Unfortunately for me, this book was not as good as I wanted it to be.

Liz Bennett has what appears to be the perfect life. A dotting husband, a beautiful baby girl, a book deal for a second novel, and a home in a well to do neighborhood.

What sets her off and the premise of the rest of the story, is that she finds a cheeky text on her husband's phone from a female coworker, and is convinced he is cheating on her. Between the possibility of having post-partum depression, adjusting to motherhood, the stress of her next novel, and the isolation she feels trying to fit into her neighborhood, she could really just be blowing her suspicions all out of proportion. At some point I hoped he was cheating on her just to justify the lengths she was willing to go to to catch him in the act, and another part of me wanted him to be faithful so she would just get some help for the root cause of her suspicions.

I wouldn't say this was a thriller, but it was a good book, just feel a little overdone at times.

Thank you Net Galley and Macmillian Audio for the ARC of this audiobook and the opportunity to give my honest feedback.

Two stars because I finished the book. But, I did not enjoy it. It was boring, nothing happened. And, I disliked the characters. The nanny was cool, but I could do without the rest.

The story didn't work for me. I did not get get any psychological thriller vibes, I didn't feel suspense, and Liz was so over the top that I couldn't find any crumbs of likability.

The story was VERY predictable, and I called the ending well before the halfway point of listening. This is a bad omen for me. Being that I had it pretty figured out, there just wasn't really anything left to enjoy.

The narrator was good. She kept the story moving and tried to add inflection.

Overall: 2 stars

I'll tell my students about: language, drugs, alcohol, mental health issues, trauma, affairs,

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free ALC.. All opinions expressed are my own.**

This book is completely boring. There is no real psychological tension. There is also a lot of gaslighting from so many. I felt sorry for the main character. Yes, there are small twists at the end, but they are quite easy to guess.
The best part is the narrator. She gives the main character a strong voice in this mix of a mass that is a story. She also does well giving each character their own voice.
I can't recommend this book at all.

This audiobook was a total surprise! I hadn't heard of it, hadn't heard about the author, and I was hooked within minutes. Liz Bennett is one messed up, obsessive, sometimes funny, occasionally relatable, always fascinating new mom. Her inner spiral monologues are unforgettable. Is Liz losing it? Yes. Does that mean she's wrong in being suspicious of her husband and her position in life? No. This was a really enjoyable novel, sharp, smart, biting, and a bit of an entertaining cautionary tale for any of us prone to fixate on someone younger, prettier, or in close proximity to what is ours. Highly recommend! I would definitely read a book (or listen to) by Justine Sullivan again.

Summary:
Liz Bennett knows that she is one of the lucky ones. Wealthy and charming, Arno is a supportive husband to Liz and a doting father to their daughter, Emma. A rising banker at a top firm in the Boston area, he is the picture of perfection, rounding off their idyllic New England life. But when Liz sees a text on Arno's phone with a kissy-face emoji, her anxiety kicks into overdrive and she begins to worry that her luck has run out.

Plagued by persistent skepticism and countless sleepless nights, Liz decides she must uncover the truth about her husband—as any wife would. So she takes a deep breath and dives down the rabbit hole. As Liz peels back layers of deceit and tracks down every lead, a frenzy begins to take over her life. Could Arno really be unfaithful? Or is Liz's imagination getting the best of her? When everyone around her is convinced she's become unhinged, she must prove, if only to herself, that a woman's intuition expands beyond a single cryptic text.

My Thoughts: On the surface this book is about a woman trying to figure out if her husband is having an affair. However, when you dive in a little deeper you will find it’s also about the complexities of marriage, motherhood, and mental health. I enjoyed the narrator. I enjoyed the book overall but felt it dragged a little.

I’m sorry to say i did not enjoy this book. The narrator was excellent but I felt like the story just dragged on and i kept waiting for something to happen. The Main character was tedious and felt like she was just going in circles. Even her sessions with her therapist went nowhere.

This was absolutely nothing like what I was expecting. I didn’t like the main character at all, she just appeared to be whiny all throughout the book. She didn’t give her daughter any attention until the end of the book, which made her look worse in my eyes.

I am also unhappy with the ending, though it was expected, I would’ve appreciated more story afterwards since I already sat through the entire book while being bored.

