Cover Image: How Will I Know You?

How Will I Know You?

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How Will I Know You? by Jessica Treadway.
On a cold December day, teenager Joy Enright is found drowned at the edge of a frozen pond. When an autopsy reveals she was strangled first, suspicion is thrown onto Martin,the young graduate who was last to see her alive.
Really enjoyed this book. Gripping. 4*.

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A small community is rocked when local girl Joy goes missing. She's presumed to have fallen through ice but when her body is found she has been strangled. Suspicions fall on a conveniently placed African American student who was close to Joys mother. As far as the police are concerned it's case closed but it soon becomes apparent that Joy had a lot of secrets and knew a few about her hometown too.....



I wish I could say I loved this book but it was just OK. A mystery should grab you and refuse to let go until you have your answers. Instead it was reasonably obvious who the killer was and the journey to get to the 'climax' was meandering.For me the characters were not compelling enough nor the story complex or interesting. Unfortunately this just wasn't my cup of tea.

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From the description this book sounds intriguing...unfortunately I couldn't finish it.  The multi-character points of view made the writing feel very disjointed and forced.  Also, I'll be honest the discrimination & racist theme in the little that I read made me put down this novel and not want to read any further.  This sort of content is not something I like to read, though I understand why some authors use it within their writing.  

I really wanted to like this book from the description, but unfortunately I just couldn't get into it, and I wasn't able to finish it. 

*star from me.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. Something of a slow read, creating a small cast of characters and revealing, bit by bit, how they may or may not be instrumental in the death of Joy Enright.
When Joy's body is found it is first thought to be a tragic accident. But then police reveal she was strangled and it becomes a murder investigation.
Her parents are devastated, but the experience raises awkward questions about the state of their family affairs and their interpersonal relationships. Alongside the immediate family we have Tom, a jack-of-all trades who was one of the last to see the girl alive and who is the son-in-law of one of the investigating police officers. The Detective is not portrayed positively - seen through the eyes of someone he does not have a good relationship with - and questions are raised as to whether he subverted the course of justice in his quest to become Chief of police. Added into the mix is talented artist, Martin, who had been having an affair with Joy's mother.
There were times I found my attention drifting here. I also felt that the characters were not particularly likeable, and once we had the insight into Joy's story at the end it was frustrating because it was clear to see how just one different action could have sparked a very different chain of events. Ultimately, though, that is part of the book's charm.

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The plot itself is really good but for me the book just wasn't me.
I just couldn't finish it.
Im really sorry :-(

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I just didn’t warm to this book - too many threads and not enough to hook me in and keep me interested. I felt the character of Martin was contrived/token and whilst his treatment was abhorrent it didn’t sit well as part of the story.

I was unable to finish...

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Actually 4.5 stars.
Well, this was a little different to what I was expecting. It is a story that weaves in and out of itself, popping back in time to fill the gaps but with none of the usual cliffhanging endings I was expecting. To be honest, this made a refreshing change for me as I found myself reading on irrespective of these, what I call, subtle blackmail devices simply because the story and characters both interested and intrigued me. I wanted to read on rather than having to; hats off to the author for that!
Schoolgirl Joy Enright was missing. Now her body has been found but not where it was expected to be. The majority assumed she had drowned, probably by accident, due to where she was last seen, but she was discovered in the woods with strangulation marks. Obviously the investigation ramps up a notch as this is now a murder and thus begins a rather convoluted tale of secrets, lies, and duplicitous behaviour that kept me rapt and reading on, desperate to cut through the noise to get to, what turned out to be, the delicious truth.
Oh my, what a cast of characters this author has created. Not one of them is straightforward; each having their own agenda as well as the aforementioned secrets and lies. As a close-knit community smallish town, everyone thinks they know what's going on but some of the assumptions and indeed judgements were typical of what I would call small-town mentality; and deliciously so! I have to just add that I didn't really like many of the characters but certain of them did get my hackles up and others I was able to emote with in other ways so there was that connection that I need from a character driven book, just not all positive in this one.
The story is rather exciting too. Convoluted and interconnected, the author weaves a rather interesting tale for her characters to play out. Some lies were obvious, others notsomuch and, although I had what happened as one of my possible scenarios, it was up there with several others that were so far off the mark as to be embarrassing! Bottom line being the author had me guessing right up to the very last page. I do have to admit to having to make a few notes when I initially started reading as I did get a tad confused by who was who and how they were connected but, once I managed to get this all straight in my head, which wasn't too long, I didn't have to refer back at all.
All in all, a good story played out by an interesting cast that held my attention nicely throughout, leaving me satisfied at the end. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

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Harper doesn’t react the way everyone thinks she should when her best friend is murdered. She should be devastated but the truth is, they hadn’t gotten along too well recently.

Joy had changed, fallen in with a girl that made everyone’s lives a misery, the usual pretty popular girl with a vicious streak.

Harper knows more about Joy’s disappearance and subsequent murder than she’s letting on, she knows that Joy stole prescription drugs from Harper's Mum and was caught up in dealing. But even though they were no longer close, Harper can’t bring herself to betray her friend.

Joy’s Mother also refuses to betray her daughter, knew she’s been arrested then let go for her involvement with drugs. But Joy’s Mother has her own secrets that she is desperate to keep hidden from the world, and doesn’t want her families name dragged through the mud.

The local cops meanwhile are certain that they know who took Joy’s life and are determined to take the perpetrator down, despite the lack of evidence against him.

The town is divided.

There are those who believe in the accused's innocence and those who perceived he's as guilty as hell.

One thing's for sure, in a town where everyone knows everyone justice will be served, and no secrets will remain hidden for long, no matter how hard people try to cover them up.

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Just couldn’t get into it, I tired several times but just not for me.

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