Published By: Bookouture
Pages: 331
Released On: 07/02/2025
I have to stay awake… I need to keep him safe.
I haven’t slept properly since Riley was born. I love my baby so much – every noise he makes and every sleepy blink has me rushing to his side to make sure he’s safe.
Yet the lack of sleep is getting to me. There are terrifying blanks in my memory, and my temper is blindingly short. I can’t rely on my partner – I don’t even know where he is half the time. But at least I have Maggie next door. She tells me this is just what new motherhood is like, so I have no choice but to ignore the blackout rages and blurred vision, for Riley’s sake…
But after another night of no sleep, the last thing I expect is a police officer at my door. My neighbour has been found dead. The man I’ve been furious at for weeks for keeping me and the baby awake with his late-night parties.
Though really, maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised… Because this morning, I woke up on my doorstep. And I have no memory of what happened – or where the blood on my hands came from.
As I hear Riley start to cry, I swallow against the rising panic in my throat. It can’t have been me. I’m no killer, I’m just a sleep-deprived, loving mother… aren’t I?
*****
Thanks to Bookouture and Natali for sending me a copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I looooooooove Natali’s books and I love Natali herself. She’s such a fabulous storyteller but on social media I’ve come to know her as a warm, loving, caring individual who has so much talent, and so I am always thrilled to get to read her books.
There are 50 chapters in this book, which averages about 6 pages per chapter, which I like because it means it’s speedy which adds to the frantic nature of the story.
It opens with such a heart-in-mouth chapter, which is what I’ve come to expect from her books. You’re enticed instantly and you’re on this ride from page one.
It’s slow (I don’t mean that in a slow = boring way); it’s a quiet, calculated, eerie thrill. It opens with a bang, and then it settles. Drawing you in. Lulling you into a false sense of security. It makes you care about the characters before everything hits the fan.
I generally try and read only uplifting books in bed, but I’d started this one evening and couldn’t give it up, so was reading it from between my fingers in bed. I just had to know what happened next.
I expect twists and turns in a thriller, but I wasn’t expecting the route Natali took in this, which was a great surprise. I spent the whole book second guessing things, and just when I thought I’d figured it out, out came another surprise, and it finished with the best twist that I didn’t see coming – although now I’ve finished it, I feel I should have.
I enjoyed the story revolving around a new mum and her lack of sleep and just what damage that can do. I don’t have children so I won’t pretend I know what it’s like to be like that 24/7, but I did help look after my nephew way back when he was a few days old and so I can appreciate a bit what it’s like to go around with no sleep and look after a baby. And it can really make you feel like you’re losing your mind. So whilst this is a thriller and a fictional story, I think it’s closer to reality than people might think or want.
I love how she’s depicted Lu’s story; our protagonist is not some cold blood serial killer. She’s sleep deprived and anxious and hungry and fed up, and it is scary that these are all things that could turn us into something we fear. But she hasn’t done it as a novelty. There’s empathy there, that I believe can only come from someone who has experienced it before.
There aren’t many characters, only two or three main players. But the worst of them all (not in terms of writing ability but in terms of her make up) is Maggie. I won’t go into too much detail for fear of spoilers, but ohhhh she made my skin crawl.
Natali has a way of playing on her anxieties and fears. There isn’t a complicated plot and there are only a few characters, and yet it is as exciting and full-on as a busy book because of the quietness.
Good Girls Die Last was my first book of Natali’s, followed by My Daughter’s Revenge. I loved both but I felt MDR was even more accomplished. And once again, she’s managed to build on what was successful in those two books and make this one even better. This pattern bodes well for future stories.
Books By Your Bedside 