The Girl Before by JP Delaney

4 Stars from me!

Bizarrely, people seem somewhat annoyed that this book has the word ‘girl’ in title. A quick look online found me a landslide of anger at this – people believe it means the author is jumping on the Gone Girl and Girl on the Train bandwagon.

Things like that don’t especially bother me, IF the book is good and this one is.

I love the idea of this house, what a brilliant concept. Sounds to me like it would make for a wonderful writers retreat or diet/detox break! The idea of a house that could track your wellbeing is ace, and to be honest sounds like the way forward given the state of the NHS!

Ahem, sorry, got distracted there.

I can see why the film rights have been purchased, this would clearly make for a brilliant film.

I really enjoyed the revealing of the questionnaire and the way in which the house could control and manipulate. The Girl Before has lots of twists and turns and (ironically) as you would expect, a few surprises along the way.

Mr Pervy the architect is sometimes an attractive character and sometimes very  much not. This book keeps you on your toes and does a fabulous job of unsettling the reader.

I do have a couple of negatives: as much as I try to avoid hearing the hype around books, I did hear that women everywhere can’t believe this book wasn’t written by a woman. Really? Really really? Anyone who has read the sex scenes would be well aware they weren’t written by a woman! I found the willingness of the women to comply with all his ridiculous demands somewhat annoying/insulting. I also felt the house could have been utilised more to control the occupants.

On the whole though – well worth reading and I look forward to the film.

Synopsis: Enter the world of One Folgate Street and discover perfection . . . but can you pay the price?

For all fans of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl comes this spellbinding Hitchcockian thriller which takes psychological suspense to the next level.

Jane stumbles on the rental opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to live in a beautiful ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect, on condition she abides by a long list of exacting rules. After moving in, she discovers that a previous tenant, Emma, met a mysterious death there – and starts to wonder if her own story will be a re-run of the girl before. As twist after twist catches the reader off guard, Emma’s past and Jane’s present become inexorably entwined in this tense, page-turning portrayal of psychological obsession. 

Following in the footsteps of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, The Girl Before is being brought to the big screen. The film is set to be directed by Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard.