Julianne is living a happy life preparing dinner a normal day,till the moment her son runs in and says look what I found on the iPad.What she sees will disgust shock and turn her life upside down.Going back in time to college days to acts ugly acts.This book is so twisted so shocking unputdownable a wild wild read.
#netgalley #A Version of the Truth #avonuk

Like many other reviewers of this book, I am not quite sure where to start with this one.

The first few chapters definitely had me hooked and I was desperate to find out what was going on in the "now'" part of the story. Then we go back to 1990 and are introduced to the characters as they were back then and the story unfolds going back between then and now.

I found the character of Holly rather insipid and her naivety slightly unbelievable and I felt that James and the other characters in Oxford seemed slightly stereotyped.

What I did not expect was the graphic nature of what I was reading. I prefer a more implied version of what may be happening, so I sometimes felt uncomfortable reading the explicit parts.

That said, the actual story is rather good and I was intrigued to find out how it would all end.. I would have just preferred perhaps, a less explicit read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher for letting me read this book. I am not sure I really liked this book, did not like any of the people in it and gave up after about 50 pages.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-galley copy in exchange for an honest review.

TBH, I found this book to be rather disconcordant. I didn't make an emotional connection with the main characters, Julianne and Sophie. Although the conflict is a very of-the-moment issue, it's not revealed what's going on until the third act, leaving you with little time to process what's going on before the novel concludes. There's little to go on as to how the villians became quite so twisted as to play the "games" they did in the past and how they managed to level up to their current hideousness.

This book tries to address multiple important issues in our society today, but glazes the surface without making any equally important conclusions or judgements. Definitely a worthy topice, but it could have been handled more deftly.

Not my cup of tea this book, tried my best to continue with it but the story just wasn’t strong enough to keep me engaged in the book.

Sex. Drugs. College. Sorry kids - no rock-n-roll in this twisted, gnarly, dark tale.

A Version of the Truth hits a bit too close to home for me; however, I muddled through triumphantly. It’s a good read for those with a strong heart and no skeletons hanging in the closet waiting to say “hello” reminding you of a past you wish would stay buried. A Version of the Truth keeps you tuned in, stringing you along, twisting you in ways you didn’t think you could be twisted. Even though the books main topic was a bit much for my own psyche, I still have to give it a 4.❤️

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this to review.

Very mixed thoughts on this book, which is told in both the present from an Oxford Uni alumni (Julianne) and a student (Holly) who is studying at Oxford.

The story itself is quite dark and sinister and although initially gripping, I lost interest to a degree at the at some points unnecessary graphic sexual detail. Although without a doubt this happens at HE institutes - some of the detail just didn’t quite sit right and was a bit too ‘try hard’

That said, it was a decent read that kept interest throughout at some level, and it was a good ending with great build up towards this.

If you want to read a story about privileged, entitled, white men who have sexual perversions and the mousy, doormat, weak wives, then you will enjoy A Version of the Truth.

Told in past and present POVs from Holly, a sheltered young freshman student at Oxford, and Julianne, the wife of James, also of Oxford. A traumatic assault Holly suffered as a young woman will have devastating repercussions for everyone involved in the future.

Let me be blunt; there are no nice people here, not even vaguely sympathetic ones, except for Stephen, Julianne and James' son, the only one with moral fiber and a backbone.

Everyone is disgusting scum, including the women. There is tedious talk about sex, intercourse, and more sex, people having sex, snarky comments and sneaky asides about who is doing whom.

Then, we get more disturbing talk about rape, gang rape, sexual trafficking, and none of this added to the narrative or moved the plot forward. After a few pages, it all became monotonous and extremely childish.

Besides all the blatant sexual violence against women and members of the LGBT community, there is gay bashing, appearance and slut shaming, sexism and misogyny only Weinstein could love coupled with despicable, hateful male characters, and the typical (poor) representations of women as weak, cowardly and sad.

Holly, as an assault survivor, does not engender much sympathy. She is an awkward and sheltered individual, she keeps mentioning, but (not so secretly) judgmental, bitter and jealous. She is attracted to James and experiences an almost unholy jealousy when she discovers he has a girlfriend, even though she has no claim to him.

