This was a quick enjoyable read and had a few good twists in, it was the second book by this author I have read and both times I’ve felt really immersed into the job role the main character had. The author is really good at doing this. Thanks for early access to this book.

Wendy Clarke, Make Yourself at Home, Bookouture, March 2025.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Wendy Clarke’s twists and turns in both the storyline and the main protagonist’s assessment of her own and her colleagues’ and friends’ actions are well developed examples of the genre, keeping the reader guessing until the end. Each character is typical of the genre – the husband whose character has changed, the good friend of husband and wife ready to lend a sympathetic shoulder to either when needed and the attractive interloper.

Catherine, a high school teacher with ambition and a past, is the main character. It is through her eyes that we see her behaviour and that of those surrounding her. Her past controls her present – the loss of her beloved but flawed brother in a school fire, her breakdown and resort to alcohol, and her gratitude, love and dependence on Gary and her compatibility with Ross, a fellow teacher and Gary’s friend. She has admirably surmounted the lure of alcohol but is confronted by memories of her brother. Into this amalgam of ambition, a marriage with flaws, a school of challenging students and admiring colleagues, Catherine welcomes Lisa, her husband’s hitherto unknown stepsister.
There are so many appealing elements in this story – the relationships between teachers, and teachers and their students; the role of friendship with its positive and negative aspects; the power of a teacher to make a difference to a student in need, and the imperative to do so; the power of the past to impact decision making; and, although the characters leave much to be desired here, the need to scrutinise carefully first impressions and typecasting.

There are also weaknesses which I found difficult to overcome. For me, Catherine’s decision making is so flawed at times that it is unbelievable. Clarke valiantly tries to demonstrate the reasons for Catherine’s mistakes, relying on the challenges she has faced in the past. However, her readiness to cast blame, while keeping all the other characters under suspicion at various times, also weakens her portrayal as a teacher worthy of admiration and promotion. Her statements about an attack on a woman in Gary’s and Ross’s past lacks impact.

I felt that Catherine was a weak purveyor of good social values – that they are part of the novel is positive, but they needed to be dealt with in more impactful ways. For me, some of the writing was flat, and this detracted from the important ideas raised in the novel – rape and men’s treatment of women, fairness to students with problems, and reliance on toxic relationships in friendships and marriage. This flatness also undermined the tension that is part of the success of this genre. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in Make Yourself at Home.

This is domestic thriller writing at its very best . Lots of twists make it a gripping read from the very start. Highly recommended
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC

MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME BY WENDY CLARKE.
Release date set for the 5th of March 2025.
This book held my attention from the start to the very end.
Fast paced psychological thriller and many twists and turns.
I really liked this author's writing style and how the story flowed.
I think this is my first book by this author although i was positive i had read one of hers before.
Deffo recommend this book

2025 seems to be the year of amazing thrillers. Make Yourself at Home by Wendy Clarke was a page turner!

Another brilliant read from one of my favourite authors, a domestic thriller at its best, easy reading, extremely well written and dark and twisty.

I was on the edge of my seat from the very first page until the great ending, just a fantastic book which I can thoroughly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this brilliant ARC.

Catherine is asked by her headmistress to mentor Lisa who has just started working at the school.

She offers Lisa her spare room when she discovers that Lisa has no where to stay.

Catherines husband Gary is not happy that lisa is staying at their home and when things start to go awry Catherine wonders what exactly is going on between the two people.

This is a twisty and gripping read. It is a story that is exciting and I absolutely loved how the story unfolded.
It definitely kept me on the edge..

This is another fabulous domestic thriller by Wendy Clarke. The writing is fast paced, the plot is engaging and the book comes with plenty of twists. The ending was unexpected but brought the book together.

This author is one of my favourites so I couldn’t wait to get stuck into this and was hooked from the very first page and couldn’t put it down. I read it in practically one sitting.

This was a captivating and enjoyable psychological thriller with engaging characters and storyline. It takes you on a rollercoaster of a read with all of its twists and turns and shock moments and leaves you wondering who you can actually trust

This would make a great tv adaptation.

