Magpie: The most gripping psychological thriller of the year from Sunday Times bestselling author Elizabeth Day

Loved the way it’s written, toggling from one storyline to another but completely entwined. The characters are so incredibly believable I feel I know them in person. One of the best books I’ve read in years. I’m definitely Going to read it again. There are messages floating through the story that totally bring it to life. Brilliant. Can’t recommend it enough.

The act of collecting and keeping is the backdrop of the story, not as the nursery rhythm goes, one for sorrow, two for joy that I will use later to structure and write my review.First the plot, Marisa meets Jake and after a whirlwind romance they move in together and decide to start a family, but as money gets tighter, they agree to take in a lodger Kate. But something is not right, and Marisa gets a feeling of unease when the closeness of her partner, Jake, and Kate becomes apparent. You might guess what happens next and I almost put down the book for an unimaginative plot then the whole thing turned on its head as we deal with mental health, fertility, love, and acceptance, with as much anticipation as any thriller.One for sorrow – there is a clever plot but an underlying sadness to the story which is dealt with brilliantly by the author.“… happiness was transient, and she would find this out when the lodger came”.Two for joy – whilst possessing a darkness, the story also possesses one of hope, acceptance, and healing. We see kindness in the characters and joy for this reader !!!!Three for a girl – The character development of the women in the story was excellent. We have the partner and the lodger who inevitability clash because something is not quite right about Kate. The way she stands and sits too close to Jake. The way the two of them stop talking when she enters the room, but they find an accommodation – but over what?Four for a boy – Jake the central male character navigates his way very cleverly through a difficult and distressing period, so hats off to the author for not creating intriguing female characters at the expense of a weak male character.Five for silver, and as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining, and so does the story of the 3 central characters.Six for Gold – this was gold standard story telling. I loved the plot, the characters, the themes of infertility and mental health that were dealt with so sensitively in the story and the writing style of the author. We also have a reference to the "... golden Buddha, shining out from the centre. Peace she thinks."Seven for a secret never to be told. Well, no spoilers by me, but this is a book well worth reading. Highly recommended.

Gripping, but disappointing ending. Thought there would be a twist as the book appeared to be sett8mg up for one. The book could have ended 3/4 of the way through.

A great book that keeps changing tack and twists through various directions.It covers fertility issues, human relationships, families and surrogacy. All big stuff with varying outcomes.I read it quickly as quite a page turner.

Elizabeth Day is active on social media as well as writing and presenting. Due to this I expect her books to consider difficult issues which this certainly does.I read The Party (a previous novel) a few years ago and enjoyed it so was keen to read this novel when it was available in paperback.It is 326 pages split into 3 parts and 32 chapters.I knew that this had been reviewed well but had no idea what it was about so couldn't wait to get started.To begin with this novel seems very ordinary - an average anxiety filled woman with an imperfect relationship and a difficult past. She has a lot of problems with self esteem along with some mental health concerns.The plot moves quickly and darkens. Marisa doesn't narrate but the reader only sees her view to begin with and from the start there are questions about her reliability. It's very clever how the reader is encouraged to read "between the lines" and lots of worries emerge. In part 2 another perspective is shown and the novel gets going. It begins as a slow burner but really makes the reader think about what is happening.Elizabeth Day describes the desperation of trying to conceive a child. Much of this has come from the author's well published personal experience and it's admirable how she has used this as the basis of a very fictional story. Of course, the plot is completely unrealistic and I had to quickly stop trying to believe it could happen - as a piece of entertainment this novel is great and I stayed with it until the last page. In fact, I was so keen to find out the ending that I rushed the last couple of chapters and had to reread them.

I havent finished this book yet, I have just started the last chapter and I have to say this book had me loving Marisa’s character to hating Kates’ character to sympathising with Marisa to relating to kate and to hating Marisa character to eventually sympathising with Marisa and I still have the last chapter to read! It’s an absolute masterpiece and i almost don’t want the book to finish. You either hate it or love it it’s just one of those books and I for sure love it.UPDATE:Was not expecting the ending to turn out like this, really enjoyed getting to know Kate’s character more and more it was very nicely wrapped up really enjoyed reading this.

Tw for pregnancy, infertility, miscarriage, infidelity, mental health and abandonmentMagpie is a story about Marisa and Jake…a young couple who falls upon tough financial times and takes in a lodger to help pay the bills, however their pregnancy and the impending birth fray their emotions and their psyche.This book took me a few chapters to get my bearings, but after I did, I sailed through the book. There is a major twist that I did not see coming and the author did a phenomenal job writing this. I was enthralled and actually deleted my kindle app off my phone so I wouldn’t be tempted to read it at work 🤣 If you enjoy a twisty story that makes you feel a bit off-kilter (in the best way) all the way through…this one’s for you.

Mi è piaciuta la scrittura, la storia, i personaggi ben delineati. Soprattutto mi è piaciuto lo studio del punto di vista delle due protagoniste. Non mi è piaciuta la meticolosità che ho trovato un po’ noiosa e per me a volte poco realistica, con cui sono descritti gli stati d animo.

I bought this book because I liked the description of it at the back of the book. I thought I had to do with e thriller but no. There is a twist in the middle of the book and suddenly the whole thing changes. It is a book about infertility. Not a subject that interests me. So I found the book a little bit boring.

Llegó con un pequeño desperfecto en la cubierta, pero es algo que suele pasar siempre con los libros de Amazon... Lo compré porque estaba rebajado de precio, el resto bien, ¡deseando leerlo!

The book was in a good condition! Looking forward!!