Member Reviews

After reading the blurb and looking at the cover of this book I was intrigued and could not wait to start reading. Especially as it was in my favourite genre “mystery and thriller”.

As I started to read, the style of writing and movement between two timelines built up a suspense that had me intrigued further. I was especially intrigued how Sophie, Julie (two main narrators) and families would intertwine and relate to each other.

And then boom.... I had to stop reading. Why? Because of the main theme of the story - sexual violence through gang rape - was uncovered. I closed the book feeling physically sick and could not read any further. I felt quite disturbed, sick and incredibly uncomfortable reading. This book isn’t suited to the mystery and thriller genre.

I would highly recommend a warning added to the book. It doesn’t feel appropriate for others to purchase this book. It’s a definite not for me book.

Was this review helpful?

This book was amazing. Read very quickly but I did not want it to end. Can’t wait to see what others think. I believe this will be very popular.

Was this review helpful?

Wow... A truly chilling premise, and likely every teen's nightmare. The plot was well-developed, and the dialog rang true. It didn't take too long to read, since I spent every spare moment with my nose stuck in my Kindle. Recommended!

Was this review helpful?

Unfortunately, I did not like this book. I felt it should come with trigger warnings and some of it, I just couldn’t stomach. I had to add this to my DNF pile.

Was this review helpful?

This book was devoured in 24 hours, I really enjoyed the pace of the writing and especially enjoyed the time line jumping back to Oxford days, 90’s Oxford was depicted perfectly. The characters were very believeable and well developed, The story unfolded in a delicious way, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Was this review helpful?

Wow! Absolutely loved this book. Jullianne is about to realise her husband isn't who she thought he was, after her son shows her disturbing files on the ipad. Things will never be the same as the truth of what happened at university years ago comes out.
Fantastic book. Page Turner.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC.
(It has taken me 3 days after finishing this book (meantime reading 2 others), to try and form this review. It is difficult. I didn't find it a 'page-turner', in fact the complete opposite as I read on; I needed to close it off and turn to something else, but, I'd kindly been given the opportunity to read it and comment on it and feel that is what should be done.)

This book's description as well as it's categorisation as general adult mystery/thriller does not convey at all what the storyline actually is and what the reader could reasonably expect.

Written alternately between 2 time-lines and 2 main characters, 30 years apart; a female middle-class student trying to fit-in with the upper-class clique at Oxford is unwittingly drawn into a circle of overt sexual - bi- and homosexual scenarios. Beginning as 'innocent' stumbles upon the graphically-written scenes, culminating to being a victim of the outrageously sex-driven exploits and plottings of an elite of wealthy, entitled males. Thirty years later, a 'bit-player' in the Oxford scenarios, now married to one of that elite, is the main character in discovering just how far those student sexual antics had been carried forward in those years, courtesy of her (Gay) son.

The book prepares to conclude on pages and pages of menacing, threatening monologue about the wife's discoveries and the consequences of making them public - I felt those pages alone could have been a base for the start of the book which could give glimpses of enough necessary to substantiate the words being produced. However the book 'concludes' into nothing at all really. Wishy-washy nonsense between the original student, the wife and an investigative reporter.

Overall I feel a reasonably good story - and effectively good writing - has been overshadowed and swallowed-up in such depravity.

I found the writing of the sexually-natured scenarios to be shockingly and unwelcomingly graphic. Totally unnecessary for a 'general' novel, even for adult/mystery/thriller. This book needs to have clear warnings as to what the reader might expect.

I you're into 'that sort of thing' then you'll probably be thrilled by it all - I am not.

Was this review helpful?

Wow this.for kept me up all night as I needed to know what's going to happen.
It's hard to describe the story without revealing too many spoilers but I found the idea of linking past events to the present very successful and I look forward to reading more from the author

Was this review helpful?

I received a free e copy of A Version of the Truth by B P Walter from NetGalley for my honest review.

I will be very honest in saying that this book was not for me. I could not finish this book. There were matters involving, rape, racism and strong sexual violence that I just could not handle.

Was this review helpful?

I want to start by saying, that I really wanted to enjoy this book, the first few chapters had me gripped; it was dark and twisty which is usually my thing. But I found this storyline uncomfortably dark and twisty.

Firstly, I want to ask, why does this book not have any trigger warning? I felt uncomfortable, I fear thinking that someone who may have experiences close to themes in this book may be reading it. So please put a trigger warning on the 'thanks' pages! The storyline included themes, such as sexual violence in the form of gang rape as well as homophobic undertones. I feel if those sorts of comments had been minimalized that I may have enjoyed the book a little bit more, but not a lot!

You can tell that the author has an imaginative storytelling brain, maybe a bit of fine tuning is needed? The two main characters; Julianne and Sophie, who the storyline flits between (present and past 1991) feel quite two - dimensional; for example we don't really have the opportunity to build a reader and character relationship with Sophie on a personal level (I as a reader, really enjoy a character foundation being built). Due to this, I struggled to humanise the characters.

