Unputdownable! Full of toxic relationships packaged into a short book of short chapters- this book is quite a ride. Perfect for a short flight or a beach day.

Claire found the man of her dreams in Noah. She’s anxious to get married and start the family she always dreamed of.
But while dropping off lunch for Noah at work she’s stunned when the receptionist informs her he no longer works there. Huh? He never mentioned changing jobs.

Now to add to the confusion, Noah doesn’t answer Claire’s calls…or reply to any of her texts. In essence, she has been ghosted!
But Claire isn’t going quietly into the night! She wants answers. No, she demands an explanation!

Careful what you ask for Claire, are you prepared for the answer? I didn’t think so!

Absolutely loved the premise. I wanted an explanation for Noah’s actions as much as Claire did! I recommend going into this book as blind as possible. The blurb gives away far too much detail.

Congrats Callie Kazumi on a great debut!
I’ll be watching to see what this author has in store for us next.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine via NetGalley

This was a doozy of a thriller! And for a debut, I was really impressed! Claire is a complex character and I was just heartbroken for the awful childhood she had with her emotionally abusive mother. I had so much compassion for her just wanting a normal life, with people who loved and cared for her. I had so many questions and had no idea what was actually true. Ultimately, it was such a sad story with an unsettling ending, but I really enjoyed it. I cannot wait to read what this author writes next!

I liked this debut. I would’ve loved it if it were more thrilling. I guessed the twist early on, so maybe that’s why I got bored. Probably would’ve been five stars if there was more suspense & drama instead of so much reminiscing on Claire’s childhood. The epilogue solidified the book as a strong 4 because it was eerie. Thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

Author Callie Kazumi’s promising debut novel, Claire, Darling, features an unreliable narrator who has endured an abusive mother, childhood bullying, and a rather lonely life until she meets the handsome and charming Noah Coors in the wine section of a bottle shop.

The shocking opening of Claire, Darling is the aftermath of the story’s major event. From there, Clarie tells her tale through present day narrative and the historical journaling of her relationship with Noah from the first meeting to his ghosting of her. Claire’s character development is exceptional throughout the first half of the book which culminates with the opening scene. While I found Claire unreliable and a bit cringe-worthy in the first half of the book, I found the courtroom trial fascinating. The enlightening tidbits that made both the jurors and me question the validity of Claire’s perceptions as well the cunning cross-examination by the defense that opened chasms of doubt in the witnesses accounts.

As a frequent reader of psychological thrillers, I was not surprised by the big twist, but I enjoyed the journey there as well as the chilling epilogue! Claire, Darling is a worthy debut novel, and I look forward to Ms. Kazumi’s next novel.

I received an ARC of this book. I found this story to be intriguing initially. It's well written with unusual characters. I enjoyed it but I wish it had been less predictable toward the end.

A murder, a trial, an unreliable narrator combine in this nicely zippy thriller about a woman who discovers she's been ghosted and sets out for answers. Noah made Claire's life so much better but it turns out he was never really there for her. This moves along different timelines to tell her story, including her toxic relationship with her mother. You might guess where this is going but Kazumi make it an interesting journey. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers from me.

Disappointed because I stayed with the book thinking I hadn't figured the whole thing out at the very beginning. But I did. I thought surely there will be a great twist. There wasn't. I feel like I've read this story many times before so it wasn't for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. Claire, Darling is the debut novel by Callie Kazumi - the story of a young woman who suffered as an unloved child due to abuse by a narcissistic mother. She’s told that no one will ever love her like her mother does although her mother doesn’t love her. Claire grows up, moves out and meets and falls in love with Noah who is seemingly the perfect man. She writes in her diaries of their love and romance and eventual engagement. When Claire discovers Noah is seeing another woman everything comes crashing down. There’s a huge plot twist about half way through the book and even though I was able to guess some of what would happen there was yet another even bigger twist at the end. Claire, Darling is an impressive debut suspense/thriller- one that was hard to put down

This book is like many others and I knew what was going on but I still really enjoyed where it took me. This is a debut book by this author and I look forward to reading other books they write.

Claire is in love with her fiance, has a good job and a great best friend. What could go wrong? I couldn't turn the pages fast enough as I wanted to find out!

