I had another reading drought at the beginning of March which saw me starting numerous books only to abandon them or get distracted by a zillion other things. Luckily a train ride home from my parents' house at the start of the week meant that I had very little phone signal and my Kindle was fully charged and loaded with NetGalley goodies. I selected The Fear on a whim, readying myself for another book that wouldn't keep me focused. I was wrong! I've read C.L. Taylor's thriller in four days, every commute and spare moment I have been tearing through this dark but ultimately satisfying read.

Focusing on the disturbing topic of grooming, The Fear is split into multiple narratives of the three women who are immediately impacted by manipulative Mike Hughes. Lou Wandsworth was his first victim over eighteen years ago. The passing of Lou's father sees her return to her hometown and confronted by the man who abused her, living as a free man after spending five years in prison. Thirteen year old Chloe is his current victim and Lou tries to intervene with catastrophic consequences. I won't mention the third woman because it's pivotal to the plot and I've gotten better at blurting out spoilers!


Although the subject matter is uncomfortable and disturbing, C.L. Taylor has delivered a controversially compelling story. The female characters transition seamlessly from vulnerability to defiance, and the power shifts between the sexes flip so quickly you are never sure how its going to end. There are frequent moments of genius that just have you silently applauding. I could definitely see this being adapted for TV, the tension throughout is palpable and C.L. Taylor pauses and switches narrators at perfect times to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you enjoyed Fiona Barton's The Widow then you will love this book!

The Customs House by Andrew Motion has been on my TBR pile for the past few months. I keep being drawn back to this collection of poetry, written partly inspired by soldiers' experiences from 1914, his father's own experiences of D-Day and then much later on, inspired by marriage.

Andrew depicts landscapes and topographies which are wrapped up in the intimate memories of marriages. The rolling waves born from Antartica, crashing against the East Coast, the crowded streets of Brooklyn, and significant Waterloo Village.

Montauk is by far my favourite poem from the collection. It traces the lives of waves formed in Antartica, across the oceans to be stopped by the shoreline that he sits on with his wife. The rolling motion bringing him back to a contented day watching the breakers.

I don't spend enough time on poetry, often racing through fiction titles, pulled along by a heady pace and edgy characters. But there is something quite calming about reading poetry on a packed carriage. You can read several between stops, or go over one a few times to find the rhythm or secondary meanings. And still feel like your brain has had some nourishment, which aside from the heavy dose of morning caffeine can only ever be a good thing!

'I can feel it swimming through my veins like glitter ... it's liquid gold.'

Lexi Volkov is a socialite hotel heiress who finds herself admitted to the Clarity Centre, a rehabilitation unit for the under twenty-threes. In denial of her drug problem she lashes out and initially resists the help of the doctors and staff. 

As the days in isolation pass and Lexi's body goes through the shocks of withdrawals, she begins to assess her choices. On meeting the other residents of the Clarity Centre, each with their own demons, Lexi is confronted with a crossroads, leave the Clarity Centre at the end of her 70 day stay and revert to her drug fuelled highs, or tread the path of recovery and stay clean.

This book is both important and needed for a generation that has had so much pressure to conform and perform. It doesn't shy away from exploring the dark, ugly sides of addiction and there are heavy segments that deal with death and grief. A note from Juno at the beginning of the novel points readers to support lines if the subject matter triggers any reactions. 

Addiction is not portrayed as an easily solved problem, but instead recovery is presented as an ongoing process - one with setbacks but a journey nonetheless. Juno's cast of characters may all be flawed in their own ways but you root for each and every one of them. 

Clean really packs a punch, at times incredibly delicate, at other times shocking, this is the book for any teenager who feels they don't belong.

A thrilling YA thriller that leaps from suburban England to the favelas of Rio.  The Truth & Lies of Ella Black has all the necessary ingredients to fly you through the pages and keep you wanting more. 

Ella Black is an ordinary school girl living in Kent with her two best friends. She's quiet and nice and often over looked when the popular girls are around. 

