Scan barcode
m3l89's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this and didn't see the twist coming. It wasn't until I finished reading that I realised Simon and Charlie are the same police officers from Sophie Hannah's other novels. This was a very clever and subtle touch.
beckylej's review against another edition
3.0
In "The Warning" a stranger comes to the rescue when Chloe and her daughter, Freya, most need him. The man is cordial and attractive, gaining Chloe's interest almost immediately. But even when she's warned off the man, she finds herself unable to fully resist his charm. Is he really as bad as he's made out to be or is this a case of someone spurned getting their revenge?
"The Warning" features both of the Spilling CID leads but isn't really a true series tie in. It is a fun and quick little read great for enticing folks who have yet to try Hannah or her series.
"The Warning" features both of the Spilling CID leads but isn't really a true series tie in. It is a fun and quick little read great for enticing folks who have yet to try Hannah or her series.
booksuperpower's review against another edition
4.0
The Warning by Sophie Hannah is a 2015 Witness Impulse Publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review by the publisher and Edelweiss.
The Warning is a suspenseful novella that might give you a little something to chew on. For a short story, I thought the author did an excellent job of creating a dark and atmospheric situation that had me feeling a little jumpy and uneasy.
One part of me was sure I knew which direction the story would take, while another part of me couldn't decide who to believe or who could be trusted.
A stranger steps in and saves the day for Chloe and her daughter. Now, Chloe wants to show her gratitude by bringing the man a gift. On the surface this seems like human nature at it's best. But, looking up a total stranger could have dire consequences, especially when Chloe is given a strong warning to stay clear of Tom.
Each character is suspect, each could have his or her own agenda, or they could be totally innocent and only trying to be helpful. You will have to decide for yourself, if you can, who you should trust… or not.
A menacing, sinister, thought provoking story that will have you questioning your own paranoia and ability to decipher who to trust in your everyday dealings with friends or strangers.
I thought the book touched on some interesting themes, by drawing the characters in such a way as to represent one extreme or another, suggesting a calm, reasonable approach might be what works best in the long run. I definitely thought about the story for a while after having finished it.
Simply taking the story at face value is allowed, but I picked up on a few finer points hidden in there too. Although the story ended in a surprising way, there were several alternate endings that could have taken it's place.
Over all this is a clever little short story worth an hour or so of your time. 4 stars
The Warning is a suspenseful novella that might give you a little something to chew on. For a short story, I thought the author did an excellent job of creating a dark and atmospheric situation that had me feeling a little jumpy and uneasy.
One part of me was sure I knew which direction the story would take, while another part of me couldn't decide who to believe or who could be trusted.
A stranger steps in and saves the day for Chloe and her daughter. Now, Chloe wants to show her gratitude by bringing the man a gift. On the surface this seems like human nature at it's best. But, looking up a total stranger could have dire consequences, especially when Chloe is given a strong warning to stay clear of Tom.
Each character is suspect, each could have his or her own agenda, or they could be totally innocent and only trying to be helpful. You will have to decide for yourself, if you can, who you should trust… or not.
A menacing, sinister, thought provoking story that will have you questioning your own paranoia and ability to decipher who to trust in your everyday dealings with friends or strangers.
I thought the book touched on some interesting themes, by drawing the characters in such a way as to represent one extreme or another, suggesting a calm, reasonable approach might be what works best in the long run. I definitely thought about the story for a while after having finished it.
Simply taking the story at face value is allowed, but I picked up on a few finer points hidden in there too. Although the story ended in a surprising way, there were several alternate endings that could have taken it's place.
Over all this is a clever little short story worth an hour or so of your time. 4 stars
rachreadsbooks's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
theelliemo's review against another edition
1.0
An odd and not very believable storyline; too many questions unanswered (ok, it's a Quick Read, but even so, the story should still have a beginning, middle and end). The most burning question being: Why does Chloe put up with Lorna?
shriyak's review against another edition
3.0
This is my first Sophie Hannah book and also first thriller. I am a huge fan of Quick reads!
Pictures or It Didn't Happen is easy to read and follow, short chapters, funny and present, it's definitely worth 1 pound. Only one negative comment wish I could have known more felt unfinished.
