Book Review: Over My Shoulder by Patricia Dixon

Description

Girl meets boy. They fall in love. Sounds simple? It isn’t. When Freya falls for the manipulative Kane, her life changes beyond her wildest imagination. When the luxurious life she craves gradually becomes intolerable she realises escape is out of reach. Her life has changed and so has she. She knows that when she least expects it, he will return and make good his promise to exact revenge and ensure she pays the price he felt he is owed. Can Freya ever be free? Whoever knew love could be so dangerous. Following Freya from her carefree twenties up to the present day, Over My Shoulder is an intricate tale of blinkered love and obsession.

Review:  5 Stars

Trigger Warnings: abuse, violence, rape, drugs

This is a very disturbing book, it will scare you, shake you and it will stay with you for a while after you finish reading it. It is an emotionally exhausting book. This is not a pleasure read, that much I assure you of. 

The book starts off with a prologue that is almost like a Ted Talk! It’s relevant for almost every reader who picks the book. It addresses you and speaks to you.

The book is a page turner. Not only do you want to find out what is going on but you are literally on the edge waiting to finish the page and turn to the next one. The tag line is apt ‘a psychological drama about power and control’ is the briefest and most accurate description of this book.

The way the book goes will make you feel like you are talking to Freya, like she is confiding in you. You are her only shoulder to cry on and all you can do is listen. You almost want to interrupt and give her advice but you stop, not because you realize it’s a book but because you realize that it’s all done and over with and anything you say now will not help her. You become invested in her. 

The book draws you in and entangles you as if you are a fly and the book is a spider’s web. It doesn’t let you go, it puts you smack in the middle and makes you want to keep reading because honestly it’s difficult to figure out what Freya’s exit strategy should be and when, if ever, will the nightmare end for her. 

Coming to the finer details of the story, the characters are all believable. Freya and Kane’s love story is pretty standard but boy does the man have a dark side! His nastiness builds up slowly getting more and more depraved, little by little until there is so much of it that there is no escape. He is a debased individual who will do whatever it takes to be in control and get what he wants. Kane evolves from a domestic abuser to a full blow sociopath. Freya on the other hand is a nice friendly girl living a carefree life. She has a very ‘girl next door’ vibe. She falls for Kane hard even though she has a boyfriend. She’s not meek and mousy at all. The story touches on many topics around domestic abuse and even violence and is not easy but the author has done a good job with communicating the pain and yet not making you want to stop reading. I love that every time you as a reader recognize the red flag, so does Freya and the author has made sure to explain why Freya chooses to let it pass or not think of it as a flag. I was happy to see that Freya is portrayed as a strong sensible person. Often suck books show the victims of abuse as weak, as needing strength to leave. But this book shows that its not only weak people who get abused. It shows that being strong also makes you susceptible to abuse because most strong people believe that ‘I can handle it, I’m not a quitter, I need to be smart, I need to bide my time’ and worse of all ‘maybe I can help him’. That’s the pitfall of being strong. That is what makes the story and the characters so believable. Other books around domestic abuse leave these thing a as questions in your mind and you need to suspend disbelief in order to read the book. In this book each situation is picked apart and the pros and cons are explained. Patricia Dixon has written a book where you do not need to suspend anything in order to understand and follow the plot. She has actually written a book that is based on a story to accurately convey to the world the facts that surround abuse. The conversations that Freya has with the reader are very explanatory and insightful. At times I felt that a good chunk of the content in this book could serve as a dissertation on understanding domestic abuse, and I’m not complaining one bit because it is a brilliant idea to use fiction and impart real knowledge to the readers. At around 55% mark it almost feels like Ms. Dixon is sharing her research with you instead of Freya narrating her story and while some readers may not like this, I think it was a great way to bring forth many great insights on this subject. As an author she has tackled the subject very well and the effort she took in her research shows. The last 20% of the book has things in there that will make you shudder and will make your stomach churn. It takes a very dark turn. You can feel Freya’s fear and this part of the book can bring on a serious panic attack for anyone who has been in or around an abusive relationship. 

This book is no doubt written to help abuse victims see their options and understand that leaving an abuser is a process and not an event as Freya rightly says. It shows that leaving may not be enough and a victim needs a very strong support system to help them see things through. It also helps friends and family of a victim understand the whole situation better.

The book is probably one of the top 5 books I’ve read this year. I highly recommend this book despite the trigger warnings because reading it will ensure that you’ll be better prepared to either deal with abuse (God forbid you find yourself in that situation) or to identify, understand and help someone in your circle who maybe dealing with it.

