The Soulmate has a perfectly intriguing beginning: a family living near a popular suicide location sees a woman standing on the cliff edge. Assuming she’s yet another jumper, Gabe goes outside to talk to her and it doesn’t end well. From there, the story alternates between the perspective of Gabe’s wife Pippa and the jumper, Amanda both in the past and present. As the story of both women’s respective marriages is told, it reveals secrets about everyone involved.

Sally Hepworth has been an author whose books I’ve only recently started reading and enjoying. What I liked about her last few was that there were always some secrets and a little mystery woven into a very relational story.

The Soulmate felt a little different to me, more straight domestic thriller than her other books have been. And that’s fine. It was entertaining. I was mildly surprised a few times. I turned pages fast and was finished in 2 days. I just don’t think this was “wow”. It’s getting 4 stars though because I think it accomplishes what it meant to do.

oh the twists and turns of Sally Hepworth's stories! Gabe and Peppa Girard are living their best life. Two young daughters, careers and a gorgeous house on the edge of a cliff. All is in order until a woman jumps off the edge to her death while Gabe tries to calm her down. Was it an accident? Was it a suicide? And who was this woman to the Girard's?

I've read a few novels by Sally Hepworth, and this one is by far my favorite!

Gabe and Pippa Gerard live near a cliff known around town as "The Drop" - a popular place for people to come and commit suicide by jumping into the raging waters below. Gabe has become infamous in their little town for stopping numerous people from jumping. But one night, he is unable to convince a woman to not jump, and from there the drama unfolds about who the woman was and reasons she chose to come to this spot.

The story in told in alternating timelines, before the episode and after; as well as being told by two narrators, Pippa and the woman who was on the cliff.
The twists and turns definitely kept me on my toes! I felt like I had parts figured out, then Hepworth threw a wrench in my thinking.
One thing this book touches on that I'm so thankful for is mental health and seeing how important a support system is for those who truly are mentally ill.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
#thesoulmate #netgalley

A dark and twisty thriller that kept me turning the pages. So much of this story surprised me and I loved the complex characters and moral questions that were asked. I highly recommend this book, but don't want to give anything away. I will say it's a wild ride!

Many thanks to Netgalley for the E-ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I loved every minute of it!

This book grabbed my attention from the start when a woman falls from a cliff, did she jump or was it something more sinister? Chapters are short with a dual POV and then/now timeline making it hard to put down. Several twists and the ending was unexpected! Overall it was a good domestic thriller.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

I’m a big Sally Hepworth fan, so I was so excited to get the chance to read The Soulmate.
This book gives readers the views from two woman. Between wanna to keep reading and yet not want to be right with where the plot was going. Then slap a twist here and new way of thing.

I am reviewing the ARC book-The Soulmate by Sally Hempworth. The pub date is April 4, 2023
What is a Soulmate? For two women, a soulmate means finding someone you can Trust, Honor, and Sacrifice for all the days of your life. But will these virtues hold up when tested against Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Murder? One woman finds herself standing at a precipice of betrayal and the other finds herself being pulled into the depths of mental illness. Sally Hempworth interweaves ‘then and now’ and ‘before and after’ into a tidal wave of secrets and revelations from start to finish.
As the story opens, Gabe is painted as the hero, Max as the villain, Pippa as the ever-devoted wife, and Amanda, as the betrayed. But Sally offers alternate views of each character that allow the reader to experience the intensity of each developing layer of the story. ‘No one is ever what they seem’, and The Soulmate does an excellent job demonstrating this concept.
I loved the water metaphors throughout the story. Emotions like drowning and the ebb and flow of two marriages help the reader to feel what it could be like to live on a cliff, over-looking the water with beautiful views during the good times and dark and stormy views during the bad. I also love the ultimate question of the story, was it murder (covered up) or just an accident?
The story is a perfect fit anyone who has ever questioned a loved-one, ever wished they could know what is happening behind the closed door, or ever sacrificed their beliefs for the good of their relationship. This is pretty much all of us.
I recommend The Soulmate as a delicious roller coaster ride! It offers an escape from first impressions, a peek into what everyone is thinking, and finally knowing what has happened behind that closed door. The Soulmate a fun read with a satisfying ending, covering all the bases. I rate the book 3.5 stars out of 5.

