I enjoyed the endearing, outrageous story of Sally Diamond, with the mystery of how her early childhood was spent.
Its written in such a way I had to empathise with Sally and her odd, scary behaviour.
Though thoroughly engaging, at first I thought it a bit far fetched as it contains extreme circumstances, but then I wondered if the author was influenced by real life news events.
In all one not to be missed. I couldn't put it down it is so sad, disturbing and heartbreaking.

3.5 stars


I got very caught up in this book.
Always keen to pick it up and see what was happening.
With two timelines in the book, cutting from one to the other at perfect place meant I was always keen to get back to the other part of the story.
A lot happens in this book, right from the interesting beginning, which made me smile, as its a phrase I've heard my own relatives say.
Thankfully that's the only similarity to my family.
Some parts felt unbelievable, but mostly it was an entertaining read

Gosh, I think I need some counselling myself after reading this book. The story follows the life of Sally and her adoptive parents. We start off thinking that Sally is Autistic/ neurodivergent with caring indulgent adoptive parents. However, as an orphaned adult she cannot cope and the story uncovers her traumatic start in life. We also have a parallel, equally disturbing story told by Peter. Without spoilers, some of the book is uncomfortable to read about, touching on paedophilia, kidnapping, domestic violence and rape.
Nugent's strength as a writer is the depth of her characters- Sally was so real to me and I felt for her on every page. Every blow to her, every triumph, mattered to me. I will miss her.
What an emotional, exhausting read.

Wow! Liz Nugent has done it again. I loved this book & was deeply invested in the Sally Diamonds world. Sally is a superb character & brilliantly written. The subject matter is difficult to read at times bit it's well written and researched. One of Nugents strong points is making the reader care for deeply flawed characters . This book is amazing and should not be missed

It seems like such a long time ago, early 2021, when I read my first Liz Nugent book. Our Little Cruelties was new in paperback, I read it, loved it and binged all of her other books.

I've read over 300 books in the meantime, and couldn't wait to read this one.

Sally Diamond is seen as strange, in her forties, she's lived an isolated life in a remote rural house. She avoids social interaction. An event following the death of her father drags her name into the limelight, with unwanted media and police attention.

Alone, she is forced to open up to others, and to look back into her past.

The blurb doesn't tell you much more, so I won't spoil the plot, but Sally is pulled into a deep and dark journey of discovery into her past and the family secrets that have been kept hidden.

Liz Nugent's character writing is exemplary, creating a strong empathy with Sally Diamond and her struggles. The plot is as deep and dark as it gets, multi-layered with 'who knew what when?' as the strands come together and the finer details get filled in.

Absolutely compelling, gripping reading that had me crying more than once. Only a few authors can write deeply involving psychological drama of this very highest quality.

I want to say this is Liz Nugent's best book yet, I think it is, then I remember my other favourites Lying In Wait and Our Little Cruelties. Safe to say this is an another extraordinary book from a hugely talented, accomplished and consistent author.

An absolute must read and sure to be in my books of the year.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK

Liz Nugent has ‘smashed it out of the park’ again with this her sixth novel. As with her previous novels the first sentence had me gripped and I just knew this would be a book I would read very quickly. An absolutely amazing read with strong characters, some nice and others not so. This was a difficult read at times and also a poignant one. I loved everything about this amazing book and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Wow. This definitely got my out of my reading rut.

Strange Sally Diamond is unlike any book I’ve read before. It reads like the respective journals of the two narrators, and Sally’s quirky, rigid voice took some getting used to, but I never got bored of her internal monologue. Some of the dialogue felt a little clunky and formal, but I think this was deliberate and helped immerse the reader in Sally’s atypical style of thinking (as well as speaking). She’s a frustrating character in many ways but her inability to trust people, to understand social nuances and form connections is a product of her extremely dysfunctional past and we can’t help but emphasise with her.

The subject matter is tough and very poignant in parts. Although only described in brief, the kidnap scene really got to me- the child’s innocence and knowing what lay in store for her. So many lives destroyed by one despicable character; it was genuinely heart wrenching in some places, particularly given such atrocities do, sickeningly, actually happen in real life. There are no overly gratuitous descriptions but the sheer hell of what Denise (and later another character) endured is difficult to read.

The character of Conor was stomach churning but so well drawn and genuinely chilling. I felt so conflicted about Peter - he had many redeeming features, and of course he was never going to be ‘normal’, but his final decision is horrifying. It is also in some ways heartbreaking - he tried to live a normal life but ultimately gave in to what he seems to see as his fate. He is clearly a product of his upbringing and all he has witnessed and been exposed to.

Unusually, there is no neat and happy ending to this book, which surprised me. Although things were ‘tied up’ in a way, the devastation caused by the events in the book are felt right up to the last page. There is some stirring of hope in the epilogue, but overall Liz Nugent doesn’t shy away from a messy and in some ways depressing conclusion to the story. I suppose, given all that happens in the story, there can hardly be any realistic alternative.

I enjoyed this greatly (despite finding it tough to read!) and finished it within 24 hours which is virtually unheard of these days for me (thanks kids!). 5 stars. Beautiful, painful and confronting.

Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for the ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it had shades of Miss Benson’s Beetle about it, it was an easy but enthralling read, really recommend it if you like something that isn’t the usual chicklit

Liz Nugent has done it again!! Strange Sally Diamond is amazing from beginning to end, what a read.

Argh!! I don't know how to review this absosutely, mezmerisingly, amazing novel without spoiling the whole thing -bear with me!

This is a beautifully written story that flows easily. The story is -ahem- strange but everything makes sense and the characters are... believable? I mean, I suppose that's how I believe some people would act. Maybe!

I very much enjoyed Strange Sally Diamond and will be purchasing a copy once it's out -it's one of those books to add to the collection!

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Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and author for my advanced review copy of the book. This is my honest review