this book is a masterclass in presenting a messy relationship with no reliable sources on what actually happened. i loved it. reading this felt the way watching marriage story did. it was gritty and emotional and uncomfortable and so challenging. i don’t know what i believe after reading this! but truly, the power of j remaining genderless was insane. it really highlighted how gender can give you unconscious bias on a situation. so good.

a massive thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book early!

Is This Love?
By CE Riley

A shocking and deeply unnerving account of the breakdown of a marriage. The use of second person narrative not only creates an atmospheric intimacy, it also places the reader in the role of judge, mediator and accused.

This book is breathtaking in it's ability to send your emotions vacillating as alternate perspectives are presented, and each parties version becomes more plausible than the last. Who is manipulating who here? Both are trying to control the narrative, control each other, control their future prospects. Little tells in each narrative point to both parties polishing up their story, domestic violence, emotional and psychological abuse, lies and distortions. Love or obsession? Who is telling the truth? You will think you know, but then you'll switch, you won't believe either and then maybe you will believe both. As they say there are three sides to every story: your side, my side and the truth.

Thanks to #netgalley #serpentstail #viperbooks #profilebooks for the egalley

I was hugely disappointed by this book. I found it rather boring - a bit like being stuck on a long train journey with someone who wants to tell you all the details of their marriage breakdown. I kept expecting a twist, or at least some narrative tension, but sadly, neither was forthcoming.

I really enjoyed this story for the readability however the topic was very hard hitting, and uncomfortable at points but this worked within the story and the topic.

For me, I assumed J was male and gave a very different viewpoint to emotionally abusive relationships.

J's wife has left them. They are devastated by this but worse is to come as their wife presents a picture of their marriage which challenges everything they thought about what they had.

I can't say that I enjoyed this book. The writing is very powerful and uncomfortable but the subject matter is depressing at times and infuriating at others. We never learn J's gender. I'm not sure why this was withheld (although at one point the wife refers to J as he - a mistake?). I did like the way it went from one point of view to another and the writing is good as you find yourself getting wound up by what goes on. But do I want to be wound up by a book? I'm not sure.

Jury's out on this one. Well written, visceral at times but for me not enjoyable. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC>

I saw the comparison to Gone Girl and The Dream House, both books I loved, and was immediately anxious in case this didn’t live up to those gold-standard examples. Well, it completely did and then some! This was AMAZING. It had everything I need in a book: partly told through documents (epistolary), complex characters, and a gripping plot line with insights into how the law works. It was thought-provoking and kept me captivated in the same way a thriller does.

This is one of those reviews which is difficult to write. This book was just so uncomfortable to read throughout that I don't really know where to begin. To be clear, that's not a criticism of the book/writing, if anything it is testament to it.

Here we have a marriage breakdown between J and their wife. I use the term 'their' as we are never presented with J's gender. Does this change the story or how we read it? Does it change who we believe? Honestly, yeah it probably does.

The fallout of a marriage (or any relationship) is, often , not pretty. Both sides present a narrative and the truth is usually somewhere in between. But how far in between is subjective and here we are taken along the line from one end of the spectrum to the other before finally landing wherever we, as a reader, chose to land.

There are a number of triggers in this book for domestic abuse/violence, gaslighting etc. however from whom to whom we never really know. This is because the author expertly presents both sides throughout the novel and we never quite understand what actually went on. I know what I think, but will it be what you think? Probably not......

An excellent debut novel from a new author who I am keen to see develop.

Massive thanks to Netgalley, the author and Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books, Serpent's Tail for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Story very well written, page turner & easy to read.

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy I received free via NetGalley.

I couldn’t resist C. E. Riley’s Is This Love? after reading the blurb: the story of a marriage breakdown is told by one of the parties whose gender is never revealed through a narrative addressed to their wife interspersed with diaries entries plus transcripts of her testimony to her solicitor.

Out of the blue, J’s wife tells them she wants a divorce, refusing to give a reason. They’ve have been together for six years and seemed the perfect couple, falling passionately in love and quickly moving in together. Rough patches were navigated, or so J thought, but the occasional episode left an uneasiness that, in retrospect, might have been read as a warning sign. Thrown into confusion by their wife’s announcement, J is at first desolate, then furious after reading her diary and testimony of abuse and coercion, eventually coming to an acceptance that the person they once loved no longer loves them and wants nothing to do with them..

This is such a clever, immersive piece of writing, discomfiting at times. J’s wife portrays J as an abusive partner, controlling their finances, belittling her in front of friends and given to violent temper tantrums which have occasionally ended in assault. J’s rebuttal, when they finally write it, details episodes of control and manipulation by their wife, episodes mentioned early on in their narrative, painting themselves as the wronged party. Of course, both views are partial. By the end of the novel, we seem to be pointed in one party’s direction but there are hints that there are more than a few shades of grey in this portrait of a marriage and its fallout rather than the stark black and white J uses to portray it. I found this novel quite gripping, it had me constantly assessing and reassessing what I was reading, not least when I sat down to write the review, and I'm still not sure what I think.

I thought this book had such an interesting premise, but sadly I felt the execution didn't really live up to that potential. The writing just didn't really do it for me, and while I was gripped, I was left at the end wanting more...

A unique read about love…The kind of book you will find yourself saying urgently, over and over, to friends: 'Have you read it?

An unflinching look at the end of a marriage and the unsettling pain and petty acts of revenge inflicted in the severance of a marriage. The two narrators are fantastically unreliable making your loyalties change every few pages challenging past assumptions and giving you the opportunity to see situations through a different lens. Whilst you never get to know J's gender, I've been asking myself how and if it would change my stance on the characters. Maybe, maybe not. Both are deeply flawed and human. An excellent read, one that will stay with you and turn a forensic eye on your own relationships.