WOW! Omg! Another new writer found. I loved this book. It was exactly what I needed to get out of a reading slump. The twists and turns, could not see coming. Definitely recthis to anyone that lives a good thriller books. I got this as an arc from netgalley all of the opinions are my own and I’m leavi this review voluntarily.

This is brilliant and oh so dark.. I definitely didn’t expect this to be so dark.

This hooked me instantly and I found it easy to get lost in the author’s writing. It quickly became addictive and I was desperate to know how this would play out.

This is an emotional rollercoaster. It’s full of twists and turns which keep the reader guessing throughout. This is a book that really adds unpredictability to the plot.

I love that the author has explored family relationships and taken us on a journey with this one. This is my first read by this author but it definitely won’t be the last.

I am instantly converted as a fan of this author. This is brilliant. I highly recommend.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I thought this book was just okay until it got to about 70 percent when I finally picked up. There were a few twists at the end that were definitely surprises. The story is told in parts with the past and the present so it does take time to figure some parts out.

Wow what a twisty turny thrill ride! This one will keep you guessing until the very end. The story moves at a great pace and the characters are believable and relatable. It is fast paced and keeps you turning pages. Gritty and oozing suspense. This one should go on your read list

The Playground by S.D. Robertson is a compelling, tension-fuelled domestic thriller that pulled me in from the word go.

Beth is with her daughter Daisy when the youngster suddenly darts into a playground, knowing that it is a forbidden place while she is under her mother's watch. Flustered and frustrated, Beth is not there for her little girl when she runs into some bullies with a potentially vicious dog. Luckily, a kind stranger intervenes and there is no harm done, and Beth finds herself drawn to the good samaritan, though something seems not quite right about the mysterious stranger.

Told from multiple POVs, secrets will be uncovered and teased, and the suspense is doled out in such a tantalizing way that it will have you desperate to turn the next page.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC.

What an amazing read this was! Thrilling. Tense. Absolutely absorbing. A wonderful, wonderful read which I very highly recommend.

This story was just too predictable for me. It was also slow to get to anything intense. No likable characters and Beth's character really got on my nerves. So much was unbelievable like Ethan barely getting into trouble when he fails to come home one night. Rory was just pathetic and Billy was a joke. I'd hoped for more from this story. I think Beth's fear of playground after what happened to her when she was 14 was the most unbelievable part of the story. I mean really??? Maybe trauma for a couple of years, but not 20 years later. Just didn't really find this story very thrilling or edge of my seat kind of reading.

This book is about Beth, her history, her secrets and her family. This has multipled POVs and at the start if was hard to get a hold of the "first person" and "third person" switching in-between the POVs, but I got a hold of it at last.

It was pretty slow the first half of the book, but still had me interested. Then if suddendly switched and I had to know how it ended. Im happy I read this, it was a nice thriller with a really sweet meaning in the end.

I do have to point out that neither of the kids (especially Daisy) felt like they were the age they were told to be. Daisy used language and fully sentences I dont think I would ever hear a child use. But thats really only the down I've got.

Worth a read for sure!

Great page turner from start to finish! This kept my interest the whole time. The best part is I did not guess the end!

WOW! I’ll never look at playing in the park the same way again. This quick read, page turner is packed with intrigue and just enough creepy. I liked how it was written. Each short chapter identifies character point of view and timeline. I struggled to put it down.
Thank You to NetGalley, Bookouture and S.D. Robertson for the opportunity to read and enjoy this ARC.

Wverone has fears and phobias beth is she can't enter a playground. Her daughter Daisy runs in and gets into trouble Beth is frizen with fear unable to help duddenly a atranger Billy appears to help. So begins what seems to be about family relationships and past traumas yet this is just a smoke screen for a fabulously entertaining story about not judging a book by its cover and how the past can not be alliwed to affect your future.
Told from pov from Beth, Billy. Ethan her son and Rory her husband. I found myself swept away in tge subplots of wthans trouble and the reality for Rory of being seperated from his family. There was a nice drip feed to make you wonder what was wrong. The reveal of the past trauma was great it gave Beth a good character arc and an understand of the wiser plot. The funal act was brilliant. So entertaining. The ending was pwrfdct. I was hooked from page 1 but it took a while for the story to reveal itself but clever writing will keep you invested.
Highly recommended. 5 star read.
Tgank you net gallwry publisher and author.

