Book: Then She Was Gone, Lisa Jewell

This was the first Lisa Jewell book I read. I've seen a few of her books recommended on TikTok. 

Took this out at the library earlier this week. 

The premise of the story is that 15 year old Ellie, is a golden child. She does well at school, and wants to do well at her upcoming GCSE's. She is worried about maths, so asks her mom for a math tutor. Just before writing her exams, Ellie disappears. It's a very bizarre story. 

There are a number of things that irritated me about this book. 

One of the key things that irritated me is that apparently the mother had read Ellie journals many times, but never picked up that she didn't like her maths tutor. Also, the tutor was never questioned, which I am pretty sure is highly unlikely in a missing persons investigation. Surely everyone that was close to the child would be questioned? Also, the mom found stuff that she doesn't report. Those things really irritated me. 

I get that some of the chapters are written focussing on different time lines, but sometimes the 'now' was written in present tense and sometimes not. 

I did not like this book, the only thing that was good is that it didn't take me too long to read it, so not too much time was wasted reading it. 

2.5/5

Book: Sophie's Choice, William Styron

This book took me waaaay too long to read! When I read The Year of Magical Thinking, they referred to Sophie's Choice in there, and the husband had read the book a number of times. I had bought the book a while back for Bric a Brac, and then decided to read it instead of selling it. 

I never saw the movie, so had nothing to compare it to. 

The first part was so good. Loved it, very different to what I thought it would be. I thought it would be very dark, but instead it was about Stingo (the author's) journey of living in New York and meeting Sophie and Nathan. A wonderful sense of humour and written beautifully. 

But then, it got very tedious. I find it very boring when someone writes about dreams / drug trips and sex. There was also quite a lot of gender based violence. All which is necessary to formulate the all round complicated relationships. 

In between we also learn about Sophie's background and harrowing journey. 

It only starts to pick up again towards the end, she didn't have much time for the choice she had to make; all very heart breaking, an impossible choice.

Kindle: The Good Daughter, Karin Slaughter

This was riveting! Flip, it was very gruesome and horrific in places, but oh so good! Karin Slaughter has a magnificent talent of describing things. I mean just take for example this description of the Mom:

Gamma was an aggressively terrible cook. She resented recipes. She was openly hostile toward spices. Like a feral cat, she instinctively bristled against any domestication.

When she described someone stuttering in court: And you had Coin sputtering like a broken sprinkler. 

Just marvellous. The only thing is, that the gory parts are just as descriptive and very graphic, which could be upsetting for sensitive readers, and it's not like in a movie where you can just look away. 

The premise of the book is about is about Rusty, a defense lawyer whose household is struck by tragedy one evening, when one of his clients came looking for him, but instead found his wife and two daughters at home. 

I really like the dad, and the relationship between him and his wife, so beautifully depicted. 

Flip, it's hectic, but really well written. 

4/5

Kindle: The House Guest, Mark Edwards

This book had started off with so much potential. A young couple, an actress and a writer go over to New York because the actress got a role in broadway, to find their feet they house sit for a couple that they met on a ship. The couple's house is in Williamsburg in New York. One evening a young lady, Eden, knocks on their door, says she knows the couple and hoped that she could stay with them. They can't get hold of couple and then lets her in. First of the book great. Then, after a boozy evening, the actress and Eden are missing. Second part of the book just spirals downward, so boring and tedious. Ends up that Eden is part of a cult and how they have identified the actress to be part of it, everyone is involved. Highly unlikely. A load of rubbish. Not for me. 2/5. 

Kindle: Keep Your Friends Close, Lucinda Berry

A group of Moms, who had started an exclusive club for first time Moms; by invite only, decides to have a big party. Kids sent to babysitters and husbands out for the evening. Ladies dressed to the nines, ready for a fun evening. Everyone is drinking and having a lot of fun until Kiersten is found dead in the swimming pool, it is an accident or a murder? The book then unfolds with the stories of: Brooke, Jade, Whitney, then and now. A great 'who dunnit'. Written well. 

4/5

Book: The Housemaid, Freida McFadden

The first half of the book was very meh. I really didn't get the hype. It's about Millie an ex con looking for a job. She gets a housekeeping job, live in; she needs to cook and also look after the child. Nina, the woman who hires her turns out to be a horrible, unreasonable with her requests, flies off the handle. Millie is attracted to Nina's husband, which doesn't help the dynamics. Millie find out that Nina was in a mental institution because she tried to drown her daughter. 

Second part of the book we get to see everything from Nina's point of view and here things start getting interesting and there are a couple of big plot twists. 

The story line with the twists are good, but, I don't think that it is written particularly well. Not sure whether I will attempt the second book. The hype was a bit much for this one. 

Initially I thought it's 5/5, but the more I think about it, it's a 3/5 for me. 

Selling the invisible, good old advice:

Good old solid advice from Selling The Invisible by Harry Beckwith: Survey Survey Survey 

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