Today I’m sharing some more mini book reviews as I continue my mission to catch up with my reviews!

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

This book is billed as a thriller but it’s more of an exploration of three characters, and once I realised that’s what it was I really quite enjoyed this novel. The premise is that a teenage girl, Lucinda, has been found murdered and the novel is told from the perspective of three other characters: Cameron – a teenage boy who is quite obsessed with Lucinda, Jade – a teenage girl who thinks Lucinda has a perfect life and she wants that for herself, and Russ – one of the detectives investigating the murder. I did hope for a bit more depth in these characters but having said that I did get completely invested in wanting to know what had made them the way they were, and how far Cameron and Jade’s fixation with Lucinda might have led them. It’s a book that really looks at what makes us who we are and makes us do the things we do, and what the consequences of that is. I’ll definitely look out for more books by this author and I recommend this one.

I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney

I loved Alice Feeney’s previous novel, Sometimes I Lie, so I had very high hopes for this new book. I was gripped very quickly and found it really hard to put down. The novel is about actress Aimee Sinclair. She comes home one day and finds her husband missing but she can’t remember when exactly she last saw him. The police get involved and very soon suspect Aimee of knowing more than she’s letting on. Aimee is something of an enigma, she plays on her acting skills to get her through situations but she’s also convinced she’s being stalked and becomes increasingly anxious and on edge. Interspersed with the chapters from the present day we find out about Aimee’s childhood, which was a difficult time for her. I’d say I very much enjoyed the first 80% or so of this novel but I just didn’t like the ending at all. I read a lot of thrillers and I’m quite happy to suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride but the ending of this book was just too far-fetched for me. It brought me right out of the book and I was left disappointed. I still love Alice Feeney’s writing and I will definitely be buying whatever she writes next but this book just wasn’t for me in the end.

The Golden Child by Wendy James

This is such a brilliant novel! It follows Lizzy who is a blogger and she shares her perfect life online; unfortunately the reality isn’t quite so perfect. There is a lot of tension with her husband, her mum and her mother-in-law; not to mention the normal trials and tribulations of her two teenage daughters. Then one day a nasty episode of bullying happens at her daughters’ school and the finger of blame is pointed at one of Lizzy’s daughters. You also get to see the other side of the story as the novel follows the mother of the girl who was so horribly bullied. It’s fascinating to see how the two women deal with the situation and how the whole thing slowly unravels. I found this book so difficult to put down once I started reading it. The multiple perspectives keeps the book moving at a pace, and the way the lives of the so-called perfect family unravels is so well done. This is such a great novel and I definitely recommend it!

Need to Know by Karen Cleveland

I read this book quite a while ago now and that fact that it is still sticking in my head shows how good it is! It’s a novel about Vivien, a CIA analyst who works to try and uncover Russian cells in the USA. She’s also married with a young family so she’s juggling a lot. One day she uncovers something at work and can’t unsee what she’s seen. The slow realisation that everything she holds dear could now be at risk is terrifying for her and she’s put in the position of whether to protect family or country. This novel is a rollercoaster ride and one that I just couldn’t stop reading once I started it. And it has one of the most brilliant endings to a novel, I loved it! I can’t wait to read Karen Cleveland’s next novel, which I believe is due out very soon!