Category: book reviews

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Unforgetting by Rose Black ⭐⭐⭐⭐

IMG_20200108_221610

Publisher: Orion
Published: January 9th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Historical Fiction

It’s Publication Day and my stop on the blog tour for this xx novel. Thank you to Anne at Random Things tours for the invitation to take part, and to Orion Books for the gifted copy of the novel.

SYNOPSIS:

Her fate was decided. Her death foretold. Her past about to be unforgotten.

When Lily Bell is sold by her father to a ‘Professor of Ghosts’ to settle a bad debt, she dreams of finding fame on the London stage. But Erasmus Salt wants Lily not as an actress, but his very own ghost – the heart of his elaborate illusion for those desperate for a glimpse of the spirit world…

Obsessed with perfection, Erasmus goes to extreme lengths to ensure his illusion is realistic. When Lily comes across her own obituary in the paper, and then her headstone in the cemetery, she realises she is trapped, her own parents think she is dead, and that her fate is soon to become even darker…

A spellbinding story of obsession, the lure of fame, and the power of illusion.

The Unforgetting Cover

MY REVIEW:

Lily Bell feels trapped. Sold by her step-father as payment for bad debt she is now the property of Erasmus Salt, a self-proclaimed Professor of Ghosts. Thinking she was being sold to be an actress, Lily thought at least her dire situation might lead to her following her dream of fame on the London stage, but instead she is hidden away and must perform each night as a ghost summoned from the dead. Growing increasingly frustrated and unsettled, Lily finally discovers the macabre lengths Erasmus has gone to for his illusion; the world thinks she is really dead. Knowing she’s in more danger than she thought, she starts to plot her escape. But as things become increasingly complex and grim, she fears she might never be free of the Professor’s clutches. 

The Unforgetting started slowly but I was soon drawn into the strange, ominous, claustrophobic and bleak world Lily inhabits with siblings Erasmus and Faye Salt. Lily is an easy character to like. She’s sweet, naive, hopeful and has big dreams. She has concerns about Erasmus and things he expects of her from the start, but with the help of his sister Faye she brushes them aside as him knowing what is best for the performance. I liked that she also showed an assertive side and wasn’t afraid to make her voice heard. As her situation darkened, I felt scared for Lily and was worried she was going to meet a tragic end and was on tenterhooks until the last page.

Erasmus Salt is an arrogant, angry, ominous and devious man. I got bad vibes from him straight away but never imagined how vile and evil he and his plans could be. Stemming from a bizarre obsession with his deceased mother, he is consumed with the idea of actually returning a spirit to human form, and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Faye Salt, his sister, comes across initially as a mousy servant but it soon becomes clear she is terrified of her brother and, as her backstory is gradually told, we learn it has origins in their childhood, particularly after the deaths of their parents when they were still young. She starts as a background character but slowly becomes a vital part of the story and the character I found most interesting. I felt sad for her and understood why she did some of the more questionable things she did, and was willing her through the pages to find the strength she needed and to find happiness after all she’s been through. She and Lily have a relationship that is very close in proximity, but quite distant in emotion, which was interesting to read. Though I can’t help but think that if they had just confided in each other things could have turned out very differently for both of them.

The Unforgetting is a story about obsession, desire, love, loss, death, illusions and dreams. It is a story of smoke and mirrors where so often things aren’t what they seem and characters are misled or misunderstood. It started out quite simple but becomes a multilayered story that had some surprising twists and kept me captivated. There were a few unanswered questions but I liked the direction the author took the story and the way she ended it. This is the perfect read for lovers of historical fiction who like their stories a little bit eerie, strange and sinister.

contributor-rose-black-1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rose Black has written stories all her life. Her long-standing fascination with the Victorians and 19th century England underlies this novel. An award-winning freelance writer, she’s covered health, overseas development and education. Married, with two children, she lives partly in London and at other times by the sea. In her spare time she enjoys wild swimming and growing food and flowers on her allotment.

The Unforgetting BT Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Home by Sarah Stovell ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

51535f2d

Publisher: Orenda Books
Published: November 28th, 2019 on Kindle. January 23rd, 2020 in Paperback
Genre: Mystery, thriller, suspense, coming of age fiction.

Welcome to my first blog tour of 2020. I am thrilled to be taking part in the tour for this wonderful book. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Karen at Orenda Books for the gifted copy of this novel.

