Joy Maddison: Darling Joy, popular vlogger, influencer, perfect wife and mother. Her millions of fans think they know her, every perfectly videoed image of her and her lifestyle, but do they really? When she sets off for a run and disappears everyone has their own theory about what happened to her – she’s been abducted, she’s dead, her husband cheated on her and she’s run away – but five years on no one, least of all her sister DI Lucy Merry, is any the wiser about where she is.

Mattie Woods: drug and alcohol addict, squatter in a derelict building, living on the margins, working casual night shifts at a fish market for a dealer who buys and sells fish and his brother, Ned who buys and sells drugs. Also a super fan of Joy Maddison, along with her boyfriend Jojo who also works for Ned. Mattie doesn’t remember much of her past but has terrifying nightmares about a shadowy man shouting at her. Mattie and Jojo also have a secret about Joy that Mattie is terrified to let the rest of the world know.

The novel starts off slowly, delving into Mattie’s world and her gradual journey towards wanting to leave her addictions and drifting life behind. It’s somewhat repetitive and could have been tighter, but makes you anxious for Mattie and how she is going to escape what her life has become. Halfway through, the book takes a sharp turn into Joy’s life and the mystery of her disappearance and who might know something about it. Again the pace is a little slow and never very suspenseful, more of a slow burning psychological thriller, but intriguing enough to keep reading to find out what becomes of Joy and Mattie.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. Five years ago Joy Maddison disappears during her evening run. Now there is someone who resembles her and she has been recognized as potentially being the woman who vanished. Except her name is not Joy and she believes that Joy cannot be alive, so then what really happened?

The beginning starts out repetitive and slow, but I am glad I stuck with it. The story was interesting from the beginning and I needed to find out what happened. There were a few different really good twists to this story. A great psychological thriller!

To note: there is a heavy reference to drug and alcohol abuse.

Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Description sounded very good but I found this book to be a very slow start and I just couldnt get in to it. Sorry, this one isnt for me

Maddie Woods works in the local fish market in Brighton. A recovering drug addict and alcoholic, she remembers little of her past. Her partner Jono has disappeared, leaving her alone in the derelict house they shared. Maddie is also a police informer. She is gathering information about her boss Ned, one of the two owners of the market. She is aware of his drug supplying and trafficking activities and puts herself in danger as she gathers information to subsidise her meagre income from the market. With her scarred face and damaged leg, she is usually overlooked by Ned and his thugs, although being such a nondescript figure, she does come in handy to occasionally assist in their nefarious activities. When she works out a plan to gain the kind of information that will put Ned away for a long time and give her enough money to leave Brighton, she has no idea that her meeting with DI Lucy Merry will change her life completely and that quite by accident, DNA will reveal who she really is.
Wow! I was completely hooked on this book. The first part, detailing Maddie’s life in Brighton made me feel uneasy. She was dealing with some dangerous people, and things could have gone so badly wrong. When she returns to her old life she finds herself having to deal with a new set of challenges. With professional help, her dreams and flashbacks begin to shape her lost past. However, the more she begins to remember, the more danger is finds herself in. The owner of the mystery voice, who pops up occasionally, confesses they are responsible for what happened to her, and it’s clear they aren’t finished with her. But who are they? And why are they doing this?

A well-constructed twisty tale that I found difficult to put down. Very addictive.

I would like to thank Storm Publishing, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of You Know Her in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about Joy and Mattie.
Joy Maddison YouTuber disappeared five years ago. Some say she ran off. Others say she was murdered. What did happen to Joy?
Mattie lives by her wits on the streets. Every day is a struggle just to survive. The truth of how she got there is something else. Who can Mattie trust? Can she trust herself? What happened to her?
Wow the author wove a clever story. When I thought I had worked out all there was something else was thrown in the mix and then I doubted what I had worked out.

The first few chapters were interesting but then I figured out the plot and I found that the story lagged and it n longer captured my interest

Wow..what a page-turner, twists and turns right up to the end and the biggest shock of all. I'll certainly be looking for more reads by this excellent author.

