Thank you for joining me on the blog tour for The Things We Thought We Knew by Mahsuda Snaith. With thanks to Thomas Hill for the invite too. Today I will be sharing my review but first let's take a look at the description for the book...
About the book
Ravine and Marianne were best friends. They practised handstands together, raced slugs, and looked
up at the stars and imagined their own constellations. And then, one day, Marianne disappeared.
Ten years later, Ravine lies in a bed in her mother's council flat, plagued by chronic pain syndrome, writing down the things she remembers. As her words fill page after page, she begins to understand that the only way to conquer her pain is to confront the horrors of her past.
Heartbreaking, seductive and utterly unforgettable, The Things We Thought We Knew is a rich and powerful novel about the things we remember and the things we wish we could forget.
Ten years later, Ravine lies in a bed in her mother's council flat, plagued by chronic pain syndrome, writing down the things she remembers. As her words fill page after page, she begins to understand that the only way to conquer her pain is to confront the horrors of her past.
Heartbreaking, seductive and utterly unforgettable, The Things We Thought We Knew is a rich and powerful novel about the things we remember and the things we wish we could forget.
Buy Link
My Review
To be honest I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started this book after reading the blurb I was definitely intrigued. For one thing it sounded quite different to any story I had read but with a hint of a mystery that alone caught my attention. The feel and tone of the book is quite intimate mainly because you are hearing the private thoughts of someone. Then add in their recollections of not only the past but telling their story in the here and now. Due to this way of story telling I ended up feeling quite attached to Ravine even with her flaws. The community that Ravine and Amma live in felt pretty realistic and it was so easy to imagine their everyday lives both in the past and present.
The plot unfolds at a steady pace but easily managed to grab my attention with little snippets of information revealed which drew me further and deeper into the story. Chronic pain syndrome is featured in this story and the way that Mahsuda Snaith writes Ravine felt natural and overall sensitive. The mystery surrounding Marianne is one that held my attention and I had this need to know the truth especially as Ravine recalls both her childhood and her friend. I thought that the transition from past to present was smooth and helped move the story along brilliantly.
I freely admit to being a pretty emotional person and this book definitely brought that side out of me. The power of a story to produce such a response is always special and I am so glad that I picked up this book. Even though there is plenty of emotion packed into this story there is also some light hearted moments and a sense of hope too.
A beautiful tale of friendship, hope and the memories that we hold!
With thanks to Thomas Hill & Transworld Books for my copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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