I’ve read all of C. L. Taylor’s books and have adored them all so naturally I was excited to read this one. I was met with an exciting and puzzling read, that surprisingly even had sort of a sense of cosiness at times. This moved at a fast pace at the start, but at the middle it settled to a nice steady rhythm, which is not a bad thing, it relaxed me and was the calm before the storm, before the naturally emotional and highly charged conclusion to the story.
As I have come to expect, the writing is easy to read and once started you have the conflicting feelings of never wanting the book to end, but also the desperation to know what exactly is going on. The first half of the book is set in Bristol where Jo meets Paula for the first time and the chain of events starts. While I understand why Jo was scared, there was something in the back of my mind if she was just being paranoid and mis-understood or mis-construed what Paula was saying. I wanted to trust her, and the other strange goings on certainly pointed towards her being truthful, but at the same time, there were other signs that even before the Paula meeting that she was a bit over protective of her daughter. As soon as I did doubt her though, there was a chapter from Paula’s point of view that put a damper on my doubts, only for them to be re-ignited again on the next Jo chapter.
Overall though I did like Jo, She clearly adored Elise and it was her motherly love that did keep me on her side. After she escapes with Elise, we are treated to the calmer portion of the book. The setting in a small village in Ireland seems peaceful and idillic. It lulled you into a sense of security, that you know isn’t going to last. Mary, the Irish B&B owner is such a lovely character, hurting from a past tragedy, but along with Ben is the source of warmth and cosiness you get from the book. This is stark contrast to Bristol where Jo lied with her husband, who was nice, but a bit too nice at times, almost patronising.
This book is another great read from the author. There was a great contrast in settings and atmosphere which of course added to the sense of foreboding that you knew was bound to come in the end.
Published by: Avon
Gratefully received from the Publisher for review
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