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All You Took From Me
WINNER 2025 Ned Kelly Awards, Best Debut Crime Fiction
Shortlisted 2025 Danger Awards, Debut Crime Fiction
Set between the Blue Mountains and a Sydney hospital, Lisa Kenway's All You Took From Me is a thriller brimming with great characters and nail-biting tension.
Anaesthetist Clare Carpenter has just lost her husband and her memory in a single-vehicle accident. So why is a stranger following her? After questioning patients about their dreams, she becomes convinced that an anaesthetic drug might help her access missing memories. But there's no way to be certain without jeopardising her career or her life.
As unexplained threats escalate, Clare realises she must take matters into her own hands to learn the uncomfortable truth about her secretive husband, his connection to a mysterious club and what she did to trigger a stranger's crusade for vengeance. But how far will she go?
Shortlisted 2025 Danger Awards, Debut Crime Fiction
Set between the Blue Mountains and a Sydney hospital, Lisa Kenway's All You Took From Me is a thriller brimming with great characters and nail-biting tension.
Anaesthetist Clare Carpenter has just lost her husband and her memory in a single-vehicle accident. So why is a stranger following her? After questioning patients about their dreams, she becomes convinced that an anaesthetic drug might help her access missing memories. But there's no way to be certain without jeopardising her career or her life.
As unexplained threats escalate, Clare realises she must take matters into her own hands to learn the uncomfortable truth about her secretive husband, his connection to a mysterious club and what she did to trigger a stranger's crusade for vengeance. But how far will she go?
- GenresFiction
330 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2024
21 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Kenway
2 books22 followersLisa Kenway is an award-winning Australian writer and anaesthetist with an interest in memory and consciousness. Her debut psychological thriller, ALL YOU TOOK FROM ME, won the 2025 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction and was shortlisted for the 2025 Danger Awards. An early version of this novel was longlisted for the 2020 Richell Prize. Lisa was awarded a Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre Fellowship in 2023, was Highly Commended in the 2022 Writing NSW Varuna Fellowships and has been published widely in journals and anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
September 10, 2024
All You Took From Me is a compelling debut novel from Lisa Kenway. Cleverly plotted to slowly release vital information which kept me eagerly turning the pages to find out what Clare had blocked from her memory.
Clare Carpenter wakes in UCI in a Sydney hospital to be told she had been in a car accident in which her husband died. She has been in a coma for months and can't remember the accident or the months leading up to it.
After being released from hospital and returning to her isolated Blue Mountains home Clare finds she is being stalked and someone is leaving threatening notes. Feeling she must solve the mystery behind her memory loss Claire, an anaesthetist herself, believes an anaesthetic drug may help her remember, but she will be putting her life and career in danger.
I quite often struggle with a first person narration and I did struggle with this one. Clare is erratic and complicated. I couldn't warm to her. But that aside, I found the story was gripping, tension filled and carried an overarching sense of menace. Clare's memories, revealed through hypnosis and anaesthetic, were vivid and suspense filled. I loved the slow reveal.
All You Took From Me is a powerful debut which explores the world of repressed memory.
Clare Carpenter wakes in UCI in a Sydney hospital to be told she had been in a car accident in which her husband died. She has been in a coma for months and can't remember the accident or the months leading up to it.
After being released from hospital and returning to her isolated Blue Mountains home Clare finds she is being stalked and someone is leaving threatening notes. Feeling she must solve the mystery behind her memory loss Claire, an anaesthetist herself, believes an anaesthetic drug may help her remember, but she will be putting her life and career in danger.
I quite often struggle with a first person narration and I did struggle with this one. Clare is erratic and complicated. I couldn't warm to her. But that aside, I found the story was gripping, tension filled and carried an overarching sense of menace. Clare's memories, revealed through hypnosis and anaesthetic, were vivid and suspense filled. I loved the slow reveal.
All You Took From Me is a powerful debut which explores the world of repressed memory.
May 4, 2026
What a disappointment!! This whole story was shallow and just plain ludicrous.
Dr. Claire Carpenter (an anesthetist) is involved in a terrible car accident in which her husband is killed, and she was badly injured with head trauma, a broken leg, and assorted other injuries. She has been in a coma for a month and when awakens, she has amnesia - can't remember a thing about the accident or why someone else's blood (not hers and not her husband's) is on the steering wheel of their crashed vehicle. Thus starts her journey to try to remember the details of the accident and what may have happened shortly before that.
To get in the mind-set she hopes will help her remember, she does a variety of insane, unprofessional, and unethical things that she knows is wrong, and would cost her medical license. Not only to two patients under her care (experimenting with anesthesia), but experiments on herself too. As she comes out of her own experiment (still under the influence) she is called to go into the operating room to resume doctoring duties - which she does still under the influence.
OMG! I'm completely fed up with the nonsense of this story by now. She's self-centered, egotistical, negligent, and a horrible doctor experimenting on others and who shouldn't even be practicing medicine in the first place. AMNESIA?? Yet apparently hasn't forgotten whatever medical training she had??
The author takes liberties with this medium to bash Jehovah's Witnesses to the ground (to me seems like the author has a personal prejudice and hatred for the group) for the references on her childhood backstory has ZERO - YES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - to do with the present story or the accident. This is a crappy attempt by the author of memories resurfacing from amnesia, but they are so out of place and completely irrelevant! She NEVER had TOTAL amnesia, only temporary amnesia regarding the accident and right before and after the accident. Why in the hell would she still be practicing on patients in surgery if she had a head injury that messed with her memory?? OMG - did a say ludicrous or maybe it was insane?
At this point, I couldn't care less about her character, her memory, or the story itself. There is so much wrong with this book...so many discrepancies. Dr. Claire's character was an attempt to be portrayed as innocent in the story, yet her own nature was far from stellar.
I would have DNF'd this long before half through the book but felt obligated to NetGalley to finish it. It was a painful chore, and the ending was less than sensational.
Needless to say, this book wasn't for me.
NetGalley and Bolinda Audio provided a free AAC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Dr. Claire Carpenter (an anesthetist) is involved in a terrible car accident in which her husband is killed, and she was badly injured with head trauma, a broken leg, and assorted other injuries. She has been in a coma for a month and when awakens, she has amnesia - can't remember a thing about the accident or why someone else's blood (not hers and not her husband's) is on the steering wheel of their crashed vehicle. Thus starts her journey to try to remember the details of the accident and what may have happened shortly before that.
To get in the mind-set she hopes will help her remember, she does a variety of insane, unprofessional, and unethical things that she knows is wrong, and would cost her medical license. Not only to two patients under her care (experimenting with anesthesia), but experiments on herself too. As she comes out of her own experiment (still under the influence) she is called to go into the operating room to resume doctoring duties - which she does still under the influence.
OMG! I'm completely fed up with the nonsense of this story by now. She's self-centered, egotistical, negligent, and a horrible doctor experimenting on others and who shouldn't even be practicing medicine in the first place. AMNESIA?? Yet apparently hasn't forgotten whatever medical training she had??
The author takes liberties with this medium to bash Jehovah's Witnesses to the ground (to me seems like the author has a personal prejudice and hatred for the group) for the references on her childhood backstory has ZERO - YES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - to do with the present story or the accident. This is a crappy attempt by the author of memories resurfacing from amnesia, but they are so out of place and completely irrelevant! She NEVER had TOTAL amnesia, only temporary amnesia regarding the accident and right before and after the accident. Why in the hell would she still be practicing on patients in surgery if she had a head injury that messed with her memory?? OMG - did a say ludicrous or maybe it was insane?
At this point, I couldn't care less about her character, her memory, or the story itself. There is so much wrong with this book...so many discrepancies. Dr. Claire's character was an attempt to be portrayed as innocent in the story, yet her own nature was far from stellar.
I would have DNF'd this long before half through the book but felt obligated to NetGalley to finish it. It was a painful chore, and the ending was less than sensational.
Needless to say, this book wasn't for me.
NetGalley and Bolinda Audio provided a free AAC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
April 30, 2026
*All You Took from Me* has a compelling premise, but the execution doesn’t quite live up to it. The story follows Clare Carpenter, who survives a tragic accident that leaves her with no memory of her past—including the details surrounding her husband’s death in the same incident. As she tries to piece together what happened, the narrative promises a gripping psychological journey.
The central idea is strong, and there are moments where the tension and mystery really shine. Clare’s confusion and vulnerability are portrayed well, making it easy to empathize with her situation. However, the pacing is where the book struggles. The story tends to drag, with repetitive scenes and internal monologue that slow down the momentum instead of building suspense.
While the mystery eventually unfolds, it takes longer than necessary to get there, which may test some readers’ patience. Overall, it’s an interesting concept with emotional depth, but it could have benefited from tighter storytelling and a more focused progression.
The central idea is strong, and there are moments where the tension and mystery really shine. Clare’s confusion and vulnerability are portrayed well, making it easy to empathize with her situation. However, the pacing is where the book struggles. The story tends to drag, with repetitive scenes and internal monologue that slow down the momentum instead of building suspense.
While the mystery eventually unfolds, it takes longer than necessary to get there, which may test some readers’ patience. Overall, it’s an interesting concept with emotional depth, but it could have benefited from tighter storytelling and a more focused progression.
November 7, 2024
This was a very consumable book. Lots happened and snippets of information are revealed at intervals, keeping the reader interested. I just didn’t connect with the main character, anesthetist Clare Carpenter. I didn’t find her very likeable and many of her actions were extremely questionable. Touted as a ‘psychological thriller’ the story never felt very tense for me and the ending was a little too neat. In saying that, Kenway, in her debut novel has produce an enjoyable read that kept me focused right up to the end.
April 9, 2025
With a storyline that had me gripped from the first chapter, All You Took From Me is a gritty and intriguing thriller.
Clare wakes up in intensive care and learns that she has been in a terrible accident, has been in a coma for four weeks and that her husband Ray is dead. Suffering from amnesia Clare cannot remember the accident or the months leading up to it. What happened?
While trying to get her life back on track Clare starts to second guess herself when she thinks she is being followed. Then she gets threatening notes left in her letterbox, photos of her house sent to her phone when she is not there.
What is it she can't remember? Why is this happening to her? She starts to wonder if she knew Ray at all as she slowly starts to remember snippets of her life before.
The lengths that Clare will go to to try and remember what she needs to remember to get to the bottom of this story are frightening and may cost her life.
This was a riveting story that was chaotic in the best way with an extremely unreliable narrator in Clare who doesn't know what is real or imagined.
Clare wakes up in intensive care and learns that she has been in a terrible accident, has been in a coma for four weeks and that her husband Ray is dead. Suffering from amnesia Clare cannot remember the accident or the months leading up to it. What happened?
While trying to get her life back on track Clare starts to second guess herself when she thinks she is being followed. Then she gets threatening notes left in her letterbox, photos of her house sent to her phone when she is not there.
What is it she can't remember? Why is this happening to her? She starts to wonder if she knew Ray at all as she slowly starts to remember snippets of her life before.
The lengths that Clare will go to to try and remember what she needs to remember to get to the bottom of this story are frightening and may cost her life.
This was a riveting story that was chaotic in the best way with an extremely unreliable narrator in Clare who doesn't know what is real or imagined.
September 1, 2024
Lisa Kenway’s debut Australian thriller All You Took From Me opens with anaesthetist-protagonist Clare Carpenter regaining awareness in an intensive care unit after barely surviving the car accident that killed her husband. Suffering a retrograde amnesia, we follow Clare as she pieces together the last months of her life. A Medieval Fight-club, underworld crime networks and score-settlers on the fringes of society all contribute to a complex web that Clare must disentangle herself from in order to secure her new life.
Kenway is a smart and talented writer who interrogates the porous borderlines between memory, fear, dreams and subconsciousness, using her own medical expertise to strong effect. This book will appeal to readers who enjoyed Dark Mode by Ashley Kalagian Blunt and also the films Memento and Inception; Kenway is a writer to watch.
Kenway is a smart and talented writer who interrogates the porous borderlines between memory, fear, dreams and subconsciousness, using her own medical expertise to strong effect. This book will appeal to readers who enjoyed Dark Mode by Ashley Kalagian Blunt and also the films Memento and Inception; Kenway is a writer to watch.
November 15, 2024
This was a good story but I felt it dragged on in a few places early on. I couldn’t take to Clare at all, for someone so smart, she certainly lacked commonsense. The end, which I didn’t see coming, tied things together nicely
July 15, 2024
In this psychological thriller from debut author, Lisa Kenway, Dr Clare Carpenter, wakes from a coma to discover a car accident took her husband and her memories of the last few months.
As she’s piecing her life back together, threatening messages from a stranger, and flickers of memories she can’t be sure are real, makes Clare question not only herself, but if the man she married was who she thought.
When her past and present collide, Clare puts her job as an anaesthetist at risk, as well as her mental health using hypnosis to uncover what’s been blanked out. Clare is a strong woman, but not without her flaws. Her grief for her husband, a lost close friendship, and the years-old shunning of her estranged family compound, adding layers to her character, and setting up inevitable truths when the well-foreshadowed twists fill the final chapters.
While the first half of the book is a slow burn, and the story goes in directions you didn’t think it would, the action-packed climax is thrilling, making All You Took From Me a satisfying read, crafted by a talented writer who knows how to meld beautiful prose and gritty storytelling to create an intriguing page-turner.
As she’s piecing her life back together, threatening messages from a stranger, and flickers of memories she can’t be sure are real, makes Clare question not only herself, but if the man she married was who she thought.
When her past and present collide, Clare puts her job as an anaesthetist at risk, as well as her mental health using hypnosis to uncover what’s been blanked out. Clare is a strong woman, but not without her flaws. Her grief for her husband, a lost close friendship, and the years-old shunning of her estranged family compound, adding layers to her character, and setting up inevitable truths when the well-foreshadowed twists fill the final chapters.
While the first half of the book is a slow burn, and the story goes in directions you didn’t think it would, the action-packed climax is thrilling, making All You Took From Me a satisfying read, crafted by a talented writer who knows how to meld beautiful prose and gritty storytelling to create an intriguing page-turner.
April 28, 2026
This mystery unfolds through unconventional means of hypnosis and a self administered anesthetic drug as a means to investigate one’s own lost memories and spouses murder.
If you’re looking for something different, this slow burn story is certainly unique. It has some twists and turns, and lots of secrets.
There are some moments of intrigue; however, I personally struggled with attaching to any of the characters in this story. The tension I felt was more for the protagonist’s potential patients rather than the story itself.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bolinda for providing the ALC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own.
If you’re looking for something different, this slow burn story is certainly unique. It has some twists and turns, and lots of secrets.
There are some moments of intrigue; however, I personally struggled with attaching to any of the characters in this story. The tension I felt was more for the protagonist’s potential patients rather than the story itself.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bolinda for providing the ALC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own.
October 27, 2025
Anticlimactic. Found it hard to connect to the characters - I liked the pacing towards the end, but for such an unlikely and unfortunate story Clare found herself in, I was disappointed that it just… ended.
August 14, 2024
Thanks to @lisakenway for providing me with an #ARC 📘 #AllYouTookFromMe is spine-tingling good!
This Australian #debut #thriller begins when anaesthetist, Clare Carpenter wakes up on a bed in the hospital where she works, learning she’s lost her husband and her memory in a single-vehicle accident.
Struggling to understand why the police are questioning her and who could be stalking her, Clare becomes convinced that an anaesthetic drug holds the key to unlocking her memory.
But the cost of her recklessness could be fatal or it might help her remember…
📘 This book had me fully immersed from the first page. I love how Lisa injects all the senses into her writing, allowing me to feel everything in her scenes along with her characters. Lisa’s main characters, Clare and Ray have interests, secrets, and backstories that form a whole network of plots, that kept me questioning their integrity and unable to guess how the story would end.
By infusing her real-life vocation with her protagonist, Lisa delivers an authentic and detailed experience for the reader inside the operating theatre. So when Clare pushes boundaries, experimenting with drugs, it’s chilling!
This twisty thriller will have your skin crawling long after you finish reading.
Think Flatliners meets Sons of Anarchy.
Highly recommend 💙💙💙💙💙
This Australian #debut #thriller begins when anaesthetist, Clare Carpenter wakes up on a bed in the hospital where she works, learning she’s lost her husband and her memory in a single-vehicle accident.
Struggling to understand why the police are questioning her and who could be stalking her, Clare becomes convinced that an anaesthetic drug holds the key to unlocking her memory.
But the cost of her recklessness could be fatal or it might help her remember…
📘 This book had me fully immersed from the first page. I love how Lisa injects all the senses into her writing, allowing me to feel everything in her scenes along with her characters. Lisa’s main characters, Clare and Ray have interests, secrets, and backstories that form a whole network of plots, that kept me questioning their integrity and unable to guess how the story would end.
By infusing her real-life vocation with her protagonist, Lisa delivers an authentic and detailed experience for the reader inside the operating theatre. So when Clare pushes boundaries, experimenting with drugs, it’s chilling!
This twisty thriller will have your skin crawling long after you finish reading.
Think Flatliners meets Sons of Anarchy.
Highly recommend 💙💙💙💙💙
November 17, 2024
It’s always great to see a new Australian writer. This is an interesting debut and an interesting take on the amnesia trope: an anaesthetist wakes from a car accident to find her husband is dead under mysterious circumstances, but she can’t remember the lead up to the accident.
February 1, 2025
Bizarre-
October 14, 2025
Anaesthetist Clare has amnesia brought on after an horrific car accident that kills her husband. She doesn’t know what happened! An awful situation. I wonder if her memories will return? How will they be triggered? And what’s lurking in there that doesn't want to come out?
The answers of course!
Yeah, yeah, stuff like this happens, but it’s all just a little too convenient as a plot device, isn’t it? I don't remember why . . . insert crucial event here . . . Clare’s psychologist hypnotises her - to hopefully bring the memories to the surface and lo and behold it works.
Kind of. But not enough.
So Clare hits on the plan to dope herself, so she can dive into her subconscious and bring those nasty memories into the light. But not quite. Damn!
Fast forward to after Clare survives an inflicted drug overdose from the balaclavaed baddie, while trapped (bound hand and foot) in her burning house and is released from the psych ward(!) and her hospital security pass is still working even though she’s facing disciplinary charges and possible police prosecution and she’s able to secure ‘drugs’ to help her get to the bottom of what-the-hell has been going on. Phew. That was quite a sentence. It just ran on and on and on. Kind of like Clare. Made myself feel tired after all of that.
Yeah, so Clare’s had a little jui-jitsu training and been taught a little sword play and she’s out there messing with the bikie boys. For real? She ends up killing one dude, leaving his brother for dead, was kind of responsible for the accident that killed her husband, was self medicating drugs, messing with patients’s anaesthesia, cheated on her husband, neglected her cat and she’s the goodie? Huh?
And then when the mysteries are solved, the new bloke in charge of the criminal gang Clare’s husband had been spying on for the Feds - who was originally in charge and is *again* now thanks to Clare’s handiwork - tells her don’t worry, don’t say anything and you’ll be fine. Sweet as. The killer (ie Clare) gets away with murder(s). Yay.
The answers of course!
Yeah, yeah, stuff like this happens, but it’s all just a little too convenient as a plot device, isn’t it? I don't remember why . . . insert crucial event here . . . Clare’s psychologist hypnotises her - to hopefully bring the memories to the surface and lo and behold it works.
Kind of. But not enough.
So Clare hits on the plan to dope herself, so she can dive into her subconscious and bring those nasty memories into the light. But not quite. Damn!
Fast forward to after Clare survives an inflicted drug overdose from the balaclavaed baddie, while trapped (bound hand and foot) in her burning house and is released from the psych ward(!) and her hospital security pass is still working even though she’s facing disciplinary charges and possible police prosecution and she’s able to secure ‘drugs’ to help her get to the bottom of what-the-hell has been going on. Phew. That was quite a sentence. It just ran on and on and on. Kind of like Clare. Made myself feel tired after all of that.
Yeah, so Clare’s had a little jui-jitsu training and been taught a little sword play and she’s out there messing with the bikie boys. For real? She ends up killing one dude, leaving his brother for dead, was kind of responsible for the accident that killed her husband, was self medicating drugs, messing with patients’s anaesthesia, cheated on her husband, neglected her cat and she’s the goodie? Huh?
And then when the mysteries are solved, the new bloke in charge of the criminal gang Clare’s husband had been spying on for the Feds - who was originally in charge and is *again* now thanks to Clare’s handiwork - tells her don’t worry, don’t say anything and you’ll be fine. Sweet as. The killer (ie Clare) gets away with murder(s). Yay.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2025
Anaesthetist Clare Carpenter has just lost her husband and her memory in a single-vehicle accident. So why is a stranger following her? After questioning patients about their dreams, she becomes convinced that an anaesthetic drug might help her access missing memories. But there’s no way to be certain without jeopardising her career or her life.
This book started like a standard domestic thriller with a car accident involving a couple. I thought I knew what I was getting but oh boy… it evolved into grander happenings I hadn’t expected.
The amnesia, anaesthetic, fight clubs - so much packed in a story, which in this case made it fresh as I don’t think I had read anything like this. I couldn’t see where it was going and I happily let myself be immersed.
I’m glad to have found Lisa Kenway’s writing, and I’m excited to read more!
(Thanks to DMCPR Media and BAD Sydney Crime Writer Festival for a gifted review copy)
See my bookstagram review.
This book started like a standard domestic thriller with a car accident involving a couple. I thought I knew what I was getting but oh boy… it evolved into grander happenings I hadn’t expected.
The amnesia, anaesthetic, fight clubs - so much packed in a story, which in this case made it fresh as I don’t think I had read anything like this. I couldn’t see where it was going and I happily let myself be immersed.
I’m glad to have found Lisa Kenway’s writing, and I’m excited to read more!
(Thanks to DMCPR Media and BAD Sydney Crime Writer Festival for a gifted review copy)
See my bookstagram review.
July 21, 2024
Not many books could keep my attention through a hectic eleven day holiday with friends but this was so easy to pick up whenever I could squeeze in some time.
‘All you took from me’ starts dramatically with FMC Clare waking in an ICU bed after a horrific car crash, with no recall of the months prior. Grieving the death of her husband and returning to work as an Anaesthetist is more than enough to cope with but someone is stalking her and she has no memory of the crash or who they could be.
The secret to working it out- trying to reverse her amnesia.
Through hypnotism and then experimenting with her knowledge of anaesthetic.
I didn’t love Clare but she is one tough cookie. She certainly helped supply some action.
Well paced, plot driven psychological thriller that made for a great holiday read.
Thank you to @goodreadingmag for sending me an early #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
‘All you took from me’ starts dramatically with FMC Clare waking in an ICU bed after a horrific car crash, with no recall of the months prior. Grieving the death of her husband and returning to work as an Anaesthetist is more than enough to cope with but someone is stalking her and she has no memory of the crash or who they could be.
The secret to working it out- trying to reverse her amnesia.
Through hypnotism and then experimenting with her knowledge of anaesthetic.
I didn’t love Clare but she is one tough cookie. She certainly helped supply some action.
Well paced, plot driven psychological thriller that made for a great holiday read.
Thank you to @goodreadingmag for sending me an early #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 2, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the ARC of this audiobook.
This could have been so much better than it was. The premise was interesting but fell very flat. The idea that she would use her profession to unlock her memories was so cool. But without too much spoilers, why wasn't it the main point of the story? It's described in the description of the book almost like it would be the center of the plot and unlock the answers she seeks. But in the end it's hardly important.
This could have been so much better than it was. The premise was interesting but fell very flat. The idea that she would use her profession to unlock her memories was so cool. But without too much spoilers, why wasn't it the main point of the story? It's described in the description of the book almost like it would be the center of the plot and unlock the answers she seeks. But in the end it's hardly important.
November 3, 2025
4/10
Mystery aspect was interesting - how they fed the clues was interesting. Best part of the story was the cat.
Main character doesn’t seem to have a brain most of the time. Does not seem like a girls girl. Just went like good bye best friend of many years, you’re just jealous of me and my husband who’ve I’ve known for not even a year???? Also how it addresses rape is just??????
Mystery aspect was interesting - how they fed the clues was interesting. Best part of the story was the cat.
Main character doesn’t seem to have a brain most of the time. Does not seem like a girls girl. Just went like good bye best friend of many years, you’re just jealous of me and my husband who’ve I’ve known for not even a year???? Also how it addresses rape is just??????
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2026
Thank you NetGalley for the ALC
This just fell flat for me
This just fell flat for me
September 3, 2024
Clare Carpenter must rebuild her life following a serious car crash that took her beloved husband and has left her with severe memory loss. As she recovers, Clare is menaced by some dubious characters whose motivations and connection to her life she doesn’t understand. Going to the police is not an option, and so using her skills as an anesthetist, Clare resorts to high-risk measures to retrieve the memories she needs to survive.
Clare Carpenter is one of the most original characters I have ever read, with her intriguing backstory, impulsivity, and commitment to the people she loves. Her physical courage and fierce intelligence are admirable although she does walk the fine line between genius and madness.
Full of unexpected twists and turns, All You Took From Me is an intriguing story that makes for compulsive reading right up until the breathtaking conclusion.
Clare Carpenter is one of the most original characters I have ever read, with her intriguing backstory, impulsivity, and commitment to the people she loves. Her physical courage and fierce intelligence are admirable although she does walk the fine line between genius and madness.
Full of unexpected twists and turns, All You Took From Me is an intriguing story that makes for compulsive reading right up until the breathtaking conclusion.
November 30, 2024
What a debut!!!!!!!!!! This was such a slow burn..what a payoff kind of thriller for me…I loved all of the anaesthesiologist and behind the scenes hospital insights..the plot was scary, and that so isn’t my normal genre and I think I’ll be thinking about it for a good long time to come…I can’t believe how it all came together!!!!!!!!
January 29, 2025
I thought it was very far fetched. Could not warm at all to the main character. Just did not enjoy - it was easy enough to read but plain silly at times!
November 20, 2024
It’s difficult to believe the complex plotting and assured voice in All You Took From Me (Transit Lounge Publishing 2024) is from debut writer, Lisa Kenway. This novel reads as a more advanced writer would present a psychological thriller, from the ease of dialogue to the complicated threads of the mystery to the confident research that informs the narrative.
The tragedy of a single vehicle accident has left Clare Carpenter with no husband and no memory. The book opens when she wakes in the dim nightlight of a hospital room, familiar to her because of her work as an anaesthetist but also blurry and confused, because she can’t remember why she is lying in a bed in her own hospital. It quickly becomes apparent that she has sustained massive injuries, including memory loss, and that her husband has been killed in the crash. The great, gaping holes in her memory are spine-tingling and frightening from the first page, not only because of her natural anxious trepidation about not knowing what’s happening in her life, but also because of the strange man she sees skulking about her ward. He seems menacing, but is her imagination in overdrive? Is she hallucinating? Is the man even there at all?
Clare doesn’t take well to the role of patient rather than doctor. And as the extent of her injuries and the repercussions become apparent, her position as a medical specialist appears to be in jeopardy. The situation is worse when the police turn up to question her, not once, as might be expected, but multiple times, to the point that Clare believes they suspect her of some sort of foul play, or at least withholding knowledge about the accident. But once again, is this her imagination and her fractured memory playing games? Jumping at shadows? Seeing things that just aren’t there?
While allowed to rejoin the staff, with special considerations given her head trauma, and reduced responsibilities, Clare’s antennae continue to tell her something is ‘off,’ and her paranoia gets worse, not better. Her psychiatrist tries to help (or does she?), even attempting hypnosis, and her best friend Priya seems to have distanced herself from Clare for no reason she can comprehend.
Everything leads back to the love of her life, her husband Ray, and the life they led together. As the novel progresses, Clare catches hints and clues that her memory of that life and the reality may not be in sync. And as her memory returns to her in snatches of fractured snapshots, it becomes obvious that she clearly doesn’t remember Ray as well as she thought, that their relationship was not what she presumed, and that there may be actions of her own that she has relegated to the black hole of her mind.
She becomes particularly interested in a certain anaesthetic drug that she believes might allow her to access her missing memories, and some of the most interesting aspects of the book are her ethical and legal queries about using this drug, the problems in procuring it, the dangers of using it unsupervised, and whether it is doing her more harm than good. Kenway’s other job as an anaesthetist informs this aspect of the writing and research.
As with any good psychological thriller, the count of suspects, motives and victims rises and Clare must wrestle with the secrets her husband took to his grave, the uncomfortable and vaguely threatening stranger she is convinced is following her, and the bizarre facts she uncovers about Ray’s involvement in a cult-like medieval fight club. How does everything join together? Has Clare herself done something terrible that she can’t remember? Or was her husband not the dream man she remembers, but an abusive and secretive fraud who kept most of his life hidden from her, even when they were married?
Lots of tension, twists and unanswered questions move the plot along at a cracking pace, and the reader is as invested as Clare in finding answers. The resolution is shocking and while the narrative did begin to become a little unwieldy and unlikely, Kenway manages to pull it all together in the end. Clare’s distinct voice certainly lifts the novel into another realm – her humour and determination and sardonic attitude get us onside with her immediately and have us hoping and cheering her on.
The tragedy of a single vehicle accident has left Clare Carpenter with no husband and no memory. The book opens when she wakes in the dim nightlight of a hospital room, familiar to her because of her work as an anaesthetist but also blurry and confused, because she can’t remember why she is lying in a bed in her own hospital. It quickly becomes apparent that she has sustained massive injuries, including memory loss, and that her husband has been killed in the crash. The great, gaping holes in her memory are spine-tingling and frightening from the first page, not only because of her natural anxious trepidation about not knowing what’s happening in her life, but also because of the strange man she sees skulking about her ward. He seems menacing, but is her imagination in overdrive? Is she hallucinating? Is the man even there at all?
Clare doesn’t take well to the role of patient rather than doctor. And as the extent of her injuries and the repercussions become apparent, her position as a medical specialist appears to be in jeopardy. The situation is worse when the police turn up to question her, not once, as might be expected, but multiple times, to the point that Clare believes they suspect her of some sort of foul play, or at least withholding knowledge about the accident. But once again, is this her imagination and her fractured memory playing games? Jumping at shadows? Seeing things that just aren’t there?
While allowed to rejoin the staff, with special considerations given her head trauma, and reduced responsibilities, Clare’s antennae continue to tell her something is ‘off,’ and her paranoia gets worse, not better. Her psychiatrist tries to help (or does she?), even attempting hypnosis, and her best friend Priya seems to have distanced herself from Clare for no reason she can comprehend.
Everything leads back to the love of her life, her husband Ray, and the life they led together. As the novel progresses, Clare catches hints and clues that her memory of that life and the reality may not be in sync. And as her memory returns to her in snatches of fractured snapshots, it becomes obvious that she clearly doesn’t remember Ray as well as she thought, that their relationship was not what she presumed, and that there may be actions of her own that she has relegated to the black hole of her mind.
She becomes particularly interested in a certain anaesthetic drug that she believes might allow her to access her missing memories, and some of the most interesting aspects of the book are her ethical and legal queries about using this drug, the problems in procuring it, the dangers of using it unsupervised, and whether it is doing her more harm than good. Kenway’s other job as an anaesthetist informs this aspect of the writing and research.
As with any good psychological thriller, the count of suspects, motives and victims rises and Clare must wrestle with the secrets her husband took to his grave, the uncomfortable and vaguely threatening stranger she is convinced is following her, and the bizarre facts she uncovers about Ray’s involvement in a cult-like medieval fight club. How does everything join together? Has Clare herself done something terrible that she can’t remember? Or was her husband not the dream man she remembers, but an abusive and secretive fraud who kept most of his life hidden from her, even when they were married?
Lots of tension, twists and unanswered questions move the plot along at a cracking pace, and the reader is as invested as Clare in finding answers. The resolution is shocking and while the narrative did begin to become a little unwieldy and unlikely, Kenway manages to pull it all together in the end. Clare’s distinct voice certainly lifts the novel into another realm – her humour and determination and sardonic attitude get us onside with her immediately and have us hoping and cheering her on.
January 9, 2026
This was a Ned Kelly award winner for 2025, always a good sign for an aussie-based thriller.
What to Expect
A woman wakes up in a hospital after an accident, with no memories of the few months leading to it. Her husband died in the accident, and when the police questions her she can't figure out why. AS she tries to piece her life back together again, physically and emotionally, she starts to learn that things weren't as they seem, as she remembers.
The story is told in first-person from Clare's POV, and we're with her as memories slowly come back, as she tries to dig in and make sense of events, and as tensions rise when she slowly discovers not everything she thought about the people around her was true.
What I liked
I loved the very strong sense of place, as I have many fond memories from the Blue Mountains around Sydney. The author is an anaesthetist herself (as is the protagonist), so the medical descriptions and hospital environment are very realistic. It's the kind of depth to the story-world that make everything richer and more believable.
I also loved the realistic treatment of the shades of grey in life. This isn't a moralistic tale - it's a psychological thriller that shows how ordinary people get involved in complicated events, and solutions aren't necessarily neatly tied up.
What to be aware of
Things aren't always nice in Clare's life. As you'd expect from a psychological thriller, it goes to dark places and the resolution may be unsatisfying if you're looking for objective absolute justice. If you're open to the grey shades of life, this makes a good read.
Felix's and Jack's Reviews
Jack wasn't happy with some of the description of police action, but was forced to admit that they made sense - and were realistic, given what we know by the end of the book. Still, he'd wish people cooperated more openly, as that would lead to less troubles. That said, he loved the atmosphere of the thriller in a jurisdiction he operated in for years.
Felix enjoyed the novel, though modern medicine is not something he's encountered much. The rest of it -- all the drama about people not being who they present themselves and the ease with which people fall into dark holes -- he wholeheartedly agreed with.
Summary
An excellent psychological thriller, with an unreliable narrator (not her fault) and a grey morality that's much truer to the modern world.
Enjoying the reviews, but wondering who the heck are those Felix and Jack fellows? Glad you asked! Felix is the protagonist of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, an historical-fantasy blend of a paranormal detective on the background of ancient Rome, and Jack is the police detective running the Unusual Crimes Squad, dealing in occult crimes in modern-day Australia.
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
What to Expect
A woman wakes up in a hospital after an accident, with no memories of the few months leading to it. Her husband died in the accident, and when the police questions her she can't figure out why. AS she tries to piece her life back together again, physically and emotionally, she starts to learn that things weren't as they seem, as she remembers.
The story is told in first-person from Clare's POV, and we're with her as memories slowly come back, as she tries to dig in and make sense of events, and as tensions rise when she slowly discovers not everything she thought about the people around her was true.
What I liked
I loved the very strong sense of place, as I have many fond memories from the Blue Mountains around Sydney. The author is an anaesthetist herself (as is the protagonist), so the medical descriptions and hospital environment are very realistic. It's the kind of depth to the story-world that make everything richer and more believable.
I also loved the realistic treatment of the shades of grey in life. This isn't a moralistic tale - it's a psychological thriller that shows how ordinary people get involved in complicated events, and solutions aren't necessarily neatly tied up.
What to be aware of
Things aren't always nice in Clare's life. As you'd expect from a psychological thriller, it goes to dark places and the resolution may be unsatisfying if you're looking for objective absolute justice. If you're open to the grey shades of life, this makes a good read.
Felix's and Jack's Reviews
Jack wasn't happy with some of the description of police action, but was forced to admit that they made sense - and were realistic, given what we know by the end of the book. Still, he'd wish people cooperated more openly, as that would lead to less troubles. That said, he loved the atmosphere of the thriller in a jurisdiction he operated in for years.
Felix enjoyed the novel, though modern medicine is not something he's encountered much. The rest of it -- all the drama about people not being who they present themselves and the ease with which people fall into dark holes -- he wholeheartedly agreed with.
Summary
An excellent psychological thriller, with an unreliable narrator (not her fault) and a grey morality that's much truer to the modern world.
--
Enjoying the reviews, but wondering who the heck are those Felix and Jack fellows? Glad you asked! Felix is the protagonist of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, an historical-fantasy blend of a paranormal detective on the background of ancient Rome, and Jack is the police detective running the Unusual Crimes Squad, dealing in occult crimes in modern-day Australia.
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
May 1, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley & Bolinda Audio for an advanced copy of this book.
This book is a 3.5 star for me, and the only reason it’s not 4 is because I think this narrative of a car wreck, amnesia & a wife piecing together a troubled husband, is used too often. But having said that, this book is solid.
This psychological thriller kept me on edge from start to finish, constantly shifting where I thought it was going. I loved the Australian backdrop. What begins as a seemingly familiar setup, a car crash, amnesia, and a disoriented narrator trying to piece together her life, quickly spirals into something far more complex. At the heart of the story is the question: who is our narrator, really? As fragments of her backstory emerge, they reveal a deeply painful past shaped by what might be some of the worst parents imaginable. That trauma lingers and what me wonder what else I was missing about the narrator. The “clueless wife” trope initially feels predictable, but it’s cleverly subverted as the narrative unfolds.
The novel plays expertly with uncertainty. Relationships constantly shift, characters move in and out of favor, leaving you questioning who truly cares for her and who might be manipulating her. Add in the drug- or dream-like sequences, and the line between reality and illusion becomes almost impossible to trace. It’s a masterclass in unreliable narration, leaning fully into that “trust absolutely no one” energy.
I liked the fun nods to things that felt like a personal wink from the author to the narrator such as Doctor Who with a David Tennant reference. But don’t let that moment of levity fool you, this story is intense and at times disorienting in the best way.
What stands out most is the writing. It’s so immersive and beautifully crafted that I found myself slipping into the narrator’s mindset, sharing in her paranoia and confusion. The story lulls you at first, giving the impression of a slow, quiet unraveling, but it quickly ramps up into a whirlwind of twists, action, and psychological tension.
And just when you think it couldn’t escalate further, there’s fire. Literal and metaphorical.
The ending lands well, delivering a satisfying conclusion without forcing everything neatly into a bow.
If you enjoy thrillers that keep you guessing, challenge your sense of reality, and pull you deep into a fractured mind, this one is absolutely worth the ride.
March 18, 2026
This review contains spoilers.
0 stars (Book Club book, so I read it. Sorry I did))
Ridiculous.
Implausible.
Awful.
The writing is mediocre and puerile.
The character development is nonexistent. Who are these people? And why are they?
The device of "temporary amnesia" allowed the author to go down rabbit holes that added impausibility and confusion to the overall narrative; criminal gangs in Brazil, bikie gangs in the Blue Mountains, a Jehovah's Witness backstory that added zilch to the plot ( a clumsy attempt to flesh out Clare's character, it did not), a Fight Club with swords and chain mail (puhlese), no wait!, informers for the police, hypnosis and drug overdoses! The myriad tangents this book followed under the plot device of memory recovery were LU-DI-CROUS.
And what about Dr. Clare Carpenter, the "protagonist" of the story? That this author thought it was a good idea to have this woman be an anaesthetist is laughable; she had the ethics of a pidgeon on crack. I couldn't care less if she ever got her memory back and solved the mystery of her husband's death. She was unlikeable at best and at worst, a murderer and criminally negligent doctor experimenting with patients under her care. I understand the author is an anesthetist, and I hope she is not operating at any hospital where I am a patient.
Let's face it, the only character worth anything in this hot mess of a book was the cat, and I am sure he would not have hung around Dr. Clare for an instant after being fed.
And the ending. Eye-roll. Such a tidy bow, such a neat, convenient resolution. What? The crime boss will clean up Clare's mess, and she will get away with murder? Sure!
Wow, this won the Ned Kelly Award? Well, that says a lot about that award. This debut novel needed a couple more months in the bottom drawer, a re-read, and then a toss in a roaring Blue Mountains fireplace.
Not for me.
0 stars (Book Club book, so I read it. Sorry I did))
Ridiculous.
Implausible.
Awful.
The writing is mediocre and puerile.
The character development is nonexistent. Who are these people? And why are they?
The device of "temporary amnesia" allowed the author to go down rabbit holes that added impausibility and confusion to the overall narrative; criminal gangs in Brazil, bikie gangs in the Blue Mountains, a Jehovah's Witness backstory that added zilch to the plot ( a clumsy attempt to flesh out Clare's character, it did not), a Fight Club with swords and chain mail (puhlese), no wait!, informers for the police, hypnosis and drug overdoses! The myriad tangents this book followed under the plot device of memory recovery were LU-DI-CROUS.
And what about Dr. Clare Carpenter, the "protagonist" of the story? That this author thought it was a good idea to have this woman be an anaesthetist is laughable; she had the ethics of a pidgeon on crack. I couldn't care less if she ever got her memory back and solved the mystery of her husband's death. She was unlikeable at best and at worst, a murderer and criminally negligent doctor experimenting with patients under her care. I understand the author is an anesthetist, and I hope she is not operating at any hospital where I am a patient.
Let's face it, the only character worth anything in this hot mess of a book was the cat, and I am sure he would not have hung around Dr. Clare for an instant after being fed.
And the ending. Eye-roll. Such a tidy bow, such a neat, convenient resolution. What? The crime boss will clean up Clare's mess, and she will get away with murder? Sure!
Wow, this won the Ned Kelly Award? Well, that says a lot about that award. This debut novel needed a couple more months in the bottom drawer, a re-read, and then a toss in a roaring Blue Mountains fireplace.
Not for me.
April 29, 2026
This was one of those books that I am going to struggle to review.
On the surface, I really liked the premise of this.
Claire wakes up after being in a coma since the devastating car accident where her husband is killed. She has limited memories from the past few months and although hounded by the police, she can't remember anything.
I actually felt so sorry for her for the majority of the book, but as the story unfolds, we discover snippets of the real story as she pieces together what happened before the accident.
It's at this point, Claire makes some terrible decisions and some of those affect others in her professional capacity.
This made me really question her motives and morals, to the point of making me lose that care I had about how she was going to fare all alone.
I did however, really like the storyline and the mystery of what had happened to cause the crash.
It did get a little unbelievable at times, but by this point I was too invested in how things would end.
This is starting to sound a little negative, so I will just say that there were so many elements to this story that I enjoyed and I was fully immersed for the duration.
The author certainly put in a lot of research time and includes a lot from her own career in anaesthetics and these parts are well written and keep us interested and curious to the end.
As a debut novel, this was brilliant and I really hope to see more from this author in the future.
On the surface, I really liked the premise of this.
Claire wakes up after being in a coma since the devastating car accident where her husband is killed. She has limited memories from the past few months and although hounded by the police, she can't remember anything.
I actually felt so sorry for her for the majority of the book, but as the story unfolds, we discover snippets of the real story as she pieces together what happened before the accident.
It's at this point, Claire makes some terrible decisions and some of those affect others in her professional capacity.
This made me really question her motives and morals, to the point of making me lose that care I had about how she was going to fare all alone.
