Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough Book Review

BLURB

Don’t Trust This Book

Don’t Trust These People

Don’t Trust Yourself

And whatever you do, DON’T give away that ending…

Behind Her Eyes has been called the new Girl on the Train and Gone Girl . This is one psychological thriller you will not want to miss.

Louise

Since her husband walked out, Louise has made her son her world, supporting them both with her part-time job. But all that changes when she meets…

David

Young, successful and charming – Louise cannot believe a man like him would look at her twice let alone be attracted to her. But that all comes to a grinding halt when she meets his wife…

Adele

Beautiful, elegant and sweet – Louise's new friend seems perfect in every way. As she becomes obsessed by this flawless couple, entangled in the intricate web of their marriage, they each, in turn, reach out to her.

But only when she gets to know them both does she begin to see the cracks… Is David really is the man she thought she knew and is Adele as vulnerable as she appears?
Just what terrible secrets are they both hiding and how far will they go to keep them?

MY THOUGHTS

Oh my God, I couldn’t believe what I was reading when I turned the final page of Behind Her Eyes last night, absolutely superb.

In the weeks prior to the book’s publication there was huge hype on social media about the book, especially about THAT twist. On the back cover, the publishers tell you: don’t trust this book, don’t trust these people, don’t trust yourself and whatever you do don’t give away that ending.

I was a little bit dubious about all the excitement about the twist when I first started this book and I was worried that it would fall a bit flat, but Sarah Pinborough really pulls it off well and in a really fresh way. I spent reading the last few pages with my jaw wide open and I have to say that the book certainly lived up to the hype which is a very rare thing to do. It deserves all the praise that it is getting!

At the start of the novel we meet Louise. Louise is telling her friend about a man she kissed at a bar, her friend is someone who has no problems with having an affair with married men and seems to be having them all the time, but Louise can’t believe it when she turns up for work at her new job the next day and finds out that this man is her new boss, David. Keen to avoid any awkward situations, Louise takes the first step and tells David that she would like to remain just friends. But the situation becomes more complicated for Louise when she strikes up a friendship with David’s wife, Adele. As Louise and Adele’s friendship grows so does her relationship with David and they realise that it isn’t easy just to switch off their feelings for each other. As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s world, she finds it even more difficult to break away from them but she is torn between taking sides, Adele’s or David’s.

The three main characters in this book: Louise, Adele and David were crafted really well. Throughout the story I never could quite be sure about David who seems to have his Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde moments; that really helped with the tension, especially in the final few chapters. At the beginning of the book I really liked how Adele took Louise under her wing as they formed their friendship although you would never have put the two together. Louise is a divorced, single mother who is struggling to come to terms with the fact that her ex-husband is now having a baby with his new partner. Her friendship and obsession with Adele and David are perfect for her to keep her distracted and so she begins to unravel their marriage and she tries to find out what is really at the heart of it.

I don’t want to say anymore of the plot here, as the story is impossible to talk about anymore without giving away spoilers, but once I had finished it I couldn’t wait to talk to someone about it and I managed to persuade a few of my work colleagues to buy it immediately. I loved how Sarah wove everything together in the end and once I realised what that ending was, everything made sense. It’s going to be so difficult to keep the ending from them when they’re telling me their thoughts on what they think is going to happen.

The tension in this book builds really well and you can sense the oncoming storm from just a few pages in, I really can’t stop talking about how good this book is, I only wish I could give more than five stars, Sarah Pinborough knows her craft. I don’t think that I will be able to stop thinking about this book for a long time. I really did think I could see where this ending was going, but in the final pages Sarah really does pull that final twist right out from under you. Once you finish you’ll want to get your all of your friends to read it just so you can talk about it but don’t let anyone spoil it for you before you have the chance to read it and do not give that ending away. A very satisfactory read. This is, I’m sure, going to be one of THE books of 2017 that everyone will be talking about; I can’t recommend it highly enough! #WTFThatEnding very much indeed! 

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication date: 26th January 2017

Print length: 384 Pages

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