Gripping, intriguing and completely unique. I adore Masters and this is a truly amazing read. I have loved this book.. And it’s been one that I have been unable and unwilling to put down.

£20,000 in exchange for your body for four weeks? Hmm, surely there has to be a catch. This is exactly what protagonist, Elle, thinks when she first sees the advert for this medical trial. But, desperation forces her to fall down this rabbit hole and she convinces herself that everything is going to be all ok. All in the name of research… right?

Well, this is hardly what Elle considers when she arrives at the medical facility. Her, along with other ‘guinea pigs’ are all there for the money – and the holiday – that is promised with spending a few weeks in the glorious sunshine with just a few medical inconveniences. I could not believe how blasé all the characters were about the possible side effects; instead, they are so money-driven that they all happily follow directives without questioning the potential repercussions. This laid-back approach dominated most of the novel and I think this made the overall story less thrilling as a result.

The opening chapter really gripped me as it seemed to be a flashback to a previous drug trial. But the writer does not capitalise on this and the scene that readers are presented with at the beginning is glossed over in the plot development. I thought this quite disappointing and would have preferred to see some disjointed flashbacks to emphasise the apparent danger that Elle and the other participants are heading towards. Instead, I felt like a lot of the book was ‘waiting around’ – just like the characters themselves. Waiting for side effects and consequences, I thought the plot was rather slow and did not fill me with suspense in the slightest – even when the bodies start appearing.

Although the participants complain of headaches, this did not seem to be much of a big deal. However, what I really enjoyed was that feeling of paranoia that starts to build. Characters are distrustful of one another; Elle is not sure who to trust; motivations are fuelled by the promise of money and there is no loyalty amongst one another. With Elle, I found I could not believe in what the characters claimed and I liked considering the different angles to the story: was the behaviour a result of the drug being trialled? Was the behaviour a deliberate manipulation? What was truly, genuinely happening at the complex?

This lack of trust meant I really did not believe in Elle’s growing connection with Benji. It all felt a bit too convenient and it felt like the writer was trying to add a romance element, for the sake of having some romance. I would have preferred far more thrilling, suspenseful scenes, rather than reading about Elle missing Benji and wanting to spend more illicit time with him.

In my opinion, this book dragged and when the revelations started coming, I was frustrated by how bland and unsurprising they were. I wanted to be shocked and thrilled; instead I thought the truth was a bit tedious and required too much explanation. Once again, there felt like no pace and I was like a zombie that was moving under the influence of a drug.

I think this story just tries too hard in places. There’s a lot of questions established near the beginning of the trial but the characters blindly accept that they have to do as they are told. Even when those in charge don’t seem to know which Canary island they are on, there are no red flags warning the participants that something isn’t quite right. Perhaps it was the prize fund that was the most important here. As personalities deteriorate and further questions are raised, I didn’t get the sense of trouble and instead would have preferred the “fug” of the story to be lifted and more action taking place.

With thanks to One More Chapter, Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for a copy of “ The Trial” for an honest review.

I haven’t read anything by this author before, but I was drawn in by the premise of the book.
I enjoyed the book up to about the last quarter , when things, for me , became a little slow, and muddled until a rushed ending.
I’ve given it an average score as although I generally enjoyed it I don’t think the book will remain with me for very long .

THE TRIAL
BY SR MASTERS

I love an exciting and thrilling locked room murder mystery. The premise is a tax free payment of £20,000 wile spending a month on an island for a medical trial. Sounds way too good to pass up.
I love the exciting start of this novel, where your fingers are flipping those pages so fast you are so immersed into the story. The tension builds up in a slow burn way but the incredible ending made up for it.

I really enjoyed this fun read.

I LOVED the premise of this book but I felt it was very slow to get into and then suddenly very rushed.

It felt odd that the main character is a woman but written by a man and some of the things she did felt a bit off which may have been explained by the author.

The book was pitched as a thriller and whilst I agree I was expecting more deaths in the beginning and more of a murder mystery feel having read the blurb. However I loved the idea and overall enjoyed reading it.

