Marissa and Jake are a couple with idyllic life. They seemingly have it all, but are in need of help with the rent of their new home. Jake finds them the perfect housemate to live in the attic rooms. Slowly, Kate begins to assert more control in the house, making herself a little too comfortable. She doesn’t respect personal boundaries, and is much too comfortable with Jake. Marissa tries not to let it consume her, knowing after so many months of in vitro treatments that she is expecting. Soon just she, Jake and the baby will be a little family. Meanwhile, Kate’s lack of boundaries turns into obsession with Marissa, Jake, and the baby. How does she know everything about them? In order to find out who Kate really is, will Marissa destroy her perfect life?

Wow. Just…wow. I finished the book a little while ago, and I must say I read it breathlessly. The brilliant prose made me devour it, riding and twisting with the storyline to the very satisfying ending. Elizabeth Day captures so much in this work, from motherhood to standing up for oneself, from what could be to what actually is, from deception to human bonding. ”Magpie” lives up to its description as a psychological thriller. It is a smartly-written, insightful, consuming read, and I couldn’t recommend it more.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Elizabeth Day for the ability to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book. A wonderful blend of suspense and believable characters. And many people identify with what one will put up with to have a child. Timely and compelling.

I very much enjoyed the first maybe 85% of this book. It was suspenseful and always left me wondering what would happen next. It built to a beautiful climax, but the final 15% of the book kind of stretched too far for my liking. There is a bit in here where I was cheering, but also felt like the dialogue played out a bit strangely. Regardless, it didn’t lessen my feelings for this book. Well written and definitely overall a solid book.

Since others have outlined the plot, I will not do so.

For whatever reason, my last several books have been thrillers with a quasi menage a trois, or quatre with mother in law, between a couple an another female. While Magpie was a quick read and had some twists, it fell a little flat. Maybe editing would tighten up the storyline. I do have sympathy for someone going through infertility issues. This was the hook that kept me wanting to know more and see how the story played out. Unfortunately, the ending was not a surprise. The author had too many obvious redirects that made it distracting. What could have been a great plot needs work.

Thank you, NetGalley, the publisher and author for an advanced copy.

According to the nursery rhyme sorrow is sure to follow the sighting of a single Magpie. And it does for Marisa as a lone Magpie flys through the "love nest" she is looking to buy for her, Jake, and the baby they plan on having. While they get the house, financial setbacks cause Jake & Marisa to take in a a border-Kate-who is short on respecting personal boundaries, and may have an eye for Jake. Magpie starts out as another straying spouse story (although Jake and Marisa are not legally wed), but morphs into a whopper of a thriller. Your head will spin at the sharp curve Magpie takes less than halfway through. What Magpie does best is highlight the trauma of infertility on couples willing to do anything to have a baby. It also deals with mental health issues in a realistic and sympathetic way. But Magpie struggles with credibility in other areas-Jake & Marisa have only known each other a few months when they decide to move in together and get pregnant, and their relationship feels "off" in other ways. Jake is often away for work and his mother makes Joan Crawford look like mom of the year. Turns out there's a reason why Marisa and Jake's coupling feels strange- and it does have everything to do with Kate, just not in the way Marisa believes. Magpie is well written and fast paced, and these attributes more than balance out its few shortcomings.

Moderately successful, it drew me in at first with the idea of the suspense building but it just didn’t. The “twists” were not that great. The injection of the weird-ass mother was just, well, weird. After a while I really wanted all the characters and the story to just end.

Interesting take on the roommate, surrogate, happy relationship scenario. Magpie is told from a couple different points of view. We start the story hearing about when Marisa meets Jake. They fall in love quickly and plan to immediately start a family. Due to money issues they take in Kate as a lodger to help pay for their new house. Later, we hear the same story from Kare’s perspective. Let’s just say they are not anywhere near the same story. Enter Jake’s mother, Annabelle, and things are bound to get messy.

This wasn’t one of my favorite books…I think the big twist wasn’t as shocking as intended. I’m not sorry I took the time to read it. It was engaging, but not something that blew me away! Thank you to the author and #netgalley for the ARC of this book!

