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Two Little Girls
An innocent girl is taken. The killer confesses.
But that’s not the whole story. That’s not even the beginning...
It’s 1985 and the disappearance of ten-year-old Lisa Cook shocks the nation. Her best friend, Kirsty, traumatised and fearful, gives evidence that helps to put the Cook family’s lodger behind bars.
…But what if Kirsty made a mistake?
Now, decades later, Kirsty leaves a life she loves to move back to the hometown she hates – tortured by her memories, she’s determined to finally uncover the truth about what happened to Lisa that day. But someone is waiting for her there, someone close to her family. Someone who is hoping to finish off a job that was started years ago…
An absolutely gripping emotional drama for fans of The Couple Next Door, Whisper Me This and Laura Elliot.
But that’s not the whole story. That’s not even the beginning...
It’s 1985 and the disappearance of ten-year-old Lisa Cook shocks the nation. Her best friend, Kirsty, traumatised and fearful, gives evidence that helps to put the Cook family’s lodger behind bars.
…But what if Kirsty made a mistake?
Now, decades later, Kirsty leaves a life she loves to move back to the hometown she hates – tortured by her memories, she’s determined to finally uncover the truth about what happened to Lisa that day. But someone is waiting for her there, someone close to her family. Someone who is hoping to finish off a job that was started years ago…
An absolutely gripping emotional drama for fans of The Couple Next Door, Whisper Me This and Laura Elliot.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 17, 2019
About the author
Frances Vick
4 books71 followersThe only child of parents who worked at a top security psychiatric hospital, Frances Vick grew up receiving disquieting notes and presents from the inmates. Expelled from school, she spent the next few years on the dole, augmenting her income by providing security and crewing for gigs, and being a medical experiment guinea pig. Later jobs included working in a theatre in Manhattan, teaching English in Japanese Junior High Schools, and being a life model in Italy, before coming back to London and working with young offenders and refugees. Chinaski is her first novel. Her second, Bad Little Girl is out in February 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
April 16, 2019
**UPDATE #2**
Somebody reported my review on Amazon because of my autism comments. Amazon deleted it. I sometimes wonder if the owner of Amazon has ever actually read the Constitution? I'm pretty much over Amazon at this point. They're as bad as Facebook with their censorship.
**UPDATE**
The author actually contacted me regarding the autism section of my review, absolutely denying that she'd written any such thing and being incredibly condescending. She actually told me I must have the wrong book (because I clearly don't know what book I'm reviewing?), and that I should re-read her book to see she's "not that person." I was forced to dig through the book, find the offensive passages, and point them out to her one by one...after which she had no response. Not a fan.
At the 30% mark (Chapter 12) in the book..."It was Kirsty who persuaded Vic that vaccinations wouldn't give Milo autism."
At the 66% mark (Chapter 23) in the book..."She took me aside and said that crowded places like museums weren't the best place for a child with autism."
At the 65% mark (Chapter 22)..."The morning held meetings with a psychiatric nurse with halitosis; an abrupt accountant on the autistic spectrum who needed painstaking guidance on how to care for his dementia ridden mother; and something her jolly, over-medicated line manager had dubbed a file cleanse."
***************
ORIGINAL REVIEW
I have many thoughts about this novel--some positive, more negative.
Two Little Girls is hard to nail down. It had potential...loads, in fact. Unfortunately, it never quite reached a sterling level. Indeed, there were parts I found utterly offensive.
The Good:
1. Frances Vick was effortless writing from the children's point of view. I often find books written from a child's perspective tedious and cringe-worthy (Room, anyone?). Thankfully, the voices of Lisa and Kirsty were not only believable, but really captured the essence of an 80s child.
2. This is a slow-burning story, but it does eventually get you where you want to go...I was somewhat engaged throughout.
The Bad:
1. I realize the protagonist can't see everything from the start...otherwise, there wouldn't be a story. But what is it lately with these dimwitted characters? So many books I've picked up recently have characters who are clearly lacking in IQ points. Either that, or they're doormats. Both are equally frustrating to read. Kirsty was no exception.
2. I figured out the "twist" by the halfway point in the book. Admittedly, I was thrown by a couple red herrings initially, and although those ploys were quite good, the author then proceeded to make the rookie mistake of practically holding a blinking, neon sign above the antagonist's head, reading, "I did it."
3. I wasn't able to relate to any of the adult characters. Lisa was such a liar, I'm not sure she could even discern fact from fiction. Kirsty was haunted by her part in putting an innocent man in jail, but, then again...not really. Her guilt and shame never truly made an appearance. Lee was too good to be true, and popped one too many one-liners for my taste. Vic was a self-centered basket case. Angela was icy and closed off. Bryan was an idiot. Sylvia was a poor, lonely old woman, living off her daughter's fame. The entire Leaves clan was gritty and somewhat distasteful. None of them rang true to me.
The Ugly:
1. And this, my friends, is why this book only earned 2 stars (which has since gone to 1 star after my interaction with the author...see above). Multiple times, the author made veiled, but disparaging remarks about those suffering from autism. Her distaste was clear. As the mother of a child on the spectrum, it ruined the story for me...not that the story was that brag-worthy to begin with. Further, she also made a comment about vaccines not causing autism. I beg to differ. My son's medical records, from a developmental pediatrician, indicate a diagnosis of autism secondary to vaccine injury. If Ms. Vick would like to debate this, I'd be happy to...but in the meantime, she should avoid topics she clearly knows nothing about, and quit hating on spectrum children/adults. For this reason alone, I will never pick up another of her books.
**Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Frances Vick for an advanced reader's copy of his novel, in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Somebody reported my review on Amazon because of my autism comments. Amazon deleted it. I sometimes wonder if the owner of Amazon has ever actually read the Constitution? I'm pretty much over Amazon at this point. They're as bad as Facebook with their censorship.
**UPDATE**
The author actually contacted me regarding the autism section of my review, absolutely denying that she'd written any such thing and being incredibly condescending. She actually told me I must have the wrong book (because I clearly don't know what book I'm reviewing?), and that I should re-read her book to see she's "not that person." I was forced to dig through the book, find the offensive passages, and point them out to her one by one...after which she had no response. Not a fan.
At the 30% mark (Chapter 12) in the book..."It was Kirsty who persuaded Vic that vaccinations wouldn't give Milo autism."
At the 66% mark (Chapter 23) in the book..."She took me aside and said that crowded places like museums weren't the best place for a child with autism."
At the 65% mark (Chapter 22)..."The morning held meetings with a psychiatric nurse with halitosis; an abrupt accountant on the autistic spectrum who needed painstaking guidance on how to care for his dementia ridden mother; and something her jolly, over-medicated line manager had dubbed a file cleanse."
***************
ORIGINAL REVIEW
I have many thoughts about this novel--some positive, more negative.
Two Little Girls is hard to nail down. It had potential...loads, in fact. Unfortunately, it never quite reached a sterling level. Indeed, there were parts I found utterly offensive.
The Good:
1. Frances Vick was effortless writing from the children's point of view. I often find books written from a child's perspective tedious and cringe-worthy (Room, anyone?). Thankfully, the voices of Lisa and Kirsty were not only believable, but really captured the essence of an 80s child.
2. This is a slow-burning story, but it does eventually get you where you want to go...I was somewhat engaged throughout.
The Bad:
1. I realize the protagonist can't see everything from the start...otherwise, there wouldn't be a story. But what is it lately with these dimwitted characters? So many books I've picked up recently have characters who are clearly lacking in IQ points. Either that, or they're doormats. Both are equally frustrating to read. Kirsty was no exception.
2. I figured out the "twist" by the halfway point in the book. Admittedly, I was thrown by a couple red herrings initially, and although those ploys were quite good, the author then proceeded to make the rookie mistake of practically holding a blinking, neon sign above the antagonist's head, reading, "I did it."
3. I wasn't able to relate to any of the adult characters. Lisa was such a liar, I'm not sure she could even discern fact from fiction. Kirsty was haunted by her part in putting an innocent man in jail, but, then again...not really. Her guilt and shame never truly made an appearance. Lee was too good to be true, and popped one too many one-liners for my taste. Vic was a self-centered basket case. Angela was icy and closed off. Bryan was an idiot. Sylvia was a poor, lonely old woman, living off her daughter's fame. The entire Leaves clan was gritty and somewhat distasteful. None of them rang true to me.
The Ugly:
1. And this, my friends, is why this book only earned 2 stars (which has since gone to 1 star after my interaction with the author...see above). Multiple times, the author made veiled, but disparaging remarks about those suffering from autism. Her distaste was clear. As the mother of a child on the spectrum, it ruined the story for me...not that the story was that brag-worthy to begin with. Further, she also made a comment about vaccines not causing autism. I beg to differ. My son's medical records, from a developmental pediatrician, indicate a diagnosis of autism secondary to vaccine injury. If Ms. Vick would like to debate this, I'd be happy to...but in the meantime, she should avoid topics she clearly knows nothing about, and quit hating on spectrum children/adults. For this reason alone, I will never pick up another of her books.
**Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Frances Vick for an advanced reader's copy of his novel, in exchange for my honest thoughts.
April 4, 2019
Two Little Girls by Frances Vick was a book that I was really enjoying until about halfway through. It seems to completely change direction and slowed the story down. I struggled with the second half of the story and the ending. Overall it was an OK read - I didn't hate it but I did not love it as much as I thought I would in the beginning. I was hoping for more.
The two little girls are gest friends Lisa and Kirsty in 1984. They do everything together and plan to keep doing so. Lisa is prone to over exaggerating stories and telling blatant lies. This makes it difficult for Kirsty to know what is real and what isn't. Then Lisa goes missing one afternoon after school - Kirsty is scared and tells the police some of Lisa's stories about the lodges staying with them. Then one of the lodgers is arrested for the murder of Lisa. 30 years later Kirsty is still struggling with her friends death and has never really believed that the right man was convicted. She starts looking into the day she went missing again and finds out many things she did not know as a child.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.
