| Title | : | What Lies Between Us |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1542017025 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781542017022 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 363 |
| Publication | : | First published May 15, 2020 |
| Awards | : | ITW Thriller Award Original Paperback Novel (2021) |
Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.
But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way—even if it kills her.
Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.
What Lies Between Us Reviews
-
WHAT THE HELL I JUST READ!??HOLY COW(that’s me!)
News flash: Renee Zellweger’s Big Picture Co/ MGM TV production company bought the movie rights of the book! OMG I cannot wait to watch this batshit crazy train ride on big screen!🥳🥳🥳
What a breath taking, captivating, pitch black dark, dazzling, devious and intense, soul crushing mother and daughter story!
I haven’t read something so scary, disturbing for so long! The growing tension from the beginning, those sick and shocking twists and revelation you find out at each chapter and that epic ending made me get an urgent appointment from hospital. My grey cells burned after over usage so I need an urgent transplant now! Yes, Mr. Marrs, my chin dropped! My eyes popped out of my sockets, my hands are shaky, actually my entire body was shaky and everybody is thinking I’m the worse break-dancer. And something smells so bad! No, it’s coming from me. Oh no! Nooooo!!!It can’t be! What have I done!!!
OMG! In the middle of my reading I found myself acting like Regan from Exorcist making spider walk, climbing backwards from the stairs and my head spinning. (Thankfully my vomit color is not green. Not yet! I hate kale and spinach!)
That was true expression and quiet real reflection of my feelings: I was terrified! And you know what I’m not easily scared of anything instead of my image in the morning and my husband’s snoring sound louder than cumulative ten T-rex screaming! But let me tell you something, when I reach the end, my spine was already tingling and there were at least 15 teeth bites on my arm (nope, my dogs are innocent, I did to myself because I have no longer nails which is more disgusting image you may ever imagine.)
I was so close to scream for help but I also lost my voice (Yes, in the beginning of the book I already used my right to screaming louder till my sister in-law shoved a sock into my mouth (And it was my husband dirty sock! So yes there are things in the world scarier than waterboarding.)
Without giving too much spoilers I may only say this book’s story is definition of borderline personality disorder and unfortunately Maggie (mother) who is chained at the attic of her own house to pay for her sins and things she’s done to her daughter. (As Chris Isaak sings baby did a bad bad thing! Oh actually she did too many bad things! But I have to stop there not to ruin the surprises and bombs the author leaves into our laps and runs away!)
And sweet Nina, at the end of her thirties, librarian is guardian and judge of her own mother’s slow punishment and execution.
Do you want to know why they built this sick relationship? Why Nina’s father leave without saying goodbye? Why Nina is so fragile around little children? Is Maggie innocent victim or pure evil needs to be behind the bars? Can she escape and save herself from captivation?
There are so many twists, so many revelations you cannot foresee their coming! You feel like punching several times from supernatural forces and crying like a baby to make it stop! Sorry our author is evil genius and he keeps sending more bombs and destroys your safe space.
Overall: Sometimes I felt suffocated from tension so I cut only half star but it is still 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars reading for me. I adore this author’s riveting, captivating style. He never ever disappoints me!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for sharing this special ARC for me in exchange my honest review.
So cheers my friends!
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https://deesradreadsandreviews.wordpr...
A dark, suspenseful, and addictive read!!
Sixty-eight-year old, Maggie spends her days in the attic watching her neighbors going about their lives. To them, she doesn't exist. As Maggie watches, she notices things that no one else does. She’s the first to notice when Mr. Steadman’s curtains stop opening and his mail and newspapers start piling up.
But there’s nothing she can do about it. You see, Maggie isn’t choosing to live in the attic. She’s forced to stay, kept in place by locked doors, soundproof walls, unbreakable windows, and the heavy chain around her ankle. The only time Maggie leaves the room is when she joins HER for dinner downstairs.
At times, Maggie questions her past actions. Most of the time she knows that she did what she had to do.
“How can I ask for forgiveness when I truly believe that what I did was the right thing to do.”
What could Maggie have possibly done to deserve this?
