***MILD SPOILERS***

I've read "The Mother-in-Law," "The Good Sister," and "The Younger Wife" by Sally Hepworth. I gave all three of those books 5/5 stars, and while "The Soulmate" was still an enjoyable read, it ended up receiving 4/5 stars from me. While the previously three books kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing as to what the final outcome would be, "The Soulmate" didn't hold the same suspenseful power over me.

Sally Hepworth clearly does her research as it relates to mental health issues, and this book was no exception in that regard. As a therapist, I found myself empathizing with the characters who struggled with undiagnosed (and misdiagnosed) conditions that impacted their relationships and overall well-being. I rooted for everyone, to some extent... I wanted everyone to have a happy ending, regardless of the mistakes they made along the way.

Maybe it was the introduction of a character who was dead for the majority of the story that detracted from the suspense, or perhaps it was the somewhat contrived and convenient way in which another character died that brought a flat note to the story. Whatever the reason, I'll continue to read Sally Hepworth's books and look forward to reviewing more of them in the future. Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

This book kept me engaged and thinking. I loved the mystery about what really happened to Amanda and the mysterious connection between the characters. The ending fell a little flat for me, but overall a fast-paced and intriguing read.

Sally Hepworth never disappoints! "The Soulmate" may be my favorite of hers (tied very closely with "The Good Sister").

I love the layout of the book, from the short chapters to the alternating POVs. The fact that one of those POVs is from the deceased waiting to pass on made it all the more interesting and unputdownable!

Secrets, betrayals, and twists happen literally every page (in the usual Sally Hepworth fashion), making this book one of my favorites of the year so far.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Sally Hepworth is an author I can count on when I need an enjoyable twisty read. The Soulmate is the 5th book I've read of hers and another well written, fun, unputdownable domestic suspense. What I love about Hepworth's writing and characters is I have no idea who is genuinely naughty or nice until the very end. The Soulmate takes a deep dive into the marriage between Gabe and Pippa. It includes their meet cute, love story, parenting ups/downs, frustrations, successes, and possible betrayals. I recommend Hepworth for readers who maybe new to the thriller/suspense genre and those readers who want the fast pace of a thriller without scary, gory, horror content. This book's content does include mental illness and suicide. Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Sally Hepworth for the ARC.

This author is just amazing and this book is amazing too! Always holds the reader's interest until the very last page. Plot twists that you just don't know are coming!

The Soulmate had me hooked from the start, had me nervous it was going to fall flat in the middle, and picked right back up through the ending. Gabe, Pippa, Max, and Amanda were all intriguing characters, and I liked flipping between Pippa and Amanda's points of view (though there were times I got a little lost in it and had to go back to remind myself *who* I was reading as they were quite similar). I'm not a huge fan of mental illness as a plot point -- but overall this book was a great read that kept me guessing.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review of The Soulmate. This was such an enjoyable read!!! Full of surprising twists throughout, I never knew what to expect next. Written in multiple points of view, past and present, providing the story in all angles. Definitely recommend!

Gabe and Pippa's life seems to be pretty idyllic from the outside, even though a lot of Gabe's time recently has been spent talking people off the ledge.. literally. Their home is nestled on the edge of a cliff that has turned into a popular spot for people to commit suicide. One night, Pippa sees Gabe talking to a woman and the next thing she knows, the woman is gone off the edge. Through flashbacks, it seems that Gabe and Pippa have a connection to the woman who died. Was her death truly a suicide or did Gabe not want to save her?

Hepworth is an instant buy for me and The Soulmate met my expectations! I always love her twists and turns that keep me guessing.

Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the copy in exchange of my honest review.

Review: Sally Hepworth”s The Soulmate

Gabe and Pippa’s dream home is a cottage on a cliff in a sleepy coastal town, but their house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Night after night, Gabe comes to their rescue, talking them off the ledge. Until he doesn’t. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate, lie? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel.

Three things I liked about The Soulmate:

1. Hepworth breaks down gender stereotypes in a way that works for me. She writes women who are neither femme fatales nor victims. Her female protagonists rinse themselves of the pretense of that flawless & always-ready-to-atone kind of femininity. Maybe it’s because she knows women read domestic thrillers. In The Soulmate, Pippa is the breadwinner of her family, and she’s not all good or all bad. She is realistically flawed.

2. This one had a philosophical bent that hit for me. The story's central question is: “Can you really know someone else?” Also, it addresses the question, “Do we have a soulmate?” What if your soulmate is flawed and does everything possible to destroy the relationship?

3. The dual POVs of Pippa & Amanda helped create tension when the story got bogged down by domestic he-said-she-said bullshit. I preferred Pippa’s POV because she went against my expectations more than Amanda did, but the balance moved the story forward.

Overall, this made for a fast, unexpectedly fun reading experience. I saw the twists coming, but that didn’t deter my enjoyment of the book. If you like domestic thrillers, give this one a read!

3.5*

This is my second Sally Hepworth novel and she entertained once again!

