I am always excited to read Paula Hawkins books and The Blue Hour premise sounded mysterious. It was!

This book is beautifully descriptive, evoking clearly the starkness and isolation that is Eris Island. It sets the theme of the book, contrasting this dark, mysterious, atmospheric, ramshackle place, the former home of Vanessa Chapman, a famous artist, with the richness, wealth and pomposity of Fairburn Country Estate and its owner Emmeline.

The plot is layered, including several mysteries to be solved. The characterisation gains depth with the complexities of the plot within the books progression, significantly reflecting the huge differences of class, the levels of loyalty and trust or distrust in relationships and is, at times, quite unsettling. Becker, Grace and Vanessa demonstrating this in particular. The reader is left puzzling as to who is an unreliable narrator.

Paula Hawkins has flawlessly shown an interpretation of
artistic temperament and the visceral nature of being an artist, whilst also showing a naivety and need within the artists persona.

I read with enthusiasm and curiosity, thinking I had found the way through the plot several times, before realising I had so much more to consider. A great read that left me thinking over the plot and wondering ‘what if?’

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I enjoy Paula Hawkins books. This is another good example of her style. The story builds slowly as we meet the main characters, Vanessa the artist, Grace a doctor & her 'friend ' and Becker, a Curator of artistic works. Set on an island off the Scottish coast. This island is cut off at high tide twice a day. The characters tell the story in their own way, in different timelines. Becker is a young man with a great interest in Vanessa's art who has been assigned the task of collecting missing works for his boss, Sebastian. Grace is his contact. Without giving any spoilers the ending was a unpleasant surprise.
I can recommend this thriller.

Vanessa Chapman was an acclaimed artist. Once she was in the public eye with a philandering husband who disappeared. She had left the art scene to live on a tidal island off the Scottish coast many years ago. When she dies she makes Grace, her doctor & friend her executor. However she leaves her artwork and all papers & correspondence to an art foundation. James Becker works for the foundation & in something of an expert on Vanessa. When one of Vanessa's collage pieces appear to contain a human bone Becker goes to speak to Grace about it, as well as collect missing papers & paintings.

This was a bit of a strange book. It was told from different perspectives & different time lines. The characters are all pretty dislikeable apart from poor Becker! I started off feeling sorry for Grace but I began to realise that she could be very suffocating. Overall it was a claustrophobic story that kept me reading but with the feeling things were not going to end well for anyone! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I have really enjoyed Paula Hawkins books previously, but I just couldn't get into this book.
I found it really slow paced and I lost track of the amount of characters. I'm not sure if I will rush to read the next Paula Hawkins book.
Im gutted as others have rated this book pretty highly, but it just didn't capture me.

I was really excited to read this but the book is way too slow and I found myself drifting off on numerous occasions. Not the best from this author.

I was looking forward to reading this one and at first I enjoyed it then it just slowed down and got boring. Not one of her best. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book as well as the writing, I felt immersed by the vibes but to be perfectly honest that’s where my enjoyment stopped. This book was a snooze fest unfortunately. It was slow, I didn’t care at all for the pretentious wealthy art world vibes and most of the characters were self absorbed snobs that I couldn’t muster up a care for.

Every book that Paula Hawkins writes is so different from the one before, and The Blue Hour is another world away from her earlier books, Its a slow burn mature thriller that is crying out to be read by log fires and in cosy corners so you can immerse yourself in the beauty of Paula's writing.

Vanessa Chapman was a reclusive successful artist, sculpting and painting, dedicating her life to her passion for art, living on an isolated island Eris. When she dies, her archivists find a bone included in her art work, which leads them to carry out investigations into what might have happened. Her closest confidante Grace is the keeper of all of Vanessa's diaries and writing, and she wants to keep Vanessa's reputation. Becker is the academic who has studied Vanessa's work all his life, and believes that he knows more than anyone else about her passions and her motivations.

Give yourself over to the storytelling and the experience, its well worth it

This mystery had me glued to my seat. It began rather slowly, but the tension gradually built and I was hooked.
I became involved with the characters, particularly as I began to learn about the life of the artist Vanessa Chapman and the loves and obsessions that surrounded her.
The setting on a remote Scottish island together with the wild storms all added to the intrigue.
Unusual is some respects, was it a thriller? I have to say great storytelling.

Sadly I did not enjoy this book and I have enjoyd Paula's books before. This one was a vey slow read, but the merging of past and preent and POV added to confusion. The characters were gradually described to a point of understanding as they changed throughout the story. So many lies, unreliable, dysfunctional people. I was disapointed in the ending although the last few chapters did clarify the twists and revealed where the deceptions were and in some way why. I loved the dscriptions of the Island and indeed the countryside and other places that were visited.
This was a mystery type book and certainly not a thriller.

The Blue Hour is an atmospheric thriller full of questionable characters who all seem to arouse suspicion in the reader. The relationships between the characters are far from healthy, leading to mistrust and tension. Set mainly on a small Scottish Island that is cut off by the tide on a daily basis, it is the perfect location to create feelings of suspense and claustrophobia.
I found this novel challenging to invest in due to the number of characters and differing time lines. It is quite far fetched at times but this does add to the mystery.

This is a book which had me asking throughout was there anyone in this book that I can trust. I love books where there is a narrator who is unreliable and this one did not disappoint.
I enjoyed the setting, the potential to be cut off and it gave a feeling of isolation and a sense of suspense.
Becker and Grace were brought together through the life of Vanessa Chapman, a talented artist who has passed await and one of her works supposedly has human bones within in. Vanessa’s life it told through others memories and perceptions so it’s difficult to fully understand the person she was.
I loved the writing, totally engaging and suspenseful it it a slow character driven plot which moves quicker towards the end. I felt at the end I could make up my own ending but it is a well written story which I really enjoyed.