Well if you ask Nina, she’d say Maggie has done MANY unforgivable things. And so she must pay.
This was dark and twisted in the best way!
The story alternates between Maggie and Nina’s perspectives, two women with many secrets and lies between them. It's a well-paced read with many surprises and twists. Once I started reading, I couldn't even think of putting the book down. I thought that I had things figured out, that I knew what was going on, but I was way off.
“What Lies Between Us” is a clever and compulsive psychological thriller with an engaging plot and characters whose web of secrets had me trapped and riveted until I turned the very last page.
I really can't wait to see what Mr. Marrs has in store for readers next!!
I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.
-
I freaking loved this so much, and I vlogged my entire experience reading this:
https://youtu.be/bmHzpMYzHWw -
Now available! Don’t miss this one and then check out our Q & A with John Marrs!
Alright, Friends, you know I am going to say it! Hot Diggity Dang, that was good!!! This is one page-turner and I flew through it so fast it's surprising that my Kobo didn't need some cooling downtime.
John Marrs joined us in the Behind the Pages group to answer our spoiler-free questions about What Lies Between Us, his books and his writing process. You can find the thread to the Q&A here
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
My review
What Lies Between Us is an exciting original, entertaining read with one fascinatingly dark warped and twisted relationship here, between Mother and Daughter Maggie and Nina. John Marrs creates an intriguing and terrifying situation here for Maggie, who is chained and hidden in the house she shared with Nina. It's not only the lies and secrets between them that are intriguing; it's also the truths they are hiding.
Through Maggie and Nina's POV, each tells their side of the story in two timelines creating suspense and tension here that kept me turning the pages. With each side of the story, something new is revealed and I went back and forth, questioning who was the cruel one is.
Things get darker as the story goes and I was on the edge of seat anticipating how this one was going to wrap up, but really I had no idea. Well, I have to say it wrapped up brilliantly and I loved everything about this one! I highly recommend it!
I received a copy from John Marrs on NetGalley -
Available now, 5/13/2020
Maggie has only ever wanted to protect her daughter, Nina, but doing so has cost so very much. And for all she has done, her daughter hates her. Nina keeps her mother locked up in the attic, with a chain attached to her ankle. She's punishing her mother for all that she has taken from her.
As we read the alternating views of Maggie and Nina, spreading over various timelines, it's hard to know who is the craziest, Maggie or Nina. This is one fiendish read and the more we know, the worse things get. I couldn't put this one down and it made for a fantastic buddy read.
Published May 15th 2020
Thank you to Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for this ARC. -
“How can I ask for forgiveness when I truly believe that what I did was the right thing to do.”
What could Maggie have possibly done to deserve this?
HOLY FUCK!! I AM SHOOK AND SCARED AND DISTURBED!
It's been so long I have read something this good. It's like one of my best decision of this month. I completed this book a few weeks back at 2 am at night .
I was in my bathtub when i was reading this( I can't read in my room late at night okay? If my mother came to know that I read in bathtub till 2 am she would do something like Maggie did to Nina ) and when I finished it I looked in the mirror and I realized this book is more scary than my face!!
why I picked up this book ?
My friend made a bet with me that I couldn't guess the ending of this book ! I accepted the challenge coz I was sure that I will guess it!!
what I liked ? ( honestly everything )
I am leaving a list of things I loved about this book if you found anything relatable you should read it:-
√ breathtaking
√ captivating
√ dark / scary/ suspensive
√ sick and shocking twists
√ epic ending
√ alternate perspective
√ clever/compulsive/engaging plot
√ characters with their web of secrets
√ one of the most bizzare characters
√ soul crushing mother daughter story( it's personal)
√ addictive/ page turner
In short this was the most devious , dazzling , intense and dark book I have read in a really long time!
I was scared every minute of it .... I am disturbed and traumatised.
And holy pepperoni there is a movie soon to be made !
( I hope they do justice to the book)
Recommended for everyone.
Stop whatever you are doing and just read it. -
Every house has its secrets, except that these secrets are not buried in the past.
