Sophie's husband disappears and she is all alone, it has now been seven months that she has been on her own. She believes she is "being watched" and consults the services of psychiatrist Dr. Thacker.

I have to say I am in the minority here as this book did not grab me like I thought it would. I found the story to be quite slow and the twist pretty easy to figure out. I will the say the writing was well done, I think it was just the storyline that did not seem to hold my attention like I thought it would. Luckily we are all very different as there are a lot of five star reviews for this book so I would still encourage other readers to give it a try.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this! It felt really ominous and moody, and I kept guessing where it was going, then BAM the twist. THE TWIST! Loved it so much. One of my FAVORITE twists when done right, and it was done right!!

“𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝘪𝘴 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮?”

I have no idea what I just read, and it's best for you to go in knowing the bare minimum. Nothing is as it seems in this book.

Sophie has lost her husband and she seeks the advice of a therapist because she feels like someone is watching her. It takes her a while to open up to her doctor, and we find out more in the letters she writes to her absent husband, who has seemingly vanished after winning a prestigious temporary job offer in another country.

Seemingly vanished. Remember, nothing is at it seems. I read the ending twice to make sure I understood.

From the book blurb: "Sophie Portman has lost her husband, and she thinks she may be losing her mind. She seeks the help of psychiatrist Andrew Thacker, but as she starts to open up, the truth begins to unravel and nothing is quite as it seems."

I hesitate to add any more to the description or to say much about the story for fear of spoiling anything. You really need to read it for yourself but make sure you pay close attention. You really have to wonder how the author managed to keep it all straight in her head so that it made sense on paper or whatever! This is my first experience of this author but I'll definitely be looking at more of her work.

A big thank-you to BooksGoSocial via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Publication Date: April 22, 2022

O͟t͟h͟e͟r͟ P͟e͟o͟p͟l͟e͟s͟ L͟i͟v͟e͟s͟
JE ROWNEY
Release Date 04/22/2022

Other people’s lives were never as interesting as ours. I think that is an important line to pay attention to in this book. Jack, a geologist who is married to Sophie, an English teacher, has left to go to the Arkhangelsk (see below; I had to look this up 💁🏻‍♀️) and disappears. Sophie, a hermit, begins seeing her therapist Jack about the feeling of constantly being followed, and Jack becomes obsessed with her. But he’s not the one following her. Is she being followed? Or is she crazy?
This book is a short, quick, fast-paced, and thrilling book.
Pay attention to the word setup and pronouns in this book; it will help solve the twist at the end. I had to ask a friend💕 to ensure I had it right.
5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟S҉҉T҉҉A҉҉R҉҉S҉҉

Arkhangelsk, also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its exit into the White Sea. The city spreads for over 40 kilometres along the banks of the river and numerous islands of its delta.

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This book was great, but it needed a longer ending. Everything was going at a great pace before the last couple of chapters rushed to the end. Because of this, I gave this book 4 instead of 5 stars.

Although this starts off slow, I really enjoyed this quick, thrilling read. The twist, wow, I didn't see that coming AT ALL! If you want a book that you can read in about two sittings, this is for you. It will throw your mind for a big loop!

Well, I didn't see that ending coming!

This is the story of Sophie who's husband went missing months before, on a trip to Russia doing the job he loved.
Sophie is finding his disappearance hard to come to terms with, thinking she's being stalked, seeing him everywhere, so starts to see a therapist.
The book flows between Sophie writing letters to her husband, seeing her therapist, and her therapist looking forward to and wanting to see Sophie.

I thought I'd guessed about halfway through what had happened to her husband, but I was completely wrong!

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read the advanced copy.

A puzzling mystery with characters that come alive. No one is who they appear to be.
The ending completely gob-smacked me!

Sophie's husband is missing and her life went with him. When she starts to think someone is
stalking her she reluctantly tries therapy, not sure if she is actually being stalked or has gone crazy.

Layer by layer J.E. Rowney draws you in and makes you suspect you know exactly how this will end. And yet the more you know about Sophie's marriage, her contented life, and her secrets, the more unsure you become.

This was a cracker of a read. Very well written with a great delivery. Cool characters that kept me invested in the book.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

Other People's Lives is a therapist/patient story. The patient, Sophie Portman, seeks the help of a therapist, Andrew Thacker, after losing her husband. She believes someone is following her. Is it real? Is it all in her head? You really don't know until the very end! The majority of the book is told by the mysterious narrator, and Sophie's POV through letters to her missing husband.