The two little girls are gest friends Lisa and Kirsty in 1984. They do everything together and plan to keep doing so. Lisa is prone to over exaggerating stories and telling blatant lies. This makes it difficult for Kirsty to know what is real and what isn't. Then Lisa goes missing one afternoon after school - Kirsty is scared and tells the police some of Lisa's stories about the lodges staying with them. Then one of the lodgers is arrested for the murder of Lisa. 30 years later Kirsty is still struggling with her friends death and has never really believed that the right man was convicted. She starts looking into the day she went missing again and finds out many things she did not know as a child.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.
March 5, 2019
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this compelling psychological thriller which contains many unpredictable twists. At its core is a clever description of how childhood memories can be manipulated by unscrupulous people.
Krista and Lisa, aged 10, are inseparable childhood friends. Lisa has a wild imagination and a penchant for telling farfetched stories; especially that she was engaged to marry Toqueer, her mother’s lodger, and plans to move to his home country with him and become a princess. Krista has learned to believe very little of Lisa’s lies, but attempts to confront her has led to crying or temper tantrums. I found the early part of the book dealing with the young girl’s conversations and actions to be believable and compelling.
Lisa has gone missing, and Krista is subjected to lengthy question sessions by the police, who in turn coerce, threaten and reward her into giving the answers they want. Krista, after repeated badgering, becomes confused about what she really remembers. She agrees that she saw Toqueer in the park where Lisa was last seen by her. He is arrested and understands little English. He is not given an interpreter and confesses. He believes he is confessing to overextending his student visa, and not murder.
Thirty years later, Krista, is trying to figure out what really happened. Her memories are still hazy. She gathers facts and speculation from the internet, wondering if she was instrumental in sending an innocent man to prison.. She moves back to her hometown and accepts work there. Her loving and protective husband is concerned with her obsession with the past. At this point, she treats her husband unfairly. He cannot move with her because of work commitments.
Instead of carrying out a straightforward investigation into Lisa’s disappearance, she becomes entangled with two psychics. One is an elderly woman, Sylvia,
with infirmities common to her age. She does Tarot card readings for free and lives in impoverished and ramshackle conditions. The other is her daughter, a wealthy TV psychic, now living in the USA. Mother and daughter do not get along. Sylvia becomes like a mother figure to Krista. Are either woman possessed with true supernatural gifts, or are they fakes? Who can she believe in her quest for answers about the past and what happened to Lisa? Can she trust her husband who has been hiding a secret?
Krista soon finds herself in mortal danger. The truth and outcome are far from predictable. 2.5 stars
Krista and Lisa, aged 10, are inseparable childhood friends. Lisa has a wild imagination and a penchant for telling farfetched stories; especially that she was engaged to marry Toqueer, her mother’s lodger, and plans to move to his home country with him and become a princess. Krista has learned to believe very little of Lisa’s lies, but attempts to confront her has led to crying or temper tantrums. I found the early part of the book dealing with the young girl’s conversations and actions to be believable and compelling.
Lisa has gone missing, and Krista is subjected to lengthy question sessions by the police, who in turn coerce, threaten and reward her into giving the answers they want. Krista, after repeated badgering, becomes confused about what she really remembers. She agrees that she saw Toqueer in the park where Lisa was last seen by her. He is arrested and understands little English. He is not given an interpreter and confesses. He believes he is confessing to overextending his student visa, and not murder.
Thirty years later, Krista, is trying to figure out what really happened. Her memories are still hazy. She gathers facts and speculation from the internet, wondering if she was instrumental in sending an innocent man to prison.. She moves back to her hometown and accepts work there. Her loving and protective husband is concerned with her obsession with the past. At this point, she treats her husband unfairly. He cannot move with her because of work commitments.
Instead of carrying out a straightforward investigation into Lisa’s disappearance, she becomes entangled with two psychics. One is an elderly woman, Sylvia,
with infirmities common to her age. She does Tarot card readings for free and lives in impoverished and ramshackle conditions. The other is her daughter, a wealthy TV psychic, now living in the USA. Mother and daughter do not get along. Sylvia becomes like a mother figure to Krista. Are either woman possessed with true supernatural gifts, or are they fakes? Who can she believe in her quest for answers about the past and what happened to Lisa? Can she trust her husband who has been hiding a secret?
Krista soon finds herself in mortal danger. The truth and outcome are far from predictable. 2.5 stars
April 15, 2019
Two Little Girls is a difficult book to engage with, and I found my interest lacking as the story progressed. The first half actually felt like it was going somewhere but the second half goes off on a tangent and almost instantly becomes tedious. I also felt it was lacking the essential thrills to be defined as a thriller. It was predictable, too, and so disjointed that the flow was affected time and time again. On the positive side, it portrayed how manipulative people can be and will make you consider whether those around you have an agenda or are genuinely showing real emotion and speaking true thoughts.
Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC.
Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC.
January 12, 2020
I was in my early 20's when I started questioning everything in life. I learned not to take everything face value because just like the iceberg, only 10% can be seen with naked eyes.
This book have flaws. The author touched on sensitive issue, not trying to make fun of it in my opinion, but to open the readers eyes to not take things as it is.
1/3 of the book, I realized almost all her characters were vain. How come you didn't know where Oman is. And even if you didn't know, that's the use of library. There's a map there. In fact, even nowadays with technology at the tip of our finger, how many of us know where Oman is.
Lisa gave me a fright. At the end of the book, I realized she'll grew up to be just like Sylvia. In fact, I have a niece who is like Lisa. What does that tell you? A wrong in parenting? How can a child lie so convincingly that even you, an adult, believe it's true.
And that's what the book about. That we are sheep, a follower that follow blindly. That we believe anything fed to us because we're too lazy to search the answer ourself. That was the main point.
The smooth writing, the pace, the mystery, this can be just any other book. But, it wasn't. The author wanted us to think. To use our brain for once.
I was on adrenaline rush when I started this book. How dare the PTA President said students who got 2A's or below out of 6 subjects in their high school entrance exam have no place in elite school because, in his word, they may not be able to cope with the pure science subjects. And it's not even related to me because it'll be another 3 years before my son sit for the exam.
But, this book hit it hard and reminded me of the head bopping in agreement with the PTA President. You got one lousy leader and a bunch of stupid followers. And I was even worst, knowing it was bullshit, I keep silent, wanting to belong. Why wasn't I standing on my chair, yelling at him that he's wrong. That one exam is not the basic of one future.
Well, that's how I interpret this book. That we should not follow blindly. Definitely not everything found on google. Because google just basically told me, the cold I'm having will lead to cancer. Yup.
This book have flaws. The author touched on sensitive issue, not trying to make fun of it in my opinion, but to open the readers eyes to not take things as it is.
1/3 of the book, I realized almost all her characters were vain. How come you didn't know where Oman is. And even if you didn't know, that's the use of library. There's a map there. In fact, even nowadays with technology at the tip of our finger, how many of us know where Oman is.
Lisa gave me a fright. At the end of the book, I realized she'll grew up to be just like Sylvia. In fact, I have a niece who is like Lisa. What does that tell you? A wrong in parenting? How can a child lie so convincingly that even you, an adult, believe it's true.
And that's what the book about. That we are sheep, a follower that follow blindly. That we believe anything fed to us because we're too lazy to search the answer ourself. That was the main point.
The smooth writing, the pace, the mystery, this can be just any other book. But, it wasn't. The author wanted us to think. To use our brain for once.
I was on adrenaline rush when I started this book. How dare the PTA President said students who got 2A's or below out of 6 subjects in their high school entrance exam have no place in elite school because, in his word, they may not be able to cope with the pure science subjects. And it's not even related to me because it'll be another 3 years before my son sit for the exam.
But, this book hit it hard and reminded me of the head bopping in agreement with the PTA President. You got one lousy leader and a bunch of stupid followers. And I was even worst, knowing it was bullshit, I keep silent, wanting to belong. Why wasn't I standing on my chair, yelling at him that he's wrong. That one exam is not the basic of one future.
Well, that's how I interpret this book. That we should not follow blindly. Definitely not everything found on google. Because google just basically told me, the cold I'm having will lead to cancer. Yup.
April 11, 2019
TWO LITTLE GIRLS by Frances Vick really had the potential to be a great book...but, for me, it simply failed to deliver. I wouldn't say I was enjoying it - more waiting for it to get better - till about halfway through when it it just went on a completely different tangent and simply lost the plot. I struggled with the second half with such an unbelievable ending. I was really disappointed because I had high expectations for this book, based on its synopsis. I didn't hate the book but I didn't love it either. I was just simply disappointed. It could have been so much better.
Beginning in 1985, Kirsty and Lisa are best friends and are inseparable. But with Lisa's penchant for exaggeration, her stories are so far-fetched - particularly the one where she was engaged to their lodger, Tokki, and was going away with him to become a princess - makes it difficult for Kirsty to know what is real and what isn't. She has learned to believe very little of what Lisa says but whenever she has tried to confront her about them it only leads to crying and temper tantrums. Then one day, Lisa admits that her and Tokki are not together, never have been, and that it was all in her head. Kirsty, frustrated at Lisa's constant and blatant lies, is hurt and confused and doesn't know what to believe any more. The girls have a row...and Kirsty walks off home, leaving Lisa by the canal.
Two days later, Lisa's mum rings Kirsty's in a panic. Has Kirsty seen Lisa? She never came home from school, disappearing without a trace. Kirsty is shocked, unable to believe it is really happening. Maybe it's one of Lisa's games and she expects Lisa will be at school the next day. But she isn't. Or the next. Then when Kirsty's name is linked with Lisa's disappearance, the police subject Kirsty to lengthy questioning, coercing her into giving the answers they want. After the constant badgering, Kirsty becomes confused with what she really remembers and agrees that she saw Tokki at the park where she left Lisa. When Tokki is arrested, not understanding English and without an interpreter, he confesses - belieiving he is confessing to an expired student visa, not murder.
