Now You See Her by Heidi Perks

Description from Goodreads:

"SHE WAS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. AND NOW SHE'S MISSING.

NOW YOU SEE HER

She’s playing at the school fete with your children. You pull out your phone, scroll through Facebook, and look up again.

NOW YOU DON'T

Charlotte is looking after her best friend’s daughter the day she disappears. She thought the little girl was playing with her own children. She swears she only took her eyes off them for a second.

Now, Charlotte must do the unthinkable, tell her best friend Harriet that her only child is missing. The child she was meant to be watching.

Devastated, Harriet can no longer bear to see Charlotte. No one could expect her to trust her friend again.

Only now she needs to. Because two weeks later Harriet and Charlotte are both being questioned separately by the police. And secrets are about to surface.

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO PUT THINGS RIGHT?"

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Every parent's worst nightmare

I can't believe this book has been sitting on my to-be-read pile since 2018! I've finally got round to it and I'm honestly kicking myself for leaving it so long. It's such a gripping read that pulls you in from the very first page.

The story starts with a scenario that would make any parent's blood run cold. Charlotte is looking after her best friend Harriet's daughter, Alice, at a school fete. She looks away for just a second - checking her phone as we all do - and when she looks back, Alice is gone. It's a simple but terrifying premise that feels so real because it could happen to anyone.

I really liked how the story is told from both Charlotte and Harriet's perspectives. It makes it so hard to know who to trust or even who to feel sorry for. One minute I was heartbroken for Harriet, and the next I was feeling for Charlotte as the school community and social media started to turn on her. It's a very clever look at how quickly people are ready to judge others.

There are plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming at all. Just when I thought I had it figured out, something else would happen to change my mind. The tension builds up brilliantly and it definitely kept me turning the pages late into the night.

It is a very good book that I'm happy with, but it had a tiny niggle for me where I had to suspend my disbelief slightly towards the end. However, it is high quality, well-written and I'd still definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a good psychological thriller.

I'd like to say a thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for enabling me to read and, finally, share my thoughts of this book.

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