Blog Tour: The July Girls by Phoebe Locke

Released: 25th July 2019

Publisher: Wildfire

Genre: Psychological thriller

Blurb:

'INTENSELY ATMOSPHERIC AND CREEPY' Heat 'EXTRAORDINARY. SHOCKING, YET SUBTLE, THE MENACE DRIPS OFF EVERY PAGE . . . AN ALMOST UNBEARABLY GOOD READ' Caz Frear, Sunday Times-bestselling author of SWEET LITTLE LIES

Every year, on the same night in July, a woman is taken from the streets of London; snatched by a killer who moves through the city like a ghost. Addie has a secret. On the morning of her tenth birthday, four bombs were detonated across the capital. That night her dad came home covered in blood. She thought he was hurt in the attacks - but then her sister Jessie found a missing woman's purse hidden in his room.

Jessie says they mustn't tell. She says there's nothing to worry about. But when she takes a job looking after the woman's baby daughter, Addie starts to realise that her big sister doesn't always tell her the whole story. And that the secrets they're keeping may start costing lives . . .

My Thoughts:

I accepted this blog tour purely due to the premise and it wasn't until the book arrived that I realised Phoebe Locke was a pseudonym of Nicci Cloke (whose YA novel Close Your Eyes was my first 5* read this year) With that, I was so excited to see what was in store for me with this story.

Addie is a brilliant character - curious but naïve, and I loved her narration. The family is highly intriguing and I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two sisters especially, how they clung to each other to get through the days. This novel began with a creepy overtone which got darker and more sinister in such a subtle way that I was somehow uncomfortable but absolutely hooked at the same time. The twists and intricacies of the plot did remind me of the writing in Close Your Eyes and I was once again under the author's spell with whatever tangled webs she chose to weave with the characters. All of the characters played such an important part with how they interacted with the sisters and while I find it hard to choose, I did love the relationship between the sisters and Dellar throughout and there was something heart breaking about how things came together as the twists and turns went deeper.

It's a story that has haunted me since I put it down, and will probably stay with me for a while - a sign of incredible writing - and I can't wait to see what Phoebe Locke does next. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes their thrillers chilling, creepy and just that little bit more dark and twisted than the average. If you liked Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land or Bring Me Back by BA Paris, this novel has similar themes of family and betrayal and every few chapters I would have to put it down in shock, only to snatch it back up moments later to escape into the plot again.

Thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me to be on this blog tour, and to Phoebe Locke and Wildfire for sending me a copy for review. Check out the tour poster at the top - some fantastic reviewers involved to follow.

'INTENSELY ATMOSPHERIC AND CREEPY' Heat 'EXTRAORDINARY. SHOCKING, YET SUBTLE, THE MENACE DRIPS OFF EVERY PAGE . . . AN ALMOST UNBEARABLY GOOD READ' Caz Frear, Sunday Times-bestselling author of SWEET LITTLE LIES

Every year, on the same night in July, a woman is taken from the streets of London; snatched by a killer who moves through the city like a ghost. Addie has a secret. On the morning of her tenth birthday, four bombs were detonated across the capital. That night her dad came home covered in blood. She thought he was hurt in the attacks - but then her sister Jessie found a missing woman's purse hidden in his room.

Jessie says they mustn't tell. She says there's nothing to worry about. But when she takes a job looking after the woman's baby daughter, Addie starts to realise that her big sister doesn't always tell her the whole story. And that the secrets they're keeping may start costing lives . . .