The Home Cover

SYNOPSIS:

When the body of pregnant fifteen-year-old Hope Lacey is discovered in a churchyard on Christmas morning, the community is shocked, but unsurprised. For Hope lived in The Home, the residence of three young girls, who’s violent and disturbing pasts have seen them cloistered away…

As a police investigation gets underway, the lives of Hope, Lara and Annie are examined, and staff who work at the home are interviewed, leading to shocking and distressing revelations…and clear evidence that someone is seeking revenge.

A gritty, dark and devastating psychological thriller, The Home is also an emotive drama and piercing look at the underbelly of society, where children learn what they live…if they are allowed to live at all.

 

MY REVIEW:

“Because we were young, it was true. We were fragile too. But we weren’t fragile like flowers. We were fragile like bombs.”

A mesmerising, soulful and haunting novel, The Home is a sorrowful love story, a tragedy and a tale of redemption. I was instantly captivated as the story opened with a young girl’s murder, talk of betrayal and the promise of revenge….

This beautifully written novel tells the story of three young girls – Annie, Hope and Lara – who have been forgotten, abused and neglected. They live together at an underfunded children’s home that is dreary and unwelcoming. Lara is so scarred by her past she doesn’t speak, but Annie and Hope bond over their shared hardships in life, and soon embark on a passionate but forbidden love affair that turns into obsession. But something goes wrong and on Christmas morning, one of them is found dead. The police suspect the other girl killed her but the staff don’t believe she is capable of it. Instead, they suspect that someone from the dead girl’s past has come for payback. The subsequent investigators leads to shocking and heartbreaking revelations.

Firstly, I will admit that I was initially drawn to this book because it is published by Orenda. I’ve become a big fan of the dark, bold, original and compelling books they publish. When I saw the haunting cover and read the synopsis I knew I had to read this book. The Home is all the things I’ve come to expect from Orenda and more. It is a bleak, fierce, powerful and intriguing story that reached into my soul.

“The thing about us was we weren’t afraid of the darkness. It was part of who we were. It was normal.”

The girls were fractured, broken characters who came to the home because they had seen and experienced things no one should have to. They had been forced to become hardened survivors and learned to trust only themselves. Their pasts are a mystery and the details of the abuse and neglect they’ve suffered is slowly unveiled over the course of the book. As we get to know them we find that inside that hardened shell they’re just kids who want to be safe and loved. They’re suffocating, drowning, and looking for a life raft to hold on to, only to have one they thought they’d found snatched away from them. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of maternal instinct towards each of them, wishing they could have had a family that treated them better and a life free from the trauma they have witnessed. I wondered how much they could possibly take, if they can overcome this latest tragedy or it will be the incident that leads to them spiraling out of reach forever.

This was the first time I had read a book by this author and I can’t wait to read more. Her subdued style was beautiful and haunting. She moved smoothly between the narrators and timelines, keeping the reader guessing about the truth of Hope’s death right until the final pages. I know I vacillated between a couple theories over the course of the book. I was under Ms Stovell’s spell from the opening lines until the final sentence and can’t wait to read more so she can do it again.

The Home is an eerie, heart-rending and alluring novel. I went through all the colours of my emotions as I read this fateful tale. As I approached the finale, it felt like I was on a train hurtling towards tragedy at breakneck speed and I was powerless to stop it. I couldn’t stop reading, finally feeling sure of my suspicions and with just one niggling unanswered question. But I was blindsided as the jaw-dropping truth was revealed, leaving me wrecked. A phenomenal novel that I can’t recommend highly enough.

Sarah Author Picture

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sarah Stovell was born in 1977 and spent most of her life in the Home Counties before a season working in a remote North Yorkshire youth hostel made her realise she was a northerner at heart. She now lives in Northumberland with her partner and two children and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lincoln University. Her debut psychological thriller, Exquisite, was called ‘the book of the summer ’ by Sunday Times.

The Home BT Poster

 

Categories
book reviews

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

QuotePhotod8c5508f.jpg

SYNOPSIS:

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in ‘80s, and of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great, forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Written with Reid’s signature talent for creating “complex, likeable characters” (Real Simple), this is a mesmerising journey through the splendor of old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means – and costs – to face the truth.

MY REVIEW:

“I had come to Hollywood to do one thing, and I was going to do it.”

79 year old Evelyn Hugo has lived a glamorous life. The Hollywood legend is as famed for her seven husbands as her movie career. After years of silence she’s finally ready to reveal all and appoints journalist Monique Grant as the person she wants to tell the truth about her life to the world.

