Tuesday 19 December 2017

White Bodies by Jane Robins

Book Review


White Bodies by Jane Robins - Reading, Writing, Booking

"I can't remember such an exciting day in my life as this. I just wish he hadn't forced Tilda under the water and held her there so long."

White Bodies will be released in the UK on 28th December 2017. It is written by Jane Robins and published by HQ.

White Bodies had equal parts good and bad for me, books usually go one way or the other, but this one had elements I thought brilliant and others that just didn't work, so it ends up sitting at an average 3 stars, although I don't think this is a particularly average book.



BLURB


Callie loves Tilda. She’s her sister, after all. And she’s beautiful and successful.
Tilda loves Felix. He’s her husband. Successful and charismatic, he is also controlling, suspicious and, possibly, dangerous. Still, Tilda loves Felix.
And Callie loves Tilda. Very, very much.
So she’s determined to save her. But the cost could destroy them all…
Sometimes we love too much.


The story seems to go in one particular direction, but has the usual twists and turns that make up today's thrillers, so even though it starts down one route, I wasn't surprised when revelations were made and it started going a different way.

Though I did guess the ending, the lead up to it is fairly engrossing and confusing. This is a book where you cannot trust any of the characters,and when you think you've finally figured one out, you soon find out that you haven't.

Robins is good at keeping the tension simmering at a low level but always there, making reading White Bodies distinctly unsettling.

The twin sisters are, on the surface, fairly common characters literature, especially the current slew of thrillers featuring sisters, with one shining bright and the other feeling over looked. But Robins adds in some distinct character traits that make them solidify a little more; Callie's unpleasant eating habits being one that stands out for the truly disturbing nature.

Callie is an odd character to pin down, equal parts sinister yet pitiful. She is very much an unreliable narrator and I was oddly drawn to her. However, I did feel that by the end of the book she had lost some of her originality.

I was intrigued by the relationship between the sisters and trying to fathom out what was happening with Tilda. Yet I can't but feel that the basis of the story is very similar to several others, and there are little flourishes added to make it a bit different, like a plain Victoria sponge cake with different icing to make it stand out (does that make sense?). Still, White Bodies was a disturbing read that will get people talking.

My Rating: 3 Stars


I received a copy of White Bodies in return for an honest review. My thanks to the publisher and author.

White Bodies by Jane Robins - Reading, Writing, Booking

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