The Bones Of You By Debbie Howells

Synopsis

When Kate receives a phone call with news that Rosie Anderson is missing, she’s stunned and disturbed. Rosie is eighteen, the same age as Kate’s daughter, and a beautiful, quiet, and kind young woman. Though the locals are optimistic—girls like Rosie don’t get into real trouble—Kate’s sense of foreboding is confirmed when Rosie is found fatally beaten and stabbed.

Who would kill the perfect daughter, from the perfect family? Yet the more Kate entwines herself with the Andersons—graceful mother Jo, renowned journalist father Neal, watchful younger sister Delphine—the more she is convinced that not everything is as it seems. Anonymous notes arrive, urging Kate to unravel the tangled threads of Rosie’s life and death, though she has no idea where they will lead.

Weaving flashbacks from Rosie’s perspective into a tautly plotted narrative, The Bones of You is a gripping, haunting novel of sacrifices and lies, desperation and love. 


My Review

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I really really wanted to like this book but just didn't and I am not sure why to be honest.  It sounded the kind of book I usually love.

It starts off with a young girl named Rosie Anderson who has gone missing, Rosie comes from the "perfect" family but straight away you know all is not what it seems. Rosie would go and ride horses with a woman named Kate and it is Kate who wants to find out what has happened. After we find out Rose has been murdered, Kate who knows Rosie's mum Jo in a neighbourly way befriends her and try's to help her deal with this tragedy. Kate discovers all is not what it seems with this family to the famous husband Neal and younger daughter Delphine its just gets more mysterious.

The story is told in alternating view points, from Rosie's where you find out what happened to her and to Kate in the present. I found the characters of Kate's friends Rachel and Laura confusing as sometimes I wasn't sure who was who, they seemed to blend into each other. There are lots of secrets and lies which keep you guessing until the end.

To me this book is like marmite you will either love it or hate it.

I would still recommend this book to people who enjoy psychological thrillers. I would give this 3 out of 5 stars.

Early One Morning By Virginia Baily

Synopsis


Chiara Ravello is about to flee occupied Rome when she locks eyes with a woman being herded on to a truck with her family.

Claiming the woman's son, Daniele, as her own nephew, Chiara demands his return; only as the trucks depart does she realize what she has done. She is twenty-seven, with a sister who needs her constant care, a hazardous journey ahead, and now a child in her charge.

Several decades later, Chiara lives alone in Rome, a self-contained woman working as a translator. Always in the background is the shadow of Daniele, whose absence and the havoc he wrought on Chiara's world haunt her. Then she receives a phone call from a teenager claiming to be his daughter, and Chiara knows it is time to face up to the past.  

My Review

I received this book from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, it is not the usual type of book I read but I am so glad I was given the chance.

This book follows a young woman named Chiara who makes a silent pact with a young Jewish woman whose family has been rounded up from the Ghetto and they are being sent to a concentration camp. Chiara claims the woman's son Daniele as her own and the story follows there life together. The book is set parallel in the 1940s and 1970s. When we get into the 1970s Daniele is missing and Chiara is living alone and has just received a letter from a woman who is looking for Daniele. We find out that Daniele has a daughter he does not know about named Maria. I don't think there is much more I can say about the story without spoiling the outcome.

This book was very good but it did leave me wanting more and to know more about the characters. And a couple of characters I felt were just given up on. I would recommend this book as it is a very enjoyable read. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.