Member Reviews

I was sent a physical copy by the publishers so I shall read that and post my review to all relevant book sites and my accounts

Was this review helpful?

A mum is at home with her two kids in an old house out in the woods, there's a blizzard, she's hunkered down for the weekend knowing she won't be able to go anywhere for a couple of days. She wakes up to a figure standing in her hallway in the middle of the night. What ensues is a fight for survival - not for the faint hearted.

Oh my goodness, I think I need a doctor after reading this book - heart palpitations, cold sweats, jumpiness; what a ride! I went into the book thinking 'oh my goodness, the first chapter is a little close to the bone, but it's ok, it'll just be this chapter'. It wasn't. It induced guttural feelings and empathy, I felt like I was there, in that situation and thinking - what would I do?

The flashbacks to before the home invasion didn't even provide me with respite, if I wasn't scared, I was infuriated. The casual misogyny around every corner was so believable, because that is how the world is. I could relate to the doubt, the lack of support, the dismissal. I think most women have experienced it at some time in their lives and Nightwatching called it out loud and clear.

I was exhausted after reading and the book will stay with me for a long time, if not forever.

Was this review helpful?

The author tackled this book in a very different manner! It could be described as creative, unsettling and disturbing! I would give it 3.5 but round it up to 4 on the basis that the author was so inventive in so many ways.

The plot largely evolved through the main characters thinking processes. It must have been very tricky to do that. A brave and clever approach by the Tracy Sierra.

Is there a dangerous malevolent intruder or is it simply her imagination/ fragile mental state? This made it quite realistic! The reader will wonder too!

The various family relationships highlighted the ongoing, potentially detrimental effect on the main characters well-being! Big sympathy there! Many people will relate to that. The police!! Very much an insight into human frailty there too!

The book is worth reading - challenging!

Was this review helpful?

It's literally your worst nightmare. You are home alone with your kids in a snowstorm and someone with very bad intentions breaks in. I was gripping the book so tight as the Mam tries to hide her children and then does everything in her power to protect them. Its really about what a Mother will do to protect her children - which is basically anything and everything. A good read. Mothers will definitely relate.

Was this review helpful?

A young mother held captive with her children in an isolated house in the middle of a snow storm. Can she keep her children safe and escape the 'the corner' OR is this just all part of an over active imagination fuelled by the isolation and creepy house?
I managed to read this all the way through but did struggle at times as it could be easy to lose yourself during the story telling.

It kept me guessing and parts were creepy but I did find some of it quite far fetched and I found myself wanting the storyline to be sped up a bit in parts.

Overall still a good creepy read.

Was this review helpful?

This book was so good! It was intriguing and really drawed me in. I'll be reading more of this authors work.

Was this review helpful?

A young mother held captive with her children in an isolated house in the middle of a snow storm. Can she keep her children safe and escape the 'the corner' OR is this just all part of an over active imagination fuelled by the isolation and creepy house?
I managed to read this all the way through but did struggle at times. It kept me guessing and parts were creepy but I did find some of it quite far fetched and I found myself wanting the storyline to be sped up a bit in parts.
Overall still a good creepy read.

Was this review helpful?

This book was wonderful! Captivating and enthralling. Kept me on the edge throughout! Really original too. A solid 5/5!

Was this review helpful?

How best to describe Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra? Psychological Thriller? Yes. Suspenseful? Yes. Claustrophobic? Yes. Creepy as hell? Definitely.
The tension mounts chapter by chapter, but midway, Sierra moves the goalposts and you are left thinking "hang on, what's going on here?" Then, as we reach the final third, it all starts to make sense again.
We learn some of the heroines background throughout the story. These tend to break the tension, but can be a little annoying when they crop up just as things are getting interesting.
Not one of the characters in this book has a name. This should have been irritating, but I became so invested in the story, I stopped noticing.
Thanks to Netgalley, Viking Books UK and Penguin Random House for the eARC in exchange for this review.

Was this review helpful?

