Everything You Told Me by Lucy Dawson

Everything You Told Me by Lucy Dawson

Published: 5th January 2017

Publisher: Corvus

Pages: 336

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

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Rating: 4/5

Blurb

You went to bed at home, just like every other night.
You woke up in the back of a taxi, over 250 miles away.
You have no idea how you got there and no memory of the last ten hours.
You have no phone, no money; just a suicide note in your coat pocket, in your own writing.
You know you weren’t planning to kill yourself.
Your family and friends think you are lying.

Someone knows exactly what happened to you.
But they’re not telling…

Review

After reading Lucy Dawson’s You Sent Me a Letter last year I was expecting Everything You Told Me to have the same epic opening and it sure did. Sally finds herself 400 miles away from home on the edge of a cliff with a suicide note in her pocket and no idea how she got there. After the police return her home Sally and her family struggle to make sense of the previous evenings events and with everyone walking on eggshells, everything everyone says is over analysed. So will we ever work out whose telling the truth and who’s lying?

This is a book which can be read in two ways depending on how much you believe Sally’s story. You can believe Sally has no idea what happened and someone is out to get her or you can believe her family and believe she went off to commit suicide, either way you read it, it’s a fabulous twisty road to the end.

I tended to sympathise with Sally as she seemed exhausted and unhappy but not enough to try and kill herself. She’s struggling to cope with six month old Theo who will not sleep and four year old Chloe and keep the house in order with little help from husband Matthew, so it’s totally understandable that she’s almost at breaking point. If she’d has more support from husband Matthew and mother in law Caroline who lives close by things could have been very different.

This book has masses of different emotions floating round in it and as the tension slowly begins to build I was waiting for everything to boil over and explode. Just when I thought we’d reached that point Lucy Dawson throws in another twist so the intensity just deepens until the very end when we reach a truly shocking ending.

I did really enjoy reading this book but I found that there is a lot of repetition of events as Sally tries to make sense of things in her head and explain them to others and although necessary for the plot I did start to find this annoying.

I had a feeling which character was lying and I was right to an extent, but it wasn’t quite as simple as I thought it would be. I highly recommend you give this a go if you’ve enjoyed any of Lucy’s other books. I’ll also say the less you know beforehand about what actually happens the more you will enjoy the book.

Although I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as You Sent Me a Letter it’s still a great read and Lucy Dawson has a real talent for writing twisty intense psychological thrillers that will get stuck in your head days after you’ve finished them. I’m so looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you so much to the publishers Corvus for sending me this copy to review if I chose.

You Sent Me a Letter by Lucy Dawson

You Sent Me a Letter by Lucy Dawson

Published: 3rd March 2016

Publisher: Corvus

Pages: 258

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

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Blurb

What if your worst enemy found out your darkest secret?

At 2 a.m. on the morning of her 40th birthday, Sophie wakes to find an intruder in her bedroom. The intruder hands Sophie a letter and issues a threat: open the letter at her party that evening, in front of family and friends, at exactly 8 p.m., or those she loves will be in grave danger.

What can the letter possibly contain?

This will be no ordinary party; Sophie is not the only person keeping a secret about the evening ahead. When the clock strikes eight, the course of several people's lives will be altered forever.

Review

You Sent Me a Letter by Lucy Dawson was one of the most addictive books I’ve read in a long time. From the very first page I was hooked and as the story unfolded I just had to carry on reading. It’s a good thing this book is quite short as nothing was going to get done until I’d finished it.

The book starts with Sophie awakening at 2.00 am on her fortieth birthday to find a man she’s never met sat in her bedroom watching her.  The man hands her a letter and tells her not to open it until 8.00pm that night at her party, in front of all her family and friends and more importantly not to tell anyone about him or the letter.  He tells her he’ll know and that he will harm her family if she does tell and then he leaves taking her mobile phone with him.

