Magpie

Elizabeth Day — 2022

She has almost everything. The rest she’ll take. For fans of Gone Girl and The Perfect Nanny, a taut, psychological suspense novel about a perfect couple and their seemingly perfect roommate—that is until she threatens to destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to create. Marisa and Jake are a perfect couple. And Kate, their new lodger, is the perfect roommate—and not just because her rent payments will give them the income they need to start trying for the baby of their dreams. Except—no one is truly perfect. Sure, Kate doesn’t seem to care much about personal boundaries and can occasionally seem overly-familiar with Jake. But Marisa doesn’t let it concern her, knowing that soon Kate will be gone, and it will just be her, Jake, and their future baby. Conceiving a baby is easier said than done, though, and Jake and Marisa’s perfect relationship is put to the test through months of fertility treatments and false starts. To make matters worse, Kate’s boundary-pushing turns into an all-out obsession—with Jake, with Marisa, and with their future child. Who is this woman? Why does she seem to know everything about Marisa and Jake? In her quest to find out who Kate really is, Marisa might destroy everything she’s worked so hard to create—her perfect romance, her perfect family, and her perfect self. Jake doesn’t know the half of what Marisa has created—and what she stands to lose. For fans of Gone Girl and The Perfect Nanny, Magpie is a tense and twisting novel about mothers and children, envy and possession, and the dangers of getting everything you’ve ever dreamed of.

Reviews

Liyah 🤎@aallen1019

Jun 24, 2024

I'd call this a mid-tier thriller. I thought it might be more bone-chilling with how it started, but then the twist, while incredibly surprising, wasn't as creepy or...thrilling lol as I thought it would be. Still firmly a good twist tho! i thought it dealt with infertility very thoughtfully and I actually learned a lot from the book about it. I HATED Jake's mom. I felt so bad for Kate :( One thing I did find odd was the idea that Kate was too feminist to get married but wanted to have a kid with Jake? I enjoyed the book mostly even if about 3/4ths of the way it felt like it was dragging. I thought the ending would piss me off, but it ended really well! Except for the fact that Kate kind of forgives jake's mom b/c she's a mom now at the end. Again, that's stupid. That lady was awful and being a mom doesn't excuse you from being a bitch.

This review contains a spoiler

Emily Monk@emilymonk

Feb 2, 2024

Plot twist cool, ending a bit weird?!

Robyn Claridge@robynclaridge

Oct 10, 2023

I thought this book touched on a really interesting topic, one that is often overlooked in books. I thought this was well-written and had lots of twists and turns I wasn’t expecting but ultimately the ending let me down.

Ana Gonçalves@aigp0104

Nov 13, 2022

the ending was so unbelievably bad I couldn't stop laughing

McKenzie McWhorter@cozyreadsandcoffee

Sep 9, 2022

I can't say a ton about this book without spoiling it but it was an interesting read with plenty of twists! The ending felt like a little bit of a let down after such a busy book but overall the story was a good one.

Victoria @zodiacsigns1

Mar 21, 2022

Ending a little disappointing

Helen Borham@belles_and_books

Feb 24, 2022

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a compelling story which had me up late because I had to finish the book. There were two major twists in this book. The first was absolutely fantastic. It had me on the edge of my seat and I found myself questioning the characters involved and who I trusted. However twist two was honestly underwhelming. This led to a fairytale ending which felt too tied up neatly with a bow. Also worth talking about the characters in this book. Kate was a brilliant character. She was likeable and I really felt for her and her fertility experiences. The author clearly poured a lot of herself into this story. Annabelle was also a fab character. She was unlikeable from her first appearance but she was there to be an antagonist and did it well. However the rest of the cast fell quite flat and didn’t have a lot to them In summary I would recommend this book, however the ending did let it down in my eyes

This review contains a spoiler