Thirty years later, Kirsty has moved to London and is married to Lee. But the lies she told when questioned by the police haunt her - as does Lisa's disappearance. The fact that her body has never been found only compounds those memories with constant nightmares, with Kirsty unable to know what was real and what wasn't.
When Lisa's younger sister Vic (who was just a 3 year old at the time of Lisa's disappearance) falls pregnant and needs bedrest, she suddenly decides she needs her big sister to move in with her. "Just until the baby arrives" she tells Lee. Then after baby Milo is born, Vic presses Kirsty to stay to help her adjust. "Just until she adjusts" she tell Lee. But being so close to her hometown stirs up old memories again, and Kirsty decides to find out what really happened to Lisa all those years ago. She takes a flat and gets a job at a local hospital with the intention of Lee moving up from London when he has finished his jobs and they buy a house. But Lee is apprehensive, suddenly not as supportive as he always has been. Vic, on the other hand, decides she doesn't need Kirsty as much now with her mother and baby group and her new found interest in Angela Bright, the renowned psychic.
And this is where the story just goes downhill.
Becoming embroiled with two psychics - Angela and her elderly mother Sylvia - Kirsty soon discovers things aren't as they seem. Mother and daughter don't get along. Sylvia lives in an old ramshackle house in impoverished conditions. Angela is rich, making her wealth as TV psychic in the USA, home to settle her uncle's estate. But Kirsty is drawn to the kindly old Sylvia and sees a kind of mother figure in her. When Sylvia offers to read her cards, the results leave Kirsty questioning who she can trust. Who can she believe? Can she find out what really happened to Lisa? And can she trust her husband after discovering he has been hiding a secret?
TWO LITTLE GIRLS is not what I expected. Although Kirsty and Lisa were best friends I can't imagine why. Lisa was horrible, prone to exaggeration and a blatant liar. But to be fair, they were only 10 years old and at that age, they do have the propensity to be fanaticists and live in a world of make believe. But Lisa was also bossy and controlling, even at her young age, often going off in a huff or throwing a tantrum when Kirsty challenged her. I honestly didn't like Lisa as I could see so much of the bully in her that I was subjected to at that same age and into my teens.
Kirsty's sister Vic I much preferred when she was "baby Vicky". She seemed to be as demanding as Lisa was and incredibly shallow. The whole world just had to revolve around Vic and if it didn't, she moved on to where it did. Angela wasn't very likable whilst her mother Sylvia was. Lee started off supportive as Kirsty's strength and then seemed to become more secretive. why he just didn't tell her his "secret" in the beginning, I've no idea. And Kirsty? I couldn't make up my mind about her.
In the end, the book just seemed to drone on to a ridiculous ending. I was very disappointed as this had the potential to be a fantastic and intriguing thriller. I found I had to force myself to keep going - and if a book does that to me, it's not really worth the time.
However, having said that, this is my first book by Frances Vick and it won't stop me from trying another of her books...in the hope one of those would be better.
I would like to thank #FrancesVick, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TwoLittleGirls in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
Beginning in 1985, Kirsty and Lisa are best friends and are inseparable. But with Lisa's penchant for exaggeration, her stories are so far-fetched - particularly the one where she was engaged to their lodger, Tokki, and was going away with him to become a princess - makes it difficult for Kirsty to know what is real and what isn't. She has learned to believe very little of what Lisa says but whenever she has tried to confront her about them it only leads to crying and temper tantrums. Then one day, Lisa admits that her and Tokki are not together, never have been, and that it was all in her head. Kirsty, frustrated at Lisa's constant and blatant lies, is hurt and confused and doesn't know what to believe any more. The girls have a row...and Kirsty walks off home, leaving Lisa by the canal.
Two days later, Lisa's mum rings Kirsty's in a panic. Has Kirsty seen Lisa? She never came home from school, disappearing without a trace. Kirsty is shocked, unable to believe it is really happening. Maybe it's one of Lisa's games and she expects Lisa will be at school the next day. But she isn't. Or the next. Then when Kirsty's name is linked with Lisa's disappearance, the police subject Kirsty to lengthy questioning, coercing her into giving the answers they want. After the constant badgering, Kirsty becomes confused with what she really remembers and agrees that she saw Tokki at the park where she left Lisa. When Tokki is arrested, not understanding English and without an interpreter, he confesses - belieiving he is confessing to an expired student visa, not murder.
Thirty years later, Kirsty has moved to London and is married to Lee. But the lies she told when questioned by the police haunt her - as does Lisa's disappearance. The fact that her body has never been found only compounds those memories with constant nightmares, with Kirsty unable to know what was real and what wasn't.
When Lisa's younger sister Vic (who was just a 3 year old at the time of Lisa's disappearance) falls pregnant and needs bedrest, she suddenly decides she needs her big sister to move in with her. "Just until the baby arrives" she tells Lee. Then after baby Milo is born, Vic presses Kirsty to stay to help her adjust. "Just until she adjusts" she tell Lee. But being so close to her hometown stirs up old memories again, and Kirsty decides to find out what really happened to Lisa all those years ago. She takes a flat and gets a job at a local hospital with the intention of Lee moving up from London when he has finished his jobs and they buy a house. But Lee is apprehensive, suddenly not as supportive as he always has been. Vic, on the other hand, decides she doesn't need Kirsty as much now with her mother and baby group and her new found interest in Angela Bright, the renowned psychic.
And this is where the story just goes downhill.
Becoming embroiled with two psychics - Angela and her elderly mother Sylvia - Kirsty soon discovers things aren't as they seem. Mother and daughter don't get along. Sylvia lives in an old ramshackle house in impoverished conditions. Angela is rich, making her wealth as TV psychic in the USA, home to settle her uncle's estate. But Kirsty is drawn to the kindly old Sylvia and sees a kind of mother figure in her. When Sylvia offers to read her cards, the results leave Kirsty questioning who she can trust. Who can she believe? Can she find out what really happened to Lisa? And can she trust her husband after discovering he has been hiding a secret?
TWO LITTLE GIRLS is not what I expected. Although Kirsty and Lisa were best friends I can't imagine why. Lisa was horrible, prone to exaggeration and a blatant liar. But to be fair, they were only 10 years old and at that age, they do have the propensity to be fanaticists and live in a world of make believe. But Lisa was also bossy and controlling, even at her young age, often going off in a huff or throwing a tantrum when Kirsty challenged her. I honestly didn't like Lisa as I could see so much of the bully in her that I was subjected to at that same age and into my teens.
Kirsty's sister Vic I much preferred when she was "baby Vicky". She seemed to be as demanding as Lisa was and incredibly shallow. The whole world just had to revolve around Vic and if it didn't, she moved on to where it did. Angela wasn't very likable whilst her mother Sylvia was. Lee started off supportive as Kirsty's strength and then seemed to become more secretive. why he just didn't tell her his "secret" in the beginning, I've no idea. And Kirsty? I couldn't make up my mind about her.
In the end, the book just seemed to drone on to a ridiculous ending. I was very disappointed as this had the potential to be a fantastic and intriguing thriller. I found I had to force myself to keep going - and if a book does that to me, it's not really worth the time.
However, having said that, this is my first book by Frances Vick and it won't stop me from trying another of her books...in the hope one of those would be better.
I would like to thank #FrancesVick, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TwoLittleGirls in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
February 9, 2023
A good book. Worth checking out more books by this author!
April 17, 2019
My first book by this author and as I said before it always add a little bit of extra suspense because you have no idea what kind of style she has.
The book starts with a crime that is solved pretty fast. Good police work, right? Well …
And then suddenly the story makes a curve and you keep wondering where it is going to lead. Little by little you come closer to the revelation of the plot. I kept thinking ‘aha, X must be the culprit’ and a bit later ‘oh now I know! It certainly is Y!’ And finally the light blub moment : ‘It’s Z!!!’
In my opinion the structure of the story was very clever. It’s starts on a high, seemingly falls a bit flat but when you look back afterwards it was the start of a high and ends on a peak.
If you feel a bit lost in the middle, do not panic. It all happens for a reason and will be worth it in the end. The middle part only want to make you keep on reading because you want to know what the connection is.
I learned a lesson here : looks can be deceptive, very deceptive.
A very good book. 5 stars.
Thank you, Frances Vick, Bookouture and Netgalley.
https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com
The book starts with a crime that is solved pretty fast. Good police work, right? Well …
And then suddenly the story makes a curve and you keep wondering where it is going to lead. Little by little you come closer to the revelation of the plot. I kept thinking ‘aha, X must be the culprit’ and a bit later ‘oh now I know! It certainly is Y!’ And finally the light blub moment : ‘It’s Z!!!’
In my opinion the structure of the story was very clever. It’s starts on a high, seemingly falls a bit flat but when you look back afterwards it was the start of a high and ends on a peak.
If you feel a bit lost in the middle, do not panic. It all happens for a reason and will be worth it in the end. The middle part only want to make you keep on reading because you want to know what the connection is.
I learned a lesson here : looks can be deceptive, very deceptive.
A very good book. 5 stars.
Thank you, Frances Vick, Bookouture and Netgalley.
https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com
July 7, 2019
This starts with meeting the two main protagonists, Lisa and Kirsty….best friends..
In 1985 Lisa disappears from a local park, her body is later found...she had been murdered…...she was alone as Kirsty had left her after an argument….
A man was charged, all based on Kirsty’s testimony…….now 30 years later, still wracked with guilt and doubts she returns home to find out the truth….(bit late for the guy locked up!)....who can she trust? will she find the truth?
A clever, slow burn of a thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read an ecopy. This is my honest, unbiased review.
Merged review:
This starts with meeting the two main protagonists, Lisa and Kirsty….best friends..
In 1985 Lisa disappears from a local park, her body is later found...she had been murdered…...she was alone as Kirsty had left her after an argument….