This one starts out with a lot of punch! I was intrigued right from the beginning.

Gabe and Pippa live with their two young daughters in a cottage upon a cliff. It's nicknamed, "The Drop" as many people use that cliff as a way to end their lives. Gabe has been gaining some notoriety in the community for, "talking down" a lot of people once he notices them walking towards the cliff. Until one day he can't save one woman. Pippa watches through the window. What did she exactly see? Who was the woman Gabe tried to save? Many questions arise.

The story is told in two voices. One is Pippa's and her parts are divided into the, "Then" and "Now." The other voice is Amanda's, the woman at the top of the cliff. Her parts are divided into the, "Before" and "After." This is essentially a story about two marriages with secrets.

I'm not sure I was quite convinced by the final reveal and the ending left me feeling a touch underwhelmed. Still, the chapters are short and I do enjoy Sally Hepworth's style of writing. She's got an easy flow to her words. Plus, I was always entertained and the story was not easy to figure out. For all that I'm going to round up to a solid 4 stars.

I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for granting me access to this Advance Reader Copy.

Available from April 4, 2023 and onwards

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬💭:
I’ve read most of the author’s work and has easily become an auto buy author for me. I love her writing and have enjoyed all of her past ones!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my Advance Reader’s Copy and Macmillan Audio for my audiobook. The audio and the narrator certainly made this a very entertaining read. I was engaged all through out and it was a very bingeable listen since it was only 7 hrs long.

𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛📝:
Pippa and Gabe live in a gorgeous house by a cliff with an overlooking view of the ocean. But strangely, it has been a very famous spot for people ending their lives and Gabe has been one to try to stop these. One day, another one bites the dust, but Gabe seems to have a connection to the victim and Pippa is left wondering whether the victim fell or was pushed.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. I loved the premise of the story and i was hooked as soon as i started. It’s definitely one that will keep you turning the pages to get some answers. The characters were also very unreliable which makes for a very good mystery! I did find some parts slow, but when twists start to reveal themselves they hook me once again. I really love the author’s writing style when revealing twists because it’s subtle, but also very vital. I will always recommend the author’s books! Her domestic thrillers are always so enjoyable.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚: 𝘋𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘖𝘝, 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺

“From what I could see, marrying your soulmate was reckless.”

Compelling fast-paced story of 2 marriages, 2 POVs, mental illness, a questionable business, and a known suicide drop, all packaged under the umbrella of loyalty vs fidelity.

The story is full of tension. I mean, it unfolds in a backyard of a family’s cliff side house known as The Spot… a known suicide spot. Hello… your house has a front row seat to a known suicide spot. Let that sink in. Why would you ever live there?? And the husband has become a local hero who successfully talked MULTIPLE people off the drop. It’s too much! But it is compelling and keeps you reading even though the characters aren’t likable, especially Pippa. I just wanted to shake her. Mental illness is an important theme in the book. And the behaviors described felt authentic.

Dwelling on the story, I realize the writing intricately yet subtly lays out parallels and contrasts between the 2 marriages, where things aren’t all they appear to be. Some interesting comparisons between the families: children vs childless ideal, acceptance of an illegitimate child, support from extended families, the ways both husbands try to help suicidal people. My favorite comparisons: (1) significance of loyalty vs fidelity and (2) how the book starts by highlighting one couple and their belief that they are soulmates and then ends highlighting the other couple as soulmates.

Hepworth is the queen of domestic thriller/drama. I didn’t love this as much as I loved The Good Sister, but it was a worthwhile read. I LOVE the use of short chapters as a device for propelling the story forward. It keeps tension throughout. This was such a fast read! The 2 POVs written in 4? timelines (now, then, before, after) was clever, but initially confusing. And the parallels in the character backgrounds added to the confusion of what happened to whom. But you catch on for the most part after awhile.

Gorgeous cover! And great 2 narrator audio for 2 different POVs.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Sally Hepworth can be hit or miss for me. I loved The Good Sister and thought a little less of The Younger Wife. This one falls between the two for me. It is a solid story and I love her writing style. It is just so easy to read. But It seems like mental illness gets the short end of things in this one. I thought she was phenomenal when writing an on the spectrum character in The Good Sister. She showcased Fern’s struggle in life without making it a social issue, while in this one mental illness gets the bad end of the stick. I did read about her research and personal experience on the subject and still felt this way. But that was really all I didn’t like.

She does such a good job of setting the scene of the house on the cliff. I felt like I could see and feel it. So many secrets and lies and I didn’t see some of them coming. She is so good at giving you all the details you need to know and framing them in a way that you can’t piece the truth together until the end. The dual POVs of Gabe’s wife and the suicide jumper does a great job of showing Gabe’s actions without him being a narrator.

Not only are we reading about the suicide cliff, but the inner workings of the marriages of the two couples and how mental issues can affect a marriage. While I didn’t love the characters, I was caught up in how this one would play out and I read it in a couple of days.

