Tag: Four star reads

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews Tandem Readalong

After The Silence by Louise O’Neill

Published: September 3rd, 2020
Publisher: Riverrun
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Suspense, Literary Fiction

I read this book as part of a readalong with Tandem Collective UK. This post is also part of a social media blast in connection with Quercus. Thank you to Hannah at Quercus for my gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Nessa Crowley’s murderer has been protected by silence for ten years.
Until a team of documentary makers decide to find out the truth.

On the day of Henry and Keelin Kinsella’s wild party at their big house a violent storm engulfed the island of Inisrun, cutting it off from the mainland. When morning broke Nessa Crowley’s lifeless body lay in the garden, her last breath silenced by the music and the thunder.

The killer couldn’t have escaped Inisrun, but no-one was charged with the murder. The mystery that surrounded the death of Nessa remained hidden. But the islanders knew who to blame for the crime that changed them forever.

Ten years later a documentary crew arrives, there to lift the lid off the Kinsella’s carefully constructed lives, determined to find evidence that will prove Henry’s guilt and Keelin’s complicity in the murder of beautiful Nessa.

In this bold, brilliant, disturbing new novel Louise O’Neill shows that deadly secrets are devastating to those who hold them close.

MY REVIEW:

“There were three of them in the beginning, and we called them the Crowley Girls. They were born of this island, as we were; sister-children, brethren, kin. Soil and bone. A common blood running through our veins, for our ancestors, had been family, once, if you understand the ways of Insirun before we begin our story – we were all connected here. But those girls were not like us.”

Darkly atmospheric, haunting, tense, claustrophobic and addictive, After The Silence is a richly drawn amalgamation of whodunnit and character study that examines the power of silence, and the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive. 

This was my first Louise O’Neill book but won’t be my last. I have fallen in love with her exquisite writing and her ability to write about such a difficult subject with such truth and sensitivity. Because, while this is a murder mystery, the author has cleverly woven into that an examination of domestic abuse, coercive control and violence against women. It is clear that she highly researched the subject as she writes with a depth of knowledge and truth as well as great sensitivity to a harrowing subject. 

Her characters are fascinating, flawed and real. They’re people you might even recognise yourself in. As someone who lived in an abusive relationship for twelve years, I saw myself in Keelin, my past relationship in hers and my ex in some of the male characters.   I loved how using the Kinsella’s beauty, wealth and faux happiness, she highlights that domestic abuse can happen to ANYONE, even those who are strong and independent, and that coercive control is so much harder to recognise as abuse than physical abuse.  

Setting the story on the small, secluded island of Inisurin added an extra layer to the book; a threatening, eerie and claustrophobic atmosphere that permeates everyone and everything. The island is also like a character in itself, and acts as a metaphor for how Keelin feels about her marriage: the island keeping her prisoner just like her marriage. There is a very real sense of being trapped with help being out of reach. That no one can save you.  

Dark, brooding, tense and twisty, After The Silence will keep you guessing right until the end. I am now such a fan of this author that I’ve already started ordering her back catalogue so I can devour her other books. 

 Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Louise O’Neill was born in west Cork in 1985. She studied English at Trinity College Dublin and has worked for the senior style director of American Elle magazine. While in New York, she also worked as an assistant stylist on a number of high-profile campaigns. Louise has written two award-winning books, Only Ever Yours and her most recent, Asking For It, which won Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. She is currently working as a freelance journalist for a variety of Irish national newspapers and magazines, covering feminist issues, fashion and pop culture. She lives in Clonakilty, west Cork.

Instagram|Twitter|Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon|Waterstones|Google Books|Apple Books|Kobo

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Under Your Skin by Rose McClelland

Published: April 27th, 2020
Publisher: Crooked Cat Books
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Psychological Thriller

Trigger Warnings: Domestic Abuse

Today is my stop on the tour for this dark thriller. Thank you to Emma at Damnpebbles Blog Tours for the invitation to take part and Rose McClelland for my gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

When Kyle’s wife Hannah goes missing, the whole town is out in force to try to find her. One person knows where she is. One person is keeping a secret.

Detective Inspector Simon Peters and Detective Kerry Lawlor have been brought in to investigate the case, but Hannah has left no traces and Kyle has no clues.

Local Belfast resident, Julia Matthews, joins the #FindHannah campaign and becomes friendly with Kyle, sympathising with his tragedy. As Julia becomes more involved in the case than she bargained for, she begins to uncover more secrets than the Police ever could.

