This book kept my interest .. some many question in the beginning that needed answers. Had me intrigued, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers.. Did he do the t ? Or not … I will definitely be reading more from this author !!

Emma Cook’s You Can’t Hurt Me is a psychological thriller that expertly blurs the lines between reality and delusion, evoking the same spine-tingling uncertainty found in Colleen Hoover’s Verity. Cook crafts a dark, gripping narrative that keeps readers questioning the truth until the very end.

The story’s central premise, focusing on an unorthodox doctor and the twisted dynamics within his marriage, is as unsettling as it is captivating. The doctor/husband emerges as a masterfully complex character, embodying an unsettling mix of charm, manipulation, and menace. His actions and motivations remain shrouded in ambiguity, making him both fascinating and deeply disturbing.

However, the book misses an opportunity to fully develop the wife’s perspective. Her voice, though present, feels underexplored, leaving readers craving deeper insight into her motivations and emotional state. Some additional backstory and character development could have provided a more balanced view, enriching the tension between the husband and wife.

Despite this, the book’s tightly woven plot and haunting atmosphere make it a compelling read. Cook’s ability to play with perception and twist expectations ensures that readers will remain on edge, piecing together the truth in a narrative steeped in psychological complexity.

If you enjoy thrillers that explore the darker corners of the human psyche and revel in the uncertainty of truth versus deception, You Can’t Hurt Me is a must-read. While it leaves room for improvement, it delivers an enthralling and chilling experience that lingers long after the final page.

I find it so difficult to give a book a low rating, as I tend to read what I like, but unfortunately, this one just didn’t hit the mark for me.

The premise was incredibly intriguing—Eva Reid, a woman with a condition that renders her unable to feel pain, is married to Dr. Nate Reid, a renowned neuroscientist. Their unusual dynamic catches the attention of journalist Anna Tate, who sets out to write an in-depth article about them. However, when Eva is pronounced dead from a drug related heart attack, Anna's curiosity deepens, leading her to question the circumstances surrounding Eva’s death. As Anna grows closer to Dr. Reid, after agreeing to be his ghostwriter for his memoir, her determination to uncover the truth takes center stage.

With such high stakes and a promising setup, I was eager to dive in. Sadly, the story didn’t quite deliver for me. While the concept had so much potential, the characters didn’t feel dynamic enough to fully pull me in. I struggled to understand Anna’s strong interest in the Reids, as her motivations were never clearly fleshed out, nor was her obsession with the Reids. The story, also, often veered into heavy-handed explanations and dense medical terminology, which made it challenging to stay fully engaged.

While I appreciated the opportunity to read this book, it ultimately wasn’t my cup of tea. Despite my best efforts to connect with the story, it fell a bit flat for me after various attempts to immerse myself in it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Hanover Square Press for providing this advance e-copy of You Can’t Hurt Me. This review are my own thoughts of the book. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me directly.

A new to me author. This book was intriguing. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it but I have to admit it was good. A bit out there and unbelievable but still good.

There are four main characters in this book: Anna who is the ghost writer, her brother Tony who is, well, her brother, Nate the author who lost his wife and Eva who is deceased and the subject of this book. Eva has a rare disorder. She feels no pain. Nate is a neurologist and very interested in Eva's condition. They fall in love and marry. Eva becomes a therapist. Then something goes awry. Nate comes home and finds Eva in her studio dead. Was it an overdose? Accident? Murder? Or possibly suicide?

Anna is hired to ghost write a book for Nate. His story. The story of his life. It's a hard job but Anna does a brilliant job of getting to the bottom of things. Of how and why things happened. She has many questions and there are several obstacles in her way but she manages. Anna and Nate have a bit of chemistry but she also fears him. He has a bit of a temper. Anna finds Eva's journal and learns a lot. But does it give her the answers she is looking for or more confusion? How does Anna's brother Tony fit into this? What big secrets do Anna and Tony have? What will happen when or if it is revealed?

This book is a quick read and kept me turning the pages. I really wanted to know what happened. Who may or may not have murdered Eva. Or if she overdosed. I wanted conclusions. I was left just a bit scratching my head until I read the Epilogue. That summed it up pretty well.

This book lost one star because I found it utterly unbelievable. It was still good though so I won't say don't read it. I have to say grab it. Read it. See what it's all about. It's good. I enjoyed it and it did give me some of the feels I expect from a good story.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Harlequin, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Four stars.

I was so excited by the premise of this book, unfortunately it completely fell flat for me.

Coming from a medical background, I was immediately drawn in by Eva’s rare condition of the inability to feel pain. Married to a scientist who investigates the neuroscience behind pain, Dr. Nate Reid, Eva mysteriously is found dead. Nate is seen as the primary suspect, although there is no evidence to substantiate the claim. Anna is a journalist who was drawn in by the perplexing case, and is somehow brought on to assist as a ghostwriter for Nate’s memoir.

My issue stems from there really being no character development, and I never fully understood why Anna became so invested in ghostwriting a memoir for Nate. There was a very slow build up to what amounted to an ending I predicted pretty early on. The slow pace, lack of character depth, and unsurprising ending made the book fall flat and a struggle to get through for me personally.

I did enjoy the author’s writing style and would be interested in reading more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted eARC.

The slow burn of this book is excellent. I could feel the sadness coming off the pages. Even when you can't feel pain doesn't mean you can't die. This book has twists and turns that are so hidden, you don't know what's coming until it is there. Loved that!

This was very boring. Seemed to go nowhere.
The writing was clunky and difficult to read. The story had no hook.

