Description
A teenage girl clashes with her new stepmother in this debut thriller with an unforgettable twist
I knew she was trouble from the moment I saw her. I felt it as she stood in the doorway that day: disaster. Not just because she was so different, that skin and that hair, as different from me as it’s possible to be. There was something wrong about her. Wrong for us. It was never going to work.
Now she is dead and only I am left to love him. She is dead, and it’s all my fault.
About the author
Rachel Edwards is an alumna of King’s College London where she read French with English BA (Hons). She won an Arts Council award for her fiction and worked as a freelance writer for over 12 years prior to publishing her debut novel ‘Darling’ with Fourth Estate, HarperCollins. Her articles feature in the national press, including The Guardian and The Sunday Times, and she is a regular guest at literary festivals and on BBC radio. She lives in Oxfordshire with her husband, Peter, and is currently writing her second novel.
My thoughts
Oh wow! Rachel Edwards drew me in good and proper. I loved the political element as this proved to be a fantastic frame for the whole story. While reading, I got angry – I felt Darling’s love and I loathed Lola.
I’ll start with Lola. I really felt as though her chapters were being written by a teenager. The whole thing felt raw, uncensored and authentic. My emotions bounced around as I got to know her better. Angry hormonal teenager that needs guidance or the devil in disguise? You’ll need to read this book to decide – seriously!
The whirlwind romance between Thomas and Darling was so well written that I believed it could have happened that quick. Who doesn’t hope for love-at-first-sight for a character, especially one who is having a hard time. I’ll explain further, Darling’s character cares for her disabled young son and as a reader, I wanted life to be easier for her and full of love – the very love she gives to everyone else.
Little Stevie was a delightful character and I loved how his story developed too. He brought joy to the sinister undertones that became more dominant throughout the story.
Darling is a book that throws jaw dropping twists at the reader. I can’t speak much more about these but believe me, they’re something else! If you love a psychological thriller that reels you in and keeps you in its grip until that last page, then this is your book. The ending – boom! Fantastic read.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Darling-shocking-ps
By Carla Kovach – author of Amazon and iBooks bestseller, The Next Girl.
Carla Kovach - Author 