Book Review - I Owe You One by Lauren North

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Title: I Owe You One

Author: Lauren North

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: 8th April 2026

Rating: 5 Stars

She saved my life. I faked her death…

I only came back home to lie low and reconnect with my sister Bryony. Her life with her gorgeous husband Alex is perfect – a far cry from the disaster mine has turned into…

But almost immediately I can tell something is wrong. My once bubbly sister’s skin is pale, her hair dull, her eyes unfocussed. She tells me Alex has turned obsessive, controlling her every move. A tear tracks down her cheek as I stare at her in horror.

‘I have to fake my death,’ she whispers and I jolt back in shock. ‘And I need your help to do it.’ As I start to shake my head, mouth trembling, she lays her winning card down: ‘You owe me, Jess. I saved your life.’

But after she’s successfully disappeared, I realise there are holes in her story – things she’s told me about Alex that can’t be true. Threatening messages that can’t have come from him. Rumours in the village about the way she’s been acting. She doesn’t contact me like she promised – and rather than being angry she’s gone, Alex seems completely devastated…

Have I just saved my sister, or helped her get away with something terrible? And when the truth comes out, will I be the one whose life is in danger…?

An utterly page-turning, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller that will have you reading late into the night! Perfect for fans of The Housemaid, The Couple Next Door and The Family Upstairs.

OMG Lauren North has done it again. 

This is a completely unputdownable psychological thriller, that I was never sure what would happen next. 

But I needed to know, so kept on reading and reading until I ran out pages, but did get a very satisfying conclusion. 

Bryony once saved sister Jess's life back when they were teens, so when Bryony asks Jess to help her fake her death, Jess feels like she can't refuse. 

There are big reasons why Bryony feels like she needs to disappear, and Jess is terrified at everything that could go wrong. But she might have an eye on how she could benefit too, after all she is only back in her home town after her life went very wrong. 

But nothing is as simple as it seems, and the more we go on, the more layers there are to this, on one level a rather simple story, that turns out to be anything other than simple. 

Ooh there are so many truths to be discovered and unravelled by Jess, it's simply brilliant. And I was totally there for all of them. 

I whizzed through this book in a few short hours, hooked beyond belief on what was unfurling.  Another hit for this talented author. 

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.