MY MOTHER'S LIES by Diane Saxon

 4* Unexciting, but well written and worth a read.

This is well written and definitely worth a read. It's kind of slow in parts, with a strong female lead in Grace, and a strong guy in a person who's a side character, who makes things right at the end of the tale.

It lacks detail in some ways and the middle of the book is kind of one-sided, narrated in Siobhan's head, and tbh, it's her stupidity that leads to the rather predictable danger in the tale. The suicide was a bit of a giveaway and that there wasn't more urgency once that was discovered made the tale feel less fraught, and made danger feel not really dangerous. I suspected the killer all along and it was good to see him getting hus just desserts. The timing of the tale, back in the days when the handling of money, the lack of computerisation, the lack of tech, smartphones, CCTV, etc. made the tale work. But it lacked an edge. I never felt danger or excitement reading it, though the predictability and mundaneness drew me in. I liked the Britishness and the lack of gloss and fabricated drama, though that was a bit detrimental to the tale, IMHO. 

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Boldwood books, for my reading pleasure.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE SECOND GRAVE by Jeffrey B Burton

 4* Good intro to this series, and it didn't matter that I'm late to the party. This is an engrossing and engaging tale, partly because of the dynamics of the brother-sister duo, partly because of the brother's telling of the tale, partly because of the storyline but mostly because there are dogs in it, dogs that save the day, literally, and that don't get hurt. It's easy to start and there's enough told that I didn't find myself wondering about the previous book. It's quite fast paced and Cory is unaffected and literal and his 'voice' is youthful and believable and carries the tale well. The storyline is sad at the start, but that's just a facilitator for the plot, which is a good one. A sad one for some of the people involved, and boy is it good that justice of a sort, the type I find satisfying when someone's gotten away with something for too long, got done. 'Al' definitely deserved what they got. But those involved in the dec...
Read more

ALWAYS YOU AND ME by Dani Atkins

5* Even though I don't believe in HEAs anymore, this book had me crying because of THAT ending. I'm going to try and review without spoilering, but ugh, I started the book almost in tears and ended it in actual tears, and with hope that sometimes love does last.  This book is so much more than a second chance at love. It's about loving and loved but flawed characters whose lives with each other had their time, and when that time was gone, the love continued. Like Finn and Matt by Charlie Winters, this is a book I loved but won't ever read again. A part of me can't believe the author went there with the ending, but another part of me, the romantic-but-hurt part, wants to believe in the power of everlasting love.  ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my reading pleasure. 
Read more

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY by Mike Gayle

3* A pleasant enough 15-minute deckchair read. This isn't a deep novel with a big plot, but pretty much what the blurb offers. I didn't feel much for either character but the tale ended well for both - not going to spoiler, but it wasn't what I expected and it didn't quite ring true. 
Read more