Oliver and Ciara meet at a grocery store right when COVID lockdown is about to start. Since they are just getting to know one another, they decide to go into lock down together. The other part of the timeline in this story takes place present time when a body is discovered in Oliver's apartment. What do Oliver and Ciara discover about each other, how does being locked down during COVID affect their new "relationship", what what do the detectives discover today?

This book has a lot of back and forth between present day, Oliver and Ciara during lockdown (both perspectives), and pre-meeting one another so at times it can be a lot but it does help the book go by faster. At times I had to really make sure what part I was reading to not confuse myself. This book didn't grab me from the start but about halfway through it went quick and I enjoyed the twists and turns. Yes the book takes place during COVID lockdown, but the main part of the story is completely unrelated to COVID.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this e-Arc. 56 Days is already available to read!

I'm a huge fan of Catherine Ryan Howard's books and this one didn't disappoint.

Just before the start of lockdown in 2020, Ciara and Oliver meet and start briefly dating. 3 weeks in and everyone is ordered to stay home. Oliver suggests Ciara moves in with him for this (initially thought) period (how wrong we all were that it would be gone in 2 weeks") so they wouldn't have to break the one household mix rule and could continue seeing each other.

What Ciara doesn't know though is that Oliver is not who he says he is. What Oliver doesn't know is that Ciara is not who she says she is either!

Such a good, fast and engaging read. it was all so familiar to me, set in Dublin and more specifically mentioning areas I live very close to, which I loved. I really liked both characters and felt tugs for both of them at various points in the story. i really enjoyed trying to figure out what would happen and wasn't disappointed.

I really enjoyed this story set in the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic! While some people don’t want a reminder of the last couple of years and prefer to keep it out of fiction, I quite liked a mystery set smack bang in the middle of it! It was super clever how it was set out and I didn’t pick how any of it was going to end, was absolutely kept on the edge of my seat.

Thank you for providing me with a copy of this book.
I run out of time so sorry I wasn't able to finish this just as yet, I will edit this review soon as I finish.

I was excited to read a book and COVID and the pandemic. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I honestly wanted to DNF this one, but I held on to see what was going to happen. It just ended up being very underwhelming for me. This book had a-lot of potential, but I found it to be too chaotic for me. With the multiple timelines and multiple POVs, it got confusing. This book wasn’t for me, but I know others loved it, so I suggest checking their thoughts on it!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this to be a rather slow burn and not sure that a covid 19 book plot was for me. Although the writing style was great it flowed and was easy to follow the storyline, i enjoyed the short chapters

Thank you for the opportunity to read this Netgalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow!!! I devoured this book in one sitting. Just read it....you will love it.

What I liked about this book was that it was twisty. What I mean is it wasn’t high excitement all the way through but it made you think and question. I thought I had Kira and Oliver figured out so I didn’t see the twists coming. This was my first read read that featured the pandemic. It featured it a factual way so really bought those heightened feelings back from the strict strict lockdowns. I definitely recommend this book.

Hot diggity, DANG 56 Days makes for a great summer listen. It’s another brilliant, well-crafted, original, out-of-the-box psychological thriller/suspense with thrilling twists and turns by Catherine Ryan Howard. When I read The Nothing Man in Aug 2020, I thought it was one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time, and now 56 Days is one of the best I have read since then.

I read and listened to the audiobook

What makes 56 Days a great summer listen?

Alana Kerr Collins does a fantastic job at narrating the story and I enjoyed listening to her.
It is a well-crafted, exciting, entertaining story that will have you wanting to keep doing what you are doing so you can keep listening to it.
There is some repetitiveness when we hear the same scene from different POVs, so it’s easy to catch up when getting distracted

Where to listen to it?

I think this makes a great one to listen to while out walking or running. I listened to it while walking Penny. She can be a hand full and often distracts me with her naughtiness. It was easy to get back into the flow of the story when she did and not miss anything.

The hook, pace and why using Covid-19 worked. Was the story a page-turner?

Yes, the story has plenty of suspense, tension, uncertainty, and exciting twists and turns. I did not want to stop listening to it, and when I sat down to read, it was the one I picked up.

Catherine Ryan Howard again delivers a gripping, unforgettable clever original story. She brilliantly weaves in Covid 19 to create the circumstances around the story and mystery. She begins by describing an apartment building and the tenants while locked down in the present and uses that to add to the suspense and mystery of what will be discovered.

Then 56 days ago, Ciara and Oliver met while in line at a supermarket. It felt like a “meet cute,” worthy of a rom-com and I loved that. After their meet cute , Ciara and Oliver, decide to move in together while locked down. They don’t know each other well or the secrets they are hiding, and no one knows they are together. The lockdown makes it easy to hide their secrets and provides someone with the opportunity to commit the perfect crime.

Structure: How is the story structured?

The story has a busy structure as it jumps between the present day when Ciara and Oliver met 56 days ago, and covid restrictions in Ireland start to come into effect and then count down to the present day. We hear the same scenes from Ciara and Oliver’s POVs that did feel a bit repetitive and some other past events leading up to the present day. The present-day chapters are in the third person POV of two detectives Lee and Karl who are trying to solve the mystery of a death. It sounds confusing, but in Howard’s hands, it flows seemingly and is easy to follow.

The characters: Are the characters likable and easy to relate and connect to?

I thought Ciara and Oliver were likable, with some uncertainty. We know from the start Oliver is hiding something which makes him intriguing. He is a sympathetic, relatable character and what he is hiding had me thinking deeply, asking myself if I wanted to be sympathetic to him. I enjoyed the banter and dynamics between detectives Lee and Carl as they tried to solve the mystery of the body discovered in the apartment building.

