Stephanie Jane recenzis Under Your Skin de Rose McClelland
A fast-paced, exciting read
3 steloj
I followed Rose McClelland on Twitter because I liked her style and humour, although I hadn't previously read any of her books. When she tweeted about a limited time freebie on her new thriller, Under Your Skin, I leapt at the chance to download myself a copy. The novel is a fast-paced, exciting read told in turn from the first person point of view of each of the central characters. I did wonder whether having so many narrating voices would make it difficult to tell people apart, but McClelland has given everyone their own distinctive voice so I rarely lost track of whose thoughts I was reading. I enjoyed reading pivotal scenes from alternative perspectives because it was interesting to realise how these characters could interpret events so differently. Perhaps Julia's naivete let the story down because I struggled to believe how she could have usurped Hannah's place so swiftly …
I followed Rose McClelland on Twitter because I liked her style and humour, although I hadn't previously read any of her books. When she tweeted about a limited time freebie on her new thriller, Under Your Skin, I leapt at the chance to download myself a copy. The novel is a fast-paced, exciting read told in turn from the first person point of view of each of the central characters. I did wonder whether having so many narrating voices would make it difficult to tell people apart, but McClelland has given everyone their own distinctive voice so I rarely lost track of whose thoughts I was reading. I enjoyed reading pivotal scenes from alternative perspectives because it was interesting to realise how these characters could interpret events so differently. Perhaps Julia's naivete let the story down because I struggled to believe how she could have usurped Hannah's place so swiftly without misgivings.
McClelland has a good understanding of how abusive relationships can develop so I felt this aspect of the story was authentically and sensitively portrayed. The police procedures didn't always feel as realistic, but Under Your Skin is a psychological thriller rather than a police procedural novel so I wouldn't have appreciated it getting bogged down in that level of detail either! I did love the snippets of Belfast slang which added to the story's geographic grounding.
Under Your Skin was a nicely tense thriller which kept me hooked over the couple of days it took me to read. I liked its female-centred cast and that Hannah was not conveniently written off as a bland, mute victim. McClelland's previous romance author experience could be glimpsed in characters' interactions throughout the story and I liked this unusual angle. I felt Under Your Skin was as much about the people themselves as about the search for Hannah. I did guess the 'where' before it was revealed, but was way off on the 'why' and the 'how'!