This was my first book by D. E. White. The premise is interesting enough, but it was a very slow moving plot and a bit overly long in my opinion. It felt like it took forever to get to the action, but I was invested enough to see how things turned out The premise of the book is simple enough - a semi-famous influencer goes missing and the central character believes she was somehow involved in the disappearance of this influencer. There are a few twists and turns, but ultimately I was able to guess at the main twist prior to the big reveal.

The book was not badly written, but the slow pace made me somewhat reluctant to continue. I usually look for thrillers that keep me on the edge of my seat, wanting to devour the book quickly in order to find out what really happened. I did not get these urges with this book. I put it down for days at a time and did not find myself longing to get back to it. That said, I still thought it was a decent book and. despite the slow pace, it was not enough to put me off potentially trying another offering from this author in the future.

You Know Her is due out on January 4, 2024.
Thank you @NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I will start off by saying how much I love this authors previous books.

But this one…. I came very close to DNF, it was only my previous experience with her work that pushed me to plough through.

I found it very slow to start with and difficult to connect with the characters, or care what happened to them. Probably didn’t help that I am not a fan of influencers. The book was over long and quite repetitive especially the dialogue.

I am sure others will love it, but not for me. I give it a generous 3 stars, based on previous experience,

Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing and D.E. White for this ARC to read and review!

This was a mind-bender all the way to the end! I was all over the place trying to figure it out! There’s a lot packed into these pages and at times it moved a bit slow for me, but it balances itself out with some really good twists and turns! A solid psychological thriller that will keep you flippin’ pages until the truth is revealed!

Totally gripping and you won’t want to put it down once you start! With a twisting turning plot that keeps you guessing and trying to figure out who did what to who. Loved it and didn’t want the story to end.

I found the initial first few sentences of this book a little bit upsetting, and although there was nothing wrong with the writing in general, I just didn't really connect with or warm to it. I found that I didn't really connect with any of the characters or care about them, nothing about them interested me. I may still try another book by this author though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

“You Know Her”: It is post-math of “DISAPPEARANCE OF DARLING JOY: FAMOUS INFLUENCER AND YOUTUBER”
With love comes hate and jealously and with these emotions comes obsession and you never know who is eerily obsessed!
5 years later: It starts out with Mattie a recovering addict and delved into her world of being a police informant. What I liked the most about this book was the portraying of the mental struggles that Mattie was going through. It may seem repetitive but, in my opinion, it was important to understand the mental struggles that she was going through to connect with her.
The first twist is the one that most of the avid mystery readers can anticipate and it does happen that way.
Part II of the book was where I was on the edge. I made my theories and as the story goes on unfolding the book hints at a person whom we all must have expected and suddenly there are parts which bridge the gaps and it is a hell of a rollercoaster.
I really liked the character of DI Lucy Merry. She is a very smart and supportive character! She never disregards Mattie’s views and emotions even though they may seem unconventional to her.
The writing of the book is engaging and it is a good psychological thriller!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of the book in exchange of a honest review!

In You Know Her we meet Mattie Woods, an alcoholic and drug addict who works for a rogue fishmonger. Mattie is just recovering from a serious illness that lasted at least 6 weeks. During this period she is assisted by Bobbie, a colleague and friend from the fish market. Bobbie helps Mattie because her friend has disappeared.
Mattie slowly begins to recover from her illness and tries to get her addiction and alcoholism under control now that her partner Jono, who always supplied her with drugs, has disappeared. Jono had enormous influence over Mattie because together they allegedly kidnapped and killed a well-known influencer, Joy Maddison. In her drug and alcohol-addled brain, Mattie has difficulty remembering things and distinguishing between fictions and truths. With the help of Bobbie, who also comes from an abusive relationship, Mattie slowly tries to gain control.
That is difficult because she regularly comes into contact with drugs at work because Ned, her criminal employer, is a drug smuggler. Moreover, Mattie is forced to take over his role as police informant after Jono disappears. The crippled Mattie is easy prey for Ned's aggressive accomplices, she regularly relapses into her old addictions, practices self-harm and lives in appalling conditions. Only Bobby, the stray cat Nuala, whom she rescues from the clutches of a few juvenile delinquents, and the kittens that Nuala gives birth to one day keep her going, as do the drawings she makes on the walls of the squat.

