This is a really fun and exciting read. Claire is ghosted by her fiancé, Noah, and as the reader, we are along for the ride as she tries to figure out why. This is a gripping and twisty novel, and as a debut novel. I am excited to read more from this author.

This mystery/domestic story starts when Claire and her friend Sukhi decide to bring lunch to Claire's fiancé Noah. Only when they arrive at Noah's place of employment they are told he hasn't worked there in months. Claire tries to call Noah only to find her number blocked and she can't figure out what in the world is going on. The current story alternates with stories from Claire's childhood with her abusive and narcissistic mother. As Sukhi and Claire investigate what is going on with Noah, they find out he is engaged to another woman named Lilah and works in a different company than he told Claire. We also see snippets from Claire's diary as she talks about meeting Noah in a wine shop and the romantic and sweet side of him that made her fall in love.

I don't think there was much of a mystery as it was pretty obvious what was going on from the start. There were also too many stories from Claire's childhood, each showing her mother behaving in an abusive way towards Claire. There are a couple of twists in this story and I found it a quick read. I did feel bad for Claire who was always told she was "nothing" by her mother, bullied in school and didn't have any friends besides Sukhi. I really liked the character of Sukhi as she was a truly devoted friend to Claire. There is a murder in this book as well as stories of child abuse. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

I had a hard time getting into this book and did not find it an enjoyable read. I have a hard time giving feedback that is negative but I could not finish this book.

Claire has finally found the man of her dreams - he's handsome, successful and totally in love with her. Or is he? After Noah ghosts her completely, Claire slowly unravels as she obsesses to understand the truth of what's going on. But was the relationship ever truly "real" to begin with?

The premise of Claire, Darling is solid -- but for me, the execution fell short. Almost instantly upon starting this book, I knew this was going to be an uphill battle of maintaining my interest. Surprisingly enough, I stuck with it and finished the novel in a half-day! The second half picked up for me during the courtroom trial, which is where I really picked up steam with the reading pace. The abrupt ending was a bit of a downer though.

For me, this is 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House, and Callie Kazumi for this e-ARC.

Whoa boy, this book was a fun ride. Claire, raised by an abusive, narcissist mother, who tells her she is not worthy of love, finally finds the love of her life, Noah. Claire can't believe what a great man she's found and she's so happy when he asks her to marry him. Then, all of a sudden, Noah ghosts her. Claire will do anything to get this perfect, loving man back.

This book had me hooked right from the beginning. You feel so bad for little Claire and the things she has to deal w from her mother. Then we meet Noah and we feel happy for Claire, bc she deserves something good in her life. When Noah ghosts her out of the blue, I couldn't wait to see why, and what was going on. The twist at the end was something I never would've guessed, and I thought it was great.

I highly recommend this book and author. I fully enjoyed this one.

I have to admit - this book wasn't my favorite. I hate being ghosted so the fact that Claire was ghosted by her fiancé. It just seemed to go downhill as Claire fought to figure out why as well as dealing with underlying trauma from her childhood. It was definitely not what I expected.

This book was a quick one for me, I read it almost in one sitting. It starts off fast and then slows down. As reader who lives psychological thrillers I found it a little predictable and hoped for a shocking twist.
At first I felt bad for Claire, I mean come on this guy is lying to her, avoiding her and blocks her from his social media! But as the plot unfolded I started to really dislike Claire.
The ending was a bit lacking but that could just be for me as I expected a shocking twist.
At some points I almost put the book down and not pick it up again, but I couldn't. I still wanted to find out the ending even though I already kinda knew how it would end.

This reviewer thoroughly enjoyed reading Clarie, Darling. This compelling psychological thriller kept me awake late into the night to finish the story, and I loved every minute. The author offers a modern twist on a seemingly familiar tale and then surprises us with an original storyline.

There are lots of mixed reviews on this book, but I found the novel to be highly entertaining and well written. The characters are well drawn. My empathy for Claire stayed with me to the last page. I can't imagine why she wants to reconcile with a man who dumps her so callously and hurts her so badly, but her passion for Noah blinds her to the truth. No spoilers here. You'll have to read the book to learn more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for providing an advance copy of the book to read and review. This review will post to Bayside Book Reviews.com at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

A devious, addictive little read which I gobbled up in one sitting! Callie Kazumi is a powerful and fascinating new voice in suspense fiction, and her main character, Claire, is equally intriguing. I knew pretty much from the beginning of this book what the "twist" was -- in fact, the author doesn't really try to hide it -- but that didn't take away at all from the fun of the reading experience. This is one of those books that can be read in a couple of different ways depending on your interpretation and how reliable you find the narrator. Kazumi does a masterful job of letting the reader into Claire's mind -- which is a bit of a dark and twisted place. I really enjoyed the supporting characters in the book especially Claire's best friend and her mother. Without giving too much away, the second half of the book becomes more of a traditional mystery/thriller and that plot is cleverly interwoven with Claire's internal monologue.

A really fun book that reads like a popcorn thriller, but has a little something more to say. Intelligent, witty, compassionate, and always fun to read. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author!

This book told hold of me and I binged it in one sitting. Great premise and characters. It is creepy, startling, and good. Can't wait to have my friends read this, too!I Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC. Pub Date is March 11, 2025.

#ClaireDarling

I really liked this!! What an interesting concept and what a bingeable book!! As soon as I read the summary I wanted to get my hands on this soooo bad. The ending wasn’t my favorite but it did keep me hooked and it was so fun to read :) thank you netgalley for the early copy!!

Claire thinks her fiance is wonderful. That is until one day when she tries to bring him lunch at work and finds he no longer works there. Why didn't he tell her and what other secrets is he hiding?
After realizing that he has blocked her on social media, she has a friend look him up. Who's the beautiful blonde in the pictures? It's time for Claire to do some investigating.
This book kept me on edge. The twist was very clever.

Thank you, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group and Callie Kazumi for this ARC.

I read this book in one day, I could not put it down even though I figured out what was going on in the first few chapters. I felt for Claire since she grew up with a horrible mother, but she still annoyed me. I kept telling myself to have empathy for her but it was kind of difficult for me to feel anything but annoyance for her. I just found her so unlikeable. That is just my thoughts on her.

The plot was interesting even though as I stated earlier, I figured out what was going on with Claire and Noah early on. It did keep me drawn in but that was because I wanted to see when everything would blow up. It did but not in the way that I expected. I did find the ending a little disappointing, I felt like it was missing something and I wanted more. I have to admit that I wouldn't complain if there is a sequel later on.

Propulsive and disturbing "Claire, Darling" is a psychological thriller that begs to be devoured.

It's not a flawless book, but this debut holds its own.

After a year with the love of her life, Claire's future is looking bright following a painful dysfunctional childhood. However, after a simple trip to drop off lunch for her fiancée ends in revelations that shake Claire's foundation, her path to happiness veers off course. She is informed that Noah her fiancée hasn't worked there in months. He's not returning her calls, she's blocked on all his social media accounts, and he won't come home. Claire is desperate for answers and to repair their relationship. She's not willing to accept being ghosted.

The novel is comprised of Claire's POV as an unreliable narrator and includes her journal entries. The timeline moves from the past with her experiences of traumatic abuse at the hands of her mother, to the history of her relationship with Noah, and to the current timeline. The transitions between timelines are smooth and provided a lot for me to mull over as I read. The writing was snappy and to the point which I like in this type of story.

The first half was more compelling than the last half by a mile. Those that read a lot of psychological thrillers will probably see the twists coming and find the ending predictable, but this still held my attention so much so that I read it in a day. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for what Kazumi writes next.
3.5 rounding up to 4

This was a wild ride! It was well written and wickedly clever. It was a trip to read through the plot because darling Claire was a bit of a hot mess. She seemed like she had it all together and then BAM. Everything implodes. The author did a fantastic job of sucking you into the story and I was definitely sucked in. I read this constantly until I was finished. It was rather interesting and didn’t have so much British slang that I felt I was reading a foreign language. Great book, definitely recommend!

This was a great book that I found easy to get wrapped up in. The flashback scenes were my favorite and so was the London setting. The outcome was quite twisty. I felt the author did a good job with the pace, character development, and also the ending. I definitely recommend this book to other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I am of two minds with this book. On the one hand, I read it in one day because it drew me in immediately. I couldn’t wait to find out what was going on. There is a lot of possibility here. On the other hand, I am not sure it reached its full potential. I don’t like to give any hints or spoilers in my reviews, so it’s impossible to explain that statement without giving anything away. I just wish it had “More”. Maybe I mean a little more drama or maybe a gotcha moment. I don’t get that with this book. While I felt sorry for Claire, I also don’t feel she was as fleshed out as she should have been. Showing depth and flaws makes a great read to me.
That’s not to say I don’t recommend it. I do! I enjoyed reading all of it. Just needed a little more.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Random House Ballantine for this ARC copy. #Clairedarling #Ballantinebooks #Randomhouse #Netgalley #2025mustreads

Newly engaged Claire decides to bring her fiancé Noah lunch one day at his job, but the receptionist tells her no works there by that name and her texts to him go unanswered, and Claire’s life spirals out of control. Claire, Darling starts on a promising note, but soon sinks into a sea of cliched scenes and stereotypical characters, and the book just never delivers on the opening excitement The plot is a familiar one, and there’s little drama or tension as steady readers will see the path this one is leading to. The flashbacks to a younger Claire, while succeeding in eliciting the reader’s sympathy for the character, didn’t have the dramatic finish the buildup hinted at. Overall a disappointment. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for an AMAZING Read!!!!! I am not sure if this a debut book or not but WOW!!!! I did figure it out immediately BUT that did NOT stop me from keeping on reading, I devoured the plot. Very, Very sad story because there are toooo many people like Claire in this world. LOVED how it kept me hooked, thank you again.

The plot and premise of this book was what drew me to it, but I was not as taken by the protagonist as I needed to be in order to care deeply as to how it turned out, as her voice, thoughts, and actions were bothersome to me. Claire, who has been with Noah for a year and is engaged, comes to discover early on in the story that he is leading a double life. When he disappears and says he doesn't know her and she finds out he is living with another woman in an upscale neighborhood--a woman who is everything she is not, including beautiful, successful, and rich--she begins a downward spiral. This "ghosting story" is interwoven with the story of Claire's horrible upbringing by a mother who vacillated between deriding, ignoring, and abusing her. The first half of the book is drawn out much too long, with what could be cut to a fourth of both parts of the story, past and present. However, when the second half kicks in, things do begin to pick up, and we come to see Claire's life in a new light. Little by little, the truth unfolds as seen by Claire, Noah, and others in their story, and we are left to wonder, Who's Worse? There is a nice twist at the end which I mis-guessed, but all in all, this story was lacking the depth of character and richness of plot I had hoped for.