Julianne, like ALL wives in these kinds of books, fakes it (for a freaking long time) until she makes it, until she can't do it anymore. Naturally, she is gorgeous and married to James, another gorgeous individual, who has lived in denial for nearly 30 years, because...she's scared? She's a coward? OK, fine. but that doesn't mean I like or empathize with you.

What the narrative lacks in plot is made up in how much time Julianne spends gasping in shock and vomiting and bewildered and more shocked expressions when she realizes her husband is scum. Here's a tip; why don't you stop fainting like a Victorian lady and...oh, I don't know, MAN UP! It's not as if you didn't know.

But the real hard to suspend disbelief moment of the book came was how Julianne discovers her husband's indiscretions.

How many tabs does he have open? How many cloud accounts does he have that he has no idea that he's dropping incriminating items into the FAMILY ACCOUNT?

Is he that stupid? That's rhetorical.

I'm seeing too many of these plots, where the main characters are white, privileged men up to the usual Anthony Weiner shenanigans (or worse) and the stupid women who love them and eventually discover what kind of men they really are (insert fake gasp here).

Oh, and the ending...please, don't get me started on that Lifetime cheesiness. Now I'm the one who wants to puke.

I have no idea if the author was trying to make a statement about the #MeToo movement but if he or she was, it was an EPIC FAIL.

This book was a decent thriller with well developed characters, with an original plot line that kept me intrigued and flipping pages. Something I thought was a 3-4 star read.
Will use in a daily challenge and recommend to the members of Chapter Chatter Pub when I return from vacation.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were Very believable and there is a twist at the end without spoiling it for other readers but I didn't expect the outcome. The description of university life was well thought out. Well done to the author.

A devastating secret has simmered beneath the surface for over twenty-five years. Now it’s time to discover the truth. But what if you’re afraid of what you might find?

It is 2019. Julianne is preparing dinner when her son shows her something suspicious on his iPad. It involves her husband. It makes her question her marriage and everyone involved.
In 1990, Sophie is a freshman. She makes friends with a group of older students and starts to fall for one. As the year progresses, she realizes that maybe this is not the best idea.

It was very well written and I enjoyed the idea of the story but it was a little to much at times. It may be a difficult read for some because of the violence.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC of #AVersionOfTheTruth

Not sure how I feel about this book, it gripped me from the start but then as it got darker and I mean really dark I felt uncomfortable reading it. If I hadn't have committed to reviewing it, I may not have finished it due to the uneasy feeling it gave me.

Not even sure what star rating to give it - I've decided to go with a three, for the first part of the book, the author did a good job building up the suspense between 2019 and 1990 time zones.

But if a friend asked if I would recommend this book, I think I'd have to say no, it's a difficult read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book and gripped enough to read to the end but ultimately I felt it handled very sensitive subject matter a little clumsily and with too much focus on the attackers, not the survivors.

Told in split timelines - with Julianne the wife of a wealthy man whose son has found something terrible on the family iPad and in flashback to Holly, a student at Oxford in 1990, slowly both stories intertwine.

The content matter is quite upsetting and for me, not dealt with appropriately. Although there are some monstrous characters in this novel - and I do love a good sociopath - in this story I felt they were rather two dimensional and given the story, I couldn't engage with any of the characters fully enough..

Thank you to netgalley and Avon for giving me this egalley to review.

The book started out well but unfortunately it descended into graphic language and highly descriptive sexual encounters. This was not healthy consensual sex being described. Yes, many people have no problem reading this type of book but I did not enjoy it. The ending tried to bring justice for the victim of one instance of gang rape but it seemed too little, too late.

This was not what I was expecting! It started well, with the concept intriguing me, but after that I found it to be distasteful, insensitive and difficult to finish!
I can’t recommend! There was nothing apart from the beginning that I liked.

I couldn't put it down but it wasn't because I was liking it but because I wanted to see what Julienne was going to do. God! Her son had more sense than her.

The story alternates between the past (when they were in the university) and the present. I wasn't interested in the past so I skipped most of it, mostly because I knew what was coming.

The present was interesting but I felt that the characters were bland. James seemed to have no blood running through his veins!

The concept of the story, rich people satisfying their low and dark sex appetites with the poor and underprivileged, is something I had read before but here it was played... Without emotions.

