3.5 ⭐️
This was a fast paced book from the get go. It isn’t my usual go to with thrillers, but it was interesting.
I do wonder if I would have been more invested if I had read the first book. You can read it on its own, and still understand what is going on though.
Thank you netgalley for the ARC

I loved Northern Spy, and was eagerly awaiting Trust Her. It did not disappoint. Flynn Berry has a knack for writing vivid suspense in a way that not only rivets me to the page, but also makes me really care about the characters. All in all, Trust Her is solid suspense that proves why Flynn Berry is a must-read author.

I had to cut this one short and stop reading around 45%. I almost didn’t finish the first book in the series, Northern Spy, because it never grabbed my interest, but I ended up pushing through the first one. I thought the ending of that one was decent enough where I was intrigued to see how the story of the two sisters would play out, but after getting almost half way through this second one, I found myself bored still and decided I didn’t want to waste any more time on it. It’s a very slow burn and not a plot I’m all that interested in. Nothing against the author though! I enjoyed her book Double Life. This series just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed Northern Spy and knew I would need to read Flynn Berry's newest book right away. Her writing and the characters she creates are immersive and captivating. Well written and evenly paced, page turning suspense. Plenty of drama and tension to move the plot along. Great read

This is the story of 2 sisters in Ireland caught up in the different factions fighting. Tessa and Marian just want peace. But Marian’s past with the IRA comes back to haunt them.

This story was fascinating to me. I have heard about the different groups in Ireland but really didn’t know much about them at all. So it was unique to read this thriller as an American, with a plot line I haven’t delved into before. This book was full of suspense. After the first quarter of the book, I couldn’t put it down. I loved how strong the female characters were. I loved little Finn. This definitely makes me want to learn more about Ireland as it is my heritage and has raised many questions I will be looking into.

I would highly recommend this for anyone looking for a unique and suspenseful thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the Advanced Copy!

Tessa and Marian Daly are back three years after escaping death by the IRA for informing. Now Tessa is being forced to hand her former handler over to the IRA. They have finally settled into their new lives without having to constantly look over their shoulder. But that peace is as tenuous as the peace in Northern Ireland. Their lives are thrown into turmoil again when the IRA comes back into their lives. They are ready to put this behind them once and for all.

I really loved Northern Spy so I was very much looking forward to this. I loved revisiting these sisters and I definitely did not see all the twists and turns coming. This is a solid sequel with an in depth plot for characters we love. Highly recommend if you loved Northern Spy (which I also recommend if you haven't read it yet)!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the ARC of Trust Her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the eARC.

Northern Spy was a book that took me by surprise and Trust Her was the sequel I needed. I love how Flynn Berry's plots never let you go and how you can't stop reading until you know what is going on. So very good. The best kind of sequel.

This book is a sequel (and I didn’t know this until much later). While it is a sequel, I still found the storyline to be one that grabbed you and did not let go. It’s full of tension and twists and highly enjoyable!

For Their Causes

It is not always easy keeping faith in your side when war is on. Lines are crossed and you might have to grit your teeth and close your eyes in order to believe the “ends justify the means.” In “Trust Her” by Flynn Berry, we have two sisters caught up in The Troubles of Northern Ireland. Set in a possible near future time, Tessa and Marian Daly are building new lives and new identities in Dublin, three years after escaping the IRA justice for being informers in a previous novel, “Northern Spy.”

Now Tessa is discovered and captured by an IRA agent. She is told she must contact her old MI5 handler, Eamonn, and get him to turn IRA informant. Tessa was never willingly part of either side’s spy network and wants nothing to do with it now– but faced with threats to her family she sees no way out. Tessa and Marian create a plan to play both sides against each other, but the plot is compromised by romantic feelings for Eamonn and an over-ambitious detective inspector who is almost drooling over the prospect of uncovering an IRA sleeper cell.

In 2023’s “Brotherless Night,” V. V. Ganeshananthan presents warring sides in Sri Lanka who will stoop to any evil to further their just causes. Sashi wants to do everything she can to help her brothers in their rebel cause… but is torn when she sees the atrocities her side is capable of. In this novel, Flynn Berry illuminates the unscrupulous sides of the players here. There is no romanticization of the IRA, the Loyalists, or MI5. The judgments and the condemnations are on the deaths and sufferings of the victims involved… and how low groups will sink in the name of the cause.

