Well hello to you my reader chums! As many of you may know, I adore a good thriller, especially one where you don't see the ending coming and I can get fully engrossed in the plot. I love the addictive element of them and how I'm always surprised one way or another. My latest read was The Accident, a book I didn't expect to get as hooked in as I expected.

If you're looking for a new thriller recommendation, here is my full review of The Accident by C.L Taylor.

This post contains affiliate links but all thoughts are my own.

Plotline

The book follows Sue Jackson who appears to have the perfect family until her daughter Charlotte deliberately steps in front of a bus and lands in a coma - and Sue is forced to face a dark reality. Sue is desperate to figure out why Charlotte would do this and retraces her steps, realising she may not know her daughter as much as she thought. And, the answer to what happened to her daughter could lie in her own secrets. 

Characters and relationships

This book was very much focused on the protagonist Sue who told the story from the past and the present. The book flipped from chapter to chapter with the past being entries of Sue's diary and what happened to her twenty years ago and to the present day. Sue was a character to who my heart went out to. Reading her past experience and relating to a lot of what she went through, made me admire her even more, especially in the present day as she got through some terrible times. Her strength and perseverance are apparent in the search to find her daughter, despite it bringing up lots of dark secrets.

Sue's relationship with her husband Brian is realistic and wholesome. It shows what a long marriage should be like and how much two people can care for each other when they've been through a lot together. Her daughter Charlotte is spoken more about than actually to and you learn who Charlotte is as Sue uncovers parts of her life throughout the plot. To me, Charlotte is a typical teenager, testing things out for the first time, pushing boundaries, and ultimately wanting to have fun, but ends up getting twisted up in a bad situation. Charlotte's friends were typical teenagers. Ella, her ex-best friend took a while to warm up to Sue but I could just tell it was because she had been hurt from the friendship and eventually opened up. 

One of the most notable characters is Sue's ex James, which is what the majority of the past chapters are about - their relationship and what happened between them. I hated him as a character and as the plot went on, my stomach turned with what he was like. I didn't understand why their relationship was relevant at first but as the plot pans out, it becomes apparent.

Overall thoughts

Overall, I loved this book a lot! It's a book that gripped me with every page and for a while had that intrigue about it, to what the actual mystery was. Because this element was held back for so long, it made me more excited to find out what actually happened as I had no idea. I loved the pace of this book, I loved how the past and present tense were separated and the detail of each of the characters. It's a tense read, with twists and turns I wouldn't have expected. I would 100% recommend it to anyone.

One thing I would however note is that this book can be triggering and you should be mindful of that before purchasing. It contains themes of emotional abuse, domestic abuse, and sexual assault.

Ending

The ending really hooked me in and was incredible. The author of this book really did build the intensity up so much throughout the novel that the last few chapters were just genius. I love how the ending unfolded with so much drama and scary moments. But, it was a brilliant and right ending for an epic novel.

You can pick up your copy of The Accident here.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Is this book on your to-be-read list?

Thank you for reading <3