BOOK REVIEW: Blood Sisters by Jane Corry

Three little girls set off for school one sunny May morning. Within an hour, one of them is dead. Fifteen years later, Alison and Kitty are living separate lives. Kitty lives in a care home. She can't speak, and she has no memory of the accident that put her there, or her life before it.
Art teacher Alison look fine on the surface. But the surface is a lie. When a job in a prison comes up, she decides to take it- this is her chance to finally make things right.
But someone is watching Kitty and Alison. Someone who wants revenge for what happened that day. And only another life will do...

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 464

Jane Corry's debut novel, My Husband's Wife was fantastic so I was excited to see what she would do next. Blood Sisters is just as thrilling, Corry demonstrates her knack for writing dark, tense, psychological stories.
Three little girls set off for school many years ago, one ended up dead, the other with life changing injuries and the third girl was physically unscathed but it becomes apparent that her mental trauma runs deep and still has a hold over her life in the present. Alison will never forget that walk to school with her sister Kitty. They now lead very different lives; Kitty is locked in a body that she can barely use and Alison is still struggling to come to terms with the events of her past. She thinks she can somehow make things right by taking a job as an art teacher in a prison  but this just sets off a devastating chain of events. Someone else remembers that awful day and they are watching Alison and Kitty, all they want is revenge, a life for a life.
I was surprised by just how much is going on in this book. There are so many layers and events to prise apart. You have the accident, Kitty and Alison's childhood, their relationship as sisters, Alison's father's identity, Alison's current mental state, the list goes on. But somehow Jane Corry brings all of these separate strands together and ties them up beautifully. I felt that she truly showed the complex relationship that sisters have. I have an older sister that I am very close to but I know that it is very different to a sister/brother relationship. I would have liked to have seen the story line about Alison's father explored a little more as
I was left with a few questions as to how certain events had taken place.
Blood Sisters by Jane Corry has the perfect balance, on one hand it is a fraught, psychological thriller and on the other hand it is much more emotive, taking the time to explore different relationships and behaviours.
This book would be great to take on holiday as it will completely grab your attention , you will not be able to stop turning the pages.

Many thanks to Penguin for sending me a copy of the book to review. 

BOOK REVIEW: My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry

It's the perfect love story.
Lily meets Ed at a party, and on their second date, he proposes.
She's a lawyer, he's an up-and-coming artist. They own a beautiful flat in London and mix with all the right people.
But Lily has a secret. Something from her past, that is soon to collide with her present. And she thinks her new husband is hiding something too.
The vows they made will soon be tested to the very limits.
'Till death us do part...'

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 520

My Husband's Wife is Jane Corry's debut thriller and it is fantastic. It is dark, gripping and twisted. I felt like there were so many layers to this story and they were all expertly dealt with.
Lily and Ed met at a party, they both have skeletons in their closet but they are inexplicably drawn to each other. Ed proposes on their second date and they set up home together. Lily is a lawyer and Ed works in advertising whilst pursuing his dream of being an artist. Both of their pasts are going to catch up with them at some point but how will it effect their future?
Lily's world is turned upside down when she is asked to represent a convicted murderer who is appealing his sentence. Lily's subsequent relationship with Jo Thomas has consequences for all those around her.
Jane Corry's writing is precise and so well crafted. I loved the way in which she built up each character gradually. She lures you into feeling like you know them really well and then she will do something that throws you entirely off course.
I enjoyed the legal aspect of the book and how the author shows that it is not always evidence alone that wins the case but instead the way in which it is presented. At the start of the book, Lily seems to have a very strong sense of right and wrong; she sees things in a very black and white manner. But her involvement with Joe Thomas leads her to look at the world differently; suddenly there are lots of grey areas and her behaviour reflects this.
My Husband's Wife is a gripping read. I felt that I wanted to be part of Lily and Ed's world but once I was in it I could see it for the nightmare that it truly is. There is so much tension in this book; tension between characters; between the past and the present and between outward appearances and reality.
Jane Corry's debut is not one to be missed and I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to Penguin for sending me a review copy of this book, it is published on 25th August!