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What You Did

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Was What You Did as good as it's hyped up to be? Not really. Was it really bad? It's not so bad that I want to put it in the DNF pile. I was pleasantly surprised by 'What you did' - it's my first McGowan novel, but definitely won't be my last. There are several twists and turns along the way, some of them guessable, some of them definitely coming as strong and well-written surprises. McGowan reveals an Ireland not of leprechauns and craic but of outdated social and sexual mores, where women and their bodies were of secondary importance to perceived propriety and misguided politics―a place of well-buttoned lips and stony silence, inadequate police and paramilitary threat.

Through questioning the society and circumstances that allowed eight young women to vanish without a trace―no conclusion or conviction, no resolution for their loved ones―bestselling crime novelist Claire McGowan delivers a candid investigation into the culture of secrecy, victim-blaming and shame that left these women’s bodies unfound, their fates unknown, their assailants unpunished. A college reunion doesn't go exactly as planned. One attendee staggers into the host's house, bleeding, clothes torn, with an accusation that she was assaulted .... by the host's husband. Secrets start to unravel and the reader is forced to think what kind of a friendship did the six share as everybody is hiding something or the other from everybody else. The rape accusation also reveals a murder of a common friend Martha while they were still in college. The plot becomes more and more complex as the story progresses. While most of the story centres around the reunion and it’s outcome, the story of their college years is mixed in along with some teenage angst. Ali, being a crisis and rape victim activist has some very set beliefs in rape that are challenged when her husband is the one accused of rape.I really enjoyed this book. It was clever without being hard work. As with most psychological thrillers the truth is not what it first appears to be, in fact there are multiple truths uncovered as the story unfolds, some of which are life ruining and others life changing. When Karen staggers in from the garden, bleeding and traumatised, she claims that she has been assaulted—by Ali’s husband, Mike. Ali must make a split-second decision: who should she believe? Her horrified husband, or her best friend? With Mike offering a very different version of events, Ali knows one of them is lying—but which? And why? Enter their 4 best friends from university: a second couple Jodi & Callum ...both married and pregnant and then the two single outcasts of the group, Karen and Bill, that have been pushed together more than a few times but just don’t feel that way about each other. Karen’s son also tags along, Jake, who is supposedly best friends with Ali’s daughter Cassie, but their bond to one another seems a bit TOO close for comfort. We all claim to know what to do when it comes to giving support to those who need it, but do we really when your family and reputation are on the line?

Her unease only deepens after renovations begin, when the builders find sinister dolls hidden in the walls. As Helen digs into the house’s past, she discovers that the previous owner was not only rumoured to be a witch; she was also imprisoned for a brutal triple murder thirty years earlier. From the bestselling author of What You Did comes a true-crime investigation that cast a dark shadow over the Ireland of her childhood.Ali is pulled in both directions, wanting to believe both her husband and her best friend. She is at crossroads with herself especially when she is the one dealing with such cases daily at her workplace. Overall, I did appreciate the difficult topics covered- rape, sexting gone wrong, martial issues, and fertility. It showed real life, how far people can go, and how crazy they really seem, in an attempt to keep sameness and safeness in ones life. But with that said, the second half of the book I just didn't jive with... hence the 3.5. It’s the 25th anniversary reunion for the group of 6 that created a bond while in university, a bond that is still strong today. But is it? This book has left me really torn. How do you like a book, but not like any of the characters? That isn’t to say they weren’t well written, because I think they were amazingly written. I just thought that there wasn’t really a decent human in the entire mix. Every single one was self-absorbed and self-serving to one degree or another, some being exponentially worse than others. This includes the kids. If I had to say that one character was at least partially likeable, it would be Bill, but even he had issues.

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