If this opening doesn’t convince you to keep reading I’m not sure what will, as I was full of questions, who is this man? How did he get in her house? What is in the letter? Who sent it? I just had to keep reading to get some answers.

The majority of this book is set over the course of Sophie’s birthday, which after the frightening start continues to be full of surprises and not all of them good.  As the day progresses Sophie’s anxiety and panic levels increase as she battles with keeping the letter a secret. This draws out the big question…is Sophie hiding something?

Throughout the day various friends and family fall under scrutiny from Sophie as “the letter sender” and this was very cleverly done as no-one particular stood out as the one, keeping me guessing until the very end of the book.  

I loved read this book, it was addictive, chilling and full of twists which caused Sophie so much anxiety it’s a wonder she didn’t fall apart. I rate this book 5 out 5 and will definitely be reading more books from Lucy Dawson.  I think fans of psychological thrillers will love this as it will leave you thinking wow, just wow!

Thank you so much to the publishers for sending an advanced copy to review and also for their great marketing campaign which made me want to read this book so much more.

Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay

Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay

Published: 3rd March 2016

Publisher: Corvus

Pages: 328

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

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Blurb

How far would you go to protect your child? When her daughter is bullied, Laura makes a terrible mistake...
Laura loves her daughter more than anything in the world.
But nine-year-old daughter Autumn is being bullied. Laura feels helpless.
When Autumn fails to return home from school one day, Laura goes looking for her. She finds a crowd of older children taunting her little girl.
In the heat of the moment, Laura makes a terrible choice. A choice that will have devastating consequences for her and her daughter...

Review

Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay is a very intense and gripping read looks at the effects of bullying which will leave you questioning your every action and just how far you will go to protect your children.

Laura and her daughter Autumn have recently moved to Bristol after Laura’s divorce. Laura is getting on with trying to build a new life for herself and her daughter. Autumn however is struggling with her new school and has become the target of bullying from an older boy. When Laura finds herself face to face with her daughter’s bully she tries to help but in that split second decision something goes very wrong, something which Laura knows is wrong and something which will come back to haunt her and her daughter.

This book is written from both Laura and Autumn’s perspectives and what really struck was how different actions were perceived between mother and daughter. I was struck by how much Laura loves Autumn and how far she will go to make her happy. However, Laura’s somewhat irrational decisions don’t always work out in Autumn’s best interest as we can see from Autumn’s narrative.  I found this dual narrative added to the intensity of the book as you can see Laura becomes lost with how to help her daughter and poor little Autumn begins to dread life outside the family home.

One thing this book highlights is just how disturbing and intrusive cyber bullying can be and how defenceless it can make us feel. I really felt for Laura as the bullying every aspect of her life and how helpless she is left, as she has no clue how to regain control, it really was quite scary to read.

I found Bone to Bone to be a disturbing but addictive read and perhaps one I wouldn’t read if I knew I was alone in the house. All the way through I found the intensity deepened and I couldn’t see how it was going to end and when I did I was shocked. I didn’t expect it to end how it did and am a little disappointed that everything was explained so simply.  This doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book, I did very much, it’s probably one of the most intense books I’ve read and scary because it could all so easily happen to anyone.

For a debut novel I think Sanjida Kay has written a novel which explores the effects of bullying in an intense and disturbing way. It’s a novel which will make you question just how much you can trust someone and just far you’ll go to protect those you love.

Thank you so much to the publishers Corvus for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinions. I’d like to rate Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay 4 out 5.

Release Day Round Up #21

So its March and what do we get? Snow!! I'm  not a fan of snow as I'm just longing for some sunshine and more spring flowers in my garden. So anyway here are my top three picks for this week:

Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay

Published: 3rd March 2016

Publisher: Corvus

Pages: 328

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

How far would you go to protect your child? When her daughter is bullied, Laura makes a terrible mistake...

Laura loves her daughter more than anything in the world.

But nine-year-old daughter Autumn is being bullied. Laura feels helpless.

When Autumn fails to return home from school one day, Laura goes looking for her. She finds a crowd of older children taunting her little girl.