Take a bow Patricia Dixon, this book is a masterpiece!

**Thank you to Netgalley and Bloodhound books for providing me with a advance reader copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review.**

Book Review: Silencing Anna by Sadie Mitchell

Review: 5 Stars, Grab this one now!

**Thank you to Net Galley and 3P Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review.**  Trigger Warning: domestic violence, anger issue, loss of a partner, coma patients.

The book draws you in from page 1! It's written simply and makes you want to read it more and more. Sadie Mitchell's penmanship hooks you instantly. The books oscillates between the past and the present and the writing is precise and engaging. When the story moves from Dylan to James to Anna's current situation initially, not once do you feel like the preceding part should go on, or that the upcoming part is something you are not looking forward too. One is not more interesting than the other and that to me is purely due to how brilliantly the author has made each part intriguing and interesting. The characters are well developed and you can almost imagine them in your head. As the story progresses there is enough mystery to keep you engaged. What happened to Dylan? How did James get abusive? What did Anna do? How did she end up here? What is Pam up to, what is her role? These questions haunt you and you want to keep reading more. This is a hard to put down book. The book starts with this sentence "It's important to take stock of your life." This book will like make readers do just that especially if they are in a situation like Anna's. There are many pointers in this book that would help a lot women identify abusive partners, or at least make them stop and wonder. That in itself is a big accomplishment for a book that's written as a fictional one. The one aspect of abuse this book captures really well and makes you think hard about it is what happens when the abused becomes violent in response to the abuser, is the abused also be called an abuser in that situation or is it more like self defense. Does allowing it to happen make you responsible for it? Sadly I felt like Anna didn't always make the smart choice and find her way out of the situation before it escalated to a violent one. It is very disturbing to see a pattern, in all books with such subjects, of how abused women will keep going back to the abuser hoping they have changed, hoping that the 'good' guy they see glimpses of is real and the monster is now gone. At times I did feel like Anna probably needed help too, whether her behavior was purely a reaction to her abusive relation or something hidden deep within her is food for thought. I felt myself trying to understand and decide if she added fuel to the fire and does it make her somewhat responsible too? Not that it can be an excuse for the abuser. Her only responsibility is for not walking away, not breaking the cycle. What is even better is that the book makes you realize that none of what she did or said warranted James' behavior. It makes you see her as not only a victim but someone who could stand up for herself and react instead of silently taking the abuse. The book makes you think hard and makes you assess and almost create a plan in your head of what you would do if you were ever in such a relationship, what your exit strategy would be. This is the biggest reason that I highly recommend reading this book. The twist in the final 3 chapters of the book was completely unexpected and was handled beautifully. The point of view of a person being fully aware of everything around then but being trapped in their own body while in a coma is well presented and thought provoking. I am conflicted about the fates of James and Pam, but I don't know if any ending would be satisfying given the nature of the story. All in all, the book is well researched and believable.  This is probably the longest review I've ever written which is not surprising since I completely loved this book.  Take a bow Sadie Mitchell, this book is a winner.

Book Review: In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards

  

Description

Isabel's life seemed perfect. Successful business, beautiful house, adoring husband. And then she was dead. For four years Jessica has never doubted that her sister Isabel's death was an accident. But when Jessica's young daughter seems to know long-forgotten details about her aunt's past, Jessica can't shake the feeling that there's a more sinister truth behind the tragedy.

As Jessica unearths disturbing revelations about her sister, and about the people she loved and trusted most, it becomes clear Isabel's life was less than perfect and that Jessica's might also be at risk. Did someone murder Isabel? Are they now after Jessica and her family? The key seems to lie in the hands of a child. Can Isabel reveal the truth from beyond the grave, or is the answer closer to home? In Her Shadow is a gripping tale of family secrets, lies and obsession from the two million copy bestselling author Mark Edwards.

 

Review: 5 Stars

**Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review**

 

This is my first Mark Edwards book and I'm impressed. I started reading this once before but stopped because of the 'paranormal' story line. That's not a genre I usually read. But then I took this up as a challenge and decided to expand my horizons. And boy am I glad that I did!! The book is outstanding. Brilliantly written and very engaging. The paranormal part initially is written so well that I had goosebumps. It felt so real and even scary, chilling to the bone. I'm glad the book isn't a 'ghost' story. It has a complete whodunit aspect to it and has many twists that lead you down a path to the truth. As the story moves on I was genuinely equally interested in the how and the who. The story has a nice logical conclusion and it was convincing. The slight mystery remains in the end but I'm happy to live with that thought hanging. Enjoyed reading this book!

