My review
This book started off as a thriller with a dead girl, a ten year anniversary of her death, the gang of girls who were alive, each harboring a secret, and the sword that held them to the edge – The Diary!!
Lauren came home for the death anniversary of her best friend & sister, Hannah, and someone started sending her threatening text messages, almost as if it were coming from Hannah. The author Vikki Patis, started the book with a scorching mystery. Lauren met up with the girls slowly one by one, all of them having received these messages.
The author’s writing cast a doubt on all the characters, the plot had the turns where Lauren was betrayed badly by these close friends, so she was a wreck in the times she met up with them. The initial part had no clear sense of direction.
The story unfolded giving glimpses of the past, all the time hinting at the diary, which Lauren did find, but never found the guts to read. I felt Lauren was like the waves, she would advance to read the diary and then retreat without reading. This happened in most of the story where one reading of that dang diary would have solved the mystery. She totally frustrated me!!
The book had its niggles, Lauren ran away all the time, none of the girls were really friends, in the past they just drank and drank and drank. In the present, most of them smoked and smoked during tension filled scenes. And none of them were likable.
Why did I read/finish the book? The book then became an emotional read where Hannah’s torturous abuse was revealed. It had me fighting my tears, a lot of pain was hidden in her which caused her to act out. And the last bit had me empathising with all of them and their juvenile mistakes. Their selfish and judgmental teenage selves destroyed lives, but it was nice to see them rallying together as grown women to fight the veiled stalker!!
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Bookouture, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating : 3.5 stars
About the Author
Vikki Patis is a writer and blogger at The Bandwagon, where she reviews books, interviews authors, and gives her opinions on a wide variety of topics, from feminism to fibromyalgia.
Book blurb
Lauren has spent years running away from her home town, her childhood and the memories of her best friend, Hannah.
Until the tenth anniversary of Hannah’s death forces her to return home and to the group of friends she abandoned there. It should be a quick visit, just so Lauren can pay her respects.
At home, Lauren finds Hannah’s old diary. A diary full of secrets. The terrible things Lauren did, the lies she’s told, the reason she ran away. And she receives a message:
‘I don’t know why you’re back, but I know why you left.’
Product Details
Publication date : 23rd November 2018
Publisher : Bookouture
23 Responses
I like the title and concept. Good review!
It had such promise, but I need someone to be likable to remain invested – I love and appreciate your reviews!
Awww…. Thank you… Happy holidays… Hope you have a blast
Wonderful review. 🙂
Niggles but emotions too!
True that…
Another fabulous review! I will be starting this tomorrow, curious to see what I think!
I am sure you will enjoy it
Gosh, now I have to read this!!! Sounds amazing, Shalini!
Hope you like it too
I am ambivalent about whether or not I should read this book. I do not like to read about tortuous abuses. But I definitely like when women are rallying together for justice. Uhmm, I will have to think about it. Anyway, I still have a few books on my To-Read List… Great review, as always.
Thank you honey… How are you doing?
My pleasure Shalini. I could really go for a massage… xoxo
Ooooh go for it!! You deserve all the pampering… ❤️
A good read in the end? Have a great day x
Thank you so much. I loved your review too
Nice review Shalini. It sounds like you really had mixed feelings about this one. I looked at it a few times, I loved the cover, but in the end I chose to pass.
It was a good read but could have been so much better
That is frustrating when you know that if taken further or in a different direction it could have been a wonderful book.
Nice review Shalini! You liked this one a bit more than I did, just so slow it was tough to get through.
True… You have inspired to get to a few books I had stopped reading 💕
I always try to finish just in case the second half or end will raise my rating, doesn’t always works though as I still have my fair share of low ones.