Book Review - Don't Ever Tell by Lucy Dawson - #HolidayReading Madeira

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Amazon UK

Title: Don't Ever Tell

Author: Lucy Dawson

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley 

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: 25th June 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

This is a story about Charlotte, who has two sweet children, a stay-at-home job she loves and a drama-free marriage to a caring and successful man. Life is nearly perfect… at least, that’s how it looks from the outside.

But behind closed doors, the marriage is breaking. Every day, after she kisses her husband Tris goodbye, Charlotte works a little more on her plan to destroy his life.

Was it when he stopped looking at her in that way, that she first felt something was wrong?

Or when he lied about where he was going, so he didn’t have to watch their sick children?

Or perhaps it’s the smiling photo of him on a beautiful stranger’s phone. Charlotte can think of only one way it got there…

Charlotte thinks she has every one of her husband’s sins neatly filed away… but there’s something big that Charlotte is missing. And by the time their story is finished, you’ll be questioning if you can ever really trust those closest to you.

Definitely Lucy Dawson back to her best, in this addictive story of many layers. 

I loved seeing the story play out from both Charlotte and Mia's points of view, and even with two viewpoints, there are plenty of secrets to unlock, some that may even make you gasp. 

Nothing is quite as it seems initially, and I really enjoyed delving under the surface to see just how deep the secrets go. 

A very well crafted story, that had me wondering at times just where it was going and whether or not Charlotte's master plan would happen or not. 

Really enjoyed reading this book. 

Thank you to Bookouture on Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - The Memory by Lucy Dawson - #HolidayReading Mexico

The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: The Memory

Author: Lucy Dawson

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: 6th December 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

I look down at her, lying fast asleep – always my little girl, and so beautiful. She gives a low moan as her head turns restlessly on the pillow. It reminds me of the soft growl of a cornered animal. Where is my poor child? What is she dreaming?

People always notice my daughter, Isobel. How could they not? Incredibly beautiful... until she speaks.
An unsettling, little-girl voice, exactly like a child’s, but from the mouth of a full-grown woman.
Izzie might look grown-up, but inside she’s trapped. Caught in the day it happened – the day that broke her from within.

I know why my daughter is the way she is. There’s nothing I could have done to save her... is there?

I was immediately intrigued from the opening chapters about this book and I found the last quarter flew past in a series of compulsive to read words. 

It did to me lag in the middle a bit, as I really wasn't sure what was going on, and it was starting to feel a bit too supernatural for my tastes. 

I wasn't really sure where the story was going at times, but really glad that I continued reading as it all made a lot of sense in the end. 

I found that I didn't really connect with the characters that much, and although they had all been through horrible things, the only person I really liked was Adam.

It was a good book, it just wasn't my favourite by far from this author. I look forward to the next one with interest.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - White Lies by Lucy Dawson - Blog Tour

Amazon UK

Title: White Lies

Author: Lucy Dawson

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: 20th April 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

When you have everything, you have everything to lose. Alexandra Inglis is a respected family doctor, trusted by her patients to keep their most intimate secrets. And if sometimes the boundaries between duty and desire blur… well, she's only human.

But when Alex oversteps a line with Jonathan, one of her patients, she knows she's gone too far. Jonathan is obsessive, and to get what he wants he will tear Alex's world apart - threatening not only her career but her marriage and family too. 

Soon Alex finds she's capable of doing almost anything to keep hold of her perfect life, as it begins to spin dangerously out of her control…

Once again Lucy Dawson has stolen around 3 and a half hours of my life, but replaced them with a compulsively addictive book that I couldn't tear myself away from, as I was utterly hooked on White Lies from the first chapter. 

I was completely drawn into Alex's version of events, up until we started getting other view points, at which point I twigged that I had absolutely no clue who was telling the truth and who as the title suggested was telling white lies. 

