The epitome of an unreliable narrator.
Maybe it’s because I read plenty from this genre, the “twist” was unfortunately predictable even as one sided as the story was. Would’ve loved to see more from Noah’s perspective. I will admit the final chapter made my jaw drop.
Overall, something felt missing and just fell short.

Thank you, Bantam Books, for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Claire Arundale is blissfully co-habitating with her fiancé, Noah Coors. They have been living together in Claire's studio apartment while he renovates a nicer home for them in a better London neighborhood. Noah leaves Claire charming love notes on origami animals.

But when Claire shows up at his office building to deliver lunch to him the day after their first anniversary, she is shocked to learn that Noah left that company several months previously. He won't return her calls or texts asking for an explanation, and when she finally tracks him to his new job, he looks horrified to see her.

Why is Noah treating her this way? And who is this other woman he appears to be living with? Claire's confusion and Noah's lies will lead to a tragic conclusion -- and the full truth will be even more shocking.

This book was a quick read and during Part One I wrestled with whether I wanted to finish the book or not. It is really hard for me to not finish thrillers -- even mediocre ones -- because I want to know the solution or see whether my guesses are correct. I did not guess the twist at the end of this book, but I fond the ending to be a disappointment. The second half of the novel also drags a bit as the narrative works through witness testimony at a court trial. The mystery and momentum slowed down considerably at this point.

While this book was an admirable effort for a debut novel, I feel that the author has room to grow in terms of creating more compelling characters and crafting a better flow to the suspense. I see great potential here, and I look forward to reading any future books from Ms. Kazumi.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Claire, Darling
Author: Callie Kazumi
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: March 11, 2025

This is the second book I have read recently that features damaged daughters and mothers with severe narcissistic personality disorders, resulting in a ruined childhood—adulthood for the female daughters. Growing up in an abusive home is detrimental to a daughter’s mental stability. Notably, one of these books is a non-fiction memoir, while the other, Claire, Darling, is a fictional thriller. I am exhausted from reading about daughters with mother issues, whether they are real or imagined, combined with alcoholism and extremely low self-esteem. I anticipate this book will be popular upon publication, but I could discern our story's direction halfway through, although the second half was significantly better. It is a decent debut novel for the author.

@netgalley @callieuntitled @bantampub #bantam #mentalillness #abuse #ghosting #thriller #death #narcissist

I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this novel.

#book #books #bookAddict #BooksOfInstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #reader#bookreviewer

Out 3/11! This psychological thriller by debut author @callieuntitled, will lead you on a wild ride full of twisty suspense! After freeing herself from a childhood of trauma by a narcissistic abusive mother, Claire finally has her life together, and the dream fiancé to prove it! everything starts unraveling when she decides to surprise her fiancé at work with lunch. She soon discovers that not only does he not work in this building but he is not answering any of her texts or calls. She has been ghosted. As she starts to unravel her fiancé‘s double life, her obsession intensifies, blurring the line between truth and paranoia until she realizes that some secrets were not meant to be uncovered. This one grabbed me right from the beginning and kept pulling me in further with each twist until the jaw-dropping finale! This author is definitely one to watch! Thank you to @netgalley and @bantambooksuk for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved how the book was broken out in parts and the courtroom drama of the third part of the book. The text was innovative and unique. I really enjoyed this author!

Claire, Darling
by Callie Kazumi
Pub Date: Mar 11 2025

Claire found the man of her dreams in Noah. They have been living together and are very happy, or so she thought. While dropping off lunch for Noah at work she’s stunned when the receptionist informs her he no longer works there, he hasn't for months! Noah doesn’t answer Claire’s calls…or reply to any of her texts. She's been ghosted...and so the story begins!

Synopsis: In the aftermath of a shocking breakup, a woman's desperate quest for answers ignites a psychological inferno that will consume her past, present, and future in this hair-raising debut from an exciting new voice in suspense . . Claire, Darling is one of the best books I've read so far in 2025! It kept me hooked from the first page until the last! I wanted an explanation as much as Claire did to what was going on with Noah. The shocking ending blew my mind away!

Many thanks to #ClaireDarling #NetGalley and #RandomHousePublishingGroup for providing me with a E-ARC of this 5 star thriller!