Thank you for the arc.

When I first started reading this, it seemed like it was going to be something akin to the Stanford Prison experiment. I was quickly shocked by the turns it took and how drastically the trial changed. In some ways, you could tell early on that it was t just a social experiment, but there were points throughout that made me believe it could go either way.

I will say the deep twist at the end caught me off guard and the end felt really rushed for how much the story built up to that point. I wouldn’t recommend this to friends, but it was an easy enough read to get through.

Overall, I think the book could have been written more effectively, especially if the end of the story was the goal all along. This will probably be another book I forget that I read this year if not for having left a review.

Read this as part of the One More Chapter readalong but sorry to say that it wasn't for me. I finished it but it took me a while. Didn't really like any of the characters and I think because I took so long to read it the plot lost its thread for me.

While this isn't a book I'll remember for a long time, it was enjoyable while I read it, and it kept me guessing the entire ride.

Twenty-nine year old Elle leads a boring life under the control of her lazy, lying, manipulative mother. She desperately needs a break and one drunken evening happens to see a recruitment advert on her mother's laptop for a month-long medical trial in the Canary Islands, There is a generous payment on offer so she completes the online questionnaire and is eventually accepted.

The resort and her fellow trial members are initially amazing, but things start to go wrong after the first week. Someone goes missing, people start to behave oddly and a wild goat is strangled. Is it an effect of the drug they are taking, or is it some kind of weird social experiment? The medical ethics of the trial are highly questionable and things do not seem to be going to plan.

The book has a strong sense of encroaching isolation and menace. The characters are all individuals with unique voices and the locations are described such that they become easy to visualise. Some suspension of disbelief is required.

The ending is a little ambiguous - I had to read the last chapter twice but think I got it! It cleverly and subtly overturned some previous assumptions is as much as I dare say.

I don’t know about this one. I mostly liked the premise, but the idea that one turned into a murderer from the drug (based off the synopsis) didn’t pull me in, but I decided to give it a try anyways.

It started really slow for me. Elle was insufferable as a character and I was hoping we got to see a few perspectives but unfortunately we only get Elle. There was a lot of back story to understand Elle, and then suddenly she’s accepted for this trial after barely hearing about the application process or about the trial at all. So the plot kind of started slow.

When things started getting going with the trial, again I would have liked other perspectives. We,l, to be honest I would like a slightly different plot line with the same premise. Some parts were utterly useless to the story, and others were super interesting.

The book just wasn’t consistent enough for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, S. R Masters and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC of The Trial.

Ellie's life is at a crossroads. She's just discovered her deceiving mother has lied to her yet again, and desperate for a holiday, she signs up to a clinical trial in the Canary Islands - take a pill once a day and note down your thoughts in a diary. At the end, she will receive £20,000 - sounds too good to be true right?

At first Ellie cant believe her luck, but then the headaches start, personalities change, and a body is found.

This gripping rollercoaster of a clinical trial suddently takes quite a sinister trial and really had me gripped. The ending didnt quite cut it for me (it felt a little rushed) but overall I still really enjoyed this title.

This book had a great story line, was abit different to the usual plots! However I felt it could definitely have been more thrilling, the pace was slow at times. The ending came across abit rushed and I thought there could have been more detail and explanation here.

I loved the idea of this, who hasnt been curious about those medical experiment adverts that pop up in the papers now and again? In 'The Trial' Elle - who lives with her money-grabbing mother, and is desperate for a way out- sees an ad pop up for a medical trial in the Canary Isles, that will pay £20K. She's intrigued and completes the screening survey but is rejected. Frustrated, she tries again, this time channelling her mother's impulsive spirit - and she's in.
The story then moves to what happens in the trial, and the dramatic impact that the medicine is having on some of the participants. They're not sure what the medicine is for, but are told it is very low dosage. The participants are in a luxury villa with everything provided for them, but for some of them , this isnt enough and they try and find more excitement off the complex.
I really liked the beginning of the story - particularly the almost throw away section at the beginning about how public funding cutbacks have led to private companies taking over NHS services and cutting them to the bone. And I loved the relationship with Elle and her mum = and the early scenes of the experiment too. But it lost its way for me in the middle, and felt like some similar scenes were being repeated - so I wasnt so keen on it then, for me it could have been trimmed back a bit. So overall 3/5

Let me just start by saying, I have probably said hundreds of books are un-put-downable but ‘The Trial’ is next level. If I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it and my heart was beating at an incredible rate throughout!

