Tag: Blog Tour

This was one of the slowest burn stories I have read in a very long time. It was an interesting juxtaposition, because at times it was very effective and at others it dragged the story down. It was almost like reading two different versions of the same story.

On the one hand, it was a fascinating look at the destruction of a family in the face of a terrible tragedy. Ava feels guilt for what she sees as her part in the disappearance of her daughter. No amount of time or events, including a newborn son, helps her get over the questions she has about the day everything changed.

The first half of the book belongs largely to her as she navigates trying to keep herself together. There are hints and clues along the way that not everything is as it seems, and by the time we get to the titular housewarming, it is obvious that there is a lot more to Abi’s disappearance.

The author is very methodical in plotting this first half out so that the facts of the day (or what Ava thinks are the facts) are clear in the reader’s mind. The claustrophobic feeling that people often experience after a tragedy is well-described and highly accurate. It’s important, because once the party happens, things get really topsy-turvy.

In the second half of the book, in spite of the new information that comes to light, there seemed to be a lot more passages of characters’ inner monologues. This is where I thought the plotting dragged a little bit. As Ava starts to put things together, I wanted there to be a bit more action.

For me, one of the things that kept it from completely flowing was that the action shifted back and forth between the day Abi disappeared and the present – but there were no signifiers like “Ava- Then” or “Matt-Now.” The shifts therefore took me some time to adjust and reset to which time period I was in.

By the time we get to the actual reveal, I had a suspicion as to what it would be. The author did a good job dropping a few red herrings that had me thinking other options (I like when an author guides that branching out of thinking). But kudos also, because just when I thought it was all wrapped up, there were second, third, and even fourth endings.

This was effective because even in the face of tragedy, things can always go even more sideways. And this story certainly did. I thought it got a little bit preachy at the end when Ava was realizing how much goes unnoticed in people’s lives, but in a way, it fit her overall realization of the truth.

I almost feel like this was more of psych twist on the reader than the characters. And that’s a good enough reason to pick this one up.

Author Bio:

Former BBC Producer, S.E. Lynes is the Amazon best selling author of ‘intelligent and haunting’, ‘beautifully written’ psychological thrillers, VALENTINA, MOTHER, THE PACT, THE PROPOSAL, THE WOMEN, THE LIES WE HIDE, CAN YOU SEE HER? and her latest novel, THE HOUSEWARMING, available for pre-order NOW.

After completing her MA, Lynes taught creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College for over ten years. She now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing.

She has also published three children’s books in Italy: IL LEOPARDO LAMPO, LA COCCODRILLA INGAMBA, and the bilingual LA SCIMMIA SPIRITOSA/THE FUNNY MONKEY, all available at Amazon.it

I had seen a lot of early rave reviews for this book, so I was excited to see it come up next on my reading list. As with anything that is hyped, there was a high bar to be matched.

I would have to say that for me, the bar was largely met.

Right from the start, Alex was too perfect. I mean, nobody has those many particulars in common with someone on a first date. It usually takes time to find out that many commonalities.

I liked how the author gave us this “warning shot” at the very beginning, because it allowed me to be suspicious of Alex throughout. And there were plenty of other signs along the way.

This was a good tactic plot-wise, because even when I thought that maybe Alex was right about certain things, he was already untrustworthy, so it became a circular game of who was right and who was overreacting. It kept me off-balance as much as Hannah was.

She was an interesting character. It was obvious that her past colored how she reacted to the events of the story. There’s a saying that people who help other people often have a hard time helping themselves.

Hannah is a social worker – and while she seems to have a good intuition when it comes to her job, she is clearly blind when it comes to her personal life. This is largely due to her past and what she has always dreamt of her life being, but I do believe there was a blind spot where she couldn’t see what Jas was telling her (and what was quite obvious).

I also found myself yelling at her (in my head) to wake up and get a clue because all of the red flags were flying high!

In a way that worked for the plot, because it made it more difficult to know if Alex was telling the truth at any given point, which in turn led to his character being even more questionable. Her constantly making excuses for him only cemented that feeling.

That being said, it does turn out that Alex was right about some things. The whole thing is honestly just a mind twist, and the author does a good job of keeping the reader guessing.

