This was definitely moving, well written and full of suspense. I will most certainly be reading other books by this author.

This is a well-written book with an interesting premise. I liked the characters and the way they interacted with one another. However, it was a bit too slow and too long. It took me a while to get through and while I enjoyed it while I was reading it, I never really felt like picking it up again. It never hooked me and I was surprised to find out it was supposed to be psychological thriller. Maybe the last 15% and that part was really engaging. Culling a bit would have been useful.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Journalist Kate flees New York and her job and hopes to have a new start in Callinas close to San Francisco where she is staying with her aunt while working as an archivist for Theo Brand. He is the son of the famous photographer Miranda Brand whose legacy has been stored unattended in their home for more than two decades. Even though Theo is quite reserved, Kate gets on well immediately with his kids Oscar and Jemima; the deeper she digs into Miranda’s work and story, the more fascinated she becomes. Spending hours daily at the Brand home ultimately also brings her closer to Theo and makes her challenge her luck: he explicitly prohibited her from accessing some parts of the home which he considered strictly private. Kate cannot resist and thus finds Miranda’s diary which sheds a completely new light on the artist and her mysterious death.

It only took me a couple of pages to be totally enthralled by the story. Sara Sligar’s debut is a clever combination of an extraordinary artist’s (fictitious) biography, a crime novel and also feminist psychological thriller. Miranda’s death is the central aspect which Kate investigates, but what I found much more interesting was, on the one hand, how Miranda’s relationship with her obsessive-aggressive husband develops and, on the other, how Kate, herself just having recovered from an episode of mental struggles, reacts to it and becomes increasingly fixated. A brilliant study of two female characters who try to cope with psychological issues and being misunderstood by the world around them.

“I must figure out how to be exactly the right level of insane.”

The crime part of the novel is not that obvious from the beginning, it develops slowly and is surely reinforced by Kate’s prying in Theo’s home. It does not seem to make sense why he hides important information from her while paying her to sort out his mother’s legacy. Their getting closer over the time, not surprisingly, makes things even more complicated.

Even though some serious topics are addressed, Sara Sligar keeps a light tone and works on suspense rather than having the novel turn into a too melodramatic story. Added to this, her characters are not just black or white but give an authentic representation of the complex layers of grey which exist when it comes to relationships, violence and mental issues.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book at 15%. I’ve found it difficult to review this book because the reason that I DNFed this is because of the formatting of the ARC. The book was not formatted into proper chapters, sentences had long gaps between words and the numbers 1 and 0 randomly appeared between words or even in the middle of words. Because of this it constantly took me out of the story and I couldn’t properly invest in the characters or the plot.

I am aware though that this won’t be the experience of readers who buy this book and I think once this book comes out I will give it another chance.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy this book to review.

The story alternates between Kate’s life now and the correspondence and diary entries from Miranda’s life!
This was a twisty psychological thriller. That I jumped all over!
We learn that both Kate and Theo have troubled pasts and the reader can’t help but wonder which of them will break first.
I loved this book! Great book overall!

This was a very entertaining slow burn thriller, maybe a little too much of a slow burn.. it could have been 100 pages shorter in my opinion. However the story was great, and I enjoyed the mixed media aspect.

Complex, slow-burn drama & psychological mystery.

I'm always on the lookout for unique psychological thrillers which would absorb me whole. Take Me Apart managed to accomplish just that. I was completely immersed in the story, but even more so in the writing style that gave this book a pervasive low-grade suspense, which accompanied this novel throughout.

In this book we follow Katie, a depressed New Yorker who was just fired from her job due to sexual assault allegations. So, Katie moves across the country to a small town on the West Coast where her family lives. There, she hears about a tragic death and apparent suicide from 20 years ago - of Miranda, an accomplished photographer who seemingly had no reason to wish to die.

Katie is in town just at the right time to apply and get a job as an archivist to organize Miranda's belongings, as hired by her son Theo. While Theo is charming, he also seems superbly shady and perhaps has anger issues... But he couldn't possibly be involved in Miranda's death, could he?