What Lies Between Us is a dark and twisted tale of intense love and hatred. Nina and Maggie live in the same house. Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. Everything appears normal at the start but there are many secrets between Maggie and Nina, secrets which when revealed could kill. Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.
The story alternates between Maggie and Nina’s perspectives, two women with many secrets and lies between them. The story is a fast-paced read with many surprises and twists. The book is narrated by both Nina and Maggie in the present day and back to 25 years previously. Each chapter reveals a little more about the story and delves deep into their psyche and motivations, teasing the reader slowly with hints of how Maggie and Nina ended up in the present situation. I will be honest, the story felt slow for the first third of the book but somehow the story keeps you hooked and the way the story reveals the complete picture, in the end, is mind-blowing.
This book is almost 400 pages long and to keep the readers engaged with just 2 main characters is no mean feat. There were disturbing twists and U-turns in this book, dark secrets, jaw-dropping revelations, false turns, and the two twisted central characters which will keep you on the edge throughout. Unreliable narrators have been used several times before but I don’t think it has been used as effectively as in this story. The story is told from each woman’s perspective in almost alternating chapters and the story will force you to switch your sympathies from one character to another till you are not sure which one you believe. It’s like the writer is perfectly toying with the minds of the readers.
The narration keeps switching between characters and the past and the present. At times, it may feel exhausting but after reading the full story, you realise that there could have been no better way to narrate the story. I have mixed feelings about the conclusion but probably it was the best way to end it.
As a word of caution, What Lies Between Us has a lot of violence (both physical and mental) and it is not for the fainthearted. Also having recently read Darling Rose Gold, the themes felt similar to me. The stories are vastly different but somehow the story could have impacted me a lot more if I had read this book first, but this is not the book’s fault of course.
Overall, What Lies Between Us is a clever and compulsive psychological thriller with an engaging plot and characters which will keep you hooked till the very last page. If you like dark psychological thrillers, this is a must-read 4.5 Stars
Many thanks to the publishers Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for the ARC. -
Published today (15th May) and available for £1 on Kindle, or free on Kindle unlimited! :)
Update 25/2/20:
Renee Zellweger acquires TV rights
A dark, twisty tale of two women with secrets and a very complicated relationship!
Why is Nina keeping her mother in the attic?
Why does she hate her so much?
Gosh this book was dark! Maybe a little too dark for me? John Marrs you have a twisted mind 😂😂
Filled with unlikeable, dysfunctional characters, secrets, lies and disturbing choices, 'What Lies Between Us' had a malevolent feel to it, which chilled me. The characters, with their co-dependency, got under my skin, and left me feeling anxious and quite sad.
Told from two character's pov, Maggie, and her daughter Nina in flashbacks over the last 25 years, and in the present, this story was so addictive, I just couldn't look away!
I was a little disappointed that I predicted some of the major plot twists, they felt a bit obvious to me?! I also had some issues with the police or lack of.. But the writing was strong enough to make me read on, to see if was correct!
I definitely prefer John Marrs's more sci-fi books like 'The One' and 'The Passengers' but this book was brilliantly written, and undoubtedly had me on edge! Also the cover is hauntingly good!
Recommended if you want a dark, crazy read! I now need a light fluffy book and a hug please!
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Yesssss! Thank you so much to Netgalley UK and Amazon Publishing UK for my digital ARC! I can't wait to see what John Marrs comes up with now! *fist pumps and dances around* -
not the worst john marrs book ive read, but definitely not my favourite. i think i tend to prefer his sci-fi thrillers more than his psychological ones.
and i understand stories revolving around dysfunctional and crazy families are meant to have shock factor. the reader should be yelling ‘what the heck?!’ throughout the book - that is a sign of an engaging story. but i think this took it one too many ‘shocks’ too far. its just…. convenient? i dont know how else to describe it. its as if JM was throwing in everything he could think of to give the story multiple twists and turns and it was just too much. sometimes less is more, you know? there was too much for me to even consider this story realistic and then im completely taken out of the moment and it no longer becomes a thriller because it is no longer believable.
but i will say the writing style and flow is very nice. its so easy to quickly devour the story, which i did, even though i didnt love it.
thank you amazon publishing uk for the ARC!
