Natalie BarelliCríticas

This one was really hard to rate. Good grief, it was all over the place! Just when I thought I had it all figured out..........nope. Enjoyed the read but it just jumped all over the place. How can one supposedly highly intelligent woman make so many bad decisions? I wanted to smack her soooo many times because she caused most of her own trouble by not thinking things through. Hard to believe she was a math (logic-based science) professor because she rarely showed any logic in her personal/family decisions. Got tired of her patting herself on the back for being such a good mother because she handled meals, shopping, schedules, etc. for her family. Isn't that what parents do for their children? Kids were way to well adjusted for the chaotic lifestyle created by Anna and Luis.

I found this to be a well written thriller with good characterisation, lots of intrigue, and it kept enticing me back to find what was going to happen next.

4’5 stars.

I have really liked it despite I enjoyed more readying “unfaithful”.

Highly recommended!!!!!!

From the first page wishing to know if the things are as simple as they seem or if everyone is lying.

I didn’t imagine the end. A good twist to finish the book.

I have enjoyed it.

Woooowwwww!!!!!!!

What a crazy read! This book has been literally unputdownable.

One of the best psychological thriller books that I have read this year.

Psychological thriller with a surprising twist at the end! This is the 2nd book I've read by this author and will continue to look for more. I listened to this on audio. 8 hours 10 minutes

This book is a true edge-of-your-seat, page turning thriller! How badly can one psycho mess with your entire life? In just about every aspect of it!! 5 stars, can’t wait to read other thrillers by this author !

Well, that was some book! I couldn’t figure out who was the crazy one! It seemed all three women were - but you’ll have to read for yourself to find out who is the crazy one.

Didn’t see that end coming in any way, shape, or form. A real psychological thriller !! Can’t wait for more books by NB! 5 stars.

Good read. You think you’re going to be the one blackmailing - lying, setting traps for people but you’ve overlooked something and someone. Will it be their downfall or yours?

4 stars ⭐️

So I thought this book was going to be fun! I mean who doesnt love a book about books?
I'm not saying it was bad.... it was good. But I did not like Emma. Like at all.... she was so involved with herself. She was selfish, just plum cray-cray.

I really loved the story of this book. It was good.
But I just couldn't get past the Emma.
This book was a little predictable.
Overall- An ok book.

Provided as a free audiobook by Audible until 10/31/2022, this is an excellent read and listen. If I'd had to use my member's credit, it woiuld certainly have been worth the cost. Highly recommended.

Even in quiet small towns, evil people can hide, and when those individuals have any type of power, they can get away with murder. When you can find no one to listen to the truth, all you can do is run and hide.

From Amazon - Everyone has secrets, and Rachel Holloway is no exception. She’s worked hard to keep the past where it belongs: dead and buried. And so far, she’s been very successful. But now the small newspaper where she works wants to produce a podcast on a cold case: the disappearance 12 years ago of young Molly Forster.

Some secrets should never see the light of day, and, as far as Rachel is concerned, whatever happened to little Molly is one of them. Rachel has a life now - a boyfriend she loves and a three-year-old daughter she adores - and she will do anything to protect them. But to do that, no one can ever know that she is Molly Forster.

“Why is it always 3:00 a.m., I wondered, when the dark, silent world of naked truth slides in beside us in bed, keeping us from the relief of sleep?”
― Natalie Barelli, Until I Met Her

3.5 stars.

This is a highly rated book and I wish I could have loved it as much as many. While this was an enjoyable read, there were a few things that I did not like.

I loved the premise which is why I put it on my list of books to read. I like reading about writers and this premise..a writer asking her friend to assume her identity..seemed fun. And it was at first. I loved the first half. The writing is so good. It's fresh and energetic and makes one want to keep turning the pages. But, for me anyway, things at some point, took a nosedive.

SPOILERS:

I really did not love the twist. It seems every mystery these days needs a twist and I do not see why. The book went quickly from a fun book about a writer to a Psycho killer book. This type of book I have read alot of but I did not think Until I met her was going to go down that path and I was a little let down when it did.

I also found the ending difficult to stomach. I found the whole thing unbelievable and could not buy Emma as a mass murderer. That is not where I expected the book to go and I found that the way things played out was unrealistic to say the least.

It was a double let down because, unlike books that are just OK and then goes sideways, this one was absolutely terrific to start. I loved the plot in the beginning and thought it was so fresh and original but then I thought it just turned into another thriller and I really did not like that.

Although I did not really care for where this book went all that much I’d still give it 3.5 stars because the first half was riveting. I just felt it went down a path I could not believe.½

psychological, thriller, suspense, twisted, relationship-issues, family-drama, family-dynamics****

If you want a psychological thriller that draws you in and keeps you enthralled whether you can respect any of the characters or not, this one fills the bill.
Jennifer Jill Araya has narrated several other books that I have, and she is a delight to listen to because of her interpretation of the characters as well as the tone of her voice.
I requested and received a free temporary audio from Dreamscape Media via NetGalley.

Well that was something. A thriller that flips, and flops, and flips again, and STILL doesn't end up where you expect. But a little too much on the flip-flopping surprises here.

