The Girlfriend

WARNINGThis riviting psychological thriller contains some quite graphic descriptions of child abuse and rape that some readers might find upsetting.The main characters in this twisted tale areMags - a corporate lawyer who lives in Vegas but has had to make a emergency trip to London because her brother is in a coma after a accident.Abe - Mags estranged brotherJody - Abe`s broken and emotionally unstable fianceMira -Abe and Jody`s neighbour who may or may not know more about Abe`s accident than she is letting on.The story is told from the alternative perspectives of Mags,Jody and Mira with some of the chapters containing flashbacks to events from Abe,Mags and Jody`s pasts.I didn't like Mags,I thought she was a very unlikable and unsympathetic,heartless character.Jody`s story was so heartbreaking and sad you needed to have had a heart of stone not to feel quite a lot of sympathy for her and it was easy to understand why she was so broken and messed up.I would have liked to have known more about Abe and wish that there had been more chapters that were told from his perspective.I loved the descriptions of the converted church where Abe,Jody and Mira lived,as you read the story you could picture the sun shining through the stained glass windows and casting colourful shadows on the floorboards and hear in your head the clanking pipes and the sounds coming from the homes of the other colourful characters that lived in the building.The only thing that slightly spoiled this gripping thriller for me was the court case towards the end which contained elements that were unbelievable and unrealistic.Apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed this well written debut thriller and look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

Mags is a well established lawyer living and working Stateside. One day she gets word that her brother Abe has had an accident and is lying in a coma in hospital so, despite their long time estrangement, she does the right thing and hops on a plane back to the UK. On arrival, she meets Jody, Abe's fiancee, and with her help she starts to try to piece together exactly what happened the night of his accident. Initially staying in a hotel, she moves into Abe's flat which is in an assisted living place converted from a disused church, and just across from Jody's. Also resident there is Mira who may or may not know more than she's telling. As Mags chips away at her brother's life, desperate to find the truth, some strange things start to come to light and it becomes a very different tale indeed.The beginning of this book felt rather disjointed to me. There were also quite a few characters introduced at the same time so it did take me a wee while to really get into this story. It wasn't enough to confuse me totally but I did have to jot a few bits down as I went just to keep on top of things.I wasn't sure about Mags when she first came onto the scene but, as the book went on and things started to come to light, I really started to get to know her better. Jody was harder to get to know but then given her background, it's no wonder she is how she is and puts up barriers to keep people at arm's length. The rest of the cast were just as hard to read. Too many secrets and lies and I am not sure that there weren't too many wounded souls in the book. I can't really think of one main character that was exactly what you see on the tin. It might have been nice to have one person to cling on to whilst the rest ran rings round me as a reader. Probably would have helped alleviate the confusion. But then again, at times, the confusion did allow me to connect to the characters better, maybe.The plot was rather complicated all told. It was so convoluted and interconnected and indeed brave, that I thought the author did a cracking job of keeping all the juggling balls up in the air throughout. It was lovely when something that I previously didn't quite get before suddenly became clear and made sense, and I got several of these moments throughout this book.It really was a matter of trust reading this book. Trusting the author would come through in the end. And she did. Very admirably.The ending, when it came, was rather shocking and there were a few things that I really wasn't quite sure about. Most were explained away to my satisfaction by the author but there were a few others that I still couldn't quite accept wholly. That said, on balance, the rest of the book stood up well enough for me to be forgiving over any misgivings that I was left with.I guess at this point I should mention that this book does contain some really rather harrowing stuff. Without giving anything away, the main characters' childhoods were rather torrid and some of what is described within this book is a little hard hitting. Not for shock tactic reasons, I hasten to add, rather necessary inclusion for character background and plot development.All in all, a really rather good debut which left me satisfied and also quite excited to see what the author serves up next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Girlfriend’ by Sarah Naughton in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.Mags’ brother Abe is in an induced coma in hospital after falling down a stairwell at St. Jerome’s Church where he has a room . His girlfriend Jody is at his bedside but Mags doesn’t believe Abe’s fall was an accident. She doesn’t believe the story Jody’s telling her either. Mags temporarily moves into Abe’s room in an attempt to uncover the truth.When I started reading I couldn’t understand what was happening for the first few chapters but I’m glad I didn’t give up as the further I got through the story the clearer it became.‘The Girlfriend’ is an interesting novel with dark undercurrents, a good storyline, plenty of suspense and drama. It’s well-written, compelling and totally absorbing with satisfying ending.

The Girlfriend is told in multiple POV and the chapters are short and with this, this is a fast read book. Sadly I couldn't get into the story of Mags and her brother. The detailed description of some heavy traumatic events made it a hard read and I couldn't really enjoy the book. I'm sure this is a kind of: it's me not you situation and a lot of other readers loved the story. I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark!