Written By Sophie Hannah, BA Paris, Clare Mackintosh, and Holly Brown, this psychological thriller is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Louise Candlish. How far would you go to protect your daughter? Four mothers must identify the true threat at their daughters' school before it's too late. Carolyn, Bronnie, Elise, and Kendall are bound together by one thing-their four daughters are best friends at the highly competitive Orla Flynn Academy for the Performing Arts. Last year the foursome exploded because of brutal ...
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Written By Sophie Hannah, BA Paris, Clare Mackintosh, and Holly Brown, this psychological thriller is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Louise Candlish. How far would you go to protect your daughter? Four mothers must identify the true threat at their daughters' school before it's too late. Carolyn, Bronnie, Elise, and Kendall are bound together by one thing-their four daughters are best friends at the highly competitive Orla Flynn Academy for the Performing Arts. Last year the foursome exploded because of brutal bullying between the girls, but they've since forgiven each other. The mothers, however, haven't been able to move on. When new threats surface and "accidents" begin to happen - just as a mysterious new girl enters the scene - the mothers take matters into their own hands. But they will have to risk their own secrets being exposed if they stand a chance at uncovering the truth . . . Four incredible novelists come together to tell this unique, brilliantly written suspense novel. (P)2019 Serial Box Publishing
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Add this copy of The Understudy to cart. $4.00, good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2019 by Hodder Paperbacks.
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Add this copy of The Understudy to cart. $5.19, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2019 by Hodder Paperbacks.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The Understudy to cart. $14.00, good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2019 by Hodder Paperbacks.
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Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages. Ex-library book with stamps on the first page, it is also likely to have a small shelf number sticker on the spine.
Add this copy of The Understudy to cart. $14.94, good condition, Sold by Goldstone Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Ammanford, CARMS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2019 by Hodder Paperbacks.
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Add this copy of The Understudy to cart. $17.83, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2019 by Hodder Paperback.
Add this copy of The Understudy to cart. $19.40, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2019 by Hodder Paperback.
Four girls all in competition for the role of leading lady in their end of year drama school showcase, but how far will one of them go to come out on top?
I must say that the premise of The Understudy - 4 authors each writing a chapter of a story from a different perspective, didn't really enthral me. To someone unfamiliar with any of the authors it just felt a lot like a vanity project - something you'd perhaps do with your friends at school, or a marketing gimmick rather than anything that actually gave justice to telling a good story. Great authors can make you believe that you are in the head of multiple different characters without the need to actually get someone else to write it for them! That said, I'm not sure whether it's a good or a bad thing that the chapters didn't really feel as different as they could have done - had I not seen the cover I don't think I would have noticed - the mothers all have different personalities but they are all written in a very similar way.
The plot itself is nothing very special - I had guessed the perpetrator very early on and the whole book felt very drawn out - by about 40% I was crying out for the resolution of the plot. As someone who actually works professionally in theatre, I was also a little surprised at some of the errors. For example, one sentence reads 'the theater dims, and the house lights go up. The first student begins to sing' - if the theatre dims then the house lights (the lights above the audience) go out, not up! Also the idea that Cameron Mackintosh, Sonia Friedman and Nick Allot would all go in person to see a drama school end of year showcase was pretty laughable. There was also a really odd portrayal of Brixton in the book, where a character is terrified of heading there and as soon as she steps off the bus in the middle of the day gets almost raped and then meets a drug dealer and his client. This seemed like a very unfair stereotype of an entire area of London! I also found it a bit strange that a book written by two English authors and set in London would use the American spelling of 'theater' throughout.
Having four mothers with four teenagers plus a newcomer and headmaster all as key players it was a little hard to work out who was who at times and I did get who was mother to who mixed up quite a bit. The snapchat style dialogue between the girls was irritating, thankfully brief and added nothing to the story.
Overall The Understudy could do with some ruthless editing and a good proofread, the long winded story just didn't have enough drama to hold my interest I'm afraid. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