A man was charged, all based on Kirsty’s testimony…….now 30 years later, still wracked with guilt and doubts she returns home to find out the truth….(bit late for the guy locked up!)....who can she trust? will she find the truth?
A clever, slow burn of a thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read an ecopy. This is my honest, unbiased review.
In 1985 Lisa disappears from a local park, her body is later found...she had been murdered…...she was alone as Kirsty had left her after an argument….
A man was charged, all based on Kirsty’s testimony…….now 30 years later, still wracked with guilt and doubts she returns home to find out the truth….(bit late for the guy locked up!)....who can she trust? will she find the truth?
A clever, slow burn of a thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read an ecopy. This is my honest, unbiased review.
Merged review:
This starts with meeting the two main protagonists, Lisa and Kirsty….best friends..
In 1985 Lisa disappears from a local park, her body is later found...she had been murdered…...she was alone as Kirsty had left her after an argument….
A man was charged, all based on Kirsty’s testimony…….now 30 years later, still wracked with guilt and doubts she returns home to find out the truth….(bit late for the guy locked up!)....who can she trust? will she find the truth?
A clever, slow burn of a thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read an ecopy. This is my honest, unbiased review.
April 9, 2019
I really enjoyed this book and am filled with somewhat mixed emotions on it. The beginning was REALLY good and roped me in right away. The middle of this book plateaued for me and in losing that momentum, it made it difficult for me to delve into it every waking second. I am not implying it was a bad read in the middle by any means. I just found it slow moving. The writing was wonderful and there were some twists and turns that were worthy of a good jaw drop. The book did eventually pick up its momentum again and the ending was delivered with a pretty hand clapping good worthy twist.
Thank you to #NetGalley, #Bookouture and the author for my opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I wish our star rating system had half stars. I really believe this book is somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4.
I would go 3.8 stars.
Thank you to #NetGalley, #Bookouture and the author for my opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I wish our star rating system had half stars. I really believe this book is somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4.
I would go 3.8 stars.
June 6, 2019
Two Little Girls is a psychological thriller that focuses on the disappearance of a little girl in 1985, and how her best friend is dealing with the aftermath in the present. The story was well thought out with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing, however, there were a few points in the book in which I had to make myself continue reading.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 2, 2019
Thanks #Netgalley, #Bookouture, and the author for providing an ARC to read.
This is a well written gripping and pacey crime thriller with well laid and engaging characters.
Two girls one goes missing and the other driven by fear she may have testified against an innocent man decides to uncover the truth Un aware that certain truths better remain unknown.
This is a well written gripping and pacey crime thriller with well laid and engaging characters.
Two girls one goes missing and the other driven by fear she may have testified against an innocent man decides to uncover the truth Un aware that certain truths better remain unknown.
January 5, 2020
This is the first book I have read by this author and I thought it a good example of human character study; i.e. is a person born 'good' or 'evil', or are they made that way due to circumstances, or perhaps a combination? In this story, two ten year old girls, Lisa and Kirstie, are best friends in a mid-size town some distance from London. The two are inseparable, but when they begin to enter puberty, Kirstie is much more conservative in her actions and attitudes than Lisa is. Lisa's mother takes in boarders to help ends meet, two of them are from Oman. Lisa flirts outrageously with one of them, and he flattered by her attention tells her outlandish customs and practices of his homeland (although a lot of this is religious-based rather than cultural differences between the two nations). One day after school, Lisa and Kirstie are walking home from school and run into the two boys from Oman, as well as some of their male classmates they grew up with. Kirstie becomes bored with the whole horsing around attitude, and she goes home. Lisa stays with the boys and is offered a sip of beer, and she keeps asking for more. The next event: Lisa is missing and the police are called in to investigate; nothing of hers was ever seen again except for the jacket she had been wearing, and it is assumed by everyone that the girl was murdered. Thirty years later, Kirstie takes a job in her former hometown because she has never been able to find closure in her mind as to what could have happened to Lisa. She meets many of the adults she went to school with when they were all children, and she becomes intrigued by Angela (real name Maria) whose mother is a self-proclaimed psychic. The relationship between mother and daughter is fraught with problems; that is why Angela lives and works in London, rather than in her hometown. Besides, it seems that most people living in this town are either related by blood or marriage to most of the others, so gossip about Lisa's murder runs rampant for several years, before the case goes cold. And then Angela has to deal with solicitors regarding her mother's property and ends up in the same town. She and Kirstie meet, and the back and forth verbal ping-pong between these two women, and their opinions of several of the other townspeople is fascinating. It seems that no one really knows what happened on the day Lisa disappeared, although one of the boys from Oman was convicted of murdering her, although no body was ever found. It is rather fascinating to see how panic spreads through a town and humans in general have a tendency to find a scapegoat (perpetrator of a crime or not). During this period about thirty years after Lisa's disappearance, the imprisoned boy is filing another appeal on his case, and this time, things may just turn out differently for all concerned.
March 25, 2019
*I use the Goodreads star system. 2* = "It was ok"*
Two Little Girls isn't a typical murder mystery; it's not so much about the victim as the survivors, especially Kirsty, the best friend of a ten-year-old girl who goes missing in the 80s. Back then, the police investigation was bungled and Kirsty was pressured into giving evidence that put a man behind bars. Suspicions soon arise that the wrong man was found guilty and the true killer is still at large, but with no further evidence, the case lays dormant. Until, twenty years later, Kirsty is drawn back to the town where it all happened and begins to seek out the real truth.
I loved the premise of Two Little Girls and the first half had me gripped. The friendship between the two young girls was very well written (children's POVs often seem unrealistic and cringy to me, but the author did a great job), the dodgy police work was depressingly convincing, and my heart went out to pretty much everyone, including the wrongfully-convicted 'murderer.'
The second half was a big disappointment for me, and it's hard to articulate why without giving spoilers. I can say that Kirsty didn't seem at all troubled with the idea that she had put an innocent man behind bars, and her motivation was a little cloudy - she didn't burn to know the truth, she just sort of... went along with it as events unfolded. In general she was very passive and meek, not the type of character to drive a mystery or a thriller. The big twist was half predictable and half meh; I guessed pretty early on who the true killer would be, but the details of how it all happened wasn't very exciting. The denouement was pretty clumsy - lots of talking and bald explanation - and truthfully I was quite bored by it.
There was so much potential here to play with the idea of false/uncertain memories, and none of it was exploited. It was crystal clear, from the first few chapters, what Kirsty had really seen and what she only SAID she saw in response to the police steering her. It would've been a much more layered and powerful novel if the author had played with uncertainty and left us - and Kirsty - in constant doubt of what was true and what was a lie.
Overall, I think Two Little Girls has a great premise and a great first half but suffered from a lack of tension in that second half. There was no urgency to solve the mystery and get the innocent man released, no convincing threat to Kirsty, no reason that she had to find the truth beyond curiosity. I wanted more of a driving force behind the plot.
Two Little Girls isn't a typical murder mystery; it's not so much about the victim as the survivors, especially Kirsty, the best friend of a ten-year-old girl who goes missing in the 80s. Back then, the police investigation was bungled and Kirsty was pressured into giving evidence that put a man behind bars. Suspicions soon arise that the wrong man was found guilty and the true killer is still at large, but with no further evidence, the case lays dormant. Until, twenty years later, Kirsty is drawn back to the town where it all happened and begins to seek out the real truth.
I loved the premise of Two Little Girls and the first half had me gripped. The friendship between the two young girls was very well written (children's POVs often seem unrealistic and cringy to me, but the author did a great job), the dodgy police work was depressingly convincing, and my heart went out to pretty much everyone, including the wrongfully-convicted 'murderer.'
The second half was a big disappointment for me, and it's hard to articulate why without giving spoilers. I can say that Kirsty didn't seem at all troubled with the idea that she had put an innocent man behind bars, and her motivation was a little cloudy - she didn't burn to know the truth, she just sort of... went along with it as events unfolded. In general she was very passive and meek, not the type of character to drive a mystery or a thriller. The big twist was half predictable and half meh; I guessed pretty early on who the true killer would be, but the details of how it all happened wasn't very exciting. The denouement was pretty clumsy - lots of talking and bald explanation - and truthfully I was quite bored by it.
There was so much potential here to play with the idea of false/uncertain memories, and none of it was exploited. It was crystal clear, from the first few chapters, what Kirsty had really seen and what she only SAID she saw in response to the police steering her. It would've been a much more layered and powerful novel if the author had played with uncertainty and left us - and Kirsty - in constant doubt of what was true and what was a lie.
Overall, I think Two Little Girls has a great premise and a great first half but suffered from a lack of tension in that second half. There was no urgency to solve the mystery and get the innocent man released, no convincing threat to Kirsty, no reason that she had to find the truth beyond curiosity. I wanted more of a driving force behind the plot.
April 28, 2019
This was the first book I had read by Frances Vick and I really enjoyed it. The book opens with the introduction of two young girls, best friends Kirsty and Lisa. In 1985 Lisa disappears from a local park and she is found murdered. Kirsty, who was with Lisa, had an argument and left her there. She was the last person to see her alive and on her evidence a man is charged. Now over thirty years later, Kirsty is still feeling traumatised and guilty over Lisa’s death and having doubts about what she saw. She decides to move back to her hometown where she meets a psychic woman who says she can help her find out the truth, but then realises that she can’t trust anyone. I did find this book slow at times but pleased I persevered. An enjoyable read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
April 19, 2019
This started out pretty good and then stalled for a while. It was an interesting premise and the characters and writing were quite good. That Lisa was something else!
Then it gets strange, this story. Maybe because the whole “two friends start out and only one returns” thing is starting to wear on me but the second half of the story was odd. Did I expect it? No, so there’s that. It’s not a bad ending I just didn’t see it heading that way...
Pls try this one for yourself as I think I’m tired of the missing child genre and many will enjoy this story.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review.