Pictures or It Didn't Happen is easy to read and follow, short chapters, funny and present, it's definitely worth 1 pound. Only one negative comment wish I could have known more felt unfinished.
sprinkledwithwords's review against another edition
3.0
Chloe hasn’t had much luck with men, so when the enigmatic Tom saves her and her daughter, she may or may not fall the slightest bit in love with him. He dashes off again, and afterwards she decides she has to thank him, but instead of finding Tom she finds a woman called Nadine Caspian who warns her to stay away from him. He’s dangerous, she says: don’t tell him anything. Chloe thinks she probably should walk away, but, well, she doesn’t.
Pictures Or It Didn’t Happen was the first work by Sophie Hannah I have read, and I was inspired to pick it up when I saw a man before me in a library queue return some books by her, so I headed off to find her Quick Read (ok, so I already knew she had written one). Although I only gave this Quick Read 3 stars on GoodReads, I think I might try reading some of her others; 123 pages of large fonted text doesn’t exactly give you much to flesh out a novel, and I think with another subplot or two, this work would have been better, although it was a nice, short, quick read (puns!) and I finished it in a day.
Was it a crime, or a thriller? Not really. I was expecting more excitement and tension: the main plot wasn’t exactly to my liking. Lies? Sure, they can be exciting and can make for a good plot, but I didn’t really like how they were written in this book. I would love for Sophie Hannah’s other novels to be more blood-rushing.
Onto the characters. The protagonist, Chloe, seemed a bit slow on the uptake to me: I guessed whodunit way before her. She also didn’t really stand up for herself, which I didn’t take to. Lorna, her “best friend” was, to be perfectly honest, a bit of a bitch. If this had been a longer work, I would have loved for Hannah to sort out their friendship and explore Lorna more. Tom, the love interest, was an enigmatic, attractive character. He might have been a bit forward, and I think that if I had met someone like that in real life, I would have asked him to steady himself up! Another character I really liked was Simon, who comes in later in the story, because I think he was rather like me to be honest.
The romance aspect of this short was also something I liked. A love interest always gives readers something to root for, and it did once again in this case!
Finally, the ending of the novel (don’t worry, I won’t spoil it) was, whilst resolved, unsatisfying for me, personally. I felt like Hannah rushed the final page or two, and therefore it wasn’t my favourite ending ever. Even just an extra paragraph would have made it more satisfying.
Overall, I would recommend this to readers looking to try mystery/thriller books but aren’t sure. I like the Quick Reads series, but sometimes they are too short to be good for me. Still, it’s a nice little read and I’ll be trying more of Hannah’s in the future, I think.
Pictures Or It Didn’t Happen was the first work by Sophie Hannah I have read, and I was inspired to pick it up when I saw a man before me in a library queue return some books by her, so I headed off to find her Quick Read (ok, so I already knew she had written one). Although I only gave this Quick Read 3 stars on GoodReads, I think I might try reading some of her others; 123 pages of large fonted text doesn’t exactly give you much to flesh out a novel, and I think with another subplot or two, this work would have been better, although it was a nice, short, quick read (puns!) and I finished it in a day.
Was it a crime, or a thriller? Not really. I was expecting more excitement and tension: the main plot wasn’t exactly to my liking. Lies? Sure, they can be exciting and can make for a good plot, but I didn’t really like how they were written in this book. I would love for Sophie Hannah’s other novels to be more blood-rushing.
Onto the characters. The protagonist, Chloe, seemed a bit slow on the uptake to me: I guessed whodunit way before her. She also didn’t really stand up for herself, which I didn’t take to. Lorna, her “best friend” was, to be perfectly honest, a bit of a bitch. If this had been a longer work, I would have loved for Hannah to sort out their friendship and explore Lorna more. Tom, the love interest, was an enigmatic, attractive character. He might have been a bit forward, and I think that if I had met someone like that in real life, I would have asked him to steady himself up! Another character I really liked was Simon, who comes in later in the story, because I think he was rather like me to be honest.
The romance aspect of this short was also something I liked. A love interest always gives readers something to root for, and it did once again in this case!
Finally, the ending of the novel (don’t worry, I won’t spoil it) was, whilst resolved, unsatisfying for me, personally. I felt like Hannah rushed the final page or two, and therefore it wasn’t my favourite ending ever. Even just an extra paragraph would have made it more satisfying.
Overall, I would recommend this to readers looking to try mystery/thriller books but aren’t sure. I like the Quick Reads series, but sometimes they are too short to be good for me. Still, it’s a nice little read and I’ll be trying more of Hannah’s in the future, I think.
More...