This felt like a thriller with a lot of unnecessary plot twists that were thrown in just to try and throw off the reader --- but the reader had everything figured out from the jump.

It's much longer than needed - and took way too long to get to the good stuff.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity.

Magpie by Elizabeth Day is a highly recommended domestic psychological thriller.

In the first half of Magpie Marisa and Jake move in together and plan to start a family immediately. Even though Jake's mother, Annabelle, doesn't approve of Marisa, Marisa is sure they will have a happy life together. With money being tight they decide to take on a renter, Kate. It appears to be a great idea until Marisa notices that Kate seems to be pushing personal boundaries and is overly familiar with Jake. Marisa begins to feel threatened by her and is concerned about what her future plans are involving Jake and their baby. The second half of Magpie totally turns the plot upside down as it is told from Kate's point-of-view.

Suffice it to say that not much more can be said about the plot without spoiling it. I will mention that experienced readers are likely going to have some of their very early plot twist predictions come true and I'm not completely comfortable with one of the plot devices used. I can also affirm without any hesitation that predictable or not, the writing is quite good and Day does create a whole lot of tension while keeping the pace fast. The novel starts out rather slow but the switch changes things. The ending is a bit over-the-top, but will keep you glued to the pages. 3.5 rounded up
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

This is an odd but incredibly interesting novel about surrogacy, parenthood, and familial ties. When Jake and his partner take in a "lodger" as their surrogate, they have no idea what they are in for! At first she seems accommodating and lovely but soon they are worried that what appears on the surface is not what is underneath. Told from the perspectives of both Kate and Marissa, the book details this journey with all of the jealousy, and deception that one can often find in a marriage or relationship where honesty is not valued or at least talked about! And I couldn't stop reading...so go in when you have plenty of time as you may not want to put this one down!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Marissa is viewing a house for her and boyfriend Jake to live in when a magpie flies in through the open doors. A harbinger? Only time will tell. They move in and for financial reasons take in Kate as a lodger and she becomes a firmly affixed limpet on the hull of their relationship.
This is a such a clever book which is very well written and is perfectly paced throughout. It has some good twists that take you totally by surprise as they come out of the blue but which enable you to make sense of some observed disconnection and frissons of unease in the narrative. In places it’s creepy, tense and claustrophobic in the smothering overstepping of bounds and it becomes quite scary. This leads to a growing antipathy between the three of them which escalates. The characterization is the standout feature of the book. Marissa is a cauldron of various emotions from anger to insecurity and everything in between. She hides things and prefers to paper over the cavernous cracks in her personal life. Kate seems a controlling , manipulative cuckoo in the nest but as the storyline develops it’s clear she’s carrying a huge burden. The prize for ultimate manipulation goes to Jake’s mother, whose passive aggressive barking and biting is odious. The novel deals with some weighty issues from mental health to fertility problems to trauma of various kinds and all are dealt with sensitively by the author.
My only reservation after such a compelling, hard to put down read is the resolution which seems a bit too picture perfect. What unfolds between the three of them is messy and maybe as a consequence it needs a messy end.
Overall, this is a very polished, clever, domestic noir/psychological thriller from the talented Elizabeth Day. If you like a read with twists and a multitude of emotions you may enjoy this one!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Fourth Estate for an e-arc of this novel.*

Magpie by Elizabeth Day
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Marissa meets Jake and thinks they are just perfect together. Life together is great until they get a lodger to help with the costs. Kate seems nice but obsessed with Marissa and especially cozy with Jake…
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What I liked:
-I thought this was a SOLID psychological thriller. I was hooked from the start and wanted to know what was going on.
-Although for me there was only one twist near halfway, I was still thoroughly interested through the whole story.
-I liked how it ended but the ending was not quite what I was expecting.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers!

This book was so good! So many twists and turns until the very end. What some couple will go through to have a baby.