Julia was only trying to help but has she become drawn into a web of mystery that she can’t escape?

MY REVIEW:

To o the outside world, Hannah and Kyle Greer are happily married. But when Kyle reports his wife missing, the disturbing truth beneath that shiny veneer is slowly revealed. A dark, twisted and affecting novel, Under Your Skin is an exploration of an abusive marriage and the secrets that hide behind closed doors.

At 272 pages this is a short book, but it’s the author’s gripping and atmospheric prose that made it one I devoured in just a few hours. It took me a little while to get used to the multiple narrators and how they each fit into the story, but once I did I was able to appreciate the varying perspectives that they brought to the story. All of those voices are female and the story ultimately is one of finding your inner strength and confidence. Each woman is written with authenticity. They are strong in their own way, yet filled with self-doubt and some are fractured and fragile. But they are all women you can imagine knowing and being friends with.

I loved Hannah’s chapters. Though at first I felt like the terror I was expecting from her was missing, I quickly understood and came to have a lot of empathy for her. For the first half of the book, her chapters focus on the past and tell the story of her relationship with Kyle. As the truth about what she’d endured unfolded I began to understand why she felt a kind of relief at her situation. The other character I felt drawn to was Julia. Julia is a bit of a mess. She’s isolating herself because of depression and gets involved in the search for Hannah to try and get out more like her therapist suggested, only to find herself caught up in Kyle’s twisted web.

I loathed Kyle. He was spectacularly written and I especially liked that the author didn’t give him a voice after the first chapter, instead making him someone we see only through the eyes of the other narrators. I think this was an inspired choice. It took some of his power and control away, something an abuser despises. And, though it’s fiction, I did get a kick out of the fact he never got to gaslight the reader and have the influence a man like him would want.

Complex, dark, disturbing and told with raw honesty, Under Your Skin is an absorbing thriller that examines the truth of domestic abuse with authenticity and sensitivity.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Her debut novel ‘The Break-Up Test’ received lovely reviews on Amazon including: “Rose McClelland’s voice reads like the younger sister of Marian Keyes with a more streetwise but vulnerable edge.”

She is delighted to see her second novel ‘How to Look Like You’ also published by Crooked Cat.

Rose wrote a short play which was directed by Rawlife Theatre Company and performed in The Black Box Theatre, Belfast. She writes book reviews for ‘Judging Covers’ and writes a mixture of theatre reviews and author interviews for her blog.

Rose has been writing creatively since her twenties. She started writing her first novel six years ago. Under Your Skin is her fourth book.

Instagram |Twitter |Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

A Ruined Girl by Kate Simants

Published: August 27th, 2020
Publisher: Viper
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction

Welcome to my stop on the tour for this gripping thriller. Thank you to Miranda at Viper Books for the invitation to take part and my gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

TWO BOYS LOVED HER.
BUT WHICH ONE KILLED HER?

On a dark night two years ago, teenagers Rob and Paige broke into a house. They beat and traumatised the occupants, then left, taking only a bracelet. No one knows why, not even Luke, Rob’s younger brother and Paige’s confidant. Paige disappeared after that night. And having spent her life in children’s homes and the foster system, no one cared enough to look for her.

Now Rob is out of prison, and probation officer Wren Reynolds has been tasked with his rehabilitation. But Wren has her own reasons for taking on Rob as a client. Convinced that Rob knows what happened to Paige, and hiding a lifetime of secrets from her heavily pregnant wife, Wren’s obsession with finding a missing girl may tear her family apart…

MY REVIEW:

A Ruined Girl is a raw, dark, tense and riveting thriller. Told in dual timelines by dual narrators, we move between past and present as the story of what really happened the night two years ago the teenagers Rob and Paige broke into a house is told.

In a seemingly motivationless crime, the pair beat and terrified the occupants before taking a bracelet and leaving. Rob was captured and imprisoned for his role in the crime, but Paige hasn’t been seen since that night. Now, Rob is being released, and probation officer Wren Reynolds is tasked with his rehabilitation. But she has an ulterior motive for taking on his case.
She’s sure he’s hiding something, and is determined to find out what it is. And, as time goes on, she becomes increasingly obsessed with finding out what happened to Paige. Whatever the cost…

Complex, layered and dripping with suspense, this was a real page-turner. On a normal day, I would have flown through this in one sitting, but even in a pain-filled haze this book held my attention and had me thinking about it when I wasn’t reading. Flawlessly plotted, the author had me in her thrall from the chilling prologue to the final page.

I loved the many subplots that made up the narrative of this story. In a thriller, every little thing, however benign, becomes potentially significant, and I enjoy trying to figure out what is important or a potential clue. I was sure I had this one figured out. And that feeling was only confirmed when some of the revelations were as I predicted. I sat back, planning to just enjoy the book, safe in the knowledge that I knew what was coming, only to be completely blindsided by a jaw-dropping revelation that turned everything I thought I knew on it’s head. I’m still in shock!

All of the characters in this book are richly drawn, intriguing, flawed and real. I liked Wren, for all her faults, and thought she made a great protagonist. But the character I found myself particularly drawn to was Paige. We only see Paige through the eyes of others; the rose-tinted glasses or betrayal of Luke’s crush, or Wren’s investigation. I understood their fascination with her, the author creating an aura of mystery and sadness surrounding her that made me want to rescue her. It seemed inevitable that there was to be no happy ending, but, like Wren, I hoped for justice.

Atmospheric, taut, twisty and utterly addictive, I highly recommend this novel. This was my first read by this author, but it won’t be my last.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Kate Simants is a writer of psychological thrillers and crime fiction.

After a decade working in the UK television industry, specialising in investigative documentaries, police shows and undercover work, Kate relocated from London to Bristol to concentrate on writing. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Brunel Univeristy (2007) and another in Crime Fiction from the University of East Anglia (2018), where she was the recipient of the UEA Literary Festival Scholarship. Her novel LOCK ME IN was shortlisted for the 2015 Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger, and is published by HarperCollins.

Kate won the 2019 Bath Novel Award with her second novel A RUINED GIRL, which is published by Viper/Serpent’s Tail in August 2020.

Twitter |Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon |Waterstones |Hive|Google Books|Kobo

Categories
book reviews Tandem Readalong

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Published: August 20th, 2020
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense

I read this book, which was one of Emma’s Anticipated Treasures for March, as part of a readalong with Tandem Collective UK. Thank you to Pan Macmillan for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

From Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, the authors of the top ten bestseller The Wife Between Us and An Anonymous Girl, comes You Are Not Alone – a gripping novel about a group of women who appear to have the perfect lives, but all is not what it seems . . .

You probably know someone like Shay Miller. She wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is becoming increasingly isolated.

You probably don’t know anyone like the Moore sisters. They have an unbreakable circle of friends. They live a life of glamour and perfection. They always get what they desire.

Shay thinks she wants their life.

But what they really want is hers.

MY REVIEW:

This high-octane, page-turning thriller had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. Filled with so many twists and turns I got book whiplash, I was not prepared for the ride I was about to embark on when I first opened this book. 

I thought I had this one figured out. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Bravo to the authors for those mind blowing revelations. Exquisitely crafted and tightly plotted, the writing is cohesive and flows well, never feeling disjointed like some books that are co-authored. And after the Zoom Q&A that Tandem arranged with the authors where they talked about their writing process, I understand why. I admit, that meeting left me with a bit of a girl crush. They’re both funny, intelligent women who write fantastic books and have a relationship that is the ultimate in best friend goals. What’s not to crush on? 

The authors have a talent for writing strong, complex female characters, and this book is packed with them. I liked Shay. Things aren’t going that well for her when we first met her and I really felt for her, especially having witnessed such a traumatic event. I could understand her loneliness and the need to connect that resulted in her gravitating towards Amanda’s friends, especially Cassandra and Jane Moore, the glamorous, mysterious and luminous sisters who befriend Shay and help her make-over her life. They are everything she wants to be: gorgeous, confident, happy and successful, and being around them makes her feel like she’s doing something right, like her life is finally going in the right direction since meeting them. 

As we get further into the book, it becomes clear that the Moore sisters are playing a sinister and twisted game with Shay as their pawn. But she fails to see behind their carefully crafted masks, and I wanted to leap into the book to scream a warning at her so many times. Eventually, she begins to see cracks in their facade and realise things aren’t adding up. But the question is, who will win? Will they continue to be a step or two ahead and keep her tangled in their web? Or will Shay surprise them by outsmarting them and coming out on top? I was rooting for Shay but had a pit in my stomach thinking that the sisters just might prevail.

