I started reading this after my girlfriend told me how amazing it was and how she simply could not put it down. Since I had already loved “Daisy Darker”, I thought I would give it a try. I was not disappointed. The story pulls the reader in from the very first page. Even the opening paragraph is written so beautifully that I immediately knew I would keep reading. As the mysterious plot unfolds, twist follows twist, constantly making your head spin and forcing you to question everything you think you understand.

„Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife. One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying. Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.“

Blurb

The characters feel vivid and believable. I especially cared for Birdie, who I found not only touching but also genuinely hilarious at times. Her big talk and lively patter were fantastic, and one description in particular made me laugh out loud when she described a minor character with the words: “He looked like saggy boobs.” Moments like this added a surprising warmth and humor to an otherwise tense and mysterious story. I also loved the atmospheric descriptions of the town, the cliffs, and the sea, which created a strong sense of place. The writing style is fast paced yet very comfortable to read, making it easy to stay fully immersed. I ended up reading and listening to the entire book in about two days because I simply did not want to stop.

The ending is phenomenal, filled with even more unexpected turns that I never could have guessed. My strongest recommendation is to go into this book completely blind. Do not read spoilers, reviews, summaries, or even chapter titles. It is absolutely worth experiencing the story without any prior knowledge.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📝 If you are looking for my own short stories, poems and texts, check out my Substack: https://substack.com/@fragmentsandthedark