As she tells her fascinating and salacious story, Monique can’t help but wonder why she was chosen for this job and what Evelyn means when she says it will become clear. As Evelyn tells her tale, Monique slowly learns there is more to the reclusive, glamorous and enigmatic Evelyn than people know and listens as her own life is changed forever by the shocking revelations she unveils.

This book is a masterpiece. I fell in love with everything about it – the evocative writing, the detailed characters and the immersive story. It’s just breathtaking. I’ve obviously heard of Taylor Jenkins Reid as she’s hugely popular in the book community, but this was my first time reading anything she’s written. I am now a fan. With this one book I know I want to read everything she has and will write (Daisy Jones is next on my list).

I also fell in love with Evelyn. She’s sharp, witty, ambitious, calculated and larger than life. Listening to her tell the full truth of that life for the first time was like a roller-coaster of all your emotions. Everyone thinks they know her story but the truth is far more dramatic, beautiful and devastating than any movie she’s played a role in.

“I never felt I had much choice in the matter. Being wanted meant having to satisfy. At least, that was my view of it back then.”

Moving to Hollywood was what Evelyn saw as her ticket out of living Hell’s Kitchen with her abusive father. But little did she know that she wasn’t really escaping, just trading a downtrodden existence where she is used and abused for a glamorous one filled with the same things. The book talks about the things now being highlighted by the #MeToo movement such as sexual favours in exchange for better roles, and talks about how she was turned into a star version of herself by stylists, given elocution lessons and told how to answer questions in interviews. It wasn’t about who she really was but who they wanted her to be for the public. And that included who she was supposedly in a relationship with. The press pieces that are included sporadically give a fascinating insight into how the media portrays things versus the reality and the difference between a public persona and who someone really is.

As the title suggests Evelyn has been married seven times. Sometimes it was for convenience, other times for love. And at the heart of this novel is a beautiful love story that’s very real; it involves ups and downs, fights and an overwhelming love for each other that outlasts every other love in their lives. It’s the kind of love you dream of and for Evelyn it came with added complexities such as the expectation to be with a certain person by the studio, rather than to actually follow her heart. I read the book hoping she would have a happy ending with her true love after all she’d been through in life. I’m not going to spoil it and say if it happens.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a mesmerising and spectacular novel that I couldn’t put down, devouring it within a day. The story and its title character are both unforgettable and will stay with you long after reading.

Out now.

Categories
book reviews

My Books of the Year.

2019 has been a great reading year for me. I read 150 books, surpassing my goal of 100 by fifty percent. Most of these were rated four stars but there were an incredible forty-four books that I gave a five star rating. Needless to say, all of this made it very hard to choose what I had originally planned to be my top ten books of the year. Instead, I decided to see how many favourites I had, which is how I’ve ended up with a list of twenty books of the year. Here they are in the order I read them:

  • Verity by Colleen Hoover 
  • My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing 
  • Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
  • The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
  • Little by Edward Carey
  • The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald 
  • The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
  • The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin
  • The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
  • Here To Stay by Mark Edwards
  • The Woman Who Wanted More by Vicky Zimmerman
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • The Familiars by Stacey Halls 
  • The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
  • I Wanted You To Know by Laura Pearson
  • The Blossom Twins by Carol Wyer
  • Seven Days by Alex Lake 
  • The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis
  • Gone by Leona Deakin
  • The Home by Sarah Stovell
  • The 24-Hour Cafe by Libby Page 

My overall favourite read this year was the phenomenal historical fiction novel The Familiars by Stacey Halls. Coincidentally, this was also my 100th read back in August. The Vanished Bride by Bella Edward is the one I’d say came a close second. 

So which books almost made the cut? Below is a list of books I loved and highly recommend that narrowly missed being in my top books list:

  • The Binding by Bridget Collins
  • Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts
  • Dear Mrs Bird by A J Pearce
  • The Whisper Man by Alex North
  • Columbine by Dave Cullen
  • The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
  • After The End by Clare Macintosh
  • Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
  • Take It Back by Kia Abdullah
  • The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman
  • The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
  • Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay
  • Postscript by Cecelia Ahern
  • The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey
  • The Lost Ones by Anita Frank
  • Hold Your Tongue by Deborah Masson

Are any of these in your top books of the year? What books were your favourite in 2019? Comment below and tell me.

Categories
book reviews

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

9450e593.jpg

SYNOPSIS:

Five years ago Geo’s first love was revealed as a terrible serial killer.

But he escaped and went on the run.