↠ 3 stars -
Everybody hop aboard the crazy train! First stop: Dysfunction Junction!
Oh my, I'm not sure what to say about this one. This book is so bonkers and so entertaining that it was hard to look away from my kindle. I'm not going to discuss the plot because there is a minefield of spoilers to tip toe around if I do.
I loved The Good Samaritan by this author but Her Last Move was a DNF for me and Passengers I didn't bother to request because I just knew it wasn't my jam. But this one! Oh yes, this one is on par with The Good Samaritan and a reminder as to why I love these twisty psych thrillers. Well done! 4 *You can't pick your family* Stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. -
Vengeance
What Lies Between Us is a dark psychological thriller that will disturb your concept of a mother and daughter relationship. What has happened to have caused such a lingering hatred? To smile and engage with light conversation while underneath scheming with violent thoughts that will shock to the core.
Maggie is an elderly woman who spends her days in an attic bedroom and through a shuttered window she has a limited view of the outside world. For over two and a half years she has lived like this.“The longer I spend at this window, the more I realise I’m becoming like Jeff, the wheelchair-bound character James Stewart plays in the film Rear Window. Like him, I have little choice but to spend my days spying on my neighbours. Jeff thinks he has witnessed the murder of one of his neighbours. But the only thing dying in this street is me. And nobody knows that but my daughter.”
Maggie is chained to a spike in the floor that enables her to access everything in her bedroom but not beyond. Every second evening she gets chained to a longer chain that allows her down one flight of stairs to the bathroom and dinner with her daughter Nina.
John Marrs creates two protagonists that he develops with skill throughout the novel and each tells the story from their perspective. The family background with Maggie and Nina, and the incidents which led to this highly caustic situation are slowly revealed. The suspense of the unknown and which character is the most dangerous and cruel is maintained with wonderful complex switching of suspicion between the two. “But I no longer allow her to witness how her cruelty upsets me. Maybe I’ve been taking the wrong approach.”
Marrs does captivate with his threads of action, drama and manipulation. This is a page-turner with a wonderful pace set throughout the novel. The biggest issue for me was the believability on how this scenario developed. I can normally suspend belief when the thriller suspense is as riveting as this, but this issue constantly nagged at the back of my mind. This was a buddy read with Beata and this issue became our main discussion area. At this stage with Beata, we both know each other so well that we wait with a smile knowing how the other is going to react to the author’s intent and their delivery with possible plot holes.
I need to try more John Marrs because he certainly knows how to hook a reader and I appreciate how he enthrals his readers. I would recommend this book and I would like to thank Amazon Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy in return for an honest review. -
4.5*
Over the course of my reading career, (passion, hobby!) I’ve come across some seriously bizarre characters. Folks, these two take home the grand prize!💁🏻♀️
John Marrs is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. You just can’t predict what you’re in for when cracking open up one of his books. But what you will be guaranteed is one doozy of a thriller that will seriously mess with your mind! And in John Marrs latest, he brings that same magic again!
Mother and daughter. There is no other relationship like it on the planet. At times it can be a fine line between love and hate. John Marrs molds this relationship, twists and weaves it into something that will positively leave you reeling!
As the perspectives and timelines shift between the mother and daughter, so did my sympathies! Like watching a tennis match! To the point where I felt I was in jeopardy of getting whiplash. Relentlessly stubborn, neither woman letting up for even a moment!
If you are a fan of John Marrs...and seriously, how can you not be!? Don’t miss this latest release! Everyone will be chatting this one up over the summer! They already are!
A fabulous buddy read with Susanne that we both loved!
Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and John Marrs. -
4.5 stars
Holy Hell in a Handbag!
Crazy, but that's how it goes
Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love and forget how to hate
Mental wounds not healing
Life's a bitter shame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train - Ozzy Osbourne
First off, I think Nina should have been listening to Ozzy instead of ABBA. But that's a whole other crazy train.
