Dorie - Cats&Books :) 's Reviews > Daisy Darker

***HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY***

THANK YOU ALICE FEENEY FOR GETTING ME OUT OF MY BOOK SLUMP!!! Ms. Feeney proves, with her lyrical prose and well described characters, that you don’t need overly descriptive gore and violence to deliver a great thriller!!!

If you have ever thought that you had a difficult childhood, ENTER THE WORLD OF DAISY DARKER!! Daisy was diagnosed with a heart condition at the age of five and had “died and been resuscitated” seven times before the age of 13.

Daisy was never allowed to attend school, make friends or do any of the normal things that kids do. Daisy spent the school year alone with her books which transported her and inspired her.

Daisy’s sisters, Rose and Lily were sent to boarding school.

The summers, however, were spent at her Nana’s gothic mansion, Seaglass, on a small island that was only accessible at low tide. She and Nana had a special and loving relationship. Summers were the highlight of Daisy’s life.

Brief plot summary:

The novel is told in the past and present, narrated by Daisy.

The Darker family has assembled at Seaglass for Nana’s 80th birthday. Frank and Nancy have been divorced for years but return for what they are sure will be a reading of Nana’s will.

Nana is extremely eccentric, having a wall of 80 clocks, a punch clock with a card for everyone who comes and leaves and always dresses in pink and purple, her favorite colors.

Just as the clock strikes midnight a scream is heard and everyone converges in the kitchen, only to find Nana dead on the floor. There is an uncanny poem written on the chalkboard in what looks to be Nana’s writing. The poem has some frightening and foreboding verses for the family to decipher.

To share any more of the plot would spoil this wonderful mystery but I would like to leave you with a taste of Ms. Feeney’s beautiful prose : “ We spend our youth building sandcastles of ambition, then watch as life blows sands of doubt over our carefully crafted turrets of wishes and dreams, until we can no longer see them at all.”

I enjoyed every intricately plotted minute of this novel and while wanting to race ahead to the finish, forced myself to take more time with it just to prolong the pleasure of reading the author’s wonderful prose.

FINALLY A THRILLER I CAN HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this latest offering from the very talented Alice Feeney.