You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault
I couldn't put this book down, read it over 3 days. I found it interesting. Always wanted to know what was going to happen next, it's good as its in the future with bits in the past too, so you know what's made the characters act a certain way. I thought it was gripping!
Really enjoyed this. Great thriller. It does have some triggers though: child abuse, bulimia, alcohol misuse, rape, suicide attempt, pregnancy loss.
So on a scale on 1 to messed up, how messed up is this book? I'd say it ends up being fairly messed up.
“Everyone has a destiny. Rosie told me that. A future that already exists – hidden from us but still there, in the future – and each thing that happens to us, each choice we make, each person in our life takes us closer to it.”
Okay so by 3/4 of the way through I could guss the ending however it was still a very enjoyable read. This is one of those books that once you pick up you just want to manically read the whole thing and find out who did what and what happened where.
Fair warning, this book gets pretty deep and touches on some very series issues of domestic and sexual abuse.
“Death casts its shadow, leaving our hearts sad and tainting our world with fear.”
“Everyone has a destiny. Rosie told me that. A future that already exists – hidden from us but still there, in the future – and each thing that happens to us, each choice we make, each person in our life takes us closer to it.”
Okay so by 3/4 of the way through I could guss the ending however it was still a very enjoyable read. This is one of those books that once you pick up you just want to manically read the whole thing and find out who did what and what happened where.
Fair warning, this book gets pretty deep and touches on some very series issues of domestic and sexual abuse.
“Death casts its shadow, leaving our hearts sad and tainting our world with fear.”
Really interesting and quick-paced plot. A classic thriller with so many twists and turns, I found it impossible to put the book down.
Set against the backdrop of a seemingly perfect neighbourhood, in a sleepy village, rocked to the core after the disappearance of a popular teenager, 'The Bones of You' wastes no time in unravelling the dark secrets shrouded within the missing girl's family and the devastating effects they have on those around them.
The writer sets the scene well, some of the more descriptive prose seems a little out of place and unnecessary, at times but, on the whole, a well-thought thriller with some unexpected twists
Set against the backdrop of a seemingly perfect neighbourhood, in a sleepy village, rocked to the core after the disappearance of a popular teenager, 'The Bones of You' wastes no time in unravelling the dark secrets shrouded within the missing girl's family and the devastating effects they have on those around them.
The writer sets the scene well, some of the more descriptive prose seems a little out of place and unnecessary, at times but, on the whole, a well-thought thriller with some unexpected twists
Review: The Bones of You by Debbie Howells Published by: Kensington Books (June 30th 2015)
ISBN: 9781617737664
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4*
Synopsis:
I have a gardener's inherent belief in the natural order of things. Soft‑petalled flowers that go to seed. The resolute passage of the seasons. Swallows that fly thousands of miles to follow the eternal summer.
Children who don't die before their parents.
When Kate receives a phone call with news that Rosie Anderson is missing, she's stunned and disturbed. Rosie is eighteen, the same age as Kate's daughter, and a beautiful, quiet, and kind young woman. Though the locals are optimistic—girls like Rosie don't get into real trouble—Kate's sense of foreboding is confirmed when Rosie is found fatally beaten and stabbed.
Who would kill the perfect daughter, from the perfect family? Yet the more Kate entwines herself with the Andersons—graceful mother Jo, renowned journalist father Neal, watchful younger sister Delphine—the more she is convinced that not everything is as it seems. Anonymous notes arrive, urging Kate to unravel the tangled threads of Rosie's life and death, though she has no idea where they will lead.
Weaving flashbacks from Rosie's perspective into a tautly plotted narrative, The Bones of You is a gripping, haunting novel of sacrifices and lies, desperation and love.
Review:
This book brought to mind The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The haunting way in which Rosie tells the story of her murder makes for gripping reading. Also told via the perspectives of Kate, Jo and Delphine, The Bones of You is a gripping read that weaves each of these character's accounts together to reveal the truth.
This is a compelling read and there are twists galore - as each character revealed more, it got increasingly difficult to put the book down. I guessed the identity of the killer, but then i do read an awful lot of crime!
ISBN: 9781617737664
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4*
Synopsis:
I have a gardener's inherent belief in the natural order of things. Soft‑petalled flowers that go to seed. The resolute passage of the seasons. Swallows that fly thousands of miles to follow the eternal summer.
Children who don't die before their parents.
When Kate receives a phone call with news that Rosie Anderson is missing, she's stunned and disturbed. Rosie is eighteen, the same age as Kate's daughter, and a beautiful, quiet, and kind young woman. Though the locals are optimistic—girls like Rosie don't get into real trouble—Kate's sense of foreboding is confirmed when Rosie is found fatally beaten and stabbed.
Who would kill the perfect daughter, from the perfect family? Yet the more Kate entwines herself with the Andersons—graceful mother Jo, renowned journalist father Neal, watchful younger sister Delphine—the more she is convinced that not everything is as it seems. Anonymous notes arrive, urging Kate to unravel the tangled threads of Rosie's life and death, though she has no idea where they will lead.
Weaving flashbacks from Rosie's perspective into a tautly plotted narrative, The Bones of You is a gripping, haunting novel of sacrifices and lies, desperation and love.
Review:
This book brought to mind The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The haunting way in which Rosie tells the story of her murder makes for gripping reading. Also told via the perspectives of Kate, Jo and Delphine, The Bones of You is a gripping read that weaves each of these character's accounts together to reveal the truth.
