One night can change everything. ‘I know it as soon as I wake up and open my eyes… Something is wrong.’Her Saturday night started normally. Recently separated from her husband, Ali has been persuaded by her friends to go on a date with a new man. She is ready, she is nervous, she is excited. She is about to take a step into her new future. By Sunday morning, Ali’s life is unrecognisable. She … morning, Ali’s life is unrecognisable. She wakes, and she knows that something is wrong. She is home, she is alone, she is hurt and she has no memory of what happened to her.
Worse still, when she looks in the mirror, Ali doesn’t recognise the face staring back at her…
From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Sister, The Gift and The Surrogate, The Date is a gripping page-turner that will keep you awake until the early hours. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train and Before I Go To Sleep.
What readers are saying about The Date:
‘Holy cow, what a read! I literally dropped everything I was supposed to be doing after reading the first few pages and couldn’t put it down until I reached the very end… one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read this year and without doubt a new all-time favourite!’ It’s All About Books, 5 stars
‘I literally didn’t put it down once from start to finish!… It sent chills down my spine… The last page of this book gave me goosebumps and I felt glad I wasn’t home alone!… gripping, unnerving and an unputdownable read!’ Rather Too Fond of Books, 5 stars
‘Wow, I would give this a 10 out of 5 stars if I could!… An absolutely fantastic, heart-pumping, twisted, thrill-seeking read that I could not put down… a heart-breaking emotional rollercoaster… The Date completely knocked my socks off.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘OMG WOW… you won’t be able to turn those pages fast enough… the final twist will absolutely knock you out… this rare and exceptional book will be put forward for Literature Love’s top 10 books of the year.’ Literature Love, 5 stars
‘Ohhhhhhhh my goodness!!! Louise Jensen has blown my mind AGAIN!… will literally have your jaw dropping… I was nervous to even turn the page (that’s my favourite part of a well written thriller)!!!’ Steph and Chris’s Book Review, 5 stars
‘Every now and then a book comes along that completely blows my mind!! And this is one of them!! To say I loved it is an understatement!! This book was absolutely freaking BRILLIANT!!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Mind blowing, edge-of-your seat fantastic!… Kept me guessing straight from the off just when I thought I had it figured out, another twist.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘What a page-turner of a book this is. Just when I thought I had worked it out… bam… another brilliant twist, again and again. This is definitely an edge-of-your-seat story that you won’t be able to put down.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Every chapter had me on the edge-of-my-seat and just when I thought I had it figured out Louise threw another twist in the mix!… suspenseful, thrilling, fast-paced and emotional.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Wow! What an incredible book… like a rollercoaster ride – building up, building up. You don’t know what to expect and then BAM, you need to hang on. It’s really that good!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Will have your heart-pounding and flipping the pages. And I was finally stumped, thank you Louise Jensen for putting my inner detective in her place!!!’ The Book Collective, 5 stars
‘The most incredible suspense!… I was flipping pages on my Kindle faster than I could read and I was seriously concerned my Kindle won’t take the pressure.’ Shuffle Book Box, 5 starsmore
4.5 stars to the thrilling mystery novel, The Date, written by Louise Jensen and published in 2018. I always look forward to savoring a creepy and well-written suspenseful story, and this one definitely delivered a strong and fantastic punch. Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy.
Have you ever woken up and forgotten what happened the night before? I’m sure it’s happened to all of us at some point. Most of the time we recover those memories. Then again, most of the time we also recognize our own face in the mirror. Unfortunately for Ali, neither is happening when she wakes up one morning after a date with some online mystery man that her friends convinced her to finally take a chance with. She’s separated from her husband, trying to figure out how to move forward after some problems, and suffers from something traumatic in her childhood. All three of these things remain center stage as Ali tries to piece together the night without telling her friends or brother that she doesn’t have a full memory or can’t recognize people’s faces anymore. Something happened to her and the blood and head wound must be the place to start.
This is a psychological horror of a novel — in a good way. It’s well-written and not medically technical on any level. Enough details are explained so readers know why she can’t remember and what type of reality this is in the world. Although rare, if a certain part of the brain is injured, it’s possible to not continue to remember what someone looks like. Ali’s other senses need to step up, but it doesn’t seem to be happening quickly enough. When her roommate disappears, Ali starts wondering if maybe she’s the one who did something bad and not the other way around. Even the police grow suspicious, but she continues to receive support from 3 or 4 people. We all know one of them is lying, but it’s not easy to tell what’s happened behind the scenes. Is it the brother? The aunt? The best friend? The guy next door? The hypnotist? The soon-to-be husband? Or someone else lurking in the night and scaring her with notes and messages all over the house.
I read this book all in one day. I started in the morning before the gym and assumed I’d read 30 or 40 pages to see if I liked the book. Next thing I know, I’m 200 pages in and late for the gym. I had to finish reading later in the afternoon and I’ve held off writing the review because it’s so hard determining what to say without giving away the plot. I kinda figured out what was going on, or at least who was behind it all. But the reason blew me away. I wasn’t expecting to find out the true details of the past so late in the game, but as soon as they were revealed, the whole story made sense to me. Great job, Jensen. I’m definitely going to be reading more of your novels.
