2⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for an advanced copy of Claire, Darling.

Claire had a very difficult childhood with her single mother who abused her and was a narcissist. She thinks she has found the perfect man in her fiancé Noah. One day when she surprises him with lunch at work she finds out he has not worked there in months and then he starts ghosting her. She tracks him down and finds out he has another life without her. She is dead set on revenge.

This book was so predictable I was able to see everything coming. I do not feel like the plot was very unique and the female and make main characters were so untrustworthy and unlikable.

OMG - I love the concept for this book! Thhis psychological thriller is just what i needed. The idea that a woman obsessed will do anything in the name of love. The book just galloped along at a very fast pace and i will add I found a few parts creepy - but in a good way. If you like this type of thriller- it's awesome.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A solid debut 👏🏻. This book was such a ride, right from the start & with that I will say I found the story it dip about 50 pages in but I had to figure out why Claire got ghosted! Then part 2 hit and 💥 and the ending… I did not see it coming. I liked Claire from the start and I was cheering for her but also found that I couldn’t trust her. This one is a great quick read thriller.

I love an unhinged thriller and Claire, Darling hit the spot. It was fast paced and engrossing, I read it in 3 sessions cause it was hard to put down. I was able to predict some of the plot twists but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. My heart ached for Claire up until the very end of the book. The story is told through Claire and a series of diary entries and flashbacks starting with her 1 year anniversary with her fiancée Noah. The twists and turns are fun and I felt all of Claire's rage, sadness and confusion throughout the book. This is a very well done story for a debut and I look forward to seeing what else Callie has in store for future books!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Claire was raised in a dysfunctional home by an alcoholic and narcissistic mother. Imagine her excitement at meeting Noah, a normal guy and hoping life would improve. But when she pops into his office for a surprise visit, she finds out he no longer works there. Claire starts to put the pieces together and realizes he has been living a double life, which she is now caught up in.

This is a well written psychological thriller that is fast paced and has likable characters. The flashbacks really helped me understand Claire and her behavior. Such a great read!!!

What a tripy novel. I could not put it down as I had to find out the truth. Was Claire being gas lighted or was she truly an unreliable narrator.? The last page was the best! Way to go out with a bang. Glad i accepted the publishers invite on this one. Really good debut

A really solid debut! The main character gives unreliable narrator vibes right off the bat. You know something is up from her creepily exuberant diary entries about her fiancé--and from the fact that she grew up with a horrible, abusive, narcissistic mother. You start to suspect what's going on with our Claire fairly quickly, but that doesn't detract from the plot, and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you reading to the end. I think fans of Lisa Jewell might like this one!

Thanks so much to Random House and NetGalley for my review copy! This one is out March 11.

This was a quick read and fast paced thriller. I think it's best if you go into this blind. I knew where the story is going pretty early on, but that didn't take away from the enjoyment at all! With a mix of flash backs of Claire's childhood and current events, the author created a well moving story that has a good balance between a character and story driven plot. The ending, however, was very unrealistic.

I really enjoyed this book and especially enjoined the twist at the very end. I was surprised that the second part of the book was a trial, but I actually liked learning all the evidence with the narrator. I was hoping that there would be a twist with the mother storyline but overall it was a fun read.

This was a fun, quick read. While it was incredibly obvious to me what was going on from the start, it was like a train wreck I couldn't look away from. The pacing and the length were perfect for what this was. Was it mind-blowing? No. But it hooked me and kept me reading because I just needed to see the end.

Thank you to Netgalley, Randon House Bantam, and the author for the e-arc to review.

This one spiraled in the best way! It takes a turn shortly into the book that I did not expect but made the psychological spiral way more interesting.

Between Claire’s childhood trauma and her fiancé turning her world upside down, she is the perfect desperate character. I wanted so badly to shake her and tell her she deserved better.

I did like the ending, but the final few pages didn’t shock me like I was hoping. It left a small few pieces without closure in my mind.

Overall, a great thriller! As the truth about Noah starts to emerge and Claire is realizing she has been deceived, I had a hard time putting it down.