She kills small animals that her cat brings home because the voice in her head tells her to. 

The voice in her head is Bella, or Bad Ella. Ella has to work very hard in front of people to keep Bella under control. Not even her parents know about how bad Bella wants to be. So when Ella is pulled out of school by her parents and driven to the airport and subsequently lands in Rio de Janiero, she's certain her parents have found out her dark secret. 

Only, her parents have a secret far worse that they have been keeping from Ella. After the best night of her life with an American boy she met at the hotel, Ella's world tumbles apart. On receiving devastating news, and lashing out in violence, Ella flees and runs away to the favelas of Rio. What ensues is an intense rollercoaster of subterfuge and duplicity. 

The Truth & Lies of Ella Black is a dark force to be reckoned with. There's just the right amount of teen angst, romance and identity crisis without bordering onto Gossip Girl territory. The twist at the end was brilliant although I felt that the epilogue was unnecessary (no spoilers!).

I adored We Were Liars (heartbreaking, I literally read it in one sitting and cried at the end). I had high hopes for Genuine Fraud and I wasn't disappointed. 

This is a psychological thriller with a pathological liar at its heart.  Jule is the protagonist (or antagonist if you want to be fancy) and she has the ruthless survival skills of a trained assassin. Except, she isn't an assassin but a girl who has charmed and wormed her way into the life of one of New York's social elites, Imogen. 

Jule wants what Imogen has and she will do anything to get it. 

Anything.

E. Lockhart's writing is alluring and although Jule was highly unlikeable (sorry, I'm pretty sure you aren't meant to bond with her).Her motives are murky and her cut throat survival instincts were both horrifying and impressive.

Genuine Fraud is both a "feminist thriller" according to Lena Dunham, and a joy ride into the life of the rich and famous. You will feel like you are in a washing machine of deception (literally I got so confused at one point) but stick with it, the ending will have you gripped.

A warm and uplifting story of one seemingly normal woman navigating the modern world. Eleanor Oliphant leads a quiet life, she has an office job, a modest but cosy flat and a weekly phone call with her Mum.

Five students go to detention. Only four leave alive.

Perfect for fans of the series Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale. Karen M. McManus has created a high school murder story with such a big twist even I didn't see it coming!

Every high school stereotype is represented: the geek, the jock, the prom queen, the bad boy and the outsider. Each of them is present when Simon, the outsider and Gossip Girl-esque blogger dies suddenly in detention.

Each of them is a suspect. But are any of them guilty?

One of Us is Lying is fast-past, witty and devastating. Teen issues of social hierarchies, loyalty and identity are dealt with in a sensitive way and delivered with believable personalities. Read it!

"Lizzie Borden took an axe, 

and gave her mother forty whacks. 

When she saw what she had done, 

she gave her father forty one!"

Morbidly enchanting and vibrantly disturbing, this is the story Lizzie Borden, one of America's most infamous murderers. Or is she?  The case has transfixed people for years and remains one of the most debated criminal cases.

The whole novel takes on the sing-song, claustrophobic feel of the cyclical nursery rhyme inspired by the same horrific events. At times you are convinced that Lizzie killed her parents and then something casts a shadow of doubt and then you are suddenly confronted with such madness that Lizzie can and must be the only culprit.

Sarah Schmidt portrays Lizzie as a childlike woman, both unattached to her family and incessantly co-dependent. Both brattish and coquettish, obscene and serene. Her writing is compelling and bewildering.

I didn't know anything about the case before starting this book and although I do love the true crime genre, this happened so long ago it wasn't on my radar. Well, that's completely changed! There's even a Netflix programme on the same story, starring Christina Ricci and a soon to be released (2018) biopic with Chloë Sevigny that I'm going to check out.


Despite being at times gory and so intense you need a long walk after, I did love this book and would highly recommend to anyone who has the slightest curiosity about the unsolved macabre events of 1892.

Lizzie Andrew Borden was an American woman who gained infamy after being tried and acquitted for the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.