I enjoyed this book but felt it was sadly a missed opportunity. The plot is a great premise and something that’s always going to be relevant. Unfortunately this novel felt a bit shallow and two dimensional to me, it just lacked emotional depth and yet the cast of characters and storyline were there, just waiting for some flesh on their bones. One character, one of the teenagers simply disappears halfway through the novel and at the end they aren’t even mentioned in the final summation. The novel opens with the parents all together waiting for news of their children but only three of these parents ever has their characters and feelings explored and even then, not with much depth. Why for example is Dom so angry and emotionally stunted? We are offered his relationship breakdown and his career as potential reasons but again, never really investigated in depth. And speaking of disappearing characters, who was Cheryl? His girlfriend? And where did she go? I do think the author revealed the truth of ‘that night’ really cleverly and her use of flashback and multiple narrative voices was very good which makes it even more of a shame that the book felt so light. The novel could have done with another 100 pages.

I don't really know what rating to give this book. I really liked the beginning. But half way through, it was weird as I kept wanting to carry on reading when I got to the end of a chapter, but when I did put the book down I wasn't eager to pick it back up again. Loved the last few chapters though. This is about 4 friends driving home from a party when they crash the car into a wall. They are seriously hurt apart from the driver Harry, who is just a bit battered. The book follows these 4 characters but also their parents. And it deals with how they cope hearing the news that their child has been in a car crash. When one of the passengers dies, Harry ends up in jail. The parents of the girl who died want to know how they crashed and what happened before, because they felt there was something Harry isn't telling them. It turns out that Harry and Jess, the kill who died, had an argument just before they got in the car. I thought there was going to be a big twist, like it may have turned out Jess was actually driving the car or she caused the accident but it didn't. The last few chapters where really heart wrenching and had me in tears. I really loved the way it was all brought together. I also liked the organ donation part of the book and how Jess helped saved others lives. But I didn't like the last part of the book that showed one of the organ transplant receivers mum get the phone call that an organ was available. I think this bit could have been missed out and just have Jess' parents mention it again. A really good read but not something that I think will be really rememberable for me 3.5/5 stars

Thank you very much to #NetGalley and @corvus for sending me this ARC copy. ⠀⠀ One Split Second follows the story of a group of teenage friends and their parents following a car accident. It discusses themes of grief, guilt, coming of age and criminality. ⠀⠀ This book didn’t blow me away. Most of the plot and characters felt predictable, and whilst the story line was interesting, it felt very much like a soap opera where the plot had been used before. ⠀⠀ For my taste as well, it went on a little long. There isn’t much plot to this novel once you get past the initial accident. It’s geared up to be a character driven novel, but with so many principle characters it never felt like I properly connected with them individually. ⠀⠀ The book is largely well written and explores the thematic material, but I was left wanting more substance from the plot.

Not so much a novel - more a hard hitting morality tale about a car crash involving 4 teenagers and the impact it has on theirs and their families lives .. One split second is all it takes to turn your world upside down -makes you think ........ Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review