I did however, really like the storyline and the mystery of what had happened to cause the crash.
It did get a little unbelievable at times, but by this point I was too invested in how things would end.
This is starting to sound a little negative, so I will just say that there were so many elements to this story that I enjoyed and I was fully immersed for the duration.
The author certainly put in a lot of research time and includes a lot from her own career in anaesthetics and these parts are well written and keep us interested and curious to the end.
As a debut novel, this was brilliant and I really hope to see more from this author in the future.
July 18, 2024
A brilliant debut from an Australian author worth watching.
Kenway has cleverly wrapped this tense psychological thriller in the calm of the beautiful Blue Mountains and the chaos of a busy Sydney hospital. It struck me as the perfect alternatives to match the main character's - Clare Carpenter's - initial peace of memory loss with the sharp and unexpected discord that accompanies her new reality. Unexplained threats from strangers, odd conversations with friends, and an elusive past that's no longer being seen through rose-coloured glasses are just some of the twists and turns to keep you guessing.
The story prose is sharp and spare, zipping you through the mind of our amnesiac anaesthetist as she struggles to make sense of what happened, flouting medical and legal codes to get to her truth.
The action packed plot will have you turning the pages as quickly as you can. And as the pace cranks up, Clare's thoughts and behaviour get messier and more mesmerising. Even the reader doesn't know how much is truth and how much is delusion. Her mistrust and assumptions throw her into all sorts of strife as she crosses her own moral and ethical lines over and back.
Love the detail of the setting, the absolute plausibility of the plot, and the execution of a stunning climax. And the ending... well, enough said...
Kenway weaves a fantastic tale. Can't wait for the next one.
Kenway has cleverly wrapped this tense psychological thriller in the calm of the beautiful Blue Mountains and the chaos of a busy Sydney hospital. It struck me as the perfect alternatives to match the main character's - Clare Carpenter's - initial peace of memory loss with the sharp and unexpected discord that accompanies her new reality. Unexplained threats from strangers, odd conversations with friends, and an elusive past that's no longer being seen through rose-coloured glasses are just some of the twists and turns to keep you guessing.
The story prose is sharp and spare, zipping you through the mind of our amnesiac anaesthetist as she struggles to make sense of what happened, flouting medical and legal codes to get to her truth.
The action packed plot will have you turning the pages as quickly as you can. And as the pace cranks up, Clare's thoughts and behaviour get messier and more mesmerising. Even the reader doesn't know how much is truth and how much is delusion. Her mistrust and assumptions throw her into all sorts of strife as she crosses her own moral and ethical lines over and back.
Love the detail of the setting, the absolute plausibility of the plot, and the execution of a stunning climax. And the ending... well, enough said...
Kenway weaves a fantastic tale. Can't wait for the next one.
January 27, 2025
I don’t read a lot of thrillers these days, but in reading ALL YOU TOOK FROM ME I was reminded of Patricia Cornwell’s hugely successful forensic medicine crime novels which I lapped up in the 90s. In place of Cornwell’s famous heroine, Kay Scarpetta - Medical Examiner, Lisa Kenway introduces us to Clare Carpenter, a tough-minded anaesthetist who is suffering from amnesia after a single-vehicle accident, and who is thrust into the dual role of widow and self-appointed detective.
In this page-turning, well-written psychological thriller, Lisa Kenway brings to bear her real life expertise as an anaesthetist and her longstanding interest in memory and consciousness. Where do our minds go, the author invites the reader to speculate, when we are put to ‘sleep’ during an operation? It’s a fascinating question and one which her rule-breaking protagonist explores to the extreme in her efforts to uncover the truth behind her husband’s death.
As a bonus, the author’s obvious love of the Australian bush shines through in her descriptions of its tranquil Blue Mountains setting, providing - for me, at least - a welcome contrast to the tension and, at times, violence which threaten to overwhelm Clare in both her past and present.
In this page-turning, well-written psychological thriller, Lisa Kenway brings to bear her real life expertise as an anaesthetist and her longstanding interest in memory and consciousness. Where do our minds go, the author invites the reader to speculate, when we are put to ‘sleep’ during an operation? It’s a fascinating question and one which her rule-breaking protagonist explores to the extreme in her efforts to uncover the truth behind her husband’s death.
As a bonus, the author’s obvious love of the Australian bush shines through in her descriptions of its tranquil Blue Mountains setting, providing - for me, at least - a welcome contrast to the tension and, at times, violence which threaten to overwhelm Clare in both her past and present.
April 28, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of All You Took From Me. This is a gripping psychological thriller built around memory, loss and trust.
Clare Carpenter, an anaesthetist, is left reeling after a car crash that kills her husband and wipes part of her memory. As she tries to make sense of what happened, small details begin to feel off, and it soon becomes clear she may be in danger. Her idea that anaesthetic drugs could help her recover what she has lost adds an intriguing and slightly unsettling layer, especially as the risks become more real.
Clare carries the story well. You are never quite sure what to believe alongside her, which keeps the tension running through the whole book. The gradual uncovering of her husband’s secrets and the wider picture is handled well and keeps things moving, even if it dips slightly in pace at times.
The narration works nicely for the story. It captures Clare’s uncertainty and growing determination without overdoing it, and it is easy to stay engaged as things become more intense.
It did not quite hit five stars for me as a few elements stretch credibility, but overall it is a strong and absorbing listen.
A solid four star audiobook, especially if you enjoy character driven psychological thrillers.
Clare Carpenter, an anaesthetist, is left reeling after a car crash that kills her husband and wipes part of her memory. As she tries to make sense of what happened, small details begin to feel off, and it soon becomes clear she may be in danger. Her idea that anaesthetic drugs could help her recover what she has lost adds an intriguing and slightly unsettling layer, especially as the risks become more real.
Clare carries the story well. You are never quite sure what to believe alongside her, which keeps the tension running through the whole book. The gradual uncovering of her husband’s secrets and the wider picture is handled well and keeps things moving, even if it dips slightly in pace at times.
The narration works nicely for the story. It captures Clare’s uncertainty and growing determination without overdoing it, and it is easy to stay engaged as things become more intense.
It did not quite hit five stars for me as a few elements stretch credibility, but overall it is a strong and absorbing listen.
A solid four star audiobook, especially if you enjoy character driven psychological thrillers.
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