I was lucky enough to have both a reading and listening copy and loved both equally and flipped back and forth as my schedule permitted. I’m such a sucker for accents and thought both Barrie Kreinik; Jessica Douglas-Henry did a great job of making the story come alive.

As always I was entertained and can’t wait to read her next book.

This is only my second Sally Hepworth book and they are always solid reads with lots of fun twists. The Soulmate had my hooked from the very beginning. The deep dive into the complexity of marriage, betrayal, and secrets was gripping. I had no idea who we could trust in this book and never knew what anyone’s ulterior motives were. The end had a twist I absolutely didn’t see coming and literally made me gasp. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

This is my first Sally Hepworth book and while I liked some things about the book; I didn't care for other elements. Its told in dual POVs and then and now timelines for each POV that move back and forth through time. I'm not crazy about timelines that move around especially when it feels like the author is using it as a way to make the story confusing. I loved that Amanda's POV was after death. Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away. In general the storyline of Gabe and Pippa was interesting and twisty at times, but their characters were lacking and not completely realistic. The storyline with Max and Amanda was odd but their characters helped the story. An interesting dichotomy happened for me where the likeable characters became the unlikeable and the unlikeable became the likeable. Also the big reveal at the end, I had already guessed early in the book. Now, I can't say how much of my review was affected by the following, so keep that in mind. Mental illness is slowly revealed in this story and I didn't care for the way it was handled. Another thing I didn't like is there were no trigger warnings that I saw and having dealt with a mentally ill family member with similar and worse symptoms and while they have been gone for eight years, I was surprised to feel the anxiety I lived with most of my life while reading this book.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Sally Hepworth’s books are a perfect thriller for me because they are so bingeable with short chapters and fast pacing and not scary. I love the twists and turns she introduces. I’m never able to guess them, although more seasoned thriller readers may be able to guess the twists.

This is one of her more atmospheric books thanks to the ominous cliff at the edge of their yard, complete with a look at marriage, mental health, and family. I thought the dual timelines and dual POV in this story were a unique way to reveal secrets kept by the characters. I listened to the audio and couldn’t stop listening. Every time I thought I had things figured out, more was revealed. The author played on all my emotions with making me love, hate, and feel sorry for the characters in rapid succession. Be sure to read the author’s note at the end as it cleared up some things that made me cringe while reading.

Great book! Truly enjoyed this from start to finish. It took me a little to follow the back & forth perspectives of characters and time frames (then and now) but once I kept it straight in my head, I was hooked and wanted to hear how it was going to end! I appreciated the short chapters which made it easy to sneak in a little at a time when driving somewhere quick or in between classes during the day.

Overall, would recommend to anyone who enjoys different POVs & thriller/mystery books! 4 stars!

Another enjoyable, suspenseful read by this popular author. Pippa and Gabe have the perfect marriage…successful jobs, perfect kids, beautiful house…but with a dangerous cliff. Gabe becomes known for saving 7 people from jumping. But there is that one he just can’t save. Pippa looks out and isn’t 100% sure what she is seeing…to make it more stressful, it’s someone they know and Pippa is feeling guilty. As the story enfolds, the smoke and mirrors clear out till all is understood.

Told in 2 different timelines by two different voices. Easy to follow and adds to the fast paced nature. Mystery unfolds slowly so it keeps your attention. Not the shocking ending I’ve come to expect from this author, but satisfying none the less. Trigger warming: suicide and mental illness.

Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book. The shorter chapters and we have two narrators, Pippa and the dead woman and we see the events of this story through their eyes, now and in the past. This would probably be a great book for someone who enjoys plots dealing with marriage and mental health; I don’t usually gravitate towards those. The ending fell flat for me and I struggled to finish this book. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

If life didn't get in the way, this could've easily been a one sitting read for me. This is the kind of book I'd gladly throw in my beach bag when I'm on vacation because I know it'd help me unplug in the best way possible. Even though some parts of it did remind me a bit of work (my work involves working with people in crisis) even that did not get in the way of my enjoyment of this entertaining read.

Gabe and Pippa's home is situated over the cliffs of a small coastal town near Melbourne. Many would consider it a dream home except for one catch - it's also the spot that attracts those who have decided to end their life. Gabe has become somewhat of a local hero as he's talked numerous people off the ledge. Until the night a woman shows up on the cliffs and things take a tragic turn. Gabe is Pippa's soulmate but would a soulmate lie?

The story is told from dual point of view (Pippa & Amanda, the woman who died on the cliffs). I really don't care about the characters' likeability as long as the plot has me engaged and that was definitely the case with The Soulmate. Marriages are complicated, truth can be relative and issues related to mental health are often complex and difficult (both for the person experiencing mental health issues and for those around them). I'm also the type of reader who has no issues suspending belief when it comes to twists and turns as long as the writing is good and The Soulmate kept me engaged and entertained from start to finish.

Grab this book as your next beach read, staycation read or book club pick (lots of good discussion material). I anticipate seeing this gorgeous cover in many readers' hands this summer!

Grateful to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!