Joy Maddison is een moeder, huisvrouw en sprankelende influencer die vijf jaar geleden verdween toen zij ging joggen in het bos. Joy woonde in een prachtig huis, had drie leuke kinderen en een aantrekkelijke man die ook nog eens een beroemde chef en eigenaar van enkele restaurants was. Toen ze verdween had Joy net een aantal lucratieve contracten in de wacht gesleept als influencer. Bovendien was Joy het grote idool van van Mattie en Jono, althans dat is het verhaal dat Jono vertelt. Tot het moment dat zij Joy die fatale ochtend hebben ontvoerd en vermoord bezochten ze vrijwel elke presentatie en optreden van Joy. Mattie kan zich hier door alle drugs en drank nauwelijks iets van herinneren maar het moet wel waar zijn, want zij heeft allerlei foto's op haar telefoon staan en een filmpje van hoe zij Joy begraven.

Joy Maddison is a mother, housewife and sparkling influencer who disappeared five years ago while jogging in the woods. Joy lived in a beautiful house, had three nice children and an attractive husband who was also a famous chef and owner of several restaurants. When she disappeared, Joy had just gained a number of lucrative contracts as an influencer. Moreover, Joy was the great idol of Mattie and Jono, at least that is the story that Jono tells. Until they kidnapped and murdered Joy that fateful morning, they attended almost every presentation and performance of Joy. Mattie can hardly remember anything about this due to all the drugs and alcohol, but it must be true, because she has all kinds of photos on her phone and a video of how they buried Joy.

I found the enormous contrast between these two women fascinating because their worlds could hardly be further apart. I particularly loved the first half of the book because the two worlds are always so clearly opposed to each other: the difficult, raw life of Mattie, dominated by drugs and alcohol, and the princess life of Joy, quite superficial and with, as it turns out later, friends who aren't really friends at all. Halfway through the book there is an interesting twist that, in my opinion, should have come a little later because it takes away some of the tension. Nevertheless, the book remains exciting and oppressive until the end, but I didn't like the second part as much as the first. Therefore 1 star less. Even though I found the ending quite unexpected,

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review.

I actually loved this book and the story behind the abducted woman whose life was controlled by her boyfriend through drugs and alcohol, making her forget who she really was and is.

Good writing style and the author really planted the story of how it was even though repeated a few times in the book
. To understand what the abducted woman had to go through was unbelievable but she got through it. Highly recommended and 5 stars

What a major twist at the end! I didn't see that coming at all - wow

Thank you to Netgalley and storm publishing

**SPOILERS**

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of You Know Her by D.E. White.
Joy Maddison, a social media influencer goes missing 5 years before, no one has seen her and no one knows what happened? Or do they? Mattie is a drug addict, working for a dodgy boss, and acting as a police informant on the dodgy business dealings she sees daily. How do these two opposite lives collide?

This book started off very slow and multiple times I had to push myself not to put it down, I could see the plot twist coming from miles away, however the ending was unexpected. I thought the reasoning for the ending and the culprits feelings were extremely poorly explained and honestly too far fetched. Misogynism just doesn't explain doing what they did, and I honestly rolled my eyes when I finished.

The dialogue was repetitive and honestly half the time I wanted to pull my hair out at how one-dimensional the main characters were.
Overall an okay thriller.

It was a very quick, easy fast paced thriller with multiple twists and turns. I did enjoy it but I felt the story dragged on for longer than needed and I found myself struggling to read the first half of the book.

However, the second definitely made up for it with all the twists, turns and surprises that I read throughout.

There is a huge amount of repetition throughout which was a little lackadaisical and took away from the thriller of the book and the story behind the characters.

Thank you to @instabooktours for having me on the readalong in December. Thank you to @d.e._white_author and @stormbooks_co and to Netgalley for allowing me a copy of this ARC!

A very modern day book with the themes well researched from the enthusiastic author. Keeps you guessing to the last page. Thanks to Storm and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. The publication date is the 4th Jan 2024!

This is my first book I’ve read from this author which I throughly enjoyed! This book was full of page turning moments with lots of twists and suspense thrown in along the way! Wow, what a final twist ending I didn’t see that coming! My favourite character was Mattie as I felt like this character was well developed and relatable in some ways.

Overall, a fantastic mystery novel that I would highly recommend everyone reads!