If you are looking for a quick read and like a thriller, this is an easy one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random Publishing House for this ARC.

Boasting quite an intriguing premise, I eagerly dove into this compelling, psychological thriller and devoured it in just one day. Though ultimately predictable, I was still fully engaged in Claire’s rather disturbing story from start to finish.

As the story slowly unfolds, it switches between past and present events, told through Claire’s unreliable narrative. Desperate for answers as to why her fiancé, Noah, has ghosted her, Claire embarks on a truth-finding journey that leads her down a path toward self-destruction.

It is said that the truth will set you free… but in Claire’s case, the truth is what will inevitably keep her bound.

2.5 stars. I'm hesitant to say much about this book, because I feel like reading other reviews led me to make some (correct) assumptions about how the story played out before I even started reading, and that may have taken away from my enjoyment of this story. (Have I already said too much?) But ultimately I think many domestic thriller readers will find this quite predictable. This doesn't really cover any new ground and I felt like the second half of the book (when events and the storytelling format take a turn) felt a bit slow and I didn't love the way things wrapped up. The psychological exploration of Claire's relationship with her mother was interesting (if perhaps a bit over the top), but it didn't really amount to much in the end. Entertaining enough, but overall I didn't really feel like it was worth my time.

I was really excited for this psychological thriller, however from probably the first 10% of the way into this book, I know exactly what was going on and how it was going to end. I did not feel particularly pulled in any which way for any of these character characters and I didn’t feel very connected to any of them.


I really wish that I did not guess the ending so quickly into the book but because I did it just made the whole story feel very slow and predictable

Wow what a book. I was invested from page one! This almost feels like two books in one, part one and part two. They're very different, but equally eye opening. This book follows Claire discovering that her fiancee is not who he says he is.. Claire decides to bring him lunch to his office one day and she finds out he no longer works there and when he doesn't come home that night she goes on a wild chase to find out where he is and what is going on.. This book also has flashbacks to Claire's abusive childhood and how it shapes who she is today. I really enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC!

Although I feel I have read this trope many times, this felt well done and new. Thrilling, twisty, and overall a great read. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

I enjoyed this twisty thriller while it was nothing new it was still a fun time and kept me guessing till the end. This story follows Claire as we find out her fiancé is cheating but when she goes to confront him things start to take a turn. The first half of this book was a little slow for me but once we got to the second half I could not put it down. The ending was something you saw coming but I still thought it was entertaining. The writing wasn’t my favorite on this one but it is a debut novel and I would definitely read more from this author in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

This was an outstanding novel with a great plot! I loved paging through each scene to see what would happen next. I enjoyed reading the scenes, going back and forth in time. I couldn’t decide what to believe, and was surprised at the twists and turns!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this

WOW! Okay so I was definitely going back and forth between theories of what was ACTUALLY happening thought this story. Honestly I don’t even want to say too much, I would definitely just go in mostly blind to this one. THE ENDING. Had me (again) saying WTFFF lol there’s more than one moment of WTF in this one! I really enjoyed and absolutely devoured this book and am currently up WAY too late in order to finish it. Worth it. Definitely recommend!

[Snack-Size Review] Claire, Darling, by Callie Kazumi

Quick Bite: Entirely too predictable.

(*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*)

What It’s About: When Claire stops by her fiance Noah’s workplace to take him lunch, she is told that he hasn’t worked there for months. Confused, she tries calling, texting, all the usual ways of reaching him. But he’s thoroughly ghosted her, and she’s determined to find out why.

A Word From The Nerd: Duckies, I’ve read this same story with the same “shocking” twist a whole lot of times. I think most regular thriller readers would’ve also known exactly where it was going. And the epilogue was just cheesy.

The Nerd’s Rating: TWO HAPPY NEURONS (and some Caribbean take-out.)

This was a doozy of a book, but I really enjoyed it.

It's really better for readers to not know much about it going into it.

CLAIRE, DARLING had such a great premise - woman goes to fiance's work only to find out he does not work there. What else has he been lying about?

Each chapter revealed little details and Easter eggs that made sense at the end. I wonder how many people will guess the ending, but I know I was surprised through about 95 percent of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an e-copy of CLAIRE, DARLING to review.

I rate CLAIRE, DARLING five out of five stars.