The book had a strong start and kept me engaged, but as the story progressed, there were too many side plots, and some twists felt a bit exaggerated. I wish the characters had been explored in more depth. While I enjoyed parts of it, the ending didn’t fully work for me.

Wow! This book is terrific! Extremely thrilling and stuffed with twists. I gasped so many times at each twist. Shocked at the ending. Will definitely recommend this book.

Make Yourself at Home is an absolute page-turner. I simply couldn't stop reading -I needed to know what was next. And that final twist? WOW

Teacher knows best. This story captivated me from the start. Couldn't risk putting it down until I knew what happened. Thank you for letting me read it.

This book was really interesting. We follow an English teacher as she navigates her way through some disturbing arguments and events. She tutors a boy that had significant trauma happen to him. The whole time you're left guessing what was going to happen next. This is why I like Bookouture novels. Because not only are the thrillers difficult to predict, the writing is really good and the characters build up the story as you go along.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to read a thriller. I especially recommend Bookouture's novels as well.

Thank you to both the publisher and author for sending me this copy.

Catherine is a well respected teacher in a busy school when the headmistress approaches her to take new teacher Lisa under her wing as her mentee. She quickly embraces the challenge and when she realizes that Lisa has been sleeping at the school she insists that Lisa come and live in her spare room. The warm welcome home is thwarted by Catherine’s husband Gary’s icy reaction. Catherine cannot understand why Gary is so cold to Lisa and when strange things begin happening to Catherine and her school, she wonders if Gary could be to blame.

I had a hard time enjoying this story. The characters were hard to connect to, especially the not so likable protagonist Catherine. The pacing was also off. The first half of the book felt too slow—no real action showed up until last third or so. Not the book for me, 2.5 stars rounded to 3.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

Make Yourself at Home was an entertaining read that exceeded my initial expectations, I was so sure how the story was going to unfold due to having read many books with the “monster-in-law” trope. What I anticipated to be a predictable and popcorn-ish story turned out to have more depth than expected.

Something I really appreciated about this book was how Clarke used certain characters as storytelling tools to show the emotions and inner turmoil of the main character, Catherine, rather than spoon-feeding us information. Always better to show, not tell!

I did feel that a few story elements could have been resolved more completely. Without giving away any spoilers, there were some lingering threads that I wished had been tied up more definitively. That said, this didn’t significantly take away from my enjoyment, just left me wanting a bit more closure in certain areas.

Overall, Make Yourself at Home is a great, quick read that I’d easily recommend to anyone looking for an engaging story or a palate cleanser between heavier books. A perfect 3.5-star read for me.

A well written drama with twists galore.
Captivating storyline as usual from this talented author.
Interesting and well written characters.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

First, and most importantly, thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my review.

This was my first book by Wendy Clarke and I assure you, it will not be my last. The story unfolds in a way that makes you believe everything is exactly what it is. Except, maybe it's not. This one is a page turner to the very end. The ending was wrapped up neatly with all questions answered despite not knowing you'd have any. I highly recommend this book and author!

This book had my attention from the first page. I was gripped! Finished it so quick and went and added all her other books to my TBR. Clarke's writing style is fantastic, this book has so many twists and turns you wont be able to guess what's going to happen next.

this novel delves deep into the complexities of trust, family secrets, and the unsettling feeling that comes when one's safe haven turns into a web of deceit. It is an utterly unputdownable masterpiece!

It's a must-read for fans of Lisa Jewell or Shari Lapena. Highly recommend 👌


📚I was able to read an advanced copy of title thanks to NetGalley, Wendy Clarke and Bookouture📚

📚All reviews and opinions are entirely my own📚

This was a great thriller of a read about a school teacher Catherine who has a seemingly perfect life, married to a good man and in a job that she loves and hopefully about to be promoted soon. She has worked hard to put the events of her brothers death behind her and try to recover from the trauma. When she meets Lisa and learns her sad story she instantly offers her somewhere to stay but when Lisa meets her husband it turns out she is none other than his half sister who he has had nothing to do with all his life and he is not happy to have her in his house. As odd things start to happen at school Catherine starts to fear the past may be catching up with her and as her job is also threatened can she trust anyone close to her. I won’t spoil this one but it’s not to be missed!!