I listened to the audiobook Version, and did not like the narrator.

This book was just OK for me, it certainly wasn’t the worst that I’ve ever read/listened to, but it was far from the good read that I was expecting and hoping for.

Justine Sullivan's clever debut, HE SAID HE WOULD BE LATE, is a twisty domestic suspense about motherhood, marriage, and a search for the truth.

Liz Bennet is married to a wonderful man, Arno, and a mother to Emma. She has never had an issue trusting her husband until she sees a text on her husband's phone from a work colleague with a kissy face.

Now, this is all she can think about. She becomes obsessed, determined to find out the identity of this woman. Arno works long hours at a banking firm in downtown Boston while Liz and Emma are home.

However, nothing is as it appears.

Liz is an author with one published book but she cannot get into her current book. She cannot concentrate thinking of her husband traveling and enjoying life while she is at home with a baby and trying to write.

She has a nanny but is following her husband instead of writing. He gets home late, and Liz starts sleuthing, determined to discover what he is up to.

Is he faithful or not?

HE SAID HE WOULD BE LATE is an emotional, insightful, and compelling exploration of marriage and motherhood. Beautifully written with humor, rich character development, and a satisfying conclusion. I would class this as a suburban mystery.

The book shines with the witty dialogue inside Liz's head as she second-guesses everything. Add in a therapist, neighbors, and friends to weigh in.

The audiobook was outstanding, performed by narrator Kelli Tager. I love the cover, and the book draws you in. Highly recommend the audiobook.

It would make an interesting book club pick. Look forward to reading more from this author. For fans of Nora Murphy and Stacy Willingham.

Thank you to #MacmillanAudio and #NetGalley for a gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Blog review posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: March 14, 2023
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
March 2023 Must-Read Books

I received an advanced reader's copy from the publisher MacMillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is not the book for me. DNF, I got 35% and had to let it go. There could be a plot twist I am missing. Liz Bennett’s husband might be cheating on her. I don't know.

So far, this book has a good insight into either postpartum, depression or some sort of mental illness. Not finishing the book, I can only guess what the story is about. Nothing wrong with a book about those topics. I would not say the book is triggering, but it does make me feel bad for the character. Enough that I don't want to continue reading it. It's not the thriller I thought it would be. If it was a 2-hour movie, I might enjoy the pilot line. This is just too long to listen to Liz’s thoughts for me personally.

I give this book a 3 or 3.5/5. I am a big mystery & thrillers reader/listener and I kept waiting for something to happen in this book … but it let me down. The description of the book sounded promising. The writing was good but not as great of a book as I hoped.

He Said He Would Be Late is an unnerving trip through the mind of a woman who's whole identity have been consumed by her relationship to her wealthy, well-paid husband and her young baby,. She has no time for herself and is stuck trying to progress on her second novel, which is notably about a woman who wakes up with amnesia and the author can't choose whether her character should return to her previous life or start a new one.
Similarly, the protagonist seems to have just woken up in this situation without really wanting to be there. As a result, when she sees a text from her husband's female coworker that seems too familiar, she becomes obsessed with determining whether or not he is having an affair, and her behavior escalates in both her investigation and her own personal transformation.
This one just felt like being on a train through a funhouse, with every nice or careless thing by her husband or acquaintances blown so out of proportion -- even her therapist notes her repeated catastrophizing. Nonetheless, it's probably how many anxious and/or powerless people go through life, and we all have our moments where we can be hyperaware and on edge.

I requested this one because I wanted a great domestic thriller audio, but I am not sure that is what I got. I listened to 42% of this one before I did DNF it because nothing happened! I kept waiting for the plot to pick up, but it was just about a new mom who was struggling. There was no thriller aspect to it at all! I am so annoyed with books about new mom, who are struggling, and they refuse to get help.

The only thing I like about this book was the narrator. Kelli Tager did a fantastic job conveying the main character and her feeling.

Maybe if this one would have been dual POV it would have been better, but this did not work for me.

Thank you to the pubslisher Macmillian Audio and Netgalley for this ALC in exchange for this honest review.

I was taken in by the book title and that it is a mystery/thriller. I found the storyline a typical domestic drama, which dragged on. The main characters of Liz and Arlo fell flat for me. The narration is done very well.