The book is beautifully organized into intertwining stories of Katie and Miranda, which was absolutely a hit in this case, given how their stories have some things in common. Although Miranda's part was the one I kept reading for, I liked the concept and the story as a whole. Take Me Apart is a truly intriguing combination of a traditional mystery with literary fiction, making it a rather slow burn. I didn't think I was into this kind of books before, but after reading this one, I'm converted.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4,5 Stars
"the person I felt most comfortable harming was myself"
i was so happy about a copy of this book!
well this story is unique, tender, touching and thrilling-all in one!
the characters even those who seem to be unlikeable at the beginning are so human and authentic!
what a surprise! hope to be able to read much more of her books!!!
thanks to #netgalley and the publisher

Here we are thrust in to the world of art and obsession. Kate, an ex journalist retreating to her Aunts in California, takes on a job as archivist for the late great photographer Miranda Brand who committed suicide 24 years earlier. The house is being sold by Miranda’s son Theo and as such hires Kate to sort through his Mother and Fathers’ belongings.

The novel is split in to two, Kate leads the prose with every other chapter being from Miranda’s personal archives organised by Kate and it is through these personal notes, diary entries and doctors notes that we piece together Miranda’s story of her art, her family and her mental health.

I absolutely loved this novel, and was gripped from start to finish. I especially loved the telling of the story from two women and the mirroring and similarities between these characters.

A great read, could not put it down, a total page turner. It covers everything from power, to trauma, drawing you in and making you run through the maze of secrets and lies.

Take Me Apart was one of the most unique and thrilling mysteries I’ve read so far this year. In the present timeline, archivist Kate--a New York ex-journalist with her own secrets--is hired by Theo Brand to organize and archive Miranda Brand’s papers and works--his late mother. Flipping back and forth from Miranda’s diary entries leading up to her death to Kate’s unraveling obsession with uncovering the truth behind the artist's death. A great post #MeToo reflection on the damage men can do to women’s lives and their careers, while also holding its own with fantastic narratives, strong characters and an addictive plot. Loved it!

Take Me Apart follows former journalist and archivist Kate travels to California to work through the papers of famous artist Miranda Brand who is almost down more for her suicide than her bloody and raw photographs. Written in a dual timeline we read as Kate’s obsession over the death of Miranda grows and Miranda’s declining mental health after the birth of her only child, Theo.

This is a novel about living under patriarchy and how it spills into everything, from the professional workplace and to the more intimate spaces like marriage and motherhood. Both Miranda and Kate deal with their own trauma from sexual assault and harassment. It reflects a sad and utterly depressing reality.

Take Me Apart is also about the dysfunctional family. Miranda and her husband’s marriage is rife with tension as she becomes a more famous and acclaimed artist than he is. They both ignore their child and have trouble dealing with the expectations of parenthood. In Kate’s timeline she’s dealing with her own family troubles, a distant mother and an aunt and uncle she barely knows. Theo is divorced and is attempting to raise two children who were essentially abandoned by their mother.

The mystery element in the novel is the question if Miranda Brand actually killed herself or was murdered. This is what seeps into Kate’s mind and drives her obsession with finding the truth, even if it means breaking all ethical and personal boundaries. I do wish this mystery was developed more as if felt like that Kate’s belief that she was murdered came out of nowhere as well as a diary that goes missing. It read like the book was attempting to set one character up as the killer, didn’t fully lay the groundwork and the final revelation is slightly anticlimactic.

I thought the writing was strong and kept me interesting. The descriptions of Miranda’s art makes me wish she were a real person so I could see these masterpieces!

Overall, this is an engaging read about two women attempting to live with mental illness (post-natal depression, bipolar disorder), as well as pull their lives together after they have seemingly fallen apart.

Just found this book a little clichéd at times and very much like alot of other books Ive read. Terribly sorry x

Take Me Apart is a debut novel written by Sara Sligar. The book is narrated in third person and follows two different timelines. The present focuses on the issues surrounding Kate and the past focuses on Miranda’s life and death.