Now, bodies have started turning up, killed in exactly the same way as before.

The message is clear: he’s making his way to her, one murder at a time…

MY REVIEW:

Deftly written, evocative, bold and breathtaking, Jar of Hearts is one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read. It consumed me and I flew through the pages, unable to get enough as I devoured the story quickly. But it isn’t for the faint hearted. It was gruesome and stomach-churning at times and chilled me to the bone. But it was a work of sheer brilliance with the author’s vivid imagery and heady mix of mystery and terror filling every page.

Geo is trying to put her life back together after spending 5 years in prison for her part in her best friend Angie’s murder. Gone is her high-paying career, the luxuries she enjoyed and even her fiance. Instead she’s had to move back in with her dad and is unemployed because no one wants to hire her after what she did. She is lonely, isolated and is finding freedom harder than prison where she at least had friends, a routine and wasn’t reviled. She was a complex character who made some bad decisions but after the truth about her relationship with Calvin is unveiled, you can understand her choices were made out of fear. Overall I liked her and particularly enjoyed the humour from her inner monologue that punctuated the fear and tension. Nevertheless, I had a nagging feeling that there was something more lurking beneath the surface, that she wasn’t the person she wanted us to think she was and it was only a matter of time before we learned the truth.

As we learn about the relationship between Calvin and Geo we gradually see how he controlled and abused her as their relationship quickly became toxic. Their dynamic echoed that of an abusive relationship in my past and the author’s descriptions of how it felt for Geo took be straight back to that time – making rationalisations about how it was my fault, thinking that the passion means the whole relationship will be intense, and accepting that walking on eggshells and living with fear is the price you must pay to be with this man you love so fiercely.

Calvin was a classic sinister villain. Better known The Sweetbay Strangler, his movie star looks and charm mask his true obsessive, controlling and abusive nature. We only see Calvin through other people’s eyes which added to his dark, menacing and enigmatic magnetism ad made him even more frightening and mysterious. The threat of him hung in the air and it felt like he was always lurking in the background, just waiting to pounce.

Jar of Hearts is a phenomenal thriller that took my breath away and immediately secured its place as not only one of my favourite books this year, but of all time. The author repeatedly delivered jaw-dropping twists and revelations that made me question everything I thought I knew. I read in breathless anticipation as I approached the startling conclusion; my heart pounding and filled with the urge to scream warnings to the characters on the page. Disturbing, tense, gripping and unflinching, this is a must-read for any thriller lover.

Out now.

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3e2e80fc

Today is my stop on the blog tour to celebrate the paperback release of this intoxicating thriller. Thank you to Amber at Midas PR for the invitation to take part and to Orion for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

I love him so totally, completely, sometimes it threatens to overwhelm me.

Sometimes I think –

No. I won’t write about that.

ALICIA

Alicia Berenson writes a diary as a release, an outlet – and to prove to her beloved husband that everything is fine.  She can’t bear the thought of worrying Gabriel, or causing him pain.

Until, late one evening. Alicia shoots Gabriel five times and then never speaks another word.

THEO

Forensic psychotherapist Theo Faber is convinced that he can successfully treat Alicia, where all others have failed.  Obsessed with investigating her crime, his discoveries suggest Alicia’s silence goes far deeper than he first thought.

And if she speaks, would he want to hear the truth?

 

MY REVIEW:

On a scorching summer night, 33-year-old painter Alicia Beresford is discovered covered in blood, standing rigid and frozen in her living room, while the body of Gabriel, her husband of seven years, sits tied to a chair.  She had shot him five times in the head with his rifle and then slit her wrists to attempt suicide. She is taken to hospital but doesn’t make any statements of guilt or innocence, in fact Alicia doesn’t speak at all. Her only “statement” was a painting she did after she was under house arrest while awaiting trial. It is self portrait named Alcestis, after the greek heroine, and its meaning remains a mystery.  Six years later psychotherapist Theo Faber, who has been obsessed with the case since it occurred, applies for a job at the hospital she’s being treated. He is sure he can reach her, get her to speak again and discover the truth about what happened that night.

I was so excited to read this book. From the middle of 2018 there was a lot of buzz on Bookstagram and it immediately caught my eye. I was fully immersed in this book from the first page and flew through it, unable to put it down or stop thinking about it when I wasn’t reading. 

