Published by Orenda Books on January 19, 2023
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 331
Amazon UK
Goodreads
Also by this author: Lies Between Us
The arrival of a young man in a small town sparks, hoping to leave his past behind him, but everything changes when he takes a job in a peculiar old shop, and meets a lonely single mother... A hypnotic gothic thriller and a mesmerising study of identity and obsession.
When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end.
Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop.
Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she' s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it.
As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife edge.
Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it has always found him before. And before long, it will find Ada too.
There are just no words that I can say to tell you how amazing this book is. I know Ronnie and boy oh boy she is not this dark in real life, she is so lovely….now I might be scared!
I’m not going to rehash the plot, you have all you need to know. Plus if you talk too much about the book, it might give it a new life. Once you close it, you breathe a sigh of relief as you know if you stop there nothing can happen in the future to you or the characters. If you somehow open that book again just a crack, I dread to think what may happen. This book gets into your soul! It crawls under your skin and I still feel cold to the bone just thinking about it. I will be buying a print copy of this, that way I can keep it under lock and key!
It is THAT GOOD!! I thought Ronnie’s debut was awesome, this book blows it and all other books out of the water. It is a relentless attack on your sense and well-being. The rot in the store seeps into you. It is a dark book, one you aren’t sure whether it’s the book, the store, or the characters which slowly makes you question your own head space. What appears to start as a seemingly innocent start to the story, you realise it was a lie. The chapters are so short, like fleeting thoughts and not always the full picture, just a point of view, chirping away at you.
I was completely obsessed with this book, I didn’t get all my answers but I think I am glad, I am not sure I want them. I still have chills. The minds of these characters are broken, things are not right with anyone and the small village of Rye is its own suffocation, not an escape.
All of this adds up to such a spectacular book. One that you will question and one you will need a hot long soapy shower after. I think I need to scrub the rot off myself.
This really is a beautiful, melancholy, dark magic of a book. I absolutely loved it!!!! Rye, Berry & Vincent, Teddy, Albie, and Ada had me enthralled, suffering and screaming throughout. It is just an amazing book that you need to read, devour and live. Don’t expect to feel relief though at any point, because I don’t….
Until the next time xxx
My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for the tour invite, and the author and publisher for a copy of the book in return for my honest and unbiased review
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
annecater says
Thanks for the blog tour support x