However, I did guess one of the biggest twists fairly early on and had a strong feeling about another one. This ended up being in direct conflict with reviewers who said they had no idea.

I think that’s partly the issue with seeing reviews of a book before reading it, at least for me. Even if there are no spoilers, they can still mess with the perception of the book. I was expecting to be totally in the dark the whole time – but I wasn’t.

The actuality rarely lives up to the hype. I felt the same way about the movie “Beauty and the Beast” (the original animated). Everybody raved about it, said it was amazing, one-of-a-kind, etc.

I’ll admit to waiting to see it until it had been out for a few months (that was the days where movies stayed in theaters longer than three weeks). And while I was enchanted by it, I was partly right. It was beautiful and extremely well-done, but not the “end all/be all” people made it out to be. But I digress…..

I feel the same way about this book. It did teach me a valuable lesson. I think that I will stop reading all other reviews prior to reading a book, as I have a feeling I would have liked it even more if I didn’t have an expectation going in.

Author Bio:

Sue Watson was a TV Producer at the BBC until she wrote her first book and was hooked.

Now a USA Today bestselling author, Sue has written sixteen novels, and many have been translated into several languages. Sue is now exploring the darker side of life with her latest thrillers OUR LITTLE LIES, THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR, THE EMPTY NEST, THE SISTER-IN-LAW and FIRST DATE out on October 16th.

Originally from Manchester, Sue now lives with her family in Worcestershire where much of her day is spent writing – okay, procrastinating, eating too much confectionery, and watching ‘My 600lb Life,’ on the sofa.

For more info visit Sue’s website; http://www.suewatsonbooks.com/

UPDATE: (After reading through this review, I’m adding this up here – you really should give this one a try. There were some good twists, and it was definitely a psychological thriller. What follows is my experience with the book, which may be completely different from what other readers experience).

I have to start by saying that I thought this book was going to go in a totally different direction from where it actually ended up.

When I first started reading, I thought that it would be about Phoebe, who may be Maya, finding her birth mother (Kay) after her mother (Roz) dies. Clear on that? It has great premise for all kinds of psychological mindgames.

And I did get that…somewhat.

I thought that Kay and Phoebe’s “reunion” was a little bit farfetched. The whole thing seemed off-kilter, as if neither one really believed the reality of the situation, but each was hoping that was true. I’m still not sure if that was by design to set up the rest of the plot. But it left me confused.

A tragedy occurs after Phoebe finds Kay, which sends Phoebe on a hunt to find out her true identity. Again, plenty of opportunity for some twists and turns as Phoebe realizes that there are more lies than truth in her past.

The problem for me is that the story ended up being something completely different. This is no fault of the author. I think I just had a difficult time switching gears when the author took the story in an alternate direction.

I did like the references (and remembrances) of Africa. I thought it was a good way to ground Phoebe when she began to question all of her other memories. At least she knew the ones of her growing up on the animal reserve were true, even as certain assumptions she had were shattered.

The plot seemed to meander – but it actually did trace Phoebe’s search, and searches are rarely straightforward. So, I suppose that it was clever writing. I just wanted more of a concrete search (again – no fault of the author, just of my own expectations).

Somewhere along the way, there’s a cult involved and a few more tragic incidents that illustrate how screwed up Phoebe’s life really has been. It seems as if the author was going for keeping the reader as off-balance as Phoebe was, and that was very successful

I think if I were to have read this from a different attitude or been able to switch quicker with where the author was going, I would have enjoyed it more. As it is, for the first time, I am considering re-reading a book with a different state-of-mind to see if that changes my perception. Check back for an update.

Author Bio:

Sam Hepburn read modern languages at Cambridge University and, after a brief spell in advertising, joined the BBC as a General Trainee. She worked as a documentary maker for twenty years and was one of the commissioners for the launch of BBC Four. Since then, she has written several books, including psychological thrillers Gone Before and Her Perfect Life, and novels for young adults and children. She won the 2017 CWA Margery Allingham Short Story award and has been nominated for several other prestigious prizes, including the CILIP Carnegie Medal for her YA thrillers.

Sam has worked and travelled widely in Africa and the Middle East, and is a trustee of the Kenyan’s children’s charity, I Afrika. She now lives in London with her husband and children.