Then it gets strange, this story. Maybe because the whole “two friends start out and only one returns” thing is starting to wear on me but the second half of the story was odd. Did I expect it? No, so there’s that. It’s not a bad ending I just didn’t see it heading that way...
Pls try this one for yourself as I think I’m tired of the missing child genre and many will enjoy this story.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review.
March 12, 2019
Kirsty and her best friend, Lisa, want to grow up and live next door to each other, name their kids after each other and be friends forever until Lisa disappears. Years later, Kirsty, is struggling with her life and the knowledge they never found Lisa’s body but does someone she know hold the clue to solve the crime?
This was a good read and the ending was not what I expected. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
This was a good read and the ending was not what I expected. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
March 9, 2019
Thanks to Bookouture for the ARC!
Wow, this book was such a great surprise for me! I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy it this much, since crime stories aren't exactly my favorites. But damnnn, this author is good!
When Lisa Cook disappears without any explanation, her best friend, Kirsty, is interrogated by the police to help them unravel the mystery. The problem is, she doesn't have all the answers.
Lisa was a good liar. She was always making up stories to make her life seem more interesting. For that reason, she didn't have many friends. She said she was dating one of her lodgers, a prince named Tokki. His friend, Mohammed, was still available to date Kirsty. She said they could all live together in Oman, doing anything they wanted to. They'd be rich and powerful.
Kirsty never believed these stories, but she found Lisa's friendship with the guys very strange.
One day, Lisa finally admitted that they never dated, it was all only in her head. The girls had a fight. And then Lisa went missing.
Kirsty was shocked and traumatized, but she had to answer many questions to help the police. She wanted her friend back. She was only a child, with lots of fears. Without any kind of protection during their sessions, she was coerced to say that the lodgers were guilty, because she had seen them in the park that day.
That was not true. And she knew. But Tokki confessed the crime, and he was arrested.
30 years later, those lies still haunt her a lot. The fact that they had never found the girl's body only increased her suspicions that things still weren't over.
The truth isn't just shocking for Kirsty, but for the reader as well.
It's the first book I read from this author and I really enjoyed her work. I thought she was able to blend the children's innocence with the disturbed minds of the adults around them in a balanced way. It's also a great criticism of the investigation system, which often puts a person who's not emotionally prepared to testify about a fact, without being able to really analyze the situation.
Wow, this book was such a great surprise for me! I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy it this much, since crime stories aren't exactly my favorites. But damnnn, this author is good!
When Lisa Cook disappears without any explanation, her best friend, Kirsty, is interrogated by the police to help them unravel the mystery. The problem is, she doesn't have all the answers.
Lisa was a good liar. She was always making up stories to make her life seem more interesting. For that reason, she didn't have many friends. She said she was dating one of her lodgers, a prince named Tokki. His friend, Mohammed, was still available to date Kirsty. She said they could all live together in Oman, doing anything they wanted to. They'd be rich and powerful.
Kirsty never believed these stories, but she found Lisa's friendship with the guys very strange.
One day, Lisa finally admitted that they never dated, it was all only in her head. The girls had a fight. And then Lisa went missing.
Kirsty was shocked and traumatized, but she had to answer many questions to help the police. She wanted her friend back. She was only a child, with lots of fears. Without any kind of protection during their sessions, she was coerced to say that the lodgers were guilty, because she had seen them in the park that day.
That was not true. And she knew. But Tokki confessed the crime, and he was arrested.
30 years later, those lies still haunt her a lot. The fact that they had never found the girl's body only increased her suspicions that things still weren't over.
The truth isn't just shocking for Kirsty, but for the reader as well.
It's the first book I read from this author and I really enjoyed her work. I thought she was able to blend the children's innocence with the disturbed minds of the adults around them in a balanced way. It's also a great criticism of the investigation system, which often puts a person who's not emotionally prepared to testify about a fact, without being able to really analyze the situation.
April 11, 2019
I found the beginning of this book to be a little dry and I kept putting it down having to force myself to continue. Once I got through the first few chapters however that is when the story really took off, and once it did it kept going keeping my intrigued. It starts out with two friends Lisa and Kristy. Lisa is known to embellish the truth sometimes so one day she talks about her new boyfriend Krisy doesn't see anything interesting about it, however when Lisa doesn't return home that day and the police get involved that is when things take a turn for the worst. I really liked the idea of this story however I found that the deeper I got into it the less clear and almost mundane the story became. I think that it just was to much of a mystery which sometimes isn't for me. I am very glad that I got the chance to check out this story however. Man this story was such a roller coaster the ending I LOVED, I just wish that the other parts could have been as interesting there were to many lulls and dry spells in this story,even though they were punctuated with amazing segments it just wasn't consistent enough to hold my interest.
April 5, 2019
I read this book just before I got the revised edition through but will review as if the words had been changed in my copy.
An interesting concept and fairly realistic that a ten year old would go along more with a suggestion of what she saw than the truth of what she saw but then when she grew up I would have expected more remorse from her.
I found the book a bit repetitive and not very gripping. One I wante£ to finish though but just not all that thrilling.
An interesting concept and fairly realistic that a ten year old would go along more with a suggestion of what she saw than the truth of what she saw but then when she grew up I would have expected more remorse from her.
I found the book a bit repetitive and not very gripping. One I wante£ to finish though but just not all that thrilling.
April 10, 2019
I dnf'd Two Little Girls. The book was rambly and hard to follow. I was not able to connect with the characters. The writing left me confused. I often had to re read passages because the wording did not flow easily.
March 23, 2019
March 1984. Ten-year-old Lisa Cook disappears without a trace, and the last known person to see her alive is her Best Friend Forever, Kirsty Cooper.
When the police bring Kirsty in to question her about the last time she saw Lisa – walking home from school through the park by the canal, where they ere explicitly forbidden rom going by Kirsty’s mother – it’s clear to Kirsty that they already have their minds made up on who the perpetrator is. Toqueer Al-Balushi is a lodger staying with Lisa’s family from Oman while he attends school in England. Lisa has told Kirsty that “Tokki” has promised to marry her and bring her back to Oman with him so she can be a princess, painting a picture that any young girl would fall prey to. When Kirsty reveals this tidbit of information to the police, that seems to seal the deal on Tokki’s guilt. Police tell Kirsty that two girls have come forward stating they saw Tokki in the park that night around the time Lisa disappeared, and that they were sure that Kirsty would have seen him too before she left Lisa alone.
Knowing in her gut that she hadn’t seen Tokki, she agrees that she had seen him anyway. After all, she was only ten, and if two older girls had seen him, then surely he had been there. Right?
Without a solid alibi for the time of Lisa’s disappearance Tokki is arrested and charged with murder. Thinking that would be the end of it and she could put Lisa’s mysterious disappearance behind her, Kirsty returns to school, and is quickly proven wrong. After endless months of torment from Lisa’s distraught and mentally unstable brother Bryan, Kirsty’s mother decides enough is enough, and moves Kirsty and her younger sister to a new place where they can start fresh, where everyone in town won’t look at Kirsty like it’s her fault Lisa disappeared.
As she grew to adulthood, Lisa’s disappearance never really left Kirsty’s mind, and she began digging into it on her own, and with the help of internet sleuths, she became more and more convinced that she hadn’t seen Tokki in the park that afternoon, and that he really hadn’t killed Lisa. Her now-husband, Lee, is convinced that she’s just feeling guilty over hacing left Lisa alone in the park and every time she brings it up, he becomes irrationally annoyed with her preoccupation with the case. It quickly becomes evident to the reader that Lee knows more than he lets Kirsty know. But what that is, is unclear.
Years after escaping her hometown, Kirsty is forced to return to assist her sister through a difficult pregnancy, and face her worst nightmares.
Enter Angela Bright and her mother Sylvia McKnight, both with the gift of tarot reading, and Angela with the gift of communicating with the dead. After an unnerving first interaction with Angela, Kirsty is increasingly on edge as the events surrounding Lisa’s disappearance become more and more murky. Will Kirsty find out what really happened to Lisa or will she become a victim of a town that’s determined to chew her up and spit her out again?
Two Little Girls is a gripping story, with several twists. Usually I’m pretty good at guessing where thrillers like this are going before they get there, but this one surprised me. Vick did a great job keeping me guessing and I really enjoyed the journey as Kirsty tried to put her friend to rest and to get closure for herself.
I felt that Kirsty was a relatable character, in the way she blamed herself for situations that were far beyond her control, and who constantly seemed to be second guessing events that had occurred years before. I often find myself doing this, and it was refreshing to find a character as flawed as Kirsty clearly was, one who had a past that severely affected her into adulthood. Often we find characters whose stories allude to traumatic pasts and these characters are developed into either strong, resilient types, or they are written as severely damaged because of their experiences. Kirsty is neither. She’s damaged but she’s still soft, she still feels and still allows her emotions to guide her. She trusts and she cares for others, despite having suffered at the hands of cruel schoolchildren. She is strong, but not overtly so. She’s unlike most characters I’ve read, and in this type of story, it worked.
I felt like Vick could have developed Angela’s character a bit more, but her importance isn’t as apparent until further into the book, so I understand why she was a little glazed over and presented the way she was. The lack of development early on really didn’t take away from the story though, as a lot of her true character shone through in the last quarter of the book, and she really wasn’t the rude, aloof woman Kirsty originally thought her to be. I actually ended up feeling quite a bit of empathy for Angela by the end of the book.
Two Little Girls was a good read and if you’re looking for a twisting plot, I’d highly recommend it!
Merged review:
March 1984. Ten-year-old Lisa Cook disappears without a trace, and the last known person to see her alive is her Best Friend Forever, Kirsty Cooper.
