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Cat Step by Alison Irvine

 

Synopsis: One mistake can unravel everything.

She only left her daughter in the car for a minute; just a quick minute whilst she ran into the shop. She barely thought twice about making the decision, but it soon began to consume her every thought. And not just her thoughts, but those of every neighbour, police officer and social security worker in a 15-mile radius. But this is her child. Surely she knows best?

After she'd made the move to a small town in Scotland, the rolling hills and blustery beaches seemed to be the perfect backdrop for her and her four-year old daughter, Emily, to start again. It wasn't always easy just the two of them, but Liz, was sure that she could manage this time. And now this?

Sometimes, one mistake is all it takes to unravel everything.

Cat Step is an intriguing piece as can what be only described as being a suspenseful dramatic rollercoaster, which you only begin to start breathing once you get off the ride. It is a book mainly focused on what happened before and the community hiding secrets. So who can you really trust? You can't even trust the main character, Liz.

It's hard to really describe how much of a rollercoaster this book really is. I mean it. I have never felt like I have changed perspective of who should be supported more than this book. At first, you decide that it is best to stick to Liz's story and her perspective of the events that begin to unravel. But there is always something nagging at the back of your head that something doesn't quite add up right. That somehow your rational thought is wrong all along. 

Throughout the book the most important themes are about how community perceives us and whether we are doing a good job as a mother. But who truly knows of the right way of being a mother? I think that this in some ways affects Liz more than it has to, to the point where it almost becomes scary to watch and you can't but help fall to the edge of your seat, in hope that what you are seeing would just resolve. In fact, it felt like it had the right amount of suspense to feel like a BBC drama, which is something that I would definitely sit down and watch. As it had the right amount of me gritting my teeth at some characters who I just want them to answer simple questions that have been asked by them.

The great part about this book is how tense and unsure you become of what might happen next. Liz is not the most reliable narrator and even she begins to keep secrets from those reading the book. But even as some secrets are then shared, we don't really know if this is an actual truth. It constantly keeps you guessing and sometimes not always finding the answer.

However, one aspect I wasn't too keen on was the ending. The ending, I don't know, just felt a little rushed. I became more frustrated than anything and felt like there was more of a story to tell. But I guess sometimes that is how life works out. We don't always have the ending that we thought that might happen. But I will leave that to the reader to decide whether the ending was a good one for them.

Ultimately, I want to rate this a four star. It was a good book. There is absolutely no doubt about it. This is a book definitely one for the bookshelf, as it is a gripping piece for those who love a book with anticipation and drama.


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