My second blog tour today is Only In Whispers by Jacqueline Grima.
My Review:
Ok, so first off I have to admit that I struggled with this book at first. I found it slow to get into and the main character was quite annoying. I decided to check out some reviews on Goodreads (I normally don’t read reviews until after I’ve finished a book) and they were all four and five stars. Clearly I was missing something. So I tried to keep going and in the end decided to stop reading.
So why am I writing a review for the book? Well a funny thing happened. I made the decision to stop reading the book but almost immediately something in me wanted to keep going, I clearly wasn’t ready to give up yet. And once I’d made that decision I found that I got right into the story and quickly devoured the rest of the book.
The whole storyline intrigued me, you know that you were taken into care as a child and stayed with your aunt for over a year because your mum was unwell. That’s not a secret, you think that you know what happened and why. Until things start coming to you that don’t fit with the story that you have been told.
One of the things that frustrated me about this book was that the main character, Annie, seemed to suddenly start remembering things and these new memories came thick and fast. It seemed that she’d never thought about any of it before but suddenly bam, everything that she was doing seemed to trigger some sort of memory. It just didn’t feel natural.
Some of it was also quite predictable but that didn’t seem to matter. The story evolved and I enjoyed the read and was surprised that after I finished reading it I kept thinking about the characters and story. That’s a sure sign of a good read to me. The storyline was clever and different and it’s an impressive debut novel.
Thank you to Manatee Books for a copy of Only In Whispers by Jaqueline Grima. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.
Blurb:
A forgotten past
An uncertain future
A family hiding from the truth
When their mother is hospitalised with depression, Annie and her brother Matthew are fostered by their beloved Aunt Helen. Their family eventually reunited, the siblings begin a new life in Derbyshire with their mother and new stepfather.
Now in her thirties and separated from her husband, Annie is struggling to escape the past and move forward with her son. Haunted by memories of her childhood, she begins to realise that there may have been more to her time in foster care than her mother claims. Why did social services take her and Matthew away? Who can she trust to tell her what really happened?
As Annie finds out more, things take a sinister turn…has the life she’s lived so far been a lie?
About The Author:
Jacqueline Grima has recently completed an MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her creative work has appeared in a variety of publications and, in 2014, she was shortlisted for the Luke Bitmead Bursary Award. Only in Whispers is her first novel. Follow Jacqueline on Twitter @GrimaJgrima and read her blog at www.jacquelinegrima.wordpress.com
If only I could read faster 