The Old You

3.5 stars rounded up<br /><br />Just how well do you know your spouse?<br /><br />Lynn and Ed have been married for ten years and things seem to be going great for them until Ed is diagnosed with early onset dementia. It is not long before Ed starts missing words, strange noises are heard in the night, and Ed becomes secretive and his demeanor begins to change. But the synopsis teases the reader - just who is having their mind play tricks on them?<br /><br />Soon the reader begins to learn that there is more to this story and the characters than meets the eye. Psychological thrillers are all the rage these days as are books with unreliable characters/narrators and plot twists and shocking reveals! Well, this book does not disappoint in that area, but will I remember it by this time next year? My guess is vaguely. <br /><br />Not all the characters are likable in this book which keeps things interesting. I did find myself getting annoyed with one character - massively annoyed. Knowing these characters aren't real, I still wanted to ask this particular character "Are you really this ridiculous all the time? I mean seriously? How clueless can one person be? How did you ever work in that particular field and well.... UGH!<br /><br />But I do have to give the Author props for being clever. The story was interesting and entertaining. Just when you think you might have this story (and the characters) figured out, the Author will surprise you. I did guess one thing early on, but the rest surprised me. Secrets, lies, deception, twists, turns, doubt, shock, anger - it's all here! The Author pretty much throws everything but the kitchen sink in here. <br /><br />Thank you to Trafalgar Square Publishing 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.

Have you ever driven on the famous Lombard Street in San Francisco? This book is the literary version of that street. <br />(Google it if you're unfamiliar)<br /><br />This is one clever and twisty story with a refreshingly unique plot. <br /><br />From the get-go you know something is off and all is not what it seems and Louise Voss doesn't even try to hide it. This choice by the author is what made this story so gripping for me. A sense of dread enveloped me immediately in the first chapter and omg was it ever deliciously unnerving.<br /><br />Voss scatters so many clues throughout the story that it's dizzying at times. I knew everything I needed to solve this story was right there...just out of reach. I just couldn't seem to fit all of the clues together and it was frustrating and fun and exactly as it should be.<br /><br />One of my biggest peeves in the mystery/ thriller genre is when writers try to deceive the reader with misleading clues in an attempt to throw them off what is inevitably a predictable ending. Never once does Voss resort to this amateurish tactic. Every clue is relevant in this story, each serving as a piece to the puzzle.<br /><br />Ultimately this is a riveting read from beginning to end. <br /><br />4.5 Stars rounded up because I couldn't put it down.<br /><br /><br />I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

<b> Writing: inconsistent/5 | Plot: 2.5/5 | Ending: nah bruv/5 </b><br /><br /><i> 2.5 </i><br /><br /><b> SYNOPSIS </b><br /><br />Lynn Waites' older husband is losing his mind due to a mix of dementia and Pick's disease... or is he?<br /><br /><b> MY OPINION </b><br /><br />At this point of writing the review, I still haven't decided whether to round up or down. Rounding up feels a lil generous, and rounding down feels harsh? BESOS, WHERE IS OUR .5 STARS???? PLS SIR. STOP GOING TO THE MOON AND GET THIS SH!T SORTED. <br /><br />Anyways, it really felt like the author lost steam throughout the book. I liked the bants at the start, and the first Lynn flashback was a nice early juicy surprise, but then it just fizzed out. Very specific simile but did any of you make a mosaic with magazine pages during art class in grade school? And at the start you're meticulously ripping small pieces, really going to town. But then you get like halfway and it took you 12 hours to get here and you're just OVER it so the mosaic pieces just get bigger and bigger so you can wrap it tf up? That's the vibe I got with this book. <br /><br />I don't know if it's because I read a lot of thrillers (way too many tbh), but I found this very predictable. I think it would've shaken me to my squishy core if I had read this a year ago, but I was clocking the twists like I wrote the book myself. So maybe if you're new to the genre, this will rock your socks off? I still appreciated what she did here though. It was a different angle with deceit. I'm just too Nancy Drew for you hoes!! (sarcasm) <br /><br />Ok, I wanna talk about Lynn but unfortunately I can't really get into it without spoilers sooo, ya'll know the drill...<br /><br /><b> SPOILERS SCROLL AHEAD </b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So wassup with Waistey (major cringe at this nickname?) She flip flopped between being Detective of the Year and Dumbass of the Year. Why the flying fk did she go to see Shelagh's sister and then act shooketh when she was like yeah your husband def topped Shelagh. And Lynn was like how dare you slander him?? I love him??? Even though just last chapter Lynn cut off her hair in an act of defiance and said middle fingers up to Ed. I didn't understand what she was expecting from Ellen?? That was pure nonsense. <br /><br />And when she was like "should I tell the police about his passport?" Girl, you were the police??? Would you want the wife of a missing man with possible dementia to tell you that his passport is also missing??? Me thinks so. She was acting herself all sorts of dumb questions like she hadn't been deemed fit enough to go undercover and seduce ole Eddy boy. But I mean she did fail, and get duped, so now that I think about it... Nah still unacceptable LOL.<br /><br />Ok and the last couple of chapters had me wishing I could yeet my kindle off the cliff with Ed. Why did she wait so long to confront him? Why wasn't she ringing the police, interpol, the fking Canadian Mounties if need be to come pack his ass up??? She gave him an out to skiddadle off the island and then let him wine and dine her before she finally was like ok stop playin with me Ed. What? I would've let the choppa sing the moment I saw April dry hump him on the beach. Unacceptable behaviour.<br /><br />Lastly we have the final Adrian twist. All I have to say to Lynn is, put that pucci on ice. You clearly need to be single, forever. Join a nunnery or something, because your hormones CANNOT be trusted. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b> PROS AND CONS </b><br /><br />Pros: decent start, solid plot (questionable execution though), great for thriller newbies <br /><br />Cons: really petered out LOL, wish she kept that last twist in the drafts, Lynn's character was mad inconsistent