I figured out one of the "surprises", though honestly maybe the reader is supposed to know that?
———
quick summary:
Claire has spent the last 10+ years of her life hating Hannah, her younger brother's former nanny, who worked for a week and then accused her father of sexual assault. Claire has spent her entire adult life thinking Hannah ruined her family's lives. Her father died during his trial, her mother not long after. She and her brother rarely talk. She has made nothing of herself and can barely keep a job, she is so consumed with anger. Then one day she sees Hannah on the streets of NY and follows her home. Claire is sneaky and clever and personable and finds Hannah has fired her housekeeper. So she decides to ruin Hannah's life just as Hannah ruined hers. She gets that housekeeping,nanny job. But nothing goes to plan.

This novel kept me engaged, yet the plot was sort of ridiculous and silly. I liked the book but would have given a rating of 2.5 if possible.

This was billed as a psychological thriller and I would concur, up to a point. It was the story of a woman, 2nd wife to Mike, the mover and shaker, politically. Mike has an affair, and his wife helps with the cover up. She thought she was helping her husband. Later in the story she seeks revenge; but soon realizes that digging a grave for one’s enemy is also digging one for yourself. The dialogue was brief and the vocabulary small; now what I would suspect of politicians and businessmen with MBA’s. 272 pages

A woman seeks revenge on someone she believed wronged her growing up by becoming her housekeeper. A quick, suspenseful read. Good.

This book was horrible, it was in no way suspenseful ot thrilling, it was stupid, and a total waste of time. Claire thinks Hannah ruined her family and sets out to ruin Hannah and her family only to find out what she's believed all these years isn't quite the truth, and that Hannah doesn't have that great of a life anyway. Claire ends up saving Hannah and they all live happily ever after .....yawn

I’m finding this one hard to review. There was a lot of information and a lot of things going on in this book. It was a very well thought out storyline and the characters were well done. I enjoyed the book a lot but I guess I really don’t have strong feelings about it one way or another. That seems odd because it really was a unique idea and it managed to keep my attention throughout the book. Maybe I will just have to come back to review this one later.

Wow! I was not expecting that twist at the end. My mind was going a completely different direction. I hadn’t realized I’d read one of her books earlier this year, Missing Molly, but apparently wasn’t all that impressed with it at the time. This book definitely impressed me. Again, the writing was done well and the characters were believable.
At first the plot seemed a bit out there. A woman believes a girl from her past is responsible for all the things that are wrong in her own life now, so she decides to stalk her. I changed my thinking rather quickly though, as the actions she took felt completely doable, especially for someone determined to get revenge.

Claire and Hannah knew each other when they were young. Claire has wanted revenge for something that Hannah did back then but hasn't been able to get it. Now that they are older, Claire's appearance has changed drastically with age. She becomes Hannah's housekeeper - Hanna has no idea who she really is. As Claire plans her revenge, events happen that take quite a twist. I didn't see the ending coming. Good read

Quick listen on audible audio. Fast paced mystery,thriller about a young woman who has been on the run since the night her family was brutally murdered. She has managed to hide her true identity. She knows who the killer is, and is convinced that he will killer her too. The killer has connections and they will never, let her tell the truth of what happened. The small newpaper she works for has decided to do a podcast on Missing Molly, hoping to save the paper and bring attention to an old missing person case, Rachel, the paper's bookkeeper tries everything to stop the podcast from launching. She knows her and her daughter will not be safe if she is discovered. The only problem is --- can she stop it and keep her family safe.

3.5 Stars
Little Molly Forster has been missing since that awful day when her entire family was murdered. People wonder where she is, but the town has kept that night and the secrets that came with it quiet. Until now. A small newspaper is determined to grow their numbers through a podcast focused on finding the missing girl. Their bookkeeper, Rachel Holloway, fight to keep the podcast from kicking off, but soon she too is caught up in the hunt to find Molly. Only, she knows exactly where Molly is, it's a secret she's kept to herself since the day she ran away.

I hated the blurb for this book, it gave away far too much, but ultimately I couldn't stay away from a book that featured a modern day mystery story told through a podcast. Podcasts are all the rage and this made those stories I'm just used to hearing through my headphones come to life. I enjoyed the background of how it all worked, really appreciated Rachel's story as she fought to keep her secrets, and definitely felt shock and surprise as the true story of that evening unraveled. Parts of it were predictable, as most mysteries are, but parts of it did truly surprise me and how it was written made it interesting even when I knew what was coming. There's quite a lot of suspense and a nicely done psychological twist, the novel becoming all the more enjoyable as Rachel became more unstable and less reliable. I liked reading the mystery from the future and appreciated that the glimpses into Rachel's past didn't reveal everything, but rather left more questions.

Missing Molly is an entertaining psychological thriller that features a pile of unique, well developed characters and a current theme that fits with the times. Some of it is unbelievable and at times the relationships fell flat, but I was swept up in this story, desperate to know why Rachel had left her name behind and had done so much to hide it. I really appreciated her weakening resolve to keep it quiet and loved how the mystery finally was revealed to the characters only at the very end.

ARC provided.

Fun psychologic thriller. Excellent audiobook read by a lovely British narrator!