Intriguing but a bit of a grind to me and I did take awhile to finish it
I not sure why didn’t grip me and I’m sorry as a lot loved it so maybe I try again at another point

I will start off by saying that it is a clever plot, with twists but...it just didn't keep up momentum for me. It seemed a bit long winded and there were some characters/story lines that I feel could have just been left out. I feel like I missed a small minor detail that would have made everything make sense, but I don't know what that would have been.
Thank you to the author, publishers Avon and NetGalley for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

This book follows Emma, a thirty year old dealing with Functional Neurological Disorder trapped in a sad life with her mean stepfather, mum, daughter and stepsister. She wants nothing more than to escape the oppressive house and when Emma meets Adam, a handsome Doctor, she begins to fantasise about their new life together. Adam is married and Emma plots how to dispatch Adam’s wife.

I wanted to like Emma’s character but I didn’t warm to her at all, she seemed so bitter and jealous all the time. I did empathise with her and her situation. I liked Celeste the most but even then I didn’t really relate to any of them.

I found the first half of the book to be very slow paced and I wonder if it’s partly because I didn’t get into the characters and wasn’t very bothered about what happened to them. The plot does pick up in the second half but even then I wasn’t gripped.
Some parts of the story felt a bit predictable to me and the ending was meh.

The author seems to have described FND and chronic illness well, from what it feels like to the disdain from some medical professionals and people thinking you’re lazy or faking it.

This book didn’t quite work for me, it was a bit slow paced for my liking and I didn’t feel invested in the story. 2.5 stars rounded to 3.

The story starts off quite slowly, but I am glad I stuck with things. Once the story start to unfold, the pace picks up. The alternating POV's give a well-rounded view, and it will have the reader turning pages to discover what happens next. Characters are well-crafted and complex. I love the fact that the MC has a chronic illness, particularly one that is unfamiliar to many people. I appreciate the author using this platform to help educate readers. Be sure to read the author note, too. . Emma is sympathetic, but also a bit terrifying. If you are a fan of twisty psychological thrillers, this is the book to check out. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel, and I look forward to other books by this author.

Plenty of wordplay in the title of this novel. It starts with sickness and ends with death, but it also a phrase that encompasses conditions and situations that are not the best but are difficult to overcome.

The sickness is really intriguing. A woman in her thirties has some kind of illness that makes her fatigued most of the time and sometimes she is lame, faints or has seizures. There are no physical indications as to what may cause this, which leaves many people thinking that she is feigning illness or has psychological issues. One of these people is her cruel stepfather. Given her condition she relies on her family to support her and her daughter, so they all live together in a cramped council house in South London. When she meets and attractive and kind doctor there seems to be a way out for her. Unfortunately, there is a wife preventing that dream from being fulfilled.

She is strung along for a while until they can formulate a plan to give him his freedom from his marriage, thus freedom for the ill woman, Emma. Obviously, the dream is too perfect...

The book is presented in mainly two parts. In the first, it is about Emma's life, how her sickness affects her and how it affects those around her. Attitudes vary, even within medical circles. This part is not tense as in conventional thrillers, but is very interesting and despite being slow with regards to the plot. It is narrated by the sick woman herself.

However, the next part is narrated by two other women as well: her stepsister and her lover's wife. There is a lot of exposition while the new versions of the characters explain their viewpoint and history. Oddly, they all have similar self esteem, desire for freedom and autonomy, deviousness, vengeance and aggression that borders on farcical, and often I couldn't decipher which character's story I was reading.

The ending is too simple and unrealistic making an unsatisfying read. That is, until the epilogue...brilliant.

Emma is sick. So much so that she can't even look after her own daughter, relying on her family's assistance. When she meets Adam, it seems her luck has changed...until Adam tells her he's married. He's unhappy with his wife Celeste though and the two plot ways they can be together. Holy moly, what a book this was! The twists were fantastic and emphasized further by the different points of view. This was such a clever book and I believe it's a debut which makes me even more excited to see what the author writes next!

