This was GOOD. Claire decides to surprise her fiancé on their anniversary by bringing him lunch at work, but when she arrives the receptionist tells her that he no longer works there.
And then he's not taking her phone calls, answering her texts, or coming home. So basically, Claire has been ghosted, and she quickly becomes obsessed with getting answers. With Sukhi by her side they begin to uncover Noah's secrets about his other life, but Claire doesn't want to believe it.
Claire is definitely an unreliable narrator, and you can't decide if you really believe what she says or not and that definitely makes the read more interesting. While the twists were a bit predictable, it didn't take away from how good it was overall and how it still felt shocking, even if I knew it was coming. The last page is definitely one that you would describe as 'jaw dropping.'
I don't want to say anything more that could give the ending away because I definitely recommend the read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My darlings, I just spent 24 hours with this debut and it was one wild ride.

When Claire drops off a lunch for her fiancé, Noah, as a surprise, she is the one surprised to find out he doesn’t actually work in the building. And when Claire tries to clear up the mistake, Noah doesn’t answer calls or texts. Has she been ghosted? What follows is a twisty ride as Claire plunges herself into an obsessive journey to find answers.

This book grabbed me from the start and didn’t let go until the very end. While I thought I had it all figured out pretty early on, the author did such a great job at making you doubt EVERYTHING. I love a good unreliable narrator story, and this was perfection. This had great pacing and was well done for a debut. I look forward to reading more from the author.

Grab yourself a glass (or bottle!) of wine and hunker down. This is one you don’t want to miss.

Thank you to Callie Kazumi, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, and NetGalley for a digital copy of the book for an honest review.

Loved this novel that kept me guessing. Very unique perspective with an unreliable narrator. Also had a great ending!

This story grabbed me right away I could not put it down.
It’s filled with twists and turns and loads of cray cray!
This is a great domestic thriller that will have you
on the edge of your seat and trying to guess if you’re right or wrong.
*Mommy dearest vibes
*Lying, cheating
*Mental Health
*Child Abuse

The title of “Claire, Darling” was changed from the original “Cuckoo” — which might be enough to spoil what’s going to happen in this debut psychological thriller from Callie Kazumi. The book opens with a murdered woman and, presumably, her unknown-gender observer musing about how the two of them got to this point. So, is this the killer and could it be our darling Claire? Or the other girlfriend of the ghosting cad Noah and the dead body is Claire? Shouldn’t awful Noah be bleeding somewhere, too, no matter who’s dead?

This is a one-sitting read that will either keep you going until the end or irk you immediately as you are screaming “He’s not worth it, Claire!” We get to read Claire’s diary entries from the day she met Noah a year ago (who makes her origami love notes). It’s also quickly obvious she had a very strained and torturous relationship with “Mother,” a constant family drama that obviously influenced Claire for the worse.

As expected, once Claire gets totally ghosted and rejected in person by Noah, she goes into full-on stalker mode (with a little initial help from her workmate Sukhi and Noah’s oversharing on social media). You’ll have to read this fairly short novel to find out what happens and how it circles back to the prologue, but oh-my-goodness….

The “Mother” vignettes could have possibly been trimmed. They became so abusive and tragic that I started to skim over them. Admittedly, mental illness does play a very serious role in this thriller. Anyway, it’s a terrific debut for a new author. If you enjoyed Alex Michaelides’ “The Silent Patient,” you’ll enjoy “Claire, Darling.” 4 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES The unrelated Sukhi, Blake, and Lilah all have green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska):NO However, I had never encountered the term “gardening leave” before so now I know it has nothing to do with gardening.

Thank you to Random House/Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

I was completely engrossed in this debut novel by Callie Kazumi that focuses on thirty-something Claire Arundale as she is thrilled to be engaged to (Mr. Perfect) Noah and eagerly anticipating her upcoming wedding. That is until Noah ghosts her and everything disintegrates from there. Poor Claire, who had the distinct misfortune of being the sole offspring of one of the worst Mom-sters I’ve come across, tolerated heinous parental neglect and belittling along with school bullying that left her feeling isolated and unlovable. Until she met Noah. The twist at the end is the psychological icing on this delicious cake of a novel! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Such a good thriller. Crazy storyline with interesting characters! I was invested right from the first few pages. It has been a long time since a psychological mystery took my interest. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

CLAIRE, DARLING, is an addictive and entertaining psychological thriller. I was not expecting to read it in one day but I was drawn in immediately and couldn't stop. Claire is happily engaged to her fiancé, Noah. She decides one day to bring him lunch but when she gets to his office, she is told he doesn't work there anymore. Then she sees him with a beautiful blonde. Claire can't understand why Noah is doing this to her. Without saying much more you are then taken on a wild ride. I can't recommend this thriller enough!

Many thanks for my gifted copy. I will be sharing my review @coffee.break.book.reviews closer to publication day.

Really liked Claire, Darling! Fast paced and twisty, it kept my attention and I read it in just 2 days. I was able to predict the ending pretty early on, but the story made me want to keep reading just to see if I was right. Would definitely recommend!

Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

A confusing book, by design, we get caught in Claire's world, her diary, her things, her work, her relationships, and more and things just did not make feel right to me. Claire details the wonderful one anniversary of meeting dreamboat Noah and the time they spend together that night. Noah, handsome, smart, with a high powered job. As we learn of Claire's past with her abusive mom and how she didn't seem to manage functional friendships growing up, it's hard to understand how she came about to snag this prize in the form of gorgeous Noah.