I enjoyed this book because it was mysterious, crazy and times intense. At times I felt like I was being pulled into Kate’s obsession with Miranda, it was tiring but at the same time I wanted to know more and more. Theo was an interesting character because he was mysterious and I spent most of the book wondering did he or didn’t he?

I like how the author uses Miranda’s diaries to try and add shock value. Some readers might not enjoy the ‘vulgar’ language or ‘obscene’ imagery but I liked it because I think it contrasted the two characters.

This was a very interesting book and I would definitely like to read Sligar’s next book.

I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
Unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy it as much as I wanted to. This is a very well-written book, and very promising, but I think it failed to deliver.
The characters were a bit plain and could use some more depth, moreover, the dual timeline thriller book is overdone, which results in disappointment, as usual, the plot is similar as well as the plot twists.

Take Me Apart is another example of a growing genre of mystery books about fictional famous people and their lives intertwining with someone else in the future.

I wanted to like this, I really did but it just felt like a copycat of every other book in the same genre, with a slowly unravelling protagonist paralleled by the story of a celebrity whose life unravelled in the past. I wished the characters had had a bit more depth and that the author had taken the time to explore the characters motivations and made that a bit more realistic. Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me.

Wow! This is a masterclass in how to write a psychological thriller!

The plot is quite simple, several years after famous artist Miranda Brand's apparent suicide, her son Theo hires ex-journalist, Kate Aitken, to catalogue and archive all of his mother's papers, photographs, and documents.

As Kate digs deeper into Miranda's life, she finds that her subject suffered horribly with mental health issues and was institutionalised and treated with ECT.
The more Kate discovers, the greater her need to find out even more becomes, sending her into a similar spiral of insanity that at times mirrors Mirandas. And of course, Kate has a few dark secrets of her own.

I have to say, whilst racing through this book, I felt like real life imitating art as my compulsion to find the truth grew right along side Kate's.

The characters, particularly that of Miranda Brand, are so well written, and her experiences with depression and psychosis so believable, that it was easy to forget this was a piece of fiction.

An absolute whirlwind that I devoured in less than a day! The chapters interchanging between Kate's experiences and Miranda's various diary entries and correspondences kept the whole thing fast paced and very readable. This will keep you up late with cries of "Just one more chapter!"

I feel that as well as a psychological thriller, this could easily be shelved as Women's Literature but it is so much more than that, dealing with it's difficult themes of mental ill health, postpartum depression and psychosis, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and the complex inter-personal dynamics that make up family ties, in an exceptionally empathic way.

This is definitely one you don't want to miss!

Take Me Apart is a fantastic debut novel by Sara Sligar and a book I would definitely recommend. Whilst I don’t think it falls into the category of a typical thriller, this book definitely has elements of mystery and drama surrounding the death of Miranda Brand. I love books where a lot of the narration comes from documents such as emails, letters, diaries, receipts etc, it completely adds an extra layer of interest to the story for me. I also enjoyed the way the book explores both the main characters highs and lows in relation to their work, relationships, motherhood and also their struggles with mental health.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Although the thriller genre isn't my particular passion, I was very interested in Sara Sligar's TAKE ME APART. Sligar has a way that makes you feel like her writing is effortless as you move from page to page, devouring each chapter. I was intrigued by the premise, that a woman moves to the Bay Area and is entangled in a murder mystery. However, the situations are too convenient, I feel like I have read this story many many times before and the denouement is so tidy, it's like a hotel room. Ultimately any delving into MeToo seems trite in this scenario and almost shoehorned in. I really wish the climax had gone down a less trite path.

** spoiler alert ** 3.5 stars

Very much a book of two halves for me.

Miranda's story completely drew me in,the artist so in love,the new mother,the psychiatric patient,the abused... she was the mystery that needed to be solved.

Kate's story just felt like a slight distraction away from the actual main event,especially when the romance you could see coming a mile away happened.

But you need Kate,to unearth the story of Miranda.

Riveting stuff.