This is a compelling read and there are twists galore - as each character revealed more, it got increasingly difficult to put the book down. I guessed the identity of the killer, but then i do read an awful lot of crime!
Published by: Kensington Books (June 30th 2015)
ISBN: 9781617737664
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4*
Synopsis:
I have a gardener's inherent belief in the natural order of things. Soft‑petalled flowers that go to seed. The resolute passage of the seasons. Swallows that fly thousands of miles to follow the eternal summer.
Children who don't die before their parents.
When Kate receives a phone call with news that Rosie Anderson is missing, she's stunned and disturbed. Rosie is eighteen, the same age as Kate's daughter, and a beautiful, quiet, and kind young woman. Though the locals are optimistic—girls like Rosie don't get into real trouble—Kate's sense of foreboding is confirmed when Rosie is found fatally beaten and stabbed.
Who would kill the perfect daughter, from the perfect family? Yet the more Kate entwines herself with the Andersons—graceful mother Jo, renowned journalist father Neal, watchful younger sister Delphine—the more she is convinced that not everything is as it seems. Anonymous notes arrive, urging Kate to unravel the tangled threads of Rosie's life and death, though she has no idea where they will lead.
Weaving flashbacks from Rosie's perspective into a tautly plotted narrative, The Bones of You is a gripping, haunting novel of sacrifices and lies, desperation and love.
Review:
This book brought to mind The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The haunting way in which Rosie tells the story of her murder makes for gripping reading. Also told via the perspectives of Kate, Jo and Delphine, The Bones of You is a gripping read that weaves each of these character's accounts together to reveal the truth.
This is a compelling read and there are twists galore - as each character revealed more, it got increasingly difficult to put the book down. I guessed the identity of the killer, but then i do read an awful lot of crime!
ISBN: 9781617737664
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4*
Synopsis:
I have a gardener's inherent belief in the natural order of things. Soft‑petalled flowers that go to seed. The resolute passage of the seasons. Swallows that fly thousands of miles to follow the eternal summer.
Children who don't die before their parents.
When Kate receives a phone call with news that Rosie Anderson is missing, she's stunned and disturbed. Rosie is eighteen, the same age as Kate's daughter, and a beautiful, quiet, and kind young woman. Though the locals are optimistic—girls like Rosie don't get into real trouble—Kate's sense of foreboding is confirmed when Rosie is found fatally beaten and stabbed.
Who would kill the perfect daughter, from the perfect family? Yet the more Kate entwines herself with the Andersons—graceful mother Jo, renowned journalist father Neal, watchful younger sister Delphine—the more she is convinced that not everything is as it seems. Anonymous notes arrive, urging Kate to unravel the tangled threads of Rosie's life and death, though she has no idea where they will lead.
Weaving flashbacks from Rosie's perspective into a tautly plotted narrative, The Bones of You is a gripping, haunting novel of sacrifices and lies, desperation and love.
Review:
This book brought to mind The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The haunting way in which Rosie tells the story of her murder makes for gripping reading. Also told via the perspectives of Kate, Jo and Delphine, The Bones of You is a gripping read that weaves each of these character's accounts together to reveal the truth.
This is a compelling read and there are twists galore - as each character revealed more, it got increasingly difficult to put the book down. I guessed the identity of the killer, but then i do read an awful lot of crime!
THE BONES OF YOU
WRITTEN BY DEBBIE HOWELLS
2015; KENSINGTON (320 PAGES)
GENRE: PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER, SUSPENSE, MYSTERY
RATING: 2.5 STARS
Rosie is missing and other than her mother the only person who seems concerned is their neighbour, Kate. From Kate, along with flashbacks told with Rosie’s voice, we go from a disappearance to the murder of the eighteen year old. Rosie’s voice is too much like Susie’s from The Lovely Bones without the insight that Sebold provides readers. Gone Girl was another comparison that has been made…while it lacks the clever twists and suspense of Gone Girl there are many characters that are just nasty in this novel. For me it was easy to figure out who the killer was as the clues and inferences were not subtly hidden. Also, the plot sort of falls apart 40% in and at times it veers off completely. Kate is not just naive but every time a twist is revealed she acts like she could have never figured it out. I did read an Advance Reader Copy but it read more like a draft to an editor. I think unfortunately, this novel just lacked editing and rewrites. I would try another Debbie Howell book if a friend recommended it.
***I RECEIVED AN eARC FROM NETGALLEY***
My Novelesque Life
WRITTEN BY DEBBIE HOWELLS
2015; KENSINGTON (320 PAGES)
GENRE: PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER, SUSPENSE, MYSTERY
RATING: 2.5 STARS
Rosie is missing and other than her mother the only person who seems concerned is their neighbour, Kate. From Kate, along with flashbacks told with Rosie’s voice, we go from a disappearance to the murder of the eighteen year old. Rosie’s voice is too much like Susie’s from The Lovely Bones without the insight that Sebold provides readers. Gone Girl was another comparison that has been made…while it lacks the clever twists and suspense of Gone Girl there are many characters that are just nasty in this novel. For me it was easy to figure out who the killer was as the clues and inferences were not subtly hidden. Also, the plot sort of falls apart 40% in and at times it veers off completely. Kate is not just naive but every time a twist is revealed she acts like she could have never figured it out. I did read an Advance Reader Copy but it read more like a draft to an editor. I think unfortunately, this novel just lacked editing and rewrites. I would try another Debbie Howell book if a friend recommended it.
***I RECEIVED AN eARC FROM NETGALLEY***
My Novelesque Life
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes