Today I’m incredibly excited to be a part of the blog tour for one of my favourite authors, Sanjida Kay, with a review of her newest release, One Year Later. Will it follow the pattern of her previous three novels, each of which I gave five stars to…?
Read on to find out what I thought!
Title: One Year Later
Author: Sanjida Kay
Publisher: Corvus Books
[Synopsis]
Since Amy’s daughter, Ruby-May, died in a terrible accident, her family have been beset by grief.
One year later, the family decide to go on holiday to mend their wounds. An idyllic island in Italy seems the perfect place for them to heal and repair their relationships with one another. But no sooner have they arrived than they discover nothing on this remote island is quite as it seems. And with the anniversary of the little girl’s death looming, it becomes clear that at least one person in the family is hiding a shocking secret.
As things start to go rapidly wrong, Amy begins to question whether everyone will make it home.
[My Review]
Another utterly addictive read from Sanjida Kay! One Year Later combines complex family relationships and characters with an intriguing ‘whodunnit’ premise, to create a really enjoyable – but at times emotional – read.
I loved the sense of mystery that is woven throughout the book; one year after the accident that claimed toddler Ruby-May, Amy and her husband Matt go away on holiday with Amy’s family, who themselves are an interesting bunch of people. There’s a lot of clashes and fraught relationships, and things get very tense very quickly! Add into the mix some very raw feelings about Ruby-May’s death concerning Amy’s sister and father, and there’s bound to be fireworks on this holiday, and the main one actually comes quite late in the book.
The majority of the story explores whether certain people may have been lying about their part in the death, through clues scattered throughout the plot and Amy’s brother Nick’s mounting suspicions. I loved the way the developments are slowly teased out for the reader to piece together along with Nick, and the dual timeframes – one focusing on the present day and one taking the reader back to a year ago – means extra information is slowly reassembled, making Nick believe that perhaps everything wasn’t quite as his sister Beth described.
The characters all felt really convincing, especially in the way that none of them are just classed as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – for example, Amy’s father, who seemed to have the biggest part to play in Ruby-May’s death, has parts where I felt so sorry for him I could have cried, and others where I felt quite the opposite! Similarly, Amy’s sister Beth presents quite a mixed bag, in terms of her culpability, and Amy’s husband Matt can be downright rude and unlikable – but then I was all to aware that he had lost a child, one of the worst things a parent can go through, surely?
I found myself completely gripped by the book’s twists, and Sanjida Kay’s beautiul writing transported me to that beautiful Italian island along with the family. The juxtaposition between sunshine-filled island life and what happens to one member of the family during that holiday creates an eerie atmosphere which only adds to the suspense.
I absolutely loved One Year Later – for me it strikes just the right balance between mystery and drama without becoming unbelievable. With convincing characters and an intriguing plot, this is a great new release from Sanjida Kay, and lives up to the very high standard of her first three novels!
[Rating: 5/5]
Many thanks to Corvus and Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review, and for inviting me onto the blog tour!
[About the Author]
Sanjida Kay is a writer and broadcaster. She lives in Somerset with her daughter and husband. She has written three previous psychological thrillers, Bone by Bone, The Stolen Child and My Mother’s Secret to critical acclaim.
[Follow the rest of the blog tour]
Huge thanks for the blog tour support Laura xx