 

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Book Review: The Thinnest Air by Minka Kent

Description

A woman's disappearance exposes a life of secrets in a twisting novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Memory Watcher. Meredith Price is the luckiest woman alive. Her husband, Andrew, is a charming and successful financial broker. She has two lovely stepchildren and is living in affluence in a mountain resort town. After three years of marriage, Meredith's life has become predictable. Until the day she disappears. Her car has been discovered in a grocery store parking lot—purse and phone undisturbed on the passenger seat, keys in the ignition, no sign of struggle, and no evidence of foul play. It's as if she vanished into thin air. It's not like Meredith to simply abandon her loved ones. And no one in this town would have reason to harm her. When her desperate sister, Greer, arrives, she must face a disturbing question: What if no one really knows Meredith at all? For Greer, finding her sister isn't going to be easy…because where she's looking is going to get very, very dark.

Review: 4 Stars

A brilliant and surprisingly easy read. The book is fast paced and slow at the same time! Fast paced because it moves the past to present on alternating chapters and is extremely succinct. And slow because the 'perfect' world that is presented to us initially is being chipped away with small statements sneaked in frequently. It's like you see one crack and then another and then one more and suddenly your begin to realize that there a whole lot of cracks are appearing in Meredith's perfect life. No red flags just cracks. The story is moving from the past to present and the present is slowly creeping along and all you can do as a reader is wait for the two narratives to catch up and explode in to a brilliant twist. I love how the author is able to present to us the story in a crisp manner. No unnecessary words or irrelevant details and yet it pulls you in deep quickly. The characters are distinct and you form opinions and bonds with them quickly. This makes it a hard to put down kind of a book. You can't wait to find out what happened to Meredith. You form all sorts of theories in your head but you don't know which one is the correct one till Minka Kent decides to tell you. The reveal is a nice twist but after that the ending seems a little rushed. I'm happy I got my hands on it. I like this book more than The Perfect Roommate which Minka Kent authored before this one. I loved Minka Kent's writing style and am definitely going to read all her other work and keep my eyes peeled for her next.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review.**

Book Review: Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison

Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison

Description

The follow-up to her critically acclaimed Lie to Me, J.T. Ellison’s Tear Me Apart is the powerful story of a mother willing to do anything to protect her daughter even as their carefully constructed world unravels around them.

One moment will change their lives forever…

Competitive skier Mindy Wright is a superstar in the making until a spectacular downhill crash threatens not just her racing career but her life. During surgery, doctors discover she’s suffering from a severe form of leukemia, and a stem cell transplant is her only hope. But when her parents are tested, a frightening truth emerges. Mindy is not their daughter.

Who knows the answers?

The race to save Mindy’s life means unraveling years of lies. Was she accidentally switched at birth or is there something more sinister at play? The search for the truth will tear a family apart…and someone is going to deadly extremes to protect the family’s deepest secrets.

With vivid movement through time, Tear Me Apart examines the impact layer after layer of lies and betrayal has on two families, the secrets they guard, and the desperate fight to hide the darkness within.

My Review

**Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin-MIRA for providing me with a advance reader copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review.**

Phew. What A Book! This was truly un-put-down-able. I started it at 9.30pm and kept at it till 4am. Had to stop because I had work to get to in the morning and I couldn’t wait to finish it. If you are a thriller reader then you will probably figure out some of the plot early on. But it doesn’t matter. Not one bit. This book is not a whodunit. It’s not about who, it’s about why and how. The emotions in this book are phenomenal. Everything is seemingly perfect in the world of Mindy, Jasper, Lauren and Juliet when you start reading the book. But things are rarely as they seem. There are subtle hints sprinkled all over and that is what makes you want to keep reading. Even if you figure it all out you will still want to read this book. It’s the kind of a book that makes a speed reader want to slow down, to soak the book, to marinate oneself in it! The subject matter of depression and suicide is a complex and difficult one and the author has done a brilliant job of covering it in a meaningful manner. The characters are complex and you can feel strong emotions for them when you read this book. It’s a poignant read. You want to like or dislike the characters but if you read carefully enough you can’t put these characters in a box of good or bad. These complex personalities are made up of so many shades of varying colors that’s you end up not knowing who you want to root for. You will crave a clean satisfying end and Ellison delivers just that. I would highly recommend this book.