Lynn and Ed have been married for nearly a decade so the news is devastating when they find out that Ed has been diagnosed with early on set dementia. It starts with a misuse of words, putting things in strange locations, but as his dementia progresses his behavior grows to be far more sinister. <br /><br />This book was such a wonderful surprise for me. I thought the dementia aspect worked really well here. When you love someone and a diagnosis such as this arises you don't just walk away no matter how awful it gets. This is the predicament that Lynn finds herself in. But beware, because this is a psychological thriller you all know full well that not everyone or everything is as it seems. I do love me a good twist and the very last one....yeah, you got me! I did not expect that. Louise Voss has penned quite a tale and it's one that shouldn't be missed. 5 stars!

<br />3.5 stars, rounded up<br /><br />A GoodReads friend had posted a review of this book and it just called out to me. Luckily, it was a Read Now and I was able to snatch it up. <br /><br />Like the main character, I’m married to a man much older than me and he is starting to have some memory issues. So, I immediately bonded with Lynn. The book is written in first person, which was the perfect narrative style for this type of book. I literally had to keep reminding myself that Lynn was not a real person. <br /><br />But Ed has more than memory issues. He’s got full blown Pick’s Disease, a form of frontotemporal dementia which effects not just vocabulary but emotions and judgement. He also has a very questionable past, investigated for having murdered his first wife, but eventually exonerated when someone else confesses. <br /><br />This book gets creepy pretty quickly and moves at a very fast pace. I did start to suss out where it was going early on but that's not to say it didn’t hold my interest. And yes, there was one twist I didn’t see coming. Lynn makes some incredibly stupid decisions which bothered me as I expected her to be smarter. And the ending quickly went into the totally unbelievable category. <br /><br />So, all in all, a decent read but one that starts much stronger than it finishes. <br /><br />My thanks to netgalley and Orenda Books for an advance copy of this book. <br /><br />

Rounding up to 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s<br /><br />I think it’s best to not share much more than what is shared in the synopsis..<br /><br />Lynn loved her job, but after realizing that her affair with her married boss, will not lead to the marriage and children she covets, she asks to transfer to a new city...seeking a fresh start. <br /><br />She meets Ed, in a most unorthodox way, and has been happily married for ten years....until he is diagnosed with Pick’s disease, a form of early onset dementia. Ed is losing more than his ability to use the correct words in sentences...his behavior is becoming secretive, irrational and occasionally violent. <br /><br />Does Lynn REALLY know her husband? Is his “true self” being exposed because of his “dementia”? <br /><br />The story seems to jump around a bit when the books begins, and just when it finds its groove, a few chapters of Lynn’s back story are introduced, crucial to the plot, but the transitions between past and present are a bit uneven.<br /><br />Also, although I do not need to like the characters in a book, in this case, I REALLY felt like the author WANTED you to sympathize with Lynn, something I couldn’t do, as I found her morals lacking, both personally and professionally. <br /><br />HOWEVER despite these 2 things, I was thrilled to FINALLY be reading a story with a unique premise! It definitely held my attention and was one of my more enjoyable reads so far this year, for MOST of it.<br /><br />But, unfortunately, I could not but into some of the twists towards the end, and I was not thrilled with how the book ended. <br /><br />3.5 stars rounded up<br /><br /><br />I would like to thank Netgalley, Trafalgar Square Publishing/Orenda books, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for a candid review! If you are intrigued...this book is available NOW!

