I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

My Darling by Amanda Robson is a deliciously dark and twisted read that taps into the pleasures of watching morally bankrupt characters unravel. This is the kind of book where bad things happen to bad people, and it's impossible to look away. Robson presents us with two couples locked in a tangled web of love, jealousy, lies, and murder. A love triangle, paranoia, and hidden secrets swirl beneath the surface, building tension page by page.

The real strength of My Darling lies in Robson's ability to keep you off balance. While the book doesn’t rely heavily on shocking twists, it expertly keeps you uncertain about what’s truly happening, which only enhances the suspense. The characters are deeply flawed, and though they may not be easy to sympathize with, they’re fascinating in their complexity.

While the ending felt somewhat lackluster, the ride to get there was a thrilling and entertaining one, albeit not in the way I expected. A truly captivating guilty pleasure.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books in exchange for an honest review.

My Darling is a confusing, messy story about two women and (sort of) two men. Jade is married to Tomas and she is delusional, rude and unpleasant. Emma has just begun dating Alastair, a man who starts to show controlling tendencies. Emma herself is pragmatic and honestly, she doesn't have a second personality trait. Jade becomes convinced Tomas is cheating on her with Emma and decides to take matters into her own hands, resulting in a multi-layered murder plot where everyone is framing everyone else.

This book was so painful to read. I initially started with the audiobook but that was far too confusing, so I swapped to the e-arc which was a bit easier to follow. The characters are quite bland. I expected there to be more going on with Jade but no, she is just delusional and horrible to everyone. I expected there to be more going on with everyone to be honest. We learn more about Emma but it doesn't really translate to anything meaningful in terms of how we view her. Alastair has an ex-wife who shows up a few times and is described in a huge amount of unpleasant detail, but why? What does it add?

The plot itself is very melodramatic and a bit tedious. I wasn't surprised by anything that happened. I am not someone who needs a huge twist in my thrillers, but it almost felt like it was written to contain twists but there just weren't any? I won't give the details of the ending but it is framed like a standard ominous thriller ending where we are meant to feel dread at what the protagonist might do next, except I feel like everything she did was reasonable given the world and people she was dealing with. This is a side effect of the melodrama. Everything becomes a potentially reasonable response because the actions themselves are so extreme, and the people so one-dimensionally unforgiveable.

I was so disappointed by this book. The one saving grace is that this is quite an easy read, so I did finish it rather than abandon it halfway. Unfortunately I can't recommend it though

Overall Rating: 2/5 stars

Really enjoyed this, lots of twists and turns and devious characters with other characters determined to give them their come uppance.
Very abrupt ending kind of spoilt it.

Fantastic thrilled fast paced I enjoyed it so much this book kept me guessing from start too finish this is worth a read

This is a book about nasty people doing nasty things
This has a twisty storyline. None of the characters are likeable
You do have to suspend disbelief at times but it’s a good read

Recommend to people who love unlikeable characters.

Personally, I do not and maybe that is why I had such a hard time connecting to this book. I didn’t find it thrilling, but it does read really fast which is always a great pro for me.

My Darling is a quick page turner of a thriller, with short chapters full of suspense.

It's a novel full of mistrust, suspicion, lies and secrets.

How well do you know your neighbours?

Let's be honest, beyond a polite 'hello' most of us don't really get to know our neighbours that well do we?

The couples in this novel are different...

When new neighbours move in they get to know each other almost immediately, hosting dinner parties and the like.

And then suspicion and mistrust set in, and everyone's lives are in danger.

Thank you for providing me with an advance review copy of this book. Enjoyed reading, would recommend....

Sinister read! I really enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot, it was fun to read with a somewhat satisfying ending.
The story is well executed and written and I can understand why it is written in the style it is. An excellent read.

This was truly a book I couldn't put down. It was so gripping! But after this I won't be making any friends with my neighbors (no spoiler I promise). I really think Jade has a screw loose.... Recommended for anyone who loves a thriller where everything is upside down!

Absolutely loved this! A crazy ride from start to finish and didn't know where it would end until the very final page! My kind of plot!

This is my first time reading Amanda Robson and it was an intriguing delight! You have two couples; Jade and Tomas and then there is Emma and Alastair. Jade and Tomas move in next door and immediately Jade is already cooking up a whole relationship in her mind between Tomas and Emma that is taking Jade to nowhere good with her lavish mental state and thoughts in the driver's seat! This read was like indulging in a guilty pleasure of craziness combined! Jade is as I like to say "off her rocker" and really who knows anyone at all?!?! The vileness and despicable behavior of these characters allows one to step into this darkness and out of the light to partake in an indulgent enjoyable change to a creative domestic thriller! This was a fun "who let the crazy out" insanity type read! Some parts could at times be a little hard to follow switching between character POVs, and it was a lot coming at you chapter to chapter but also it had that have to find out what happens next pull to keep you in! Thank you NetGalley for the copy and I am looking forward to reading more from Amanda Robson and the ideas she creates!

Wow, what a twisty plot! Complex characters that keep you guessing all the way through. My jaw dropped a few times while reading. Clever!

If a book needs to be compared to "YOU" this is the book that would be compared to it. OMG I loved this and it fulfilled my terror that YOU gave me

Emma is a successful dentist with her own practice. Emma is dating Alastair whim she met on a Tinder date. Alastair lives with his mother and young son and an ex wife to support.
Jade and her husband Tomas move into the house next to Emma and soon acquaint themselves with Emma, despite Emma not much for socialising Jade soon persuades her and Alastair to join her and Tomas for the evening. Jade warns Emma that her husband, Tomas has a roving eye and will undoubtedly be interested in Emma.
Tomas has need to visit Emma's dental practice for treatment. Is the start of his roving eye or is he innocent? What follows is the twisted story of the four people involved in this story.

This was a brilliant read and is being featured on my blog for my quick star reviews feature, which I have created on my blog so I can catch up with all the books I have read and therefore review.
See www.chellsandbooks.wordpress.com.

A creepy thriller, i liked the different perspectives and how the story unfolded. i also liked the twist at the end. would read more by the author.

Having read previous books by Amanda Robson, I had high hopes for this book, but I was disappointed as this particular book, in my opinion, was not up to her usual standard.

It was very much an unbelievable storyline and I could not like or relate to any of the characters. I ended up wishing for the book to hurry up and end, just so that I could move on. Disappointing.

Two couples, secrets, lies, and all sorts of bad things combine in this thriller. It sometimes becomes a tad implausible but that doesn't mean I didn't keep reading!

What a book – fast paced, loads of twists and turns. Couldn’t wait to turn the page!

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.