I’m still not certain how I stumbled on the writing of Sally Hepworth but I have to say her gift of weaving a thriller into a story you can NOT put down is a gift. This new genre of domestic thrillers is filled with many authors but none like Hepworth. The descriptions of Melbourne were spot on and this marriage filled with secrets kept me coming back. I felt like this would make a great movie!!!

Sally Hepworth is a fan favorite for me, and The Soulmate definitely held up! There's just so much going on here, making for an intricate and twisty novel that kept me turning pages. I really enjoyed how this story led the reader through the present and past scenarios and slooowly delivered new information - the pace was absolutely perfect! The perfect storm of mental illness, infidelity, and mystery - excellent book!

This book was thrilling. I was highly intrigued and finished quickly to see how everything would turn out. Twists on twists on twists.

One disclaimer I want to make (spoiler free)- it is revealed that certain characters have specific mental illnesses. Though the author later states 'so and so didn't do what they did because of their mental illness,' I feel like the way it's written about hints that all of the bad things that happen are due to this mental illness.

I really struggle with authors writing mental illness as twists in a thriller, or as a major part of the plot in a murder mystery. Just be an informed reader. Any messages that someone with mental illness is inherently bad are fictional and ill-informed.

4.5 rounded up to 5!

Pippa and Gabe Gerard recently moved into their dreamhouse, a cottage near the cliffs of on the outskirts of Melbourne. The home appears to be perfect, except for the fact that it is right next to, and in perfect view of The Spot - an area of cliffs where people often go to commit suicide. One day, Pippa is looking out her window and sees a woman approach The Spot. She sends Gabe out to check on her, and as she tends to her kids, the woman jumps. The death is quickly ruled a suicide, however, once the woman's identity becomes known to the policy, Gabe is suddenly thrown into an investigation. Pasts will come to haunt both Pippa and Gabe as secrets start to come to light.

The Soulmate is more of a twisty domestic suspense than a psychological thriller. I loved the take on the genre that Sally Hepworth provided in this novel. This was truly unlike any book I've read before. More than simply suspense, this book is deeper - examining issues of marriage, fidelity, mental illness and choices we make in our relationships.

Each chapter ends in a suspenseful way, keeping the pages turning until the very end. I highly recommend this book for someone looking for something a little more than the run of the mill psychological thriller.

Special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for an Advanced Reader Copy of The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth.

This was my second Sally Hepworth book, and I can now confirm that she is definitely on my list of favorite authors. The Soulmate is a story of marriage, betrayal, and the lengths we are willing to go to for the people we love. Pippa and Gabe have bought their dream home on the cliffs of a quaint little town overlooking the sea. The only setback is their property borders an ominous place called "The Drop," which has historically been a place where people come to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff into the water below. Gabe has been recently featured in the local paper for intervening in several suicide attempts, and convincing the person not to end his or her life. On an ordinary night, Pippa, Gabe, their young daughters, and Pippa's sister have just finished a meal and are cleaning up from dinner when a woman appears on the cliff. Pippa alerts Gabe who goes out to speak with the woman. As Pippa watches from the window, she notices that the interaction looks different from the other ones Gabe has had with people who have come to the cliff. She briefly takes her eyes off the window and turns back to see Gabe standing alone with his arms outstretched. The events following this night will challenge everything Pippa thought she knew about her husband.

This book was hard to put down because the characters are so intricately woven together. Hepworth has created a tangled web of lies and deceit that will leave you guessing until the very end. Great story that will keep you on your toes! I highly recommend!

Gabe and Pippa Gerard live in their dream house, perched high on a cliff outside Melbourne. Unfortunately, this cliff is also where many people come to end their lives. Gabe develops a reputation as someone who is able to turn people back from the edge, but one night he isn't successful. The woman who dies is someone he knows, and Pippa works to uncover the truth.

I really enjoyed the multiple POVs in this story and absolutely LOVE how Hepworth didn't wait until the final pages or the epilogue to pull off a twist - there were several "oh my god, what?" moments throughout the book, which made for an un-put-down-able read. (For real. I read this while I was in Montreal with friends and found myself thinking about it constantly and wanting to go back to the AirBnB to read).

I have an on and off (mostly off) relationship with domestic suspense, but Hepworth does everything right and sets the bar really high for the genre. Highly recommend!

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth.
This book will publish April 3, 2023.

I am a big fan of Sally Hepworth's domestic suspense stories. This is my fourth by the author and she is an auto read author for me. This book is filled with murder, mystery, marital woes.

The story focuses on two couples whose lives are intermingled and you don't see the fully story until the final chapter. Pippa and Gabe, a young married couple who share two children and have recently moved to a beach cottage on the cliffs. And Max and Amanda, a middle aged couple who have worked for their opulent life.