The story is told in the past tense by Alicia’s psychotherapist, Theo. It also contains extracts from the diary her husband Gabriel had encouraged her to write in the weeks leading up to his death. These pages give us an insight into who she is, or was, why she remains silent, and enables the reader to learn things such as lies being told by some of those closest to Alicia. But this book is as much a story about Theo as it is about Alicia and Gabriel. He feels an affinity with her that is his motivation and conviction that he alone can help her find her voice again. But he keeps breaking the rules and seems increasingly obsessed with his patient. Is he using the case as a distraction from the difficulties in his private life or is there more going on?

I loved how well-written and researched this novel was. I found the information about psychology and trauma both fascinating and informative and loved how the author could convey so much from the little things such as a description of Alicia’s facial expressions or her hands shaking. It is a book filled with flawed, twisted, damaged and broken the character, which are always great fun to read. Alicia was an alluring enigma who puzzled me; I could never quite work out if she was a malevolent calculating killer or a tragic victim of an as-yet-unknown horror. I liked Theo from the start and was rooting for him to be able to break Alicia’s silence and discover the truth of what happened. There were two characters I was suspicious about and that I thought might be involved in Gabriel’s death, perhaps even framing Alicia in some way. I was convinced I knew where the story was going and what would happen but I couldn’t have been more wrong….

The novel is ingeniously written as with one chapter, a paragraph and finally a short sentence, the writer mercilessly takes your breath away. He transforms this novel from a great book into a mind-blowing and sensational book with a twist you truly couldn’t have foreseen. THIS is the book I would call the crime debut of 2019.  What a magnificent and electrifying debut. Everyone will be talking about this book and that twist. Whatever genre you enjoy, you need to read this book. 

Out now.

Alex Michaelides (c) Andrew Hayes-Watkins

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alex Michaelides is an author and screenwriter born in Cyprus to a Greek-Cypriot father and English mother. After graduating from Cambridge with a degree in English, he received an MA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He wrote the film The Devil You Know, starring Rosamund Pike, and co-wrote The Brits Are Coming, starring Uma Thurman and Tim Roth. The Silent Patient has sold in 44 territories so far – a record for a debut novel – the film rights for which were recently acquired by Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B.

The Silent Patient PB blog tour

Categories
book reviews

I Dare You by Sam Carrington ⭐⭐⭐⭐

cover167959-medium

SYNOPSIS:

AN INNOCENT GAME. A SHOCKING CRIME. A COMMUNITY FULL OF SECRETS.

Mapledon, 1989.

Two little girls were out playing a game of dares. Only one returned home.

The ten-year-old told police what she saw: village loner Billy ‘Creepy’ Crawley dragged her friend into his truck and disappeared.

No body was found, but her testimony sent Crawley to prison for murder. An open and shut case, the right man behind bars.

The village could sleep safe once again.

Now…

Anna thought she had left Mapledon and her nightmares behind but a distraught phone call brings her back to face her past.

30 years ago someone lied. 30 years ago the man convicted wasn’t the only guilty party.

Now he’s out of prison looking for revenge. The question is, who will he start with?

MY REVIEW:

What a roller-coaster ride! I was quickly gripped by this exhilarating thriller and found myself reading fervently, desperate for answers about what happened to ten-year-old Jonie Hayes, how the narrators were connected to it all, and what secrets the residents of Mapledon were hiding. 

The story is told in dual timelines and is narrated by two women – Anna and Lizzie. We soon learn that both women lived in Mapledon as children but left for very different reasons: Anna because of bad memories of her childhood friend’s murder and feeling stifled, and Lizzie because she was taken and put into care for unkown reasons. They both have unanswered questions about what happened thirty years ago and have been affected by the legacy of Billy ‘Creepy’ Crawley and the murder of Jonie. As they look deeper it is clear that nothing is as it seems and are forced to question everything they thought they knew as they unearth secrets they were never meant to find…

This was the second book I’ve read by this author and I was every bit as captivated as when I read The Missing Wife, cementing her place on my must-read authors list. The thing I liked about her writing in this book was how she told the flashbacks to 1989 in reverse chronological order up until the highly anticipated big reveal. This slowly revealed clues to the reader while increasing the tension and slowly revealed the roles everyone played in the tragic events. 

