Always On My Mind by Carys Green #AlwaysOnMyMind @CarysGAuthor @harvillbooks @carysgreenauthor.bsky.social #BookReview

 

You can hear his every thought. But he can hear yours too...

When Elijah suggests going to OneMind to celebrate their ten-year anniversary, Anna is dubious about getting the implant that will allow them to hear each other’s thoughts. However, she’s eager to please him, and to make up for the fact she can’t give him what he really wants, she agrees to take this step towards the ultimate intimacy.

And at first things are great. Anna feels closer to her husband, and the novelty of communicating mind to mind is a thrill. But then she develops a strange side effect and begins having dreams that aren’t dreams, but memories. Memories that aren’t hers. And if Anna is now seeing Elijah’s memories, what if he can see hers? Will he discover what she's kept buried in her past?

Desperate to keep the truth from her husband, Anna's mind becomes a prison she can't escape. How long can she keep the traitorous thoughts at bay before she drives herself mad?

A clever exploration of toxic relationships, power imbalances, and privacy from an exciting new voice in the high-concept thriller space.

Always On My Mind by Carys Green was published by Harvill Secker on 27 February 2025. I bought my copy online. 

My friend Tracy from Compulsive Readers posted her review of this book a few months ago, as soon as I read that review, I knew that I needed to read the book. I purchased a copy and read it whilst on holiday in Corfu last month.  What a roller coaster of a read, I was totally hooked from the first page. 

From the beginnin, this novel pulls you into an intimate domestic situation with an extraordinary twist. Anna and Elijah appear to have a comfortable, modern marriage, they live in a smart, gadget-laden home and they both have career ambitions.  But the author soon introduces a technological surprise: a neural implant designed to let them share thoughts, memories, intimacy. It’s an unusual concept, and I immediately began to think about consent, privacy and what we mean by “knowing” another person.

Carys Green handles this premise with delicacy. At first the implant seems like the ultimate act of love and transparency, a promise of deeper connection. For Anna it offers something she’s longed for: to be closer to Elijah and feel more loved by him.  But beneath the surface she carries a secret, a guilt, a story she has buried. And as the device begins its work, the marriage cracks begin to widen. The technology doesn’t simply bring them closer, it begins to make everything that was unspoken much louder, everything they hoped the other wouldn’t see.

The strength of the book in in the layers of complexity. The domestic details; the way the house hums with sensors, the small gestures between husband and wife enable the author to create a believable world. Then the glitch is introduced: memories not quite Anna’s, thoughts that are not purely Elijah’s, a sense of surveillance, and the fear that what was promised as intimacy might become intrusion. For a good portion of the book I was reading with a sort of cold-sinking feeling in my stomach, waiting for the moment when the control shifts. And it does — the narrative grows tighter, more claustrophobic.  And, you are all going to hate me for saying this but I often let out a breath that I hadn't known that I was holding!! 

The characters are flawed. Anna sometimes act impulsively; she doubts, she hesitates, she wonders whether to trust what she’s hearing in her own head. Elijah is charismatic, ambitious, he appears to be very loving, yet the more you see of him through the implant’s lens, the more ambiguous his motives become.

The build up of the plot is fairly slow, and the sceptics amongst us may question the technology behind the implant, and wonder who on earth would sign up for it.  I'm very happily married but there's noway I want to be in husband's head, or for him to be in mine. However, if you love thoughtful, psychological domestic suspense with a speculative edge, then this is for you! 

Always On My Mind is a gripping, unsettling book that asks “How much of your mind can you share — and survive?” It weaves together marriage, memory, technology and the hidden places in ourselves we prefer to keep locked away. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys thrillers with a reflective heart, where the device is as much a character as the people.

Carys Green is a thriller writer based in Shropshire, where she lives with her husband and daughter. 

When she’s not writing she can often be found indulging two of her greatest passions - either walking round the local woodland or catching up on all things Disney related.

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