★★★★
SYNOPSIS:
Poppy has a secret. Drew has nothing to hide.
Theirs was a whirlwind romance.
And when Drew, caught up in the moment, suggests that he and Poppy don’t tell each other anything about their past lives, that they live only for the here and now, for the future they are building together, Poppy jumps at the chance for a fresh start.
But it doesn’t take long for Poppy to see that this is a two-way deal. Drew is hiding something from her. And Poppy suddenly has no idea who the man she has married really is, or what he might be capable of.
Poppy has a secret. Drew has nothing to hide. Drew is lying. Which is more dangerous, a secret or a lie?
(Taken from Goodreads)
MY THOUGHTS:
I really enjoyed reading this novel. The romance and mystery were well balanced and the flashbacks to Poppy's past kept me engaged. The ending was something I didn't see coming and I thought that the development of the characters was cleverly written. This was a slow build up but the ending definitely made it worth it!
The story starts with Poppy abroad with the family she nanny's for, she gets fired in the middle of the night and stumbles across this ideal guy called Drew. He is older, rich, very charming and interested in Poppy.
In a matter of minutes, Poppy trusts this stranger and allows him to use his money to spoil her and she steps into his luxurious life without a second thought. Although this was quite fun to read about their holiday romance, there was something that bothered me about these characters and made me question their morals and intentions.
At the beginning of the novel Poppy seems like a hard-working, driven, devoted and caring character but as she get swept up with Drew and his luxurious life all of those positive traits disappear; she becomes content with being looked after financially and doesn't have any ambition. Drew's character was really cleverly written. Throughout the novel, he appears to be this mature, calm, put-together figure but is secretly controlling and manipulative in a charming way.
They stay together in Ibiza for months (as if they don't have a life to get back to) and suddenly decide to get married. However, Drew asks that they set a deal that they don't talk about their past. Which strikes suspicion for the reader, wondering what they are both hiding. Drew buys Poppy a manor house as a wedding present in Wiltshire and she is left there to play housewife while he goes back to his job. There is something about the house that seems off to Poppy and there are moments where she feels that the house has a life of its own and is against her. I didn't really enjoy these moments where the house was doing things on its own to spite Poppy. I understand that this was Poppy's subconscious thoughts and reinforced the fact that something wasn't right and foreshadowed the house's past. I just didn't enjoy reading the personification of the house.
After a while Poppy becomes bored and uncomfortable living in her 'home' so decides to invite her friend to stay with her so she isn't alone and redecorate the house. They host a dinner party weekend for Drew's upper class friends, and some of the truth gets uncovered. I found this was the most exciting part of the story, and couldn't put the book down. I was desperate to find out both of Poppy's and Drew's past that they had been hiding.
I have read quite a lot of mystery novels, but I didn't see this ending coming! I was pretty convinced that I had figured out the secrets that they were hiding but the last chapter changed the entire story for me. I saw Poppy as the underdog, a naive woman who needed a sense of security because of her upbringing and I felt that Drew took advantage of that. The ending definitely changed my perception of Poppy. I was rooting for her to see through Drew's facade and return to her younger self. But are they just as bad as each other? Can people really change?
Thank you to Damppebbles, Rebecca Reid, Transworld Books and Penguin Random House for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication and for including me in the Truth Hurts Blog Tour.
AUTHOR:
Rebecca is the Digital Editor of Grazia. She has written for Marie Claire, the Guardian, the Saturday Telegraph, the Independent, Stylist, Glamour, the iPaper, Indy100, LOOK and the New Statesmen amongst others.
Rebecca is a regular contributor to Sky News and ITV's This Morning as well as appearing on Radio 4's Woman's Hour, LBC, BBC News 24 and the BBC World Service to discuss her work. She graduated from Royal Holloway's Creative Writing MA in 2015 and Perfect Liars was her debut novel. Rebecca lives in North London with her husband.
You can find Rebecca Reid:
Twitter: @RebeccaCNReid
You can buy Truth Hurts on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Truth-Hurts-Rebecca-Reid/dp/0552175617