Book Review - The Honeymoon by Tina Seskis

Amazon UK

Title: The Honeymoon

Author: Tina Seskis

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Publication Date: 1st June 2017

Rating: 4 Stars

There's trouble in paradise . . .

For as long as she can remember, Jemma has been planning the perfect honeymoon. A fortnight's retreat to a five-star resort in the Maldives, complete with luxury villas, personal butlers and absolute privacy.

It should be paradise. But it's turned into a nightmare.

Because the man Jemma married a week ago has just disappeared from the island without a trace. And now her perfect new life is vanishing just as quickly before her eyes.

After everything they've been through together, how can this be happening? Is there anyone on the island who Jemma can trust? And above all - where has her husband gone?

An incredibly cleverly crafted story, where elements are revealed slowly and on a need to know basis, until you are left reeling at the overall outcome. I had absolutely not clue as to what had happened to her husband, other than that he had clearly disappeared. 

The book is split into multiple parts, and within the first part you get two timelines, the here and now in the Maldives, and Jemma's instant reactions to the situation, and interlinked we get the murky history of her relationship with husband, and Jemma's true feelings for him. 

It it incredibly hard to talk about the story in this book, as everything was written in a way that if I say the wrong thing I could be giving away spoilers.  What will I will say is its a story that has got me thinking about tropical honeymoon destinations..such as The Maldives, the setting for this book. 

The island that Jemma is staying on is clearly beautiful, and everything you could want for in a tropical paradise, its remote, tries to be romantic, stunning scenery, gorgeous watery wildlife and your every whim catered to. But when things go wrong in such a place, you will soon start to feel threatened by the same island. The remoteness and quiet of the place can be overwhelming, that all the staff know you can be intimidating if your husband has mysteriously disappeared.  That its so hard to know what may have been witnessed by who, and just how much do you really trust the people you are making friends with on your honeymoon, when it comes down to a critical situation. 

That is the main thing that I will take from The Honeymoon, especially as a person who loves visiting such beauty spots herself, and definitely feels like it is one element of the book. 

The other is of course Jemma's emotional reaction to the events and even quite early on I found her a tricky character to have any real empathy with. I felt sorry for her of course, but just didn't quite make the connection I would have hoped. 

Despite that I found The Honeymoon to be compelling reading, I wanted to know what was going to happen next, and just what happened to the missing husband, I had to keep on reading, and read the majority of the book in just one sitting, 

The Honeymoon is the sort of book you will be drawn into, and taken on a wonderful journey all from the comfort of your living room. Although in some respects I would say this would be a great summer holiday read, I would perhaps suggest not taking it to incredibly remote holiday locations, as it may feel a bit too close for comfort! 

Thank you so much to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for this copy which I have I reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Release Recap - 23rd April 2015

Just in-case you missed out on seeing all of yesterday's simply amazing new releases, I have listed them all for you in one easy place. I am just amazed at the quality of yesterday's release schedule, and think you will be too, once you pick and choose what you want to read.

Love Shack by Jane Costello
One Small Act of Kindness by Lucy Dillon
Girls on Tour by Nicola Doherty
The Doris Day Vintage Film Club by Fiona Harper
Wild and Free by Wendy Holden
The Cake Shop in the Garden by Carole Matthews
When We Were Friends by Tina Seskis
The Lie by C.L. Taylor


Reviews of most of these have been posted in the last week. If you take up any of my suggestions, please let me know, as I would love to know what you think of these books. 

Book Review - When We Were Friends by Tina Seskis

Amazon UK

Title: When We Were Friends

Author: Tina Seskis

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Firstreads/Goodreads

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 23rd April 2015

Rating: 5 Stars

It had always been the six of us.

Since we met at university twenty-five years ago, we'd faced everything together. Break-ups and marriages, motherhood and death. We were closer than sisters; the edges of our lives bled into each other.

But that was before the night of the reunion. The night of exposed secrets and jagged accusations. The night when everything changed.

And then we were five.

Juliette, Camilla, Siobhan, Sissy, Renee and Natasha have been friends since university. They met 25 years ago, and even though their lives have gone in different directions, they have stayed friends and each year make sure that the six of them get together for a reunion.

This year they were meeting up in Hyde Park, for a picnic, near the Serpentine. What they didn't know was this night was going to change all of their lives forever.

When We Were Friends is written in lots of short chapters giving you snippets of information. Some of them are the present, and then there are a variety of storylines, about most of the girls, from their lives previously. 

During the course of When We Were Friends, a lot of shocking secrets come out. The momentum of this book builds continuously, and the crescendo and aftermath is pretty stunning. It got to the point where the book, which had, had me interested right from the first few pages, I couldn't put it down. 

I don't want to reveal any more about the plot as I truly believe that, I would only spoil key bits of it, as there is so much story, and so much of it interlinks.

Six main characters may seem a lot, and at times I was getting a couple of them confused, but on the whole it was easy enough to follow this account of their friendship over the years, and start to understand how one night can change everyone's lives.

There are a lot of bad decisions, and some of the characters (and their husbands) are incredibly hard to like, but I did feel empathy with them.

I loved every minute of When We Were Friends, and will certainly be looking forward to Tina's future releases with bated breath. 

When We Were Friends is out on Thursday