Sunday 9 August 2020

#BlogTour The Secret Letters by Taryn Leigh


Today it's my turn on the BlogTour The Secret Letters by Taryn Leigh.

About the Author
Taryn Leigh is a South African Author, who spent her childhood with her nose buried in books. Her love for reading transpired into her ambition to become an Author.

Taryn Leigh’s first book, Perfect Imperfections, is available in Paperback, eBook and AudioBook. She lives in Pretoria with her husband and son.

Follow @tarynleighbook on Twitter, on Facebook@tarynleighbooks on Instagram, on Goodreadson Amazon,Visit tarynleighauthor.com, Buy The Secret Letters


About the book
Rachel, saved from an attack twelve years before by a faceless stranger, never got to thank him, never knew his name.Despite the devastation she chose to rise above it to help others from their pain by becoming a psychologist.... Her only issue now is that she's an expert at fixing everyone else's problems, and blind to her own.

After a long relationship with her boyfriend Will starts to go south, she turns to her best friend Amelia for guidance.Suddenly her world is turned upside down when tragedy strikes and she's left with no one to comfort her but Will's rude older brother Ruari.

Paralyzed by fear, she struggles to take grip of her life, until the day when anonymous letters begin to appear from the stranger who saved her twelve years before.

Review
Rachel is a difficult one to pin down. Giving her past experiences it's sort of a given that the reader feels empathy for her - is it though? I found her very up and down. At times she was very needy and unable to put herself in the place of other people, and at other times she closes herself off completely. Both of these types of reactions can be drawn directly from her past trauma.

She has trust issues, feels fearful and paranoid then suddenly overly elated and in control. This zig-zag of emotions might be the reason she doesn't really take note of the slow demise of her relationship.

Leigh has a great structure and premise in place, but it does need tightening up from a dialogue, language and editing perspective. Less time on detailed superfluous moments and when the various threads intersect perhaps a better build-up rather than scenes inserted to keep certain storylines on track.

Let's also just take a moment to ponder about the man who follows her and sends her letters. It's a very fine line between creepy and keeping someone safe. Carrying a torch or stalking - it really depends on how the person receiving the attention feels about their behaviour. One person's romantic is another person's predator.

I am glad the author takes a moment to not only thank the person who inspired the story or the idea of survival and overcoming horrendous trauma, but also the fact she did so with her blessing. Stories like Alshandra's belong to the victim. In the same breath Leigh gives readers a stark reminder how many of us have similar stories to tell or not.

Leigh has taken that trauma and created a domestic thriller with the vibe of a discovery of self story. A story of surviving and overcoming trauma that resonates throughout the rest of a victim and their life.

Buy The Secret Letters at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Kingsley Publishers; pub date 9 Aug. 2020. Buy at Amazon com.

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