Claire is in for a shock when she drops by her fiancé Noah’s office with a surprise lunch—only to be told he no longer works there. Confused and alarmed, she tries calling and texting, but Noah has officially ghosted her. And —he has an entirely different life. A different house. A different girlfriend. Claire? She was never part of the plan.



This book was chaotic. MESSY. At times, it was both completely straightforward and totally disorienting—I was constantly second-guessing what was real. Some moments shook me. Others had me shaking my head like, “GIRL, what are you doing?!”

On a personal note, as someone who grew up with a mother who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, this one hit hard. Claire’s flashbacks to her childhood felt painfully real—down to her mom’s reactions when she moved out at 21. Those scenes broke my heart.

As a die-hard thriller reader, I saw a lot of the twists coming, but that didn’t take away from the ride. The tension kept me locked in, and the ending? Chef’s kiss—fun, twisted, and unforgettable.

Also, this is Callie Kazumi’s debut novel—and she knocked it out of the park! Can’t wait to see what she writes next.

💭: Ok, this book rubbed me the wrong way for the first half. It is about an obsessive woman trying to figure out why her fiance just didn’t come home one day. She goes over the deep end. I had just read 2 books in January back to back with obsessive MC’s, and it was just too much. So when I started this one I thought here we go again (insert eye roll.)

BUT….

Once Claire’s trial begins (you will have to read to find out why she was arrested!!!) the book took a turn for me and I started to enjoy it. I loved the chapters with the witness statements and getting to hear about Claire from other’s POV and Claire’s attorney was bad ass! The epilogue made my jaw drop. I am hoping for a book 2 to find out what Claire does next!

Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a clever, suspenseful debut! I was hooked with this psychological thriller.

Deliberately leaving this review vague as I think it would be best to go in blindly. Here are the things I loved:

💍 the format. The two parts worked and the diary entries dispersed in between added context.
💍 unreliable narrator and unreliable characters.
💍 pacing. It was spot on and moved quickly.
💍 epilogue. That’s all I’m saying.

I took off a star because I did feel like this story has been done before. This wasn’t a new take on it, but I REALLY enjoyed it nonetheless.

Claire, Darling is a debut novel written by Callie Kazumi to be released on March 11, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Group and Bantam Books for the opportunity to read an ARC of the book; my review reflects my honest opinion. Life seems to be going well for Claire Arundale, she works at a boutique public relations company, and is engaged to the wonderful Noah Coors. To Claire, Noah is the most handsome, loving and understanding man she has ever met. She sees herself as plain, and as a result of a traumatic and abusive childhood not worthy of good things. She is also thrilled to have a friend in her coworker Sukh. Yet after her and Noah's one year anniversary of dating, he seems to just drop out of her life, not only that it appears he has been deceiving her the entire time they were together. Not wanting to spoil the book, that's as much of the plot that I will share. I found Part One of Claire, Darling to be a bit slow, however Part Two picked up steam and was captivating. The serious abuse at the hand of her mother, and the rather matter of fact way Claire's mental health issues were presented may be challenging for some readers. Claire Darling is certainly a satisfying read and a a fine debut novel. 3,75 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This book was tired and formulaic. I am glad it was a quick read and I only wasted a few hours on this boring “unreliable female” narrative. We have read a thousand versions of this at this point. I hate to be so harsh, but there was nothing new or interesting here.

This was a fun page turner. Through a series of present encounters interspersed with diary flashbacks, we get a front row seat to a spectacularly juicy breakup between Claire and her dreamy fiancé--as well as some background information about Claire and her upbringing. Did I see where this was going? Yes. Yes, I did. Quite early, in fact, But . . . . it still felt like I couldn't stop reading just to see how this was all going to play out.

I would say that the first half of the book is more engaging than the second. And I wasn't sold on the diary-effect: it felt a bit too contrived. But even so, the narrative makes you feel like a voyeur looking in on some hot gossip--and it's hard to look away.

This would be a great beach read or if you're in the mood for a fast page-turner.

Claire, Darling is the debut novel by Callie Kazumi and what a debut it is. It starts with Claire and her fiancé celebrating their one year anniversary. The next day, she and her work friend, Sukhi, deliver a surprise lunch to him at his place of business only to discover that he doesn’t even work there anymore and hasn’t for months. This sets off a string of events leading to the conclusion that her fiancé, Noah, has ghosted her. Left with no answers and no closure, Claire puts her detective skills to work to find out what has happened to her fiancé. Throughout the book, we get diary entries from her year with Noah and flashbacks of her time as a child and with her abusive mother. I loved this book so much. I could not read it fast enough. I desperately wanted to talk about it with someone the entire time I was reading it. Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advanced digital copy.