You Are Not Alone is a riveting, intelligent, tense and twisty thriller that is utterly addictive and completely unputdownable. A perfect read for anyone who enjoys this genre. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

MEET THE AUTHORS:

GREER HENDRICKS is the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of An Anonymous Girl and The Wife Between Us. The Wife Between Us has been optioned for film by Amblin Entertainment, with Greer and her co-author, Sarah Pekkanen, hired to write the screenplay. An Anonymous Girl has been optioned for television, with Greer and Sarah tapped to executive produce. Prior to becoming a novelist, Greer served as Vice President and Senior Editor at Simon & Schuster. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Allure, and Publishers Weekly. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children.

Website|Instagram|Twitter|Facebook

Sarah Pekkanen is the internationally-bestselling author of THE WIFE BETWEEN US and AN ANONYMOUS GIRL, cowritten with Greer Hendricks.

THE WIFE BETWEEN US – an instant New York Times bestseller – is a twisty psychological tale that has been optioned for film by Amblin Entertainment. Sarah and Greer are penning the screenplay for Amblin.

AN ANONMYOUS GIRL is currently in production as a television series by eOne,with Sarah and Greer serving as executive producers.

Sarah is also the author of eight solo novels.

Website|Twitter|Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon|Waterstones|Hive|Google Books|Apple Books|Kobo

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao

Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Domestic Fiction
Trigger Warning: Mental Health Problems

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this exquisite debut. Thank you to Poppy at Pushkin Press for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS: 

Gwendolyn and Estella are as close as sisters can be. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor after Estella poisons their entire family.

As Gwendolyn struggles to regain consciousness, she desperately retraces her memories, trying to uncover the moment that led to this brutal act.

Journeying from the luxurious world of the rich and powerful in Indonesia to the spectacular shows of Paris Fashion Week, from the sunny coasts of California to the melting pot of Melbourne’s university scene, The Majesties is a haunting and deeply suspenseful novel about the dark secrets that can build a family empire – and also bring it crashing down.

MY REVIEW:

“When your sister murders three hundred people, you can’t help but wonder why – especially if you were one of the intended victims – though I do forgive her if you can believe it.”

I have a penchant for anything with butterflies, so I was immediately drawn to the stunning cover of this book. When I read the synopsis it became a book I had to read and I was thrilled to receive an early copy from the publisher. Then, in May I read the first line above to share for #firstlinefriday and I was hooked. I knew I had to shelve my current reading plans and read this immediately. 

“How ironic. We had embarked on this mission to save the family from darkness, only to discover that we ourselves were darkness through and through.” 

The Majesties opens with Gwendolyn looking back on the day that her sister Estella murdered three hundred people and left her, the sole survivor, lying in a coma. It then follows as Gwendolyn looks back at their family’s history and events leading up to the murders, as she tries to figure out what drove her beloved sister to commit such a crime and how she missed the warning signs.

At its heart, this is a story about family. The murders happen at a family event, the novel is narrated by the sister or the killer, and their family dynamics are a big part of the storyline. The author examines the impact of the unspoken secrets and shame lying behind their respectable family’s polite facade. How it can trickle through the generations causing greater damage than anyone ever imagined. She also explores the topic of mental health: asking how we can miss the signs of someone close to us struggling or push our concerns aside while wrapped up in our own lives, and how those around us are affected by our mental health struggles. 

“It was like watching someone drown without struggling, sinking serenely to the bottom of the deep blue sea.”

Tiffany Tsao is an exquisite writer. Her beautiful prose and vivid imagery brought the world she created to life and transported me to a place and culture I knew little about. The time and effort she has put in to get every line just right jumps from the page and I savoured every delicious word. I found the parts about the bagatelles – the Majesties – fascinating and once again her research and knowledge was evident. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel and I will definitely read what she writes next.

There is so much more to this layered and cleverly written novel than meets the eye. It addresses some deep, difficult and sinister topics and will surprise you just when you think you have it all figured out. I am still reeling from that ending! 

The Majesties is a mesmerising debut from a wonderful new talent that you don’t want to miss.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Tiffany Tsao is a writer and literary translator. She is the author of the novel The Majesties (originally published in Australia as Under Your Wings) and the Oddfits fantasy series.

Her translations from Indonesian to English include Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s poetry collection Sergius Seeks Bacchus, Dee Lestari’s novel Paper Boats, and Laksmi Pamuntjak’s The Birdwoman’s Palate. Her translations of Norman’s poetry have won the English PEN Presents and English PEN Translates awards.

Born in the United States and of Chinese-Indonesian descent, her family returned to Southeast Asia when she was 3 years old. She spent her formative years in Singapore (8 years) and Indonesia (6 years) before moving to the US for university. She has a B.A. in English literature from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. in English literature from UC-Berkeley. She now lives in Sydney, Australia with her spouse and two children.

Website |Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon | Waterstones | Hive | Apple Books

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Leave Well Alone by AJ Campbell

Published: August 1st, 2020
Publisher: Code Grey Publishing
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Thriller

Today is my stop on the blog tour of this riveting debut thriller. Thank you to AJ Campbell for the invitation to take part and the finished copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Absorb yourself in the powerful debut novel from AJ Campbell

LEAVE WELL ALONE

How far would you go to protect your family from the truth?

A broken family. Skeletons in the closet. Lives in danger.

When Eva’s brother Ben announces he has found their mother, Eva is determined to have nothing to do with the woman who abandoned them eighteen years ago to a traumatic childhood in foster care. Eva is happy now, in a loving relationship with rich and dependable Jim, and she is pregnant.

Nothing can change Eva’s mind. Her eyes are on the future, not the past. But when her baby is born with a serious hereditary illness, she is forced to confront both her mother and her past. Eva begins to find forgiveness. But as old secrets and layers of deceit emerge, she makes a shocking discovery, leaving her fearing for her baby’s, Jim’s, and her own life.

Great for fans of AJ Finn, Lisa Jewell, Paula Hawkins and K.L Slater.

MY REVIEW:

“That bone-chilling winter’s day when my brother returned home for good was when I first contemplated murdering my mother.”

“That bone-chilling winter’s day when my brother returned home for good was when I first contemplated murdering my mother.”

What an opening line! Full of foreboding, tension, mystery and sinister promise, I was instantly hooked. And from that moment I was immersed in this tense, twisty and compelling debut. I didn’t want to put it down, and the only reason I didn’t read it in one sitting was my body’s pesky need for sleep. 

This is a truly unique psychological thriller. It is so evocative that you feel everything the characters do and are taken on an emotional rollercoaster ride as they navigate trials and conflict in this dramatic story. Told in dual narratives in dual timelines, the author tackles  themes of childhood trauma, mental health issues, physical health issues, family secrets and forgiveness in a well thought out, thorough and realistic manner. The descriptions of Eva’s anxiety, panic attacks and PTSD particularly resonated with me, and I found she was the character I most connected with. What she had gone through as a child and the journey she went on over the course of the book really tugged on my heartstrings, and I could understand her reticence to forgive or reconnect with her mother after all that had happened.  While I wasn’t holding my breath, I did hope that she would find the happy ending she deserved after going through so much. 

I read a lot of thrillers and I will be honest and say I picked up this book for the blog tour at a time I really didn’t think I was in the mood for it. But what I didn’t know is how good this was going to be. Ms Campbell’s riveting and vivid writing had me under her spell from the opening line that packed a punch and dives straight into the anger and emotion of Eva’s story.  She knows exactly how to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, guessing what will happen next.

A gripping, suspenseful and thrilling read, Leave Well Alone is a fantastic debut that I would highly recommend. Just make sure you don’t have any plans, as you’re not going to want to stop reading.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Until the birth of her twins in 2005, which radically changed her life, AJ was an accountant for several investment banks in London. One of her twins was born with severe disabilities, as a result of which she had to give up work to care for him. It was during this incredibly challenging (and rewarding) time that AJ began to draw on her love of the written word, partly for day-to-day inspiration and partly for her own mental health. She started writing her debut novel, Leave Well Alone, and then enrolled in several creative writing courses with the Faber Academy where she progressed with her writing career.
AJ lives on the Essex / Hertfordshire border with her husband and three sons and splits her time between caring for her son and family and writing.

Instagram|Twitter|Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon|Waterstones

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Lies You Told by Harriet Tyce

Published: August 20th, 2020
Publisher: Wildfire
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction, Domestic Thriller

Welcome to my stop on the tour for this sizzling thriller. Thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for the invitation to take part and Wildfire for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Shocking, dark, addictive – THE LIES YOU TOLD is the compulsive new thriller from Harriet Tyce, best selling author of BLOOD ORANGE.

Can you tell the truth from the lies?

Sadie loves her daughter and will do anything to keep her safe.

She can’t tell her why they had to leave home so quickly – or why Robin’s father won’t be coming with them to London.

She can’t tell her why she hates being back in her dead mother’s house, with its ivy-covered walls and its poisonous memories.

And she can’t tell her the truth about the school Robin’s set to start at – a school that doesn’t welcome newcomers.
Sadie just wants to get their lives back on track.

But even lies with the best intentions can have deadly consequences…

‘I read The Lies You Told in two days, barely able to turn the pages fast enough. It’s spare and taut, the sense of wrongness building in chilling, skilfully written layers, with a jaw dropping last line twist’ Lisa Jewell, #1 bestselling author

‘I adored Blood Orange and therefore could not wait to get my hands on The Lies You Told. It is a triumphant encore, every bit as intriguing, well-written and addictive as its predecessor’ Sara Collins, award-winning author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton

‘An absolute page turner with a twist you’ll read twice because you can’t believe you missed it’ John Marrs, author of What Lies Between Us

MY REVIEW:

“Can you tell the truth from the lies? “

Chilling, addictive and surprising, The Lies You Told is a sizzling domestic thriller that I had me hooked from beginning to end. The author had me transfixed, unable to put the book down to sleep like I should and spent every minute I wasn’t reading thinking about it. 

Sadie was a great protagonist. She was likeable and relatable, trying to stay strong and hold it all together while feeling like she is falling apart on the inside. She has a lot to deal with: her marriage ending, moving back from another country, unwelcoming parents at her daughter’s new school, and the toxic legacy of her late mother that haunts the walls of their home. But she is determined to build a new life for herself and her daughter, and I was rooting for her to succeed.  

But that isn’t the whole story. This is an intricate and layered novel with a creeping malice that lingers in the air and seeps from the pages, casting a shadow of foreboding and suspense. In short chapters written in italics, the story flashes forward to a Sunday yet to come. At first Sadie is telling herself not to worry, that Robin is safe, slowly escalating in tension until part two, when we finally arrive at that Sunday and follow the heart-stopping events as they happen. 

This was my first time reading anything by Tyce, and she lived up to all the great things I’ve heard. She tackles a wide range of topics such as domestic violence, toxic families, parental pressure, bullying and grooming, crafting a tense, twisty page-turner with a chilling edge. The story is skillfully plotted and filled with compelling characters that enrich the suspense. 

Darkly atmospheric and utterly riveting, this kept me guessing right up until the jaw-dropping finale. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys psychological fiction.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✫

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Harriet Tyce was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She did a degree in English Literature at Oxford University before a law conversion course at City University, following which she was a criminal barrister for nearly ten years.

Having escaped law and early motherhood, she started writing, and recently completed the MA in Creative Writing – Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia. Blood Orange is her first novel, and The Lies You Told will be published in August 2020.

She lives in north London with her husband and children, and two rather demanding pets, a cat and a dog.

Website |Instagram |Twitter |Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon |Waterstones |Hive |Google Books |Apple Books |Kobo

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Twins of Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor

Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Monoray
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Biography, Autobiography

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this moving novel . Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Monoray for the gifted copy of the book .

SYNOPSIS:

The Nazis spared their lives because they were twins.

In the summer of 1944, Eva Mozes Kor and her family arrived at Auschwitz.

Within thirty minutes, they were separated. Her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, while Eva and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man who became known as the Angel of Death: Dr. Josef Mengele. They were 10 years old.

While twins at Auschwitz were granted the ‘privileges’ of keeping their own clothes and hair, they were also subjected to Mengele’s sadistic medical experiments. They were forced to fight daily for their own survival and many died as a result of the experiments, or from the disease and hunger rife in the concentration camp.

In a narrative told simply, with emotion and astonishing restraint, The Twins of Auschwitz shares the inspirational story of a child’s endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil.

Also included is an epilogue on Eva’s incredible recovery and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and worked toward goals of forgiveness, peace, and the elimination of hatred and prejudice in the world.

MY REVIEW:

“There are not many children of the Holocaust, much less Mengele twins, who lived to tell their stories. Eva did. And this story is told in her voice, in the first person, as an adult looking back over sixty-five years; to a time when a little girl, clutching at the trembling hand of her identical twin sister, showed up at the gates of horror—and survived.”

Eva and Miriam Mozes were just ten years old when they were herded onto a cattle car with around 100 other Jews and taken to Auschwitz. Upon their arrival the twins are selected for ‘special treatment’ by Dr Josef Mengele – also known as the Angel of Death – who used twins, dwarves, the disabled and Gypsies as human guinea pigs for his experiments.

This is the story of their daily fight to survive in Auschwitz and Eva’s life after the war as an advocate for education and change.

“We were Jews, and we were guilty.”

The Holocaust is one of the times in history I am most fascinated with. My dad has always read about it voraciously and I was definitely influenced by his interest in the subject. Mengele’s experiments are obviously something I’m aware of, but I hadn’t read much about them. Certainly not a first person account. So I knew this was a book I wanted to read as soon as I read the synopsis.

“We never thought they would come to our tiny village.”

The book starts out with how life was for the family before and at the beginning of the war and talks about seeing the rise in anti-semitism amongst not only the government, but in school and among the people they know in their village. Reading about how children were given books talking about killing Jews and how propaganda films such as ‘How To Catch And Kill A Jew’ were shown in school and at the theatre, brought tears to my eyes. I can’t imagine how scary that must have been to a child. One of the things that broke my heart most of all is reading of the family’s missed chances at escape before being sent to Auschwitz, knowing they may have all survived if only they’d been able to flee.

“We shrieked. We cried. We pleaded, our voices lost among the chaos and noise and despair. But no matter how much we cried or how loud we screamed, it did not matter. Because of those matching burgundy dresses, because we were identical twins so easily spotted in the crowd of grimy, exhausted Jewish prisoners, Miriam and I had been chosen. Soon we would come face to face with Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor known as the Angel of Death… But we did not know that yet. All we knew was that we were abruptly alone. We were only ten years old.

And we never saw Papa, Mama, Edit or Aliz again.”

Eva talks about losing trust in her parents’ ability to protect her and her sisters as the hatred progresses and how she lost any sense of safety. That hit me right in my mother’s heart. I would do ANYTHING to protect my children and couldn’t imagine the pain of not being able to do that and their lives were at risk. I pictured my own children at 10 years of age being all alone in a fight for survival and completely alone. It is unfathomable. I will never understand how people can be so cruel to other humans, especially innocent children.

“At Auschwitz, dying was easy. Surviving was a full-time job.”

Eva is a survivor and shows a quiet strength from the moment she arrives at Auschwitz. That strength continued throughout her life and she was a tiny, but mighty who was promoted Holocaust education and toured giving speeches on the life lessons she had learned, hoping to encourage others to live in kindness rather than hate. She was open about her struggle with anger, hate and bitterness towards not only the Nazis, but her parents, for many years before choosing to forgive. This, along with her advocacy for change, saw her become a controversial figure among survivors, who often misunderstood what that meant. But she stayed true to herself and fought for change until her death in July 2019.

“Anger is a seed for war; forgiveness is a seed for peace.”

Poignant, powerful and lingering, this, like any Holocaust story, is a harrowing read. Dire living conditions, the daily struggle to survive and the cruel experiments that were supposed to kill her are described in detail which, while avoiding being gruesome, are still upsetting. But what stands out is that this is a story of courage, survival and triumph over evil.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✫

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Eva Mozes Kor was a Romanian-born survivor of the Holocaust. Along with her twin sister Miriam, Kor was subjected to human experimentation under the direction of SS Doctor Josef Mengele at the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland during World War II

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon |Waterstones |Hive |Google Books |Apple Books  |Kobo

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Big Chill by Doug Johnstone (The Skelfs 2)

2020-08-05-14-06-40

Published: August 20th, 2020
Publisher: Orenda
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Urban Fiction, Lesbian Literature

Welcome to my slightly late stop on the blog tour. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Orenda for the ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

Running private investigator and funeral home businesses means trouble is never far away, and the Skelf women take on their most perplexing, chilling cases yet in book two of this darkly funny, devastatingly tense and addictive new series!

Haunted by their past, the Skelf women are hoping for a quieter life. But running both a funeral directors’ and a private investigation business means trouble is never far away, and when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral that matriarch Dorothy is conducting, she can’t help looking into the dead driver’s shadowy life.

While Dorothy uncovers a dark truth at the heart of Edinburgh society, her daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah have their own struggles. Jenny’s ex-husband Craig is making plans that could shatter the Skelf women’s lives, and the increasingly obsessive Hannah has formed a friendship with an elderly professor that is fast turning deadly.

But something even more sinister emerges when a drumming student of Dorothy’s disappears and suspicion falls on her parents. The Skelf women find themselves sucked into an unbearable darkness – but could the real threat be to themselves?

Following three women as they deal with the dead, help the living and find out who they are in the process, The Big Chill follows A Dark Matter, book one in the Skelfs series, which reboots the classic PI novel while asking the big existential questions, all with a big dose of pitch-black humour.

MY REVIEW:

The Big Chill is the second book in the Skelfs Series, which follows the Skelf women – Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah – as they work together running the family funeral home and private investigation company. I haven’t read the first book but the author quickly catches you up on the traumatic and life-changing events that occurred.

The story jumps straight into the action with a car chase interrupting a funeral that leaves the unidentified driver dead. The family matriarch, Dorothy, can’t let it go and is determined to find out who he was and lay him to rest. But this isn’t their only investigation, with others running simultaneously, as well as the funeral business always keeping them busy.

This was a complex and layered novel, with lots of drama, tension and things bubbling beneath the surface. I loved the fascinating mix of three generations working together in dual roles that is an unusual pairing. It’s a brilliant basis for a series, so different from anything else I’ve read.

The characters are well-written, compelling and full of depth. They are each trying to come to terms with the distressing and painful events of book one, and are still haunted and trying to make sense of it all. In the three women, the author shows how trauma and PTSD can affect people in different ways in a very real and relatable way that hit home with me a number of times. The background characters were also fully drawn with interesting storylines and back stories of their own. I’m very eager to read more about Archie and his unusual condition.

If you’re looking for something different that will hold your attention and make you come back for more, this is the book for you. I’ll definitely be reading book one and look forward to seeing what’s next for the Skelf women.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✫

Doug Johnstone Author Pic

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Doug Johnstone is the author of ten novels, most recently Breakers (2018), which was longlisted for the McIlcanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. Several of his books have been bestsellers and award winners, and his work has been praised by the likes of Val McDermid, Irivine Welsh and Ian Rankin. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions, and has been an arts and journalist for twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also player-manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club. He lives in Edinburgh.

Website |Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon| Waterstones |Hive |Orenda Books |Apple Books |Kobo

The Big Chill BT Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

We Are All The Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin

d676d9136296984661165359147.jpg

Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Format: Hardback, Kindle, Audiobook
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction

Happy Publication Day to this compelling thriller. Thank you to Ella at Michael Joseph for the invitation to take part and the gifted ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

It’s been a decade since the town’s sweetheart Trumanell Branson disappeared, leaving only a bloody handprint behind.

Since her disappearance, Tru’s brother, Wyatt, has lived as an outcast, desperate to know what happened to his sister.

So when Wyatt finds a lost girl, he believes she is a sign.

But for new cop, Odette Tucker, this girl’s appearance reopens old wounds.

Determined to solve both cases, Odette fights to save a lost girl in the present and in doing so digs up a shocking truth about that fateful night in the past . . .

MY REVIEW:

“We are all the same in the dark.

My mother said that to me when she kissed me good night.

She meant that in the dark, all that’s left is our souls.”

A small town’s dark secrets are finally revealed when a lost girl investigates the mysterious disappearances of two of its residents in this gripping page-turner.

Dark, brooding, atmospheric and immersive, this book had me in its thrall from the first pages. The author created a community full of secrets, a vile quagmire threatening to overflow with the murky truths lurking beneath its surface. Every character seemed to have something to hide, and we never knew who we could trust. But there were also characters with real heart: Odette and Angel standing out in particular. They pulled me into their search for the truth, the mystery deepening with every turn of the page. 

I’ve wanted to read this author’s books for quite a while, so when the opportunity arose to take part in this blog tour, I didn’t hesitate. Skillfully written, the tension and foreboding sizzle from the pages as the truth is slowly revealed. My only regret is that I didn’t read her books sooner. I’ve now bumped her previous books up my tbr.

Tantalising, evocative, absorbing and unpredictable, We Are All The Same in the Dark is a layered, nail-biting thriller that you don’t want to miss.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✫

julia-heaberlin9070372924158636571.jpg

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Julia Heaberlin is the author of the international bestseller Black-Eyed Susans and Paper Ghosts, her newest crime novel set in the moody landscape of Texas where she grew up. Heaberlin’s psychological thrillers, all set in her home state, have sold to more than twenty countries. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed Playing Dead and Lie Still. As a journalist, she worked in features as an award-winning editor at The Detroit News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and The Dallas Morning News and has always been especially interested in true crime and how events play out years later. The Star-Telegram Life & Arts section was named one of the Top 10 sections in the country during her tenure as its editor. Heaberlin lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where she is at work on her next novel.

Website |Instagram |Twitter  |Facebook                                      

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon |Waterstones

| Hive  |Google Books |Apple Books |Kobo

blog tour asset3365428000090067773..jpg