4.5 stars

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Grace Atherton’s life is a bit unusual in that her long-term boyfriend is actually a married man with another family, and she spends her time making beautiful violins and cellos. She’s also a fantastic cellist but has a paralysing fear about playing in front of other people. When one small act ends up turning Grace’s life and future plans upside down, she must find the strength within herself to continue on and triumph.

This is the type of book that I knew would be a really enjoyable read, and one to really set me off on a good path for my 2019 reading year. However, I never would have guessed that Grace would burrow her way into my heart the way she did, and utterly charm me with both her personality and her music.

Grace isn’t typically a character you should like - she’s knowingly going out with a married man, who has children with his wife. Yet, there’s something about both Grace and her relationship that is utterly charming. Grace isn’t conniving in any way, she just happened to fall in love with a married man - and the pair were reunited in a grief so early in their relationship, it cemented them together for years to come, even if that relationship is one that not everyone understands.

When Grace was sad and heartbroken in this book, i felt sad and heartbroken. I really felt like i was seeing her come alive in the pages, and her every emotion touched me deeply. I haven’t had a connection like that with a character in a while, and I don’t know why it happened with Grace as we’re very different people but it did. And it meant that my reading of this book was throughly heightened.

I loved that Grace was a violin and cello maker. it’s honestly near something I’ve thought about, but the processes that Grace describes about her art during the book were genuinely fascinating. Music is a huge part of this book, and I felt like I could hear music all the time when i was reading. This book should come with an automatic soundtrack but there is one on the author’s website for those who do want to hear the Libertango for themselves.

I do think the first half of the book could have been tidied up a bit as I would have liked less of the first half and more of the second half with Grace finishing her cello and going to the competition. The first half was just a little bit too drawn out for me, and so the second half was just a tiny bit rushed which was disappointing for me as I was loving Grace’s newfound confidence at the competition, and the various people she gathered around her.

I received a free copy of this book from Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

Ellery Hathaway is the only survivor of a serial killer that used to kidnap, torture and kill girls - leaving their severed hands in places for people to find them. Now 14 years later, Hathaway has just dealt with a second serial killer in her life but is currently suspended from her job and forced to go to therapy. Through group sessions, Ellery meets a woman who has been raped and needs her help to find her attacker, and another woman who was involved in an arson case 25 years previously that may have put the wrong man behind bars. Ellery calls in her once-upon-a-time saviour Reed Markham, an FBI profiler, to help her with the cases but she may have run down one too many rabbit holes this time.

Just like The Vanishing Season, No Mercy grabbed my attention instantly and I honestly could not put it down. It was fantastic. I loved both of the cases in this, and had so many different guesses about who could have been the real culprit (though my strongest guess was right in the end). This book isn’t quite as gruesome as the first though some of the descriptions around the sexual assault case, and the suspects, were not pleasant to read either.

I can’t say that Ellery is a likeable main character. She’s extremely prickly and understandably has a lot of issues and is someone who could definitely do with some proper therapy sessions where she really opens up. I do root for her but I can’t bring myself to like her yet, especially compared to Reed who is just someone you know you could introduce to your granny.

Again, the strange sexual chemistry between Reed and Ellery left me confused and both wanting more and less at the same time. I don’t know if I like them together but at the same time I don’t want them to be apart. It is masterful writing.

The end of this book had me gasping out loud. I needed the next book yesterday. I cannot wait.

I received this book from Harper Collins/HQ Stories in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Twelve years ago, Finn's girlfriend Layla disappeared as they returned from a holiday in France, and she's never been seen or found. Finn has found love again, with Layla's sister Ellen but things start becoming weird when it seems like Layla is back and not happy about their relationship.

This was a super fast-paced, addictive read of the sort that I've come to associate with BA Paris's writing. It's one that has you glued to the pages and just flicking the pages as fast you can to find out what happens next.

This book is the first book in a long time that gave me genuine 'it's not all it seems' vibes of the Gone Girl variety, though this book isn't as long or complex as that. But I really didn't know who to suspect or who could be innocent or guilty and the main characters themselves become more and more suspicious with Finn's anger, Harry's disappearances and Ruby's nonchalance. Not to mention Ellen's naivety.

I think I actually may have preferred the book without Layla's chapters as it would have made the ending that bit more shocking.

This was not my favourite BA Paris read but it still gave me a bit of a thrill and that's all I wanted.