This book was too slow of a slow burn for me and I could not get into it or invested enough to care. I wish there was more in the middle

The main character in this book annoyed me to the point where I didn't know if I was going to finish it. The ending was kind of sad but there didn't really seem to be much of a story. Just meh.
Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for a review.

If you died -- would people notice? Can you imagine a scenario where your body would have lain in your apartment, undiscovered, for over 10 months? That's the situation that confronts estate agent Jennifer Arden when she's tasked with evicting the resident for nonpayment of rent. Sarah Jones is found on the couch, the radio playing, and the tiny table set for dinner. Jenn, who suffers from anxiety disorders, can't let this go. Who was Sarah and why didn't anyone realize she was dead?

I enjoyed this but it was not a suspense thriller nor was it full of tension, action, or twists. It was a slow burner, a psychological profile of Jenn and also tantalizing glimpses into a "before" narrative that gives some explanation for Sarah. I didn't expect to like Jenn, but I did, despite the fact that she's pretty messed up. The writing was good and the story was compelling enough to keep me reading the entire book in one sitting.

Thank you to Harper 360 HQ for this e-book ARC to read and review.

Jennifer Arden works for a Housing Association and is the single mother to Charlie, 8. There is a tenant in her housing group who has not been paying her rent nor has she responded to any inquiries that have been mailed to her. When the bailiffs open the door to her unit, she is shocked to see a table set for three, a vase of dead flowers, flies and a decomposing body on the sofa. The woman’s name is Sarah and her body had been there for a long time. Jennifer feels guilty that she had not been doing personal checks on the tenant because she had been having trouble with her son. Jennifer suffers from anxiety and works hard to keep down her panic attacks. Now, she is determined to find out more about this poor, unknown woman. The book goes back and forth from Jennifer’s story to a story of two little girls, Pinn and Jane.

I stuck with reading this book, page after page, waiting for something real to happen. Yes, it was a sad thing that a young woman lost her parents and was unhappy, as well as mentally unbalanced. Then we have Jennifer who is also unhappy and mentally unbalanced. This story dragged on and on as I kept thinking there is going to be a spectacular ah-ha moment around the corner. There wasn’t. I was very disappointed.

Copy provided by NetGalley and Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Reading Between the Wines book review #63/115 for 2021:
Rating: 2 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: Safe and Sound
Author: Philippa East
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASED on June 1, 2021!!!
Recommended to readers who would love slow burn stories.

Sipping thoughts: I really liked the premise of this book and could not wait for the reveal as to what happened to the dead girl in the apartment. I loved the flash back story of the two cousins. I think that storyline would be a good book in itself but immersed in this storyline just felt a little disconnected. The ending was a little underwhelming and I really wanted to like this book, but it just fell flat for me.
Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @Harper360 for an advanced copy of @SafeAndSound
#SafeAndSound #Harper360 #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #generaladultfiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThriller

A frustrating and annoying character makes this story barely palatable. The trope of anxious women with past secrets has run its course. Unfortunately, this was the first of two, back to back, of this similar character that I read and I’m about finished with the entire thriller genre, at least with women protagonists. Reading through this story was exhausting and annoying and I couldn’t wait for it to end, the only thing keeping me from putting it down altogether was the curiosity of how it would all end.

An advanced copy of this book was sent to me by the publisher. The opinions are my own.

I didn’t enjoy this book like I thought I would. I thought the discovering a dead body would be interesting but I couldn’t get into it. I didn’t finish this one as I kept starting it and putting it down and realized I didn’t care how the story ended.

I did not like this book, the character of Jennifer was a massive helicopter mom bordering on child abuse. The book itself was very repetitive to the point of rambling and I didn't find it ..."A masterfully plotted, intelligent and emotionally riveting psychological thriller for fans of Sally Hepworth and Lisa Jewell"...as it says in the blurb.

The ending was a real let down and left me wanting more, the pace was too slow for me and Jennifer was such a whiner she ended up getting on my nerves, so much so that I almost DNF this one. It was only because of the short length that I ended up finishing it at all. Having said all that, this author just isn't for me, many others have enjoyed this book so take my review with a grain of salt.

Jenn is a single mom living in London managing several small apartments while juggling her own crippling anxiety. When one of her tenants, Sarah Jones - a good tenant by all accounts, becomes three months behind on her rent, Jenn is obligated to do check on things. When Jenn arrives to the apartment she finds months of stacked up mail, the radio on, the table set for three... and a very dead body on the couch. A body that has been there for much longer than three months. What happened to Sarah and why did it take so long for anyone to notice she was gone? Jenn is determined to find out, even if it sends her over the edge.

From the very beginning I was intrigued by this story.. a narrator with a sordid past, seemingly unreliable and dealing with raising her son by herself when a tragedy hits her. Jenn just can’t seem to let what happened go, even though her guilt and involvement really made no sense to me. I felt like this one had all sorts of potential but ended up being a big let down. The story flips back and forth between current day and the past, making you assume the sets of characters will somehow all come together with a huge twist. The twist was a stretch and the big mystery behind Sarah’s death was highly disappointing. The entire book East writes Jenn to appear to have a loaded past with some big events that will come into play when really it was all unrelated and left loose.

I didn’t dislike this book, I just didn’t really like it that much either. It was a quick read and had a ton of potential! I just felt like East whimped out and when she could’ve gone big with twists.

I’d like to thank Harper Collins and the author for the advanced copy of this book, and NetGalley! This was my first ARC and definitely a neat experience. Looking forward to more!

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Format: ebook
Rating: 3/5⭐️

Addictive and Tense..... One of the very best books I've read this year.
Even though this was a slow burner of a novel which I really enjoyed. Philippa East has a lot of talent and I look forward to reading her next book!
I still enjoyed this book very much and loved every page of it!

I have long been intrigued by the story of Joyce Leslie. Joyce's body was discovered after two years. She had cut off all contact, resigned from her job and temporarily moved into a shelter. She died, alone in her apartment, and was not discovered for two years.

Safe and Sound by Philippa East sounded like a similar story of story. A housing manager finds a body. The housing manager has a complicated mental health situation. Etc etc.

This....just didn't do it for me. Others seemed to have enjoyed this but it just was so slow and kind of went round and round and round.

Still, I think it's an interesting concept for a book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I had trouble staying focused on this book. With so many thrillers out there, I expect to be drawn into the plot and to want to read as fast as I can. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with the writing style or the main character, so this one was a struggle to finish.

In a small bedsit in Brixton a woman's body is found curled up on the couch, deceased. A table set for three and bottle of wine covered in dust sit on the table. The chain on the door is locked from the inside. It has taken 10 months to discover this woman.

Jenn is the woman that discovers her when her rent goes unpaid for more than three months.

Jenn has suffered from breakdowns in the past and after finding this woman she finds her anxiety and paranoia coming back. She becomes obsessed with finding out anything she can about this woman and why no family, no friends, no job ever noticed that she was missing.

Jenn is also a helicopter mom to her 8 year old son Charlie. She fears he is not developing the same as other kids his age. She worries constantly that there is something wrong with his brain. That he doesn't function the way he should be.

So what we have here is an unreliable narrator with memory issues and anxiety which means this is about 150-200 pages of her having panic attacks. Icy blood, blurred vision, dizzy head, churning stomach, and shivering limbs described on what seems like every page.

I was compelled enough to keep reading curious as I was to learn about the dead lonely woman and hoping for some kind of earth shattering twist but the grand reveals weren't very satisfying to me after wading through pages and pages of panic attacks. After turning the final page my first thought was...That's it? 2 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for my copy.

This book was interesting enough to keep the pages turning, but the plot twists were not too riveting, and I sort of disliked the main character, so I found it hard to sympathize with her throughout the story. All in all, it was OK, but it could have been better!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Jenn is a property manager in a small town outside London. When she goes to a tenant’s apartment to collect back rent, she discovers the tenant, Sarah, has been long dead. Safe and Sound is a slow building drama that touches on many areas, as the reader discovers. There’s a lot of pieces to this puzzle, and it takes a while for the full picture to emerge, which slows things down, but overall it held my interest and had some good twists. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer Arden a Housing Association Manager goes to evict tenant, Sarah Jones, only to find her deceased. She had been there for 10 months without discovery. Jennifer already suffers from mental health issues and this event causes her to spiral further downward. Jennifer decides to investigate what happened to Sarah on her own when the police decide to close the case.

I found this to be a very engrossing novel. I was pretty much glued to the pages trying to figure out what happened to Sara and how she wasn't discovered for so long. Jennifer's mental health issues were pretty extreme and a big part of the story. I think the author did a great job writing this one. I look forward to reading her future books.

Many thanks to NetGalley, and Harper 360 for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was given an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one just didn't grab me. I've enjoyed this author's last book from 2020, but the characters here just merged together, the plot didn't really keep me in suspense, and I was just eager to get through it and onto the next book

Many thanks to the author and publisher for a sneak peek at this book! I was pulled in by this book, I think because when I am trying to figure something out, I kind of get obsessed with it, so I could relate to Jen on that level. I liked that she cared enough to try to find out what happened to Sarah, even when everyone else had written her off. While it was a “slow burn” kind of story, it kept me reading and the twists were unexpected.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Safe and Sound.

Inspired by a true event, the story revolves around Jenn, a single mother of a little boy, who discovers the dead body of a tenant, Sarah Jones, in the building she manages.

Shocked that the body had lain undiscovered for ten months, Jenn makes it her personal mission to understand why and how this could have happened. Along the way, she must face personal truths about herself.

The premise is shocking, as only true events can do, yet the narrative didn't draw me in.

Jenn is an unmemorable and not quite likable character. She struggles with anxiety and mental health issues and is focused intently on the welfare of her only child, the reasons behind it revealed later in the book.

The story consists of her mostly fretting about how Sarah remained undiscovered for so long, fretting about her son, Sarah, fretting, and tracking down former acquaintances and lovers of Sarah and piecing together her sad history.

There are clues to Sarah's past offered in the way of flashbacks from the POV of a young child and the brief appearance of a cousin in her life during one summer.

The chapters were short but I felt, not necessary, since it offered little insight into Sarah as a child, much less a troubled adult.

Yes, she suffered a terrible tragedy when she was young, and concocted fantasies so she wouldn't have to face the reality of her life, but why? Was Sarah mentally ill? Suffering a nervous breakdown?

There's very little suspense or sense of urgency and the story consists mostly of Jenn going about her day, picking up her son, making vague remarks about her past and her own troubles.

When I finished reading, I Googled the real life event that inspired Safe and Sound and the article was both incredibly intriguing and sad.

The writing was fine, but I didn't like this as much as I hoped I would.