Anna and Lizzie were both unreliable protagonists by their own admission. They were children thirty years ago and it is their fuzzy recollection of events that leads them to finally search for the truth. Anna’s relationship with her mother Muriel is fraught and she’s hasn’t been back to Mapledon once since she left. It seems with every day more cracks appear in their relationship and Anna is increasingly sure her mother has lied and hidden the truth from her about what had happened that summer. I definitely had my feelings about Muriel’s character coloured by Anna and only ever saw her as a busybody that was lying to her daughter. I was sure she was entrenched in what happened and felt like screaming at her to just tell her daughter what she knew. Lizzie was a character I had a lot of empathy for but I was torn about how much of the truth I wanted her to discover, especially as it seemed she had the most she could lose by the revelations. All of the characters in this book are fractured and troubled and I often wondered if they would be torn apart even more by the truth rather than healed by it. 

I Dare You is a tense, twisty, jaw-dropping thriller about childhood friendships, small town politics, secrets and murder. I guessed some of the twists early on but so much was a mystery to me as we approached the end. The author cleverly wove the clues together until the full picture emerged and rendered me speechless. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves psychological thrillers and can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Out now.

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Gone by Leona Deakin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

b4ba05ff

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this astonishing psychological thriller. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Transworld Publishing for my gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Four strangers are missing. Left at their last-known locations are birthday cards that read:

YOUR GIFT IS THE GAME. 

DARE TO PLAY?

The police aren’t worried – it’s just a game. But the families are frantic. As psychologist and private detective Dr Augusta Bloom delves into the lives of the missing people, she finds something that binds them all.

And that something makes them very dangerous indeed.

As more disappearances are reported and new birthday cards uncovered, Dr Bloom races to unravel the mystery and find the missing people.

But what if, this time, they are the ones she should fear?

Gone PB Cover

MY REVIEW:

Wow! This phenomenal novel puts the psycho into psychological thriller. It was one of those books where you just know you’re going to love it instantly. From the spine-chilling first chapter I was hooked and I devoured this book in just two sittings, staying up until daft o’clock as I needed to know what happened. Exhilarating, fast-paced, jaw-dropping and addictive, it knocked me out like ten rounds with Mike Tyson.

Dr Augusta Bloom and her partner Marcus Jameson are called in to investigate the disappearance of his sister’s friend Lana, leaving her sixteen-year-old daughter Jane behind with no money for food or bills. The police don’t think there’s a case to look into, despite the anonymous birthday card left behind daring her to play a game. As they investigate, they learn that three other people have disappeared in similar circumstances. But they can’t find any commonalities between the victims other than they disappeared on their birthdays and left behind the same card. Who is the card from? And what is so enticing about this game they’d willingly walk away from their life and loved ones?

After speaking to those closest to them Augusta has a theory beginning to take shape. But when she reveals it to Jameson he’s skeptical. As the number of players rises the police finally get involved in the search and Augusta is increasingly sure of her hypothesis. But they still don’t know who’s behind the game or what they want and Augusta begins to think the team are being watched and someone is trying to derail the investigation. Can they find the architect and the players before it’s too late? 

I really liked the characters in this book. This new series focuses on Dr Augusta Bloom, a criminal psychologist and private detective, and her partner Marcus Jameson, a former spy, who have been solving mysteries together for five years. I loved this easy-to-like duo. Augusta is elusive and Marcus, her only real friend, doesn’t even know a lot about her. She keeps to herself and her job is her life. Marcus also lives for his job but is more open that Augusta. We meet his sister in the book and it’s clear how important his family is to him which is why I think the choice to have him be personally connected to their case was a good one. It added an extra layer of emotion and urgency and the odds felt higher. My favourite character was Seraphine. At just fourteen years old she knows she’s a psychopath and seems to relish it. She passes for normal by watching those around her and mimicking their behaviour. Her parts were always fun but sinister and eerie. 

This was my first time reading a book by this author and it won’t be my last. It is intelligent, sharp and expertly written, and you can tell she knows her stuff as she delves into the darkness that is camouflaged amongst us and offers a fascinating insight into their minds. I loved how the antagonist was written and while I won’t go into specifics to avoid spoilers, I will say they were revealed to be truly twisted and calculated. Another aspect of her writing I enjoyed was the small clues she hid for us to find that you don’t really recognise until much later. For instance, I couldn’t shake a feeling of discomfort about two of the characters. It felt like there was something underlying and hidden. But it wasn’t until towards the end that I pieced it together from the subtle trail of breadcrumbs the author had left behind. She knows how to keep her readers hostage and captivated me from the start right until the last page.

Gone is an immersive, arresting, heat-stopping and clever thriller that is fraught with tension from the first page. Unputdownable can be overused by book bloggers but I can’t think of a more appropriate time to use it than for this book. Insanely twisty, there were shocking and unexpected revelations that left me speechless. 2019 has been a great year for thrillers and Gone has snook in at the last minute to be one of my top books this year. I can’t wait for the second installment and could see this becoming a contender for my favourite crime series. Anyone who loves psychological thrillers needs to read this now!

