Under My Skin

Publication Date: Available Now from Carina UK

Source: Netgalley

Inside we are all monsters…
Chloe was once a normal girl. Until the night of the car crash that nearly claimed her life. Now Chloe’s mother is dead, her father is a shell of the man he used to be and the secrets that had so carefully kept their family together are falling apart.
A new start is all Chloe and her father can hope for, but when you think you’re no longer human how can you ever start pretending?

A brilliant story this – addictive,dark, compelling and very clever, I read it fast one of those books that hooks you in and won’t let go.

Chloe is a normal teenager when it comes to feelings,emotions and your usual coming of age growing pains but underneath she is anything but normal. The survivor of a horrific car accident, medical science, or more to the point her mad scientist Father, kept her alive. In Chloe’s case though the term “alive” is relative…

This is an intelligent re-imagining of a classic tale, written for young adults – on that score it is terribly terrific, a hook into the original literature but given a modern twist and a different focus which works really really well. Throw in a romance angle, a thriller angle and a low key mystery element and you have a perfect storm.

Chloe tells the tale – hiding out from the government and forced into isolation, a nightmare life which as she slowly recovers she determines to change. As she takes baby steps back into the world of school, friends and growing up she throws caution to the wind – a decision which may come back to haunt her.

Chloe is an astute, well drawn character who it is easy to get behind – as her story unfolds it is absolutely gripping and enthralling. Slowly but surely we get to understand what has happened to her, the author doing a great job of uncovering the truth a piece at a time whilst allowing Chloe to expand her own world and experience. It is quite scary in places, always utterly riveting, very sad sometimes and I was immersed throughout in the twilight world that this girl inhabits.

Elegantly constructed and so very readable, the ending had me on the edge of my seat – I was very impressed by how Zoe Markham managed to write a coming of age tale in which the tension ramps up slowly and inexorably, leading towards an exciting and adrenalin fuelled conclusion.

Very cool indeed. There are reasons why there has been an explosion in the popularity of Young Adult novels recently both for the target market and for the more mature reader. This novel is one of them – a little gem of a tale and it comes highly recommended from me.

Find out more here: http://www.zoemarkhamwrites.com/

Follow the author on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/ZoeMarkham

Purchase Information: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-My-Skin-Zoe-Markham-ebook/dp/B00TOR142I/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428265727&sr=1-1&keywords=under+my+skin+zoe+markham

Happy Reading Folks!