Trying something new on The Self-Care Sloth today… I am an avid reader and massive book-lover. I always have been. So it seemed silly to shy away from bookish content on this blog. Reading is definitely a self-care activity for me, so I thought it might be nice to start sharing some of the books I read on here.
This month, I discovered Prime Reading. How had I been using Amazon Prime for months without realising this feature existed? I don’t know! But I discovered it, very quickly downloaded the Kindle app to my phone and started searching for new titles to enjoy. I was so excited!
(If you’re as unaware as I was, Prime Reading is Amazon Prime’s reading feature that let’s you download and read thousands of books and magazines to your Kindle or Kindle app. You can’t access all of the Kindle library on there, but there seems to be quite a lot.)
Disclaimer: I have absolutely no affiliation to Amazon or Kindle, but I do have an affiliate code for the Book Depository. So any links in this post that direct you to the Book Depository will earn me a small commission if you decide to buy the book. It won’t cost you any extra.
While searching through the Discover tab on my Kindle app, I kept coming acrossĀ ‘The Promise’ by Teresa Driscoll. I don’t know Teresa Driscoll at all, have never read a book by her, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it looked like my kind of thing. I was right – definitely my kind of thing!
What is ‘The Promise’ About?
‘The Promise’ is marketed as a psychological thriller, which is definitely a favourite genre of mine. I would definitely agree with that description, there are a lot of psychological twists and turns to keep you turning the page.
It was their darkest secret. Three schoolgirls made a promise – to take the horrible truth of what they did to the grave.
The book mostly follows a character called Beth who, although now married with two children, spends a lot of time thinking about what happened in her past. From the outset, we know that something dark happened between her and her two best friends, Sally and Carol, whilst they were at boarding school. We get a lot of hints about what happened, but even when we learn that secret, lots of others continue to be uncovered.
The book begins as the women receive an invite to visit their old school before it is demolished. This starts to bring up the past and Beth starts to look for Carol, who has been off of everyone’s radar for quite a while.
…when some shocking news threatens to unearth their dark secret, Beth enlists the help of private investigator Matthew Hill to help her and Sally reconnect with estranged Carol – before the terrible act they committed as teenagers is revealed.
What Did I Think?
I often go into modern thrillers with some trepidation. I don’t know why – I usually enjoy them. I just think it is a hard genre to get right, without going over-the-top with twists and reveals, but Teresa Driscoll got it spot on.
I couldn’t put this book down and it’s by far the quickest I have read a book in the last 6 months. The steady flow of secrets being revealed and questions arising kept me on the edge of my seat. The tone of the book is just right – even during quite dark or violent scenes, the tone of Driscoll’s writing was sensitive, mature and kept the pace moving.
I really liked the main characters of Beth and Carol. Carol in particular was kept so mysterious right until the end, that there was no way of knowing what the truth was. I enjoyed being kept guessing and I certainly didn’t see any of the twists coming! (Although, for someone who loves a thriller, I often don’t see the twists coming – that’s not to say that you wouldn’t either.)
4 out of 5 stars – I would definitely recommend to any fellow thriller enthusiast.
Have you read ‘The Promise’? What did you think?
Are there any other good thrillers you would recommend?
(P.S – if this seems like your kind of book and you want a hard copy, there’s currently 37% off on the Book Depository! Here is the link.)
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