Book review: The Stepdaughter by Debbie Howells

Friday, December 4, 2020 Permalink

The Stepdaughter is the fourth book I’ve read by Debbie Howells and it sat on my iPad for months and months as I’d believed its publication was deferred until next year. (And I only just discovered it wasn’t / isn’t.)

I very much enjoyed Howells’ first psychological thriller, The Bones of You, in particular.

Her latest is another complex story of relationships and of secrets and lies. I should also mention that it features domestic violence and references to child pornography (though no details etc).

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three-half-stars

Book review: Part of the Silence by Debbie Howells

Sunday, June 25, 2017 Permalink

This is the third of Debbie Howells’ books I’ve read and I was particularly blown away by her first, The Bones of You. I also enjoyed The Beauty of the End, and now the author, based in West Sussex, does it again with her third novel, Part of the Silence.

There’s something very engaging about her characters; and her plots generally offer up something a little different. I must confess to being a little disappointed in the ending of this book… though I know that won’t surprise regular readers of my reviews who know I’m kinda hard to please.

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three-half-stars

Book review: The Bones of You by Debbie Howells

Thursday, July 2, 2015 Permalink

A compelling and beguiling voice shines through Debbie Howells‘ psychological thriller, The Bones of You. Unfortunately the voice is also one of regret and heartbreak because it belongs to 18 year old Rosanna (Rosie); who dies before we meet her.

The book’s been compared to Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones for that reason. (Australian novel, What Came Before by Anna George is another which comes to mind featuring someone who’s *supposedly* dead.)

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