Afternoon everyone,

Happy Monday and new week. For the first time in quite some time, I’m starting this week feeling rested and ready to face the world. I’m actually not back at work until Wednesday so I do still have a little time to chill out, but it’s nice to not start the week with a feeling of dread and already tired.

Book 📖

This book would likely never have crossed my path if it wasn’t for an ARC that I have lined up to read. Conviction by @damedenisemina is the first book in the Anna & Fin Series and is a mystery thriller that made it onto Reece’s Book Club.

Description 🔖

Anna Mcdonald is going through the motions of what is for her a normal morning. Getting the kids ready and out the door for school and seeing her husband off to work. But it isn’t going to remain normal for long. Her best friend Estelle turns up on her doorstep and it isn’t to see her. She’s there for Anna’s husband and he has his bags packed ready to leave with her. He’s leaving Anna and he’s taking the kids with him.

Anna is in a state of shock and doesn’t really know what to do, so she tries to distract herself from her feelings by listening to a true crime podcast. It’s a juicy one with a sunken yacht, multiple murders and corruption riddled through it. It all becomes familiar to Anna when she realises she knew one of the victims from the story in a past life.

The podcast ends on a cliffhanger but Anna is convinced that she knows what happened and therefore throws herself into trying to uncover the truth. But this won’t just dig up the past of the victims, it will dig up her own secrets too. Anna’s past life and the present life she has created are about to collide and everything that she has worked for could come crumbling down around her.

General Thoughts 🤔

I thought that the concept for this book was absolutely fantastic. This is coming from someone who is addicted to true crime podcasts and would love to drop everything and investigate a case. What I wouldn’t quite fancy is the crimes being so close to home as they were for Anna.

I loved following Anna on her investigation and I really enjoyed the anticipation of waiting to find out how her past and present were going to come together. I could see how this story could be considered to be a little far fetched; surely no one person can go through so much in one lifetime right? But it’s a thriller. It’s supposed to be exciting and dramatic and Conviction was certainly both of those.

Characters 👫👭👬

Anna is the main character in this book but she was certainly not alone in this story. Fin was somehow accidentally along for the ride and I really liked the dynamic between these two characters. They didn’t strike me as overly friendly to begin with and Anna was actually quite unkind to Fin. I felt a little sorry for him at times, but if I was to put myself in Anna’s shoes, I think I would have also got frustrated with him.

However their relationship did start to blossom into a friendship of sorts and by the end of the book, I couldn’t imagine either one of them having gone on their adventure alone. The story wouldn’t have been the same if it was just Anna or just Fin I don’t think.

Writing Style ✍️

The book was told via different mediums; Anna’s POV, the podcast that started it all and subsequently, Anna and Fin’s podcasts. I really loved this structure as it kept me on my toes and kept me interested. I think the podcast sections were probably my favourite parts. There were times that I forgot I was listening to a book and not an actual podcast (I had the audiobook version of Conviction).

I loved this authors tone of voice and pacing. It wasn’t over the top, but it was dramatic enough to keep it thrilling and I was on the edge of my seat for some of the scenes.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

I am so glad that I read this book before I read the second in the series as I feel like I’m already somewhat invested in Anna and Fin. This was a fantastic read that keep me very well entertained and I can’t wait to see what happens next for the characters.

😍😍😍😍😩