Recent Reads #2

29 Jun 2015



It's been about 2 months since I shared my first 'Recent Reads' post with you so I thought that I would update you on some of the books that I've read since then. Most of these books I bought as I'd heard a lot about them and they also fit into the thriller/psychological thriller genre which I love at the moment, but there is one exception which is practically the opposite. I actually really enjoyed all of the books I'm going to speak about this time but there were definitely a couple of standouts for me.


First up is Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson and this is one that definitely stood out to me and I couldn't put it down. It is about a woman who has lost her memory and can't remember anything when she wakes up each morning. She becomes unsure whether the people around her that she is supposed to trust are telling her the truth about her life and what happened to her. It's narrated through diary entries that she begins making to try and improve her memory and figure things out which really allows you to step into her shoes and try to understand what she's going through. Really suspenseful with lots of twists and turns which I thoroughly enjoyed. Anybody who loves a psychological thriller I would completely recommend this to, the way the story pans out is very unsettling but great to read. 



Next is The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins which I had seen and heard about absolutely everywhere so I knew I had to give it a go. This is told through the viewpoints of three female characters all with quite different personalities and each at different stages in their life who are all linked in small ways. The main narrator is Rachel,  a divorced alcoholic still pining after her ex prior to his affair, who catches the train everyday and sees the same couple each time the train stops at a certain point on her journey. Rachel has become attached to these individuals when she sees something major happen one day, then the woman from the couple goes missing which makes her become involved in the police case. Rachel is an unreliable narrator/witness due to her alcoholism which prompts many questions and makes the story all the more complex for the reader. The ending of this was incredible and for once I didn't pinpoint what the outcome would be until the very last minute. The Girl on the Train has had a lot of comparisons to Gone Girl, I personally don't think they're too similar and I did prefer Gone Girl but both are definitely worth a read.


The Lie by C. L. Taylor is one I purchased from Amazon's recommendations for me and though it wasn't one of my favourites I did enjoy reading this. What I liked most about this was the various characters and the exploration of the dynamics of a female friendship group and how being placed in certain situations can break down strong bonds and cause people to act unlike themselves. I haven't read a thriller like this before and it was interesting to read about something different. The storyline was quite chilling and dark and it did keep me intrigued throughout but it didn't grip me as much as other books I've read. I would recommend other books over this but if you're running out of ideas for what to read next then I wouldn't dismiss The Lie as it is very good. 


Saving the best for last, the book that I most recently finished does not fall into my usual choice of genre but Me Before You by Jojo Moyes was definitely the one that I could not stop turning the pages of out of all of my recent reads in this post. I could probably write an entire post about how much I loved this book so I'm going to attempt to keep it brief. Usually when books are described as "heartbreaking" and reviews say that they will "make you sob" I don't believe it as I rarely cry, but this had me in floods of tears. I can't describe how much this book moved me, it is such a thought-provoking, unconventional, and powerful love story which I will definitely be reading again because I thought it was so great. I think the reason that I loved this so much is because the characters are so strong - for me, they were comparable to Emma and Dexter from One Day - and you really connect with them and care about them, making you itching for them to be together. The storyline is wonderful and although it made me cry it made me smile and laugh too. It is beautifully written and I would highly recommend it, I can't wait to see the film now especially as Emilia Clarke is starring in it too!

As this became quite a lengthy post I am going to wrap it up here and do make sure if you have any recommendations of books for me to read, leave them in the comments below as I'm always up for discovering new books.



4 comments

  1. I haven't read any of these books and only briefly heard about The Girl On The Train before, but I just had to stop by and have a read, because i have a similar category on my blog called "Recent Reads". But I feature one book a time, I guess I don't read as much as you do.

    LindaLibraLoca: Beauty, Baby and Backpacking

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  2. Thank you for reading. I love seeing people's recommendations so I'll definitely check out your posts - I do read quite a lot and if I only featured 1 each time then I'd have so many posts!

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  3. I have the book Me before You.. never finished it though, but after reading this post I think i might try and finish it! Didn't know theres a movie coming out for it :o xxx

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    1. A friend of mine said this too - you should definitely give it another go! xx

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