4.5*
Alex has hit rock bottom. She’s drinking, pushing everyone away and basically doing herself no favours at all. But her hand is forced and she's heading somewhere not many can talk back - inspiration hits.

I loved Alex’s tenacity, both in getting justice for Amy and in trying to prove her ex wrong and see the investigation through. The way Seddon broke up some of Alex's dialogue with the odd bit of narrative from Amy gave me an insight to the past, to the events leading up to whatever happened to put her in this state.

This is a tense thriller about a cold case. A brilliant debut from Seddon. I have got a couple more of Seddon’s psych-thrillers on #mountTBR so I need to get them read if they’re as good as Try Not To Breathe.

GREAT BOOK, START TO FINISH! CAN;T WAIT TO READ MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR. THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ AND REVIEW

Alex, a journalist, leads a very difficult life and has many demons of her own. She takes up an interest in Amy, an unresponsive woman who was brutally attacked 15 years ago.

Alex is seeking justice for Amy, in the crime that has gone unresolved and forgotten, by reaching out to people in Amy’s past.

I had high hopes for this read, but found that it fell flat for me. Not sure if it was the pacing or that I was able to easily determine who the main suspect/culprit was.

I enjoyed this debut novel. The writing is solid. I love a main character who is flawed. The tension in the story is there, but the plot could have been better.

This is so hard to believe this was this authors first debut psychological thriller. It matches any top authors who write in this genre.

This was so astounding I kept reading or listening throughout the day. I was totally hooked throughout.

The story and plot thickens with each chapter you read. Characters are so well developed you get to know them almost instantly.

There’s a lot of reviews going into parts of this story I’ll only be repeating them so I’ve chosen to say how this made me feel instead.

Hooked
Emotionally and physically connected.
Exciting
Eager to turn pages

Sad when it was finished, because I loved it so much

Once a successful journalist, Alex Dale has lost her career and marriage to her addiction. In an attempt to right herself, she takes on a freelance assignment writing about new advances in communicating with patients in vegetative states. During her research, she comes across Amy Stevenson, a woman her age who was attacked at the age of 15 and left for dead. She has been in a coma for the last 15 years, her attacker never caught. As Alex becomes more involved with the investigation into Amy's attack, will her obsession lead to her destruction or her redemption?

A solidly written debut psychological thriller/mystery. Seddon's writing is engaging, intense, at times emotional, heartbreaking and difficult to read. Her characters broken and flawed, their lives a jumble of bad luck and wrong choices. But as a reader you're rooting for them, for a second chance, for redemption.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group (Ballantine Books) for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

This was a great who done it with lots of interesting characters. The story kept me engaged from beginning to end.

I wanted to like this more than I did. The concept was an interesting one, but it was so damn predictable. The whole cast of characters I wasn’t very fond of, either, and to avoid spoilers... the ending and the person who did it was pretty vague.

3.5 I wavered between 3 and 4 stars. This wasn't Gone Girl good, but as a debut novel, it was pretty good. I enjoyed the struggles with alcoholism and hearing the victims voice more than the actual thriller.

Sadly I didn't get around to reading the book before it was archived and it was long before I managed to get myself a Kindle so I couldn't read it.

Psychological thrillers are some of the books that I have read the most of. So I was intrigued when I saw this one pop up for review. We have a victim, the victim's boyfriend and a reporter trying to tie everything together. The problem? The victim is unable to communicate.

This was an extremely interesting story that had great plot and character development.

This is more of a mystery than a psychological thriller. There is a victim and we need to figure out what happened to her. The problem is that she's in a vegetative state and is unable to communicate. The story bounces around between Amy (the victim), Jacob (the victim's teenage boyfriend), and Alex (the reporter that is trying to find out what actually happened all those years ago). Amy inspires Alex to make some changes in her life, to try to take a second chance, because there is no reason that she can't. Jacob is still devastated by Amy's situation but is hiding all of this from his wife. Amy is still alive inside her shell and confused by the things that are going on around her. I thought this was very clever. I recommend it to anyone that likes a well thought out mystery.

