Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Pages - 357

Publisher -

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

Owen Pick’s life is falling apart.

In his thirties, a virgin, and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a geography teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct, which he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel—involuntary celibate—forums, where he meets the charismatic, mysterious, and sinister Bryn.

Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night.

Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre Maddox disappears—and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick.



My Review

We have four main characters really, Saffyre - the troubled young girl who sees her therapist Roan. Roan (doesn't feature as much as the others) who is married to Cate, a physiotherapist and loving mom and their neighbour Owen, in his thirties living with his eccentric aunt. The story splits between the characters, who all seem to have some link to each other. Roan isn't exactly as sweetness and light and he seems, Owen is a teacher, a bit of a loaner who may be a bit more creepy than he initially seems. Saffyre, the troubled youngster, a secret from her past that drew her to therapy but what is she hiding in her present and what do any of them have to do, if anything with her disappearance.

It is a bit of a slow drip suspense, I was immediately intrigued within a few chapters, we flip between characters and you wonder what if anything they have to do with each other. Saffyre is missing, is she dead? We know this from the blurb but the story flips from present day with her being missing to Saffyre's chapters - pre disappearance and the more we hear from her the more layers are unraveled.


The book looks at different themes, how quickly we make assumptions and or judgements on a small amount of information and how that can impact on a person. Manipulation, lies, love, family, relationships, friendship, corruption, hate & that is just scratching the surface. I have read Jewell before and I will read her again. A slow burner but written so you are caught from the beginning wanting to know where it is going, what they are hiding and where is Saffyre, 4/5 for me this time! It is a standalone, perfect if you haven't read this author before, good paced, thriller, suspense, tick tick tick, absolutely recommend.

View all my reviews

Here Comes The Girls by Milly Johnson

Here Come the Girls by Milly Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 493

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Source - Amazon buy

Blurb from Goodreads

Shirley Valentine, eat your heart out!

Ven, Roz, Olive and Frankie have been friends since school. They daydreamed of glorious futures, full of riches, romance and fabulous jobs. The world would be their oyster.

Twenty-five years later, Olive cleans other people's houses to support her lazy, out-of-work husband and his ailing mother. Roz cannot show her kind, caring partner Manus any love because her philandering ex has left her trust in shreds. And she and Frankie have fallen out big time.

But Ven is determined to reunite her friends and realize the dream they had of taking a cruise by the time they hit forty. Before they know it, the four of them are far from home,on the high seas. But can blue skies, hot sun and sixteen days of luxury and indulgence distract from the tension and loneliness that await their return?



My Review

A bunch of friends in high school, close as can be and dreams of when they grow up. Twenty five years later and one big fall out the dynamic four and more a three. Married, divorced, unappreciated - meet Roz, Ven, Olive and Frankie. When Ven wins a competition for a cruise of a lifetime she takes her besties and plans to get the girls back together. Not all is it seems for the girls and this cruise will have a bigger impact than any of them could have thought.

So we get a wee glimpse into all the ladies lives, Roz cannot get over a betrayal and even after four years it is still having huge repercussions. Olive is a skivvy, any time I read the passages with her home life I was livid, her mother-in-law, husband and their relative. She is so unappreciated, they take total advantage and it just ripped my knittin! Total compelling reading because you just wanted to know what was coming next, will they get their comeuppance?

Family dramas, friendship, heartache, betrayal, love, infidelity and getting to travel the globe through the characters on a cruise ship. I have never been into the idea of a cruise ship but after reading this I so want to go on one! I have read Johnson before and will read her again, I actually have another few of hers on my tbrm, 4/5 for me this time!

View all my reviews

Reflection by Diane Chamberlain

Reflection by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - Over 4 days

Pages - 368

Publisher - Harper Collins

Source - The Works

Blurb from Goodreads

The author of Brass Ring and Fire and Rain delivers an edge-of-your-seat story filled with secrets, surprises, and psychological suspense. Returning to the small Pennsylvania Dutch town of Reflection, Rachel Huber must confront the tragedy that caused her to leave twenty years before."One of the premier writers of contemporary fiction." -- "Romantic Times" Diane Chamberlain's background as a psychotherapist and clinical social worker is evident in her psychologically complex characters.Will appeal to fans of the novels of Anne Rivers Siddons, Barbara Delinsky, and Rosamunde Pilcher.


My Review

Rachel Huber is back in Reflection, the small town she left decades ago under a cloud of hate, shame and distrust. When her gran Helen has an accident Rachel goes back without a second thought, so many years have passed, she needs to reconnect with her gran and face her past. As Helen's health recovers and they get to know each other, Rachel finds the town still shuns and blames her for what happened. Rachel confronts her past,finds that she isn't the only one with secrets, the past never stays in the past and old feelings have never really gone away.

I do enjoy a small town drama, we know something bad happened but it is hinted at and teased out. The focus centres on Helen and Rachel, the family estranged and now brought together when both need it most. Rachel's oldest friend Michael is now a religious man and the heart of the village, his followers are torn between their loyalty and his friendship with Rachel, her past and their seeming closeness.

Weaved with so many issues, family secrets, PTSD, religion, infidelity, love, lies, death and small town grudges it engages the reader quickly. As we flip from present day and dip into the past, the story gives us insight into the characters and what shapes them into who they are, what they have endured and what is still to come. 3.5 out of 5 for me this time, I do enjoy Chamerlain, I have read her before and I will read her again.

View all my reviews