Book: Little White Lies
Author: Philippa East
Pages: 338
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Suspense
Who should read this book: fans of Room and Jodi Picoult, and mildly suspenseful thrillers
Little White Lies releases tomorrow February 4th. Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for the advanced copy. This is Philippa East’s first novel and I will definitely be looking out for more of her work.
Little White Lies follows the return of Abigal to her family after being held captive for 8 years. At 15 she has missed a whole lot of her childhood. The story is told from the perspective of her mother Anne, and her cousin of the same age Jess. Abigail takes her time adjusting to being back with her parents and her parents struggle to deal with emotional upheaval of having your daughter returned to you after being told she was held captive, abused sexually and deprived of her childhood years. We learn from page 1 that only Anne and her sister Lillian know the truth about the day Abigail was kidnapped, even the police don’t know. As the story progresses it becomes clear that secret needs to be revealed but how can Anne tell the horrible truth now after so much time?
Hook 2/2: From the beginning you are in the dark about what actually happened to Abigail because she is not the narrator of her own story. We are introduced quickly to Anne, her mother, and we know she’s keeping secrets. Then her cousin, that is also 15 starts talking and she’s so confused by what’s happening to Abigail that she is no help either. So I was definitely hooked, desperate for Anne to open up or Jess to figure things out.
Plot 1/2: This story was definitely intriguing, I was hooked all the way through. The twist was really good and then there was this other twist that came out of nowhere that I actually didn’t like. So this book loses a point for a thing I cannot tell you about. People who have read this book will probably know what I’m talking about.
Writing 2/2: I did like East’s writing style and I thought it was really unique that Abigail didn’t have a voice the whole time. Her story being told by outsiders gave you no insight into what she went through mentally. The complete opposite of Room which was heart breaking and you felt like you were in that shed with her and Jack. This one I felt like I was watching the story on the news, piecing together information about what happened to this poor girl from the mouths of other people.
Twist 1/2: wump wump. The weirdness of part of the ending threw me off, but overall I liked it. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all which is always good in a suspense book and I also loved the very end of the book.
Feel 2/2: I read this one really quickly. I needed to know what had happened to Abigail and as she approaches the trial against her abductor, a whole lot of truth comes out. This book is a great suspense and impressive debut novel.
Happy Reading!
Read With Angie 