This book was a complete bait and switch. It wasn’t about what the description said at all. It’s a soap opera of people making bad decisions, and knowing it. Every character was flat and, frankly, idiotic. There was no realism. There was really just suggestion and weird scenes about pain. There could have been some depth to this subject. There wasn’t. I slogged through it hoping there would be a payoff. I was looking for the “twists” that people wrote about in their reviews. Nothing here was a twist. It was completely predictable.

The synopsis of this book sounded like it was going to be a page turning suspenseful thrill-ride, unfortunately for me, this was quite the opposite. I found this book very slow and dragging, I wanted to give up half way through but decided to keep reading - fingers crossed it would improve. I think my main reason for disliking this book is that most of what happens is just talked about instead of it happening. This book is a lot of conversations about what happened in the past, and I much prefer books that have more action. This book just wasn't for me.

This book started off intriguing and I was immediately tucked in. Then it didn't take long to lose interest. I honestly figured most of the twists early on and ended up skipping most of the book. Where I picked back up I wasn't lost at all. It went exactly as I expected. I think fans of The Silent Patient will really enjoy this story. It wasn't for me.

You Can’t Hurt Me started off pretty slow. I actually thought about putting it down because it didn’t grab my attention at first. The story picks up about halfway through, and that’s when things got more interesting. The twist had me guessing and trying to figure out what would happen next, which kept me reading. This is my first book by Emma Cook, and I’m not sure if I’ll read another one. The ending does make you think, leaving a bit of a mystery about who did it, which was a nice touch. I received an ARC copy from NetGalley.

I just could not make it through this book. The writing felt so choppy and just not good. It felt like it still needed to go through a couple of edits. I could see what the author was trying to do but it just missed the mark for me personally.

This was a good one! First time reading from this author. The characters were interesting and the story kept me turning the pages!

I did not finish this book. I couldn’t even get through to chapter 10. There were so many grammatical issues as well as format issues for me. I had high hopes for this because I am a redhead and I was very interested in the concept, but this writer style of writing did not work for me and I just can’t get past all of the errors in formatting.

An average read for me. The pacing was slow until near the end and the main character’s motivations weren’t always clear.. I had a hard time being invested in the characters and the lack of action made it hard to keep my interest.

Thanks to the publisher for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

What a chillingly delightful novel! The woman married to the pain specialist, Eva, is found dead under some rather mysterious circumstances. But what a complication! She cannot feel pain since she suffers from a congenital condition that precludes her from doing so. When Anna, a ghostwriter, enters the scenario, she is fascinated with Eva’s story and Dr. Reid’s obsession with studying pain. Anna is determined to find out what really happened the night that Eva died, but her quest is filled with some unexpected twists and turns as well as danger. This is a moderately paced novel, perfectly paced for the action in the story. The characters are compelling and dynamic and the research that is included in the story is absolutely riveting. I had trouble putting down the book, especially once Anna started her independent investigation. This book proves that one should not take anything for granted and that not all narrators can be trusted. With a web of deceit built into the story as well as a cleverly executed page-turner with some head-spinning twists, this novel captivated my attention and intrigued me with its profound revelations about pain and how it can be manipulated. Edgy and satisfying novel that is terrifyingly brilliant!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

2⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of You Can’t Hurt Me.

Dr. Nate Reid lost his wife Eva to a drug overdose a few years ago and now he is writing a book about their life together and he needs a ghost writer. In comes journalist Anna to help with the book. She cannot decide whether Nate is being honest or not. Can she find out the truth before she puts herself in more danger.

This book was a boring read to me. It talked way too much about medical things that were very hard to follow. It just felt like the book drug on way too long. I could not connect with the characters either.

I was invited to the Book Tour for this Title.
Will be linking my Excerpt Post as soon as I receive the assets.
Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing for the invitation.

For some reason I just couldn't get into this psychological thriller. I was intrigued by the premise of a patient who has a condition in which she feels no pain and ends up marrying her psychologist only to end up mysteriously dead. Then later another doctor becomes obsessed with her case and in the course of research uncovers some shocking secrets. Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of the narrator and she kind of put me off the whole story causing me to DNF early on. I would still recommend this book for fans of The silent patient but for some reason it was a miss for me. Reading in print might be a better alternative some time in the future. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio and digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to Emma Cook, Hanover Square Press and Netgalley for the ARC!

“We’re all hiding something. Big or little, tragic or unseemly. We keep our dark secrets; we hold our truths close to the vest. We don’t share our true minds with anyone. Not really. No matter the woods that come from your mouth or your fingertips on the keyboard, they are filtered…maybe you have tried to be your true self, here and there. How did that work for you?”

The concept of this book is what drew me to it initially - a person who could not feel physical pain? At first, that sounds awesome…but it was clear that Eva was feeling a different kind of pain. Married to acclaimed scientist Nate Reid, founder of “The Pain Laboratory”, her existence is anything but happy. When Eva turns up dead, everyone is all over the story. Enter Anna Tate, a journalist with a dark and painful past of her own. As Anna spends more time with Dr. Reid, she finds herself growing increasingly protective of Eva. When the opportunity to work more closely with Dr. Reid presents itself, Anna soon learns that some secrets can’t stay hidden.

I was fascinated by Eva’s condition and wanted to know what happened to her. What I wasn’t expecting was for Anna and Eva’s stories to mirror each other at all, and they did a little bit. As Anna got closer to Dr. Reid, more and more secrets come out and things get even convoluted. With so many unreliable characters, it made it impossible to trust anyone and I loved every bit of it! Without giving any spoilers, the final twist really threw me but made SO much sense once it was revealed!

This was the first book I read by Emma Cook and I will definitely be checking out more of her work! “You Can’t Hurt Me” releases November 5, 2024. This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)