What July Knew by Emily Koch - Review

I previously read and reviewed Keep Him Close by Emily Koch, so when I got an email from Penguin Random House offering me the chance to read her new book, I jumped at it. Thank you to Penguin Randon House for allowing me to read the book for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated for this post and all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

So, July lives by the seaside with her dad, Mick, her stepmother, Auntie Shell, and her stepsister, Sylvie, who is also in her class at school. It's July's tenth birthday, right at the end of the summer term, and the class is set a project over the summer to write something about a relative in their family. The teacher encourages July to write about her mum, who July barely remembers, and who died in a car crash on July's second birthday. July knows though that her dad will be angry if she does, because in ten years of her life she has only managed to learn eighteen things about her mum, things which she keeps written down in one of her Big Lists. She tries to decide on someone else, but then she gets a note that says 'your mum didn't die in a car crash'. July gets a bike for her birthday, from her mum's mum Yaya, which means she can go off and explore the place where she and her parents used to live. 

Things are not good at home. July's dad Mick is abusive towards her, telling her each time that he is teaching her a Lesson so that she learns how not to piss him off. The abuse is pretty bad, and gets worse throughout the book. Shelley lives on tenterhooks around him to try to keep the peace between him and July, meaning she blows hot and cold on July in a way that is sometimes confusing. Similar goes for Sylvie - at school the two girls barely speak, and often Sylvie seems to be Mick's favourite. But Sylvie does give July some information that sets her off on the trek to find out more about her mum.

The book is mostly set in 1995, in the middle of a heatwave, and that oppressive heat does hang over the whole book. There are also letters set later, which make the reader assume some things, which I liked a lot. One of my criticisms is that I think there were a few things which were anachronistic for 1995 - I was 11 that year so I remember it well and remember being almost July's age. My other criticism is that July and Sylvie skewed a little bit older than ten years old to me. I think if they had been twelve years old I would have found that much more believable. But neither of these things was a big deal because I really liked the book and was compelled to keep reading it. 

I'm giving this four out of five and am looking forward to what Emily writes next!

Keep Him Close by Emily Koch - Review

I got this on Netgalley, so many thanks to Random House UK for granting me the access. I liked the sound of the book, and really enjoyed reading it, although I'm not sure what genre to put it in? It's not a crime procedural, but it's not quite a thriller either. I guess it's just in Crime Fiction. 

To begin with, I really disliked everyone in this book, except for Kane, the young man who has admitted to the crime. However, my opinion did change and I felt like the characters grew throughout the book.

So first of all, we meet Alice. She is a librarian, she has two sons called Benny and Lou, and she's pretty closed off to everyone in her life. Her ex, Etienne, left when the boys were tiny. She's never really forgiven him. She is a huge snob. It's her birthday, and Benny and Lou go out for the evening. She's woken up by police coming to tell her that Lou has died, falling from a car park in town. 

Meanwhile, Indigo, mum of Kane, who is eighteen, wakes up the next morning and finds Kane sitting in the kitchen. He tells her that Lou is dead, and that he ran away, and she encourages him to go to the police station to tell them what he knows. After a few hours, he is arrested. He has confessed to pushing Lou off the car park and is remanded in custody. Indigo is certain that he is innocent, and sets about proving it.

Alice and Indigo meet, although one of them doesn't know who the other is to begin with. Everyone is keeping secrets, and there are plenty of red herrings and twists to keep the reader guessing. I did guess one twist, although I also picked up on a red herring that in the end came to nothing! 

I liked the book and read it quickly because it kept me guessing and kept me reading. I liked Indigo towards the middle, and even liked Alice at the end. I'm giving this four out of five.