Guest Review: Between You and Me by Lisa Hall

Hey bookworms, today I bring you the first ever guest review to feature on Keeper of Pages; after buddy reading Between You and Me with Zuky @ BookBum, we decided to mix things up and do a review swap. So, read on to find Zuky’s thoughts on the book.

Book Description:

They say every marriage has its secrets.
But no one sees what happens behind closed doors.
And sometimes those doors should never be opened…

Sal and Charlie are married. They love each other. But they aren’t happy. Sal cannot leave, no matter what Charlie does – no matter how much it hurts.

Zuky’s Thoughts:

I hadn’t seen too much about this book before going into it, other than a few bloggers claiming it as “the book with the best plot twist of 2016”, so I was half expecting big things, and half not expecting much at all. It’s safe to say that I’m disappointed. I saw the “plot twist” coming from a mile off.

In terms of storyline, this book is nothing special. This is a story about domestic abuse, and yes, it’s been done before but that’s not really my issue. My issue is that the only plot point was the abuse… it’s tough to read about, but after a while, the same cycle of abuse gets boring. There was a small sub-plot to do with Charlie’s work as a lawyer, but that came and went within a flash (and was also just a predictable as the main plot twist). The only real exciting bit happens within the last couple of pages – it’s not one of those books that build and build – it’s all nothing and then it’s all something and then it’s all finished.

One thing that really got on my nerves, in terms of writing and structure, was the repetition of chapters. Occasionally through the novel, we’d be presented something from Charlie’s eyes, only to be repeated almost word for word, through Sal’s eyes. This didn’t happen for every chapter, but there several that were complete rehashing of the last.

The writing in this novel is pretty simple. It’s not one of those psychological thrillers that are beautiful haunting or menacing. It’s just what it is. But, that then makes this a really easy book to get through, you’ll find yourself having read the whole thing before you know it! I would maybe recommend this as a holiday read.

I think I had too many expectations going into this one. Although I think the plot twist was silly and predictable, I didn’t hate the book, and so maybe if I had gone into it thinking it as going to just be another easy-read thriller, I would have been a bit kinder in my review.

(If you want to see how I guessed the twist, I’m going to put all spoilers (hidden ones) in my Goodreads review, so you can find it out there – just click here)

Rating: 2 stars

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A massive thank you to Zuky for buddy reading this one with me! If you’d like to read my review of Between You and Me, you can find it on Zuky’s blog by clicking here. And while you’re over there, if you’re not already following her blog, click that follow button, her blog is definitely one of my favourites!

Between You and Me is available to buy from: Amazon UK / Book Depository