In the heat of the moment, Laura makes a terrible choice. A choice that will have devastating consequences for her and her daughter...

I found this such a compelling read and one which had me thinking all the way through what exactly is going to happen next and then gasping at what actually does happen. It's a book you wont be able to put down and one where you will definitely question some of your actions. My review is coming tomorrow.

What She Never Told Me by Kate McQuaile

Published: 3rd March 2016

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 336

Available in paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

'I talked to my mother the night she died, losing myself in memories of when we were happiest together. But I held one memory back, and it surfaces now, unbidden. I see a green postbox and a small hand stretching up to its oblong mouth. I am never sure whether that small hand is mine. But if not mine, whose?'

Louise Redmond left Ireland for London before she was twenty. Now, more than two decades later, her heart already breaking from a failing marriage, she is summoned home. Her mother is on her deathbed, and it is Louise's last chance to learn the whereabouts of a father she never knew.

Stubborn to the end, Marjorie refuses to fill in the pieces of her daughter's fragmented past. Then Louise unexpectedly finds a lead. A man called David Prescott . . . but is he really the father she's been trying to find? And who is the mysterious little girl who appears so often in her dreams? As each new piece of the puzzle leads to another question, Louise begins to suspect that the memories she most treasures could be a delicate web of lies.

This sounds really intriguing and as its written in the first person I think it will be very gripping and intense. One I'm definitely looking forward to reading.

The Plumberry School of Comfort Food: Food, Glorious Food

by Cathy Bramley

Published: 3rd March 2016

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Verity Bloom hasn't been interested in cooking anything more complicated than the perfect fish finger sandwich, ever since she lost her best friend and baking companion two years ago.

But an opportunity to help a friend is about to land her right back in the heart of the kitchen! The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is due to open in a few weeks’ time and has rather gone off the boil. It needs the kind of great ideas that only Verity could cook up . . .

But as Verity tries to balance stirring up publicity, keeping their top chef sweet and soothing her aching heart, will her move to Plumberry prove to be a sheer delight . . . or a recipe for disaster?

Cathy Bramley fans will be pleased to know that today the first part of her new series The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is launched. It sounds just as yummy as her previous books. I'm longing to read a book by Cathy Bramley but I'll probably wait until the full book of this is released later in the year as I'm not a huge fan of  serial novels.

So that's my top three this week, which one is your favourite? Are there any other books you've got your eye on this week? I'd love for you to share your thoughts.

Fix You by Carrie Elks

Fix You by Carrie Elks

Published: 4th February 2016

Publisher: Corvus

Pages: 355

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

On New Year's Eve, 1999, Hanna and Richard meet. She is a born and bred Londoner with plans for a career in journalism. He is the son of a wealthy New Yorker and destined for Wall Street. As Hanna and Richard go back to their own worlds they keep in touch, and when Hanna has her heart broken it's Richard she turns to. They reunite and fall deeply, madly in love.


But they can't possibly imagine the ways their love will be tested. Fifteen years after they first meet, neither can bear to hear the other's name spoken. Then one day Hanna walks into Richard's office and reveals a shocking secret. Richard must decide if he can forgive her. And both need to choose whether to take a second chance on happiness, or if their love is beyond repair?

Review

Fix You by Carrie Elks is the love story of Richard and Hanna spanning over twelve years. Richard and Hanna first meet on New Year’s Eve 1999 when Hanna is filling in as a waitress for her mother at Richards’s stepmother’s party, as soon as the pair first lock eyes with each other it’s obvious that these two have chemistry. Initially they stay just friends as Hanna spends more time with Richard’s younger sister Ruby. Until Hanna gets her heart broken and Richard steps in to comfort her and finally they get together, or so you think but as the distance between them and a series of tragic events occurs Ruby bails out on the relationship leaving Richard heartbroken. As the years pass their paths cross again and again but will they ever find their happily ever after.