<b><u>***4.0 rating***</b></u>

I love me some good mystery/suspense/thriller. I am even more thrilled that my arc request for this gem was approved. I had heard a lot about Sally Hepworth and her intriguing books, so the stunning cover along with the suspenseful blub immediately captured my attention and piqued my interest. Nothing feels better than wanting to know what happens next in a suspenseful book, I mean I would know I listen to true crime podcasts, always waiting eagerly for the narrator to tell me what the suspect did next or what the poor wife didn't see coming. Always anticipating the next cliffhanger. This book was no different. Every page and chapter was engaging and an overall page-turner. I love that when an author writes so well that you cannot put the book down even though you have to wake up early and get on with your life, you know adulting and all that. Smh but hear me out I have no regrets for missing some sleep, absolutely zero regrets.

The positive reviews for the Soulmate are well deserved, I am often skeptical when I see overly positive reviews for a book. Surely, not everyone loved it? but that seems to be the case with this book and I am happy to be another one of those readers that enjoyed the Soulmate.

The soulmate is a domestic suspense novel centering around two women, Pippa and Amanda, and their husbands. It is told from a dual-perspective (Then, Now, and at times After when it comes to Amanda). We read the story from both Amanda's and Pippa's perspectives, which I appreciated. It makes the story that much more exciting when you have various perspectives on the same event. Ultimately, the author focuses on how each woman views their husband and their marriage. One is doubtful, while the other wholeheartedly loves her husband even though as the reader you know that their marriage is anything but perfect. This is indeed the case when one of the women (Amanda) mysteriously dies at the Drop, a popular suicide destination at the beautiful Portsea (Australia). The lives of these women intersect when Gabe, Pippa's perfect husband was at the sight where Amanda died. Surely a coincidence? Gabe is after all the perfect handsome doting husband and father. Everyone and their mom loves Gabe. It must be explainable somehow, or so Pippa deeply wants to believe.

Hepworth tells the story that while some marriages may seem perfect on the outside, some have cracks deeper than we realize. The concept of the soulmate is interestingly explored and the reader is at times shocked by the plot twists. The author hints at them throughout the story but the revelation itself is surprising. The ending while somewhat simple is satisfactory to the reader, I do wish that we maybe had an epilogue from the "villain's" perspective. It would have been interesting to know what goes on in his head and that mind of his. Excited for others to read this on <b>April 4th, 2023</b>. Keep an eye out for the release, Hepworth does not disappoint. This was a fab introduction to her and I will be definitely reading more of her work.

<b><i>Thank you very much to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing the ARC, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. It was a pleasure to review this book.</b></i>

Hold on to your seats! This twisty, compelling read will leave your head spinning and hair standing on end! Told in dual timelines with a wonderful combination of dark humor and rattling plot twists. There's not much more I can say without giving things away but, if you happened to pick this book up, you won't put it down!

Told from a variety of viewpoints which may or may not be accurate, the story starts off rather promising, but later slows down to a point where I really didn’t care any more — about the characters or the outcome.

WOW.

The Soulmate is narrated in a dual POV by Pippa, whose husband Gabe is famous locally for preventing suicides near the cliff by their house, and Amanda, the first person Gabe hasn't managed to save. At least, that's what we're led to believe in the beginning.

I am generally not one for an omniscient narrator, as it often feels lazy, but not here. Amanda's post-death POV is more focused on her reactions to what she can now observe than what she is observing. And her "before" is absolutely heartbreaking.

This book has everything: mental illness that isn't glorified, characters who are childfree and fulfilled, and female characters who are authentic and three-dimensional. These two women are so different and yet they have so much in common.

I am not exaggerating when I say I gasped at the end of every chapter. The reveals and twists were so well executed, not over-the-top in the slightest. And I had to take a minute to sit with my feelings when I finished reading. 5+ stars. I'm off to buy all of Sally Hepworth's books.

I was provided an eARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading this suspenseful book. It was interesting in that it had two female characters as narrators, and one told her part of the story both before and after her death. Not everything is what it seems in the storyline, and I really liked that it did not have a predictable ending.