I liked the pace of this book but found all the characters unlikeable. The flashbacks to the past brings the story of the present together.
The last few chapters reveal the twists and they are good but I was disappointed in the actual ending and the book overall.
For me it's not as captivating as The Girl on the Train.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read The Blue Hour.

I may be one of the few people who have not read 'The Girl on the Train', so I came to this title with no expectations or preconceptions. I loved the intriguing slow burn of this story and the way that the characters were described so that they felt real. The setting was painted (pun intended) so well that I could taste the salty air and feel the wind blowing around me as I read. The actual resolution to the mystery wasn't so twisty that we can't see it coming but it is still very well done. Altogether worth the weekend that I devoured it in.

This is a slow burn read but if you persevere you’ll be glad you did!
Vanessa was an artist living on the Isle of Eris an isolated Scottish island , her husband Julian went missing twenty years ago but what happened to him? Vanessa herself has died and her female companion Grace still lives on the island looking after Vanessa’s estate .
The characters in this book are all self absorbed and not likeable at all but they make this book the satisfying but unsettling read that it is .
The writing is excellent as always and the story itself is tense with obsession and jealousy spread throughout .
A different read!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK.

I enjoyed this book and after I had finished it I was left with a lasting memory of the story, something which doesn't always happen. In some ways I was shocked by the ending of the book. Some might say it's very atmospheric, almost unsettling. Throughout the book I had invested in the two main characters and I thought I trusted them.
Vanessa ,a famous artist had died and Becker was left to manage and arrange her artworks. It was a dream job as he travelled to the isolated Scottish island where Vanessa's 'partner' Grace lived in Vanessa's home, amongst her paintings, sculptures and letters. Grace seemed reluctant to let them go.
The story was addictive, it took a while to set the scene. Now though I am learning not to trust Paula Hawkins characters but she is a master at the way she tells the story.

This is a slow burn read. More of a mystery than a thriller. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, and all of the main characters were totally self absorbed, they all have insecurities, strange friendship and love relationships. Eris is an isolated Scottish island only accessible for 12 hours a day, the timings set by the tide. Twenty years ago Vanessa’s husband, Julian disappeared after he had been visiting her on the island, so the mystery is , what happened to him.
There is a sense of unease throughout the story, there are a few twists, but for me they were without impact, there are lies and secrets to be revealed as the past and present come together.
Definitely not my favourite book by this talented author but I look forward to reading more

Many thanks to Net Galley and Random House UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
3.5 stars.

Is this another "The Girl on the Train"?- no. Is it a fabulous read in it's own right - yes!

Just before I started the book I saw a comment that this was nothing like TGOTT, and I worried that I had set myself up with a DNF. Someone living on an island all alone, cut off from the world, how exciting can this be? I thought. A shocking discovery - will it be that shocking?

Becker has a job to do. He needs to visit the island and understand why Grace isn't playing ball with the wishes in the will of the late artist Vanessa. Becker has a complicated life, but his love of the artist and his dream job makes him want to visit the island, and meet Grace himself.

I loved the writing from the first page, it's very different and whilst descriptive, I felt every word deserved to be read. I was so taken by the portrayal of the artist that I began to think she actually existed, especially when her letters and diary entries were included. Also very vivid were the descriptions of her art and I longed to be able to actually see them in person. All this just a backdrop to what is really happening. So much planning has gone into the plot and the resultant story telling.

It's certainly a slow burner. It's a well thought out and meandering ride until it reaches the fast paced ending. For the trip you are taken on I felt was worth the scenic route.

It's been a while since I have really wanted to keep reading a book, couldn't wait to get back to it. For that reason this deserves 5 stars from me.

I’ve just finished The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins, and I have to say, it left me feeling a bit conflicted. On one hand, I enjoyed the overall premise—it’s set on a remote, eerie island, and there’s always something so deliciously unsettling about isolated locations. That constant sense of foreboding and hopelessness really crept in as the story unfolded.
However, I did struggle with the pacing. It’s a bit of a slow burn, which I normally don’t mind, but it took quite a while to feel invested in the characters. Some of them felt distant as if I couldn’t fully connect with them, which made it hard to care deeply about what was happening at times.
The writing itself is very descriptive—almost overly so for my taste. While I appreciate a well-drawn setting, there were moments where it felt like we were lingering too long in the details rather than driving the plot forward. Personally, I’d have preferred to just get on with the story and not get bogged down in the minutiae.
That being said, once things started moving, the tension built nicely, and it had enough creepy moments to keep me reading. So, while it didn’t completely blow me away, I did enjoy it overall, especially the atmosphere Hawkins created. Definitely worth a read if you’re a fan of slow, atmospheric thrillers, but be prepared to wade through some heavy description to get to the meat of the plot.

The Blue Hour is a slow-burn mystery set on the eerie and isolated Eris Island. The story revolves around the death of artist Vanessa Chapman, her complex relationships, and the secrets that resurface after her passing. Most of the characters, including Vanessa and her unfaithful husband Julian, are hard to like, and Grace, Vanessa’s long-time companion, remains a bit of a mystery. The most relatable character for me was Becker, although his relationship with his wife felt superficial and clichéd toward the end.
While the book didn’t completely grip me, the atmospheric setting of Eris Island was captivating. The author’s descriptions made it easy to imagine the remote, tidal island and its haunting isolation. Vanessa’s journal entries also added depth to the mystery. Although it took time to get into the story, I enjoyed the dark and sinister atmosphere, making it an intriguing, if not entirely thrilling, read.
Very grateful to the publisher for my copy, opinions are my own