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.

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