When the police bring Kirsty in to question her about the last time she saw Lisa – walking home from school through the park by the canal, where they ere explicitly forbidden rom going by Kirsty’s mother – it’s clear to Kirsty that they already have their minds made up on who the perpetrator is. Toqueer Al-Balushi is a lodger staying with Lisa’s family from Oman while he attends school in England. Lisa has told Kirsty that “Tokki” has promised to marry her and bring her back to Oman with him so she can be a princess, painting a picture that any young girl would fall prey to. When Kirsty reveals this tidbit of information to the police, that seems to seal the deal on Tokki’s guilt. Police tell Kirsty that two girls have come forward stating they saw Tokki in the park that night around the time Lisa disappeared, and that they were sure that Kirsty would have seen him too before she left Lisa alone.
Knowing in her gut that she hadn’t seen Tokki, she agrees that she had seen him anyway. After all, she was only ten, and if two older girls had seen him, then surely he had been there. Right?
Without a solid alibi for the time of Lisa’s disappearance Tokki is arrested and charged with murder. Thinking that would be the end of it and she could put Lisa’s mysterious disappearance behind her, Kirsty returns to school, and is quickly proven wrong. After endless months of torment from Lisa’s distraught and mentally unstable brother Bryan, Kirsty’s mother decides enough is enough, and moves Kirsty and her younger sister to a new place where they can start fresh, where everyone in town won’t look at Kirsty like it’s her fault Lisa disappeared.
As she grew to adulthood, Lisa’s disappearance never really left Kirsty’s mind, and she began digging into it on her own, and with the help of internet sleuths, she became more and more convinced that she hadn’t seen Tokki in the park that afternoon, and that he really hadn’t killed Lisa. Her now-husband, Lee, is convinced that she’s just feeling guilty over hacing left Lisa alone in the park and every time she brings it up, he becomes irrationally annoyed with her preoccupation with the case. It quickly becomes evident to the reader that Lee knows more than he lets Kirsty know. But what that is, is unclear.
Years after escaping her hometown, Kirsty is forced to return to assist her sister through a difficult pregnancy, and face her worst nightmares.
Enter Angela Bright and her mother Sylvia McKnight, both with the gift of tarot reading, and Angela with the gift of communicating with the dead. After an unnerving first interaction with Angela, Kirsty is increasingly on edge as the events surrounding Lisa’s disappearance become more and more murky. Will Kirsty find out what really happened to Lisa or will she become a victim of a town that’s determined to chew her up and spit her out again?
Two Little Girls is a gripping story, with several twists. Usually I’m pretty good at guessing where thrillers like this are going before they get there, but this one surprised me. Vick did a great job keeping me guessing and I really enjoyed the journey as Kirsty tried to put her friend to rest and to get closure for herself.
I felt that Kirsty was a relatable character, in the way she blamed herself for situations that were far beyond her control, and who constantly seemed to be second guessing events that had occurred years before. I often find myself doing this, and it was refreshing to find a character as flawed as Kirsty clearly was, one who had a past that severely affected her into adulthood. Often we find characters whose stories allude to traumatic pasts and these characters are developed into either strong, resilient types, or they are written as severely damaged because of their experiences. Kirsty is neither. She’s damaged but she’s still soft, she still feels and still allows her emotions to guide her. She trusts and she cares for others, despite having suffered at the hands of cruel schoolchildren. She is strong, but not overtly so. She’s unlike most characters I’ve read, and in this type of story, it worked.
I felt like Vick could have developed Angela’s character a bit more, but her importance isn’t as apparent until further into the book, so I understand why she was a little glazed over and presented the way she was. The lack of development early on really didn’t take away from the story though, as a lot of her true character shone through in the last quarter of the book, and she really wasn’t the rude, aloof woman Kirsty originally thought her to be. I actually ended up feeling quite a bit of empathy for Angela by the end of the book.
Two Little Girls was a good read and if you’re looking for a twisting plot, I’d highly recommend it!
When the police bring Kirsty in to question her about the last time she saw Lisa – walking home from school through the park by the canal, where they ere explicitly forbidden rom going by Kirsty’s mother – it’s clear to Kirsty that they already have their minds made up on who the perpetrator is. Toqueer Al-Balushi is a lodger staying with Lisa’s family from Oman while he attends school in England. Lisa has told Kirsty that “Tokki” has promised to marry her and bring her back to Oman with him so she can be a princess, painting a picture that any young girl would fall prey to. When Kirsty reveals this tidbit of information to the police, that seems to seal the deal on Tokki’s guilt. Police tell Kirsty that two girls have come forward stating they saw Tokki in the park that night around the time Lisa disappeared, and that they were sure that Kirsty would have seen him too before she left Lisa alone.
Knowing in her gut that she hadn’t seen Tokki, she agrees that she had seen him anyway. After all, she was only ten, and if two older girls had seen him, then surely he had been there. Right?
Without a solid alibi for the time of Lisa’s disappearance Tokki is arrested and charged with murder. Thinking that would be the end of it and she could put Lisa’s mysterious disappearance behind her, Kirsty returns to school, and is quickly proven wrong. After endless months of torment from Lisa’s distraught and mentally unstable brother Bryan, Kirsty’s mother decides enough is enough, and moves Kirsty and her younger sister to a new place where they can start fresh, where everyone in town won’t look at Kirsty like it’s her fault Lisa disappeared.
As she grew to adulthood, Lisa’s disappearance never really left Kirsty’s mind, and she began digging into it on her own, and with the help of internet sleuths, she became more and more convinced that she hadn’t seen Tokki in the park that afternoon, and that he really hadn’t killed Lisa. Her now-husband, Lee, is convinced that she’s just feeling guilty over hacing left Lisa alone in the park and every time she brings it up, he becomes irrationally annoyed with her preoccupation with the case. It quickly becomes evident to the reader that Lee knows more than he lets Kirsty know. But what that is, is unclear.
Years after escaping her hometown, Kirsty is forced to return to assist her sister through a difficult pregnancy, and face her worst nightmares.
Enter Angela Bright and her mother Sylvia McKnight, both with the gift of tarot reading, and Angela with the gift of communicating with the dead. After an unnerving first interaction with Angela, Kirsty is increasingly on edge as the events surrounding Lisa’s disappearance become more and more murky. Will Kirsty find out what really happened to Lisa or will she become a victim of a town that’s determined to chew her up and spit her out again?
Two Little Girls is a gripping story, with several twists. Usually I’m pretty good at guessing where thrillers like this are going before they get there, but this one surprised me. Vick did a great job keeping me guessing and I really enjoyed the journey as Kirsty tried to put her friend to rest and to get closure for herself.
I felt that Kirsty was a relatable character, in the way she blamed herself for situations that were far beyond her control, and who constantly seemed to be second guessing events that had occurred years before. I often find myself doing this, and it was refreshing to find a character as flawed as Kirsty clearly was, one who had a past that severely affected her into adulthood. Often we find characters whose stories allude to traumatic pasts and these characters are developed into either strong, resilient types, or they are written as severely damaged because of their experiences. Kirsty is neither. She’s damaged but she’s still soft, she still feels and still allows her emotions to guide her. She trusts and she cares for others, despite having suffered at the hands of cruel schoolchildren. She is strong, but not overtly so. She’s unlike most characters I’ve read, and in this type of story, it worked.
I felt like Vick could have developed Angela’s character a bit more, but her importance isn’t as apparent until further into the book, so I understand why she was a little glazed over and presented the way she was. The lack of development early on really didn’t take away from the story though, as a lot of her true character shone through in the last quarter of the book, and she really wasn’t the rude, aloof woman Kirsty originally thought her to be. I actually ended up feeling quite a bit of empathy for Angela by the end of the book.
Two Little Girls was a good read and if you’re looking for a twisting plot, I’d highly recommend it!
Merged review:
March 1984. Ten-year-old Lisa Cook disappears without a trace, and the last known person to see her alive is her Best Friend Forever, Kirsty Cooper.
When the police bring Kirsty in to question her about the last time she saw Lisa – walking home from school through the park by the canal, where they ere explicitly forbidden rom going by Kirsty’s mother – it’s clear to Kirsty that they already have their minds made up on who the perpetrator is. Toqueer Al-Balushi is a lodger staying with Lisa’s family from Oman while he attends school in England. Lisa has told Kirsty that “Tokki” has promised to marry her and bring her back to Oman with him so she can be a princess, painting a picture that any young girl would fall prey to. When Kirsty reveals this tidbit of information to the police, that seems to seal the deal on Tokki’s guilt. Police tell Kirsty that two girls have come forward stating they saw Tokki in the park that night around the time Lisa disappeared, and that they were sure that Kirsty would have seen him too before she left Lisa alone.
Knowing in her gut that she hadn’t seen Tokki, she agrees that she had seen him anyway. After all, she was only ten, and if two older girls had seen him, then surely he had been there. Right?
Without a solid alibi for the time of Lisa’s disappearance Tokki is arrested and charged with murder. Thinking that would be the end of it and she could put Lisa’s mysterious disappearance behind her, Kirsty returns to school, and is quickly proven wrong. After endless months of torment from Lisa’s distraught and mentally unstable brother Bryan, Kirsty’s mother decides enough is enough, and moves Kirsty and her younger sister to a new place where they can start fresh, where everyone in town won’t look at Kirsty like it’s her fault Lisa disappeared.
As she grew to adulthood, Lisa’s disappearance never really left Kirsty’s mind, and she began digging into it on her own, and with the help of internet sleuths, she became more and more convinced that she hadn’t seen Tokki in the park that afternoon, and that he really hadn’t killed Lisa. Her now-husband, Lee, is convinced that she’s just feeling guilty over hacing left Lisa alone in the park and every time she brings it up, he becomes irrationally annoyed with her preoccupation with the case. It quickly becomes evident to the reader that Lee knows more than he lets Kirsty know. But what that is, is unclear.
Years after escaping her hometown, Kirsty is forced to return to assist her sister through a difficult pregnancy, and face her worst nightmares.
