Hey there! I hope you are having a lovely week. It's almost the weekend! Today my boyfriend and I had a little look around Peterborough, as he had to take his car to be serviced. You just have to have a look at the shops if you're going to Peterborough! It's only about half an hour drive, so it's just up the road. Anyway, we decided to have a look at Queensgate shopping centre. So it was only right that I went to have a quick look in Primark! I went straight to the homeware section, as I've been looking for the Marie collection for a while now. They only had the Marie trinket dish, so I just had to get it! I will definitely be adding it to some of my blog photos! I also found another little trinket dish too. We had a little look at a few other shops and then went home.
Today I'm back with a brand new book review. I'm very honoured to be apart of the A Breath After Drowning* blog tour. This book is by Alice Blanchard and came out on the 10th April and is published by Titan Books. I've also added the blog tour poster at the bottom of this post, where you can find all of the other bloggers who are taking part on this blog tour too. As you can see from the photos, the copy which I was kindly sent was an advanced review copy. Firstly, here's a little bit about the author. Alice Blanchard won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction for her book of stories, The Stuntman's Daughter. Her first novel, Darkness Peering was also named one of the New York Times Book Review's Notable Books. Alice's second novel is called The Breathtaker and was an official selection of the NBC Today Book Club. Having previously not read any novels by Alice before, I was very excited to read this one.
Kate Wolfe is a psychiatrist. Sixteen years ago Kate's younger sister Savannah was murdered. Over the years Kate has been forced to live with the guilt of how her own selfishness put Savannah in harm's way. What comforted Kate was knowing that the person responsible for her sister's death was behind bars. But Kate meets a retired detective who is very certain that Savannah was one of many victims of a serial killer. As family secrets come to surface, Kate is sure that she has uncovered the real person responsible for so much tragedy. But as Kate is hunting for the person responsible, Kate is the one being hunted.
The story starts off with Kate seeing one of her patients called Nikki. Kate is Nikki's therapist and they have been seeing each other for quite some time. On one particular day, when Nikki comes to her appointment to see Kate, Nikki asks many questions, some which are quite private. But Kate does her best to listen and answer professionally. As Kate will be going away on holiday for two weeks, Kate tells Nikki, that she will be able to see another therapist who will help her and see her while she is away. Kate also gives Nikki contact numbers and tells her to call anytime, day or night.
Kate and her boyfriend James celebrate her birthday by going out for a bite to eat. But unbeknown to Kate he's got her a present. He presents her with a beautiful ring to match her eyes. But they already know that it doesn't mean they are now engaged, as Kate has made it very clear to James that she doesn't want to get married. As they make their way outside and home in the falling snow, they make their way up to their condo so they can enjoy a nice intimate night together. But just as they are getting comfy, the phone rings. Kate thinks it's Jame's mother so she asks him if he can answer it. It goes on to voicemail but it's not who they think. It's another doctor who works at the same hospital as Kate and James and he has some devastating news. Emotions run high with what happens next and events take an unexpected turn.
That's all I'm going to write about the plot as I really don't want to ruin it for you. If you are a fan of phycological thriller novels, then this is the book for you. As soon as I opened this book, I turned page after page after page. It was quite hard to put down. This book is brilliantly written and left me wanting to know more. It's gripping and chilling at the same time and full of twists and turns and the unexpected. I found the story to be fast paced, but you need to keep reading and get further into the story to find out what's really happening. I love Kate and James as a couple, I think they are great together. They both work in the same field and at the same hospital. They understand each other and get each other's jokes and James wants to help Kate as much as he can. As the story goes on we find out more about Kate and what happened to her sister Savannah, but we also learn more about these new unexpected turns of events and all is not as it seems.
I highly recommend checking this book out. It's a very addictive read. Head on over to the blogs below who are also taking part in this blog tour, to check out their reviews.
What books are you currently reading?
