I feel at the minute that all I'm doing is raving about books; I really do tell the truth about each and every one of them, but Watching Edie isn't going to change this run of really excellent books I've had the pleasure of reading recently.
I love a good psychological thriller, the really good ones have me holding my breath; I could have passed out from this one! I shall be totally honest (as always) and tell you that I had to re-read the first two 'chapters', I think it was a combination of me still reeling from A Boy Made of Blocks, and that I'd started it too late the night before. It only took me a couple of minutes though and once I'd read it properly, away I went.
Now the problem with psychological thrillers is, that if you read enough of them, it's easy to guess the plotline - so I was pretty confident that I had Watching Edie all under control. Yep, it turns out I'm not so smart after all! Thank you Camilla Way for refreshing this genre for me, and for a bloomin' terrific and unpredictable story. Seriously I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nail, then biting my lip, holding my breath and stress-eating a packet of Walkers Mixups (spicy flavour if you're interested, and who isn't interested in snack suggestions!?).
The characters were great, all of them. Heather was quietly terrifying, and I was as scared of her as Edie was. It's no wonder Edie was paranoid, I think I'd have changed my locks about 10 times over the course of the novel. And that's the thing that makes this book so successful, it is psychologically unnerving. The fact that we don't know what the great mystery of "that night" is, or the circumstances surrounding Lydia, or why Monica is at first off-hand and unfriendly. It's all these unanswered questions which had me nervously tiptoeing around what Heather was actually capable of.
I could sit here and say that this is an exploration of female friendship, but blimey I hope it isn't. I don't think this is anywhere close to a friendship on one side. It's certainly a tale of deceit and betrayal that's for sure. How the actions, events and decisions of your youth , coupled with how you treat other people, can have such a devastating effect on the rest of your life.
The writing is, as you might have guessed, very successful in building up the tension, right up to the denouement - and what an ending it is!
Reading this was a terrific way to spend a day. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it and would whole-heartedly recommend it.