Home. It should be a safe place, a place of tranquility, for family time, for rest, for love, for nurturing. But it can also be a prison, just ask Maggie. Maggie and her daughter Nina live together in their family home. Every other night they have dinner together. While Nina bee bops around to ABBA, Maggie has a chain around her ankle. Nina keeps Maggie chained up in the attic, but why?
This was on whacked out thoroughly enjoyable tale about secrets, lies and the unforgivable.
This was a fun page turner for me and although, I figured out one thing, it still shocked me with others. This has some twists, turns and revelations that kept me completely glued to the pages. This was a crazy ride and I loved every inch of it. I can't wait to see what John Mars thinks up next.
Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own. -
What a beautifully written dark, twisty book! This is the first John Marrs book I’ve read and I’m so glad I finally have.
Written from both Maggie and Nina’s point of view, we learn why Nina has gone to great lengths to keep Maggie prisoner in their own home and why some things can never be forgiven..
This book is full of twists and turns, each more shocking than the one before, I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through! My thoughts and feelings on Maggie and Nina were changing constantly, who really is the victim here? I couldn’t put this book down, I needed to know how it was all going to end!
Big thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for allowing me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
This is a tough review to write, because I adore John Marrs, and many of his books are among my list of favorites. While this was an easy palate cleanser, I didn't feel like there was anything unique or groundbreaking here. Perhaps it's due to reading so many thrillers, but I found this one to be fairly predictable and a bit underwhelming near the end, as I kept waiting for that big twist that I didn't see coming. I'm 100% in the minority with my thoughts here, so I encourage you to pick this one up and experience it for yourself, as it is guaranteed to hold your attention with it's small cast of extremely unlikable characters.
Content Warning:
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy. -
Wow, I was blown away by this book. Right at the start we learn that Nina has had her 68 year old mother, Maggie, chained up in the attic for the last two years 😮. We don’t know what she has done to deserve this. The story, told from the perspective of both women in both the present and the past slowly peels away the layers until we get to the truth. And it’s not pretty!
I found my sympathies shifting backwards and forwards between the two women. Were either of them a reliable narrator? Clearly something awful happened when Nina was a teenager. The journey to discovering what did happen is riveting, compelling and very disturbing. This book is about a mother’s love and how far she will go to protect her child, even at great expense to herself. It’s about only seeing what you want to see. It’s about the damage that can be wreaked on loved ones knowingly or otherwise. It’s about the idealism of youth and the burden of guilt and the terrible price people can pay because of their actions or lack thereof.
The writing was superb. I had no clue about where the book was ultimately heading so there were some shocking revelations as the story progressed. And the ending - I did not expect that at all. This book reinforces my view that John Marrs is a master story teller. -
This novel has won hearts of readers, not mine, alas.
Incredibly complicated relationships between a mother and a daughter were brought about mainly by the events which took place over two decades earlier. As the story unfolded, I was trying hard to understand motifs behind Maggie's (the mother) actions, and, unfortunately, I did not find them either justifiable or plausible. I would not like to go deep into the plot, however, I was unable to comprehend Maggie's attitude to everything NIna (the daughter) had done or did. Having said that, I admit that the book is full of twists and turns that kept me interested but I sighed much too much while reading to say that this offering by Mr Marrs was a winner for me.
This was another buddy read with Peter and his comments always cover the most important threads and are food for thought. Thank you, My Friend!
*Many thanks to John Marrs, Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.* -
4.25 Stars
Woah! Talk about Nuts.. or rather Dysfunction!! And I mean Family Dysfunction!
John Marrs knows how to grab the reader’s attention:
A mother and daughter, whose relationship is well... absolutely Bonkers! That’s a nice way of saying it, if I’m being completely honest. It’s so dysfunctional that you can’t tear your eye’s away.
A myriad of thoughts went through my head while reading “What Lies Between Us” by John Marrs and I desperately want to spill all, yet that would spoil the surprise. I will say that I read this and I felt, shock, awe and disgust and yet, I kept reading. This is dark, demented and so twisted that it’s utterly fantastic.
For those of you that are looking to be entertained for a few hours, this is a must read.