So good couldn’t put it down! Couldn’t figure it out till the end!!
Riveting!
This book hooked me from the beginning and just kept reeling me in. This was unlike any psychological thriller I have ever read. A truly unique story. Creative. Fast-paced. Enthralling!
There is a reason I heart Louise Jensen!
#TheDate #NetGalley
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book from NetGalley & Bookouture in order to read and provide a voluntary and honest review, should I choose to do so.
Alison Taylor has seen the bad side of love, and is slowly finding her way back out of it, and is finally ready for a round two with it…or at least start with a date. She is nervous to embrace this new path in her life, but the only way to fully move on from her broken marriage, is to put herself out there and meet someone new. Her Saturday night starts off just as she hoped, but by the next morning everything in her new world is completely upended and she realizes something is really wrong… she’s hurt, lost all memory of the night before, and things just continue to take a turn for the worse!
The Date is suspenseful page-turner that kept me burning through the pages until the wee hours of the morning, I just could not put it down!! This first time read came riddled with action, thrilling suspense, and twists and turns that I never saw coming, just when I thought I had a grip on the story line I would find myself being hit with another unexpected surprise, and left second guessing myself all over again. I have to give this one my highest praise of five AMAZING stars; it thrilled me, gave my mind a good work-out, and left me thoroughly satisfied!! Highly recommend!!!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from NetGalley, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.
BOOK REVIEW ON MY BLOG
https://www.emilythebooknerd.com/2021/06/the-date.html
I love thrillers. A good thriller will keep me guessing all the way until the end. The Date did just that. While I read thrillers really well and can usually guess who did what The Date had a bunch of twists that I did not expect coming. Yes, I still guessed some of the twists but there were still a lot of twists that I did not see coming and I applaud the author for fooling me and keeping me utterly entertained.
I had never read any books by the author before and now I want to pick up some more of her thrillers because Louise Jensen really knows how to write and keep you on your toes. I felt so bad for the main character Alison throughout the novel. She has a rare disorder where she cannot recognize faces, not even her own which made for a very interesting thriller and all the more suspenseful.
I was up late at night reading this book because I needed to know what happened to Alison. The beginning was kind of slow to get into but once I got the characters down and realized that Alison was an unreliable narrator because she couldn’t recognize faces I started to breeze through the book. The transitions between different timelines at times got a little confusing but overall once I got farther into the book it all started to make sense. Plus, that cliffhanger at the end was EVERYTHING!!!
You literally suspect every character in this book is the culprit at some point. Alison even has a family mystery that she is hiding. The ultimate question is who harmed Ali one night. There are several chapters that are in Ali’s captor’s point of view which made for a chilling edition to the novel and made the story that much better.
I really enjoyed this thriller and can’t wait to read more from this author. Four huge stars from this book nerd. If you like fast-paced thrillers then give this one a try.
The Date by Louise Jensen is an intriguing and suspenseful thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I was especially excited with the way Jensen included prosopagnosia. Psychology has always been a fascination of mine and is what I ultimately decided to study in college, so this added an extra layer of interest into Ali’s story for me.
Ali’s story was mostly fast paced, but there were some moments where I felt the narration would wonder off on an extremely detailed memory or tangent that slowed down the momentum of the story. Overall, The Date is a thrilling read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys suspenseful read!
Absolute grip your seat suspense. This book went above and beyond my expectations. Terrific.
Oh my lanta!! Everyone’s worst nightmare comes true in this psychological thriller. And psychological thriller this book it! I couldn’t stop reading it, but boy did it mess with me! All the secrets, the diagnosis “Ali” is dealt with, how she deals, and the one who’s after her! Every guess I had about who the person was that was out to get Ali was completely wrong! You will be reading book until the very end, then it leaves you with an “oh sh&t” moment.
Twisty, creepy, complex = awesome! I really enjoyed this book. I don’t tend to like unreliable narrators (I find it contrived in many instances), but I LOVED this premise: Allie suffers a head injury that leads to facial blindness. She can’t trust her own eyes, or anyone else. If you enjoy a good mystery in your psychological suspense, too, you’ll love this book. Like I did.
Great mystery! I can usually figure them out before ending, but was unable with this one. It had everything you could want in a mystery.
You’ve got to read this book! So good!!!
Twists and turns.
This book will definitely keep u guessing. Very unpredictable all the way to the end
I literally could not put this book down and never read so fast in ages. Wow great thriller!!!!!
Sorry, found the premise too ridiculous and it ruined the story for me. I did not complete this book.
Just okay.
I almost stopped reading this book because it disturbed me, but I had to know what happened. There were lots of twists and turns and it kept me wanting to know the end.
Thought I had it all figured out….boy was I wrong…..my king of book
So scary, I would only read it during the day time.