This was a really good read! Elizabeth Day gave so much detail it felt like I was standing in the room with each of the characters. Jake and Marisa are the perfect couple, except they have one of the hardest struggles to deal with…. Getting pregnant. They work together so well, they get along perfectly, they both have the same dreams and desires, but they have to face it that they cannot get pregnant easily. With needing help and additional income they have Kate move in.
At first it feels like Kate is a great match for them. She comes in and makes herself at home a little too easily and that is when Marisa starts noticing that she no longer has any privacy. At first it’s small things, but then she notices that she is staying home more and spending too much time with Jake. Marisa becomes skeptical and then addresses her concerns.
Without giving too much away, the story does not continue in a great manner. There are many twists and turns that will keep you turning the page. The struggles of having a child and the dangers that lurk around the corner are always going to concern a mother. This novel adds in more than you can imagine!

This was a fun read, very quick, but parts were very confusing. I had to re-read several sections numerous times to make sure I understood what was happening and who was talking. If not for that I’d give this 5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and Elizabeth Day for allowing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm having a very hard time rating this book because, while I feel like the writing itself was really good, I had some feelings about the actual subject matter.

It's hard to address my issues without spoiling the book. The first section of the book - I really enjoyed. I liked the way the author told the story. We meet Jake and Marisa and they are in a new relationship and things seem to be moving quickly. They move in together and all seems to be going well. This section is told from Marisa's point of view.

THEN - the next section the point of view switches to that of Kate. Who in Marisa's section is a tenant she and Jake take in. And let's just say things really take a turn in this section, and I can't say much more without giving things away.

I was somewhat put off by the way this book approached mental illness and "crazy women" and stereotyping. I don't mind a book where you're unsure if the narrator is reliable and think there may be some issues, but I really was uncomfortable with the way it was depicted in this story. I walked away from this book feeling a bit off by what went down.

That being said, I feel the author writes a story will, the mental health thing aside, and would definitely be willing to give her another try with a different book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Shuster for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this domestic/psychological thriller. It really got me with the twist! Loved hearing Kate’s real rendition of how things really happened after Marisa’s unreliable narrative.

Thank you net galley for the arc copy. I enjoyed the book as I can emphasize with their situation. Well written and really good story!

Marissa and Jake are the perfect couple. They have recently moved in together and the rent from their lodger Kate will help them save money to start trying for a baby. But then Kate starts to make herself a bit too comfortable around the house, and especially with Jake. Marisa tries to keep her eye on the prize - their future baby - but soon Kate's behavior is impossible to ignore and puts everything Marisa has worked so hard for in jeopardy.

Whew - this was a ride! I couldn't put it down because I just HAD to find out what was going on with Kate. The story is essentially told twice - once from Marisa's POV and then again from Kate's. I really enjoyed everything about this one but it's hard to talk about without giving too much away. A true psychological thriller, there's a lot of mystery and deception to sort through and the characters are very well drawn.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Available May 3, 2022.

“The tragic flaw of parenthood is that you equip your child to leave you. But what if you never want to let them go?”

Magpie is a shocking story about what happens when a perfect couple, planning for their perfect future baby, allows a perfect stranger to move into their spare bedroom. I mean, what could go wrong?

The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. I may be dating myself here, but if you’ve ever seen the 1992 movie with Rebecca De Mornay, you’ll get it. This book was kind of like that movie!

This was a fast paced and enjoyable read told from multiple POV. I was a little underwhelmed by the twist, and the book wraps up a tad too nicely for all of the crazy that happens within the pages. But infertility and mental health is a huge part of the story and it is handled with care and decorum. Well done.

Go into this one as blind as you can to experience the full effect of this story. Enjoy the ride!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster, and the author for this gifted ARC.

"A raging narcissist who treats us all like fucking chess pieces" and that isn't even the worst thing to happen in this book. Loved the writing style and the unreliable narrators kept me on my toes. The ending was a bit soft but exactly what a reader needed after the rollercoaster ride. This book should come with a disclaimer to warn anyone who has experienced the struggles and heartbreak that comes with IVF.

Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.