This was another fabulous buddy read with Kaceey! SO glad we read this one together.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and John Marrs for the arc.
Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 2.29.20. -
Can you like a book but not like yourself for liking it?
My experience with What Lies Between Us indicates the answer is yes. This page-turning thriller about a daughter who has imprisoned her mother in the attic kept me guessing and surprised, but the characters are so vile they made me question my faith in humanity.
I know I'm in the minority on this one, but that's all I got. I want to read something now that makes me like people - and myself - again. -
I won't go into the plot except to say the story starts out well but the reveals were underwhelming with a total mess of a plot that became more unbelievable as the story progressed. To name them would go into spoiler territory, but the choices made by the characters literally made no sense.
Also, apparently this town has no police department? When a character goes missing their family knows who is crazy pants yet there is no investigation???
This was the first Marrs book I actually finished and will be my last. However, there are plenty of 4 & 5 star reviews for this one so be sure to check them out. This wasn't for me but it may be for you!
* I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review -
Maggie y Nina, madre e hija que viven juntas y solas desde la desaparición del padre, tienen una particularidad. Nina vive “más o menos” una vida normal, y Maggie no sale de casa desde hace casi tres años…. Más que nada porque Nina la tiene encadenada en su habitación de la planta superior, aunque para las cenas le permite acceder hasta el salón… con una cadena más larga. La novela nos explica el porqué de esta situación en capítulos que van de una a otra de las protagonistas, y que van adelante y atrás en el tiempo, llegando incluso al momento en que el padre dejó de formar parte de sus vidas.
Una narrativa que te hará empatizar tanto con la madre como con la hija, pero que también te hará odiarlas hasta la saciedad. Y ese es el gran mérito de la novela, hacerte partícipe y, a la vez, cómplice de las acciones tanto de la una como de la otra. Las dos creen que estar haciendo lo correcto. Y tú también lo creerás.
No puedo darle cinco estrellas, sin embargo, porque hay aspectos que, mirados con profundidad, te harán dudar de que algo así pudiera haberse producido en la vida real. Si analizas la trama con detenimiento encontrarás fisuras. Pero como la novela te atrapa y no te suelta, harás la lectura completa sin grandes aspavientos. En ese aspecto, la obra es más que recomendable como thriller psicológico, y además lo cierra con un final que a mí me parece perfecto.
He disfrutado más con “What lies between us” que con “The one”, la única novela que había leído anteriormente por este autor. Así que tendré que seguir sus publicaciones, y ver si lo meto en la saca de autores a tener en cuenta. Tengo que reconocer que con esta novela ha ganado muchos puntos. -
I enjoy a good mindf*ck from a book once in a while. What Lies Between Us would’ve done me a solid had it been less predictable and more believable.
I thought I had daddy issues, but I obviously haven’t met Nina. She keeps her mum, Maggie, chained and isolated in the attic of their house as some sort of punishment her mum has to pay for the unforgivable things she did—or at least, what Nina believes Maggie has done.
The mother/daughter duo
I don’t know if it’s because I’m not (yet) a mother, but Maggie’s action as a mum to Nina didn’t make sense to me at all. She wasn’t so much as protecting as she was enabling.
Don’t get me started on Nina! God, I hate teenagers in books. The adult version of her isn’t much better. I can’t even feel sorry for her when I wanted to. I never got a handle on her dynamics with her father.
Who knows, maybe it’s intentional on the author’s part to paint Maggie and Nina as such. Either way they ain’t getting the Mother/Daughter of the Year award from me. Wdyt all the mums out there? Would you have done the same as Maggie did??
The predictable
Ugh. This is getting long. I’m not sure how to bring about my next point. I’m not the most eloquent person, so BEAR WITH ME. The whole time I was reading, it felt like I was just waiting for a punch line on an old joke that I already know about.
We only have Maggie and Nina to suspect. So, it’s either one of them is the bad guy or both of them are. That took the fun away from me. Especially since with each neatly placed clue, (if you’re clever enough to notice them) you can guess the who.