When everything comes down during a Christmas dinner, things are said and revealed as a matter of fact. This had no effect on me and I just thought that it was an inefficient way of reaching the climax.

All of the sudden, Julienne realizes that the girl she "saw" her husband having sex with in college was actually raped. Really, after 20 years that revelation just comes down on you?

A superb read - brilliant roll out of characters. Current issues are tackled in an all-out interesting story of family
and downturns that can occur.

Julianna, her husband, James and son Stephen (17 y/o) invite James' best friend, Ernest, and Ernest's sister, Ally, over for a pre-Christmas dinner. The four of them have known each other for close to 30 years - since attending university at Oxford.

Stephen finds something quite shocking in his family's computer drop-box - setting the stage for a most interesting thriller.

See how lies, deception and the mere truth intertwine into one of this year's best reads! Recommend!!!!!

Many thanks to AVON Books UK and NetGalley for a suspenseful, quick ride!!!!!

#AversionOfTheTruth #NetGalley I can usually finish a book in between 1 and 3 days depending how it grips me. This book took me 9 days. I just could not get into it - it was so slow to get going and only really became interesting for me during the last quarter of the book. The subject matter was harrowing at times and I felt it could have been portrayed much more positively for women particularly as part of the book is set in 2019. The outcome for James seemed far too convenient and I think the real story will have come after the epilogue as it rather left me wondering what happened next. Disappointing as I think it had the potential to be a really good story but it just didn't work for me.

This had been a slow paced story, full of descriptive characters and let me tell you the truth, not really charming at all, but it makes sense in the story they told you, you don't have to like them, on the contrary, you should hate them, and page after page the hatred will grow... Because this is not a beautiful story, is a horrible story, in which you will hate and dislike, but that it has to be told; maybe if we read it enough times we will start making a better world for our children.
The story is told between the past (1990), where a young Holly is starting the university at one of the most prestigious of the world, Oxford. Sadly her new friends will not be what she will be expecting and their friendship will get darker and darker till a fateful night where her life will change forever.
And the present, 2019, where the happy wife (Julianne) of a very successful man discovers a secret that will change her and her family forever.
Of course both stories are related, but we will discover it after a few pages, when we will be glued to the story and there's not return of it, because as much as we like Holly and Julianne their lives were connected a long time ago and now is time to face the consequences, even if they will put the lives of their loved ones in danger.
I have to say that it was a little slow for my taste, it seemed that nothing happened till more than half of the book and then the story resolved in less than 50 pages. It is not that I didn't like it, but maybe I would prefer more confrontation and more explanation about the ending...
This is a story to read and digest, think and talk, it will not delight you, it will infuriate you and make you angry, but I am sure this is the idea of the author, because if we don't act against abuse, no one will.
There's always different versions of the truth, but you should always listen to all of them, not only the nice one. Ready?

This books should come with a bunch of trigger warnings, gang rape, sexual violence, racism, homophobia to name some.
The book starts off interestingly enough and intrigues the reader. The presentation of the story moving between the 90s and 2019 is interesting and you try to figure out how the past and the present are connected. It becomes evident at about 25% in. Holly’s character is well defines and her behavior and approach to everything in an elite university, coming from a middle class background herself, is understandable. Julianne’s story in the 90s on the other hand isn’t as well developed and she only seems like one of the side characters. Julianne’s mother is a completely unnecessary character in the plot.
I was hooked enough throughout the book because the story was interesting. It was disturbing in many places but it still makes you want to read more. I would have rated this book a lot higher only if the ending was not so unsatisfying. Being based in 2019, I cannot believe how Ernest is unaffected and casual about everything being discussed. In light of the #MeToo movement it is impossible to believe that anyone would think they were untouchable by reality because of the money or position they held. This approach makes it seem like the whole #MeToo movement is being minimized or diminished. The author could have made the ending a lot more believable by using the #MeToo movement to the advantage of the women instead. I did not like how James was dealt with at all, just seemed more convenient than believable again. The epilogue too is wired. This was yet another missed opportunity to show that power MeToo movement.
So while the book was an interesting read, the way it wrapped up left a lot to be desired and hence I would not rate it more than I have. If the ending was dealt with differently this book had the potential to easily be a 4-5 star book.

Thank you Avon Books UK and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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