<b>3.5 Stars</b><br /><br /><i>Some-body’s watching youuuu.<br />Some-body’s watching youuuu.<br />Some BODY is WATCHING you.</i><br /><br />Ed and Lynn are married for ten years. They are so happy. Ten years ago, Lynn left the job she loved so she could marry Ed. But now doctors diagnosed Ed with some form of dementia and after that everything changed… Strange things happened…<br /><br /><i>Things more sinister than missing keys and lost words. As some memories are forgotten, others, long buried, begin to surface... and Lynn's perfect world begins to crumble. But is it Ed’s mind playing tricks, or hers...?</i><br /><br />When I read the blurb, it sounds really interesting (the dementia plot) and well it has a good rating and let’s not forget about that gorgeous cover! Of course it was a twisty read, some I could guess right and some I couldn’t. But my main issue was, most of the book I was shouting at Lynn! She was so frustrating. <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="89898876-c306-4589-9503-a56026767384" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="89898876-c306-4589-9503-a56026767384">and I think she did a poor job considering her previous job.</label> My other issue was the pacing, it was a slow-paced, especially the first half and it took most of the excitement. But it still could hold my interest till the end. Told in single POV, 1st person. It’s a standalone novel, contains short chapters and flashbacks. Overall, I expected more and hope you enjoy it!

I was lucky enough to read this one in it’s very early stages and it was excellent then, now reading the end result it is indeed even more excellent. It was lovely to start 2018 off with a 5* read – what I call “proper” domestic noir here, which is to say it is not a recycled plot, it has a unique vibe that makes it stand out and also a truly twisty yet believable tale with darkly engaging characters and a cleverly woven atmospheric narrative. Now all this time later I can tell you more about it.<br /><br />Louise Voss has a beautiful tone and turn of phrase to her writing that makes it a right proper page turner, even without the absorbing and thought provoking story. I was riveted by how the mystery element was woven into the very realistic feeling of what it is like to live with someone who suffers from dementia – which had a personal meaning for me as I go through it with my mother. After a while that sense that it might be you who is going slightly doolally is so so authentic, as Lynn struggles to deal with Ed’s moods and differing mindset that changes almost by the minute. Then as it heads down an ever darker path, you cannot help but be dragged right into their world, where that sense of disconnection, that feeling that all is not right, starts to play on your mind and your senses.<br /><br />The plotting is clever and often unexpected – some of it is heartbreaking – some of it is actually very creepy – but overall it is fascinating, wonderfully written and a little like car crash telly – you just cannot look away. With an ending that will stay with you and a genuinely memorable set of characters “The Old You” is a purely emotional read with a dark dark heart.<br /><br />Highly Recommended.

It should come as no surprise to me that once again, Orenda has published a book that is unlike anything I’ve ever read before, but this book was chock full of surprises and even better than I could have imagined. The Old You was my first Louise Voss book, I had no idea what to expect but the brief synopsis grabbed my attention instantly. Dementia is a horrible disease, I’ve seen it’s effects firsthand and it’s devastating and totally frightening. Imagine being worried sick about your spouse after such an awful diagnosis, then take it a step further and give it a sinister feeling lurking besides the disease. That’s what Lynn is facing, the loss of her once brilliant husband’s mind and the idea that something isn’t quite right, something even worse than his illness.<br /><br />I’m not going to dive any further into the plot because there were so many delicious twists and turns in store that elaborating further would only ruin your future reading experience. (I’m assuming this will be going straight onto your TBR because this was an outstanding read.) Well executed domestic suspense/noir is not as easy to find as you would think, but let me assure you this is incredibly well done and stands out from the crowd. Voss is a skilled writer, she has that uncanny ability to slowly draw the reader into a dark web of secrets and lies, she slowly and intoxicatingly gives you details that keep you engrossed and desperate to know what will happen next. The simmering tension and uneasiness was palpable, the air was thick with tension and fear throughout the entire book, words can’t convey just how perfectly paced this was. Keeping a slower paced book exciting is no easy feat, there has to be something to hold your attention and let me tell you, Voss had me hanging off of every single word. I was waiting on pins and needles because I just knew bad things were bound to happen and secrets would be revealed, and when they were I was completely satisfied AND stupefied. Highly recommended by me for fans of crime fiction in general but also for anyone looking for an excellent example of domestic noir/suspense. This is a must read and will most definitely be on my list of favorites for the year.<br /><br />The Old You in three words: Unnerving, Innovative and Ingenious.

This was a fun read!<br /><br />I certainly wouldn't label this a 'nail-biter' as the publisher did, but there are some sneaky little surprises to this domestic thriller.<br /><br />What made this fun to read was in the execution.<br /><br />First comes from the build up: providing the reader with a very shaky foundation of what's to come, as the information being provided is highly unreliable. <br /><br />Second comes from the characters....who can you trust?<br /><br />Last comes from the expert way the author slowly and expertly reveals the truth. I let out a little 'whoop!' when it all came together. <br /><br />I'm going to have to look into some of the author's other works, as I see she has partnered up with another of my favorite authors Mark Edwards. I look forward to my next adventure with Ms Voss! <br /><br />ARC provided by NetGalley