The story is told in dual timelines and multiple POVs and you could really understand where both women were coming from. The story unravels slowly and is tough to put down. The beginning is intense with an eerie setting, and has a great hook. This was a good, not great story for me, but definitely worth the read with lots to unpack and enjoy. There wasn't any big twists, shock factor, and all the characters seem pretty unlikable and are frustrating to deal with. But you do see the good and bad sides of the characters and of a marriage. I was more drawn to Amanda's POV chapters and would have loved to hear more from her story!

This story makes you think, “How far are you willing to go for the one you love?

Sally Hepworth is one of my faves when it comes to selecting unordinary domestic thrillers. She comes up with unusual personalities and sets of circumstances that will have you guessing and invested in seeing how they play out. This easily draws the reader in from the onset. Chapters are broken up into time segments marked with the characters name and when this is transpiring, such as Pippa (now) or (before) and Amanda (before) or (after). Not difficult to follow.

The setting is in Australia. Pippa and Gabe have just bought their dream home in a small coastal community called Portsea. It is a cliff side home with beautiful views, but unfortunately the cliff sides have a bleak history. The other main characters are a couple, Max and Amanda. Amanda will fall to her death at the cliff side early on in the novel but her voice will continue in the “after” her death chapters, filling in some gaps for the reader to get a better picture of what transpired. Hepworth choreographed this well and will leave her readers satisfied with her newest effort.

The business part of the story line didn’t appeal to me as much as the relationships between the characters. The surprises at the end made the read all worthwhile. Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my review copy. Get yours on release date: April 23, 2023

Short Synopsis:
Gabe and Pippa have recently moved into a beautiful cliff side house. But unfortunately their property backs into what the locals call “The Drop” or the place where people go to jump off and die. Gabe does his best to counter this and talks to everyone in hopes to prevent them from jumping. He’s saved seven lives. Until one day he doesn’t.

My Thoughts:
I was expecting lots of twists and turns, which there definitely was but I didn’t feel blown away by them. Sally Hepworth’s writing and the short chapters is so easy to read and a quick binge if you’re in the mood for a family thriller drama. The Good Sister is still my favorite one of hers, but this one was solid too

4.5 ⭐️ 📖 to my fav Sally Hepworth book yet! I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book through Netgallery—thx to them and the publisher! This starts as a presumed twisty thriller — a woman shows up at a famous suicide spot; a man goes out to try to talk her down; his wife turns to see the woman off the cliff and her husbands arms out in a pushing motion—but he would never do that, right?
But what makes this book unique it’s that it also explores “What does it mean to have a good marriage?” It’s a great combo of suspense and substance.

I loved this book! I love Sally Hepworth. I didn’t expect the ending and liked how it ended. It was a quick read that I couldn’t stop reading. I like how quick the chapters went and liked the back and forth from perspectives.

This is a 2.75 rounded up to 3 stars.

I never thought I would give one of her books less than 4 or I would never have requested this! Trying not to let my high hopes deter from the overall story as it was well written - started strong and had a decent ending.

But the magic of her interpersonal relationships was not present. The characters didn’t have a lot if distinguishing personalities and that paired with some transactional business drama that I had zero interest in just made this a blah read for me.

I hope everybody else reads it and loves it. And I of course look forward to her next.

Thank you for the advanced e-copy!

The Soulmate is my first Sally Hepworth novel and after reading, I will be checking out her other works! The Soulmate started off quickly and while there are some slow points, I was hooked from the beginning. The books starts at Gabe and Pippa’s house which faces a cliff called “The Drop” that is routinely visited by people wanting to commit suicide. On this particular evening, a woman walks to the edge and Gabe goes to try to talk her out of jumping, which he has done successfully 7 times before with other people. This time, while Pippa alternates between watching the conversation out the window and tending to the children, and when she glances back outside the woman disappears over the edge with her husband standing with outstretched arms. Did she jump or was she pushed? The questions only go deeper as we learn that Gabe and Pippa both knew the woman, Amanda the wife of Gabe’s former boss. We follow the story from both Pippa and Amanda POV. Each POV is from the past and present. This allows you to get a good backstory and helps build the characters relationships. This book constantly had me guessing and I was not expecting the twist at the end!

While this book touched many topics; such as mental illness, suicide, infidelity, loss of family I did not feel that the author was using this trauma to create drama. Everything was approached respectfully and helped build the “why” behind the story. I highly recommend the novel to anyone looking for a good thriller that has some great plot twists.

Sadly this one was underwhelming for me!

The concept is fascinating, and Sally's writing very tense. I enjoyed the dual pov/four timelines, and how they all wove in and out of each other, and it all seemed to ramp up to something big. However... there weren't any really big plot twists, save one good one that surprised me about 3/4ths of the way through. The whole premise of the book relied on some rather big misunderstandings that were pretty underwhelming. I wanted MORE--more motivation, more reasons behind everything, more twists. More tension. Max and Amanda were compelling characters, but I had such a hard time with Pippa, and didn't want her to have a happy ending, haha.