What I did know was I completely felt for Alex who at a base level makes one mistake that has a lasting impact, for her marriage, her family and other people too.  One moment of madness when completely and utterly drunk,  while on a girls weekend away, leads to all manner of consequences. 

There were times where I was doubting just about everyone but at the same time I just had to keep turning the pages to see what was going to happen next.  I was curious about everything the book even touches on relatively recently real world events that have been in the news. 

This is a book that makes you think about the patient / doctor relationship, and about how easy it could be for someone in a position of trust to make a mistake that could be perceived as abuse even if the don't realise it at the time. 

Unpredictable and utterly compelling, White Lies is another absolutely fantastically crafted book from Lucy Dawson. All I can say is clear a day or a few hours depending on your typical reading speed, make sure you are comfortable, sit back and relax and let this story of human interest take over for the duration. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - The Daughter by Lucy Dawson

Amazon UK

Title: The Daughter

Author: Lucy Dawson

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: 24th January 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

 You lost your daughter. You will never forgive yourself. Now someone's determined to make you pay… Seventeen years ago, something happened to Jess’s daughter Beth. The memory of it still makes her blood run cold. Jess has tried everything to make peace with that day, and the part she played in what happened. It was only a brief moment of desire… but she’ll pay for it with a lifetime of guilt.

To distance herself from the mistakes of the past, Jess has moved away and started over with her family. But when terrifying things begin happening in her new home, Jess knows that her past has finally caught up with her. Somebody feels Jess hasn’t paid enough, and is determined to make her suffer for the secrets she’s kept all these years.

3 hours ago I started The Daughter, and I am now sitting here gasping for breath, having not been able to move or put my kindle down or acknowledge any part of the real world for those three hours as I read this completely addictive and unputdownable book. 

The first part is very emotional, and shows just what depth Lucy Dawson has with her writing, I was almost in tears at parts of it, and then as the story moves up to to the present day, it becomes creepier and at no point are you really sure just what the cause of it all is. 

I certainly didn't expect or predict any part of the thrilling finale, which is what has left me so amazed at the story. 

I don't think I can say any more about the plot than the blurb has, as I know I would give away the wrong information. What I will say is that every book I read by Lucy Dawson is more and more impressive, and I can't believe that I read this so fast and in one sitting, when I'm fairly sure I had other things I needed to do instead!  

The Daughter will take you on a fabulous journey and make you wonder just what lengths you may be prepared to go to, to protect a loved one.  It has reached under my skin and completely unsettled me, so I am completely blaming the author if I don't sleep this evening. 

Although its probably a bit early in the year to state this, I suspect this could be one of the psychological thrillers of the year, I am that impressed by how little I was able to predict, and was just swept away in the story. In fact that first part makes me think the author could probably turn her hand to women's fiction just as well too.  

It's not necessarily your typical psychological thriller, it had quite a different feel to it initially but all the background was  very relevant and incredibly well written and was pulling me into the story, before the more unsettling behaviours were occurring. 

This is definitely a must read for fans of the genre, just wow! 

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review & Giveaway - Everything You Told Me by Lucy Dawson

Amazon UK

Title: Everything You Told Me

Author: Lucy Dawson

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Corvus

Publication Date: 5th January 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

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…

One of a rare variety of book, the completely unputdownable, and even when you aren't reading it, the story is still in your mind, and I found myself thinking more about the book, then the work I was meant to be doing. 

Everything You Told Me is a story that will make you think, there are two potential ways you will be thinking initially as you read the book. Either you believe Sally is telling the truth that she has absolutely no clue as to how she ended up in a taxi 250 miles away, with what appears to be a suicide note in her pocket. Or you will feel that Sally is a rather unreliable narrator, and that siding with the rest of the family is the best thing to do, as she must be lying, potentially be suicidal and a risk to herself and her children. 