The first 60% of the book was a slow build. J.E. Rowney brilliantly gives you little crumbs of the story for you to piece together. You're left with a flurry of theories. One theory had me thinking, "Could it be....?" and the very next page, that theory was shot down like she could actually read my mind. Then suddenly you are side swiped with a twist that will really make your head spin. When I say I FLEWWW through the last 40% of the book. I just had to see how it all wrapped up. I just finished the last page. And I still have questions. Questions that I dare not speak due to spoilers. But after you've read it. Message me. Let's chat.

If you're into psychological thrillers, this one is for you. This is one I'd absolutely reread now that I know the twist. I'm sure reading it the second time will have an entirely different feel. Excellent read.

I liked the fact that this was a short story. But it still packed a mighty punch. It was well written and a good storyline. I enjoyed it.

This was a short novel, coming in at less than 200 pages. My general rule thumb is that I like my books to be between 300 - 500 pages. Anything less than this can be difficult to make the characters believable and give the plot substance. Anything more can oftentimes be rambling and overly-wordy.

However, like all rules of thumb, there are exceptions and this is definitely one of them. What I loved about this story was that it grabbed you right away, you have a premise of a missing husband, a seemingly unreliable narrating wife, a dodgy therapist and a whole lot more.

Within the 180-odd pages, the story moves along quickly and I defy anyone to read this in more than one sitting. Go on, try it, I dare you to put it down before the ending. Yeah, didn't think so!

A really brilliant effort from J.E. Rowney and definitely an author that is now on my TBR list.

Thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A story of obsession and the things people do for undying love. After a slow start I was urged to keep going by all of the amazing five star reviews. There was a boiling tension throughout the story and I couldn't wait to read how it all ended. When the big reveal was unveiled, I was in complete shock. I definitely didn't see that coming. A short read with lots of unreliable characters and a massive dose of ultimate revenge. Make sure you read til the very last line.

The different narratives in this book kept disturbing my flow whilst reading and I had to think a lot about it. I wasn’t too keen on the style. However, I enjoyed the plot once I got my head around it all.

I loved the initial narrative of this book and the way it was told in the eyes of a few characters. I kept wanting to know what the connection was and who was the watcher.
However, I just felt the ending sort of lost its way and plot and I felt disappointed. I think it needed something else to convince me it should have ended that way.
It was strange to feel so captivated along the way yet not happy at the end, Sorry.

Scramble My Peeps & Bop The Bunnies! 😯😳😯🤯😳

What. The. Fluffin'. Fluff! 😳 Unholy moly cannoli! Geez almighty I was totally thrown for a massive loop! This is one thriller that absolutely reels you in from the first page! Just over half way through and you'll hit your first jaw-drop mind shocker! & the rest are continuous crazy beyond words moments!
Sophie feels as though she's loosing her mind as she thinks & feels someone is constantly watching and following her. So she finally agrees to be referred to a psychiatrist. Cue in Dr. Thacker. Dr. Thacker is determined to help her get better after the disappearance of her husband Jack. But as their sessions go and Sophie starts to open up more the truth may not be so clear cut.
The ending will have you asking, "wait. What?!" Although I wish the ending hadn't been quite as rushed as I felt it was, I still adored this book! A real psychological thriller with amazing suspense to keep you guessing & unsure. The dark twisted reveals, craziness & absolutely WTF is generous in this novel. Trust no one. 😳

Thank you to NetGalley & BooksGoSocial for this DARC.
Release Date: April 22, 2022

I give this 4 / 5 Bouquets! 💐

I really wanted to like this book. I got about 75% of the way through when I realized a different person was narrating it and it confused me and I thought I was gonna have to re read it, like I misinderstood something... but maybe that was "the twist". It was also kind of obvious that she was involved with her husband's disappearance. The only part that wasn't clear was how. I think overall it was a good book, I did read it pretty quickly.

No. NOOOO. THE LEVEL OF GENIUS CANNOT EXIST!! Holy mother of WHAT!!!! I just finished this book and I am REELING. I have no words but at the same time I want to non stop rant about how unbelievably ridiculously brilliant this book is. JE Rowney is undeniably a mastermind. I was so blown away at the end that I had to go all the way back to the start and yes…. brilliance confirmed.

THE STORY: so obviously this is one of those the less you know the better the ride is. So I won’t divulge much the synopsis is all you need. Sophie is seeing a psychiatrist because she misses her husband and has this feeling she’s being watched. Boom that’s literally all you need. Why? Because the twists (that no matter how much you try to analyze you won’t get it) are worth every glorious read word!!!

READ. IT. An absolute must read and a definite addition to my favorites.

“ listen carefully - watch closely - trust nobody”

Thank you BooksGoSocial and netgalley for the amazing arc in exchange for my honest review.

I found myself thinking about this book a lot even after I read it. And if that is not a testament to how good this book was then I don't know what is. I was shocked and intrigued by all the twists and turns. The writing was very engaging. Easy 5 star.