This was my first book by Holly Seddon but it won't be my last! This story kept me reading, even when I should have gone to bed. I loved the way it was written as a timeline & how it gave me a description of what Amy was thinking while things were going on around her. I truly enjiyed this book & look forward to reading more by Holly Seddon!

Hating to be somewhat contrary, but I have always found this author’s work to be a bit overrated… I either cannot finish or have to slog my way through, feeling frustrated. I will keep trying, maybe my mind will change… Cannot recommend this one though, I’m afraid. Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read it.

Alex has her demons. Demons that she's been suppressing and making fade with the help of alcohol. All of this has been working for her until she stumbles across Amy's story.

Determined to find out what really happened to Amy, Alex tries to keep her demons at bay and the alcohol away from her system. Traveling down a road of secrets and deception, Alex get more than she ever bargained for.

A gripping and thrilling story that will have you hanging on until the end.

When journalist Alex Dale begins to investigate the attack of Amy Stevenson, who had been in a coma for over a decade, she finds herself connecting with the young woman. As she digs deeper into Amy’s life she finds more and more similarities with the coma victim. Will Alex’s internal demons consume her before she can solve the mysteries surrounding Amy? Will her search to uncover Amy’s attacker jeopardize Alex’s own life? This psychological thriller will retain your interest, once you adjust to the style of alternating storylines.

This was a good psychological suspense novel that drew me in from the start. The story is narrated by Amy, Alex and Jake. Amy and Jake were boyfriend and girlfriend in highschool. Amy was assaulted and left for dead at the age of 15. It is 15 years later and she is in a coma living in a long-term care facility. A doctor has been studying brain waves when questions are asked and is positive that some of the patients labelled as "vegetables" are actually aware and trying to communicate. Welcome Alex Dale, a freelance reporter who interviews the doctor for an article she is writing. When she sees Amy, she remembers the event and connects to it. She is from the same town where Amy lived and was around the same age. She shifts her story somewhat to investigate what happened to Amy. Jake is now married and he and Fiona are expecting their first child. He still feels a closeness to Amy and visits with her often, unfortunately, he keeps this secret from Fiona which causes a rift in his marriage. Alex, is divorced, an alcoholic and basically unemployed. She sees this as the opportunity to redeem herself.

Amy's chapters are told as either flashbacks or what she hears around her. The internal dialogue of a patient in a coma was heartbreaking. I found the confusion and internal dialogue of someone trapped but still able to hear what is going on around her quite interesting. Of course this is a novel, so we are not absolutely sure, but it felt like I was inside her head with her. Alex was an interesting combination of character traits. You could see the drive she probably had as an up and coming reporter, using any source she could track down, but her fight with alcoholism and her depression when thinking about her marriage that she destroyed show her weaknesses. Jake was another mixture. He seemed to love Fiona and was excited about having a child, but he could not stop going to see Amy and talking to her. It was almost like he felt guilty for what happened to her 15 years earlier. I had no problem following this story with the three narrators and the shifting time frames, in fact that made it quite interesting. I rushed through the book once I got about half way through it. If you enjoy a psychological thriller, I don't think you will be disappointed with this book.

This book had a good story line but sometimes I found myself a little bored with it. You do get to know all the characters well throughout the story which helps with the connection but other parts are somewhat predictable. Overall this was a good book and I would recommend it still with a 4 star rating. It is definitely worth reading I just feel it took me a little longer to get into this than I had wished. About half way through I started to enjoy it more and about 3/4 way through I was fully engrossed and finished it from that point without stopping.

Really enjoyed this book it had me gripped from beginning to end would recommend

I went with 4 stars on this offering by Holly Seddon. I did that because she created a most unlikeable heroine, but was a skilled enough writer to make me care about what happened to the character. The book was a bit uneven for me, started out a little slow. The premise was good though, which kept me reading. I appreciated that the characters were complex and layered. The story itself was woven well, and there were several unexpected twists and turns. All in all, an entertaining read.