Hey there, book lovers!
It’s been a little while since I last popped on here with a book review – I apologise! Believe me, it’s not due to a lack of reading. I always make sure I’m in bed for at least half an hour of reading everyday, but the last couple of weeks have also been filled with other exciting happenings: I have launched my new Social Media Management business and my best friend has been up from London for pre-wedding activities – and as Maid of Honour, I am completely throwing myself in, of course!
So I finished ‘My Name Was Eden’ last weekend – funnily enough, on the way to the Northern Publishers’ Fair, where Harper North were displaying it in all its glory! Although, as shown in my photo, tulips make everything look brighter and more beautiful!
What is ‘My Name Was Eden’ about?
‘My Name Was Eden’ begins with a shockingly dramatic event: Lucy discovers that her daughter Eden has nearly drowned in the lake near their house. It’s touch and go, but Eden pulls through. Only she isn’t Eden anymore. She now wishes to be known as Eli, her twin who vanished in the womb when Lucy was pregnant.
At first, Lucy is shocked and understandably concerned by this. But she soon starts to wonder if this could be her chance to have the child she never got the chance to know, the child who might love her more than Eden ever did.
Meanwhile, Lucy’s concerns about her husband’s fidelity, struggles with her best friend, and her own mental health issues begin to take a huge toll on her. As we see flashbacks to her own troubled childhood, we wonder how much of Lucy’s reality is actually true.
Should you read ‘My Name Was Eden’?
Let’s start with the positives. This book was a complex, dramatic thriller, with plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing. If you enjoy a psychological thriler, with tense moments and a bit of fast-paced action thrown in for good measure, then yes, you should definitely read this book.
One element I found particularly interesting was that all the characters seemed incredibly unlikeable. I mean, I wasn’t rooting for a single one of them! However, where this usually has me wanting to put a book down, it had the opposite effect here. Instead, I felt myself quite desperate to find out who was eventually going to get their comeuppance for their awful behaviour. And I think the ending was both satisfying and infuriarting in equal measure – a sign of a book I was very invested in!
On the other hand, the sheer number of dramatic twists in this novel seemed a bit excessive. By the end, I did find myself rolling my eyes somewhat, thinking “surely, nothing more ridiculous than this is going to happen’, but then something a bit more ridiculous would happen. But if you’re here for that kind of melodrama, then this is the book for you!
Final thoughts
All in all, an intriguing dive into complex psychological issues with dramatic (sometimes excessive) thriller moments.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Back soon!
Bookish Blonde x
Bookish Blonde 