I loved this book. Psychological thriller, escalated!! This book had me hooked from page one! My favorite part of reading this genre is when there are unexpected twists and turns, and the author of this novel delivered. Beautifully written, well-thought-out characters, and a developed setting. Excited to read more from this author!

I do not have anything great to say about this book. While it had an interesting premise, I found the execution dull. I was not a fan of this at all. ⭐

Wow! There is a lot going on in this book! Magpie has plenty of twists that keep the readers full attention to the very end of book. The storyline is a bit different from other books I’ve read which peaked my interest. I highly recommend Magpie.

This cover is amazing. The book itself was pretty good. Thought that the characters could be a bit more fleshed out but overall the plot was good. Good, basic thriller.

Magpie
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/3/22
Author: Elizabeth Day
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Pages: 336
Goodreads Rating: 3.75

TW ⚠️: Infertility, infertility treatments, trauma, and mental health issues

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Schuster for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Marisa and Jake are a perfect couple, and Kate, their new lodger, is the perfect roommate. Jake and Marisa’s perfect relationship is put to the test through months of fertility treatments and false starts. To make matters worse, Kate’s boundary-pushing turns into an all-out obsession--with Jake, with Marisa, and with their future child. Who is this woman? Why does she seem to know everything about Marisa and Jake?

My Thoughts: The story is narrated by Marisa and then switches to another narrator, Kate’s, that completely opens up the story to wow! The evil troupe is kind of over the top and only because it has been done a lot lately in thrillers. I think the author could have approached the evil troupe another way that was not typical. Don’t get me wrong, there are still intense moments, moments of uneasiness, and the creepiness factor going on. The whole story line is messy but the ending is perfect, I would liked to have seen the ending to match the overall storyline better. I believe the whole spectrum of emotions was covered in the storyline from anger, sadness, jealousness, happiness, joy, and everything in between. The characters were developed well with creativity and some depth. Overall, the author’s writing was messy, creative, and a bit unrealistic, which is perfect for a work of fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of Magpie. Magpie got off to a questionable start for me such that I wasn’t certain I’d finish it. But then the story took an unanticipated turn that propelled me to read on. The story is driven by multiple characters, male and female, all of whom are desperate to have a baby. Their desperation leads to some very poor decisions and choices. As the story develops, the layers of the characters are revealed and, throughout, there are unsettling questions as to what’s really going on behind the scenes. What’s true, what is not? What do you really know about the people you want to trust? What lengths will you go to to have a family and to protect them? And is there such a thing as perfection? Magpie examines all of these issues and yields a satisfying enough read. The conclusion could have been stronger.

When Marisa and Jake are expecting their first child, and things are nearly perfect. To lessen their financial burdens, they take on a lodger named Kate who, in Marisa's opinion, fails to understand boundaries. She shows up at Marisa's pre-natal yoga class and seems just a little too comfortable around Jake. When Marisa becomes suspicious of the man she loves and the woman they're sharing their home with, she has everything to lose.

Despite a great mid-book twist and a lot of potential, Magpie fell incredibly flat for me. It was far too long and slowly paced, with every scene having pages upon pages unnecessarily extracted from it. Every single one of the characters lacks the dimension that would encourage the reader to care. By the end, I didn't care whose baby was whose, who was married to who, and what Jake's parents opinions were... I just wanted it to be over.

All in all, Magpie missed the mark and I won't be recommending it to friends.

Really enjoyed this book! It has a twist that you do not see coming and blew my mind! I highly recommend. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Special thanks to Elizabeth, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the review copy. I enjoyed this read, although sometimes a bit hard to get into, it proved to be a solid 4 star read.

Marisa and Jake, though they moved fast have proved to be a solid couple. Not into the traditional ways, they’ve made the decision not to get married but, they want a baby. So, they begin the painstaking trying stage and are on their merry way. Then, the point of view changes and we see things from Kate’s view. Kate is their “lodger”, the person to help them financially until after the baby is born. Kate’s views are very different than Marisa’s and then we see the toll of the process of conception and the toll on relationships.

This story was quite interesting, I enjoyed the two points of views. The shift was incredibly wild and made for a great read. I wish the characters had a little more depth but, overall an interesting read! Four stars!

Marisa and Jake are expecting a baby, and Kate, their new renter, will help them with some much needed income. But soon, Kate seems to be getting a lot more comfortable in their home and a lot closer to Jake than Marisa is comfortable with. Marisa starts to worry about Kate—why does she know so much about them and why is she so invested in their lives?

This was a really amazing book--so surprising with some real twists. I thought the nightmare-roommate theme + difficulty in conceiving themes would make this hard to read, and it was, but it was rewarding. And gratifying and surprising.

High recommend.

I'm not sure what it was... but for some reason the twist didn't work on me. From the beginning I just wasn't excited about what was going to happen. Saying that, I still very much enjoyed this book.

Wow. I am stunned by how good this book was. In the beginning, I was convinced I knew exactly what would happen, but boy was I wrong. And the ending! So unexpected. I would absolutely read another book by this author!

4 stars!

Let me start by saying that this book was a 5 star for me, until the end. I don't even want to give away too much of this book by giving a synopsis, but let me just say that the first half of this book, up until a bit after the first twist, is freaking FANTASTIC. I had never read anything like it, it kept me hooked, kept me thinking, kept me wondering.

WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?! Who can you trust? What is going to happen to the baby? Oh man, it had all the good makings of a book that simply MUST be turned into a movie immediately. Sixth Sense level of what the heck is going on here.

But then. But then....at about 60%, the book sloooooooooows way down, almost to a boring level. And the ending was just so meh to me. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, something so dramatic, so amazing, so fitting of the first half of the story and I was let down. So, I docked it a star, maybe even 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Overall, I would recommend this book for a vacation beach read this summer, but there is no need to run out and get the book. The BLAH ending of this book really took away from the whole experience.

The author did a fantastic job of getting me to "root" for both women - to see both sides of the story.

Special thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jake and Marisa rent a room to Kate in order to make ends meet in their new house. Marisa and Jake have been trying very hard to get pregnant and that process isn’t helped by Kate’s intrusion into their relationship. That’s part one of the book - then comes the Big Twist, which did surprise me.

The book veered back and forth between Marisa feeling insecure and put upon and Kate feeling insecure and put upon. Jake just tried to please everyone (but especially his domineering mother) and did what he was told to do by the women in the book. This is not a thriller and not suspenseful but I did want to know how it turned out so I kept reading. The ending was actually a little wimpy. This is the second book I’ve read by this author and I thought that were both just OK.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

3.5 Stars raised to 4.

Different story line than I expected. Solid writing drew me in, twisted characters kept me reading. So much I could say, but it would give too much away. I started feeling one way about some of the characters, then there was a switch. All I can say is that the ‘Mother’ calling her 40 year old son by a nickname throughout the book was cringeworthy, but added to the story. Did I want to smack all the characters at one point or another, absolutely! Ending was tied up a little too neatly for me. Would recommend as a summer read..on the deck or poolside with your favorite beverage, but you just may end up reading not the evening.

Thanks to Ms. Day, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

This book was like reading two different books, and for the most part-it worked well. Without providing any spoilers, I thought I had settled into a good, easy quick domestic read, when the twist occurred. I didn't see it coming and was pleased for the shift. It made the rest of the book fly. The topic and subject of infertility were new to my personal experience so I cannot speak to whether the author over/under delivered on the theme. At times there are a few characters that seem a little too stereotype, but overall-a good read.

Magpie is a reminder that not everything is as it seems – and we should never take what we have for granted. Written by Elizabeth Day, this thriller was an exciting read with a few twists.

Marisa and Jake give off that classic appearance of being the perfect couple. With the ideal house and now the ideal lodger. But we all know how it goes – behind closed doors, they are very different people.

Just a little bit of strife is all it takes to rip off the veneer of any relationship, especially one founded on appearances. A lesson that Marisa and Jake are about to learn the hard way.

'One for sorrow, two for joy ..'

Magpie is one of those thrillers that is difficult to describe. It feels like any attempt I make will venture too close to spoilers for my liking. So, forgive me if this review ends up being on the shorter side.

You've got to pick up Magpie for those looking for a thriller with a genuinely shocking twist. It literally had me gasping – and that is all I will say on that matter. Okay, almost all – you don't want to miss it!

Part of the reason this book works so well is that the multiple perspectives help to obfuscate the truth. I adore it when that happens. Likewise, Magpie weaves in subjects such as motherhood, marital issues, and much more. It makes for a complex read worth checking out.

Marisa has finally found the perfect man. They haven’t been dating long, but they’re moving in together and trying for a baby. Then Jake tells Marisa they could use some more income, so he has an acquaintance move into their house to be a lodger in a spare room.

It goes fine for a while, but then Marisa notices Kate is just taking over her personal space. She follows her to a prenatal yoga class, she cooks Jake his favorite meal, she leaves her things around. And then Kate seems totally obsessed with Marisa’s pregnancy. Who does she think she is? She is just a lodger. It’s creepy.

Marisa then decides she has to get to the bottom of what’s going on with Kate. But it could cost her.

Magpie starts off as a thriller and then mostly abruptly morphs into a family drama. It feels a bit like two novels pieced together. It makes sense when you read it, but it’s a little jarring when it shifts. It’s more about the heartache of infertility, what lengths some people choose to go to to have a child, and how much it can strain a relationship.

I thought it was well-written particularly with that insight into how difficult and draining it is to go through infertility, so I would recommend it as a window into one couple’s experience. If you’re expecting the whole book to be a thriller, however, you’ll be disappointed.

Magpie was full of twists and turns. I was on the edge of my seat trying to find out who to believe and what would happen next.
I loved the dynamics of the characters, and there was good background provided for each.
Plot twists! Untrustworthy narrator and more. I started the book thinking one way and was completely thrown off as I kept reading.

This book is a thriller about a couple, Marisa & Jake that are looking to try and have a baby. They allow a roommate to move in to help out financially. We are given to pov’s in the book. Lots of infertility treatment in this plot, so trigger warnings. I felt it was talked about way too much, bogged down the reading experience for me.
The author writes well, but this book just wasn’t for me, I’m so over the evil mother in law storyline. It took me awhile to get through this book, which makes me feel bad because I know the author puts their soul into their work. It is well written but all the infertility talk and evil mil just was not for me. But it could be for you, some people love this trope.
I was given an arc in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley, thank you.