I know this has thriller in the title, but up until the end, this reads a little more like a domestic suspense book. It’s like a slice in the life of a family. All of them have secrets and all of them are going about their lives hiding their secrets and because I know the type of book, I was trying to work out how any of their issues and secrets might intersect. Beth, the mom, won’t step foot on a playground. She’s estranged, but not divorced from, her husband Rory. Her son Ethan is up to something. And Billy has conveniently entered their lives and I was sure he had some type of trick up his sleeve but had no idea what it could be.

As I read, this felt like the narrators might not be truthful to themselves or the reader, but I had no idea if any of them were unreliable. This moves along with a few surprises along the way. Once their secrets started to surface, I had a slight idea where this might be headed but did not guess the ending. So many moving parts and so many layers to the story, that the author does a good job of tying up in the end.

While this one isn’t a pulse pounding thriller, but it hooked me from the start, and I wanted to know what everyone was hiding. I was entertained from start to finish.

This is a really well written mystery. It didn't end how I thought it would which was a welcome surprise. The pacing is solid and the characters are well developed. Overall, this is an enjoyable mystery and I would recommend it. Special Thank You to S.D. Robertson, Bookouture and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

A story full of twists and turns. Just when I thought I'd worked it out things took a different turn. A great page turner that will keep you reading into the night

The author's writing drew me in from the very first page and the intrigue and intensity doesn't stop until we find out why Beth has such a terrible fear of playgrounds. And who is the mysterious stranger who rescues her daughter, what does he know and how does he connect to her past trauma?

It's fast paced, told through multiple POV and flashbacks. The characters are credible and quite likeable.

Overall The Playground an enjoyable and entertaining read. It's my first book by this author, but I look forward to reading more from them in the future.

This was really creepy and dark not in your normal psychological twisty but it went really into the feelings and trauma that Beth suffered as a teenager. I liked the way that this was not revealed until half way through the book. The ending resolved everything and worked.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and bookouture but the review is entirely my own.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'The Playground' by S.D Robertson.


Read and reviewed via NetGalley for S.D Robertson, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous



Publication date 26th September 2023



This is the first book I have read by this very talented author but it most certainly won't be my last!!!




This novel consists of a prologue and 65 chapters. The chapters are short in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

'The Playground' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Stuart discusses drugs and knife crime.


WHAT did I just read!!!! WOW!!! I mean seriously Wow!! I was NOT expecting that lot fair play!!! This has GOT to start with a MASSIVE WELL DONE Stuart Robertson!!!! Ooopps sorry, yes, needed a minute to get over that but I've just left you hanging there... Sorry.... Let me tell you more...



Firstly let's start off with the writing style, etc!! This book is an extremely well written book by this amazing author which had me hook line and sinker!!! It is so smoothly and fantastically written with vivid and evocative descriptions I completely forgot I was even reading a book a few times. The synopsis, title and cover really fit the storyline.




