totallytales's Reviews (1.9k)

Two young children are pulled from the wreckage of their burning family home, the toddler is dead, the 10-year-old is fighting for his life, their parents are nowhere to be found. DI Fawley is called in to investigate was the fire an accident or arson?

This novel is has a great plot hooking you in from the start. I love the way Hunter entwines the mixed media formats from news reports and the online comments to police interviews into her stories to give it more a sense of the events unfolding in real-time. DI Fawley and his team are a fascinating, slightly flawed but ultimately endearing bunch to investigate this case with. It did lose a bit of pace in the middle but it soon picks up again with superb twists leading to an absolutely terrific ending.

This is the third DI Fawley thriller, you certainly don't need to have read the other books in the series to enjoy this one (but you would be doing yourself a disservice!). I for one can't wait for the next one!!

Thanks to Penguin Books UK & Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

Suspicious, intense & engaging!

I love Everett's writing style and was engaged in the story from the start, she draws you into a marriage where both sides aren't exactly what they first seem, something is off from she has you constantly questioning the character and their motives.

There is a great mix of characters are all of them have depth and they are fully formed in their own rights each interesting with their desires and flaws which only serves to make them more dimensional. Nick the husband is a particularly hard character to read which builds the intensity.

The novel is set in an idyllic country village surrounded by wide open space is still somehow claustrophobic and eerie creating more intrigue.

It missed out on 5⭐ because I was slightly disappointed by the ending I felt like more could have been done with it. But overall I was captivated by this clever enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more from Everett.

Thanks to HQ Stories for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Over-hyped?

It started off really creepy for me.... the opening chapters are perfectly building the eerie atmosphere but in the middle, it fizzles out for me and the finale is a bit rushed and anti-climatic.

I loved the characters, all their connections, and their development within the novel. I was particularly fascinated by Jake's point of view and the murdering saddest in prison was so well-drawn. I could easily picture all the characters as I was reading it.

North, handles the disturbing topic of the book really brilliantly he manages to create chills without the horrific scenes and the details are largely left up to the minds of the reader.

Overall a great thriller, with good characters (particularly the father-and-son relationship) and an engaging plot.

Compelling, mind-blowing & exceptional!

It felt like my heart was in my mouth for every page I read, I'm very sure whatever I write won't do it justice but if there is one book you read this year make sure this it is.

This novel is so exceptionally written, all the characters are multi-dimensional and tangible and vivid in their own right, every single one of the stories told affected me as a reader.

Lupton captures the best and the worst of humanity in these pages, the terror, the bravery and the hope. Her writing is absolutely superb, the sheer emotions at all levels are portrayed perfectly. I became so immersed the lines between reality and fiction were blurred.

This is a powerful read that will stay with you long after you have turned the last page.

Thanks to Viking Books & Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A smart, well translated and twisty tale that I found hard to put down.

Told in three parts from very different but all very interesting points of view - the dad a pastor believes his daughter is innocent, the imprisoned teenage daughter & the mum a lawyer who thinks her daughter has something to hide.

I soon became absorbed in this multi-layered narrative, its complexity focusing on the characters their actions, motivations and how far they are willing to go to protect who they love.

It missed out on 5⭐ because I found some of it a bit repetitive and I found the Dad's part slightly annoying, I've nothing against annoying characters but I did find his section dragged slightly for me.

I would definitely like to read more from this author in the future and it was a refreshing take on a family-based psychological thriller.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan & Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a beautiful story, seamlessly told between two main characters' who are worlds apart. An emotionally heartbreaking tale of home and belonging, and what that really means is it a place and feeling or a mixture of both? The alternating chapters between the main characters are flawless, perfectly connecting Augusta and Parfait.

Brimming with sharp (not always likable) observations of human behaviours. The feelings portrayed are palpable and these characters are unique, not always likable regardless they stole my heart, after all, no one is perfect right?

If you love language, words and their origins this is not to be missed! Augusta spends her life reading the dictionary, intrigued by new and unusual words, she feels the more words she learns the safer she is the more she will belong... join her on as she discovers if words are enough to survive the journey life takes you on or does she need more?

Thanks to Tandem Collective UK for sending me this in exchange for an open & honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chilling, unputdownable & unpredictable.

It's no secret I'm a huge Cara Hunter fan and was eagerly awaiting All the Rage's release... Gripping, scarily horrifyingly plausible the latest installment in the DI Fawley series didn't disappoint.

This is a fascinating read Hunter constantly builds the tension as we work the clues at the same time as DI Fawley's team. The twists and turns of the investigation genuinely shocked me and kept me guessing all the way until the end.

I loved getting more of Fawley's backstory, is his past coming back to haunt him? Is this all this happening because he caught the wrong guy?

If you are looking for a gritty, realistic and twisty crime thriller... then here it is, this incredible read is not to be missed!

As always this can be read as a standalone but if you haven't read the others, treat yourself you'll be missing out if you don't, they are all unique in their own right (this isn't a when you have read one you have read them all kind of series).

Ps. That cliffhanger at the end will have you wishing away the time until book number five is released, I know I am.

Thanks to Penguin Books UK and Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an open & honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