The initial chapter begins in 2012 when Hanna visits Richard in New York and drops a massive bombshell on him, which had me gripped as when someone drops the “we have a baby” line drama usually follows. We’re then taken back to 1999 where Richard and Hanna first meet. They seem an unlikely match the goth-clothed, snappy British teenager and the all-America clean cut business student but they have an instant chemistry which oozes off the page. They form a friendship over email and through various family gatherings but I was just longing for them both to get together as a couple. When they finally did I was so happy as these two belong together. But the happiness was short lived and then torn apart again.

I did feel that the middle part of this did drag a little bit, there’s so many things that get in the way of them being together that I did start to get a bit annoyed. I also felt annoyed by the ending as I felt the story came to a natural ending a couple of chapters before the end of the book and I’m not sure what these chapters added to the story.

I loved how real life events were captured in the book, such as the beginnings of social media sites which we take for granted today and the devastating impact which 9/11 had on the world.  Without these influences we wouldn’t have seen just how self-sacrificing Richard had to be when he joined the family business and gave up his dream and also how tough it must have been for Hanna to walk away from him again.

If you’ve read “One Day” by David Nicholls then you may enjoy this book as the set-up is similar with us dipping in and out of Richard and Hanna’s lives over the years. I did find this a more enjoyable read. I laughed and cried at various points in this book and was overall more emotionally connected to the characters.

One last point, I did find the sex scenes in this book are quite detailed and lengthy so if you’re not a fan of that then be warned.

Overall I found Fix You to be an enjoyable and emotional read which for the majority of the book kept me gripped with what was going to happen next between Richard and Hanna. I’d like to give this book a rating of 4/5 as it wasn’t quite perfect for me. I’d also like to thank the publishers for sending me this copy to review.

Release Day Round-Up #18

Here are my picks this week to kick off February's releases:

Fix You by Carrie Elks

Published: 4th February 2016

Publisher: Corvus

Pages: 355

Available on Kindle and in Paperback

Order now from Amazon

On New Year's Eve, 1999, Hanna and Richard meet. She is a born and bred Londoner with plans for a career in journalism. He is the son of a wealthy New Yorker and destined for Wall Street. As Hanna and Richard go back to their own worlds they keep in touch, and when Hanna has her heart broken it's Richard she turns to. They reunite and fall deeply, madly in love.


But they can't possibly imagine the ways their love will be tested. Fifteen years after they first meet, neither can bear to hear the other's name spoken. Then one day Hanna walks into Richard's office and reveals a shocking secret. Richard must decide if he can forgive her. And both need to choose whether to take a second chance on happiness, or if their love is beyond repair?

I was lucky enough to be sent a review copy of this (thank you Corvus)  and all I can say is go and read it, its such a heart-breaking tale of missed opportunities and right place wrong time or wrong place right time. You'll read this and long for these two to be together because they are just perfect together. Check back later for my full review of this wonderful book.

Reader, I Dumped Him.. by Lorelei Mathias

Published: 4th February 2016

Publisher: Maze

Pages: 375

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

This story is a celebration of the people that bring you back to life when your world closes in: your mates.
Relationships come and go, but the Break-up Club membership never truly expires.

Holly Braithwaite and loveable loser Lawrence have been together for five years. But the obvious cracks in their relationship can no longer be ignored and Holly soon finds herself saying ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’

In the shock aftermath of their break up, Holly finds unlikely companions in Olivia, Harry and Bella. Together, they form the Break-up Club, as they support each other through their mutual melancholy and find ways to love, laugh and function as human beings again.

Break-up Club meets every Sunday. Each week, as the comedy and drama unfolds, they discover a new BUC ‘rule’. And, one by one, the rules become vital markers on their journey to recovery . . .

‘BREAK-UP CLUB’
To our members, we’re the first emergency service

I think this sounds like it could be a really funny read and perfect for those of us who tend to avoid Valentine's Day and all the loved-up couples that go with it.

The Ex by Alafair Burke

Published: 2nd February 2016

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Pages: 309

Available in Hardback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Widower Jack Harris has resisted the dating scene since the shooting of his wife by a fifteen-year-old boy three years ago. An early morning run along the Hudson River changes that when he spots a woman who eerily but thrillingly echoes his past. Eager to help Jack find love again, his best friend posts a "Missed Moment" item online and days later, a woman responds...
Olivia Randall is one of New York City's best criminal defence lawyers. When she gets the phone call informing her that her former fiancé, Jack Harris, has been arrested for a triple homicide there is no doubt in her mind as to his innocence. The only question is who would go to such great lengths to frame him - and why?
For Olivia, representing Jack is a way to make up for past regrets, and the hurt she caused him, but as the evidence against him mounts, she is forced to confront her doubts. The man she knew could not have done this. But what if she never really knew him?

I'm really intrigued by this as its such a long time since I read any courtroom dramas and after reading the blurb I'm already thinking how and why?

So there are my picks for this week, do you want to read any of these? Are there any other reads you've noticed being released this week? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

How to Stuff up Christmas by Rosie Blake

How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake

Published: 5th November 2015

Publisher: Corvus

Pages: 324

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

'Tis the season to be jolly. Unless you've found an intimate picture of another woman on your fiance's phone...

Eve is heartbroken after discovering her fiance is cheating on her. Being surrounded by the joys of Christmas is more than Eve can bear, so she chooses to avoid the festivities by spending Christmas alone on a houseboat in Pangbourne. Eve gets an unexpected seasonal surprise when handsome local vet Greg comes to her rescue one day, and continues to visit Eve's boat on a mission to transform her from Kitchen Disaster Zone to Culinary Queen.

But where does Greg keep disappearing to? What does Eve's best friend Daisy know that she isn't telling? And why is there an angry goose stalking Eve's boat?

A hilarious and heart-warming novel about Christmas, catastrophes and cooking, containing exclusive Christmas recipes, from the talented Rosie Blake.

Review

How to Stuff up Christmas is the first book I’ve read by Rosie Blake. She is an author I’ve been wanting a read for quite a while and this book, which is her second novel, more than lived up to my expectations for being a funny and engaging read.

Heartbroken Eve is not looking forward to Christmas one bit. Last year it was perfect, her boyfriend Liam had proposed on Christmas morning and Eve had been overjoyed. This year she’s single after finding out Liam was cheating on her and she wants to avoid all reminders of last year. So she books herself on a pottery course and goes to stay on a houseboat for a few weeks in December. While staying on the houseboat the village of Pangbourne and its residents….including a very handsome vet start to make their way into Eve’s heart.

The first thing I loved about this was book was the cover, it’s so sparkly and festive and really put me in the Christmas mood, plus I love anything to do with gingerbread men!

I instantly liked Eve, she says and does exactly what she thinks and is very funny. I loved that she did what many of us do after break-ups, wallow in pj’s for days on end, avoid anything that serves as a reminder and clings onto things of the lost partner, even if we don’t really want them…poor Marmite it wasn’t his fault! I also loved that when she made decision to do something she went and did it.  

I loved the way the plot flowed easy and was filled with some brilliant, witty and very honest dialogue. The opening chapter with Eve chatting to her parents was hilarious and one of the best first chapters I’ve read in a long-time.

One thing I wasn’t so keen on was that a couple of scenes were repeated from Eve and Greg’s perspective’s, right down to the same dialogue and I just found this a little too repetitive and distracted from an otherwise hilarious and addictive plot.

I loved the number of mysteries that were in this book. Where does Greg keep running off too? Who is the woman on Liam’s phone? What is Daisy hiding? And what’s with that goose!

I found How to Stuff up Christmas to be a very funny read with lovely likable characters and although it doesn’t scream Christmas it will definitely put you in the mood for some mulled wine and turkey.

I’d like to thank Corvus for sending me a copy to review and would rate this book 4/5.