Book review - Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

 What. A. Book! I NEED to read it again - WOW

This is one of those books where you finish it…then want to go back and read it all over again!

 

I have always been a keen reader of Alice Feeney and ordered Daisy Darker on my Kindle without even worrying about the plot! I will come back to this below…

It wasn’t until I saw an image (I think it was on Instagram) of a different front cover to the one that I had downloaded that I realised the plot synopsis immediately reminded of my favourite ever Agatha Christie novel – And Then There Were None.

This was the point at which I made it my next book to read. Now, I have to be honest, this was back in November at a point where I was busy with various things (see blog post about life throwing curve balls in October) and I was still collecting up these metaphorical balls then. However, I DID zoom through this book at every opportunity…I just didn’t get time to write about it, until now: committed to other reviews and editing my own anthology due to be published later this year. Title etc to follow.

 

Anyway…here is my review:

This book is FANTASTIC! I know it’s one that I WILL re-read. There are only a few books where I have had goose bumps reading and this literally covered my whole body from head to toe in them when I reached the ending. 

Some reviews say that the twist isn’t worth it, it's obvious etc…but I entirely DISAGREE! The twist is brilliant, and I DID NOT SPOT the main one…although I was suspicious of a couple of other elements, which I guess are part of the twist. I think this book is TOO GOOD to provide spoilers, so I will not explain myself. I did, however, miss the clues that were there - but I didn't mind as this wowed me more. As a fan of unreliable narration, I am all for the trickery!

Here, I will tell you WHY YOU SHOULD READ IT:

1.     Feeney is a master of using the appropriate amount of description to add to the story, to paint the scene in your mind without over doing it.

2.     Feeney isn’t afraid to try something new – see the ‘poems’ included.

3.     Feeney was bold enough to take on Christie but add her own twists to it.

4.     The characters are interesting.

5.      The mystery WILL have you puzzled…

6.      You will want to re-read it all over again when finished (and you will see why when you read the end).

 

One thing lingered with me more than just the story though. 

They say NOT to judge a book by its cover...

I had purchased this: 

Then saw this:

 

...and decided to make it my next read. It was also perfect timing having just been Halloween!

And have now seen this – the French version:

 

If you look for images of this book, there are many a front cover. Yet, the island and the cut off notion instantly drew me in and to want to make it next in my reading queue far more than when it was the yellow and black version and just another Feeney novel that I knew I would enjoy.

So…the question remains: Should we judge a book by its cover? I know I AM drawn to covers and would be interested to know thoughts from others on this – especially as I prepare my own cover! Thoughts appreciated...