The suspense is tight as the two sisters try and wriggle out of what looks to be an unwinnable predicament. Secrets are revealed, the biggest from within their own family. There is also a nice twist toward the end I never saw coming. A nice thriller, trust me.

Thank you to the Penguin Group / Viking Books and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #TrustHer #NetGalley

Wow! I loved Northern Spy, but this was better. Part spy novel, part thriller, with a pinch of mystery. Great read!

Compulsively readable and beautifully written.
This gripping thriller delves into generational trauma against the backdrop of Ireland’s troubled history, weaving action, suspense, and complex family dynamics. If you’re a fan of intense reads, this one won’t disappoint! Thank you NetGalley!

Wow, I could not put this down. I will say, that I think I would have picked up more had I read the first book in the series. Thank you for the chance to read this!

This was a good story and I feel like maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had read The Northern Spy by this author before I read this book. The characters were very well done and overall I enjoyed them. If you like spy books this is a good one to pick up but I will say it just wasn’t one of my favorite books. Definitely need to read Northern Spy and then try to read this one again as I feel like it would possibly change my opinion on the overall book.

Trust Her
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Flynn Berry

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Penguin Group and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Three years after they narrowly escaped the IRA's worst punishment for informing, Northern Irish sisters Tessa and Marian Daly have built a new life in Dublin with their young children. Though Tessa is haunted by the abrupt and violent end to her old life, she does her best to immerse herself in the joys of Finn's childhood and the rhythms of her new job at the Irish Observer .

It's a small island, though, and just as quickly as they disappeared, figures from the sisters' past surface to drag them back into the conflict. Tessa is told she must track down her old handler from MI5, Eamonn, and attempt to turn him into an IRA informant, or lose everything.

Tessa's reunion with Eamonn revives a host of feelings she has long attempted to bury. As their relationship intensifies and the pressure mounts, long-held secrets rise to the surface, and Tessa must navigate a treacherous landscape of shifting loyalties, all while trying to protect her beloved son.

My Thoughts: This is a follow up to Northern Spy that starts three years after that book ends. Even though this sounds like historical fiction using the term like “IRA”, it is not historical and the IRA is alive and well in some parts of the world. Three years after escaping the IRA, two sisters (Tessa and Marian) have built a new life in Dublin with their children. Tessa is especially haunted by her old life but does her best to be in the moment with her child, Finn, and her job at the local newspaper. It’s a small island and it is hard to escape the conflict. After Tessa is kidnapped by the IRA, Tessa is informed that she must contact her old handler from MI5, Eamonn, in attempt to turn him into an informant on IRA. Consequences for not turning him will put her whole family, even extended in danger by the IRA. Feelings that Tessa has tried to bury come to the surface while she navigates shifting localities, all while she protects her son, Finn.

Tessa is shifting her loyalty to the IRA (even though she really does not want to be loyal there), her loyalties to her handler, Eamonn, her own moral compass, and finally her loyalty as a mother to her son. The tightrope becomes thinner and thinner with a spark lit in the middle. Berry does a phenomenal job at putting the reader into the head of Tess, her inner monologue and internal struggles, the confusion that she feels, and how she feels about her own family, her mother and sister. This is a slow burn, low action, but tense building throughout the storyline. The characters were well developed with mystery and were intriguing. The author’s writing style was complex, multifaceted, concise, extremely detailed, and keeps you engaged. I really loved how the author shows that one generation’s actions can impact the next, or even the next generation with consequences that the first generation could not even imagine. The character backstories were continued to build, the plot was delivered in twisty layers, and the ending was perfect.

While this is a follow up book and could probably be read as a standalone, it would be better to read The Northern Spy first to get a better sense of character development, providing a better reading enrichment. This is story about the love between family, a mother’s love, and consequences. There were some plot holes left open and the ending was kind of abrupt, my only complaints for this story. Overall, I enjoyed reading. I would recommend to other readers.

Trust Her is the sequel to Flynn's book, Northern Spy. It's been three years since sisters Tessa and Marian escaped the clutches of the IRA. They now live not far from each other in Dublin and Marian is a new mother. One day while headed out for a swim, Tessa has a terrifying encounter with members of the IRA, and they expect her to pull in her former MI5 handler and attempt to turn him to an IRA informer. Tessa and Marian join forces and do what they must to keep their families safe from violence. There are some very tense moments for the sisters, and also a lot of personal growth. Both women are relatable, as is their sister bond. I feel very much at home with Tessa. She is a calm, steadying presence and intelligent voice of reason in this tense, dramatic story. Flynn's writing allows me to easily create and see Tessa's world in my mind. The ending had me near tears and on the edge of my seat!