Also, the random insert at the beginning and in the middle about Covid/vaccines/etc was very jarring!

Sad to not have loved this one, but thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

-A

When Pippa and Gabe find their dream home in a sleepy coastal town, Pippa thinks it’s the new beginning they both need. However, their new home is located near a well known suicide spot called The Drop. At first it seems that Gabe has found a new purpose after literally talking several people off the ledge. However, Gabe can’t talk everyone down and when a woman he knows commits suicide, Pippa must face the truth that some things can’t be ignored and the love of her life might be a liar.
The Soulmate is a complicated murderous love story that you won’t want to put down! I love how Hepworth was able to spin a suspenseful tale while also bringing awareness to the importance of mental health. As always, her characters are quirky, genuine, and endearing. Pippa and Gabe reminded me a little of Lily and Ryle from It Ends With Us. I had lots of feelings over the ending of this one. The story isn’t wrapped up neatly and the characters have to make some hard choices to protect the ones they love. You might need a few days to think about this one!

Sally Hepworth is at the top of her game with this latest domestic thriller! The Soulmate is a complicated murderous love story that you won’t want to put down!

✨𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨✨

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Soulmate
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Sally Hepworth
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs:
If Sally Hepworth writes it, I’m absolutely going to read it. I went into The Soulmate blind, and I’m so happy that I did! She’s absolutely the queen of domestic suspense and this one did not disappoint!

Pippa and Gabe have just moved into their dream home, but they soon find out that there is more than just the house on their property. What locals refer to as “the spot,” lies at the back of their property, where people will go to end their lives. Gabe has become somewhat of an “angel” for many people that have gone to The Spot - spending time talking with them and quite literally walking them off of the ledge. However there comes a night where he couldn’t save someone. And to make it even more interesting— the woman that he couldn’t save was connected to him. Pippa questions what she sees through the window.. why were Gabe’s arms outstretched like he may have pushed her? And when he lies to Pippa saying that he didn’t know her— suspicions rise. Pippa works to uncover the truth, and so many more secrets are revealed.

This book touches on so many real issues including mental health struggles and infidelity. Told in alternating POVs between Pippa and Amanda (stuck in limbo before passing on) I found myself enjoying both POVs equally and needing to know exactly how all of the pieces were connected.

This book publishes in April 2023 — be sure to add it to your TBR! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

In The Soulmate, lovebirds Pippa and Gabe, and their two little daughters, move to a lovely coastal cottage, without fully realizing that the picturesque cliff is a popular suicide spot. They discover that Gabe has an uncanny ability to talk people down, though, and he prevents seven suicides simply by talking to them. The eighth stranger who turns up upset and alone on their cliff turns out to be less of a stranger…

Overall, The Soulmate was just ok. I think it will definetlt reach a certain audience just don’t think I’m in it. It has that wonderful tense Sally Hepworth feel of wondering who to trust and who’s twisting the truth, who done it etc, Yetit kinda felt like the whole book was a fakeout. I like to be able to guess a little bit of a thriller, but it’s less interesting when the baddie is too clear and obvious. For that reason it didn’t keep me engaged to keep reading yet when I was reading it was ok Ian’s just not a strong desire to finish. Like I said this will be a hit among many Hepworth fans, I’m just not one of the gung ho ones!

Hepworth delivered an intriguingly twisted book complete with a fascinating plot, memorable characters and a dark sense of humor that I absolutely loved and devoured.

There are very few books that grab my attention from the jump and then keep it. Talk about a top notch page turner. Hepworth did a FANTASTIC job at leaving subtle cliffhangers at the end of each chapter leaving you guessing and wanting more. There were several little twists leading up to the big twist at the end- each one having me come to a different conclusion only to find out in the end that I was totally wrong. Isn’t that what we all want in a mystery/ suspense book?

This book is written in two POV with a now timeline and a then timeline which seems overwhelming but it’s written so well that it’s not confusing. Having both perspectives gives you enough insight on the lies and secrets that these marriages are carrying that you…just…can’t…stop…reading until you know the whole truth. Be prepared for the unexpected in this heartbreaking, twisty, emotionally charged physiological thriller.

I will definitely be binging the rest of Hepworth’s books and keeping an eye out for any new ones!

This is my first book by this author and I’m a fan!
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This was a twisty, turny domestic suspense read that centers around two women, their marriages, and a death.
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I really enjoyed it. Each chapter was a new turn or twist in the story. I found myself not sure who was the “good guy” and who was the “bad guy”, it definitely kept me on my toes.
It was a page turner for sure!
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This book will not disappoint readers!!
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Thank you @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book!

The Soulmate was such a good book! I love books with a plot twist that I didn't see coming and this one fulfilled that for me for sure. I was already a fan of Sally Hepworth because of her books, "The Good Sister" and "The Younger Wife". After reading "The Soulmate", I will go back and read the rest of her published books because she is THAT good.