This book starts with a mum who is home alone with her children. She wakes up in the night to find an intruder in her upstairs hallway.
She manages to grab her children and hide away from ‘The Corner’

I found the first part of the book a bit confusing and struggled to get into it.
I found it dragged out a bit until the mother managed to leave and get help.
It picked up a bit after that and became more interesting.
Overall I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Penguin UK and Viking UK for an advanced reading copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

This is a brilliant thriller. Keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story line, which is seen through the eyes of a mother (with a complicated back-story) who is alone in a remote house in winter with two small children, takes on almost a dreamlike quality. We cannot be sure if she is experiencing reality or is suffering from prior events. The plot is very well constructed and with all loose ends tidied up; this page-turner makes for a very a very satisfying read. One of the best I have had from NetGalley - so many thanks

Was this review helpful?

A fast paced chilling thriller! I really enjoyed this book. I picked this one up as I was looking for something different and this one surely delivered. The author created incredible suspense, and anxiety. I really felt for the mother and her children and could put myself in their shoes, wondering what I'd do in a similar circumstance. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

Utterly menacing. A story of such a diabolical, otherworldly villain that it made my skin crawl reading about him. But is he real or just a figment of our heroine's imagination? Alone in a creaky old house, cut off in a snowstorm, the scene is set for some seriously scary happenings. The writing has a Stephen Kingishness about it - most notably the inner dialogue and the repetition of word play. This is used to great effect to build a human character struggling to survive a living nightmare. The whole read was creepy. I loved it & I'm excited to see what the author has in store for us next

Was this review helpful?

Sharp little thriller

Initially I was somewhat confused for the first couple of chapters, perhaps this was the author's intention given the rather chaotic scenario: the ghostly figure appears walking through the house, daughter, son and items being directed to a hiding place. That being said I quickly warmed to the heroine who is mistreated by both her father in law and to some extent her husband.
The plot centres around a mother who is forced to protect her children against an intruder during a blizzard. Her escape and attempts to get the police on side are both traumatic and frustrating, I too questioned her psychological state. Is it all in her mind or was there really someone in the house. This is helped largely by to her internal critical voice. In essence Sierra does a great job in creating and sustaining suspense throughout the book with many surprises along the way

Thank you NetGallery

Was this review helpful?

I have seen many reviews for this book, all saying how amazing it was and giving it high marks and I’m sure it does and will appeal to plenty. Unfortunately that doesn’t include myself.

It took me a bit to get into it properly, it was very slow and overly descriptive and veering off into the past far too much, with not much happening in the present, other than a mother hiding with her two kids from an intruder.
Eventually it did pick up, once she left the house to get help and I found it easy to read and I was invested in what would become of them all.

However, once she was in hospital, I slowly lost interest again and skimmed quickly over the last half of the book. A bit of a rushed anticlimactic ending I felt too. As ever Thank you to NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

A very well written haunting, heart-stopping story from the very beginning. Can you imagine the terror of someone watching you and the entering what should be the safety of your home? Definitely not one for reading alone in bed! Excellent!

Was this review helpful?

Absolutely terrifying from the first line to the last. I gulped it down, scared to stop, scared to carry on. Just scared! Blimey. This author knows how to create tense and pace and wrap it up in beautiful prose. What a book!

Was this review helpful?

Very gripping, very creepy. I found the reveal of all the coincidences (esp the husband's death) a bit too neat, but it was a very addictive read!

Was this review helpful?

Wowee, my heart is still racing after finishing this book. This had me so gripped I could not put this book down. Such a fantastic plot that is going to leave me looking over my shoulder forever!! A absolute must read!

Was this review helpful?

Horrifying from the first strange noise, the anxiety intensifies as the mother tries to protect her children from the stranger in the house. With a snowstorm complicating any chance of help arriving or of escape the stress levels in the book escalate quickly and things become more and more confused as the mothers sanity is brought into question.

Do not read alone in the dark!

Was this review helpful?