The story is told in the first person, from Sally's perspective, so it is up to the reader to make the decision on how trustworthy she is. I found myself rooting for her, and hoping that she really wasn't going to commit suicide. The first quarter of the book, explains Sally's family life in the couple of days leading up to this long night time taxi journey. 

Sally is portrayed as a woman at the end of her tether, with two young children, Chloe who was 4 and adorable, and Theo at 6 months was causing his parents no end of problems as he is a bad sleeper. Sleep deprivation is one of the key things that was causing Sally to start struggling, but equally it is clear how much she loves both of her children. 

Having of course seen how the book ends, I don't think I can fairly say much else about the plot for fear of using the wrong words that may give a hint towards the overall ending which took me completely by surprise. About half way through I was convinced I knew roughly where the book was going, but it soon turns out as is often the case, that I can't predict things accurately in books, which made it all the more gripping as I wanted to see just what would happen next. 

I can certainly see why this is a psychological book, it got under my skin, forced me to think about the story continually, and really did mess with my head a bit, with trying to get ahead of Sally in working out exactly why she was in that cab. 

Everything You Told Me does tackle the subject of mental health to a certain extent, but also shows how situations can be manipulated. I found it to be a gripping read that I barely was able to put down, or be fully aware of my surrounding whilst reading. It is a story that gets your brain cells jumping and its an incredibly good book. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Corvus for this copy of the book that I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Giveaway to win 2 x Everything You Told Me (Paperback) (Europe only) 

The lovely people at Corvus appear to have sent me two paperbacks, in addition to the e-copy that I read. As a result I have 2 copies of the book going to 2 lucky winners! 

Giveaway is open to Europe only (but don't worry there will be more INT giveaways in the future) , all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 12/1/2017. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

Win 2 x Everything You Told Me (Paperback) (Europe only)

Book Review & Giveaway - You Sent Me a Letter by Lucy Dawson

Amazon UK

Title: You Sent Me a Letter

Author: Lucy Dawson

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher supplied ARC

Publisher: Corvus Books

Publication Date: 3rd March 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

At 2 a.m. on the morning of her fortieth birthday, Sophie wakes to find an intruder in her bedroom. The stranger hands Sophie a letter and issues an 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 for ever.

I've just devoured You Sent Me A Letter, which is an incredibly gripping psychological thriller, that will keep you guessing up to the last pages. I was convinced I had worked out what the main twist was going to be, around half way through reading, and I couldn't have been more wrong if I tried. Lucy Dawson, has managed to keep ahead of me the whole way through. I just couldn't outwit this book and that is a fabulous feeling. 

Sophie wakes up in the very early hours of the morning to find a man standing at the edge of her bed. He hands her an envelope with express instructions to open it in front of everyone at her 40th birthday party that evening. He makes it clear that her friends and family will be in danger if she doesn't comply. 

Sophie has to spend the day acting normal around her family, who are clearly concerned about her acting out of character and in the course of the day we learn a lot about Sophie, her relationship with Marc, and a couple of possible identities for the letter sender and the motive. 

The story is fast paced, and there was a sense of urgency from the first chapters which kept you turning the pages So many theories were running through my head, during the story, and not once did I predict any of the twists and turns along the way. There are moments of hilarity almost in amongst the more serious nature of what is about to happen. 

The only thing that would have made this book from fantastic to amazing would have been perhaps some more explanations of the motivations, possibly from other character points of view. The whole book was from Sophie's perspective and whilst it worked, I have been left with a couple of nagging questions after finishing the book. 

Despite that You Sent Me a Letter is a brilliant book, one that I would happily recommend to anyone wanting a gripping psychological thriller to read. 

Thank you so much to Alison Davies at Corvus Books for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Giveaway to win You Sent Me a Letter (Paperback) (UK only) 

I was accidentally sent a second copy of this fabulous book, so I'm giving one lucky person the chance to win my spare copy. 

Giveaway is open to UK only (but don't worry there will be more INT giveaways in the future) , all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 17/3/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

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