Enter Angela Bright and her mother Sylvia McKnight, both with the gift of tarot reading, and Angela with the gift of communicating with the dead. After an unnerving first interaction with Angela, Kirsty is increasingly on edge as the events surrounding Lisa’s disappearance become more and more murky. Will Kirsty find out what really happened to Lisa or will she become a victim of a town that’s determined to chew her up and spit her out again?
Two Little Girls is a gripping story, with several twists. Usually I’m pretty good at guessing where thrillers like this are going before they get there, but this one surprised me. Vick did a great job keeping me guessing and I really enjoyed the journey as Kirsty tried to put her friend to rest and to get closure for herself.
I felt that Kirsty was a relatable character, in the way she blamed herself for situations that were far beyond her control, and who constantly seemed to be second guessing events that had occurred years before. I often find myself doing this, and it was refreshing to find a character as flawed as Kirsty clearly was, one who had a past that severely affected her into adulthood. Often we find characters whose stories allude to traumatic pasts and these characters are developed into either strong, resilient types, or they are written as severely damaged because of their experiences. Kirsty is neither. She’s damaged but she’s still soft, she still feels and still allows her emotions to guide her. She trusts and she cares for others, despite having suffered at the hands of cruel schoolchildren. She is strong, but not overtly so. She’s unlike most characters I’ve read, and in this type of story, it worked.
I felt like Vick could have developed Angela’s character a bit more, but her importance isn’t as apparent until further into the book, so I understand why she was a little glazed over and presented the way she was. The lack of development early on really didn’t take away from the story though, as a lot of her true character shone through in the last quarter of the book, and she really wasn’t the rude, aloof woman Kirsty originally thought her to be. I actually ended up feeling quite a bit of empathy for Angela by the end of the book.
Two Little Girls was a good read and if you’re looking for a twisting plot, I’d highly recommend it!
April 14, 2019
1985
Lisa and Kirsty live next door to one another and are best friends. The girls want to be allowed to walk home from school by themselves even though their mothers aren’t too happy about it. So, they make the girls promise they will avoid certain areas on the way home. As always the daring one, Lisa insists they walk in these areas simply to thwart authority as she always does with her mother, Denise.
Lisa has been telling Kirsty about two men who are lodgers in her mother’s house. They are from Oman who say they are princes and that they want to marry the girls. Not truly believing her, Kirsty is shocked when two grubby looking men show up at a school function and Lisa introduces them to Kirsty. Kirsty is disgusted by them. One day when they are walking home, they get into another argument and Kirsty runs home. That’s when Lisa goes missing and Kirsty blames herself for leaving Lisa alone. The police question Kirsty alone in a room twisting her words to make them what they want to hear. Soon, one of the Oman men is arrested for her disappearance but refuses to say where Lisa is.
Years later, Kirsty is a social worker and married to Lee. There is tension in their marriage because she is caving in to her younger sister, Vic’s, demands that she be with her during her pregnancy. Vic is married to a wealthy man who is able to give her everything she wants. However, Kirsty and Lee struggle to make enough money. Kirsty’s dedication to her sister causes tension in their marriage.
Kirsty has never forgotten the tragedy of Lisa’s disappearance and wants so much to solve the mystery. She meets two psychics that Vic had brought in to cleanse her new home. There is an immediate connection of sorts between these two women and Kirsty yet she doesn’t know if what they are saying is true or not.
What happened to Lisa? Will anyone ever know?
There is early some racial profanity in this book but I was not offended by it because I think the author simply expressed what people in that class would say. She is very telling of the dishonesty of the police department and the sorry conditions of England’s health care system. A well written, but gritty and dark story that will make readers cringe, however, the author threw in a bit of humor here and there to lighten things up a bit. I wasn’t sure about this book when I first started reading it. Sometimes it just seemed crass but as I really got further into it, I realized that the author has written a truly stunning thriller unlike others. Don’t miss this one. It’s a winner!
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Lisa and Kirsty live next door to one another and are best friends. The girls want to be allowed to walk home from school by themselves even though their mothers aren’t too happy about it. So, they make the girls promise they will avoid certain areas on the way home. As always the daring one, Lisa insists they walk in these areas simply to thwart authority as she always does with her mother, Denise.
Lisa has been telling Kirsty about two men who are lodgers in her mother’s house. They are from Oman who say they are princes and that they want to marry the girls. Not truly believing her, Kirsty is shocked when two grubby looking men show up at a school function and Lisa introduces them to Kirsty. Kirsty is disgusted by them. One day when they are walking home, they get into another argument and Kirsty runs home. That’s when Lisa goes missing and Kirsty blames herself for leaving Lisa alone. The police question Kirsty alone in a room twisting her words to make them what they want to hear. Soon, one of the Oman men is arrested for her disappearance but refuses to say where Lisa is.
Years later, Kirsty is a social worker and married to Lee. There is tension in their marriage because she is caving in to her younger sister, Vic’s, demands that she be with her during her pregnancy. Vic is married to a wealthy man who is able to give her everything she wants. However, Kirsty and Lee struggle to make enough money. Kirsty’s dedication to her sister causes tension in their marriage.
Kirsty has never forgotten the tragedy of Lisa’s disappearance and wants so much to solve the mystery. She meets two psychics that Vic had brought in to cleanse her new home. There is an immediate connection of sorts between these two women and Kirsty yet she doesn’t know if what they are saying is true or not.
What happened to Lisa? Will anyone ever know?
There is early some racial profanity in this book but I was not offended by it because I think the author simply expressed what people in that class would say. She is very telling of the dishonesty of the police department and the sorry conditions of England’s health care system. A well written, but gritty and dark story that will make readers cringe, however, the author threw in a bit of humor here and there to lighten things up a bit. I wasn’t sure about this book when I first started reading it. Sometimes it just seemed crass but as I really got further into it, I realized that the author has written a truly stunning thriller unlike others. Don’t miss this one. It’s a winner!
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
March 18, 2019
Ten year old Lisa Cook is known to tell a lot of lies - the more far-fetched, the better. For her long-suffering best friend Kirsty, it’s all a bit wearing. When Lisa disappears from a local park, the police - and the public - are all too ready to point an accusing finger at Toqueer Al-Balushi, a lodger in the family home. Nobody doubts his guilt - he’s a Suspicious Foreigner, after all - and, thanks in part to stories previously told by the imaginative Lisa, it’s not hard to secure a murder conviction, despite Lisa’s body never being found and “Tokki” protesting his innocence. As an adult, Kirsty has never really come to terms with Lisa’s disappearance and has never been easy in her mind about Tokki’s conviction and her own part in it.
I enjoyed this quite a bit more than I expected to, especially the first half. We see the events leading up to, and the horrible aftermath of, Lisa’s disappearance in the 1980s, before moving on to Kirsty’s life as an adult. I was thoroughly engrossed in all this, which almost had the feel of a family drama at times, exploring Kirsty’s relationships with husband Lee and younger sister Vic and her professional life as a social worker, but things take an unexpected turn when TV psychic Angela Bright comes on the scene...
Kirsty’s job as a hospital social worker was quite realistically portrayed and - having done a similar job myself - I enjoyed this aspect of the story. All the characters were really well drawn (Peg and her giant family were highlights) and though the “twist” was fairly well signposted it didn’t detract from my enjoyment... though things did start to get far fetched towards the end. The ending, however, was satisfying.
Thanks for the opportunity to read and review - I enjoyed it a lot.
I enjoyed this quite a bit more than I expected to, especially the first half. We see the events leading up to, and the horrible aftermath of, Lisa’s disappearance in the 1980s, before moving on to Kirsty’s life as an adult. I was thoroughly engrossed in all this, which almost had the feel of a family drama at times, exploring Kirsty’s relationships with husband Lee and younger sister Vic and her professional life as a social worker, but things take an unexpected turn when TV psychic Angela Bright comes on the scene...
Kirsty’s job as a hospital social worker was quite realistically portrayed and - having done a similar job myself - I enjoyed this aspect of the story. All the characters were really well drawn (Peg and her giant family were highlights) and though the “twist” was fairly well signposted it didn’t detract from my enjoyment... though things did start to get far fetched towards the end. The ending, however, was satisfying.
Thanks for the opportunity to read and review - I enjoyed it a lot.
April 12, 2019
My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of Frances Vick’s ‘Two Little Girls’ in exchange for an honest review.
In the spring of 1985 10-year-old Lisa Cook disappears and her best friend Kirsty is deeply traumatised. She is subsequently pressed by the police to give evidence that assists in the Cook family’s lodger being imprisoned. The lodger has little understanding of English and while he initially confesses he later recanted and claimed that he was coerced.
Thirty years later Kirsty remains haunted by these events yet returns to her home town to provide her younger sister with support during pregnancy. Of course, returning stirs up the past but Kirsty is determined to uncover the truth.
As usual, I am not saying too much about plot details as less is definitely more with psychological thrillers.
Vick explores the concept of how memory, especially in the young, can be faulty or manipulated. This is very evident in the way in which the case was handled by the Police. Clearly in the 1980s things were done differently in terms of police interviews of witnesses. The Press also are portrayed as very predatory.
I was immediately drawn into this novel. After a high energy start, it did slow in the middle though personally I enjoyed having characters introduced who are involved with psychic studies. In addition, Kirsty’s work with social services was useful in establishing her character and the dynamics of families on the decaying housing estates. The final chapters ramped up the nail-biting tension.
I understand from her Author’s Note that her three earlier novels are all set in this fictional unnamed city and I am certainly interested in reading more of her work
In the spring of 1985 10-year-old Lisa Cook disappears and her best friend Kirsty is deeply traumatised. She is subsequently pressed by the police to give evidence that assists in the Cook family’s lodger being imprisoned. The lodger has little understanding of English and while he initially confesses he later recanted and claimed that he was coerced.
Thirty years later Kirsty remains haunted by these events yet returns to her home town to provide her younger sister with support during pregnancy. Of course, returning stirs up the past but Kirsty is determined to uncover the truth.
