Book Review | For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

I would like to thank Penguin Random House South Africa for sending me a review copy of this highly anticipated read! I was so excited when I received it in my book mail! I love reading thrillers and love adding new titles from this genre to my book shelf.

Published: August 2021
Pages: 373
Pace: Medium
Genre: Thriller, Mystery

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

So I have to confess something right off the bat… I love books that are set in a school setting. I suppose this is because it’s a space we can all relate to and reading stories that are different from my own experience of school is always interesting. The blurb for this book goes as follows: Teddy Crutcher won Teacher of the Year at Belmont Academy. Everyone thinks he’s brilliant.
Only you know the truth.

They all smile when he tells us his wife couldn’t be more proud.
But no one has seen her in a while.

They’re impressed when the tragic death of a school parent doesn’t distract him.
Even when rumours start to say it was murder.

You’re sure Teddy is hiding something about what happened that day.

You’re sure you can prove it.

But you didn’t stop to think that when it comes to catching a killer, there’s no place more dangerous than just one step behind . . .“

So so intriguing right?! This book did not disappoint. It had so many twists and turns and for most of the read, you aren’t really sure who to believe. And just when you think things can’t get any worse, they get way worse. Teddy Crutcher, our Teacher Of The Year, is quite a complex character. He is an excellent teacher but he does push the students. The students that attend Belmont are some of the best and brightest (and wealthiest) so it’s expected that they are pushed to excel. But he also has this ulterior motive – he needs to teach them real-life lessons since, in his opinion, they are all mostly spoilt brats that need to toughen up a little.

But Teddy may just take this mission a step too far and once the snowball starts to roll, it’s impossible to make it stop until the results are truly catastrophic. Another one of the main characters is Zach Ward. He is one of the wealthy but hard-working students. Unfortunately for him, Teddy has a bone to pick with him. And instead of letting Zach handle things himself, the Ward parents try to solve everything with their power and wealth. This is not something that Teddy can stand and so he makes life very difficult for Zach even though he knows how much his marks mean to him. And Zach is not the first student that has gotten caught in Teddy’s proverbial web.

Watching the story unfold and seeing the pieces come together is a slow but painful story. And, like I mentioned, you are never really sure what to think. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does! It was such a gripping story and it makes you want to read and read until you find out what happens next. Surely they can’t get away with it? What will happen now? How much shock and terror can one school handle?

This book is an excellent choice for anybody who loves thrillers. It is a unique read in how we start off with all the little threads and we just slowly wind our way to the epicentre of the story. It’s set in a school with a bunch of realistic, messy and believable characters. We get little crumbs of information along the way but not really ever enough to figure out how this crazy story will end! And the ending did not disappoint. It was definitely thrilling.

To add it to your TBR list, click here.

To buy yourself a copy, click here.

Until next time! 😊
Chevonn

Book Review | Limerence by Vincent Pienaar

I would like to thank Penguin Random House South Africa for a review copy of this unusual and quirky book. I am new to reading local literature but I am really enjoying exploring the genre!

Published: June 2021
Pages: 281
Pace: Medium
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

From the moment I read the blurb for this book, my curiosity was stirred. It sounded like a really fun book. The story is of a guy in a white Panama hat, called Scout, who has had relationships with these 5 ladies over the years. They are then all summoned to a lawyer’s office under the impression that something must have happened to Scout and they are all there for the reading of the will. But knowing Scout, they are unsure of what he could possibly have left them since he never had anything worth leaving in a will…

And so we start to explore Scout’s life and relationships in the streets of Melville and the surrounding parts of Johannesburg, South Africa. We see how he met each of the ladies and how the relationships developed and what made each one part of the story that we now find ourselves reading. Sounds like fun, right?

Well, now that I have finished the book, I must say, I really enjoyed it overall. In the beginning I was a little confused as to where the story was going and I wondered if it even had a story line. I’m happy to report that it definitely gets better from Part 2. The book is broken up into five parts and each part covers a major theme of the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the different characters. I loved the flawed but honest and real nature of Scout, our protagonist. I wouldn’t necessarily want to hang out with him but getting to know him from a distance (metaphorically speaking) was great. Each of the ladies in the story were also captivating in their own ways. I love that they each had their own story and the different ways they impacted Scout (or I guess how he impacted them).

This story involves themes of relationships, loss, murder, friendship, revenge, career success and failure and touches on many others. It definitely ramps up in intensity from about the half way mark and the ending is a good one.

I thought the writing was so good! I sometimes struggle with South African literature because the writing is sometimes so obviously under par when compared with international standards but I definitely didn’t feel like that with this one. The writing was expressive and clear and clever. I really enjoyed that!

It’s a bit of a tough book to rate in terms of stars but if I think of my overall experience with reading this book, I rate it 4 stars out of 5. It was a treat. Something quite unique and humorous and serious and an escape.

To add it to your TBR list, please click here.

To buy yourself a copy, click here.

Until next time! 😊
Chevonn