Category Archives: Jenny Blackhurst

The Foster Child by Jenny Blackhurst #BookReview @JennyBlackhurst @headlinepg

Book description

When child psychologist Imogen Reid takes on the case of 11-year-old Ellie Atkinson, she refuses to listen to warnings that the girl is dangerous.
Ellie was the only survivor of a fire that killed her family. Imogen is convinced she’s just a sad and angry child struggling to cope with her loss.

But Ellie’s foster parents and teachers are starting to fear her. When she gets upset, bad things seem to happen. And as Imogen gets closer to Ellie, she may be putting herself in danger…

Design

My review

I do love a creepy and disturbing psychological thriller and The Foster Child by Jenny Blackhurst fits the bill perfectly. When a child is portrayed in a book as someone evil and not to be trusted I always find the read somewhat more creepy, I think it’s because children are seen as sweet and innocent you never expect them to scare the life out of you, but Jenny Blackhurst has created a character who gave me the heebie-jeebies. From the start this book made for a chilling and genuinely disturbing read that took me by surprise at every twisted turn.

Rather like the book description for The Foster Child I’m not going to go into plot details I think the vagueness of the description helped to make this book all the more thrilling as you weren’t sure what to expect. From my first introduction to Ellie I wanted to believe in her and I found myself hoping that “the bad things happening” to the people who upset her were a coincidence rather than something far more disturbing. As the story progresses you can’t help but feel for Ellie, a child who is bullied relentlessly and “whispered about by children and adults alike.

Malice and discord bubble away throughout making every chapter chilling, I found myself becoming very anxious and increasingly unsettled as the author weaved her twisted tale. I’m very impressed by the author’s ability to create an imaginative and throughly creepy novel that messed with my over active imagination to such an extent that every creak, every noise in the house made me jump! The market is saturated with Psychological thrillers at the moment, but personally I think Jenny Blackhurst has done a fantastic job in making sure The Foster Child stands out, it’s unpredictable, compelling and genuinely disturbing. Definitely a book I would highly recommend as it kept me guessing right up to the last thrilling, heart stopping chapter.

Buying links: Amazon UK 🇬🇧 Amazon US 🇺🇸

Print Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Headline (21 Sept. 2017)

End Of The Year Wrap Up

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Well I for one will be glad to see the back of 2016, for many reasons this hasn’t been the best year I’ve ever had. I’m going to embrace 2017 though and make it my year to take on new challenges.

Now I’m not one for New Years resolutions I always fail at the first hurdle (usually the 2nd of January 😂), but I am hoping to do a couple of things regarding my reading and my blog

Read some books from my TBR pile, which I’m desperate to get through
cut down on blog tours, as there’s too much pressure to read a book in a limited time
Only request one book at a time on NetGalley (this ones going to be hard)
if I’m not enjoying a book, I DON’T have to finish it, after all there are far too many amazing books out there to waste time on a duff one!
learn to say “no” it’s ok NOT to agree to read and review every book that comes my way (my new mantra😂)
Read more books by authors that are new to me, I’ve already got a couple lined up…..so watch this space!

Although I haven’t compiled a list of my top reads, here are just some of the books I really enjoyed this year and would highly recommend.

My top five most read posts

You can read the reviews here……

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2016/02/11/author-interview-behind-closed-doors-by-b-a-paris/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2016/02/08/behind-closed-doors-by-b-a-paris/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2016/01/26/tainted-love-by-kimberley-chambers/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2016/02/26/between-you-and-me-by-lisa-hall/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2016/06/10/the-sister-by-louise-jenson/

My First read of 2017

My first read of 2017 is Snatched From Home by Graham Smith, this is a book that has been sat on my TBR pile for a while, it’s also by an author I haven’t read yet which means I’ve already started on my goals for 2017

Books I’ve read to watch out for in 2017

As the end of the year approaches I would like to say a huge thank you to each and everyone of you who follows my blog and wish you all a fabulous New Year and hope all your dreams come true.

Lorraine x x x

Before I Let You In by Jenny BlackHurst #Review

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Book description

Karen is meant to be the one who fixes problems.

It’s her job, as a psychiatrist – and it’s always been her role as a friend.

But Jessica is different. She should be the patient, the one that Karen helps.

But she knows things about Karen. Her friends, her personal life. Things no patient should know.

And Karen is starting to wonder if she should have let her in . . .

Before I Let You In has to be one of the best psychological thrillers I have read this year, it literally took my breath away. Jenny BlackHurst has written a very original and twisted tale that left my heart racing I’m pleased to say. Karen, Bea and Eleanor are the best of friends and have been since childhood, they know each other inside out or so they believe. When Karen a psychiatrist starts treating Jessica, a girl who seems to know things about Karen’s personal life and that of her friends things take a sinister turn. Little does Karen know, but Jessica is the catalyst that sets off a chain of events that will test the three woman’s friendship to the limits.

I found the three woman an intriguing bunch,they appeared to be the best of friends,the type who support each other in a crisis, they’ve been there through good times and bad, but appearances can be deceptive, and as the author explores the bonds of friendship you realise things aren’t quite as they seem, after all what friends keep secrets from each other? and why would you? As the plot progressed and took a dark and dangerous turn I couldn’t help but become completely wrapped up in what was happening to the three friends, and on many occasions I found my heart in my mouth as a sense of foreboding radiated from every page. The story is told from the perspectives of the three women, which really helped me to connect with them and I found myself totally immersed in their story. All of the women had flaws, but for me this made their characters all the more credible.

What I loved about this book was the fact every time I thought I knew where the novel was heading I got it wrong, Jenny BlackHurst throws in so many twist and turns to keep the reader on their toes. You know from the opening chapter something bad has happened, and I applaud the authors ability to keep the reader in suspense right up until the very last chapter, not a mean feat when writing a thriller, as some books I have read in this genre give too much away too early, and often leave me feeling slightly deflated.
I find Before I Let You In to be a compelling and a very disturbing read, the author explores some very credible flaws in the women’s friendship, jealousy, mistrust, and lies, which certainly made for a gripping read. I would highly recommend this book to “thriller lovers”, actually scrap that, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a “damn good read”

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

Print Length: 368 pages

Publisher: Headline (28 Aug. 2016)

Amazon UK.

Holiday Reads September 2016

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Hello the book review café is back, did you miss me? Probably not!! Well here I am anyway and I thought I would share my holiday reads with you all. I’m glad to say I had the most relaxing holiday ever in Portugal, and I managed to read TEN whole books, yes you read that right! It’s the most I’ve ever read in such a short time, and my god I read some real corkers. I’m super excited that I have made a dent in my Netgalley reads (six of the books were Netgalley reads), and now I just need to try and stay away from requesting any books until I’ve posted my reviews, and my shelf will be reasonable (watch this space, note I said TRY😂🙈). Just in case you are wondering what I read I’ve included a list. As a blogger I like to write my review straight away, so I’m feeling slightly sick at the thought of having to write ten reviews, and trying to remember everything I want to include in my review. So don’t expect them any time soon 😀😀……so here are the books I read