I love the theatre and all it encompasses so this book was most enjoyable with all its theatrical references and showing how a powerful director can rule the roost. The final scenes sowed up the story beautifully and left this reader full of admiration for a story well told. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

I love a good slow burn and this one did not disappoint! Couldn't put it down and those plot twists just kept coming!

This novel follows Jemima, an actress willing to do whatever it takes to be successful in the world of theatre.

I raced through this utterly gripping read! The main character is gorgeously flawed and ruthless and I enjoyed the insight into theatre and acting. I loved the glamorous locations, the famous and powerful people and the international travel.

This is so well written and an absolutely addictive read. Highly recommend.

Wow! What a read. Fascinating plot and characters. I couldn't stop reading. A definite must read. It kept me entertained and wanting to read more.

🄱🄾🄾🄺 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆📚
Someone Like You (ARC)
Becky Alexander
3⭐️

Pub Date: 1/10/2024

This plot explores the mystery and politics of theater. It piqued my interest when I read the synopsis. And for the most part, it remained somewhat interesting. Warning though, it's extremely slow. There wasn't much happening. It was more just the day to day struggles of an aspiring actor, the insecurities and all. The only mystery is that how and why she was hired. The question dragged on and for the most part, I was somewhat intrigued. But it dragged on for too long. No new information was given to keep me interested after about 60% of the book. The answer to the mystery and the ending were unexpected but not really surprising, nor satisfying. Not for how much it was built up. I read this a few weeks back and unfortunately, it's already forgettable for me. I think this is a generous 3⭐️. I wished I liked it more.

Thank you @netgalley and @stormbooks_co for a gifted e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't read a story about the acting industry before and this was a fscinating read. Clearly defined characters and an exciting story line, leading up to a great conclusion.

Rounded up from 4.5

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jemima (Gemma) Evens is a struggling actor in London, it's been 2 years since she attended RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) and is still yet to land a role and have her acting career take off. Eventually Jemima lands a role and everything changes. But is it for the better? This role is not what she'd hoped for but it's better than nothing right?

I have never read anything where the story centres around the theatre world, so this is a very fresh and different perspective for me which I LOVED. It is set in 3 Acts similar to a play (I guess), which I think is a nice touch.
The whole story has an unsettling feel to it, you don't know which characters to trust and what significance they will have in the story later on which is exactly what you want in a psychological thriller.

I thoroughly enjoyed Jemimas story, and appreciated the representation of LGBTQIA+ characters.

It's probably worth checking the trigger warnings for some as there is mention of overdose, and rape.

This is super twisty. It starts out slow like this girl is just trying to get a role in play, but it is a weird play, but then bodies start dropping. We learn more and more about the protagonist's past as weird things happen to her. It is super twisty.

Thank you to Storm Publishing, NetGalley and Becky Alexander for this ARC to read and review!

This slow burn drama came piled high with sides of mystery, secrets, betrayal and lies as Jemima desperately carves her path to success as a famous actress. The story is told in dual timelines that create a creepy and dark undertow throughout. Couldn't wait to see how each tied into the other. The end wraps up with revelations of the truth that were maybe not completely shocking, but nonetheless satisfying. Overall, an intriguing drama / thriller with just enough edge to keep my attention all the way through.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. It was just ok. There were parts that were boring and parts that had a little excitement. 2.5 ⭐️

A story about Jemima and how hard she works for it to never show. She questions if she’ll even make it in the world on theater. Determined, will she do anything to make her way to fame.

This is a good book for those wanting to start reading thrillers.

This book started off well, but then things started to get messy and I started to dislike the characters I’d liked. At about the 80% mark in the book I knew we’d get a rushed ending as readers. All the twists happened in the last 20% of the book and everything seemed off to me.

Thank you to Becky Alexander, NetGalley, and Storm Publishing for allowing me to read this book before publication.

This wasn't really what I was expecting based on the description. It was a bit too slow burn for me and I'm not sure anything really happened.

I was really interested in the premise of the book and was excited to read it. But it moved really slow in the beginning and didn’t read like a psychological thriller at all. It was more of a literary book explaining the theatre and off broadway life. I stuck with it though to see if it would pick up. The ending though was very messy and seemed to end quickly. I would have loved if there were twists throughout.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this book for an honest review.

