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Overall, there was so much drama which I adored and the siblings felt so real and I adored every one of them. I could definitely read more about them!

Mick Riva really was just the most awful person and it was so satisfying when Nina just completely went off on one at him. I am pleased they didn't just fix their relationship with him and have a happy ever after. It was also kind of ironic that he was the one who set fire to the house unintentionally as he kind of had done that to their entire lives up to that point.

I mean I didn't entirely keep up with who was who but all the drama was crazy. Casey showing up and thinking she might be their sibling was also insane and I loved the fact they welcomed her into their sibling group even before it was confirmed if she belonged there - they all knew that she needed connection as much as the rest of them after what she had been through.

When she was talking about wanting to break away from the person her family have always seen her as I felt so seen. I was slightly disappointed that she didn't end up coming out to any of her family but know this would come with time. The party was totally wild and it was really interesting how it switched between so many perspectives.

I would also have really liked to see more of their relationship now that she is pregnant. I felt bad for Jay as he was basically losing the one thing he really loved, surfing, but am pleased he felt able to share what was going on with Hud in the end. For some reason I actually found that I loved and related to Kit the most out of them all though.

I am so pleased she was eventually able to let go and be able to go and live the life she wanted for herself rather than always living for other people. The sibling relationships were so good, especially how Hud was involved in the family despite only being their half sibling. I loved him and Ashley and am so pleased that they ended up together and Jay did not spoil what they had.

I loved that the book was split into every hour of a 24 hour period, along with having some flashbacks to the Rivas parents which I also really enjoyed. I loved Mick and June together to begin with and so to see him start constantly cheating on her and then having her turn to alcohol and eventually drowning was so horrid. I just adored Nina in the sense that she was so so strong.

I wanted to read this book for a while and am so pleased I finally got round to it. It if funny how the entire thing that drew me towards it was the prospect of the house setting on fire by morning when really that was like the most minor part of the book. This book was basically rich people drama which is definitely one of my favourite genres!

I never got bored with one though and was always interested when it would switch to a different person's story. I loved all the characters despite their flaws and will dearly miss the ones that don't make appearances in Rivals. I am so excited to continue the series though. Jilly, the writer that you were!

I even became fond of the horses, especially Jake's (McCally, Sailor and Africa particularly). It was such an amazing ride and so many things that I could carry on and on. I particularly liked how it would focus on a character or group and then move on to another set and towards the middle all these characters were kind of intertwined. Even then it would switch back and forth.

I am pleased there wasn't just all the characters winning all the time and they actually did lose a fair amount. Rupert winning for the team in the end with a dislocated shoulder was pretty great though. Ending with Tori trying to kill herself was horrid and I am so pleased she was saved and recovered with Jake. He really did lead her to do that but it made him realise how much he loved her.

I was really not expecting Billy and Fen to have a thing but they did and I felt sad for her when he went back to Janie I must admit. There were so many affairs and they were all basically just getting off with one another. Sex and horses is what it was basically and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know nothing about show jumping and yet I didn't mind the long descriptions of competitions at all.

It definitely made sense for Malise and Helen kind of ended up together, they were always well suited. My favourite character of course was Billy. Oh my darling Billy. He was just absolute perfection and I really did love him. I am pleased that him and Janie managed to work everything out but was so sad for him when she had an affair. I am glad they managed to have a baby.

I kind of felt ashamed at Jake for doing it as Tori really didn't deserve it and I felt really sorry for her. I understand why they did but am kind of pleased they didn't end up together after they ran away and abandoned the Olympics. Fen was the sweetest but also had such a spirit. I felt so proud of her for being so young and achieving so much. I am so pleased that she ended up with Deno as well, she deserved it.

Helen seemed to change so much across the course of the book and the time she spent married to Rupert. I felt really sorry for her a lot of the time as she was being walked all over and was so unsuited to him. She was kind of annoying at some points though, especially when her and Jake were having an affair and she became extremely needy. I cannot believe that either of them would have affairs to be honest.

I really felt like I got to know and was connected with all the characters, especially ones like Jake and Fen who I literally saw grow up. I can't even begin to unpick all of the things that happened but here are a few that come to mind. Rupert is such a good character although a completely horrid person. I must admit I adored his relationship with Tab though - he was such a hypecrit at times.

