South of England, late 1980s. We meet twins Robin and Sarah, two nine year old girls, one blonde, well behaved and eager to please and dark haired scrappy, angry Robin.
Total chalk and cheese, neither have any idea that their whole world is about to be turned upside down by the arrival of a new boy in their class.
Fast forward 20 years and Robin suffers from agoraphobia, living in Manchester while Sarah has been kicked out of her perfect life, leaving her husband who has taken their young daughter. What happens in between in told is turns by Sarah, and in the third person for Robin. The pace is fast and the story moves along quickly, due to short, snappy chapters. The author's love of books and music is evident and I love the subtle references to the 90s that took me back to my childhood, making the story even more real.
There are some brilliant twists in this story and you get an interesting sense of what the twins saw at the time in comparison to them looking back as adults and how skewed each person's 'truth' can be.
The only thing I didn't like about this book was the title; it sounds like the sort of book you would pick up at the last minute at the airport, but the story is so much more than that.
A real page turner and with a great ending that I didn't see coming. A highly recommended read and I can't wait to read Holly Seddon's first novel.
Total chalk and cheese, neither have any idea that their whole world is about to be turned upside down by the arrival of a new boy in their class.
Fast forward 20 years and Robin suffers from agoraphobia, living in Manchester while Sarah has been kicked out of her perfect life, leaving her husband who has taken their young daughter. What happens in between in told is turns by Sarah, and in the third person for Robin. The pace is fast and the story moves along quickly, due to short, snappy chapters. The author's love of books and music is evident and I love the subtle references to the 90s that took me back to my childhood, making the story even more real.
There are some brilliant twists in this story and you get an interesting sense of what the twins saw at the time in comparison to them looking back as adults and how skewed each person's 'truth' can be.
The only thing I didn't like about this book was the title; it sounds like the sort of book you would pick up at the last minute at the airport, but the story is so much more than that.
A real page turner and with a great ending that I didn't see coming. A highly recommended read and I can't wait to read Holly Seddon's first novel.