January 29, 2021 by readingwritingandriesling

Review My Best Friend’s Murder – Polly Phillips

My Best Friend’s Murder

Polly Phillips

Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 9781761100178

RRP $29.99

Description:

You’re lying, sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, legs bent, arms wide.

If I squint, you could be playing Sleeping Bunnies. Or maybe Twister.

I wish I could tell you how the blood pooling around your head looks like a halo.

But you’re past listening.

I need to let the paramedics in. And then I have to be careful.

Because as the energy trickles out of your body it’s pumping into mine.

And while this could be a tragic accident, if anyone’s got a motive to hurt you, it’s me.

Bec and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. They’ve been through a lot together – the death of Bec’s mother, the birth of Izzy’s daughter, Bec’s engagement.

But there’s a darker side to their friendship, too – and Bec is about to reach breaking point.

Then Izzy is found broken and bloodied at the bottom of the stairs.

It could have been an accident – perhaps she fell – but if the police decide to look for a killer, then Bec is sure to be their prime suspect.

This is The Rumour meets The Holiday, a compulsive thriller with a toxic but layered friendship at its heart that keeps you in the dark until the final few breathless pages . . .

My View:

This is a really interesting read on a few levels. It is a genre I like – crime/mystery/domestic noir, and it has an plenty of plot twists and red herrings to keep you guessing – in fact I didn’t work out the culprit – and was surprised when this was revealed (no spoilers). But for me this has been a significant read/discussion about relationships and has left me considering the toxicity of some of those relationships in my life.

For me this is a narrative about the stories we tell our self; of memory and how it is influenced by our own desires and need to fit, to belong, to be acknowledged. Reflection sat heavily with me long after I finished reading this book. Thank Holly Phillips for creating a world that has shone a torch on my own relationships, toxic relationships are hiding within plain sight 😊 Now what to do about them…I don’t have stairs in my house😊 😊

PS Polly is a Perth writer – another reason t celebrate this read 😊

April 22, 2020 by readingwritingandriesling

Review: Seven Lies – Elizabeth Kay

Seven Lies

Elizabeth Kay

Hachette Australia

Sphere

ISBN:9780751578126

RRP $32.99

Description:

Jane and Marnie have been inseparable since they were eleven years old. They have a lot in common. In their early twenties they fell in love with and married handsome young men. But Jane never liked Marnie’s husband. He was always so loud and obnoxious, so much larger than life. Which is rather ironic now, of course.

Because if Jane had been honest – if she hadn’t told those lies – then perhaps her best friend’s husband might still be alive . . .

This is Jane’s opportunity to tell the truth and, as she narrates their shared history and unpicks each of her seven lies, she reveals the pockets of darkness that have infiltrated their friendship and the toxic secrets still bubbling beneath. It’s a novel about obsession, grief, the dark corners of even the closest friendships and what it means to tell your version of the truth.

My View:

This is a very disconcerting yet mesmerising read. The friendships and various relationships depicted in this narrative feel real and everyday yet the behaviour of the protagonist, who slowly morphs into the antihero, (an unusual development in itself) starts out as benign (who wouldn’t tell a little white lie to protect a friend/friendship?) and ends up scarily obsessive and destructive. The author takes us on a strangely unique journey – from best friend to toxic friend…from the point to f view of the toxic partner.

This is a very engaging read and one where a simply depicted act of revenge is disconcerting and horrifying. Snap – a life is over. This is a very unsettling read.