This is a story with many layers. A sweet couple with beautiful young girls live in what seems like idyllic little ocean side cottage, except that the ocean is at the bottom of the cliff they love atop of. So already, it's some serious foreshadowing of the downhill slide the picture perfect family slides. There was a lot of mention of different types mental health issues, mainly ADHD and bipolar. With PTSD and depression. If any of this is hard for you to read, this is not the book for you. The illnesses are painted in such a way that it should not be a mark against someone's character. That the sufferer needs support and guidance. I truly enjoyed this book.

I absolutely love Sally Hepworth books, and her writing!
This book was no disappointment. This is a suspense novel along domestic lines. The couple in this tale, Gerard and Pippa have moved into their dream home in a small town outside of Melbourne.
They wanted somewhere where they could raise their two daughters and give their marriage a refresher. Every time something seems too good to be true, it is usually the truth. There is a cliff by their house that Gerard has found an uncanny ability to walk people back from using that cliff to commit suicide. He is unable to save one woman, and that changes the course of things.
Thank you to #netgalley for the opportunity for this #arc

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

A seemingly perfect family in Australia happens to buy a home next to the infamous spot called “The Spot,” a cliff where people are known to come to commit suicide.

The husband Gabe has become a local celebrity for his ability to talk people down from the ledge, but one night he isn’t able to stop a woman from jumping. Initially he says the woman was a stranger who was distraught over her husband’s infidelity, but as time goes on and the police continue to investigate the situation, more and more is revealed about Pippa and Gabe that complicate this narrative.

I always love that Sally Hepworth writes about adorable Australian towns, with short quick chapters and multiple POVs. I don’t think this is my favorite of her novels though, mostly because I wasn’t sold on the ultimate motive or the ending. However she’s always one of my absolute favorites and I will automatically read everything she writes, she writes fun mysteries with a lot of character-driven family drama.

When a book keeps you up all night even with all the lights on and a Disney show playing in the background, you know it's been done well. Sally Hepworth builds a world and then intimately dismantles it leaving you guessing and panicking with every twist and reveal. I will be thinking about this story for weeks.

The Soulmate is set to be published on April 4, 2023. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and the author for the ARC.

Thank you for an advanced copy of this book! It was a great quick read, with lots of twists and turns you don’t see coming. 5/5 stars!

Gabe and Pippa Gerard move into their cliffside home believing that this is the dream house for their family; but, there is one caveat, at the edge of the property is a cliff also known as the “the drop” and a well-known suicide spot. Over time, Gabe becomes well-known for his abilities to change the mind of those who visit “the drop,” saving countless lives. Until, one day a familiar woman shows up and Gabe is unable to save her as she steps over the edge into the sea below. Pippa, his wife, sees this from the window and what she sees doesn’t add up. When the woman’s identity is revealed, questions flood in from multiple sources; but mostly from Pippa. As she works to unravel this mystery, her life as she understood it is turned upside down.

This was an engaging, fast-paced book with short chapters and an intense plot. For me, there were elements of the book that were hard to love: infidelity and suicide and while the ending made sense given the title of the book, I just didn’t like it. I feel like there was quite a bit of conflict in the book, and not great resolution which sometimes works but sometimes doesn’t. I encourage others to give it a try as I’ve seen a lot of 5 star reviews for this one.

Very interesting premise that got me hooked in the beginning. The first half was intriguing and I wanted to see where it was all going, but then the pacing got really slow and all the chapters felt similar and I felt like I was reading the same sections over and over.. I didn't particularly like any of the characters (except for the little girls - they were cute) so I wasn't as invested in what happened to them as I wanted to be. Overall, I'm glad I tried it out but not my cup of tea.

I had high hopes for this one. I've enjoyed some of Sally Hepworth's work in the past and the premise of this one sounded promising. Unfortunately, it didn't quite get there for me. None of the characters were sympathetic - and most of their actions didn't make a lot of sense. (ex. Who moves to a house next to a notorious suicide cliff and assumes their small children won't get too close just because you said so?!) The whole dead woman speaking from beyond the grave thing didn't work.The "twist" was borderline silly. Not her best work, I'm sorry to say.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!