The story follows Elle, she wants to get away after a mishap at work and desperately needs a holiday. After booking a holiday her mum pulls a number on her and needs the money so she has to cancel. BUT then she sees the advert for ‘The Trial’ a paid experience in the Canary Islands. What could be better?

Well a prison cell … being locked up and bored forever would be better than this!

The amount of red flags in this book, but for a substantial who wouldn’t look past them. In that situation me probably.

This book had my anxiety sky high, I wanted to shout at the book numerous times, ‘don’t do that’ ‘are you stupid?’ ‘Are you for real?’ The tension built in this book was incredible. It started off normal, then pacey and then my eyes couldn’t read quick enough. I needed to get to the end because I had no idea what the hell was going to happen. I couldn’t have even made a prediction.

The characters in this book were very well thought out, they were all authentic and believable. Some of whom liked and some not.

This is definitely a serious contender for my end of year favourite. And a book I would HIGHLY recommend.

The novel started off well and the premise was good. However, I.lost.interest a third in and did not finish.

I really loved the first part of the book and the idea of the trial, unfortunately my interest lessened once the trial began, I didn’t like the cliffhanger ending tho

Review 📕 The Trial by S.R. Masters
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

18-40?
PAID CLINICAL TRIAL IN THE CANARY ISLANDS
UP TO £20,000 TAX FREE

When an advert for The Trial popped up on Elle’s computer it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime. An all expenses paid holiday and time away from her manipulative mum? And all she has to do is take a pill each day and write a diary entry? Sign her up! The only problem the trial is very secretive and she has no idea what’s in the pills, but for that amount of money it’s surely worth it. And they wouldn’t run a clinical trial that was unsafe would they?

Well this was a bit of a rollercoaster! It’s an excellent story that’s gripping from start to finish, and you really feel for Elle throughout. I loved the premise and the remote setting worked really well to add extra tension - being isolated with complete strangers on a desert island is not a situation anyone wants to find themselves in but man does it work well for a thriller!

I did find the chapters within chapters structure a little difficult to get on with but the story is tense and action-packed so it made up for it. It’s absolutely worth reading and I would definitely recommend it to any thriller fans! It’s fun, thought-provoking, and I look forward to reading more from S.R. Masters!

Thank you to @onemorechapterhc and @srmastersauthor for my digital copy and for having me along on the readalong ❤️

A drug trial with unknown side effects, what could go wrong?? I couldn't wait to dive into this one. It reminded me of all the controversy surrounding the Covid vaccine and the trials that came with it. But sadly, I did not enjoy this book. At one point it started to get creepy and I thought it might have potential, but it didn't deliver. There were too many characters and I never could remember who was who. I got bored and put it down for a bit. Then picked it back up and just couldn't wait for the end, which was very unsatisfying by the way. I'm not one to DNF, but I was tempted.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for this DRC.

A great thriller but a slow start. I had a difficult time getting into the book because I just wanted to shake Elle, the main character. However I understand that without the beginning of the book, other parts of the plot line fall flat.

Elle is tired of sitting home dealing with her depressing life and user mom. She comes across this ad for a clinical trial and gets accepted. Elle is ecstatic because its the holiday she absolutely needed. That is until things on the island begin to go downhill fast and no one has answers that Elle is looking for.

This book had me stumped. Sitting smug and thinking I had it all thought out, the author put me in my place. Finally we have a thriller that will keep you your toes.