Out now.

Leona-Deakin-©-David-Ensor-1.png

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Leona draws inspiration for her writing from her own experiences having started her career as a psychologist with the West Yorkshire Police and her successful work in psychology since. She is now an occupational therapist and lives with her family in Leeds. This is her debut thriller.

Gone PB BT Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Blossom Twins by Carol Wyer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

cde0ac8e.jpg

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the fifth installment in this sensational crime series. Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part, and to Bookouture, NetGalley and Carol Wyer for my copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

SYNOPSIS:

Their parents thought they were hiding..

One beautiful summer’s evening, thirteen-year-old-twins Ivy and Erin Westmore snuggle down in a tent in their back garden, giggling and sharing secrets.

When their mother goes to wake the girls the next morning, their tent is empty.

The alarm is raised and Detective Natalie Ward is put on the case. When the twins’ bodies are discovered on nearby marshland, covered with deep pink petals, an icy shiver travels down Natalie’s spine. Everything about the girls’ deaths reminds her of a horrifying case she worked on earlier in her career, which saw a killer of the worst kind placed behind bars.

The next day, that feeling is heightened when she receives a chilling note saying ‘I’m back’. Is this killer a copycat or did Natalie put the wrong person in prison all those years ago? In a small town, where no stranger goes unnoticed, what is Natalie missing?

Consumed by the case, determined to prevent more deaths, Natalie misses the fact that it is her attention the killer wants. And to get it, he has his sights set firmly on her precious daughter, Leigh..

Gripping, fast-paced and nail-bitingly tense, this book will keep you flying through the pages long into the night. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin Slaughter.

51jR5mJNTtL

MY REVIEW:

OMG! Carol, you broke me. I felt utterly bereft after the emotional journey from reading this book and it took days to recover. The fifth installment in the Detective Natalie Ward series may have a sweet, floral title but behind it Carol’s most shocking, jaw-dropping and emotional book to date. I quickly devoured it, filled with an urgent need for answers, only to be left wishing I hadn’t found them. This is her best novel yet and shows just why this woman is one of my favourite, must-read crime writers.

When fourteen-year-old Isabella Sharpe disappears during a concert a search soon leads to the discovery of her body. Detective Natalie Ward and her team are called to investigate and the macabre scene immediately reminds her of the first murders she investigated – The Blossom Twins. Those devastating crimes shattered Natalie and the mistakes made haunt her to this day. She tells herself she’s overthinking – the killer was found and died in prison – but she can’t seem to shake her suspicions. 

Twins Ivy and Erin Westmore go missing while camping in their back garden and soon the girls’ bodies are found chillingly posed just like the Blossom Twins. Details that were never made public are identical. Is this the work of a copycat or did Natalie get the wrong man? She and her team race to find answers before more innocent lives are taken.

After four previous books it’s fair to say I’m attached to these characters and they feel like old friends. That made this a hard book to read as Natalie and her husband David are now separated but living in the same house and haven’t told the kids. He’s hoping for a reconciliation, she’s looking forward but is also battling immense guilt over how her children will take the news. This storyline is a big part of the book and Natalie’s emotional turmoil isn’t helped by her new case having disturbing similarities to an old case that haunts her to this day, a new boss that talks to her like she’s imcompitent, or the arrival of a former nemesis charged with helping the team find their killer. 

The addition of John Briggs to the team added an extra dose of tension and drama to the story. He and Natalie worked together on the Blossom Twins case and its clear there’s no love lost between them. He rubs the whole team up the wrong way with his brash, aggressive and insensitive manner and consistently undermines Natalie by going behind her back to their boss questioning her capability to solve the case. I hated him. He was a perfect nemesis for Natalie and though I love how well the team usually work together, it was interesting to see how she reacted to someone who isn’t a team player and was determined to get in her way.

As is usually the case with Carol’s books, my favourite parts were those where we get the killer’s point of view. He’s manipulative, callous, cocky, twisted and sent a chill down my spine. It was terrifying how in control he is and how detailed his plans are. The flashbacks revealed just how far he would go to get what he wanted and how sinister he was. I had some wild theories about who this person was and I went through many different suspects, telling myself I must be wrong with the two I had the most suspicion of. It was a puzzle I couldn’t solve, which is something I love when reading this genre.

So if you want a fast-paced, nail-biting, addictive, heartbreaking and thrilling book then look no further. More than ever I’m desperate to know what is next for Natalie and her team. Though I’m a bit scared of what Carol might do next.

Out now.

Carol-Wyer-500-2

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer is an award-winning author and stand up comedian who writes feel-good comedies and gripping crime fiction.

A move to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in LITTLE GIRL LOST, the #2 best-selling book on Amazon, #9 best-selling audiobook on Audible and Top 150 USA Today best-seller.

A second series featuring DI Natalie Ward quickly followed and to date her crime novels have sold over 600,000 copies and been translated for various overseas markets, including Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Hungarian Slovak, Czech and Polish.

Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’ featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post.

She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy.

To learn more about Carol, go to http://www.carolwyer.co.uk or follow Carol on Twitter: @carolewyer.

Carol also blogs at http://www.carolwyer.com

The Blossom Twins - Blog Tour Poster

Categories
book reviews

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

IMG_20191204_122538

Happy Paperback Publication Day to this phenomenal book. I was lucky s enough to read an early proof via NetgGalley at the end of last year and it immediately became now only my favourite book of 2018, but one of my favourites of all time. It has sold over 4 million copies worldwide and is soon to be developed into a film. Thank you to Little Brown Book Group for my #gifted limited edition proof.

SYNOPSIS:

#1 New York Times Best Seller

A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick.

For years, rumours of the ‘Marsh Girl’ have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself up to a new life – until the unthinkable happens.

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingslover and Celeste Ng , Where The Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

MY REVIEW:

Breathtaking, beautiful, haunting, heartbreaking, mesmerising and unforgettable; these are the words that first come to mind when I think of this sensational book.

The story begins in 1969 when two young boys discover the body of local football hero Chase Andrews lying in the Marsh. There is immediate suspicion that the death is not accidental and talk of who could have killed him. We then go back to 1952 where six-year-old Kya is sat on the front porch watching in disbelief as her “Ma” walks away in her best shoes carrying a suitcase. The book then continues in dual timelines: we follow the hunt to find who killed Chase as the police try to ascertain what is rumour and gossip and what is fact, and also watch as Kya grows up on the Marsh and learns to not only survive, but flourish.

Reading about how Kya lives was difficult and heartbreaking. She is seen as “Marsh Trash” by those who live in Barkley Cove, and avoided and vilified by adults and children alike. After her Ma leaves, her siblings soon follow and she is left alone with her Pa, a violent drunk who is often absent. When he eventually abandons her too she has to find a way to make an income and finds a friend in Jumpin,who owns Gas and Bait which sells gas and groceries, and his wife Mabel. Her one day at school was a disaster so she gets her education from the world around her and studies the Marsh, sea and sand. For many years she’s unable to read but then Tate, who was a friend of her older brother, offers to teach her. They inevitably fall in love and he awakens a side to Kya she didn’t have before, one where she needs someone and enjoys another person’s company. When he leaves her heartbroken she feels unable to trust anyone and completely withdraws into herself and her Marsh again, determined never to rely on anyone but herself from now on.

Very quickly after Chase is found, suspicion from the townspeople falls on the Marsh Girl, who was rumoured to have had some kind of relationship with him at one point. Her elusive behaviour each time the police try to talk to her doesn’t help convince people of her innocence. It seems even in the absence of evidence most people have decided they know what happened and convicted her of the crime in their jury of small-town opinion.

By the time I was half way through the book I was consumed and couldn’t stop reading. It was a completely different book to what I expected it to be, although I don’t really know what I expected. I knew I had a book I loved on my hands and that the trepidation that comes with reading a much talked about, hyped book was unnecessary. 

The author has a remarkable ability to make you feel and understand from Kya’s perspective in this book. You feel her crippling loneliness at a life lived truly alone, her overwhelming fear of anything or anyone outside the Marsh, admiration that she surviving such a life and all she accomplished despite the odds, and anger at the way she was treated, judged, used and failed by almost everyone she meets.

Delia Owens is a phenomenal writer, and Where The Crawdads Sing is a spectacular debut.. It is a long book and I admit there were times that reading it felt like a slog, but that was because of the southern dialect and heavy subject matter and not because of boredom. I loved this story and it didn’t take long for me to find it hard to put down. It is an eloquently written, powerful, emotive, and extraordinary novel. It is a masterpiece that you won’t be able to forget and will stay with you long after you read it.

Out now.