Skip to main content

Magpie - Elizabeth Day

 


Genre: Womens Fiction | General Fiction | Thriller

Release Date: Expected 2nd September 2021 

TW: Pregnancy, Fertility Issues, Mentions of serious illness and sexual assault. 


Marisa and Jake are the perfect couple and they're very much in love. Even though she hasn't known him for very long, Marisa has never been more sure of anything before and she can't wait for her own Happy Ever After now they're moving in together and starting a family.

But when they decide to take in a lodger, Kate - things get weird. At first it just seemed like she had a polite interest in them, but soon her interest in Jake especially shifts into something uncomfortable and concerning. Kate is slowly becoming obsessed with Marisa's boyfriend and her unborn child but Jake doesn't seem to think Kate is doing anything wrong at all. Either she's losing her mind or something very bad is happening right in her own home.

Marisa has everything she's ever dreamed of - and now she needs answers no matter the cost.

Magpie is a tense, twisty tale about jealousy and envy, and the terrifying reality of getting everything you've ever wanted. This  was definitely one of those stories that always has something sinister lurking around the corner every time you think you know what's happening. Somewhere between an authentic domestc drama and a thriller, this was oddly and uncomfortably gripping. 

Delving into Marisa's troubling past, the things she's been dealt over the course of her life we can slowly understand the different peices of her life and build a picture of how she became who she is today. We mostly hear the tale from Marisa's point of view, and I could feel the scathing jealousy and insecurity in her voice. She was somehow so unlikeable and totally relatable all at once. 

Elizabeth Day is a master of misdirection and this is one to watch. 


RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Thank you to Elizabeth Day, Fourth Estate and Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: This Could Be Us by Clare McGowan

Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 1st June 2023 Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group | Corsair  Kate has done the unthinkable. She'd worked hard to build a perfect life for herself, while ignoring her growing unhappiness. But when her second child was born profoundly disabled, reality hit. Unable to cope, Kate left - disappearing without a trace. She ends up in LA, with a glittering career and a new family of sorts, but the guilt is still suffocating. Husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces and care for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. Bereft and broken, he leaned on Olivia, Kate's best friend. She's been by his side ever since, ignoring her own needs to meet his. Years later, Andrew has written a memoir about his daughter learning to communicate against all odds. But when Kate's new producer husband decides he wants to make a film of it, their worlds collide once again. Now, Kate must return to the life she abandoned and reck...

REVIEW: Live, Laugh, Lesbian by Helen Scott

Genre: Non-Fiction | Memoir | LGTBQ+  Release Date: 19th October 2023 Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Part memoir, part guide, part conversation and all queer joy — Live, Laugh, Lesbian is a brilliantly warm and friendly journey into the queer experience, not only from the author but from plenty of other lesbian, queer, bisexual and pansexual contributors who bring a unique viewpoint and voice and also show a beautiful diverse, intersectional scope of the queer spectrum and welcomes in queer people and allies of any kind to come feel the love. The book is very conversational, talking to the reader in a fun, friendly way — at times I rolled my eyes as the use of “famalam” but as a previous patron of Colours and Chicagos I’m not in a position to judge the Essex-isms. It’s full of anecdotes and observations that were witty and relatable as well as talking is through the more difficult side of queerness like dealing with workplace discrimination, religious trauma and coming out to family...

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

  " This town has secrets that are best left alone." Author Hannah is a success, on paper at least. She's receiving critical acclaim and praise worldwide and her work is regarded as some of the best. She writes literature, not just books. But the reality is, outside of the literary circles nobody actually reads her work. But when she finally snaps at a book event and publicly criticises the genre fiction books that outsell hers, claiming they're easy and mindless she's challenged to write her own crime fiction novel in just thirty days by an author she loathes. Desperate not to lose to him, her editor arranges for her to spend a month in a quiet, cold village in Iceland hoping that the solitude will spark inspiration.  But instead of writing a murder story - she's in one . Just before she arrives, the body of a young man is pulled from the icy waters and her search for ideas soon becomes a search for a killer. And if she's not careful, she might end up the...