Book Review: The Housewife by Valerie Keogh

Description:

“There’s no place like home” – that’s what I tell myself as I pull another flawless meal from the oven. This perfect house on a quiet street was supposed to be my sanctuary, a place to recover. But everything changed the moment I saw that woman in the charity shop. She triggered something dark, buried deep within my memory…Now I’ve started forgetting small things, like locking the front door. And bigger things, like remembering to pick my little girl up from nursery. I feel terrified every time I pass through a particular spot in our living room. And sometimes, when I’m alone, I’m sure I can hear a baby crying…I think the woman in the shop knows what happened to me. But if I can’t trust myself to believe she’s real, who will?

Review: 3.5 Stars

This is an engrossing book. It’s is a little slow and repetitive in the beginning but yet  the need to keep reading and trying to understand what happened is unavoidable. Diane’s past is very mysterious, you keep reading more and yet have no idea what happened to Diane and how she ended up in the clinic. It is a dark psychological mystery that you simply can’t put down. 

I enjoyed this book but I have serious issues with the lead character Diane. I don’t understand the irresponsible behavior shown by Diane; she’s just out of a clinic, has no idea how she ended up there, feels like she’s losing her grip on sanity and yet she’ll take more sleeping pills and painkillers than she should and she’ll mix them with alcohol too! It makes no sense to me to see someone desperate to find their truth yet so reckless with medication knowing fully well that it makes it harder for them to be alert and aware. Her behavior made me actually like her less instead of making me feel sympathetic to her. Also hard for me to swallow was how she hid things from her husband and how instead of being honest or even confrontational about the distance Paul put between them she chose to ignore it or play along so to say.  She decides to put her trust in Anne but not once does she actually look her up on the internet to find out more about her especially when she says she’s an author of 8 books! She registers that Anne must be successful only when she sees her house. All of this behavior is beyond the realm of reality for me. I found that I was getting more and more annoyed by Diane as the plot moved along. Kudos to the author for creating an unlikable yet vulnerable character. 

At the climax I did feel sympathy for Diane and I truly felt bad for her. The epilogue was a good way to leave the book almost hanging and a perfect segue to a sequel perhaps.  

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley, #TheHousewife

Also shared on: https://romasharma.blogspot.com

Book Review: All the Little Lies by Chris Curran

Description:

After a lifetime of secrets how far would you go for the truth? Your whole life has been a lie…One email is all it takes to turn Eve’s world upside down. It contains a picture of her true birth mother, Stella, and proves that Eve’s entire life with her adoptive parents has been a lie. Now she must unravel the mystery of Stella’s dark past. But what Eve finds will force her to take enormous risks, which put her – and her new-born baby – in immediate danger…

Review: 3.5 Stars

This was an enjoyable read overall. The book is presented by 2 narrators, Eve and Stella. I like how well paced the story was and even better was the fact that the pacing in Stella’s and Eve’s narration matched each other. I did find that the voice of Eve and Stella is almost identical, given that they are two different narrators I would have liked it better if there was a more significant difference in the 2 voices. By the time I reached half way I had a good idea what happened in the past and where this was headed, but I’m happy to report that I was only partially right. I could figure out Ben, Pamela and Simon’s story but Maggie and Stella’s story was twisty. It was a suspenseful read and a good page turner at that. It’s the kind of book that you should start when you time on hand since it is difficult to put down and forget about it. It stays on your mind for a long time after you put it down. 

I couldn’t understand all the secrecy from Eve’s parents initially and that only added to the suspense. It is clear that Eve wants the truth, and no matter how murky it is, how about you treat her like an adult and give it to her. I was a little annoyed by Eve’s attitude with her parents and how she was handling the whole situation but it is hard to judge how a person should react when faced with such situations. 

The title of the book is apt, after a long time I’ve come across a title that matches the plot so well. The number of lies in this book makes you question what you believe. I think it was bad judgement on everyone’s part to lie and it left me wondering what would have happened had people not lied so much?!

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Impulse, and Killer Reads books for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley, #AllTheLittleLies