Author: Nicola Rayner
Publisher: Avon
Released: May 27, 2019
Received: NetGalley

The Girl Before You is Nicola Rayner’s debut thriller novel, with psychological and crime elements. In short, it was more than enough to catch this reader’s attention!

For a time, Alice thought she had a perfect life. She’s happily married to a politician slash TV personality, and yet she can’t seem to get out of her own head. More accurately, she can’t stop obsessing over her husband’s past.

You see, before he settled down, her husband was known for being a bit of a ladies’ man. Alice can’t help but dig into the ladies that came before her, especially one in particular – the one who went missing.

I picked up The Girl Before You because it sounded exciting and fun. It also seemed to be oddly topical, which I appreciated. It added another layer to what was already promising to be a complex read.

The other reason The Girl Before You caught my eye is that it was favorably compared to My Lovely Wife. Now, while I did end up enjoying the book quite a bit, I personally would not have made that comparison.

The Girl Before You is told through multiple perspectives. I love it when thrillers do this. It spreads out the story, and when done right, it can build tension while still obfuscating the whole truth of what has happened.

On the whole, I think it was done pretty well here. The story starts in such a way as to immediately suck readers in, and from there, it’s one altering moment to another. It’s arguably not the best thriller that I’ve read – but I still enjoyed it and all of the surprises it brought with it.

Thanks to Avon and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.