When Sue's father dies, she's orphaned in her mid-twenties and practically all alone. Until she meets Annie, her nanny when she was younger. The connection is instantaneous because Sue craves the love that she never had when she was a young child when her mother died at a young age. And Annie is more than willing to give her what she needs, after all, she practically mothered Sue. Slowly, Sue begins to uncover that Annie is hiding secrets from her, and she isn't the person she thinks she is.

This was quite the slow burn of a psychological thriller, it took me a good few chapters to get into it but I'm so glad I stuck with it. The story hauntingly explored the dark side of nannying and dives deep into the obsessive and toxic relationships that can develop, it has a very American, horror film style to it.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

I didn’t mind that this was a slow burn but while I am rarely disturbed by fictional content, I felt that scenes involving Annie and a cat were gratuitous and crossed the line for me. I had to make a real effort to continue reading. Clearly, Annie was dodgy enough without that incident, thank you.

This book is told in two POVs, Sue’s in the present day and Annaliese in the past. And it’s these trips down memory lane that show Annaliese’s past behaviours around and toward Sue and her warped way of thinking that really ramp up the tension. Readers realise Annaliese isn’t telling the truth about what happened, yet adult Sue is now ensnared in her web of lies and desperate to trust her.
This felt like more of a slow-burning suspense novel than a psychological thriller.

This book is quite creepy covering the obsession of a nanny for her charge. Set in a small US town, it's evident from the start that the nannys childhood and ongoing issues have a bearing on her mental health. This is a really good book which I can recommend, although I did guess what was going to happen in some parts 9f the story

Nanny Dearest - Flora Collins ⭐⭐⭐
Nearly DNF this book but surprisingly wasn't too bad towards the end.

Positives :
The characters were really well thought out. You got to know all the characters really well not just the main two.
This book had an element of this is really wierd and uncomfortable and I don't know why thriller. (which I really like).
The plot was really believable. I felt like this could happen in real life.

Negatives:
Starts off really slow and it took me at least 200 pages to get into it.
Felt a bit unfinished ( it could lead to a Sequal though)
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Sue Keller hears her name being called in a busy crowd of people. She turns around but does not recognise the women calling her. It was Annelise Whittaker her nanny from when she was small. Against Sue's best friend Beth's advice, sue agrees to meet up with Annelise. After all Annelise isn't just a stranger she's Sue's nanny. Sue's mother died when she was three and her father had recently passed away. Sue wanted to learn more about her childhood, to finally find closure. The more she meets Annelise and the more questions sue asks about her childhood the more questions she has. Sue is 100 percent besotted with Annelise and her family. However, something isn't quite right

Sue Keller's beloved father has died, leaving her an orphan in her 20s; She is depressed and keeps her life small and sedate, rarely seeing friends or going out in New York. But one day she runs into her childhood nanny Annalise and the two resume their strong bond, first established when Sue was just a toddler. Told in flashbacks to the Kellers' family home as well as the current day, we hear more about Annalise's childhood and upbringing and what made her such a wonderful nanny for Sue. But there's more to Annalise than she's letting on, and her hidden secrets start to leak out, leaving Sue more confused than ever

I enjoyed reading it but wasnt desperate for the story to go on - thanks for the chance though

This was an interesting read. I really enjoyed the story even though a lot of the characters made decisions that made no sense to me. Like why would you do this? But I still really enjoyed it.

This story is told from two points of view - Sue in the present and Annie in the past. When Sue was three she had a nanny Anneliese. Sue had forgotten about her until Annie runs into her in the present and they start to reconnect. Now Sue's decisions in this book are...strange. Like the things she does, the things she just brushes aside, or things she believes that don't actually make any sense if you think about them were odd. Like I know she obviously has issues, she is not really living her life since the death of her dad, but to just jump right on in with a stranger was odd. Yeah, her decision making, the things she did throughout the book, were very strange, but as I said I still enjoyed it.