Believability element: Did it blur the lines between fiction and reality with a believability element that made me think it could happen?

YES!!! Using Covid-19 cleverly blurs those lines making the secrets and hidden motivations plausible. Some things that might not have added up make sense because of the restrictions.

Payoff: Are the twists and turns exciting and shocking with a rewarding payoff in the end?

YES!!! Not only does Howard creates compelling, out-of-the-box stories, and she also layers in those “why didn’t I see that” rewarding twists. The kind of twists I love the most.

Do I recommend listening to it? Absolutely!! I also read parts of it and recommend reading it as well.

I really enjoyed this book. It captured the uncertainty and isolation at the start of the pandemic. The characters were developed and the mystery element was satisfying. I always look forward to reading novels from this author. Well-written!

This wasn't an OMG Amazing first purchase recommendation but it was perfectly fine for a mind dump read

Holy twisty flip flop story! This thriller counts back from 56 days ago, when the suggested victim and suspect meet and how everything unfolds, with a present day telling as well of the detectives investigating what happened. 56 Days will keep you guessing the whole way through, trying to figure out who the victim is, who's the suspect and what the hell is happening.

This book does take place in the current pandemic era, but it wasn't as hard to read as the others I have so far. This one just had bits and pieces added in to the story instead of it revolving around it. I liked how the characters really experienced what we all have for the last 2 years. I was left with a few questions at the end, but it was a very enjoyable, keep me guessing book!

I accidentally wrote my full review for this on the audiobook version (so you can visit there for full details….the audiobook was wonderful!), but I absolutely loved this book! So twisty and smart with well-developed characters that brought us subtle shifts that completely shocked me time and time again! So well done!

Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for providing me a review copy!

It was interested to read a Covid story. I've read some pandemic ones lately but not about Covid specifically. It just all makes me want to hug my loved ones.

Different time periods within 56 days as well as the present day are presented in alternating chapters.

Quite a bit of back and forth, a tangled web emerges, until the big reveal emerged as I turned the last page.

Oliver and Ciara barely know each other, but decide to spend the next two weeks in Covid lockdown together.

They know virtually nothing about each other.

What could possibly go wrong?

This book was strange for me. It was hard reliving Covid. The story has a lot of good twists and turns, but I was really upset with the ending. I still feel a strong connection to Oliver and I’m very sad that he died. I also ended up disliking Ciara. I wanted Justice to reach her but it never did. I feel like she is the real monster in this story. Yeah I’m super unsettled at the moment after finishing this one….

When two individuals with murky pasts find one another days before the Covid lockdown reaches Dublin, they're forced to make a split second decision: end their blossoming relationship or continue seeing one another. What they decide will change their lives forever.

This was an absolute page turner! I was intrigued from page one, but once the plot really started to pick up, I couldn't put this down! This was an entertaining domestic suspense novel, and while I did see the big twist, I didn't see another one...And the Covid plotline was actually well done and didn't feel forced or insensitive either! The only reason I'd dock a star was because some of the repetitive scenes/dialogue from multiple perspectives got a little boring, but otherwise-a highly recommend this one!

56 Days (thriller)
Rating: really enjoyed

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the digital advanced copy of this book. Full review on bookstagram to come!

I am totally here for all the pandemic fiction and this was no exception- it was a fun ride!

The story was told in three different viewpoints - the detectives investigating a murder, Ciara, and Oliver, who meet right before the pandemic and start casually dating. Both brand new to Dublin, they decide to temporarily move in together and wait out the "two week" shut down. But are either who they say they are?

This novel captured all of the emotions and how we all viewed the early days of pandemic, prior to shutdowns, really well. My only gripe - I occasionally found the non-linear jumps back in forth in time (today, to 35 days ago, to 53 days ago) to be a bit hard to follow, at times. Other than that, I loved the turns this book took and thought it was a fun thriller.

56 Days is my first read by Catherine Ryan Howard, and it won’t be my last! I was intrigued by the plot description and couldn’t wait to dive in! There’s an element of delicious creepiness in reading a book that creates the pandemic as a main character during the actual pandemic.

Though I did feel as though the story was mildly predictable at a certain point, I was still interested up until that point and enjoyed the story and ending. I found myself staying up way beyond my bedtime just to get a few more pages in!

I would absolutely recommend this book! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read it!!

Review posted to blog:https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/

You know those books that sit on your shelf for over a year and you almost dread reading them for one reason or another, then once you pick them up you’re pleasantly surprised? 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard was one of those books.

It’s a “Covid” book. Written about those days in Lockdown. Just the idea of reading it seemed unappealing (I’m not even sure why I requested it). Lucky for me, the synopsis was wholly different from the book itself and I found the book to be entertaining, interesting, and wholly refreshing.

56 Days Ago, Ciara and Oliver met at a market in Dublin. At that moment, a spark was lit.

First, these two shared a cup of coffee, then drinks, and then during Covid Lockdown, they moved in together. It seems like an opportunity to get to know each other better and forge an incredible bond.

What happens next, however, is wholly unexpected. To say that I was shocked is an understatement. The how and the why is totally wild, and completely mind-bending. While I expected this one to be a tad difficult to read, it didn’t induce any anxiety whatsoever. A fantastic mystery/suspense that kept me glued to the edge of my seat.

This was a highly entertaining read with Kaceey!

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley for the arc.

Published on Goodreads and Twitter.