The sensationally good Tanya Byrne returns with her new novel - a dark, compulsive tale of obsession and betrayal.
When sixteen-year old Adamma Okonma, a Nigerian diplomat's daughter, arrives at exclusive Croften College in Wiltshire, she is immediately drawn to beautiful, impetuous, unpredictable Scarlett Milton. Adamma and Scarlett become inseperable - until Adamma falls for Scarlett's boyfriend Dominic. Soon the battle lines are drawn and Adamma is shunned by Scarlett and her priviledged peers. But then Scarlett goes missing and everything takes a darker turn. As Adamma begins to uncover a series of ugly scandals at the school, she realises there was more than one person who wanted Scarlett to disappear and indeed that Croften has its own disturbing secrets to hide..
My Thoughts
Follow me down is a cracking read which will hook you from the very first page and won't let me go until you're done. If you dare to have audacity to put it down it'll niggle at you continually and beg to be picked up until you give in and devour it in one greedy go.
This review is deliberately short for two reasons. Firstly because I'm still now 24 hours on after finishing mulling it over in my mind and coming to terms with what I read and I think this will continue to go on for a few days to come. Quiet honestly I don't think I have the words to do justice to all those feelings just yet. Secondly I fear that if I gush or say too much I won't be able to rein myself in and I'll end up spoiling things for others. So please be sure in the knowledge that I loved this book from the very start.
This book follows the story of Adamma as she arrives at her new boarding school. She is the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat and has been moved to England for his new job. The story is told in two timelines some chapters from before and others after an event. As you go through you find yourself piecing the story together to make one whole and connected narrative and blimey it is a thinker. The are so many twists and parts of the story that keep you guessing that I found I couldn't second guess where the story was going and was constantly surprised about where it went meaning I quite literally couldn't put the book down. I loved the characters and how well they were done and I loved the whole variety of relationships developed as the book went on and seeing the comparison between them. The ending was brilliant and as I said earlier will stick with me for a while to come. I'm actually on the verge of wanting to reread straight away so I see everything again with that more informed brain in gear.
All in all you've got to pity the books I read next as they are never going to live up to Follow me down.
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