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wordsofclover 's review for:
The Vow
by Debbie Howells
3.5 stars
When Amy's fiancé Matt disappears two weeks before their wedding, she knows something is wrong. After reporting him missing, a couple of days later the police tell Amy that another woman also reported Matt missing - apparently he'd been leading a double life and was planning on leaving her. As details about Amy and Matt's relationship are revealed, and his many lies come to light, Amy begins questioning her own sanity and her past begins to haunt her.
This was a slow paced suspense novel that definitely did a really good job at building up the story, and keeping me clued into what was going to happen next and as always, I was suspecting everyone at one stage or another. There was a good bit of foreshadowing at the start of this novel which I don't always like but I didn't mind it too much in this case.
Debbie Howells is really good at building up a sense of place in her novels and in this case, it was definitely Amy's house and her garden where she grew her flowers and herbs for her job as a herbologist. I felt like I had a really good picture of the amazing garden full of kinds of flowers and it was a beautiful setting - even if the storyline was turning dark.
There wasn't any big shock moments for me in this book to be honest. The closest was possibly the bouquet of flowers with the bag of blood, which was just a really nice touch and just the horror of imagining receiving something like that, gah!
I think the explanation and look into emotionally manipulative, controlling relationships was important in this book, and the particular emphasis on gaslighting and the examples given by Amy's daughter Jess. It's something that I think could help readers recognise it in their own lives if they have experienced it.
Fiona's storyline for me felt a little bit disappointing in the end - I don't think her character was very drawn out and she felt very one-dimensional. I would have liked to have seen a bit more about what happened to her in the end, but it felt like the story just hit a dead end.
There was also some times in the police investigation I felt the line of questioning seemed really strange and speculative, and not particularly realistic. Like the police knowing the symbolism of the flowers in the garden and thinking they meant something - when the woman's job was to grow flowers and herbs.
Overall, I enjoyed this. Not as creepy as The Death of Her but still quite good.
When Amy's fiancé Matt disappears two weeks before their wedding, she knows something is wrong. After reporting him missing, a couple of days later the police tell Amy that another woman also reported Matt missing - apparently he'd been leading a double life and was planning on leaving her. As details about Amy and Matt's relationship are revealed, and his many lies come to light, Amy begins questioning her own sanity and her past begins to haunt her.
This was a slow paced suspense novel that definitely did a really good job at building up the story, and keeping me clued into what was going to happen next and as always, I was suspecting everyone at one stage or another. There was a good bit of foreshadowing at the start of this novel which I don't always like but I didn't mind it too much in this case.
Debbie Howells is really good at building up a sense of place in her novels and in this case, it was definitely Amy's house and her garden where she grew her flowers and herbs for her job as a herbologist. I felt like I had a really good picture of the amazing garden full of kinds of flowers and it was a beautiful setting - even if the storyline was turning dark.
There wasn't any big shock moments for me in this book to be honest. The closest was possibly the bouquet of flowers with the bag of blood, which was just a really nice touch and just the horror of imagining receiving something like that, gah!
I think the explanation and look into emotionally manipulative, controlling relationships was important in this book, and the particular emphasis on gaslighting and the examples given by Amy's daughter Jess. It's something that I think could help readers recognise it in their own lives if they have experienced it.
Fiona's storyline for me felt a little bit disappointing in the end - I don't think her character was very drawn out and she felt very one-dimensional. I would have liked to have seen a bit more about what happened to her in the end, but it felt like the story just hit a dead end.
There was also some times in the police investigation I felt the line of questioning seemed really strange and speculative, and not particularly realistic. Like the police knowing the symbolism of the flowers in the garden and thinking they meant something - when the woman's job was to grow flowers and herbs.
Overall, I enjoyed this. Not as creepy as The Death of Her but still quite good.