Thank you #NetGalley, #MacmillanAudio, #JustineSullivan, #KelliTager and #HeSaidHeWouldBeLate for the advance readers copy for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

OK. I liked it I like crazy!! This is crazy!
I like the end..
I like it!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC audio for this novel. This one had promise, a great suspenseful plot but ultimately fell flat for me. The main characters, Liz and Arlo, were quite annoying and I didn’t connect with either of them. Liz was annoying and constantly second guessing everything. At one point I decided this woman was definitely mentally unstable and kept waiting for her to seek revenge on her husband. Well… that never happened. The ending was as flat as the rest of the book. Had the author chosen a big finale, this book would have redeemed itself but unfortunately that’s not what happened here.

This book was absolutely amazing!!! My first book by this author and I was blown away with the writing style, and how the narrator was able to bring Arnie & Liz to life!

Liz Bennet has it all. She has a beautiful home, a gorgeous little girl, and a happy marriage, or so it seems.

Struggling to work on her second novel after having her daughter Emma, Liz finds herself to be unhappy, and why should she be? She is financially stable. Her daughter has a doting nanny, Kyle, who helps assuage Liz’s guilt when not wanting to constantly be by her toddler’s side. Her gorgeous and rich husband, Arno, doesn’t deny her anything. But a text message found on her husband’s phone by accident sends Liz on a mentally dark and twisty path trying to figure out what is going on, when she is already struggling.

Getting mixed advice from friends, neighbor’s and even her therapist, Liz fixates on the text and decides she will find out whether or not Arno is cheating. In the process, Liz begins to lose a bit of herself in her one track minded manner. Thank goodness for Kyle, who takes care of Emma when Liz goes off the deep end.

He Said He Would Be Late initially feels like a run of the mill psychological thriller, until you realize how Justine Sullivan’s protagonist shows us all how hard life can be for postpartum women if they do not have family or a supportive community after giving birth. Sleep deprivation and loneliness is no joke, and it is easy to see how Liz Bennet goes down a rabbit hole looking for answers. The ones she gets in the end surprise her.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and of course Justine Sullivan for the advanced copy of the audiobook. He Said He Would Be Late comes out on March 14th. All opinions are my own.

He Said He Would Be Late is a very typical "housewife thinks her husband is cheating" story. The beginning of the book started strong and held my interest, but I quickly became bored. There was little suspense or urgency to the story that I crave in a thriller. We don't get to know the main character very well. We know that she used to write, has writers block, and thinks her husband is cheating. That's really as deep as her character development went. The side characters were pretty bland as well so it was just hard to connect to or care for many of them. On the other hand, the pacing of the plot kept me interested enough to finish the story. A few of the plot twists were pleasantly unexpected while I could see others from miles away. By the end it was decent but predictable thriller.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love the title of this book. It grabbed my attention immediately, so I didn’t even waste my time glancing at the synopsis. It looked right up my alley, and the gorgeous cover made it even more enticing! The title and cover combination give off major thriller vibes, but I wouldn’t describe He Said He Would Be Late by Justine Sullivan as a thriller at all. I’d call it a juicy character study/mama drama mash-up. This debut checked so many of my boxes. It’s slow-moving, character-driven, and includes themes of motherhood, marriage, and friendship. All of my favorite things. I love how the reader gets full access to the main character’s deepest and most intimate thoughts, fears, and worries. It felt like I was reading her diary. Convinced that her husband is cheating on her, she goes down a spiraling rabbit hole, searching for proof of his infidelity. I didn’t trust any of the characters in this novel. The husband was shady AF, and even the nanny seemed a little too good to be true. The main character, Liz was extremely unreliable, and a even little unhinged. They all reeked of guilt, and I couldn’t wait to see their true colors. Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but was left wanting more. I craved more drama, suspense, and/or action. It needed a little more oomph. I asked myself, “Where is this story going?” multiple times while listening. I kept waiting for some big reveal, a gruesome crime, or an exciting plot twist. Call me twisted and disturbed, but I really wanted something AWFUL to happen! The conclusion was sufficient, but lacked the shock value I was hoping for. With that said, I’m going to give this one 3.5/5 stars. It was entertaining enough, but left me a little underwhelmed. He Said He Would Be Late comes out on March 14th!