The point of this book is to uncover what lies between Maggie and Nina. Once you reach the part where the who is revealed (@70%), the rest just kinda unfolds like an exposition of the 5W1H—which was underwhelming since it basically meant the book was confirming my theory.
The improbable
Regardless of the plot being predictable, it’s in the details (of the charaters’ conditions, what’s happened to them in the last 25 years) that make the believability of the whole story rather low. It’s simply too convenient to be realistic.
It would be nice if the police were involved. Not only would it spice things up for me, I think it would also up the stakes and help with the far fetchedness so that the mystery could unwrap a little less conveniently.
Anyhow, the book was enjoyable and entertaining, if not slow for my taste and unsettling. It talks about some of the unfortunate things that can happen to a woman and her body, which made me squirm in my seat.
If you don’t mind all the issues I’ve mentioned, then What Lies Betweeen Us will certainly be quite the trip for you. It’ll probably leave you gobsmacked. -
John Marrs has done it again - a five star read all the way! This is the story of Maggie and Nina, mother and daughter, a terrifying and intriguing tale of the totally unexpected. This story yanks you in immediately and fills you with so many questions, the answers to which gradually emerge through the storytelling. Maggie is watching and waiting - but for what opportunity? Why is Nina hurting Maggie? The twisty, dark black story is told in alternating storylines by Maggie and Nina in the present day and backtracks to 25 years ago. This is where the origins are of the trauma that lies between them that evolves into the most dysfunctional relationship, if indeed you can call it that, as it’s more like the worst definition of the film Wars of the Roses.
The storytelling is fantastic. It’s like a game of malevolent tennis as each retaliates to the actions of the other. The tension between the main characters is palpable and you feel like you are treading on the most delicate of eggshells. The secrets that Maggie and Nina are hiding are jaw dropping, eye popping, brain numbing, mind blowing and breath taking in their magnitude. You are not sure whose perspective is the truth and who is the deluded liar but that become clearer towards the end where we see just how huge a maternal sacrifice Maggie has made. It is terrifying in its power and we learn that one character has anger that is so intense it goes beyond blind rage. There is mystery and intrigue throughout and we gradually learn the horrors of what has been covered up and the lengths that some people will go to to exact mistaken revenge. The story unfolds really well and is full of twists and as revelation piles on top of mountainous revelation you find yourself utterly incapable of putting the book down. The conclusion is excellent and you feel like you’ve been through the wringer with these characters but at least you can breathe again!!
Overall, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant and I think this will be in my top ten reads of 2020. John Marrs is incredibly talented and he is one of my favourite authors as I know he always delivers a terrific read. Highly recommended especially to fans of a twisty thriller.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the ARC. -
This was a wild ride!! I don't think I ever read a book with such a dysfunctional family. I still can't believe how much the two main characters were disturbed! From the start, we know that Nina locked her mother in the attic, chained to the floor... The author gives us a couple of clues to understand why and he manages to write a story that just gets crazier and crazier.
This book was compelling and fast paced. I expected a slightly different ending, but I understand why Marrs made this choice. It certainly fits the insane plot! From start to finish, there were full of twists and turns. Marrs sure knows how to get the readers hooked from the first page! -
⭐ 5 out of 5 'what in the actual f🤩k!? and with a Dollanganger-vibe' stars ⭐
John Marrs books keep getting progressively better. I LOVED this one. At one point I was getting so worked up reading it that I found myself clutching my Kindle and I had the image of me as the teacher from the movie A Christmas Story who is so deliriously happy with what she's reading that she circles the classroom writing A+ A+ A+ A+..... on all the walls.
𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘤. 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 '𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯' 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦���� 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘖𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱.....
For the first 25% of this book I had NO IDEA what was happening, but then the story of these two women quickly starts to take shape and it. is. shocking.
Some of the twists are guessable if you read between the li(n)es but most took me completely by surprise. The ending was hard to stomach but also brilliant.
I can't wait for Marrs next book!! -
What Lies Between Us is incredible! Seriously twisted and crazy but addictive and not easy to put down. Are you sold yet? I had heard alot of good things about this book and after reading The Passengers by this author last year I knew that I had to pick it up. Make sure that when you start it that you have nothing planned in your life (so iso is a great time!!). You will not want to stop reading it.
