read, perfect holiday type read.
I wouldn't say it was the best book I have read recently, however it was well paced, interesting enough to keep me reading, and I don't want to give anything away, but I personally enjoyed the ending. I would read more from this author.

Synopsis: Alice is surprised to hear that her former best friend, Joanna, is getting married to a man that she has only known for a month. Joanna has invited Alice over to meet him, despite the fact that they have not seen each other in 10 years. When Alice arrives at Joanna's house, she is surprised to find that her former best friend is in fact not there, is. In fact Mark, Joanna's new fiance. tells her that Joanna is missing. Where is Joanna? Why hasn't Mark called the police and can he be trusted?

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC of The Bride by Wendy Clark! Unfortunately, while psychological thrillers are my go-to genres, this book just did not do it for me. While there were as many twists to the story as the title entails, the amount of twist and turns this story took did not do the overall story justice. While I absolutely love complex protagonists, Alice was very one-dimensional. She was a bit too weak for me and I could not understand her motivations or her reasoning behind practically all of her decisions.

The story was also a bit too slow for me. The majority of the story happened in one place, and while that can work for some, I found myself extremely bored with the setting. Too much time was spent on the details of the setting and not enough around the characters what was motivating them to make the decisions they were making.

Again, there was potential here, but it just did not hit it for me. For my rating, I would give it a 2.5 out of 5.

I've enjoyed Wendy Clarke's other novels and this one is right up my alley. I found it a little disjointed but I think it's because I read it in so many sittings instead of a few like I usually do. Alice has been dumped by her fiancee and surprisingly gets a text from her oldest "best" friend Joanna even though they haven't seen each other for ten years. She travels to meet Joanna's fiancee and discovers her friend is missing even though she meets Mark who claims he didn't know she was coming. What transpires is a cat-and-mouse game that vacillates between Alice and Joanna's POV that keep you a bit off-balance as we are never sure what the truth is. Even at the very end, I kept thinking to myself, "What???" For me, there wasn't enough "back story" to be entirely believable, but I did enjoy the twists and turns!

First, thank you everyone who gave me the opportunity to read this book. #netgally, #bookouture #wendyclarke.
When I requested this book I did not realize that I had already read one of Wendy Clarke's books. As I started reading I was intrigued to find out what else she has written and was pleasantly surprised to learn this was not an new author for me. I really enjoy Wendy's writing style, although somewhat slow in the beginning it allows you to get to know the characters better and then bang come the surprises when you least expect them. And while one may find the beginning slow there are lots of clue hidden in these chapters.

In The Bride we first meet Alice, who comes home from holiday to learn her finance has cheated on her, is leaving her and his new girlfriend is pregnant with his child. Just when she thinks she has no one, Alice receives a text from her best friend Joanna. Joanna texts Alice that she is getting married and wants Alice to meet her finance. As Alice has nothing at home she ventures off to meet her best friend.

When Alice arrives at Joanna's we learn from her fiance that Joanne is not home. Rather than turn back and go home, Mark invites her in and tells her to stay and wait until Joanna comes back. A few days go by and Joanna is not home, nor returning calls or texts. Mark then confides to Alice that Joanna has been missing for a few days. From this point on the roller coaster begins....where is Joanna, did someone kidnap her? Did she run off on her own? Who would want to hurt her and just how good of a friend is Alice to Joanna anyway?

Don't miss this book!!!

Title: The Bride
Author: Wendy Clarke
Pages: 300
Rating: 5/5

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for letting me read this advanced reader copy.

Synopsis:

Alice and Joanna used to be joined at the hip, they were best friends until life got in the way. When Alive finds her life in tatters, she receives a perfectly time text from her old best friend asking her to come and meet her fiancé Mark. Alice grabs at the chance to reconnect with Joanna, it is just what she needs. However, she is surprised when she arrives and Mark answers the door and says Joanna is on a course. Despite this, Alice spends the weekend at Joanna’s anyway, with charming Mark. However, he soon admits that Joanna is not on a course, she is missing and life as Alice knows it is now turned upside down and will never be the same again.

Review:
Releasing 20th May 2020.
The description and the cover of this book grabbed my attention, but the mixed reviews had me questioning as to whether I would connect with the story. However, this book took me by surprise! This is why I have rated it full marks because I was not expecting it to pull me in the way it did. It absorbed me that much, I devoured it in two hours!

The prologue and the descriptive writing of the author pulled me in straight away and got me questioning right from the beginning. Yet, nothing much was given away at the start leaving me with unanswered questions and the need to know all about the few characters involved. The writing style was just perfect for this book, helping you to feel the character Alice’s pain but yet sometimes made you think, “what on earth is she doing?!”

There weren’t many characters involved in this book which I think made it feel more of an eerie read. You were locked in their own, crazy, twisted world where normal seemed to have gone out of the window. All of the characters were a little odd in their own way so you never knew who was actually good or bad in all this
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The more you read this story, the weirder and creepier it got, which is exactly what you want from a physchological thriller. I was trying to constantly unpick what would happen, but I generally couldn’t which added to the build-up and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen at the end of this.

The book is in two parts, the twists and the turns start of small in part 1, that part just seems to be dedicated to playing with your head and giving you a sense of disbelief. Part two however, you are hit with twists after twist! The ending I did not see coming, and it left me feeling very uneasy- again great job from the writer! The complex characters, the build up and those twists and turns had me thrilled, just like the book said it would. I’m not sure if it’ll be for everyone, but it was definitely for me!