The Book of You

The Book of You

disclosure:  we were sent this book in exchange for an honest review

I was recently offered the chance to read The Book of You by Claire Kendal, as part of the Mumsnet Blogger Network.

The Book of You

I love a good thriller and The Book of You had me hooked from the beginning. The central character is called Clarissa, she a mid-thirties woman, newly single following the break up of a relationship.  She’s been through a difficult time with this and with failed fertility treatments when she starts to receive unwanted attention from someone at work.

Fairly early on the reader realises that this woman has almost certainly been drug raped by this man, Rafe, and it becomes apparent that he is obsessed with her.  Clarissa sees the opportunity to be a juror on a 7-week court case as a way of escaping this man and his unwanted attentions.

But the case she sits on is a sex case, a group of men are accused of raping a woman; a drug user and probably a prostitute.

The Book of You is really well written and you become thoroughly absorbed in both stories; Clarissa and the building tension between her and her stalker, and with Lottie and her court case.  The two stories become intertwined and you are constantly trying to guess what will happen next.

I didn’t really understand the need for the continual change from first to the third-person narrative of Clarissa’s story but otherwise, I loved this book.

You are willing her to seek help from the police and from a fellow juror who she becomes involved with.  You are hoping that Rafe is taken out of society so she can lead a normal, happy life and you really want Lottie to get justice.

Do any of these things happen?  Well you know I never give away the ending of a good book!  The ending is probably the weakest part of the story in my opinion.  It left me wanting a few more answers and a few more ends tied up.  But The Book of You is a real page-turner and it’s not predictable.

I enjoyed reading it and will be looking out for further titles from Claire Kendal.  The paperback version normally retails at £7.99 but it’s on a bargain price on Amazon at the moment – see my affiliate link below.

 

4 thoughts on “The Book of You

  1. oooh, sounds like a good read. Will have to add this to the ‘to read’ list 😉
    thanks for linking to ‘#weekendbookclub

  2. Sounds a good read. I did apply to read that one but didn’t get selected #weekendbookclub

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