What Lies Between Us by John Marrs #bookreview #WhatLiesBetweenUs #NetGalley

Nina can never forgive Maggie for what she did. And she can never let her leave.
They say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.
Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.
But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way—even if it kills her.
Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.

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Hi and welcome to my review of What Lies Between Us!

Reviewing books can be tough. Sometimes you didn’t love the book that you’re meant to review and you don’t quite know how to get that across without sounding mean or flippant. And sometimes you love a book but you can’t find the words to aptly express that. In both cases writing a review is like pulling teeth with tweezers, a very slow, very painful and ultimately rather futile process. And then there are books like this one. Books that somehow get all the juices flowing that need to flow and in doing so, just about write their own reviews. Books like this one definitely make reviewing fun! But more importantly: they make reading fun!

I’ve been trying to stay away from NetGalley for months but when I saw on Twitter that What Lies Between Us was up for request, I jumped at the chance. I didn’t even read the blurb. It’s a Marrs, really that’s all I need to know. John Marrs has been on my auto-buy list for years now but he never ceases to amaze, surprise and shock me.

What Lies Between Us is the story of Maggie and Nina. Nina keeps Maggie locked in the attic, shackled, forced to relieve herself in a bucket, it’s dehumanising, it’s inhumane. It’s a fucked up situation and it’s crystal clear that between these women lies a lot of history and a lot of lies. 

The deliciously dark and ominous prologue immediately had me craving more and I instantly knew I’d get along with What Lies Between Us. The short and snappy chapters lured me into the notorious “just one more chapter” trap. And then every chapter after gave me pause until, at about 15 percent in, I could say but one thing: John Marrs is on fire, this shit is bananas! Every revelation had me changing my mind. My loyalties kept shifting, my thoughts, opinions and feelings went back and forth so many times that in the end I felt like I had been reading What Lies Between Us on a bloody seesaw.

This is the 93^rd book I’ve read this year. Bookwise, it’s been a good year so far, I’ve read some corkers, found some new favourites, but no other book this year has actually made my jaw hurt from doing this every other chapter:

In case you hadn’t noticed (because I was so extremely subtle about it): I absolutely loved What Lies Between Us, it’s bloody brilliant and I can’t recommend it enough!

What Lies Between Us is out on 15 May, pre-order here!

Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.