The Move By Felicity Everett ★★★★★

Published : 23rd January 2020

Publisher : HQ HarperCollins

Format : Hardcover, Kindle, Paperback, Audio

Genre : Thriller

Synopsis...

Karen is driving through a strange landscape into a new life.

Always a city girl, now she is on her way to an idyllic country cottage, refurbished for her with impeccable taste by her husband Nick.

They're making a fresh start.

But something is awry in the new house, it's not just the fact that Karen and Nick are ill at ease in one anothers company that their recent history is far from picture perfect, it's the whole vibe.

The landscape is breathtaking by day, eerie by night.

If the countryside is supposed to be a place of peace, far away from curtain twitchers,

who is the person watching them from the hill?

And who are their new neighbours?

With Karen only recently emerging from a dark place in her life, can she find the trust in her husband Nick to let go of events that have followed them to their new house?

My Review..

This was a fantastic read, I was kept guessing as to what really happened through the entire book..

The story is set mainly around Karen, mum to Ethan and married to Nick, handsome, charming, attentive and controlling?

I don't write spoiler reviews as I really want you to have the surprises and shocks that I enjoy so ill try my best to not give anything away.

Everything was going so well for Karen, her family was happy, she was making pottery that was going to be showcased in a studio, life couldn't be better...

until one night when Karen, Nick and a couple of his high flying friends were going to a concert, Nick was running extremely late and Karen, feeling uncomfortable and self conscious around her husbands friends decided to not stay and wait as she was so angry was taking so long, halfway home feeling guilty that she had not given Nick his ticket so he could go she decided to head to his office and give him his ticket.

stepping out o the elevator onto nicks floor she realises she must have just missed him and looks out of the large glass window down onto the street, there was Nick, but he wasn't alone, he was with a woman and they had stopped to kiss...

Karen had a complete breakdown, smashed all her pottery in the studio and ended up in rehab on strong anti depressants to help her recover.

Nick decides to buy a house in the country as a fresh start for them both. The house is furnished to perfection and he even made her own pottery studio in the garden, but this new straight out of a country fair magazine home doesn't feel like home for Karen and she struggles to settle in.

I could never quite distinguish if Nick was just a controlling man who flirted with every woman he saw but deep down loved Karen or wether he abused her and she blanked it all out? Karen has some memories that point to the latter and the rough style love making and way he occasionally talks to her makes me think that but at the same time I can't be quite sure..

Nick was clearly very oppressive over his son Ethan and like any mother would be this seems to have caused a dent in their relationship, one she blames herself for not stepping in and stopping Nicks behaviour and also resenting the way he treats his child Gabe from his first marriage so affectionately.

Paranoia and distrust are always lingering in the back of Karens mind and whilst she tries really hard to be happy in this new life, in this new home, it quickly turns out to be a rural dream gone wrong. Karen still needs to take her "happy pills" much to Nicks annoyance and attempts to befriend some of the locals but is it all pushing her away rather then pull her close as it is intended to.

I loved how this story ended, how Karen did what she needed to for herself in the end and liked the fact that I never really could pin down the type of husband Nick really was.

This story takes you into a world of unhealthy relationships that live off of delusion and insecurity, proving that no one ever really knows what goes on behind closed doors...

I Highly recommend this twisting addictive read.

Purchase links...

Amazon

BookDepository

About the author...

Felicity Everett grew up in Manchester and studied English Literature at Sussex University. She worked in children's publishing in London, whilst raising a family and is the author of more than twenty works of children's fiction and non-fiction.

After a short career break, Felicity returned to writing full-time and in 2011 published her debut novel, The Story of Us, a funny and touching account of the friendships forged between five women at University in the 1980s. Her second novel, The People at Number 9, published in April 2017, is a dark satire on sex, envy and betrayal in the suburbs. Felicity has recently returned from a few years living in Melbourne, with her husband and now lives in Gloucestershire. Her new book, The Move, out in January 2020 is a gothic tale of marriage and mental instability set in the dark heart of the countryside. You can follow Felicity @ittymay and on Facebook, Felicity Everett - Author.