This was a decent suspense, but I found it to be quite predictable. That being said, I did like the characters, they were developed well and it was an easy read. It's a good book, it just didn't knock my socks off.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Claire Darling" by Callie Kazumi is a psychological drama that intricately weaves the dual timelines of the protagonist's life, offering a profound exploration of memory, identity, and the passage of time. As a reader, I found myself captivated by the depth and complexity of Claire's character, who is both endearing and enigmatic.

Kazumi's storytelling prowess shines through in her ability to seamlessly transition between Claire's past and present, providing insights into the formative moments that have shaped her life. This duality is handled with finesse, allowing readers to piece together the puzzle of Claire’s mind as she navigates through memories and current realities.

The novel's psychological depth is its greatest strength, probing into the intricacies of human emotions and the impact of past experiences on present actions. Kazumi effectively uses Claire’s voice to bring out the subtle nuances of a mind in turmoil, gradually revealing the layers of her personality and the motivations driving her actions.

What an epic debut novel for Callie kazumi! Claire, darling was an intense and wild psychological thriller. I could not put this one down.

i enjoyed the multiple timeline point of view. It definitely helped us readers get a deeper understanding of Claire's childhood and the connection between claire and her mother.

While i was hoping for a more exhilarating ending, i was not at all disappointed. I'm looking forward to seeing what else callie kazumi can do.

What's the catch/setup? This book gave me the feeling of somethings just not right with the story. Boy, Callie Kazumi certainly pulled that off. The writing of Claire, Darling had you feeling all the emotions sad, desperate and not enjoying Claire's suffering.

Claire Darlng is a well written debut.When Claire is ghosted by her live In boyfriend Noah..Told through short paragraphs.diary entries so many twists and turns kept me turning the pages.#netgalley #randomhouse

A clever, twisted psychological thriller.

Nothing in this book is as it seems... When Claire decides to surprise her loving fiancé Noah by dropping off lunch at his office, she is completely thrown to find out he hasn't actually worked there for months, despite leaving every morning to go to work. And when she tries to contact him, her phone calls and texts go unanswered; in fact, Noah completely ghosts her.

To reveal much more of the plot would be giving away some of the juicy twists in this delightfully clever psychological thriller. Part fast-paced mystery, part gripping courtroom drama, "Claire, Darling" is absolutely unputdownable. The writing is great, the twists are satisfying, and it's hard to believe that such a delightfully tense thriller could, in fact, be a debut. I cannot wait to see what the author comes up with next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Claire, Darling" is slated to be released on March 11, 2025.

A normal day turns not so normal when Claire goes to visit her fiancé Noah at work, only to find out he doesn’t work there and isn’t answering his phone anymore, which is not usual. The spiraling begins and of course Noah isn’t as loyal as Claire thinks. I mean of course you spiral, your literal fiancé has ghosted you. But maybe ghosting her was for the best when Claire finds out the truth of who Noah really is.

I was invested in this book from the first few chapters and it never disappointed. I loved the diary entries and getting to see their love and how it started before all the lies, betrayal and dare I say murder?!?!? 4 stars and I would happily read another book by this author 100%

I found this book to be very compelling albeit a bit predictable. Having the story told by an unreliable narrator was a fantastic choice and I really enjoyed piecing together what she was saying and trying to figure out what the truth was. The twist wasn’t entirely surprising, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing — I think the author successfully set it up so that when all the pieces fell into place it made a lot of sense.

This is a solid debut with some good and some not so good parts for me.

I liked the setup--Claire and Noah have been together for a year, and recently got engaged. She goes to take lunch to him at work, but the receptionist says he doesn't work there. When she tries to text and call, she gets no response. Throughout the book we go back and forth between the present day with Claire becoming more and more unhinged as she investigates what happened to Noah and the past with her growing up with a narcissistic mother.

What didn't work for me was the ultimate execution of the story. I can't give away too much without spoilers, but suffice it to say that I thought there were a few too many plot holes for me to buy into the twists. And I absolutely hated the back story with the mom and growing up. It gave me anxiety and a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I admit I read through those sections very quickly and thought there were way too many of them.

This is a shocking, page turning book and I was definitely intrigued to keep reading to find out what on earth was going to happen. Even though I clocked the twists from the beginning and thought that there were many much more clever ways this book could have played out, I think that many readers are going to love the wild ride more than I did.

Side note: There is no way that these 20/30-somethings would be using Facebook as much as these characters did.