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. I would love to see Flynn write a third novel in this series so we can see where Tessa, Marian, and their families go from here.

I have not been impressed with several of this years followups to novels I truly liked. Not naming names, but I have submitted reviews on NetGalley and GoodReads. However, Flynn Berry’s followup to Northern Spy is a BRILLIANT novel, carrying the story of Tessa and Marian attempting to live new lives (with new identities) away from the push and pull of MI-5 and the IRA in Belfast.
It doesn’t work for long. As the novel progresses we see Tessa’s attempts to keep her new IRA tormentor at bay by trying to turn her old MI-5 contact Eamonn. The first half of the novel keeps the suspense high, but even though I thought I knew how the plot would unfold, the second half totally pulled away everything I thought I’d figured out about every character. The past comes back with a vengeance.
At the end of Northern Spy, I thought that was it for the story of Tessa and Marian: safe in Dublin, away from paramilitary and state intelligence alike. I had no idea Flynn Berry had more to write, and I am certainly glad she did.

Tessa and Marian are sisters from Northern Ireland. After escaping the IRA as informers, they have built new lives in Dublin. They are happy, their mom has moved with them, but soon their past come back to haunt them. Tessa suddenly is thrown back into her old life, and she is tasked with tracking down and turning her old handler from MI5, Eamonn, and to make things more complicated, her feelings for Eamonn are becoming more complicated.

This book, like Norther Spy, was challenging, so informative and gripping. I loved it. I learned a lot about Northern Island and the occupation post the Troubles, and I loved the female-driven plot. I was rooting for Tessa and Marian the whole time.

Northern Spy felt like it was a complete story, so I was a little wary of, but also intrigued by, a follow-up; what else was there to say? It turns out there is more to tell and the sequel is just as complex and satisfying as its predecessor.

A stunning and taut opening throws us right back into underground political Ireland while also neatly giving a precis of the previous novel. Tessa and Marian are now living away from Belfast in Dublin under new names, but the IRA tracks them down and want Tessa to turn her MI5 handler, Eamonn, into an informer.

As with Northern Spy, much of the emotional depth is about the mother-child relationships - Tessa’s son Finn is now 4 and Marian is married with a baby. The warmth and authenticity of these connections bring the characters to life and also, more subtly, point at other mother-child relationships and how they have affected the characters.

The author shows us the quandary that Tessa is in: there is no walking away as the roots and branches of the IRA are everywhere, and her own family is widespread and vulnerable. To further complicate matters, Tessa feels a strong attraction to Eamonn.

Towards the end, there are a couple of huge wallops - both in terms of being surprising plot twists in a novel which didn’t seem to have them and in terms of being intensely moving.

Though this is a thriller, there is so much more to the setting and characters. Highly recommended, though I’d start with Northern Spy if you haven't read it.

Thanks to Viking and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Trust Her by Flynn Berry is the sequel to Northern Spy. Both stories are set in an alternative universe where the Troubles are back in Northern Ireland and there are bombings and the IRA/UVF are both fighting for their causes.

This book starts three years after sisters Tessa and Marian narrowly escape the IRA when they are caught as informants and they've both built new lives in Dublin. When a person from their past surfaces and drags them back into the IRA they both may navigate this treacherous landscape as they try to protect their children.

I liked Trust Her more than Northern Spy but there were still a few things I had major questions about plot wise. But I was pulled into the story and it was compelling and atmospheric. I feel like you need to read Northern Spy first and having an understanding of The Troubles and the historical context which isn't really explained in either book helps.

Thanks to Viking Books for a copy of Trust Her which came out on Tuesday.

3.75 stars!

This was definitely interesting! I made the mistake of not reading The Northern Spy first (as I didn't realize this was a sequel) and although I wasn't really confused this does spoil the events of The Northern Spy. This was a very fast-paced spy thriller with a lot of rich history and commentary on British colonialism in Ireland. I think that this book is not going to be for the traditional thriller reader, but I was really invested in the sister relationship and enjoyed the underlying tension that filled this book. It was definitely fast paced and interesting and I would read more from this author.

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