Where do you start with a book like this, and not spoil anything? What you need to know about this book is this:
Nina lives with her mother Maggie in her childhood home. They have dinner together and then Maggie is returned to her room in the attic, a room that she is chained to by her daughter. Yes you read that correctly. Nina has found out things from her past and cannot forgive her mother for them. Only she doesn't know the half of it. We learn what has happened between these two in alternate chapters, voiced by each character. We jump from the present to points in the past that changed everything.
Do not even try to guess what is going to happen in this one - you will be wrong. This book twists and turns so often you will be dizzy - in a good way! Absolutely loved it John Marrs. All the stars from me. Out May 15th
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased. -
3.5 stars —- When I saw that John Marrs had written a new book,I immediately put it on my - “Want to read list”. Marrs can be that good of a writer. I knew absolutely nothing about “What Lies Between Us” when I first began the book, but I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between this book and “Misery” by Stephen King. Both books involve someone holding someone else prisoner in her home and the intricacies of the relationship between the two people. In “What Lies Between Us” instead of an obsessed fan and author, the kidnapping involves the very dysfunctional relationship between a mother, Maggie and her daughter, Nina. The book drags at first as Marrs spends way too long trying to disguise who is the real villain in this situation and in describing the very mundane day to day dealings between Maggie and Nina. About 2/3 of the way into the book, it shifts into overdrive as Marrs introduces a new character who sends one character over the edge and makes the book much more interesting and readable. I really enjoyed the finale and how Marrs wrapped up the book. I still rank Marrs as one of my favorite authors but this book took so long to get into, I definitely wouldn’t rank it as one of his best. However, if you are a fan like me, it is still much better than what some authors could write on their best days — so give it a try.
-
Take a good look at that gorgeous book cover....
You can see a woman gazing out of the attic window-but you cannot see the chains which keep Maggie a prisoner there.
You can see Nina, downstairs...perhaps preparing one of the dinners that she and Maggie share, every other night, before she locks her up again.
Nina cannot forgive Maggie for the things she did. And, she can never let her leave...
Told from the alternating voices of Nina and Maggie, (past and present)- you will discover how and why this happened.
You won’t know which woman is reliable or who is more wicked....till the very end.
And, what an end it is....
It’s another book by John Marrs who has not disappointed me yet, and who will continue to be an auto-request author who makes me giddy when I see that he has a new book available!
Thank You to Netgalley, Thomas and Mercer, and John Marrs for allowing me to read a digital ARC in exchange for a candid review!
AVAILABLE TODAY!! -
3.5 stars
A roller coaster of a novel and gripping page turner. From the first chapter what lies beneath us had me tearing through the pages, never sure which characters to trust. a perfect summer vacation / beach read or just a good novel for to pass the long summer evenings <\b>
Every house has it’s secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no exception, Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.
An intriguing and dark psychological thriller where the characters are disturbing and twisted and the plot well crafted and suspenseful. While it’s not one for my favorites shelf I certainly enjoyed the read and look forward to more books from this author.
I listened to this one on audible and narration was excellent and really added to my enjoyment of the book.
I think if you enjoy books like
The Perfect Wife or the
The Silent Patient you might well enjoy this novel too. -
4.5 Stars!
Gripping, twisty, and twisted!
WHAT LIES BETWEEN US by JOHN MARRS is a compulsively readable, compelling, amusing, dark, and demented psychological thriller that had me totally glued to those pages. This was such fun and an unputdownable read for me.
I love reading toxic dysfunctional mother and daughter relationship stories and this one had it in spades! The story is told in the voices of both mother and daughter here in the present time and from the past. We get the juicy backstory starting from twenty five years ago which gives us a firsthand look into their disturbing thought processes and what motivates and drives them. Most of this was pretty shocking and surprising to me.
Some of the content was extremely dark and disturbing but yet it was also so darn enticing that it totally sucked me right into the narrative.
Thank you so much to John Marrs, Amazon UK, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC. It was an absolutely thrilling reading experience!