Sick to Death by Chris Bridges is a dark and twisty novel about Emma. She has many symptoms of an illness but no one can seem to find the right diagnosis. While at the hospital, Emma meets Adam, a doctor at the hospital. Emma and Adam become close quickly and he brings Emma happiness she hasn’t felt in a long time. Everything is perfect except that Adam is married and Emma is sick in a different way and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. This novel is told with many pov’s so you are getting a side from many different characters. What a great read! Thank you Netgalley and Avon Book UK for the arc.

This book is told from multiple points of view. Emma is sick but the doctors can't seem to find anything wrong with her so what about the symptoms and why can't they find anything wrong? She's living at home with her mum, step-dad, step-sister and her daughter, not ideal.
After one of her hospital appointments she meets Adam who is a doctor and soon they become inseparable. The problem is he's married but says he's getting divorced.
Just what lengths are they prepared to go to to be together and how much can they trust each other.
Will be highly recommending this book. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for letting me read this.

Emma’s unable to work because of a neurological condition – meaning she sees more of her family’s council house than most. Although everyone has something to say about Emma’s health, her focus is on a romantic relationship, ie, being the other woman and not enjoying it. Continually underestimated, she’s found something to give her a bit of oomph, to concentrate on… it just happens to be someone, rather than something…

SICK TO DEATH

With one of the best prologues I’ve read, in a long time I found that I just HAD to keep turning the pages of Chris Bridges’ debut novel, Sick To Death.

This well crafted story, is not as it seems. And once you’ve got to Part Two you’re already left questioning who to trust and believe in this twisty thriller.

Sick To Death is hard to put down.
This totally original and unique
story had me gasping with its sensational twists and turns pulling you in and holding you right to the end.

I don’t know if it’s because I found this book personally relatable; not the murderous side… or the conniving ‘Cruel Intensions’ aspect, but the illness.

There was so much ambiguity in relation to Emma’s illness at the start of this story, I just had to know if it was the same, unpredictable, difficult to diagnose illness that I have been cursed with.

I have to ask the question…
would it be more relatable if we knew what the illness was from the off ? Or does not knowing leave it relatable to more people as the symptoms spoken off can fit into more than one illness?

I personally have to go with the latter

With huge thanks to #Netgalley the publishers #AvonbooksUK and of course the author Chris Bridges for giving me the opportunity to read this sensational debut novel, in exchange for my honest review.

#SickToDeath #author #ChrisBridges #debut #psychological #thriller #unputdownable #sensational #unique #original #twisty #relatable #ambiguity #CruelIntentionsVibes

Emma is sick. She can’t work because of a neurological condition, so is stuck in her family’s tiny council house with her 11-year-old daughter, her mom, step-father and step-sister. Doctors can't figure out what's wrong with her and people, even her family, tend to suspect that she's faking it. She feels sorry for herself and tries to make herself invisible until she meets Adam, a handsome doctor with an inconvenient wife.

The first part of this book is quite slow and I was wondering if I would regret accepting the offer to read this novel, then suddenly I was totally engrossed in the story and really enjoyed the rest of it. The story is told from the povs of Emma, Becky (Emma's step-sister) and Celeste (Adam's wife). There are some very unlikeable charcters and quite a few twists which kept the story interesting. I really liked all the information about birds and how certain birds' behaviour mirrored that of the characters in the story. I enjoyed learning the terms for groups of different birds. I'm ready for Jeopardy now! The book is also informative as far as describing the difficulties of living with a Functional Neurological Disorder. Even though the ending is not open and shut, I was very pleased with it. Be sure to read the Author's Note; it contains some relevant information and useful links. I give this book 4.5 stars and I'm rounding up because it was definitely not a run-of-the-mill murder mystery. I'll be watching for whatever this author writes next.