*2.5

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book as psychological thrillers involving theatre/acting really interest me (think Black Swan). This novel unfortunately just didn’t really do it for me - it started off interesting, learning about struggling actress Jemima and her past and how she managed to get a role in a play by well-known production company Sheridan Productions. The audition process was eerie and we meet a few sketchy characters, especially Ed, who behaves in such a sleazy way. In fact, everyone in this book instantly felt sketchy to me and there was always a feeling of uneasiness and distrust, which I believe was what the author intended for readers to feel so job well done on that as it keeps us on our toes and wondering who is behind all the terrible incidences that occur to Jemima’s coworkers.

The reason why I couldn’t give this a higher rating is because that I felt it focused more on Jemima’s journey to becoming an actress and less on the psychological thriller side of things. It was slow-paced and nothing drastic really happened, resulting in an anti-climactic and abrupt ending.

Thank you to netgalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review ✨

*Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.*

2.5⭐ rounded up.

Right off the bat, the writing didn't feel like my style. The writing wasn't bad, but it did have a more amateur feel to it.

Toward the beginning, someone gets injured while Jemima is around and she immediately starts acting guilty. She immediately left the party and went home and thought she couldn't Google about what just happened because the police might find out and she had to go to work that day because it would be suspicious if the police found out. I found it odd for her to immediately start acting like that when she claimed she wasn't even sure what happened or how the victim was. It wasn't a natural progression to the story in my opinion.

It started out so slow. I thought that I was reading a thriller. The cover and blurb made it sound suspenseful, but there was no suspense until the book was almost finished.

I found that I was confused most of the book. There wasn't enough information about the things that were happening for them to make even a little bit of sense to me so I was confused until the twist at the end, and even then I didn't quite get it.

The twist was okay and predictable. I didn't really care about it because I honestly hated every character in the book. There was no substance to them. Every single person was just trying to further their career, and it just felt so emotionless.

I think I may have enjoyed this book a little bit more if I wasn't led to believe this would be a suspenseful read. The whole time I was just waiting for something to happen.

It was a slow read. I couldn't connect with the characters. The ending was the best part. I like more twists throughout. I did appreciate the opportunity to read before everyone else.

You know when you finish a book and you feel a great satisfaction that it was a great read and more than worthy of your investment?…this was that

Based around Jemima, an out of work RADA trained actor as she tries to succeed at auditions and then when she does it is the start of a very tangled web of lies, deception, secrets and well to say more would give it away….

I loved Jemima, her quirky attitude and brutal determination and as always love a character who says one thing and then in their mind says another

It is exceptionally well and reader friendly written and invited me into this often cruel, sometimes mysterious and dark humoured world of acting, theatre and the folk who ‘live it’

Without doubt one of my top reads this year and more than look forward to reading more of this talented authors work

This book has a slow begging with an unsettling feeling through the story, it was such an amazing thriller with tiny bits of romance and drama in it, that kept me on edge the entire time.

The main character is sympathetic, and her motivation comes to light while the story unravels, the portrait of the theatre and acting world was very well described and added a bit of drama to the story.

Overall, I liked this story very much, the writing style was good, and I couldn’t guess how it was going to end and for me that is a must when I read a thriller. The mystery and the atmosphere created by the author was very well accomplished. I recommend it to everyone that enjoys a good thriller.

Thank you, NetGalley & the publisher, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

Great thriller. It does a great job of setting up and maintaining the unsettled feeling and atmosphere throughout. You know something that’s not fully ok is happening and it does keep you on the edge but I just wish the twist would have been more of a reveal, it felt slightly underwhelming as a twist. Very well written though and I enjoyed reading it, thank you!

Jemima Evans had a terrible childhood in Bristol with an alcoholic mother, but was supported by her brother Mark. She became a RADA-trained actor and now lives on a barge in London. She has a strange audition but gets her first major role. It's a part in a two-hander stage play alongside Olivia l,a successful film actress, with a prestigious company run by the mysterious Rebecca. Jemima meets Greg, a wealthy director while she is celebrating getting the role, and it looks like her life is on the way up, but a series of disasters dog the production, and everyone has their own hidden agenda. Very readable, with some good plot twists.