Childhood Sweetheart by Wendy Clarke
Published: August 23, 2022
Bookouture
Pages: 381
Genre: Thriller
KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.
Wendy Clarke is a bestselling author of psychological thrillers. She started her career writing short fiction and serials for national women’s magazines. After having over three hundred short stories published, she progressed to writing novels. With a degree in psychology and intrigued with how the human mind can affect behaviour, it was inevitable that she would eventually want to explore her darker side.
Jonah’s not the sweet boy I once knew. His mood is changeable, his behaviour unstable, our brief conversations are forced and awkward. And then the knocks on my window begin. It can only be him, but why, and what does he want? I used to love him. Now I don’t even want to invite him in.
Because after all these years, I see our childhood secrets, the ones we swore never to reveal, in a newly terrifying light. Was his brother’s death truly an accident? Could Jonah’s secrets have been worth killing for? And how safe am I now, on this isolated island, with the man I used to love…?
“The most painful goodbyes are the ones that are never said and never explained.”
Ailsa is doing her best to raise her autistic son while working for Moira as her mother had. Their history is long and twisted, the depths neither truly knows. When Moira invites her son home for her birthday, Ailsa expects things to be awkward but more or less the same. Neither could have anticipated what Moira had planned.
I loved the character’s names in this novel. They were all so lovely. The setting was a character in its own way, beautiful and dark, lonely and dangerous. I loved that you could feel the stunning remoteness as you read.
The characters were all well developed, and I enjoyed getting to know them. I liked how the story was told, with alternating narrators and timelines. The plot was well done and delivered beautifully.
The twists in this story were insane and scary. But also exceptionally well done. This was like being on a rollercoaster, with the sharp turns and sudden drops plunging you in directions you couldn’t predict.
The final twists in this novel were so well executed, and the last sentences were so beautiful, so pure, that I just stared at them for a few moments. I enjoyed this journey.