I requested this read due to the blurb given, and that it was labelled as adult general fiction, mystery and thriller. I am not sure if this read belongs within this category, although I'm really not sure what genre it would be placed into. The storyline was predictable and disappointing after the first few chapters. I don't think I would recommend this book, I did try so hard to like it but unfortunately this was not the read for me.

Was this review helpful?

Yikes, that was powerful! I devoured this in a day. It’s horrifying (intentionally so), like a train wreck you can’t turn away. Where to start? The majority of the main characters are truly evil and entitled. The glimpse into their “normal” college existence was shocking (think Cruel Intentions on steroids). The lack of value placed on a human’s life (lives) was devastating.

The story alternates from two timeframes (college and present) and two narrators (Sophie and Julianne, both outsiders of sorts). The writing and transitions were flawless. There was suspense throughout as you wait for the shoe to drop and it does, not once, but twice. This was wicked and heartbreaking and mesmerizing. If you have the stomach for it, I strongly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Avon Books UK for a copy in exchange for a review.

Was this review helpful?

When Julianne's son comes to her with a secret so devastating it threatens to destroy everything and everyone she loves, she tries to come up with an alternative explanation. But the information on the family's computer, put there by her husband, is indisputable. As she attempts to move on and accept her husband's reasoning, Julianne finds that it's not so easy to bury the past. Events from her college years and the present will collide and truths will be told, but who will be left standing?

Recommended!

Was this review helpful?

I have mixed feelings about this book and it's difficult to review without revealing spoilers. The story alternates between 1990 and 2019 and is told from Sophie and Julianne's points of view. It is a dark and twisted story which has a promising start but did not fully deliver! I didn't particularly like any of the characters. They were quite stereotypical and I just did not warm to any of them. I have got to say that the writing was good for a debut novel but I just expected more from the story. However after saying all of this it wouldn't put me off reading other books by this author. Special thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I’d like to thank Netgalley for a copy of this book.
This was a disturbing read...I believe it is an important topic in many ways, however I felt it was extremely explicit amd could be quite triggering for some.
I will say it was very well written..I enjoyed the idea of the story but it was a little to much at times.
That being said I would like to see what this author comes up with next.

Was this review helpful?

This is not what I expected.I believed it would be a law and order type book.Instead,it was a study in the behavior of students at Oxford University in England in the early 1990’s.My cousin,from America,went to Cambridge around that time.He told me that the elite British students treated Americans and lesser British students as crude.and stupid.These elite come from wealthy and influential families;they believe they can do no wrong,and are above the rules. I like the way the author identifies the speaker and the date in each chapter;it made it simple to follow,even though it went from the present to the past.Characters are described beautifully,I felt as if I knew each one intimately.I am not sure if B p Walter is a man or a woman,but whoever,”he” writes well.I look forward to the next one!

Was this review helpful?

Disturbing. Ever since I read The Last Mrs Parrish I have been dabbling in books along the lines of that genre. This book just went too far past psychological thriller in terms of plot for me to thoroughly enjoy it. It’s definitely not a book for the faint of heart! Without giving too much away, be prepared to deal with sexually disturbing and violent themes throughout this book.

Was this review helpful?

I tried and tried to like this book because I really hate giving negative reviews but I just couldn't herbivorous bokk. I keep coming back to it but it was very confusing to me. I had t keep going back as rereading

Was this review helpful?

This book is horrifying. I haven't read any of the author's work before but this was more disturbing than I had thought possible.

The book follows Sophie in 1990 and Julianne in 2019. I really liked how the stories unfolded quite nicely, it didn't feel contrived at all, there's no flashbacks/timejumps. I always love parrallel stories so maybe i'm biased but I thought it worked really well. The sort of slowburn energy kept me hooked throughout the book. In certain areas, especially in the beginning, things happen that the audience doesn't understand the context of, and instead of being tense, I just felt confused. However, if you read it one go, like I did, it won't make much of a difference because you really will be hooked into the horror of this book.

I think what I really need to know before I started this though, was that there is very explicit content and it truly is horrifying. It is genuinely fucked up. Had I known that it was that kind of story, I might not have read this but that said, the story is gripping enough in a very sick way that I kept on reading.

Was this review helpful?

A compelling story that gripped me from the beginning. The plot is dark and disturbing, as are some of the characters. Set against a background of wealth and privilege, contrasting sharply with the events taking place in the book. Lots of descriptive details bring the story and characters to life. I'd definitely recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advanced read in exchange for this review.

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.

This book is told in the present and from the past. Julianne is trying to figure out what happened as the past answers that question for us. There's a lot of disturbing subject matter in the book that some may find triggring. It's just one of those books where every character is unlikable and I skimmed just to finish it. The potential was there, but it just didn't work for me.

Was this review helpful?