Title: Cross Her Heart
Author: Sarah Pinborough
Publisher: HarperCollins

[Synopsis]

Promises only last if you trust each other, but what if one of you is hiding something?

A secret no one could ever guess.

Someone is living a lie.

Is it Lisa?

Maybe it’s her daughter, Ava.

Or could it be her best friend, Marilyn?

[My Review]

Cross Her Heart has atmosphere and mystery within its pages and I found myself gripped by the plot. Sarah Pinborough does a great job of making you think one way about a character before suddenly surprising you, and though I don’t want to give too much away, I will say this is satisfyingly twisty…

The characters are a mixed bag of likable and annoying, but they all felt convincing and interesting to read about. For example, Ava – just through being a stroppy teenage girl – did get on my nerves at times, but you understand why she acts the way she does sometimes and you do feel like she could be one of many teenagers struggling with hormones etc! Meanwhile I really warmed to both Lisa and her best friend Marilyn but each had their own faults, too. You’re never quite sure who is telling the truth, and I always love a story that makes you doubt everyone, including the main narrator!

There are some really upsetting themes in this novel – again, I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just say that some parts make for hard reading but they do add to the tension. Secrets and lies feature heavily, as does family strife!

I really enjoyed reading Cross Her Heart, and would definitely recommend Sarah Pinborough as an author – the other two books I’ve read by her, 13 Minutes and Behind Her Eyes, were brilliant reads (see my reviews for them here and here respectively)! It’s gripping, intriguing and the plot kept me turning page after page!

[Rating: 4/5]

Many thanks to HarperCollins for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.