And then when Claire decides to drop in on Noah's workplace the next day, Claire's world falls apart as if it was made of cotton candy dissolving in the rain. It seems Noah has someone else, has an entirely other life, and Claire really didn't know that Noah was living another life apart from the one Claire describes.

Not to be deterred, Claire is going to bring Noah back into the fold, remind him of what he is missing when he's not with her, let him know she forgives him and they can continue with their dreams of marriage, a house someday, kids, growing old together. Nothing will stop Claire and she will not let Noah's "other" life destroy the one they have together. Something has to give it and won't be Claire's dreams of a lifetime with Noah.

Claire's friend, Sukhi, who I adore but think of as almost too kind and naive, gave the story much needed backbone that can't be provided by Claire. What a sweet friend, someone in Claire's court, when Claire needs someone the most. Everyone needs a friend like Sukhi.

I really had my doubts about Claire and there comes a time in the story where reality is revealed to us in a formal setting. I enjoyed the story but read it with dread. Secrets are exposed and they are not pretty yet I could not stop watching, thinking a train wreck was coming but hoping it could be averted, somehow, someway.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam and NetGalley for this ARC.

This captured my attention on the first page and held it until the last! Claire has her world fall apart when she decides to surprise her fiancé by bringing him lunch at work. She discovers that Noah no longer works there and hasn’t for months. How could he keep something like this from her? She tries to call, text but he ghosts her.

I thought I knew where this was going but partway through I got the rug pulled out from me and was pleasantly surprised as things went a different direction. Claire endured a troubled childhood filled with abuse and being bullied. These helped form who she is now.

I liked the past and present journal entries from Claire’s perspective. Suki tries to help her figure out the truth about Noah.

Hard to believe this is a debut novel.

This is absolutely one of the most mind-bending thrillers I have ever read in my life. The twist....THE TWIST. Phenomenal. Could not put it down. WIll be purchasing for libraries.

Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi was a tense, fast paced thriller that I plowed through in one afternoon, I couldn't put it down!
My only complaint is that I was able to predict the twist very early on. That said, I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
For a more indepth review you can check out my spoiler free youtube review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWGKpd4G3iM

thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review!

I want to give this book four stars because it's an absolute blast. I finished it in like two hours and was absolutely glued to it. but I do think it's a bit preoccupied with like... debut book jitters. like the twist in this book is so obvious, though Kazumi definitely did a pretty good job making you doubt what exactly was happening, and again there's something really absorbing about this book even when the plot is obvious. that said, yeah, "don't trust the diary" is like rule #1 of a thriller like this. I do also think it had some truly comically OTT evil characters that were just so evil and terrible that I couldn't take them seriously.

still, if you want to spend an afternoon reading a true blast of a thriller, this ain't a bad choice at all

This book was so good and twisted! I loved the suspense and truly couldn't put it down. A little bit dark because of some heavy topics, I was sucked in from the first page and read it in 24 hours.

This one had so much potential, but in the end I found it predictable I’m sorry to say. It was an entertaining read, but I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Disclosure I received this as an ARC.

The story was extremely interesting, it just felt entirely too slow paced for me.

If you love unreliable narrators and twisty stories this might be for you!

I won’t say anymore to keep from spoiling but I feel like if you’re a fan of Gone Girl or a Simple Favor you would enjoy this as well.

I enjoyed this one. It touches on some serious and traumatic topics like bullying, ghosting, break ups, abuse, etc so please make sure to read the trigger warnings before reading! Break ups can be messy after all!

I enjoyed it and definitely would recommend to other readers!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review!

Oh Claire Darling!
If a man walks away, hold your head high and LET HIM!

Claire is excited to drop off a surprise workday lunch for her fiancé Noah on their anniversary, but the surprise is on her when the receptionist tells her that no one with Noah's name works there.

Suddenly, he isn't picking up her calls or answering her texts.

She has been ghosted!

With her new friend Sukhi by her side, Claire is determined to get answers. In fact, she becomes OBSESSED.

But, she REFUSES to believe the things that they find!

This psychological thriller opens with a MURDER, and ends with a Courtroom TRIAL, but in between you will learn about all of the ways Noah has humiliated her in the present and all of the ways her MOTHER has abused her in the past-IF you can believe everything that Claire (and her diary entries) are telling you…..

As a reader of MANY books in this genre, I could predict some of where this was going -BUT despite that- the story DID hold my attention throughout and offered up a fun, memorable ending!

A promising debut! I will definitely pick up the author’s next!
3.75 ⭐️ rounded ⬆️

A buddy read with MarilynW. Be sure to watch for her review to see if she had fun with this one too!

Available March 13, 2025.

Thank You to Bantam for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!

This Book grabbed me from the start and I was hooked till the end. Claire fell hard for Noah when she met him in a market one day and they began dating. He was in her eyes the Perfect Man. He always did the right thing, said the right thing, pampered her and met all her needs. Almost too good to be true right? No wonder she said yes when a year later he proposed.

However Claire began to find things about this perfect man Noah that wasn't so perfect and she was very upset. Claire spirals and things go from bad to well really bad.

This was a good book with lots of twists that you might wonder what is really happening up until the end.