Skip to main content

First book of 2019

My first book of 2019 is Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey.


If any of you have read Elizabeth is Missing by the same author, you'll understand why I picked this one as my next read. If you haven't read Elizabeth is Missing I strongly recommend it.

Whistle in the Dark is about a 15 year old girl ‘Lana’ who has been missing for four days but has been found and can't remember anything of the four days that she was missing. It delves into her mental health and her wishes to commit suicide in the time leading up to going missing. But also goes deeply into her relationship with her mother ‘Jen’. 
I will be honest. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did Elizabeth is Missing and I’m not entirely sure why. I did flit between my kindle and the audible version (I listened to it on the way home from work) and I think I found the woman’s voice a little irritating, especially when reading Jen’s bits and this put me off a bit and made me quite dislike Jen as a character. I think I loved it more as I got nearer to the end of the story and I found myself trying to predict what had happened to Lana but was wrong up till the very end. 
It’s weird because when I look back on it now, I did enjoy it, I liked the story, the twists and turns, the fact that it addresses childhood mental health issues and the mother - daughter relationship. I just didn’t like it as much  as Elizabeth is Missing. It’s definitely worth a read but I personally wouldn’t rush back for a second read of it. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sherbet Lane stationery box - May

I was actually away on holiday last week when my happy post arrived. It's always a nice feeling when you see it on your doormat but even nicer when you know it's at home waiting for you. We arrived home early on Monday morning and no I didn't open it straight away. Later onMonday afternoon i got to sit down and open it on my own. This months theme is Spring Clean, very apt for my house at the moment. We have been having lots of work done over the past seven weeks which includes a new kitchen which arrives this Monday! I'm a little excited about that! So in amongst all the chaos of my house - I get this, and as always its perfect. Inside wrapped in tissue paper as always, is a journal, a Paperchase pen, three organisation sheets to help you organise your life, a decluttering one, a cleaning one and one for things you like doing. There is also an art card with the quote, "This could be the beginning of anything you want." That's going i...

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

So I have seen this book many times whilst out shopping but have never bought it. On Thursday I went shopping and picked it up, read the blurb and put it back on the shelf.  When I got home I downloaded it onto my kindle ready for a weekend at the beach house. Unfortunately I was still reading The Winter Secret and with a poorly child I didn't get that finished until yesterday. With the 10 year old flaked out on the sofa all day, I decided to start reading it. I knew the reviews were good, but quickly realised how good this book is.  It is based on a true story, one that Heather Morris has researched and written with the help of Lale (the main character) and his son. It is a beautiful moving love story surrounded by the horrific day to day happenings of Auschwitz.  Morris brings very clear and vivid imagery to her writing, and part of me, even though I know what happened in concentration camps, when it's written from the mouth of one survivor, it still left me num...

Can you see me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott

Some books grip you, others don't. Some take me for ever to read and some I can plough through in a couple of evenings. This book I put in my amazon wish list and I published it on the Acts of Kindness UK group on Facebook, if you haven't seen it go and have a look, there's lots of loveliness out there in a world of such uncertainty at the moment. I received it in the post from someone I know (but not very well) and it was lovely to receive it. The story is written from the perspective of Tally (Natalia) an 11 year old with Autism who is about to start secondary school. It includes diary entries written by Libby Scott who is also autistic and sheds a real light into what it is like living with the condition. The story goes through the every day life of an autistic child, the things they face, the emotions and anxiety that goes through their heads constantly. This is put across as Tally' experiences, that no one likes her, that she's different from everyone e...