I enjoy a good psychological thriller – I read enough of them! – but there was something about The Starter Wife that didn’t really gel for me. It took me two attempts to get into the story proper and looking back I think it was because the main narrator Claire is such a completely unlikeable…
Tag: Abuse
Book Review: The Family Upstairs – Lisa Jewell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m really lucky in that I often get sent books to review several months before their publication date. I’m usually pretty good and add them to my reading schedule and plan to read them just before the launch date. When The Family Upstairs arrived on my kindle three months early I managed to restrain myself…
Book Review: I Know Who You Are – Alice Feeney ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Alice Feeney is on a bit of a roll. Her first book Sometimes I Lie was a huge hit worldwide and is being made into a Warner Bros TV Series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. It must have made it quite the challenge to come up with a story that could compete on that level but…
Book Review: Pieces of Her – Karin Slaughter *****
Andrea knows everything about her mother Laura. They’ve lived in the idyllic seaside town of Belle Isle for most of Andy’s life. She’s seen her mum through breast cancer and divorce and watched her become a much loved speech therapist at the centre of the small community. Meeting Laura for brunch at the mall takes…
Book Review: Now You See Her – Heidi Perks ****
Sometimes you pick up a book that you instantly want to start talking about. Now You See Her is that book. I can see this being a controversial book club pick all over the country this year. Every Mum or Dad that picks up their child’s friends and takes them to football/ballet/gymnastics etc. will be…
Book Review: Liars – Frances Vick ****
Unusually I’ve sat on this review for a week since I finished the book so that I could have a think about what I really think of it. Also – its a pretty tough review to write without giving away any of the complexities of the plot. Jenny hasn’t had an easy life. Sal, her…
Book Review: The Crow Girl – Erik Axl Sund ****
Some weeks ago I was in my local bookshop looking for inspiration. On one of their crime tables there was a weighty tome called The Crow Girl. It had an interesting cover and unlike most of the other books there were only 2 copies left in the pile. As soon as I read the synopsis…
Book Review: The Good Daughter – Karin Slaughter *****
I’ll start by admitting that I love Karin Slaughter’s books. I’ve been an avid reader of hers since the Grant County series began way back in 2001. Check out “Blindsighted” and you’ll be on the right path. She just has a way of writing about damaged Southern folk that is so vivid that you feel…
Book Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman *****
Eleanor Oliphant is a creature of habit. Aged thirty she is still working as an Accounts Assistant at the firm that she joined straight after her degree. She has the same meal deal for lunch every day and passes the time doing the Daily Telegraph crossword. She wears the same white blouse every day (she…
Book Review: Tattletale – Sarah J Naughton ***
It is hard to describe how I felt about this book. There were times when I was so frustrated with it that I almost gave up on it but there was always enough going on to make me keep reading, to persevere. Mags is a wealthy and successful lawyer in Las Vegas. Years ago she…
Book Review: The Silent Wife – Kerry Fisher *****
I’ve always been attracted to the idea of the large extended Italian family. That idealised Dolmio advert group of people sitting down around a huge table to noisily eat pasta and share their lives. Maggie finds herself joining that dynamic when she marries widower Nico. Life on the council estate had meant sleeping on her…
Book Review: Witness – Caroline Mitchell ****
This time last year Caroline Mitchell was still a serving police officer and preparing to spend the festive season hard at work. Specialising in working with abused and battered women that experience more than qualifies her for this story. Becky lives in an idyllic village in Wales. Her husband is a pillar of the local…
