This book had me guessing all the way through. Great characters and a great storyline. Definitely worth a read

I really enjoyed this novel about a group of young women who all have one thing in common - they are all young widows and have formed a small support group to help them get through it.

This is a thriller though where all is not what it seems, and with some seemingly holding on to secrets, the book uncovers sinister goings on.

I really enjoyed this and found it difficult to put down. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy of The Young Widows. This book is set in Melbourne, Australia, and follows four different women. They are Kylie, Isabel, Adriana, and Hannah. All have lost their husbands and they formed a support group. Every one is keeping a secret, and it all comes to a head. The Young Widows started out a little slow, but by the middle of the book, I couldn’t put it down.

Are you looking for an entertaining, twisty and compelling thriller? Well in that case I would definitely recommend The Young Widows by SJ Short.

This book is exactly what I personally enjoy in a standalone story. A great cast of colourful and memorable characters and quite a few guilty secrets and lies to ensure not everyone is who they seem to be.

Set in Australia, The Young Widows centres around a group of 4 strangers who met initially through an online support group for Young Widows . All of them widowed before they were 30, they now meet in real life on a weekly basis and have become friends.

Each character narrates her own story which enables the reader to learn more about their personal grief and coping mechanisms.

When one of the group becomes engaged and then receives a warning about her husband-to-be, she begins to doubt everything she thought she knew and everyone she thought she trusted.

Slowly, the reader finds out more about these women and it becomes clear that it’s not just grief that binds them together, they all carry dark secrets about their past and the past appears to be catching up.

The Young Widows is a gripping, fast paced, page turner and fans of twisty psychological thrillers should enjoy this as much as I did.

Four young widows meet together to attempt to help one another move on with their lives. It is told from each person’s perspective it turns and the all have secrets that they keep from one another. I found all the characters interesting and the storyline compulsive.

Lots of twist turns and threads but a really good story. Quite pacey b it well thought out and written. Author is very good and I am going to look into the back catalogue.

The young widows is a dark tale. It is told from multiple points of view and at first this can be confusing as they are all young widows! However the characters quickly develop, and as they do more and more secrets come out.

There are plenty of twists that keep you reading. Great characters and a fast paced plot.

Adriana , Isabel and Kylie make up the young widows ,all with issues and secrets in fact one of the ladies isn’t a widow or ever been married so what is she is hiding?
This story is well written with great characters and the thread that connects them together is a shocking one .
A perfect thriller that kept me turning the pages. A satisfying ending !
A great read , highly recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK .

I loved The Young Widows by S.J. Short. I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Young Widows. It was the first book that I have read by S. J. Short. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Who does not love a psychological suspense thriller with a surprise ending? I love how she developed the story line and the characters. It was an incredible psychological suspense thriller and has me guessing as how all the women in the story were interconnected. It was impossible to put it down and I loved every moment on every page of this wonderful page turner. I love that the story is told from the perspective of the main characters. I loved getting inside the thoughts and feelings of the characters. I love all the plot twists and turns in The Young Widows. I never saw how the women’s lives were connected until it was revealed in the story. It truly took me by surprise. The Young Widows is the story of young widows: Isabel Park, Adriana Whitlock, and Kylie Robins. They formed their club to support one another to get through their grief, they are each in their twenties. Isabel started bringing another young widow, Hannah Adamson, to their meetings. Adriana has been keeping secrets about her relationship with Grant Frenchman and their recent engagement. I kept trying to figure out how these women were connected to one another. I love how the story details what really transpired in each one of their lives in the past, how that brought them together as young widows, the secrets that were revealed and who was behind their connection. My favorite part was the surprise ending, I did not see it coming. Another favorite part was the significance of the name that Adriana chose for her baby. It was an incredible thriller. Looking for a great thriller, then I highly recommend The Young Widows. I received an advanced copy from the author.

This is a fabulous psychological thriller, four woman, all became widows in their twenties form a group and find themselves meeting once a week to share their grief and they become friends, close friends but is there more to this group than meets the eye, all are very different and from different backgrounds, is there a link, are there secrets?

Isabel haunted by her past when she lost her husband she is not sure that she can keep the secrets about her past for much longer.

Kylie, lost the husband she loved but a diary sees her lose trust in men and she spends her nights looking for fun but what will she find or what will find her?

Hannah she is new to the group and her grief is still new, will this open up wounds in the other widows?

Adriana is moving on but the closer she gets to her wedding the more she worries about her future with Grant, especially when she gets an anonymous email telling her to beware and get out while she can.