I did really love Annie and how she is. The past chapters were really interesting, when everything comes together and you see the whole picture of who she is and what she has done, it was so fun. Maybe that is why I didn't mind Sue's odd decision making. Maybe because I loved reading Annie so much it worked out.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily.
This book is billed as a psychological thriller, but I found it so slow that it was hard going. The early chapters build the picture of home life for both main characters, with Annie's detailing domestic abuse, neglect and hardship and Sue's demonstrating elements of mental health issues. I thought that there were strong elements of predictability, and some mistakes such as "The child is still screaming for his lunch" - we hadn't been told any child was screaming for his lunch? However the overwhelming issue for me was the number of explicit descriptions such as Tom Cannon eating from a bowl of savoury snacks at a party, including licking his fingers whilst still eating and Annie's father soiling himself; the disgust felt by the characters could have been conveyed without making me feel sick. I read 30% of this book before acknowledging I could not bear to read any more.

With both of her parents dead, Sue is surprised but intrigued when Annie, the nanny who looked after her as a toddler, gets back in touch. Annie loved Sue like her own and has never forgotten the little girl that Sue used to be. Seeking a mother figure, Sue is delighted that Annie is back in her life but the real reason behind Annie leaving all those years ago is about to surface. And it’s not good at all. This slow-burning, suspenseful thriller had several theories swirling around my head. Rather than being outright scary or pulse-racing, it is deeply unsettling with a dramatic, darkly satisfying ending. With themes of obsession and unresolved trauma, the pages kept turning. Beware of triggers for miscarriage and coercive control.

Nanny Dearest, Flora Collins.

This chilling domestic thriller follows Sue who reconnects with her childhood nanny Annie after her Father dies. But as they grow closer Sue starts to recall why Annie was dismissed all those years ago and more worryingly, about the safety of the children Annie cares for now.

This is a thrilling tale, creepy, suspenseful and building to a twisted finale.
Annie is a brilliant protagonist as is Sue, as both leads spark off each other until the final page.

I was kindly given access to Nanny Dearest before publication by Quercus books. I am so so thankful they sent me this.

Wow! It was a fab read. I haven’t read anything from Flora Collins before but after enjoying this so much I’ll definitely be checking out more of her writes!

It was cleverly written, fast paced and kept me on edge the whole time. I really liked how the story jumped from past to present to allow the tale to unfold dramatically.

I didn’t want to put my kindle down, I was so excited to learn who Annalise really was and what had happened in the past.

Overall a fab read and I will be very keen to check out more of Flora’s work.

Thank you NetGalley and Quercus books for allowing me this opportunity.

I found this one to be a little bit of a slow starter, a tad difficult to get into and get going however, once I was in it wasn't that much better.

The book itself, writing and structure was good but the speed of the story was slow, the pacing was all wrong and it couldn't keep me absorbed, but my biggest problem was with the characters, I just didn't like any of them. They were just odd, not weird or abnormal but clearly something deeper, deeply odd borderline personality issues or probably severe mental issues that hadn't been diagnosed.

The worst character for me was the main character Suzy, I mean the reader is always in the dark and they need the main character to lead them, guide them through the story and well, if it was film, Suzy would be axed, because she spent most of her time with self doubt for those she has known longer and knows better than some long lost carer, her behaviour is just bizarre, odd and down right strange, I do believe I'd have enjoyed the book far more if the main character was one you could warm to even slightly but I just felt that Suzy was having some kind of mid life crisis between the pages, one minute she was on track the next she waking passed out at Annelise's apartment, I just felt it was a bit chaotic.

For sure didn't enjoy the animal abuse, it added nothing to the story and felt kind of pointless and downright unnecessary, you don't have to have abuse in books to make someone hate a character, chances are if you've done all the right things, you can hate a character without that.

Flora Collins has potential, this one wasn't a personal favourite for me but I look forward to more of Collins' work.

Thanks to Netgalley for my free ARC in return for a review of this book.

