Let Me Lie - Clare Mackintosh

"Let Me Lie" by Clare Mackintosh was a page-turner. I really cared about the characters and stayed up way past stupid-o'clock to finish it. Can't wait for the next book by this author.

Blurb:

The police say it was suicide.
Anna says it was murder.
They're both wrong.

One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since.
Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to ask questions about her parents' deaths. But by digging up the past, is she putting her future in danger? Sometimes it's safer to let things lie . . .

The Hate U Give

People will tell you that "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas is about race issues. Heck, the author herself will tell you that "The Hate U Give" is about race issues. And yet here I am to tell you that  "The Hate U Give" is about so much more than race.

I'm not trying to make light of the very weighty issue, which the book handles beautifully, BTW. It's just that to me the themes that came forward were family, love, the bond between father and daughter, the definition of friendship, the duty you have to people around you.

I loved the author's voice, I loved the characters, I loved the message.

Neighborly

"Neighborly" by Ellie Monago is a true suburban thriller. Somebody said that the setting is like "Pleasantville" but already in full colour - and I can't find a better way of expressing it. Add intrigue and crime, and you have "Neighborly".

Some themes are truly disturbing, but they're handled in a way that doesn't scar.

Blurb:

Kat and Doug felt like Aurora Village was the perfect community. Minutes from the city, affluent without pretension, low crime with a friendly vibe—it’s everything Kat never had, and that she’s determined to provide for her infant daughter. Snagging a nice bungalow in this exclusive enclave was worth all the sacrifice. But everything changes overnight when Kat finds a scrawled note outside their front door.

That wasn’t very neighborly of you.

As increasingly sinister and frighteningly personal notes arrive, each one stabs deeper into the heart of Kat’s insecurities, paranoia, and most troubling, her past. When the neighbors who seemed so perfect reveal their open secret, the menace moves beyond mean notes. Someone’s raising the stakes.

As suspicious as she is of every smiling face and as terrified as she’s become of being found out, Kat is still unprepared for the sharp turn that lies just ahead of her on Bayberry Lane.