This is a twisty story all woman have secrets and are hiding something big but are they linked in some way, if so what could it be. They really do become great friend and show support and when all is reveled wow.

This was a great read that had me turning the pages and guessing till the end and what an explosive end, all woman are wonderful characters and I felt for them all, I do highly recommend this one and look forward to many more stories from S J Short.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital copy to read and review.

This was a bit of a page turner and with more twists than I anticipated. It actually took me three attempts to read it and I did consider giving up but I’m glad I persevered. I think it was the switching POVs that put me off initially as I was mixing up who was who but I did settle in to it. Everyone has secrets and none more so than the characters in this book. Secrets, lies and a plot twist that made me exclaim out loud, what’s not to love?

Four young widows form a support group to assist each other throughout the loss in their lives. But what are they all hiding? 

Where are all my thriller fans at? I am so surprised this book has not been hyped up more. With multiple POVs and short chapters, it was great to get inside each of the widows' heads. They all had something to hide and it was only a matter of time before all their secrets would come to surface. The last few chapters were so amazing, I was whipping through the book at record speed! Loved the ending. I'm really impressed with SJ Short's first thriller and cannot wait to read more by her.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #AvonBooksUK for the book #ThrYoungWidows by #AJShort. This book is amazing. It is told by multiple POVs and each character had a reason for….. You will have to read to find out but, Mind blown. Highly recommend.

It took me a while to connect with this story of three young widows who meet to support each other. They all have secrets that start to affect all their lives as they reveal. Revenge is a recurring theme in this twisty mystery; all the female protagonists have elements of the unreliable narrator within them. I like the complex characters, the secrets and the unexpected twists.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I liked The Young Widows a lot. This is the kind of confusing, twisty thriller I like. I liked the fact the chapters are told from the viewpoints of different characters. I really enjoy books with multiple viewpoints. The pacing is spot on, and plenty happens to make you keep flicking the pages wondering what the truth is. The different viewpoints also makes sure you’re never sure who to trust or where the book will go next. This is an excellent, pacy thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The amount of gossip in this book was akin to a celebrity magazine for me! Main tropes are secrets, revenge, and redemption. Please check for any trigger warnings before picking this one up. I thought this book moved at a good pace with an ending that is as twisty as you can expect from a higher-rated book in this genre. Definitely recommend for both newer and seasoned thriller readers!

Adriana, Kylie, Isabel and Hannah are four young women who've been drawn together because they've all lost their husbands. They form The Young Widows group and meet regularly to support each other and soon become firm friends, but they each have their own secrets and when these secrets are revealed it's clear that they have more in common than they first thought...

The story of The Young Widows, set in Melbourne, is told in alternate chapters by the four main characters, with the occasional interactions from an unknown person, with each of them having a reason for being where they are today. This one started as a slow burner and I wasn't sure about it at first as it didn't immediately grab me, but I decided to persevere with it and, as the story progressed and the secrets began to unfold, I became invested in these four women and intrigued as to what their ultimate goal could be, one thing I was certain of and that was I didn't trust any of them, the question was, could they trust each other? This is an intriguing read with a great premise and a very satisfactory ending. It's a first for me by this author and I look forward to reading more of her work.

I'd like to thank Avon Books for inviting me to read this book, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

I have been reading this author for a long time. I have enjoyed her Rom Coms, and her cozy mysteries. This is her first thriller and I loved it. Going in, I did not know If I would like her going to the dark side, but, I truly did. I do tend to read dark books though, so that helped. This story is told through multiple points of view, and having read many books structured this way I did not have an issue following the plot.

The story starts out with a murder. We do not know who or why and thus begins the story. We meet the Young Widows - a group of grieving young women who have lost their husbands and have formed a support group. Adrianna, Kylie, Isabel, and the youngest and newest member Hannah - all take turns telling their stories. I liked that the women showed support for each other no matter how challenging their situations were. We learn how they lost their husbands and got together.

What follows is a giant maze that circles round and round. The story was well plotted and the ending was a doozy. I truly did not see that coming! I hope Stef continues writing in this vein, because I could not put this book down.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the opportunity to receive this ARC

When four young widows form a support group what could possibly go wrong?
At the beginning of the book a young man is pushed of a balcony and subsequently drowns in the hotel's swimming pool.
But who is he and who wanted him dead?
You will find out who is capable of murder!
A gripping thriller with great characters.

Largely predictable but not without heart.

Women who have been widowed trying to forge friendships in a bereavement group.

This was engaging and written very well and I would say that this would be a good read for anyone who enjoys mystery.