As usual, I am not saying too much about plot details as less is definitely more with psychological thrillers.
Vick explores the concept of how memory, especially in the young, can be faulty or manipulated. This is very evident in the way in which the case was handled by the Police. Clearly in the 1980s things were done differently in terms of police interviews of witnesses. The Press also are portrayed as very predatory.
I was immediately drawn into this novel. After a high energy start, it did slow in the middle though personally I enjoyed having characters introduced who are involved with psychic studies. In addition, Kirsty’s work with social services was useful in establishing her character and the dynamics of families on the decaying housing estates. The final chapters ramped up the nail-biting tension.
I understand from her Author’s Note that her three earlier novels are all set in this fictional unnamed city and I am certainly interested in reading more of her work
September 3, 2020
This book was amazing. Told from the Kirsty's point of view as first a child and then an adult, as she tries to get to the heart of the mystery of what happened to her best friend. She carries a lot of guilt with her, as they had a fight walking home from school that day, and she left Lisa in the park alone. Because of a terribly inept and prejudiced police force, she is coerced into blaming a foreigner that lodged with Lisa's family, and who confesses at first, due to his inability to understand most English and because of an issue with his student visa. As Kirsty grows up she soon realizes how shoddy the investigation was and an innocent man could most certainly be spending his life in prison. Now 30 years later, she moves back home to take care of her pregnant sister Vic and starts delving into the past to discover the truth. There are many little twists and turns along the way leading to a truly inspired ending.
I was drawn in right from the start, as the tone captures the mind of 10 year old girls perfectly. Lisa, the constant exaggerator and liar, Kirsty, her faithful shadow. The author has a way of capitalizing certain phrases that are intimidating or powerful to a little girl and it help emphasize how seriously Kirsty takes everything she hears as a child. Although I was surprised that the author continues this as Kirsty grows older, but I found I didn't mind, as it makes the writing stand out. I found myself turning page after page - I just had to know what happened to Lisa! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and can't wait to read more of this author's work.
I was drawn in right from the start, as the tone captures the mind of 10 year old girls perfectly. Lisa, the constant exaggerator and liar, Kirsty, her faithful shadow. The author has a way of capitalizing certain phrases that are intimidating or powerful to a little girl and it help emphasize how seriously Kirsty takes everything she hears as a child. Although I was surprised that the author continues this as Kirsty grows older, but I found I didn't mind, as it makes the writing stand out. I found myself turning page after page - I just had to know what happened to Lisa! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and can't wait to read more of this author's work.
March 18, 2019
This is a great character driven book, written by an author who obviously understands children and what causes them to become the adults we interact with every day. Central to this is Kirsty, a kind and caring social worker scarred by a childhood experience she has blamed herself for ever since.
As the parent of children the same age as Kirsy and Lisa the memories stirred by the scenes set in their childhood added a depth and realism not always found in this type of book. The present day Kirsty is the main reason this book works so well. She is sympathetically written and her quest is such that you want her to discover the secrets of the past not only to prove you, the reader, worked it out first, but also so she finds the answers for herself.
There are a great many twists and turns in this story but never once was I confused as to what was happening or to whom. I found myself ahead of the game a couple of times when I felt the next 'reveal' was signposted a little too well but they were equalled out by a similar number of 'oh' moments which surprised me. There was also an emphasis on tarot cards and spiritualism which may put some people off.
I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good psychological story where you want the best outcome for everyone and are satisfied at that end. This is the final book in a series of four but it is the unnamed location which is the constant and can definitely be read as a stand alone.
As the parent of children the same age as Kirsy and Lisa the memories stirred by the scenes set in their childhood added a depth and realism not always found in this type of book. The present day Kirsty is the main reason this book works so well. She is sympathetically written and her quest is such that you want her to discover the secrets of the past not only to prove you, the reader, worked it out first, but also so she finds the answers for herself.
There are a great many twists and turns in this story but never once was I confused as to what was happening or to whom. I found myself ahead of the game a couple of times when I felt the next 'reveal' was signposted a little too well but they were equalled out by a similar number of 'oh' moments which surprised me. There was also an emphasis on tarot cards and spiritualism which may put some people off.
I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good psychological story where you want the best outcome for everyone and are satisfied at that end. This is the final book in a series of four but it is the unnamed location which is the constant and can definitely be read as a stand alone.
April 23, 2019
This was such a clever story. Most of the way through the book I was convinced I knew who had committed the murder and was worried that I’d be disappointed when I was right. Well I was wrong, well and truly wrong!
We’re taken back to the beginning where we meet Lisa and Kirsty as young girls and BFF’s, and learn of their hopes and dreams. But then Lisa is murdered. And Kirsty is apparently the last one to see her alive. She gives evidence and a man is charged, but did he really do it?
Years later, we’re back with Kirsty and what happened to Lisa has always haunted her. But her Husband has discouraged her from investigating and trying to learn the truth. She ends up moving back to her hometown to be nearer to her sister, and she starts having dreams about Lisa…..is she trying to contact her? She ends up talking to an old lady who has a gift and she realises that she needs to look into what really happened. But digging up the past is dangerous….Will she finally find out what happened, and who did it? Or is she just putting herself in danger?
This is a story with some completely unexpected twists and turns. I was thoroughly gripped and although I thought I was going to be disappointed when I was right, I still didn’t want to put it down. And I’m very glad that I didn’t, because as I said, I was very wrong! And completely and utterly surprised!
If you like a twisty, turny thriller then this is definitely for you. Another one recommended by me!
We’re taken back to the beginning where we meet Lisa and Kirsty as young girls and BFF’s, and learn of their hopes and dreams. But then Lisa is murdered. And Kirsty is apparently the last one to see her alive. She gives evidence and a man is charged, but did he really do it?
Years later, we’re back with Kirsty and what happened to Lisa has always haunted her. But her Husband has discouraged her from investigating and trying to learn the truth. She ends up moving back to her hometown to be nearer to her sister, and she starts having dreams about Lisa…..is she trying to contact her? She ends up talking to an old lady who has a gift and she realises that she needs to look into what really happened. But digging up the past is dangerous….Will she finally find out what happened, and who did it? Or is she just putting herself in danger?
This is a story with some completely unexpected twists and turns. I was thoroughly gripped and although I thought I was going to be disappointed when I was right, I still didn’t want to put it down. And I’m very glad that I didn’t, because as I said, I was very wrong! And completely and utterly surprised!
If you like a twisty, turny thriller then this is definitely for you. Another one recommended by me!
April 12, 2019
This is one story with one heck of a twist! Trust me when I say this.. you will literally not know what hit you at the end. I love the kind of books that have you doubting everyone from the main character down to the most insignificant supporting character, I just didn’t know what to think for the entirety of this book; I kept on suspecting everyone and believing that it would turn out in one way only for it to be a whole other different thing.
This is one twisted book, so twisted that you won’t know what to believe after all is said and done. I definitely did feel for the main character, Kirstie cause.. had I been her, I would have definitely gone crazy from everything that was happening. From losing a best friend at such a young age, being cajoled by police officers into saying something that wasn’t all that true, to being bullied by the media and people of this disturbing small town.. it was a wonder that Kirstie grew up to be a somewhat functioning adult married to a man (who also does waaay too many suspicious things that turn out to be just true coincidences), but one selfishly-childish sister brings Kirstie back to this evil small town where everything comes to a head and we finally find out what truly happened to Lisa all those years ago.
A must read if you loved Colleen Hoover’s Verity or Gone Girl!
This is one twisted book, so twisted that you won’t know what to believe after all is said and done. I definitely did feel for the main character, Kirstie cause.. had I been her, I would have definitely gone crazy from everything that was happening. From losing a best friend at such a young age, being cajoled by police officers into saying something that wasn’t all that true, to being bullied by the media and people of this disturbing small town.. it was a wonder that Kirstie grew up to be a somewhat functioning adult married to a man (who also does waaay too many suspicious things that turn out to be just true coincidences), but one selfishly-childish sister brings Kirstie back to this evil small town where everything comes to a head and we finally find out what truly happened to Lisa all those years ago.
A must read if you loved Colleen Hoover’s Verity or Gone Girl!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2022
Ok? But why? Do the Characters? Keep Talking? Like This?
No seriously, it wasn't just one character but multiple. Super grating and pointless. Neither is this the "totally gripping thriller" (which the cover promises) as the book was severely lacking in action, thrills and suspense despite a strong start. Instead, it's just incessant telling (instead of showing) and talking. The reveal was also too obvious and predictable.
Lee was actually hilarious and I loved his sense of humour, so thank god for him being the only bright spot and adding some flavour to an otherwise dull book.
LMAOOOOOO 😂😂😂
Overall, this had an intriguing start and the last few chapters were a marked improvement, but the journey in between wasn't anything to shout about.
The top Goodreads review has raised some concerning points and it would be nice if the author can address them. The comments about autism are problematic, and same goes for how the author reacted (badly). Until she addresses these, it is unlikely I will read anything else by her.
Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
No seriously, it wasn't just one character but multiple. Super grating and pointless. Neither is this the "totally gripping thriller" (which the cover promises) as the book was severely lacking in action, thrills and suspense despite a strong start. Instead, it's just incessant telling (instead of showing) and talking. The reveal was also too obvious and predictable.
Lee was actually hilarious and I loved his sense of humour, so thank god for him being the only bright spot and adding some flavour to an otherwise dull book.
"I deliberately worked for Ollie, so I could wait till his marriage broke up and get myself invited to his future wife's godawful party, so I could hopefully chat up her sister, thereby keeping quiet about who I knew when I was fifteen."
LMAOOOOOO 😂😂😂
Overall, this had an intriguing start and the last few chapters were a marked improvement, but the journey in between wasn't anything to shout about.
The top Goodreads review has raised some concerning points and it would be nice if the author can address them. The comments about autism are problematic, and same goes for how the author reacted (badly). Until she addresses these, it is unlikely I will read anything else by her.
Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
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