Maeve is the type of person I’ve read many books about. I hope,I never have the misfortune of meeting someone like her, however.
She’s calculating, manipulative, and quite pathetic. I knew how her relationship with Paul would end and I knew what she would do when that occurred. It wasn’t until about 40% in that I made the connection who the other woman in the elevator was.
Cooper makes a clever intersection with the plot but I found myself getting a tad lost with the back and forth and also the switching of the narrator.

The Elevator is NOT somewhere I’d like to be trapped - with either of these women!

Absolutely loved the development of characters in this book, it was so well done. When Maeve and Cerys first become trapped, and the story unfolds from dual perspectives, past and present, it was hard to grasp the connection. Once that was revealed… 🤯🤯 LOVED it!

There were things to love and dislike about each of them, and my heart just aches for their losses. But seriously… the ending….. whoa!

Would highly recommend this to all my readers - just maybe not when you’re staying in a resort on the 13th floor!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 25 Aug 2023

This book was ok. Being stuck in an elevator is a fear of mine and this was an intense read. I did find it confusing at times with the different characters and who’s POV I was reading about.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review .

The Elevator by Claire Cooper

When Cerys stepped into the elevator in the morning, she did not expect a stranger will change her life.

Cerys and Maeve were trapped in the elevator. Nothing was working inside, the phone and intercom. They started to introduce themselves. Cerys travelled half the world from the UK to New York to work. She thought she's safe here. They exchanged their secrets because they did not think they would meet each other again in their lives.

However, these all were not random. They were not strangers. This was not an accident.

This slow-burnt thriller was gripping and gripping! I felt suffocated when I was reading The Elevator. The alternatives Now and Then timelines were intriguing and the development of the characters were fabulously written. Nice twist at the end as well!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Claire Cooper for this thriller!

Kindle: 334 pages
Pub date: Aug 25, 2023

3.5 stars rounded up.

When I step into the elevator that sweltering morning, I barely notice the woman standing next to me. She seems out of place with her floaty linen clothes in a building full of suits. But that's none of my business. A minute later, there's a sudden jerk. The elevator stops. The lights go out. The older woman's face is deadly pale. She's breathing noisily. clearly panicking. As er sit slumped against the mirrored walls, we start talking to try and stay calm. I tell her I moved halfway round the world to start again where no one knew what I was hiding. I tell her my darkest secrets, because she seems to understand, and we're never going to see each other again, right?

This story unfolded in such a clever way, but there are parts that are quite predictable. We get flashbacks and fragments from the past. There's a creepy feel throughout. The timeline can also be a bit confusing; it was hard to tell where you were. The two stories are revealed slowly. Maeve and Carys are stuck in an elevator together when it breaks down. with each new chapter, a little is revealed to what happened to these women in the past. The chapters also alternate between the two women's perspectives. We get a nice little twist at the end.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Bookouture and the author #ClaireCooper for my ARC of #TheElevator in exchange for an honest review.

Trapped in an elevator on a hot day - that's enough to worry about, right?

Well, no. Not for Maeve and Cerys as they try to support each other through the nightmare, with it gradually dawning on them that they are linked, as they share their past lives.

Tension builds throughout as the author drops little hooks and twists gradually and it was an enjoyable read, told by both of the women's POV, as they await rescue.

I did find the timelines a little confusing, as well as which woman was narrating that particular chapter, it would have been an easier read if that was clearer.

3.5 star. Thanks to Netgalley, Claire Cooper and Bookouture for an ARC in return for my honest review.

I couldn’t put this book down, what a page turner! The only thing that I got a little confused over was the timeline, I got over that quick enough. It has plenty of twists and turns throughout, with great ending. The characters were intriguing, the story itself was suspenseful and the style of writing was perfect. This is the first book I have read by this author, I’ll be keeping my eye out for more in the future. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading psychological thrillers.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

A kerfuffle at the security gates and two women find themselves entering an elevator together, both of them anxiously wrapped in their own thoughts. They start to ascend before suddenly the lift clangs to a shuddering halt. One is obviously claustrophobic, with a death grip on her handbag. The other full of anxieties about missing a staff meeting. Neither of them is who she seems. They start to talk as the minutes drag by with excruciating slowness. As the air is sucked out of the confined space, so are their secrets. As their stories and pasts unravel and entwine, one thing becomes clear. One of them ,at least, will not leave this lift alive. The tension is palpable throughout this book. The writing is superbly crafted...I found myself gasping for air and water as my heartbeat accelerated with every page. Highly recommend.

I requested this book because I liked the concept of a psychological thriller set in an elevator that is stuck. You get dual timelines. The present, where two women are stuck in an elevator, and the past of both of these characters. Little by little, you figure out how these two characters are connected.

I have to say that I saw the reveals of the story coming, but I didn't mind. The story was still intriguing enough even though I figured out the connection between the two characters pretty early on. I still wanted to know what would happen in that elevator.

The writing style is easy and makes the story flow. The chapters are short and end in a way that makes you want to continue reading. I would recommend this one!

Trapped in an elevator - a place I’ve also found myself, unfortunately. Luckily, I was with my dog, not a stranger, but the horror was still there. We find two women stuck in a metal box together in this book: Cerys and Maeve. The prologue warns us that only one will make it out alive … but that was probably the most suspenseful part of the book.

The synopsis is vague for a reason; the elevator needed to get stuck for these two women to meet. The elevator was the exciting part, but unfortunately the story that came out was lacking for me. The women start talking about their pasts, eventually realize they know each other, and then they both want to kill the other.

The back story in this was tedious. Told from both points of view, in the past and the present, in England and New York - this book bounced all over the place, and for the first half, I didn’t understand where it was all going. By the time the connection was revealed, I was pretty over the tenuous and improbable story. The best parts were in the elevator and sadly, that’s a small part of the book.

I see where the author was going with this, and I give props for an original way of writing a story, but it just wasn’t the story for me. The writing was good, the ending was decent, but I was underwhelmed by the “past”, and that’s most of the book. I wouldn’t call this a thriller; it’s definitely more of a crime/mystery. 2.5 stars, rounded up because this wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t the book I was looking for.

(Thank you to Bookouture, Claire Cooper and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released August 25, 2023.)

Two British women or stuck on an elevator in New York City one was going up to start a meeting and the other was there for retribution. It seems these two womens past has intertwined in more ways than one. While one runs from her secrets the other is there to make them all public and to make her pay. Throughout the book to distract Meave from having a panic attack due to being in such tight quarters The other woman thinking she will never see Meave again The sods to unload all her deepest darkest secrets and they’re pretty deep and pretty dark The whole time she is bearing her soul to the panic strict and woman she find something very familiar about her but just cannot place her finger on it and when her panic becomes so much she needs her inhaler move lets her dig in her purse to find it but what she also finds will change the tension in the elevator but is the other woman really in danger? This is a horrible summary but this is a summary about a book that could’ve been way better I don’t like when they give nicknames to characters only to reveal OMG it was blah blah blah the whole time I feel like that is cheating send it only done that’s a lazy way of putting a twist in a book not to mention all that pointless chatter about Leon and the meeting that was never to be I’m sure a lot of people will love this book but me not so much. I really was looking forward to reading this book and almost feel sad because it came so close yet ended up way too far to be what I considered a great thriller it is still a book I’m sure many readers will love but one of my biggest pet peeve‘s is when an author gives a character a nickname only to divulge well lol it was blah blah blah the whole time for me is not only like cheating but an easy way to throw a twist in a book but having said that I’m still recommending this book because it does have drama and if what I described is something that doesn’t bother you you will probably love this book to me it was only OK. I want to thank netGalley and Bookoucher for my free art copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

In my opinion, this was an OK thriller.

The story is about two women getting stuck inside an elevator of an office building. One woman knows the other woman and sure enough there is some secrets that both the women are hiding.

You can actually feel the tension in the book- personally I feel the author did a good job of describing what it is like to be stuck in an elevator and the tension being stuck in an elevator. The book is divided into two parts past and present. However initially I was confused as which character is saying or narrating the story. This was a slow burn to me as well and it was by the end of the book when things started getting interesting. This was more like a drama then a thriller in my opinion. Overall this book worth three stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. This book definitely was not my cup of tea. I was so excited to read it after I saw the description, but I thought it was very confusing as it is told in parts by the main characters. I had to keep going back and rereading which was just to frustrating to even finish the book.

The Elevator
by Claire Copper

Pub Date :Aug 25 2023
Publisher :Bookouture
#TheElevator #NetGalley
3 ⭐⭐⭐
Description
My whole body is shaking, my breath catches in my throat. I’m stuck here. Trapped. With the one person who will do anything to destroy me.When I step into the elevator that sweltering morning, I barely notice the woman standing next to me. She seems out of place, with her floaty linen clothes in a building full of suits. But that’s none of my business. A minute later, there’s a sudden jerk. The elevator stops. The lights go out.The other woman’s face is deathly pale. She’s breathing noisily, clearly panicking. As we sit slumped against the mirrored walls, we start talking to try and keep calm.
I tell her I moved halfway round the world to start again where no one knew what I was hiding. I tell her my darkest secrets, because she seems to understand, and we’re never going to see each other again, right? But I’m wrong. We’re not strangers.None of this is an accident. And when the truth comes out, there’ll be nowhere to hide.

⛔📚⛔MY Review ⛔📚⛔

This was a slow burner for me and a bit difficult to relate to either of the characters.
It's not always immediately clear who’s side of the story we are reading. It would have been better if the chapters were marked more clearly.I stayed confused because of the switch between multiple viewpoints and time periods as the story moves along.

I have a lot of thoughts about this one. Our girls are stuck in an elevator together in New York. They are both British and they are both hiding something.
While they are trapped they are thinking about their past and talking here and there. Hours go by and they uncover some commonalities, in a horrifying way.
It is good. The end is creepy.

This book is loaded with intrigue and suspense from the first chapter – where an unnamed narrator states that only one person is going to step out of the elevator alive! We then (sometimes a little confusingly) switch between multiple viewpoints and time periods as the story unravels.

In the present day, two British women, Cerys and Maeve, become trapped in a New York office block elevator. Seemingly strangers, the two have plenty of time to talk.. and discover what binds them together. The story is told through the eyes of both women – who both have something to hide.

We also follow both women’s stories in the past - Maeve’s struggles to control her temper lead her to meet psychotherapist Paul; and we learn more about her closeness to her brother Alistair. And Cerys’s past life in the UK – both in the present and past she constantly alludes to something bad happening which brought her to New York and means she has to try to hide her true identity with her colleagues here.

Whilst I did enjoy this book - it was undoubtedly a gripping page-turner, and I absolutely raced through it - I was disappointed that I worked out the connections between the characters very quickly and there was nothing that gave me a delightful surprise in the story!

A nicely twisty tale told by the two women- Cerys and Maeve- who are stuck in a NYC elevator. Not a good situation no matter what but there's a connection between these two women than makes it more ominous, a connection that they won't see at first (or does one of them?). This moves between their two voices and the past and present. Cooper does a good job keeping the tension up. Thanks to netgalley for the ARc. No spoilers from me.

The Elevator managed to keep my interest though it's not the most thrilling read. I’m not really afraid of elevators but I could feel the tension once Cerys and Maeve realised they were trapped. Its also very hot inside the elevator and although they have some water with them, all I thought was: how do you manage to keep your bladder in control for six hours? Well, they do. They spend the entire time talking with each other but soon it becomes clear that there is more, much more.

The story alternates between past and present but since it was not always immediately clear who’s side of the story we read, it was a bit difficult to relate to either of the characters. There are many secrets, some small, some life-changing. The pace is slow to begin with but soon the revelations begin, and the reader gets more and more insight in what happened with whom and above all, when. Timing is very important in this story.
As I said, it’s not always immediately clear who’s side of the story we are reading; it would have been nice if the chapters were marked more clearly. Now I was a bit confused sometimes and had to read back.

All in all, a nice and I hope to read more of this author in the future. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for this review copy.

A straightforward, engaging story about two women who get trapped in a lift together and are connected in some way. The story is told in alternating chapters from both their perspectives and is full of secrets. What happens when the truth is revealed?

I liked the concept of this one in regards to the elevator, as well as reading the characters backstories and working out how they are linked. The story moves uneasily (and quite slowly) toward the final reveals. I had mixed feelings about the overall book. I found some parts entertaining and it was written well. It did, however, take me a while to work out which character’s perspective I was reading and there were no massive surprises. Definitely not a bad book but not my favourite either! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this copy in return for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author had a gripping style of writing and the pacing was perfect.
The premise is simple enough - two women are unexpectedly stuck in an elevator in NYC. They start talking. The book is told in flashbacks flipping between the two POVs as well as past and present timelines. Three narrative structure worked quite well in my opinion.
The story is predictable. I figured out the connection between these two women about a third of the way through the book. Having said that the reveal of the connection via the brother as well exploring both women's relationship with this character added some rich complexity to the story.
One thing I really liked about this book was an inner view into the psyche of a psychopath. The author does this really well, ie getting inside this character's head and her own rationalizations for her psychotic behavior.
The ending was also done beautifully. It showed the growth / transformation between these characters quite well. I kind of wish the MC didn't go back to her cheating fiancé though. That made me pause.
Overall a great read. I recommend!