Book: The New Family
Author: Victoria Jenkins
Pub Day: Nov 16th 2021
About the Book:
Can you really trust the family next door? Brooke is delighted when Oliver decides to rent her old family home with his three-year-old son Finley. Finally someone to bring happiness to the rundown house across the street. They seem like the perfect tenants, but Brooke is a little unnerved when they move in with just a single bag between them. Where are their belongings? When Brooke asks Oliver about his past, he quickly changes the subject. Her best friend tells her to leave it, after all Brooke has been through enough trauma in her life. But Brooke can’t shake off the feeling that something isn’t right. Why aren’t her new tenants’ names listed anywhere online? Then Brooke arrives home to find orange flames dancing in the upstairs windows. As her whole life goes up in smoke, she is convinced it wasn’t an accident. And when she finds Finley drawing a picture of an angry burning house with terror in his eyes, her blood runs cold. What is Finley so frightened of? And why does Oliver snatch the drawing away the moment he sees it? Brooke is convinced Finley is in serious danger, but given her past, she’s not sure anyone will believe her. Is Brooke ready to face up to her own demons to save the little boy? And when the truth is finally revealed, who is really the one in danger? The New Family is an addictive psychological thriller with a twist you won’t see coming, perfect for fans of The Wife, The Silent Patient and Lisa Jewell.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The New Family' by Victoria Jenkins.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Victoria Jenkins, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 16th November 2021.
This is the second book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'First Playdate' and which I highly recommend.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'The New Family is an addictive psychological thriller with a twist you won’t see coming, perfect for fans of The Wife, The Silent Patient and Lisa Jewell.' I am a huge fan of 'Lisa Jewell' and 'The Wife' so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Victoria and if this is half as good as 'The Playdate' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue and 57 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is set in Wales 🏴 , UK 🇬🇧. I always seem to get on with books that are set in the UK better as I am from Wales and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book. The fact that this book is based in Wales is even better. I've read the first chapter at this point and it has already mentioned Fishguard which is only an hour away and a place I've visited many times. I'm definitely excited to see if it mentions my home town or more places I recognise!!
This book is written in a mix of third and first person perspective and the protagonists are Brooke Meredith and Christina. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.
'The New Family' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Victoria discusses/includes suicide.
Wow!!! What a rollercoaster ride of a read!!! Fantastically written with vivid descriptions throughout making me feel like I was in the storyline. The synopsis, title and cover suited the plot perfectly.
I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting!!! I absolutely LOVE the fact it is set in Wales and written by a Welsh author, being Welsh myself. There were several places mentioned that I don't live that far from including Fishguard and Tenby along with are only about 60/70 minutes away from me. I definitely think that it being set in Wales was a huge bonus for me. The storyline was absolutely gripping and kept me up until the early hours of the morning as I could not put it down!! I was absolutely gobsmacked when everything came out, absolutely explosive twists which I was not expecting!!! A HUGE congratulations to Victoria on that as it is definitely getting harder and harder to shock me but you most definitely did that!!! There were points where my heart was in my throat and I was on the edge of my seat, and then the edge of my bed as I was not putting this book down until I finished!!! I loved that everything was tied up nicely at the end as a pet hate of mine is loose ends and having something mentioned in a book that the author seems to then forget about but absolutely everything was explained by the end of this one. This book would make a fantastic movie!!
It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
The characters were all strong, realistic and very well developed. I was completely invested in Brooke and Christina who were both very strong female leads. I really felt for Brooke as she seemed to go through one thing after another. My heart completely went out to a couple of characters in regards to something that happened but I don't want to say anymore as I wouldn't want to spoil it for future readers. The plot and characters were all very realistic which I think makes it scarier in more ways that one.
I absolutely loved your book Victoria and congratulations on yet another HUGE success . I cannot wait to read more of what promises to be heart stopping reads. Here's to your next success 🥂.
Overall a heart pounding, page turning, edge of your seat psychological thriller that will keep you up late at night.
Genres covered in this novel include Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Noir Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction and Police Procedural amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'The Wife' , 'The Silent Patient' and Lisa Jewell.
365 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle via Amazon or which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews
@VictoriaJenkins @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio and Social Media
Victoria Jenkins is an English tutor and former secondary school teacher from South Wales who has been writing for years and day-dreaming about becoming a ‘proper’ writer for the past decade. She have an MA in Creative and Media Writing from the University of Wales, Swansea, where she wrote a lot of poetry while planning a lot of plots she hoped she would once day write. Victoria lives in South Wales with her husband. Facebook:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vicwritescrime
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vicwritescrime/
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B09H7MZ83Ysocial
Apple: http://ow.ly/AMib50GhJtR
Kobo: http://ow.ly/MpKn50GhJs6
Google: http://ow.ly/n4du50GhJCS
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