Silent Pretty Things

Silent Pretty Things - O.J. Lovas

Genre: Domestic Thriller | Crime Thriller | Mystery

Release Date: Expected 18th August 2021

Publisher: BooksGoSocial

"A small town ... a prominent family ... a secret. Only two people know the truth, and their silence will have murderous consequences."

Anna Goddard knows the weight behind her name. Being a Goddard has meant always being perfect, maintaining the perfect appearance no matter the cost. But she knows her family is far from how they portray themselves to the world, and when she starts to suspect there's more than she knows going on beneath the surface she starts to dig. But digging always leaves you dirty.

With the help of her new sweetheart, a quiet but charming librarian and historian Michael, she starts to uncover the darker secrets of her family - and now she's going to need them if they're going to survive the fallout of what she's let loose.

Silent Pretty Things was a clever, slow-paced domestic thriller with plenty of tension, packed full of dark family histories and complex relationships. The characters were interesting and displayed a variety of different personalities - holding some intruiging conversations about history, ethics and philosophy to keep the reader thinking.

This was about a terrible secret, but also about Anna's coming of age - about her yearning for freedom from her oppressive family and of course finding a little bit of romance along the way.

"I get it. You want more from life - more intensity, more adventure, more freedom."

For me, this book had far too much telling and not enough showing. There were very large gaps between pivotal plot points, and conversations between characters would go on for pages and in the way of story, there wasn't much happening until the very end of the book but everything that did was very detailed and thought-out.

A simple yet effective mystery, with plenty of drama and a rather wonderful conclusion.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to O.J. Lovas, BooksGoSocial and Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Comments

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...

On Bee's Bookshelf

Search This Blog