BLOG TOUR - The Diary

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for The Diary by Vikki Patis.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

‘I know all your secrets, Lauren.’

Lauren has spent years running away from her home town, her childhood and the memories of her best friend, Hannah.

Until the tenth anniversary of Hannah’s death forces her to return home and to the group of friends she abandoned there. It should be a quick visit, just so Lauren can pay her respects.

At home, Lauren finds Hannah’s old diary. A diary full of secrets. The terrible things Lauren did, the lies she’s told, the reason she ran away. And she receives a message:

‘I don’t know why you’re back, but I know why you left.’ 

But no-one else has seen the diary, and Hannah’s dead, isn’t she?

A suspenseful psychological thriller full of twists and turns – you won’t be able to stop turning the pages of The Diary. Perfect for fans of The Sister, The Girl on the Train and We Were Liars. 

Buy Links:      

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2r4ViFb 
iBookstore: https://tinyurl.com/ya2m9gjt
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/ybsggslj
Googleplay: https://tinyurl.com/yd3d3n5f

MY THOUGHTS:

Title: The Diary

Author:  Vikki Patis

Genre:  Psychological Thriller

Publisher:  Bookouture

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of pages: 299

Published: November 26, 2018

My Rating:  4 Stars

Lauren does the one thing she never, ever wanted to do. She responds to her father’s plea to visit him. Lauren had left her home in Hitchin years ago after her best friend Hannah committed suicide. When Lauren left, her friend’s loss was only one of the bad memories that she was escaping. 

It is the tenth anniversary of Hannah’s death and Lauren is reluctantly reunited with her friends from school. Not only are they all hiding secrets, they begin receding terrifying and threatening text messages. Shockingly, Lauren unearths a diary that Hannah had hidden. This diary, coupled with the messages, are certain to topple over the careful world Lauren has built. She really thought her carefully constructed life could erase the tragic memories of her past. 

The Diary is delivered from Lauren’s first person point of view and is told in both the present and the past. Her story reveals how she and Hannah got to know on another and in so doing details much about the angst-ridden young life that she and Hannah experienced. The tragic reasons and result of this teen suicide is sadly recounted. While Lauren’s past is replayed, the circumstances involving her high school friends and their lives then and now are presented and is more than often quite tragic. 

I found The Diary to be a compelling read. Not only is the story very tragic, it is rather thrilling with a definite edge of danger to Lauren and her former friends. It was very sad to see that Lauren’s memories of Hannah were even more dismal than she ever had imagined. It was also rather shocking to see the secrets and lies this group of young people shared while growing up, all while presently trying to bury such an awful past. 

It was indeed quite a mystery to imagine whoever could have been sending the horrible text messages and I was on the edge of my seat truly wondering if Lauren or any of the other characters that made up part of the group of people would experience even more tragedy. 

To discover that the author, Vikki Patis, is a debut writer was a true delight. She has a very persuasive manner of writing that kept me riveted to this story. It was well-paced, well-written. It is of interest to note that the author explains at the end of the book that she herself dealt with some similar experiences while she was growing up. Of course, this adds a touching sense of realism for her own life’s experiences to be fictionalized as she has done here. Vikki Patis is definitely an author to watch. 

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Vikki Patis is an author and blogger, as well as an avid reader and book reviewer. When she isn’t working as a Regulatory Affairs Manager, she can usually be found drinking tea, baking cakes, or taking walks in the Hertfordshire countryside. She lives with her partner and two cats.

Social Media Links:

Web / Facebook / Twitter