As you can tell I LOVED the storyline!!! I found it to be realistic, very fast paced and I read it in a day. I loved the setting and atmosphere, characters and just well... Everything!!! This is one of those epic storylines that really does show how one moment in time can change so many lives!!! I absolutely loved this twisty and gripping thriller!!! Stuart uses multiple perspectives in his storyline and managed to weave them altogether perfectly. We not only get to see what is happening from the view points of Mum Beth, Dad Rory, son Ethan and Billy but also from both the past and present timelines. Stuart weaves the multiple protagonist and multiple timeline perspectives together perfectly to slowly drip feed the reader just enough information to see what is going on and why without giving anything away that spoils the explosive twists!!!
As you delve deeper and deeper into the storyline secrets are revealed, mistakes are made and the pace gets faster and faster!!! During the book there are so many butterfly affects which goes to show how one small action can have such a large ripple affect which could continue for years. This book was extremely fast paced with something constantly happening to keep you addicted. Every time I kept telling myself one more chapter the one I was in ended at a point where there was no way I could stop reading so I absolutely devoured it in one sitting!! It was absolutely ram packed with mystery, secrets, jealousy, drama, family, revenge, heartbreak, tension, suspense and absolutely everything you could ask for in a gripping and heart racing thriller. I was constantly guessing and questioning myself about what was going on and when everything was revealed I was absolutely shocked and had been completely wrong about everything!! This is not an easy feat considering how many books I read a year so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS Stuart!! I have read hundreds of psychological books and it gets harder and harder to keep my interest and to shock me but Stuart managed it hook, line and sinker!!! Just absolutely brilliant fair play and everything linked in and wraps up perfectly!!! I cannot remember the last time I flew through a book so quickly. Each and every time I went to put it down to do something my fingers were itching to pick it back up as I just HAD to know what happened next!! Stuart's evocative writing skills ensures you are dragged deep into the storyline seeing everything that is happening and feeling the tension and suspense throughout. I was on the edge of my seat and biting my nails wondering what was going to happen next. I can't say more than that as I don't want to spoil it for future readers so if you want to know you'll have to grab yourself a copy!! You won't regret it!! Just like with the storyline the characters come to life with Stuart's fantastic writing skills. They are well rounded, complex, realistic and strong making them all the more believable. I won't go into more details as I don't want to risk giving anything away but Stuart really has done an amazing job constructing an addictive and explosive psychological thriller with fantastic and varied characters that you just won't be able to put down!! I would absolutely LOVE to see this turned into a movie and would wait up all night to get tickets to watch it!! I cannot wait to get stuck into more of his books and I really hope he continues to write psychological thrillers as he has definitely got one heck of a talent for them!!! An absolute must read!!



Congratulations Stuart on an explosive success!!! I would like to welcome you to my favourite author club!! I'm off to add the rest of your books to my wish list as I cannot wait to get my teeth into the rest!! Here's to your next success 🥂!!!



Clear your schedules before picking this up as you will not be able to put it down!!!



Overall an absolutely page turning, addictive, gripping and explosive must read that will keep you addicted from the very start to the mind blowing ending!!!


318 pages.



This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle via Amazon, free with kindle unlimited and £8.99 in paperback which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!



Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.



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I’m sharing my thoughts on The Playground as part of the book tour hosted by Bookouture. Thanks to them and NetGalley for my spot on the tour and for the copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

MY REVIEW

This was a well written psychological thriller which has made me interested in other books from the same author. The plot superbly carries itself at a good pace, and the twists, when they came, only served to enhance my reading experience.

The characters were thoughtfully created, the dimensional, and had just the right amount of secrets and baggage to keep them relevant and interesting. Beth’s anxiety about the playground once or twice stretched my suspension of disbelief, but having worked with people who struggle with anxiety, I looked beyond that and it took nothing at all away from the story. The big twist was a clever piece of writing and left me satisfied that I had read a quality book.

Overall, I think this was a great introduction to the author, and I can’t recommend it enough. I gave The Playground, by D. S. Robertson, five stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of The Playground by S.D. Robertson.

I don’t know where to begin with this one. It was ok I guess. The points of view were hard for me to get on board with and I just felt like there was so much more that could have been done with this storyline.

'The Playground' was a psychological thriller that should come with an 'unputdownable' warning! It was so engaging - I found myself delving into it at every opportunity!

The story starts with a chance encounter, single mother Beth, is frozen by fear when her daughter gets into a bit of bother at the playground one day, she feels an attraction to Billy, the man who comes to her rescue.

After a turbulent start to their relationship Billy establishes connections within the family but, playing alongside a past timeline that suggests a hidden trauma in Beth's childhood, Billy's own narrative suggests their may be more to him than meets the eye......How this story plays out is just fantastic, the plot is twist filled and utterly unpredictable. This is a book well worth picking up.

The writing is excellent with certain 'reveals' made at all the right times to keep the reader turning those pages!

This is a book I throughly recommend and offer my thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.