Thank you to HarperCollins/Avon Books UK, via Netgalley, for offering me the opportunity to read an ARC of this debut novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: March 27, 2025

This was a great read! Twists and turns, betrayals, greed! Excellent characterisations especially of Emma, a central character suffering with a neurological disorder that I was totally invested in. A very brave book too, written by an author with MS. Let's hope there's more books in the queue.

I was so surprised to find out Sick to death was the author Chris Bridges first novel, it was that good so i am definitely keeping an eye out for future releases. It was original and kept me engaged right from the start.

We follow alongside Emma, she is sick of life, stuck living in her family tiny council house and battling a neurological condition. Everyone is giving her an opinion that she doesn't ask for nor want. She is sick and tiring of being the other woman. Her boyfriend Adam is perfect in everyway but there is only one problem, Celeste aka Adam's wife. Well Emma is sick just not in the way you think and she's going to try and make that one problem disappear.

A slow burn at the beginning but as part two begins the tension and suspense just keeps on coming.

The author did an amazing job on portraying invisible illnesses. There are characters that you will dislike, Emma is a character that i neither liked nor disliked, the way she is portrayed felt very authentic, there are times she is tough and resilient whilst times she has a villainous aura about her, i do know that Emma is a character that i am going to remember for a long time.

Told in different perspectives, there are a few twists and turns and a lot of drama that engages you and will keep you wondering to the very end. The narrative of each perspective is easy to follow and you always wonder who is truly the bad(?) person.

A psychological thriller read that has moments of hate, jealousy, love and struggles that draws the reader into feeling the emotions of the characters. Sick to death is a great debut novel that i would definitely recommend you to read. A definite must read

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Avon Books UK | Avon for the copy of this arc in exchange of my full honest review.

This was such a dark read, it was so gripping right away and it felt very unique. It had moments that surprised me and made me feel shocked!

Sick to Death is a fascinating thriller full of twists. There are some great characters and lovely detail.

It's great to see a novel with a protagonist with a chronic illness - this kind of representation without cliche is really valuable.

Emma Miller, 30, suffers from a neurological condition that leaves her with frequent numbness in her limbs and dizziness. Unable to work, she ives with her mother and stepfather, Peter, who is a disgusting man constantly cruel to her. She dreams of getting revenge on him. She has a daughter, Ava, 11, and does her best to care for her. She is divorced from her husband. Her stepsister, Becky, helps her care for Ava. As Peter took over her bedroom for his office, she has to sleep on the sofa at night after everyone goes to bed. Emma enjoys bird watching and has some books from which she enjoys learning more about them.

One day, Emma meets a man who helped her as she left the hospital one day. His name is Adam, 36, who tells her he is a doctor. Turns out he lives not far from her with his soon to be ex-wife, Celeste, in a large home. They meet up from time to time just to walk somewhere. He is kind to her. As they become closer, he convinces Emma that he wants to be with her but he needs to get rid of Celeste first. She says that she would like to get rid of Peter too. So, they agree that she will kill Celeste and he will kill Peter.

As this story evolves, the original plan goes awry and we learn more about the characters and their true motives. This is a dark, sad, and emotional novel. I think the only characters I liked were Celeste and Ava. Even with Emma’s illness, I didn’t find that I cared that much for her. Her illness is very real from what I have learned although doctors are baffled as to the cause. Unfortunately, the book is OK but not a favorite for me.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sick to Death surprised me, when I started reading it I thought I had it sussed but no, but a bit like the birds Emma loves this story sweeps and swerves and keeps changing and keeps you interested in what is happening with the characters most of whom are quite repulsive and the ending was great. definitely worth reading.

Wasn’t able to read this one digitally but I did order a copy of the book so will be reviewing it after I’ve read it. I’m really excited for it as I’ve only heard great things about it.

I wanted to like this more than I did. As someone with chronic illness, I was unable to relate which isn't super important but it feels like it is when the book is kind of centered around that. I also felt like it was just too long.

I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.