A guilty pleasure for sure! There is a huge cast of characters who all have their faults and yet I managed to love each and every one of them at one point and hate them in another. It is almost certainly the longest book I have ever read and own (which is why I chose to listen to it on audiobook - I was looking for something to listen to and this was perfect, the narrator was also so good).

I read this after watching the show Rivals and just desperately needing more. I, of course, had to start with the prequel to the Rivals book. Initially I was unsure about having a whole load of characters I didn't know (the only one I did being Rupert Campbell-Black). Oh how I was wrong and I am so so pleased I continued. I absolutely adored it! I don't know what Jilly put into these books but they are magnificent.

It was nice that the five discovered Mr Lenoir wasn't so bad in the end although he did have a furious temper at some points. I am also so pleased Block more than anyone was found out as he was annoying in his sneaking around and pretending to be deaf. I am really excited to continue on with the series and read some that I feel less familiar with. They are always such a comfort!

It is interesting how the first real problem is just sneaking Timmy about and that is the way the secret passages are introduced even before the entire kidnapping business with Sooty and Uncle Quentin. It always surprises me how far Enid Blyton will go with smugglers and kidnapping and drugging of people in children's books - makes it just as enjoyable when reading them as an adult.

This was a kind of in between book but I was excited to continue on with the series. It was kind of ice to have a change of scene and the five be at Smuggler's top with some new characters. Sooty is always a favourite because of how jokey and fun he is. This is one of the stories I feel the most familiar with actually even before rereading it - what with Block and Mr Barling.

I am going to miss her letters with their wit and drama. It has made me realise even more the beauty of handwriting (although of course there were also emails) and that I want to try and do more of that. There is something so special about taking that much time to connect with someone and it was so so beautiful!

I always thought it was her letter to Gilbert that was left unsent because it literally couldn't be sent but it was also the one to Daan which she never sent. I am glad that Fiona was able to see that and know that she had cared and she had been trying but it was the hardest letter she ever had to write. I really could have cried at the end. It was such a wonderful book and so unique.

It was really heartbreaking when it was revealed that she had died in the end, there was no kind of lead up to it, just turned the page and her final letter had already happened. That is so real but also it was sad there was no goodbye even though there never would be. I am really pleased Theodore continued correspondence with some people even after her death that was sweet.

I was also quite interested by the story of his past and having to abandon his father and brother in Germany when only him and his mother were allowed to escape during the war. It was nice to realise that Sybil had been writing to Gilbert this whole time and was sad when she said she wanted to do it so that he could know her but she had known him all the time there was to know him.

The whole thing with her finding her birth sister was nice and I am pleased they got to spend some time together in the end. It was really heartbreaking when there was the reveal of what had actually happened to her son Gilbert but it was kind of sweet that the only person she revealed the truth to was Theodore, that revealed the depth of her trust in him.

I wasn't sure about Theodore to begin with but am so pleased they ended up together and she didn't go off with the man from Texas who proposed. It was really lovely how they came together in the end and he would take care of her and maintain her correspondence when she could no longer see to read or write. I am also glad that she made up with Fiona after they had been estranged for a while.

Her letters to Harry and the time he spent at her house was particularly sweet, they seemed to have a really rare bond which was special as he was such a troubled child. It was nice at the end when he had a full manuscript of his book and would end his letter to her with 'I love you.' I am glad they kept in contact if not as regularly as it was sad when he said he didn't want to write anymore.

Her letters to Rosalie were some of my favourites because of the sisterly relationship they shared and how they would always end on what they were reading. She also had a sweet correspondence with her brother. It was sad when Sybil fell out with Rosalie and I was glad that she was eventually able to find it in herself to apologies. I am also glad that Felix got back with his husband after their difficulties.

I found the letters she wrote to authors very interesting and that kind of inspired me to want to write to Virginia Evans herself. It was funny how Sybil would happily update these random strangers about things happening in her life - such as her going blind, her ex husband having cancer or her daughter not speaking to her. She had a very forthright tone which I adored in her as an older woman.