Claire had been dating Noah for a while and she wanted to surprise him by taking lunch to him but ultimately she was the one surprised. I absolutely loved this book it has so many twists and turns and it makes you feel like you can’t trust anyone. Noah just basically was caught in so many deceitful lies. Clair’s mother is the one that raised her if you call what she did as raising? Claire had a lot of baggage due to her mom so when she found Noah and he was always there for her she was so in love. But who can you trust? I would definitely rate this book higher if I could.

I received this ARC for free from Netgalley, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Looooooved this thriller! Claire, Darling was one of my most anticipated March releases and it definitely lived up to the hype I created in my mind. Even though I guessed the twist pretty early on, I was still fully invested in the story. I loved the epilogue, especially. So fun!

This was a page-turner for sure - a character focused psychological thriller where we’re trying to find the truth of what happened between Claire and Noah. Childhood flashbacks made it easy to figure out what was going on, and at its core this is a story about trauma. However without spoiling anything, I did think some things used as ‘reveals’ were a bit distasteful as it deals with a lot of mental health issues and i always hate when that’s used as a ‘twist’ but overall it was a good story.

I'm usually not a fan of an unreliable narrator, but to my surprise, I was a total fan of this one. There were enough twists to make the readers second-guess themselves. At some points, I was curious why Claire didn't "do more" to get the answers from Noah, but I kinda let that slide because I liked the writing. A great read! Thank you, NetGalley!

A quick read. I flew through Part One, finding the plot too easy. I thought ok there’s a big twist coming…

I was disappointed Part Two wasn’t from Noah’s perspective.

All in all it was just ok.

This is quite a good read. We have our MC Claire who is blindsided by her fiancé Noah’s ghosting one fine day. Instead of just grieving and moving on she just can’t let this go! She decided to find out why did he ghost her. She becomes completely obsessed and refuses to believe whatever comes her way. She finds of what a manipulative her fiancé has been. We see how her mother destroyed her confidence from a very early age. This story got a murder and a trial so it keeps you wicked in pretty good. I enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with this eARC. All the opinions are my honest opinions.

Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a complimentary copy of this novel! This is a debut novel by Callie Kazumi. It’s a psychological thriller that I really enjoyed and kept me guessing until the end.

Claire and Noah have been together for a year, and they’re now engaged. It is their 1-year anniversary since they’ve been together, and Claire wants to surprise Noah by dropping lunch off where he works. But when she gets there, she is told no one with that name works there. Now, suddenly, she’s frantically trying to reach him, but all calls and messages go unanswered by Noah!!! Claire has been ghosted by him for no obvious reason and now she wants to know why! As Claire does some research, she finds out Noah has another life. A beautiful Swedish girlfriend named Lilah and a beautiful house. Claire becomes obsessed to get answers of what is happening. This novel is told in present tense, but also goes back to her childhood with her narcissistic mother and diary entries of Claire’s. Why did Noah ghost Claire? Was Claire able to get revenge on Noah? To find out what happens, look for this novel AVAILABLE March 11, 2025!

Congrats for this astounding debut, Callie Kazumi! I love your style and can't wait for the next book from you! A desperate psychological thriller as Claire searches for answers in the first 50% of the book when her fiance, Noah, ghosted her. The last 50% is a courtroom drama pursuit for answers. I enjoyed it 100%! Even though you see where it is advancing to, it is well worth the answers with a sudden twist in the end.
Claire is madly in love with Noah. They share a small flat together, as he remodels a home in an upper scale neighborhood in London. When she drops his lunch off at his office, she is shocked to find he doesn't work there anymore. When she calls him, he doesn't respond. He doesn't come home.
Understandably, Claire spirals out of control. Her friend Sukhi helps her to locate him, since he has blocked her on social media, but Sukhi can see it. They stalk him, finding an interesting chain of events, places and people...a new life.
From Claire's POV and journals, you visualize a past no child should have to endure. With an abusive and manipulative mother, she grew up with no confidence or maternal love. In her school years, she was constantly bullied by her classmates that still haunts her into adulthood.
It comes together with a shocking ending that will make you rethink what you have read.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for this incredible ARC in exchange for my honest review.