Where do I start with this review? I did not like this book at all.
All the characters were unlikeable and I found Sue to be the most whiny, pathetic person who seemed to lack any personality.
Whilst I found the writing to be ok, the whole story just seemed utterly pointless.
It never grabbed me and as there were no characters I liked, the whole thing just fell flat and I found it increasingly boring.
As I got closer to the end, when the tension was supposed to be building, I found myself starting to skim the pages and just wanted it to be over.
There is also a completely unnecessary animal abuse scene which I didn't not like AT ALL and after a few sentences, I had to skip that whole section.
Some people may enjoy this story but for me it was a waste of my time and I should have DNF.

TW: self harm, animal abuse

This book is written from the perspectives of two women: Sue and Anneliese (Annie). Sue lost her mother when she was little, and when the reader meets her, she is mourning her father’s death, who was an esteemed author.

One day the young woman bumps into Anneliese and the woman informs her that she used to be her nanny. Sue doesn’t remember much from her early childhood, especially involving her mother, and is hungry for any information – her father didn’t want to discuss the topic. Annie is more than happy to provide all the answers. The two women hit it off and decide to meet again. And again.

Sue’s best friend Beth immediately dislikes Anneliese. Sue puts it down to jealousy, but it soon becomes apparent that there is something unsettling about Annie. She appears to be perfect and has a response for everything. She becomes very overprotective over Sue and wants her for herself.

As Sue distances herself from her work and friends more and more, will she be able to uncover the truth about her old nanny? What exactly is Anneliese hiding?

You’ll have to read this book for yourselves to find out. It’s a great read with a fantastic twist at the end. This story gripped me from the very first page all the way to the end. I liked how the story switched between the two women, my favourite parts were finding out more information about Anneliese’s past and her time at the Keller household.

I loved reading this suspenseful thriller, showing that secrets past can find their way to haunt the protagonist in the present via the complicated relationship between her and the person that claims to be her former nanny. An original and thought provoking novel!

I’m always on the lookout for new authors. When I read the synopsis for Nanny Dearest, I jumped at the opportunity to read it!!

Told from two POV - Annie as the nanny, set in the past, and Sue, who Annie looked after, set in the present - it started off strong! I was instantly gripped. It was a very slow burn which teased you with little snippets of intrigue and suspense - what exactly did the nanny do….? I feel it was a little too slow for me in terms of tension, but the character development was expertly done. I find characterisation extremely important when it comes to connecting with a book. Collin’s writing style is so vivid and beautiful, I felt I was in that house, feeling what these guys were feeling.

Without giving too much away, Anneliese is nuts! The background of her character explains a lot but wowsers. And that scene with the cat, oh my word, I actually had to skip it - I can’t bear to read about animal cruelty but she’s truly insane.

I didn’t overly warm to Sue as an adult but as a child my heart went out to her. However, I feel her character was quite fitting with what she had endured and was written extremely well.

The ending… Don’t get me wrong, I can absolutely see the meaning behind it and how it fitted with the story, but I just wanted daaaarker guys! Given what had gone on and what had been revealed, I was desperately wanting a belter of an ending. But that’s just a personal preference of mine.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and would recommend to anyone who relishes a slow burn that focuses heavily on the characters.

Nanny Dearest is a book I struggled with, I did read another book at the same time to try and get into it but this is the first book for a long time where I didn’t really want to pick it up.
Sue Keller is the main character, we bounce along with two timelines, the first being New York in the 1990s and Manhattan present day. Sue had a nanny and this nanny was the best ever, she helped her through her mothers death when she was three years old and now her father has died she is falling apart until she meets her old nanny, Annie. Sue drops her old friendships and a number of other things because she feels so much better from reconnecting with her old nanny.
This was a really, really slow one to start with, it’s not till you get to over halfway things pick up but a short while later it’s pretty obvious where this is going. I didn’t like the characters which is never a good point, I really didn’t like the graphic cat abuse and think that could have been left out altogether.
Some people will love this book but unfortunately it’s not up my street.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

An absolutely thrilling and gripping novel that kept me guessing thr0ughout right up until the final twist

I struggled through this and I think the main reason was that I found all of the characters quite unlikeable and found no joy in them or their relationships to each other.

There was a decent plot and the what did the nanny do and how did the family dynamic change was an interesting concept. However there were far too many odd incidents to make it page turning.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, although I did find it a little slow in parts. Recommended.